Padme wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold because of invisible draft, but knowing it was really her thoughts that chilled her to the bone. As she stared into the burning embers of the fireplace, she knew no warmth would come to her. Dark-brown eyes swirled with emotion, her lips parted slightly, and her breathing seemed uneven.

"Alastair," she whispered aloud, her lips slowly sounding out the syllables. She closed her eyes and smiled slightly, thinking of the person in question. It had been so long ago. She was something that was forbidden to think about. She was something that managed to rile her up with only a few words, she was something that managed to annoy her to a great extent, she was something that brightened up her day... she was someone that she loved.

"Padme," came the calming voice of her husband as he walked into the room and sat next to her before the fireplace, "How are you, my love?" he asked her, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek, not noticing the state of emotion she was in.

"Oh, Ani!" she replied, her voice shaking slightly as she turned towards her husband, a smile gracing her face as she saw him, "I've missed you." She noticed that he looked worn out, his eyes holding dark circles underneath them as testament to her thoughts. "Long day, love?"

Anakin sighed and nodded, "It really is tiresome to run an Empire, but I won't bore you with the details." He smirked and wrapped his arms around her still frame, "Just know that I am much happier now that I am here with you."

Padme smiled once more at him and wrapped her arms around him as well, cuddling closer to the warmth of his body, party out of affection and partly because she still felt as if she might become an ice sculpture soon. Anakin seemed to notice, too.

"Why are you so cold?" he asked with concern, his eyes darkening, " You're not ill, are you?"

'Yes, yes I am very ill. Alastair is trying to contact me!' she screamed inside of her head, but no words came forth from her mouth and her demeanor remained calm; being a politician made her handle her emotions well, on the outside, at least.

"No, no, I'm fine," she replied, sighing as Anakin gently rubbed her back, stifling a moan. The man really was skilled with his hands. "I don't feel sick. I just have the chills," she smiled reassuringly at him, placing a hand on his arm to reinforce her smile.

"Are you sure?" he questioned, not looking convinced at all and Padme sighed mentally, knowing her political skills had failed her. It was Anakin she was talking with, not a fellow senator. Of course he could read her like a book. "You've been acting strange ever since that Alastair person was mentioned," Anakin said as he roughly kneaded his knuckles into her back.

"Ah," Padme winced and lightly slapped his arm, "That hurt, Anakin," she said in a firm voice, "and I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh, but I think you do," he said as he continued to roughly rub her back, his voice dropping a pitch, "Who is she, Padme?"

"Stop it, Anakin," she said, looking alarmed and pulling away from his embrace, her brown-eyes wide and cautious, watching his reaction. "She's an old friend of mine. Now must you push this subject?" she asked him, her voice sounding firm although she felt herself waver. Something was wrong with Anakin. He was in one of those moods.

"Tell me, Padme! I won't ask you again!" he said loudly, his mouth pressed together firmly and his eyes sparkling from the light of the fire. She stared mesmerized into his eyes; they were like the living form of the fire that was before them, failing to bring warmth to her cold body. Anakin placed his hands on her shoulders and brought her closer to his face, "Padme!"

Padme shook her head slowly, not able to break eye contact with him. Those eyes...

"Alastair," she whispered.

Anakin gripped her shoulders tightly before releasing them. He broke eye contact with her and Padme blinked suddenly, looking as if she didn't know what was going on.

Anakin stood up and glanced down at her, his eyes still shining in the darkness of the room. "I'm sorry, Padme," he said simply before walking out of the room, leaving her to once again stare blankly into the fire. She wrapped her arms around herself again, the cold feeling now completely taking over her.

What do I do?

"Mama! Mama!" I heard an excited, young voice call out. I turned my attention away from my paperwork as I glanced up at my daughter, Leia.

"Yes, dear?" I asked a bit impatiently. I was almost done with my paperwork and although I was curious as to what she was so excited about, I still had hoped to finish my work sometime soon.

Leia, as if reading my thoughts, decided it would be best to give me a barrage of questions.

"What are you doing, mommy?" she asked, leaning over my desk to see as best as she could. "Is it important stuff? Can I help? Where's Luke?"

I sighed and shook my head wryly at the girl. Knowing I wouldn't get anymore work done, I grabbed all the papers littered around my desk and set them into a neat pile. Straightening my back and trying to look regal, I attempted to answer her questions, "Mommy is doing important adult work for the Empire that you wouldn't be interested in. As for Luke," I paused and leaned in closer towards her, "I don't know where he is, but what are you up to?"

Leia smiled even wider at my question, her deep brown eyes sparkling. "Daddy said we can go to a park," she replied in a matter-of-fact voice.

I raised an eyebrow at her and laughed, amusement seeping into my voice, "Oh, is that so? And when exactly are we going?" I wondered why I was always the last one to find out these things. I stopped my musings as I realized why it seemed so strange to me. I felt a pang of sadness at the thought of Anakin. He'd been so busy again lately that I'd hardly seen him.

Leia nodded her head and tried to mimic my pose of regalty, "Daddy told me to come tell you because he had to go find Luke. He said something about Luke sneaking off to go practice again. Oh, and we're leaving right now! So, let's go!"

I smiled at Leia and after giving her my reassurances that I would be there as soon as possible, she headed off to her room to grab something, telling me she would meet me in the hangar area. I took a fleeting glance at my paperwork as I stood up, walking towards the door. As I opened it, I saw someone walking down the hall towards me. Someone I wasn't expecting to see. My husband.

