Secrets and Suspicion (Book 1)

Forgetting Something?

Padmé lay on her back in her bed that night, staring at the empty space where Anakin usually slept. It was back to normal again. Anakin would be gone most of the time, and they would barely ever see each other. I'll get used to it, she thought.

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The next morning, she got ready for work alone. I'm not alone, she thought. At least the baby's here with me.

She pulled on her emerald color dress and picked up the necklace she got in the mail from her parents. She clipped it around her neck. Padmé never wore her wedding ring, but Anakin did. He always had his covered up by his glove. She couldn't do that. Every once in a while, for fancy occasions, she would wear gloves, but not her ring. Today, she decided to wear it. If anyone came in her office, she could pull her sleeves over her hands. Good thing her sleeved were already long.

Padmé pulled her hair up and twisted it into two buns at the side of her head, also adding a headband to make it look a little nicer. She walked into the bathroom, and she saw Anakin's deodorant sitting on the counter. Oh no. This cannot be happening, she thought. She grabbed the comlink that Anakin gave her from her bedside table and pressed it.

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Anakin's comlink lit up and beeped just as he dug his shovel into the ground. He groaned, and it kept beeping continuously. Obi-Wan and Mace were both digging a few feet away.

"Alright, alright!" Anakin said, irritated by the comlink's continuous beeping. "Hey, guys. I gotta take this call," Anakin called over to Obi-Wan and Mace. Mace nodded in response, and turned back to working.

Anakin walked up the ramp and into his ship, answering. "Yeah?"

"Anakin. Hi," Padmé's voice said through the comlink.

"Padmé. I hate to say it, but you can't call me during the day like this."

"Just one quick thing. Well, two, actually," she said, sounding out of breath.

"Yeah? What is it? And let me guess, you're rushing this morning to get out the door? What happened to your daily waking-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn thing?"

"Yes. You're right. I couldn't go to sleep last night, so I woke up late this morning."

"Why?"

"Never mind that. To get to the real point, number one, how are you?"

"Good. How about you," Anakin answered impatiently.

"Ok. Now, number two, did you seriously forget your deodorant?!"

"What? No! I have it right here."

"Well, there's one on the bathroom counter here. You have two?"

"Yes. I do. Got a problem with that?"

"I just wanted to clear things up."

"Okay, I have to go. Call me tonight."

"Okay. And, one more thing, General Skywalker?"

"Yes, m'lady?" He said sarcastically.

"I miss you. Think of the baby."

"Yeah. I miss you too." He heard Mace's voice getting closer. Or so he thought. "Gotta go." He clicked off and jogged down the ramp. He must have been imagining Mace approaching, because he was sitting in the exact place he'd been before.

"What was that all about?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.

Anakin put his hand on the back of his neck, his arm out. "Eh, just the cleaning guy I have come in my room. He wanted to know if I still wanted him to work while I'm gone."

"You have a cleaner?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yeah? So?"

"Well, whoever does it doesn't do a very good job."

"Hey!"

Obi-Wan smiled and went back to work. "Remember our lovely trip to Mortis?"

Anakin smirked. "How could I forget?"

"I was just thinking. The vision that I had..."

Anakin shuddered at the thought of his vision of his mother, telling him that his wife would be his fate. He thought back to when he had the vision on Mortis of Padmé being Force-choked, and Obi-Wan begging Anakin not to do something. He had too many bad memories there, and he swiped them all away by moving to a different subject. "So, Master. Have you found any evidence yet?"