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TITLE: Diversions
AUTHOR: Amarantha (amaranthamorgan@thesmithgeeks.com)
RATING: NC-17
CHARACTERS: Anakin/Vader (depending on his mood), OFC
CATEGORY: Humor, Seduction, AU

DISCLAIMER: As much as I wish he was, he’s not mine. The OFC is mine, though. And I haven’t gotten any money from this, as kick-ass as that would be.

SUMMARY: A sergeant meets her new commanding officer … here on vacation from the GFFA. Vader's Fortress challenge fic.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thank you, gracias, merci, thanx to Mel for being my beta.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Partially in response to a fiction challenge, partially because of a recurring dream I keep having. Eh, either way works for me. *grins*

Sergeant Smith was sitting at her desk, going through the database and adding new Marines when the first sergeant bellowed for her. She sprang up and darted into his office.

“Yes, first sergeant?”

“We’re getting our new commanding officer this morning; why don’t you take him around battalion, and help him out if he needs anything.”

“Roger that; who’s the new CO going to be?”

The first sergeant consulted the computer screen on his desk. “Says here a Lieutenant … Skywalker.”

Sergeant Smith tried to smother a laugh. “Skywalker? As in ‘Star Wars’? Man, someone’s parents were cruel.”

The first sergeant’s mouth quirked. “You know what’s even better? They named the poor guy Anakin.”

At this, Sergeant Smith burst into laughter. “And I’m supposed to show this guy around with a straight face?”

“We figure you’d be better at it than anyone else.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, if I have to.”

She’d just taken her seat at her desk when the office door opened and the new CO walked in. Sergeant Smith leapt to her feet.

The Lieutenant smiled and motioned her to sit down. “Don’t bother with all that ‘attention on deck’ stuff, it drives me nuts.” He paused. “And not in a good way,” he grinned.

Sergeant Smith laughed. “Yes, sir. First Sergeant Jordan has asked me to acquaint you with battalion and make sure that your check-in process is seamless.”

The lieutenant nodded. “I’d appreciate that. Where’s my office?”

Sergeant Smith motioned to the office across from her desk. “Right there, sir.” She extracted a key from her desk and handed it to him. “Here’s your key; I’ve been hanging onto it so we can get docs out of that office when we need them.”

“Thanks.”

“Sir, I’ll need you to fill out this new join sheet, if you have time.” She handed him a database sheet, and made a superhuman effort not to stare at his eyes. She’d never seen sapphire eyes shot through with amber in her life, and found it hard to look away from them. Of course, the chiseled cheekbones and innocent-yet-knowing grin didn’t help, either.

“I think I can make time for this,” he answered. “When do you want to start the tour?”

“Well, sir, it’s almost chow, so I can get your information put into the system and make sure you have an email account, and then I can show you around at 1300.”

“Works for me. Let me get this filled out and given back to you.” He disappeared into his office and shut the door.

“Thank god for doors with glass panes,” Sergeant Smith muttered as she studied the new lieutenant.

He ran a hand through his close-cropped, wavy, dark blond hair, searched through his desk for a pen, and absently nibbled on a fingernail while he filled out the paper. She noticed the scar over his right eye, one cutting into the hairline on the left side as he swung his chair around to look at the wall calendar, and how well his body was suited to Marine Corps blues – tall, lean, but just broad enough across the shoulders. Every adjustment he made to his uniform seemed to involve standing, bending, or twisting in some incredibly erotic way.

Sergeant Smith snapped out of her reverie when the first sergeant walked up to her desk.

“I’m heading out for the day,” he said. “RHIP.”

Sergeant Smith rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Rank Has Its Privileges. I know; you tell me every time you leave early. You oughta just say, ‘Hey Smith, I’m going to skate now.’ It’d be a lot simpler.”

First Sergeant Jordan laughed. “I would, but I’m pretty sure the new lieutenant wouldn’t approve.”

“Oh, I don’t know, he seems pretty laid back.” She pointed to the door, where the lieutenant could be seen propping his feet up on his desk and tilting his chair back.

The first sergeant laughed. “You might be right. Well, either way, I’m going skating. I’ll see you on Monday. Just be here around 0800, okay?”

She nodded. “Have a good weekend, first sergeant.”

He grinned and headed out of the office. The lieutenant’s door opened shortly afterward.

“Here’s your paper, sergeant.” He presented the paper with a flourish.