"Anakin!" I exclaimed happily upon seeing my handsome husband. I felt as if my heart would burst as I ran towards his already open arms. He smiled charmingly at me as he picked me up and swung me around once. As my feet touched the ground I pulled him in close, hugging myself as tightly to his body as possible. "Anakin, I've missed you, my love," I said earnestly, my face still pressed against his chest.

"I've missed you too, Padme," he replied softly, his hand stroking my hair. I closed my eyes to relish the attention I was receiving from him seeing as how I had not been this close to him in a few days. He pulled out of my embrace and placed his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes as he continued smiling crookedly. "And how have you been, my love?"

"Much better now that I've seen you," I replied in a playful voice, a devilish smile coming to my face as I leaned up, quickly kissing him on the lips.

He tilted his head back and laughed, something I wasn't expecting. My smile turned into a glare as I poked him in the chest, slightly annoyed at being laughed at. "What exactly do you find so funny?"

Anakin continued laughing before calming down enough to speak, "Well, I think it's funny that you thin-"

He was interrupted by a screechingly high-pitched beeping sound. He sighed in annoyance and looked at me apologetically, "Padme, I'm sorr-"

Anakin was cut off again, but this time by me. "Don't worry about it, Anakin," I replied, placing a hand on his face with a small smile. "Maybe the children and I will see you later."

Anakin bowed his head and nodded, "Yeah, maybe," he said unenthusiastically. "I love you." He bent down and placed a kiss to the back of my hand before turning and walking swiftly down the corridor. I watched him leave with a blank expression on my face, and honestly, a blank mind.

"Mommy?"

I turned to see Luke standing there with a grim expression on his face. The same expression I once saw on a young boy's face one day on a distant planet called Tatooine.

I frowned and placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair affectionately. "It's nothing to worry about. Let's go to the recreational room with your sister."

He nodded and placed his hand in my own, guiding me down the hallway. We stepped into the recreational room and I noticed Leia was already inside. I suppose she knew our trip off the ship would be cancelled once she heard the warning sirens. The recreational room was a miniature playground of sorts Anakin and I had put together for Luke and Leia. After all, we were usually deep in space living on the ship; not a planet.

I slowly smiled as I watched my young children play, an action I couldn't control, but I knew I was not smiling from joy. It was an empty smile. One of many empty smiles to come.

Padme hummed a lulling tune, one that her mother had used to sing to her as a child. She was finishing up her task of cutting fresh vegetables, a rare thing on this planet, when Luke and Leia came barreling in.

"Mommy! Mommy! Guess what Luke did? He played sand wre-" Leia tried to explain, but was abruptly cut off by a hand over her mouth, which belonged to a smiling sandy-blond haired boy.

"What she means is that we made, uh, sandcastles. Right, Leia?"

Leia glared at Luke, mumbling incohorently because of the hand that still covered her mouth. Giving up, she finally just nodded in agreement.

Luke grinned and slipped his hand away from Leia's mouth and jumped up onto a table-top chair. Padme smiled at him, continuing her task of cutting up the vegetables.

Leia hopped up onto a chair as well, still a bit annoyed at Luke. "Mommy," Leia said, tilting her head to the side with an innocent expression, "When do we see Daddy again?"

Padme slammed the knife hard onto the cutting board upon hearing the question, and the loud sound echoed throughout the room.

Luke and Leia stared wide-eyed, wondering if they had done something wrong. Padme breathed in deeply, trying to regain her composure, and gently set the knife down.

She leaned in towards Leia, smiling, and lightly flicked her nose. "Real soon, sweetheart. Sooner than you think."

Leia giggled and scrunched up her nose, while Luke remained silent, staring off into space.

The awkward moment was interrupted by a loud banging noise, followed by C-3PO walking into the room. "Oh my! That wall came out of nowhere!"

Padme shook her head while Leia giggled. C-3PO waved his arms around in exasperation. "It really wasn't that funny! I'd like to see you run into a wall!"

C-3PO walked out of the room muttering to himself, before coming back into the room with something in his hand. "Oh, Miss Padme! I almost forgot. I received this today," he said, handing Padme the item in his hands.

 Padme took the object, a bit confused, before her face broke out into a smile. "Thank you, C-3PO. I'll be right back, Luke and Leia."

She quickly took it up to her room, sitting down at the edge of her bed.

"Padme," a holographic image of Anakin started, "I hope you're doing well. Every day that goes by without you by my side seems like forever."

Padme's face brightened upon seeing her husband's face, and she reached out her hands towards the holograph, trying in vain to touch the man she loved. She smiled sadly when her hands when straight through the image.

"I'm in agony without you, Padme," the image of Anakin continued, his face grim, "Things are going well here. As well as can be expected, of course. I don't know how much longer I can keep this disguise up."

Padme sighed and clasped her hands together, "Oh, Ani. I wish I could be there with you too."

"I'm tired of all this deception, Padme," Anakin continued, but looked more distracted, "Things aren't exactly going how I wanted them to be. Luneras is p-"

Suddenly, the image cut off and Padme looked confused for a moment, wondering what had happened, before her look turned into one of worry.

"Anakin, I hope you're alright," Padme whispered, clutching the holograph tightly in her hands.

She stood up from the bed and went back downstairs, hoping to find the twins and tell them the news.