Star Wars Episode IV: A New Beginning

Chapter 33: Wanted

"Is it just me," Padmé started as she closed the door to her and Anakin's bedroom softly, as not to disturb the others who were trying to rest after an eventful day, "or is Ahsoka-" she paused in surprise, noticing Anakin stepping out of the refresher. His hair was plastered at the sides of his face and neck, soaked from the shower. He had a towel wrapped around his waist but something still seemed amiss. "What happened?" Padmé asked now, glancing around the room.

"Angel, have you seen my-" Anakin replied with a sheepish grin.

Padmé smiled slyly noticing what she was looking for, "Your arm and gauntlet? Right here." She held the prosthetic so it reflected the moonlight streaming through the windows, and studied the gold wiring.

Anakin muttered a soft "thank you," and disappeared into the refresher to change. He had been toying with the mechanics of his hand and had forgotten to reattach the appendage until after it was too late. "What was your meeting with Mon about earlier today?" he asked a few minutes later, exiting the refresher again, this time with a robe draped across his back. He picked a fresh tunic and pants from his drawer and set them on the bed.

Padmé looked up from her seat on their bed, brushing out her curls. After cutting it rather short on Raada, Padmé had once again grown out her hair, now reaching almost midway down her back. "Oh, you know, boring matters like finance and statistics," she responded with a shrug.

"And Han?" Anakin raised an eyebrow in suspicion. He still maintained a smile but it was faded as if he already knew the answer.

"No. I said I wouldn't, so I didn't," Padmé explained, "And why were you so furious with him at the meeting today? You, more than anyone in that room, should have understood why he left."

"You're acting like our circumstances were the same. They were not," Anakin disagreed, his tone level but sharp, "I left slavery on Tatooine. Leaving my mother behind is now one of my biggest regrets. Han left all of this!" He gestured around the room, trying to prove his point. "We offered him everything he could have ever wanted."

"He wanted to see what more the galaxy had to offer. If it wasn't for you, Han might have never left Corellia." Padmé knew Anakin had a point but it felt necessary to defend Han's decision. "His time with us was a blessing and we should have known that it would end."

All things die, Anakin Skywalker. Even stars burn out. Anakin shuddered internally, Padmé's words seeming to echo his nightmare. "I don't care what his motives were. I still worried about him."

"I do too, but he's young and needs to make some mistakes on his own," Padmé reminded him, "Didn't you almost leave the Jedi Order at his age because you didn't believe in it anymore?"

"Yeah," Anakin admitted, "but Obi-Wan was able to show me that I was wrong. I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to do the same for Han."

"You didn't make Han's decision, and there was no way you could have changed it. We all are partially responsible for Han's leaving, and that was because of who we trained him to be and who he was before we found him." Padmé applauded herself internally for sounding like a Jedi. Prolonged years around Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka had finally paid off.

"It's a shame he isn't going to the conference," Anakin added with a smirk, lightening the mood, "he was looking forward to it."

"Now don't you want to be him," Padmé said, equally sarcastically. She never understood why Anakin was against the Rebellion Conference, especially after she had mentioned this year's summit was to be held on the main base of Yavin IV.

Anakin didn't notice the joke, and his face fell in realization. "As long as I'm with you, that's all that matters," he said, taking a seat next to her on the bed, and kissing her on the cheek. "I'll always support you, no matter what."