She laughed and took it. “Thank you, sir.” Looking down at it, she said, “Sir, your parents really named you Anakin Skywalker?”

“Mother. Yes, that was the name she gave me. Why, is there something wrong with it?”

Sergeant Smith swallowed the laugh threatening to bubble out of her. “No sir, I was just curious.”

He eyed her strangely. “Well … I’ll be in my office whenever you’re ready for that tour.”

“Aren’t you going to chow, sir?”

“Nah.” He turned and walked back into the office, shutting the door behind him.

She’d have to admit her typing was greatly slowed by the fact she was watching him more than half the time; there was something undeniably sexy about a guy with an unbuttoned blue shirt kicked back in his office chair like the world belonged to him.

“He’s my CO,” she muttered fiercely to herself. “Just keep telling yourself that.” She finally finished updating the database – “Anakin Skywalker,” she chuckled to herself again – and then knocked on his door.

“Come in,” he called lazily.

“Sir, I’m done with the database if you’d like to start that tour now.”

He stood and stepped toward her. “And what particular area would you like to start the tour with?” he murmured.

Sergeant Smith stood there, dumbfounded, for a moment. She couldn’t have formed a coherent answer if she’d tried. “I … well … that is … we ….” She paused, and the short curls around her face danced as she shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She took a deep breath, and started again. “Well, sir, there’s-“

He put a finger over her lips to silence her. “Let me rephrase that. We can walk around battalion – something I already know you hate doing – or I can fuck you in this office for the rest of the afternoon, since I know First Sergeant Jordan left for the day.”

Smith stared at him. “How the hell are your eyes turning yellow? Weren’t they blue a minute ago?”

“They get like this when I’m quite excited about something.”

Sergeant Smith glanced down. “Well, we can certainly tell you’re excited about something.”

“That would be the thought of you, naked, bent over my desk.”

“People would walk in on us! It’s the natural karma of the military. How the hell do you not know that?”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot.” He made a waving motion with his hand. Sergeant Smith heard a distinct click from the main office door. “Now they can’t get in. And they’ll think we’ve gone home for the day. It is Friday, after all.”

She stared at him. “How did you do that?”

He laughed. “Can’t you put two and two together?”

She eyed him skeptically. “You’re trying to tell me you’re the Anakin Skywalker? Please. He’s just a figment of George Lucas’s imagination.”

“That’s what he likes to think,” he answered. “Don’t worry about the physics of it, just accept it.”

“You’re one to talk,” she shot back. “You couldn’t accept anything, if the movies were right.”

He glared at her. “We don’t need to talk about that.”

“Well, then don’t get preachy at me, Mr. Dissatisfied with Everything.”

Anakin looked at her in disbelief. “Are you allowed to be this mouthy in the Marines?”

“I generally don’t display it at work, but you seem to bring it out.”

He grinned. “Anything else I can bring out? Like you out of that uniform?”

She rolled her eyes. “Good god, what’s next? You gonna ask me if I want to see your Mustang?”

“Please. Mustangs are so overrated. I have a Firebird.”

She burst out laughing. “Now that is just funny. Firebird.” She looked him up and down. “Although apparently you didn’t end up extra crispy this time around.”

“Hell no, Obi-Wan remembered that he pulled the same jump-over routine on Maul … a little too late.”

“Ah. So you won in this one.”

“Yep. And knocked off Palpatine.”

“So why are you here?”

“Vacation.”

“On Earth. In America, 2005. In the Marine Corps. There is something seriously wrong with you.”

He chuckled. “That’s what most people think. At least people in my empire are smart enough not to mention it to my face.”

She shrugged. “What do you want me to do, cower in abject fear? Not gonna happen.”

“Well, what about my previous offer?”

“What, to fuck in your office all afternoon?”

“Yeah.”

“You have any more scars? I dig scars.”

“Of course. I’m a war hero – don’t they all?”

“Good point. And you’re sure the door’s locked?”

“Yes.”

She looked him up and down. “Sure. I didn’t have anything more exciting planned this afternoon, anyway.”

“First things first. What’s your name? I refuse to call you ‘sergeant’ the whole afternoon.”

“Danielle.”

“I like that,” he smiled.

“You better,” she grinned.

He slid a hand up the bottom of her blues blouse. She laid her hand over his. “This blouse cost me $120. If you rip all these buttons off, I’m going to beat you to death with my shoe.”

Anakin looked at her for a second, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll unbutton them.” A moment later he swore. “Are they all this hard to undo?”

