Anakin and His Angel: What Should Have Been

Chapter 9 (0 BBY)

             It was about 13 years or so later, and Padmé and Anakin had decided to stay put on Yavin, even though it was clearly risky, they felt little reason to leave, as they had protection on Yavin. Much to their chagrin and despair, their children had not been found yet. Those who had been sent to find their children hadn't come back, most likely due to death. The couple had decided to, for the sake of their sanity, assume that their beloved offspring was dead, but Padmé still had an ever so small vein of hope in her heart that maybe, just maybe, Luke and Leia were alive and breathing, somehow, somewhere in this wretched, democracy-deprived, fearful, tyranny led galaxy.

            It was another one of those mornings. It was a pointless day, with no meaning whatsoever. They lay in bed, not caring to wake up for hours on end, Padmé reveling in Anakin's embrace. Then they would groggily wake up, eat breakfast, Padmé would have a flashback (which was routine by now), Anakin would reassure her she was safe, and then they would finish eating breakfast, and then lay in bed, or look at holographic images or recordings of Luke and Leia. Their days became monotonously routine, to a sickening degree. They were of no assistance to the Rebels, as Padmé, neither Anakin could work publicly, which meant no political involvement, or battle involvement, which were their areas of expertise.

               They spent their time in hiding, of no use to anybody. Nobody saw or spoke with them, except each other. To them, it seemed as if any positive impacts of their lives were ripped away from them: Anakin's work in the Jedi Order (before his turn to the Dark Side), Padmé's outstanding political work against the looming Empire, the creation of their children. It was all thrown away like a commonplace droid impaled by a lightsaber, thrown into the scrap pile.

              Finally, after an endless period of monotony, Anakin burst out of his nightly insomnia, in a crazed state. “I'm so tired of this depression!” he threw his arms in the air, in frustration, “ we have to find our kids, we have to actually live again! Padmé we're surviving, but we're not living! We have to do something!”

           Padmé turned to face him, “Ani, what can we do?” her voice sounded pained, like she was back on Mustafar, at the mercy of a child murdering creature. Her eyes unfocused, and glazed over, the light within them suddenly masked by her fear.

          Anakin clasped her shoulder and shook her gently, “Padmé, Padmé! Snap out of it!”

          Her eyes focused on his face again, and started to pool with tears, “No! Not you again! Don't,” she pushed him away with her hand on his chest, “-get away from me!” Suddenly, her eyes brightened, and she gazed into his eyes, confused, and then looked down at the hand placed on his chest. Her face twisted into a frustrated expression, pained with guilt. Padmé's eyes overflowed. Hot, tired, depressed tears streamed down her soft cheeks, echoing the afterglow of her brightly burning brown eyes.

           Anakin pulled her against him, her hand still over his prosthetic, beating, heart. “Padmé, it's okay, I know how to find our children. We can visit the Death Star.”

            Padmé looked up at him, her eyebrows raised in a graceful arch, “What? The Death Star! We'd surely be caught if we went there! That's exactly where we're trying to stay away from!”

            “Yes! Which is exactly why the Emperor would keep them there, he knows we wouldn't go near the wretched planet destroyer, let alone inside it! Which is why we're going to surprise him by going there!” Anakin clapped a fist into his open palm triumphantly.

            Padmé smiled reminiscently, remembering the smirk Anakin would've worn ages ago, a bright spark in his once calm blue eyes. Her old Anakin's spirit was truly back, not without a couple scars, but still, he was back. And Padmé loved it already. It reminded her of the old days during the Clone Wars, when Anakin would come home late and rattle on and on about battle tactics, and how to take advantage of the enemy, or when he surprised her by getting home early before she did, and made a delicious dinner for two. This was exactly what they had been missing, and her old, reckless, headstrong, protective Ani was finally back.

          “And,” he added excitedly “we can meet with Obi Wan on Tatooine and get his help!”

         Padmé couldn't help but smile even more, “As long as I can come with you!”

         Anakin waved a hand, “of course! What? Did you think I would leave you alone?”

        Padmé giggled, “I don't know, you are a man of many surprises…” she swatted him on the shoulder, “of course not! I know you wouldn't do that,” her voice calmed, and her smile faded slightly, “so… when do we leave?”

       Anakin still had a smile in his voice, “now, of course.”