Of Love and War Book 2: The Oncoming Storm

Chapter 18: The Storm

They were at Varykino. Zelina stared numbly at the pale blue dress that was spread out on the bed. It was a light satin fabric, a sheath style dress, and the sleeves were petite off the shoulder straps. She would love to put it on...under any circumstances other than this.

There was a light rap on the door and Zelina jumped. "Come in," she called softly.

She was surprised when Padme walked in, shutting the door behind her immediately. "Padme," Zelina said in light surprise.

Padme crossed the room quickly, coming to a standstill in front of Zelina. "Zelina. How are you?"

"I'm all right," Zelina replied gently.

Padme put a gentle hand on Zelina's arm, having her sit on the bed beside her. "Are you sure? When Anakin said you were going to come I was actually rather surprised..."

Zelina looked away, chewing on the inside of her cheek and absentmindedly fiddling with her padawan braid. "I couldn't miss my two best friends' wedding," she whispered.

Padme had kept her hold on her arm, and still did not let go. "Zelina, I know that you love Anakin too, and I wanted you to know that if you don't want to do this, if it's too hard for you, then you don't have to."

Zelina shook her head. "No, I want to. I want to be here for you two. I want to be here for him. Besides you I'm going to be the only support he has in this because of how secret this will have to be. I'm going to support him all the way."

Padme sighed, looking down for a moment before she tugged lightly at Zelina so that she would look at her. "Zelina...before any of this goes any further...I need to ask you something."

Zelina cocked an eyebrow, watching her curiously. "Yes?"

"Zelina, I want your permission to marry Anakin. I want to know that you are truly fine with this. If you aren't, if you say so, then I won't marry him Zelina. I will step down and you can tell him how you feel and we'll see how it goes from there. I know that you love him Zelina and I just can't marry him without asking your permission first, it would feel so wrong. And if you say no I will respect it and back down, I promise I will."

Zelina stared at her in shock for a moment, trying to process what she was saying. "Wha—Padme, no, no! I mean...I-I do love him and...and yes this is hard for me but..." she trailed off, trying to gather her wits before she spoke again. She planted herself firmly facing Padme, looking her straight in the eyes. "Padme. I love Anakin with every fiber of my being, and I wish that he felt the same way; but he doesn't. He loves you. I know he does. From what I've heard and seen, from what he's told me...he loves you as much as I love him. He's chosen you. If he didn't have you, I think that is what would really destroy him. He needs you, he's happy with you. I could never live with myself if I came between you two knowing how much you mean to him. And...I love him enough that I am willing to let him go so that he can be happy. Padme, you go on and marry him. He loves you, and if you didn't marry him, if you backed out now...it would break his heart. Please, don't let my feelings come in-between you two. I never spoke up about my feelings anyway; I kept them locked away. And it would be even harder for me and him to hide a relationship than you two; we'd both be constantly under the supervision of other Jedi, there would be no private moment for us, we couldn't get away with it. You two do have a chance. Go on Padme; marry him, I won't stop you."

Her words hung heavy in the air for a few moments as both women soaked in the information that was now out there between them. Finally, Padme slowly nodded.

"Thank you for telling me Zelina. I needed to hear that. And I'm sure that you needed to say it...are you sure that you want to go through with this? You don't have to be here, you don't have to go through this..."