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“We’re married. We’ve been married since right after Geonosis.”
Obi-wan’s jaw fell open, then snapped shut again with a click. For a moment it seemed like he was trying to force a response, but he only managed to make an exasperated noise in the back of his throat. He abandoned speaking entirely and stood up with such force that his shin accidentally pushed the glass table away from the couch. Obi-wan began his pacing, either unable or unwilling to meet the eye of his padawan.
Anakin still sat back against the couch, his jaw set. This had started as an innocent discussion about their assignments to come, as many of their arguments did. Then Obi-wan began discussing the recent attack on the senate building, and all roads seem to lead to Padmé. Hiding from everyone was hard, but not impossible for him. He knew the devastating trouble it would bring to her if he revealed the information to anyone. He knew that when he fell in love with her.
But hiding from Obi-wan had proven more difficult than he thought. It hurt him to lie to him day after day, to sneak around between deployments and avoid spending time with his master. He had been home in Coruscant for a week now and this night was the first conversation they had in all that time. It hurt him to push him away. It hurt him to avoid going on missions to Naboo for fear of revealing something. Hell, it hurt him to hurriedly shove Padmé’s sleep shirt under the bed when he got the transmission from Obi-wan that he wanted to talk over the attack. And it especially hurt him to see the look on Obi-wan’s face as he wore a hole in the floor. After a few more agonizing seconds of overthinking for Anakin, Obi-wan finally stopped his pacing.
“Anakin….What could you possibly have been thinking?” he sighed, finally looking at him with tired eyes.
“You know what I was thinking.” he ground out, his voice sounding foreign and angrier than he felt.
“I truly don’t Anakin! I’ve had my suspicions of your feelings for the Senator, but I couldn’t imagine you had gone this far!”
At that, Anakin stood up, the glass table pushing back the other way with a screech.
“You have no idea how much I love her, Master.” he said, contempt filling the last word, “There was only one way for it to go.”
“I can’t believe you would do this to her, I know you are more respon—”
“—Do this to her? Are you suggesting, that, that, somehow I took advantage of her—”
“Ani?”
Both of their heads whipped toward the door. Fuck. He was too lost in the argument to sense her coming; and he could safely assume Obi-wan was thinking the same thing. Padmé stood at the top of the stairs, still dressed in her lavender robe from the committee meeting earlier. The committee meeting that was supposed to last for another hour. Her narrowed eyes flicked between them before widening suddenly.
Anakin had the decency to look ashamed. He dropped onto the couch, holding his head in his hands. He partially registered Obi-wan completing the customary greeting through his hands—ever the courteous one.
“Senator, please forgive us.”
“I need no apology Master Obi-wan. I need an explanation.” she responded.
Her voice may have sounded even to one of her committee members, but Anakin could sense a slight waver.
“Yes, of course—”
“—From Anakin.”
He raised his head, bringing his hands up to push his curls away from his closed eyes. When he opened them, Obi-wan had sat back down, his anger and surprise cooled significantly by their newest arrival. Padmé walked down the stairs, a concerned but still stern look on her face that he knew all too well. She gracefully sat, hands folded in her lap, waiting for her answer. Anakin wanted to laugh. Everything was so stilted, it practically felt like a diplomatic meeting. This was a conversation with the two people who knew him best, and they were all sitting three feet apart. But he couldn’t laugh, so instead he began explaining to his wife.
“I told him. We were talking about the attacks, and he mentioned how conflicted I was during our mission, because I wanted to go back to make sure you were safe, and, and…” he trailed off, his usual confidence wrecked.
“Ani. It’s alright.”
Relief flooded his system at those two words. She wasn’t mad.
“A-alright. I’m sorry, I had to tell him sometime, I just didn’t want it like this.” he admitted, his voice dropping to just above a whisper.
“I know. I know.”
With that she stood up and joined him on the couch, gently taking his hand, slowing his breathing immediately. Obi-wan, who had been silently observing them the whole time, sighed gently.
“Padmé, I apologize for my outburst. But you both have to understand how…difficult this is to process.”
“Obi-wan, I understand. What I want you to understand is that, yes, we are young. We are living through a war right now, and marriage goes against what the Jedi believe. But we are in love,” Padmé stated simply, “and there is no changing that. Believe me, I tried to fight it just as hard as you probably want to.”
They sat in silence as Padmé’s words worked around in Obi-wan’s head.
“Let’s pretend I’m not a Jedi for a moment. And let’s pretend that you’re not a senator.”
“That’s easy for us, we’ve been doing that our whole relationship.” Anakin mumbled, noticing the corner of Padmé’s mouth quirk up for a split second.
