The Mercy Seat: Part Five

[lazypadawan]

It's got Padmé, it's got Anakin, it's got nookie. Rated R:



Part Five

Anakin arrived home sooner than expected, slipping onto the veranda as she sat alone resting. "It's still daylight," she cautioned him. "You could have been seen."

"It doesn't matter," he said with a crooked grin, sitting next to her. "I needed to be with you." The handmaidens were in the household, but were attending to other duties. They would never disturb her and Anakin regardless.

Padmé beamed at her husband. "I heard the good news. Congratulations." To her surprise, Anakin winced. "What's wrong? I thought you would be thrilled."

"They didn't make me a Master."

"But you're on the Council. How could you not be a Master?"

"You ask them," Anakin said bitterly. Padmé reached out to caress Anakin, words of comfort and support on her lips when she felt a sharp kick in her belly.

"Oooh!" She wrapped her arm over her stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. The baby's just moving around. He keeps kicking."

Anakin's tense expression softened. "He? Why do you think it's a boy?"

"My motherly intuition," she said with a teasing smile.

"Let me feel," he said, placing his hand on Padmé's stomach. Padmé placed her hand over his and watched his smile of amazement as he felt his child's signs of life. "Whoa! With a kick that strong, it's got to be a girl." They laughed and it seemed like old times.

But just as Padmé began to believe the storm in his eyes had dissipated, shadows crossed over his face again. He moved his hand from her belly.

"Sometimes I wonder what's happening to the Jedi Order," he mused. "I think this war is destroying the principles of the Republic."

By the goddess, that's exactly what I've been thinking! This was the perfect opportunity to bring up her idea. "Have you ever considered that we may be on the wrong side?"

Anakin looked at her with suspicion, something that took Padmé by surprise. He'd never looked at her that way before. "What do you mean?"

"What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists? What if the Republic has become the very evil we have been fighting to destroy?"

"I don't believe that," he growled. "And you're starting to sound like a Separatist!"

No, Ani, you misunderstand. She felt a knot in her stomach. "This war represents a failure to listen. You're closer to the Chancellor than anyone. Please, ask him to stop the fighting and let diplomacy resume."

Anakin leapt to his feet, angry. "Don't ask me to do that! Make a motion in the Senate, where that kind of request belongs!"

Padmé could hardly believe her ears. Anakin never snapped at her like that before. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he said, still glowering.

"Don't do this. Don't shut me out," Padmé said. "Let me help you." She got up and went to him. How could I ask him to be open with me when I can't be open with him? "Hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo, so long ago when there was only our love. No politics, no plotting, no war." Padmé shut her eyes and held on to him tightly. She wanted those days back. On those quiet, peaceful days at their retreat they were simply a man and a woman in love. They were one in heart and in spirit. Here, she couldn't help but think there were forces ready to drive them apart. Just a few more days and I can go home, she thought. Anakin's arms wrapped around her. While his embrace was warm and as tight as hers, he still seemed distant. Distracted.

Sighing inwardly, she decided to do something to force him back to the here and now. They had so little time together, she hated to spend it with troubles between them. "I'm sorry for upsetting you, " she whispered. Padmé rubbed her small hands up and down Anakin's back.

"I'm sorry too," he whispered in her hair before kissing her on top of her head. Padmé responded by planting small kisses on his chest and neck.

"Let's go inside," she half-pleaded. "To our room. Where we can have some privacy for a little while." Anakin nodded and he let her take him by the hand from the veranda.

She got him to remove his robe and sit on the edge of the bed as she massaged his tense back and shoulders. He seemed to relax somewhat, purring with pleasure. She kissed him on the cheek, then nibbled gently on his ear.

"I love it when you do that," Anakin said with a slight grin. Padmé smiled, pleased.

"Want me to do it again?" she whispered huskily. She nibbled his ear again and she felt him shudder against her. Padmé began kissing his cheek, then his lips. Usually, Anakin liked being the dominant one in their romantic encounters, but this time he was willing to let his wife have her way with him. Something told her he needed the comfort of her touch.

She removed his tunic and ran her fingers on his bare skin, enjoying the hardness of his chest, back, and shoulders. Suddenly the gown she wore felt too hot and heavy, so she removed her headdress and stripped down to an underdress. She liked being able to show off her pregnancy to someone, even if it was only to her husband in private. She noticed with some amusement that he gazed on her milk-full breasts approvingly. She bent his head against her chest, letting him trail kisses on the cleavage spilling out of her underdress bodice. She brushed her hand against his arousal and he moaned.

Padmé pleasured him first with her hand then with her lips and tongue. He reached his release, then he collapsed on the bed. She lay next to him, holding him as he luxuriated in his ecstasy. He's mine again, I know it, she thought, smiling at him.

Then his comlink beeped. Half growling, Anakin broke the embrace and answered his comlink. "I have to see the Chancellor," he said, putting his comlink away.

She didn't have the heart or the bravery to ask him to consider her request. Maybe too much was being expected from too many others. She quickly helped him get dressed and straighten out his hair. Reaching up to caress his cheek, she asked, "Will you be home later tonight?"

"I'll do my best." He leaned down, kissed her mouth, then her forehead. Reluctantly, she watched him go as night's shadows fell over the skyline.