Secrets and Suspicion (Book 1)

Won't Let Go

Anakin arrived at the Temple, running in his room to unpack. He took the books from the library, shovels and a pair of robes that belonged in his closet in this room, and put them on his bed, all except for the robes. He from those and hung them up. He picked up the shovels and books, walking to the library to return them, and hanging the shovels back on the rack in the small supply room.

Anakin started to jog down one hallway, but heard voices, so he slowed down to walk. He cleared his throat, and waved at Ki-Adi and Aayla.

"Afternoon," he said to them, and they nodded to him as they talked.

Once they were out of sight, he jogged the rest of the way back to his room.

He grabbed his suitcase, closing it and walking out. He walked on an elevator, and when he was on the bottom level, he walked out to his ship. Once he was in, he dropped his heavy bag down and ran to the front of the ship, starting it. He looked at the time, reading 1:00 pm. Padmé probably wanted to be home before him, knowing her. Anakin sped off, eager to get home. He drove to the balcony, driving slowly so he could prop the wing up on the edge. Sure enough, Padmé was home already, because she ran out on to the balcony to meet him. Once they reached each other, Anakin picked her up under the arms, spinning her around.

"Is this your new thing every time you come home from a long trip?" Padmé asked, laughing.

"What? Last time wasn't a long trip." He brought her down lower, kissing her.

"How was it?" Padmé asked, once he had set her down.

He shrugged. "It was a research mission. What do you expect? For it to be fun?"

"No. Just...wondering," Padmé said. "Want to come in?"

Anakin took her left hand with his right. He felt something hard and pointed, and his immediate reaction was to look down. "You're wearing your ring," he said, looking at her.

She smiled. "I've been wearing it ever since you left. I wanted a reminder of you."

Anakin smiled. "Yeah, well...what can I say, everybody loves me."

Padmé rolled her eyes, but still kept smiling. "Oh, Anakin."

They walked inside together, hand in hand. Clearly, Anakin was very satisfied that Padmé was wearing her wedding ring. He kept playing with it, spinning it around on her finger.

"So," Padmé said, sitting down on the couch, next to Anakin. "Anything interesting happen on your trip?"

"Eh, not really," he said, getting up and walking into the kitchen. He pulled a glass out of the cabinet. "I guess just the usual joking around between Obi-Wan and I. We still got our work done." Anakin poured water into a glass and leaned against the kitchen counter, gulping some down.

"That's good you still got your work done," Padmé said, impressed.

Anakin lowered the glass of water from his lips. "I mean, I'm really surprised that we weren't bothered the whole time we were there. I mean, by the natives there."

"Yeah. That's really great."

"Are you okay?" Anakin asked calmly, walking back into the living room.

"What? Of course." To be honest, she was a little frustrated that he never talked about the baby. It was his fatherly role to do so, but he never talked about it at all. She wondered if he was nervous or something. It was a whole 7 months more until it was due. But Anakin's deep voice, especially when he was calm, drove her away from being mad at him. Often, it was hard to be mad at him.

She looked up at him as he lifted her chin. When she saw his crystal blue eyes, she was lost in them. She couldn't resist getting lost when he made small gestures like holding her face in his hands, or kissing her cheek.

Padmé tore her eyes away from his. "Anakin..."

"What's going on?"

"I just...I..."

"Padmé..," he said.

"It's nothing," she lied. "I just have been really missing you. But you're home now, so..."

"I can sense that you're angry."

"No, Anakin. Don't."

"What is it?" he asked, trying to stay calm.

Padmé took a deep breath. "Okay. Anakin, do you ever think about.."

"Think about what?" he asked.

"I'm getting there. Do you ever think about the..the baby?"

Anakin's furrowed eyebrows relaxed and his eyes weren't searching hers as frantically as they were before. "Um..not really. Padmé, I can see why you'd be frustrated about that. I'm sorry. There's just so many other things going on. With missions and-"

"Anakin, don't think about just work all of the time. Think about home. That's why you're stressed all of the time. You always think about what you have to do at work."

"No, that's not what it is right now."

"What are you talking about? Ani, look at me," she said, placing her hand on the side of his face."

"What," he said, looking at down at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Remember when I went to Mortis? The weird place that Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and I were sucked into? These visions I had were intended to be wiped away from my memory, but it's coming back. The visions are coming back, and they're haunting me. I can't even think straight," Anakin explained.

"Ani, why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because, I didn't remember the visions at first."

"What are the visions?" Padmé asked, concerned.

"No, you don't want to know. They're nightmares."

"Anakin," Padmé said calmly, lightly touching her husband's arm.

He put the palms of his hands over his eyes. "Just forget it. It doesn't matter. I'll get over it." He lowered his hands and wrapped his arms around Padmé, setting his chin on the top of her head.

She laid her head on his chest and hooked her arms under his. She knew that no matter how hard she pressed, he still wouldn't change his mind. "Just tell me if you want to talk."

He didn't say anything, just stood there with her in his arms. He treasured every moment of it.

Just then, Ahsoka walked in through the front door and walked down the steps leading to the living room where Padmé and Anakin stood.

"Hey," she said without looking at them, passing them to go to the bathroom.

Both lifted their heads to look, but she had already walked away. They looked at each other and just laughed.