“Yep, those buttons are a bitch.”

A couple of minutes and a lot of cussing later, the blouse was neatly laid in a corner of the office.

“What I don’t understand,” she said, “is why you didn’t just use the Force to do it.”

The look on his face was so chagrined that she doubled over laughing. “That was priceless!” she gasped.

He mock-glared. “I hate you. Really. I do.”

“Ooh. One more time, with feeling, eh?”

“You listen to Bon Jovi, too?”

“I don’t even want to know how you came across Bon Jovi. Seriously.” She clapped a hand over his mouth and started unbuttoning his shirt. As he went to take it off, she stopped him. “Wait. Just take off the t-shirt, then put it back on.”

He obliged, then began to button the blouse back up. She stopped him. “Man, you’re dense. Leave the blouse unbuttoned.” She knelt in front of him and slipped his corframs off, then stood and unfastened his trousers.

“Why am I not surprised you’re a boxers kind of guy?”

“They’re more comfortable.”

“Be that as it may … but Darth Vader boxers?”

“What? I liked them!”

“You would,” she said, mock-derisively.

“Hey!”

She laughed. “It’s so easy to yank your chain.”

He pulled her up to him. “Oh yeah?”

She looked up at his sapphire and amber eyes. “Ummmm … yeah. Yeah, it is.”

He leaned closer. “You sure about that?”

“Look, the fact I really want to kiss you doesn’t change the fact that it’s easy to yank your chain.”

“Well, damn,” he said, before planting his mouth on hers. She wrapped one leg around his, and her arms twined behind his head. When they broke apart, she was near-breathless.

“It’s really too bad you had to cut your hair,” she muttered. “Much more pullable before.”

He nodded. “I agree. But I couldn’t really join the Marines with long hair.”

“True.” She looked around him at the mahogany desk. “Good thing you just got here, your desk doesn’t have crap all over it.”

He nodded and walked her backward until she hit the desk and lay back on it.

“You know, under that prim and proper uniform, you really have some racy stuff,” he said as he pulled off her left stocking.

“You telling me you still consider a thong racy?”

“When it’s under the military version of a librarian uniform, I’d say so.”

She grinned as her right stocking went flying over his shoulder, then slid down so she was standing, and turned over so she was bent over the desk.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the idea,” he said, “but you really want to start off that way?”

“No, but you’re not gonna be able to get this skirt off, otherwise.”

“Ah.” He reached for it, but she shrugged him off, stood, and turned.

“Actually, sit down.” She pulled him around and pushed him into his chair, then stood in front of him. After unbuttoning and stepping out of her skirt, she straddled him.

He stared up at her. “Take charge type, huh?”

“I’m in the Marines, aren’t I?”

“Touché,” he answered with a smile.

She leaned over to kiss him as she unbuttoned her shirt and cast it to the side, then draped her legs over his and sat on his lap. Wrapping her legs around the back of the chair, she leaned in close to him.

“So,” she said, nibbling his earlobe, “do you have any specific plans,” and lightly kissing his jawline, “for this afternoon,” and nipping at his neck, “or were you just going to wing it?”

“I figured we could wing it,” he answered distractedly.

She pulled herself in tighter and swayed against and on top of him. “Well … let’s get to it.” She kissed him hard.

Suddenly, she found herself being lifted away from him. He grinned wickedly. “I can cheat,” he smirked.

“Hey, as long as sex is involved, cheating is allowed,” she replied with a smile.

He got out of the chair, rolled it to the side, and set her down on the ground, then turned her so she was facing the desk. “I’ve just noticed there’s a mirror on the un-windowed part of this door, and I think that’s going to come in handy,” he said.

She looked at the door. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

He came up behind her. “Nothing like being able to watch at the same time, eh?”

She grinned. “Well, maybe making a video, but I left the camera at home today.”

“Damn.” He bent over her, and ran a finger lightly up the inside of her thigh. An involuntary shudder ran down her spine as the maddeningly teasing digit fluttered over her most sensitive areas.

“Well, that didn’t take much,” he said.

“So are you going to just stand there and admire the merchandise, or are you gonna do something with it?” she taunted.

He mock-glared, positioned himself, and fully sheathed himself in her. She cried out in surprise, then moaned in pleasure. “Now that’s more like it,” she gasped.

Anakin leaned over her again. “Are you the soft and gentle type?”

“Are you kidding? If there aren’t bruises, it wasn’t good, baby.”

