Dreams

Chapter 18.

Anakin's POV

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I walked into Padmé's apartment numbly, my head spinning so much I could hardly stand up. After my meeting with the chancellor, I had gone back to the Jedi Temple and helped with cleaning up the remaining mess from the bomb. I had spent some of the day with the Council, but my mind was so wrapped around the chancellor's story that I could hardly concentrate on anything. By the time evening had finally rolled around, I didn't know what to think, and as soon as I could, I came to Padmé's quarters.

Sinking onto the couch, I stared blankly at the wall, the chancellor's words turning over and over in my head. Could it be true? Could I save my wife? Could I stop her from dying? But it wasn't just what the chancellor had told me that was muddling my thoughts. There was something else ... something dangerous ... unseen ... pending ....

My swirling thoughts were interrupted by something pushing against my legs. A soft thud on the couch preceded a weight stepping into my lap, and four tiny points of contact wobbled on my thighs. I glanced down to see a slim creature perched on my legs, looking back at me with inquisitive yellow eyes. She sat herself down elegantly, wrapping a slender grey tail around four grey paws, and purred for all her worth.

"Ani! You're here!" I heard Padmé's voice from across the room. "Did you know that ...?" she trailed off when she saw me and the young cat that I was stroking.

"That Kato came back?" I offered, fondling her ears and scratching under her chin. "I guessed as much."

Padmé sat next to me, running her fingers along the eighteen-month-old cat. "Yes! She must have sneaked into my apartment sometime today, and when I came in this evening, she made herself known with a good meowing contest."

Kato rubbed affectionately against Padmé's hand, then pushed herself up my chest, kissing my chin with her little pink nose. I responded by lifting her into my arms and cuddling her close to myself. She padded on my arm and purred and purred.

"How long has she been gone?" Padmé asked quietly, tucking herself up closer to me.

"A few months," I answered simply.

"When Ahsoka ...?"

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause before Kato started struggling and then wriggled out of my grip, landing with a graceful plop on the carpet. Her tail was high in the air, twitching happily, as she glanced back at us and meowed loudly. She couldn't have said it plainer if she had been speaking Basic.

"I'll feed her," I told Padmé as I got off the couch. "Do you still have her biscuits in the cupboard?"

She nodded, her eye running critically over her cat as she commented, "She's in remarkably good condition."

I allowed Kato to lead me to her food, then put her bowl on the floor and shook out some biscuits for her. I sat next to her, my back against the wall, as she greedily gobbled them up, my hand stroking down her back and along her tail. Although she was wolfing down her dinner, she kept stopping to purr at me when I patted her. "She is in good condition. She's a strong wee girl, but I don't think she's grown anymore than when we last saw her. This might be as big as she's going to get."

Padmé leaned over the back of the couch, resting her chin on her hands as she watched her kitty. "She's a small cat, but I suppose that's good. I already have one behemoth in the house," she added with a wink at me.

I chuckled, then scooped Kato into my arms once she had finished eating. She rubbed around my shoulders and neck, purring so loud that Padmé could have been on the other side of the room and still heard her.