“Anakin,” Obi-wan scolded, “be serious. To be frank, I can tell you’re in love. I knew Anakin had feelings for you since I took him in as a padawan. I think your marriage was a brash, but innocent decision. While I completely disapprove, I understand why you chose this.”
Padmé nodded along, running the soft pads of her fingertips over Anakin’s human hand. Anakin stared at his master, feeling the tension around his eyes return slightly.
“And…and you know why I’m so apprehensive about a relationship of this nature. Besides the obvious rules of the Jedi order.” Obi-wan said, with great difficulty. “I had to make the same decision that you did while on Mandalore. And I chose differently.”
Padmé’s hand stilled, and Anakin felt her eyes on him. He looked at her and nodded slightly, making her mouth drop open.
“Yes, Padme. It’s your turn to be shocked.” Obi-wan chuckled, but his eyes remained forlorn.
“I’m sorry, I just—I didn’t know.” she said, processing his information. “May…may I ask your advice then?”
Obi-wan looked surprised at the ask, but he sat up straighter.
“Of course. I can’t say I’ll be much help, but I know a few things.” he smiled gently.
Padmé looked at Anakin for reassurance, who just shrugged. He had no idea where she was going with this.
“Who can we tell? Safely, I mean.” she asked, extracting her hand from Anakin’s.
“Oh. Well, first of all, who have you told?” he asked, his shoulders suddenly tense.
“Our witnesses were just the droids. But we believe Jobal knows.” Anakin replied, pulling Padmé’s hand back onto his.
She pursed her lips at him before continuing her movement. He smiled a little, enjoying the freedom of having the smallest interaction with her in front of someone.
Obi-wan had visibly relaxed at the information that only one human knew their secret, and now he was thinking.
“It would obviously be politically devastating for you Padmé if you told any of the senators, but can you think of anyone that would be accepting? I know you have some very close friendships among the republic senators.”
“I…the only person coming to mind now is Bail. He’s always known of some relationship between us, and he is my designated survivor at times. It would make sense for him to know in case something were to happen to me.”
“I trust him. He’s always been good to you.” Anakin agreed, glancing at Obi-wan who was also nodding.
“That’s a smart move. Anakin, along the same logic, maybe some of the 501st ought to know?”
“Those men might be incredible fighters, but I think I could only trust Rex to not spread that information.” Anakin scoffed, imagining what someone like Fives would do if he learned the secret.
“Alright then, Rex. And, in my eyes, there’s only one other person that should know.”
Anakin groaned slightly, slumping into the couch. Obi-wan raised his eyebrows at his petulant behavior.
“Do you have an issue with your padawan, Anakin?” Obi-wan questioned.
“No master,” he ground out, “it’s just that, well, you know her. She’s a headstrong child. She’s crude and will be completely embarrassing about this.”
Padmé suddenly laughed, and Obi-wan’s mouth quirked up a bit, making Anakin frown further.
“That’s what you’re concerned about? Really? If you can lead a galactic war, you can handle one teenage girl. Ahsoka is no different than how I was at her age.” Padmé chided.
“I couldn’t agree more. And ‘headstrong child’? I would almost think you’re describing yourself.” he teased.
“Very funny you two,” he grumbled, “If we’re done making our list, I’d like to resolve this conversation.”
“Alright. I hope you two both know that this will take time for everyone—and still me—to work through this.”
“We understand, Master Kenobi. It might take a while for us to even be ready.”
Obi-wan smiled, rising from the couch and brushing off his worn robes.
“Of course. Anakin, I will see you at the investigation tomorrow. If you are late, you will embarrass me.” he said, easily slipping back into his role as master as he walked toward the door.
“Yes master. I’ll be there. Early even!” he grumbled sarcastically, also rising to hand him his lightsaber.
Padmé excused herself to change out of her heavy senate robes, kissing Obi-wan on the cheek before disappearing into the bedroom. Anakin walked with him to the door, the conversation still swirling in his mind. Before Obi-wan stepped out, he turned back to fully face him, making Anakin stop walking. What he said next was the most earnest thing his padawan had ever heard him say.
“I really wish I could have been there for your wedding.”
With that, he turned on his heel and the door slid shut, leaving Anakin standing frozen. This time it wasn’t anger pricking behind his eyes, but tears. After a night full of strong emotions, Anakin never expected to feel regret. Of course he wanted to be there. Anakin walked, slightly dazed, across to the balcony, letting the cool night air rush over his flushed face, drying the slight wetness that had appeared in his eyes. He was at peace for a moment.
“Did you shove my silk shirt under the bed?!?”
Just for a moment indeed.