She didn’t have to look in the mirror to know he was grinning. “I think I can handle that,” he said. “You realize this won’t set a speed record, but it’s not going to be any Barry White, three-hours-later bit, right?”

She shook her head. “Just quit talking and fuck me, dammit – we can talk next time!”

She watched the amber rise in his eyes as he sank his nails into her hips, pulled almost all the way out, and then rammed himself back into her.

She dimly noticed the fact that the desk was moving across the room, and that they were making enough noise to echo down the hallway.

“Don’t worry, I took care of that,” he murmured.

Her nails scraped varnish as he continued hammering her. As they screamed their release in unison, she could feel blood running down her legs from his fingernails still digging into her hips.

“Holy shit,” she gasped. He stepped backward and let her go, and she looked down at her hips. “Goddamn, no one’s done that in awhile.” She grinned. “That earns you extra points.”

Anakin smiled. “Good. I’ll let you pick the next position, how’s that?”

“Oh, I was going to do that anyway,” she said, and swung him around back into his office chair. She knelt between his legs and looked up at him.

He grinned. “See, this is how it’s supposed to go.”

She raised an eyebrow. “If you’re gonna go chauvinistic on me, I’m gonna get dressed and go home … sir.”

“That mouth is gonna get you in trouble one of these days.”

Leaning forward, she ran the tip of her tongue over his quivering shaft. “Oh yeah?”

Anakin looked down at her. “You know it’s not fair to … ask questions when you’re … going to distract someone like that … right?”

“I’m sorry, I must have missed the part where I was supposed to play fair,” she grinned.

His response was abruptly cut off when she took all of him in her mouth. As she noticed him nearing the brink, she paused, and withdrew. An involuntary whimper escaped him, and she chuckled.

“You know, that’s way past ‘not fair’, and right on into ‘torturous’, right?” he mumbled.

“Yes,” she answered sweetly.

He fisted a hand into her hair stood, bringing her to her feet with him.

“One might say,” he growled as he backed her into the corner, “that reciprocation is in order.”

Her eyes widened at his tone, but her reply was merely inquisitive. “Oh?”

He stepped right against her as they hit the wall. “Yes.” She noticed that the sapphire was mostly gone from his eyes, replaced by glowing amber and coal black. “In fact,” he continued as he dropped to his knees, “one might say you’ve kicked the proverbial sleeping dragon.”

She looked down at him, but said nothing. A wicked-looking smirk crossed his face as one hand snaked around her left thigh and lifted her leg up and over his shoulder. The other trailed behind her and cupped her ass, angling her toward him. Her eyebrows shot up as she could swear she saw a serpentine tongue emerge from his mouth and delicately glide over her clit. Her knee threatened to buckle, and one hand shot out to brace her against the wall.

He stopped for a second. “Problem?”

“No,” she managed through gritted teeth.

“Good.” The tongue snaked back and lightly caressed her folds. She wobbled.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. She felt him penetrate her, felt her slick wetness virtually cascading down her thighs. A pure, unadulterated scream of pleasure escaped her as she threw her head back and arched more fully against him.

He paused for a moment. “Look at me,” he commanded tersely.

She glanced down.

“No. Watch me.”

She ran her fingers through his hair and nodded wordlessly. She watched his tongue dart in and out, back and forth, and soon found herself unable to pull her eyes away. Four times he brought her screaming to the brink, only to pull back, grin wickedly, and pause to lap at the clear liquid continually running down her thighs.

The fifth time he pulled away, she grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. “If you do that to me again, I will call on every trick I’ve ever learned to make sure you regret it,” she said with a smile.

“Are you threatening me?” he asked in a suddenly menacing voice.

The smile melted away. “Are you serious?”

“Answer me!’ he bellowed. “Are you threatening me?”

“Ohh … I see. It’s ‘Time to Be Vader’. Got it.” She grinned and leaned over seductively. “Yeah. Are you gonna … punish me?” She winked at him.

He pushed her leg off his shoulder and stood. Wrapping his hand in her hair, he yanked her in close. “No one threatens me. No one. You’re not special; don’t act like you’re entitled to special privileges.”

Danielle slapped him. Hard. “Don’t get all high and mighty with me because you can’t handle a little teasing. This was all going fine until you decided you didn’t like how it was going, and now here we are at each other’s throats. Christ, maybe sometime on this vacation you can go to some goddamn anger management classes.” She put both hands on his defined pecs and shoved him backward.

