She
hadn’t cried.

Maybe
that was the worst of it for Anakin as he haltingly and awkwardly
explained to Padme the situation.

She
had looked sad but also resigned and when done her shoulders had
slumped and she had nodded even as she held her chin high, still the
proud once Queen that
Anakin couldn’t help but crush on the moment he had seen her, still
that kind person that made him fall in love.

“…I’m
sorry.” Anakin whispered pitifully,
feeling like the biggest jerk in all of galactic history,
his hands twisted in his leggings.

Padme
shook her head, looking beautiful with her hair falling around her
face and back like a wave from the ocean, the sun from Coruscant
skyline filling the living room as they sat on each their couch and
catching the gems of her sky blue halter dress with flowing sleeves.
“No, no I knew… I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep you. No
matter how much you wanted to stay and I wanted to keep you, I knew
you weren’t going to remain.”
She whispered, rubbing at her face before sighing deeply
and painfully.

Biting
the inside of his cheek, Anakin wanted to get up and hug her, to kiss
her and chase her fears and
sadness
away but he couldn’t.

Not
anymore. It
wasn’t his place anymore with what he had admitted and the divorce
they would now have.

So
instead he awkwardly sat on the amber colored couch while twisting
his hands, almost ripping the cloth on the mech side.

She
let out a huffing laugh. “You know, the day I married you, I knew,
I could feel it that you’d leave me some day, though
I have to admit that I didn’t think like this.
Maybe it was the Force but I figured… at least a few years of
happiness with you would be worth it… and it was Anakin.” Padme
stated softly, smiling tiredly at him, that mournful tilt to her
lips.

Shaking,
Anakin nodded before slowly standing. “I’ll… I’ll go pack up
some of my things. Get ready to…” He breathed out heavily.

Once
more her kindness humbled him as she shook her head. “Anakin, you
don’t have to rush. Please, I know that… let us be friends at
least.” The Nabooan tilted her head then stood and reached out over
the caff table, taking Anakin’s shaking hands to squeeze them.

Throwing
caution to the wind, Anakin moved around the glass table, pulling her
into a tight hug while bawling into her hair. “I didn’t mean to
hurt you, I never meant to hurt you!!” He cried, his knees feeling
like they would buckle at any moment.

Hiccuping
a bit, Padme reached up and ran her hand through Anakin’s curls.
“Shh, it’s okay. Anakin it’s okay. I know.” She
whispered but never cried, still that proud Queen and Senator that
fought for the Republic and her people, for justice and peace.

The
two whispered and comforted
together, both wondering what would come now even as they both knew
that what Anakin had discovered in Obi-Wan would make it impossible
for them.

But
it didn’t mean it hurt any less and desperately they clung to each
other.

()()()

Pausing
in his work, Palpatine narrowed his eyes as the Force shifted around
him, a change in the wind that the others didn’t notice even as he
discreetly glanced towards the Jedi temple.

No,
not there.

The
Force wasn’t shifting there.

It
was more general, a fundamental shift that Palpatine wasn’t sure of
but felt was galaxy wide and he wasn’t sure if the change was
beneficial to him or not, not yet.

‘I’ll
have to put out my agents to figure out what has happened. Start with
the Jedi temple and Skywalker.’ He thought with narrowed eyes
before focusing back on the Senator’s when Mothma cleared her
throat, brows raised expectantly.

Pulling
on his grandfatherly smile, Palpatine begged the excuse of age with
an inward sneer as he asked her to repeat herself.

He
couldn’t wait to put them all under his thumb.