He grabbed her arms as he staggered backward and they both fell on the desk.

“What did you do that for?” he yelled.

“Because you’re being a dick!” she shouted right back at him. “What the fuck is your problem?”

He snarled and grabbed her arms, trying to throw her off the desk. She wrapped her legs around his as he did, and they both went crashing to the floor, along with the few things on top of the desk. Danielle extricated herself from the tangle of limbs and the mess of papers, stood, and stepped back away from him.

He sat up and stared at her balefully. She folded her arms across her chest and said nothing.

Tense seconds passed as they regarded each other. Finally, the blue slowly bled back into his eyes. “I … look, sometimes ….”

“If you’re going to give me some kind of lame line about ‘I can’t control myself,’ you may want to reconsider that. No one makes you act that way.”

He stood and took a hesitant step toward her. “I ….”

After watching him for a long moment, she closed the distance between them. “I’d like to pick up where we left off, if you’re not going to go all berserk on me again.”

He nodded slowly.

She ran a finger across his cheek. “I like you commanding and rough … but I don’t like you as an asshole, okay? You have a lot to learn about give-and-take.”

His eyes darkened for a second, and then he nodded. “So … I believe I owed you one?”

“Or five,” she grinned.

He swept her up and walked back toward the wall as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They hit the wall hard and he thrust into her at the same time.

She hooked an arm around his neck and ran her other hand through his hair, while his hands seemed to be everywhere at once. She arched her back, pressing her breasts into his questing hands as he picked up the pace. As they neared climax, he gripped her shoulders and she mirrored his grasp, nails cutting into the delicate flesh near his shoulder blades. He kissed her hard as he came, their cries mingling as she reached her climax immediately afterward.

They slid down the wall and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

“You’re bleeding,” she remarked.

He looked down. “I’m sure it’ll go away.”

She moved closer, eyed him for a second, then bent and licked away a stray drop. He blinked.

“Now that was novel.”

“Sorry, it’s just something I get the urge to do now and then.”

He grinned. “How do I get on that list?”

She rolled her eyes. “I knew you were going to say something like that.”

He laughed. “Well, I have to make up for the unpredictability somehow.”

She swatted playfully at him. “No, you don’t. Unpredictability is a nice thing.”

A moment of silence passed, and then he scooted next to her, put his arm around her waist, and kissed her gently. “So, was this a one-shot deal?”

She thought for a moment. “Maybe. I’m not going to promise anything. And you can’t do anything out in the open because you’ll get court-martialed, and so will I.”

“I’m not going to stay in the military the full four years, you know. I have things to take care of.”

“Back home.”

“Well … yes.”

“Maybe it would be better if it was a one-shot deal, then. If you’re going to leave.”

“I’m not leaving tomorrow or anything.”

 “How are you going to get out of the military early?”

“I have my ways.”

She decided not to press the matter. “How long are you staying?”

“Dunno. Haven’t decided yet.”

“We have a field op coming up in a couple of weeks.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Nighttime, camouflage, patrolling. Stuff like that.”

“Sounds entertaining. I like all this military stuff, anyway.”

“Have you even fired a real gun before?”

“Guns are so uncivilized.”

She thought it best not to tell him how much he sounded like Obi-Wan at that point. “Well, we don’t have lightsabers, and you can’t really take one to the field – you’ll be laughed out of the officers’ corps.”

“Guess I’ll have to learn.”

“I’m thinking about going out shooting tomorrow; want to come?”

“I thought we couldn’t hang out.”

“I guess I should reiterate that. My parents have a house and some land down here, and I’m staying there while I’m stationed here. My shooting range is my backyard.”

“Ahh. I see.”

She stood and held a hand out to him. He took it and rose. Danielle looked him up and down and sniggered.

“What’s so funny?”

At that she outright laughed. “The combination of dress blue coat and Vader boxers is priceless. I’d give my right arm for a camera right now.”

He mock-glared. “Yeah, yeah, everyone’s a comedian.”

She pinched his cheek. “You’re so cute when you’re trying to be fierce.”

His jaw dropped. She laughed and started collecting her stuff from around the room. He settled into the leather chair.

“There’s nothing sexier than watching a woman get dressed,” he commented.

She nodded and smiled. “Want to help me button my blouse?”

He swore and shook his head. “Hell no. You can do that yourself.”

As she finished buttoning her coat, she turned to him. “If you’re gonna get dressed, I’ll wait for you.”

“Okay. I’ll be out in a second.”

She opened the door, then looked back at him for a moment before walking out into the main office.

He emerged a few minutes later, straightening the medals on his blouse. "Ready?”

She heard the door unlatch. “Yes, sir.”

He grinned. “I could get used to that.”

“Where did you park?”

“Park?”

“How the hell did you get here?”

“I … well, this lady gave me a ride.”

She snickered. “I didn’t ask what you did at the office. And an officer walking? Oh, please.”

“I had the portal open here.”

“Wait. So you spent your leave back there, and then portaled here this morning?”

“Basically.”

“So you don’t even have a car?”

“Well … no.”

“Where are you staying?”

He didn’t even bother to answer that time.

“Oh my god. Do you have civvies?”

“What?”

“Civilian clothes. Do you have them?”

“Oh! Yeah, they’re in the bag in my office.”

“How many times have you done this vacation thing before?”

“This is my first one. I just figured out how to do it recently.”

“And you didn’t even think to get transportation or a place to stay?” she asked incredulously.

“Obviously not,” he snapped.

“Unbelievable. Well, go change. You can stay at my house tonight.”

She was ready to throw Anakin out the passenger window.

“Can’t you go any faster?” he asked, for the fifth time.

“Anakin, there are speed limits. They’re there for a reason.”

“To make you die of boredom before you get to wherever it is you’re going?”

She sighed. “No. So imbeciles who want to drive 5 bajillion miles an hour won’t for fear of getting in trouble.”

He snorted. “Can this heap even break 50?”

She very pointedly checked the speedometer, then feigned a heart attack. “Holy shit! Cap’n, we broke 65!”

“Can I drive?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Aww, come on!”

“Ani, look ….”

He broke in. “One thing. Please don’t call me Ani. I hated that.”

“Okay. Anyway, Anakin, you don’t know how to drive.”

He pointed downward. “Gas.”

“Yes.”

“Brake.”

“Yes.”

“Steering.”

She shot him a withering glance.

“And all I have to do is maintain the designated speed.”

“Technically.”

“So I know how to drive.”

“You know theory. I know, in theory, how a TIE fighter works. Doesn’t mean I can fly one.”

“That’s a completely irrelevant argument.”

“Only ‘cause I’m right.”

“Sort of.”

“You’re still not driving.”

“Please?”

“Hmm. Nah.”

He sat back in his seat in a huff. “Fine. I didn’t want to drive your crappy vehicle anyway.”

The rest of the drive passed in relative silence, with the exception of Anakin bouncing through every radio station on the airwaves. He hit the classical station for the third time when they pulled into Danielle’s driveway.

“Hey, this place is pretty nice,” he commented as he grabbed his bag and got out of the SUV.

‘This place’ was a two-story white farmhouse sitting on six acres on the outskirts of town. “Yeah, I like it,” she answered. “My parents bought it when my dad was first stationed here; got it paid off by renting it out; said I could use it while I’m down here. I’ll make up the guest bedroom for you.”

“The … “ he started to protest. “That sounds good,” he finished as he saw the look on her face.

An hour later found them sitting on the porch, watching the sunset.

“Can I drive now?”

She stared at him. “Do you ever give up?”

“Nope.”

“What are you going to do if you get caught? You don’t have a license.”

“I just won’t get caught.”

She smirked. “Yeah, that’s what everyone says.”

“Come on … let me.”

“Why do you want to drive so badly?”

“Because it looks like fun, because I want to try it, and because it has to be good if you don’t t me to.”

She rolled her eyes. “You always get what you want?”

“Generally.”

“Figures.” She thought about it for a moment. “Wait a second. You told me this afternoon you have a Firebird. Where’s that damn car?”

“I heard a couple of guys talking about it when I came to the office today; I borrowed what they said about it when you asked me about cars.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Well, I couldn’t very well say that I didn’t have a car, now could I?”

“No kidding, honesty is so passé,” she retorted.

He grinned. “Come on, let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

She sighed again. “Fine. You better not get a ticket.”

They walked out to her Expedition and she handed the keys over with trepidation. “Please don’t wreck it, I really like this car.”

Anakin got in and spent five minutes fiddling with controls. “Okay, I think I’m ready. Wait, how do I move backward?” he asked, turning to look down her driveway.

“Oh good lord,” she said under her breath, and pointed to the gearshift. “P is for park, which is what we’re in now. N is neutral; the car won’t go forward or backward unless it’s on an incline. R is reverse. D is drive. And don’t worry about the other ones. Got it? Oh yeah, and you have to step on the brake to shift.”

“This is so much more complicated than a speeder,” he remarked.

“Great. Just what I wanted to know,” she muttered.

He carefully eased the car into reverse and backed down the driveway. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“Good job, you made it 20 feet.” She clapped, rather sarcastically. “Now you just have to make it to wherever it is you think you’re going without killing us.”

A few minutes later, they were on their way down the road, heading out of town.

“I’m impressed, Anakin – you’ve stayed within the speed limit the whole time so far.”

“Well, I try. Where are we going?”

“There’s a nice restaurant downtown we could go to.”

“That works for me.”

“Okay, get on the interstate at this onramp coming up.”

He navigated onto the freeway, then settled back into his seat.

“Hey, look, I can drive with my knee,” he said as he waved his hands in the air.

She rolled her eyes. “Another driving milestone reached.”

When she looked over again, she noticed that neither his hands nor his legs were on the wheel. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying something. It’s not like it’s hard to do this.”

She took a deep breath. “Please don’t do anything crazy.”

“You may not want to watch what I do next, then.”

She promptly unbuckled her seat belt and crawled into the back seat. “I’m not going to have a front row seat to your fiery death,” she said as she buckled in.

A moment later, he joined her in the back.

“Anakin!” she yelled. “You’re supposed to be driving! Wasn’t that the whole idea of this exercise? How the hell are you driving, when you’re back here?”

“The Force, naturally. And yes, I know when cars are in our way, I know how fast we’re going, and I can manipulate everything just fine.”

“I should have known this was a bad idea,” she mumbled.

He grinned rakishly and scooted next to her. “That’s a lot of space there in the back.”

“I took the back bench out – didn’t really need it in there.”

He moved so close to her that their legs were touching. “Uh-huh, that’s nice.” He reached over and unbuckled her seat belt, then pulled her over the seat with him.

He kissed her, hiked her skirt up with one hand, and ran the other up her back to undo her bra strap. She pulled back and looked at him for a second, then shrugged and pulled her sweater off. After pushing him back so he was sitting on his heels, she whisked the t-shirt off over his head, yanked the belt out of the loops, and unfastened his pants.

“Lay down,” she commanded. He obliged with a smile.

She pulled his Dickies off, threw them to the side, and snickered when she saw his new boxers. “Darth Maul this time. Sheer morbid curiosity makes me wonder what I’m going to see next.” She deftly pulled those off as well, tossing them in the same general direction as the Dickies. She stretched to her full height on top of him, putting her mouth right by his ear.

“It’s about time you weren’t in control for once.”

He swallowed hard. “Only because I have to concentrate on driving.”

“If you can podrace, you can navigate this car.”

“Basically,” he smiled. “See, I knew you’d understand.”

“And since you’re navigating the car, I don’t think you should really do anything else,” she added.

He smile faded. “What?”

“I think you should just lay there.”

“And not …?”

“Nope. You can’t do anything. And you can’t cheat, because you’re already busy.”

His eyes widened. “Um … okay.”

She kissed his earlobe … his jaw … his neck. She planted one on the corner of his mouth, flicked her tongue across his bottom lip, then pulled back and grinned as he lunged toward her.

“Ah-ah, what did I say?”

He laid back and sighed.

She winked at him, then continued planting kisses down his torso. She paused and lightly rubbed his nipples with her fingertips, making him groan softly. As she reached his waist, she sat up and scooted backward, until she was down by his ankles. He looked at her incredulously, but said nothing.

Starting at his calf, she trailed a finger up each leg. As she reached his ramrod-straight cock, she leaned over and very deliberately ran her tongue around the tip, staring at him the entire time.

The car wove in the lane a bit, but that was the only sign she had that he noticed what she was doing, as he hadn’t moved or made a sound. She sat up, spread her legs, and knelt over him.

“Maybe we should stop,” she said with a wicked grin. His eyebrows shot up and he whimpered, but he didn’t say anything. She lowered herself barely onto him, moved slightly, then withdrew.

“Do you think we should stop?”

“No,” he managed to choke out.

She lowered herself a little more, then withdrew again.

“You sure?”

“Yes,” he said between clenched teeth.

This time she lowered herself about halfway onto him, squeezed, then withdrew.

“You’re shaking a bit,” she observed casually.

He managed a weak smile, but that was all. His eyes were still blue, but the amber streaks were glowing. Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead and chest. He’d bitten his lip so hard that the teeth marks still showed, and his breath was coming a little faster. She leaned over him again, pressing her breasts against his chest.

“I like you when you’re all worked up. And completely at my mercy.”

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” he said hoarsely.

“Oh, I’ve only begun to enjoy this,” she answered. Straightening back up, she sheathed him completely and leaned back. He let out a half-groan, half-sigh of relief … which abruptly changed to a hissed intake of breath as she began moving up and down.

As she leaned back to brace herself with one arm, he noticed a glint of silver amid the light blonde curls around her clit. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” she asked lazily, concentrating on how he felt inside her.

“That ring,” he replied.

She opened her eyes and looked. “Oh, that’s my clit ring. My friend dared me to get it last year, so I did. I was basically looking for an excuse to get one, anyway.”

“What’s it do?”

“Oh … mostly it just sits there, but … “ and here she paused to lick three fingers, “it’s also nice when I’m playing with myself, like so, because of this ball on the ring, there.” As she leaned back, watching those hypnotic eyes, she positioned her free hand over her clit and ring and began slowly massaging. While she did that, she ever so slightly picked up the pace at which she was fucking Anakin. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he watched her pleasure herself and screw him at the same time.

“So, ahh,” he asked between short breaths, “how long do I have to just lay here?”

She smiled slowly. “I’m sorry … I’ve been neglecting you.” She began moving faster and pulling farther out with each stroke. Outside, horns blatted and angry drivers gesticulated as the Expedition picked up speed and started weaving more noticeably. Anakin looped one hand through the seat belt from the corner seat and pulled as she rode him faster and harder. The other hand knocked hers away and took up stroking her clit.

She took a deep, shuddering breath as he changed the pressure and speed. “Oh my fucking god,” she moaned as she pushed herself harder into his fingers. The Expedition passed 95 miles per hour as she felt her climax rushing at her like a freight train. She threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs a split second before he roared her name and arched up toward her as he exploded inside her. She collapsed on top of him, shuddering, then absently looked out the back window.

“Ah, we’re still moving,” she observed.

Anakin was trying to catch his breath. “Well … yes … although I probably … should tell you that … we’re going quite a bit … over the speed limit.”

“Should slow down,” she said.

He half-nodded, and dropped the Expedition back down to 70.

“Oughta turn around soon.”

“Do we have something to do tomorrow?”

“Nah.”

“So, let’s head to the big city, stay there, and relax until we have to go back to work.”

She looked up at him, smiled, and laid her head back down on his chest. “Whatever you want,” she answered. “Don’t have anything else to wear, though.”

“We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

“Where are you getting the cash for all this?”

“I have my ways.”

“I don’t even want to know.”

He smiled. “Probably not.”

A half hour later, they were back in the front seat and pulling into the Ritz-Carlton parking lot.

“Holy shit, Anakin, how much money do you have?”

“I had some changed before I came here.”

“You have currency exchanges for planets outside your galaxy?” she asked skeptically.

“Of course. Are you really that surprised?”

She thought about it. “Nah. Not really.”

“Well, suffice it to say, I have enough money to do most likely anything you’ll dream up this weekend.” He parked the Expedition, got out, and came around to open her door.

“Can you walk yet?” he grinned.

She stepped out and stuck her tongue out at him. “Just fine, thank you.” She took his arm and they walked inside.

At the desk, the female desk clerk looked up, then did a double take and stared at Anakin, jaw open. He grinned, and it looked like she was going to faint. She finally recovered her wits enough to ask the name the room would be booked under.

Anakin winked at Danielle. “Christensen.” She hid a smirk by searching through her purse.

The clerk gasped. “I knew it! I knew it was you!” she squealed. “Ohmigod, I love your movies!”

He smiled. “I’m glad. Can … uh … we get our key?”

She blushed. “Of course!” Retrieving them, she handed one to Anakin with a smile, and one to Danielle much more slowly, with something almost resembling a glare, which might have worked better if she hadn’t been trying to smile at Anakin at the same time.

He grinned again. “Thanks.” He took Danielle’s arm and they made their way to the elevator.

“I bet she’s on her phone before we even get to our room,” she laughed.

She was ready to throw Anakin out the passenger window.

“Can’t you go any faster?” he asked, for the fifth time.

“Anakin, there are speed limits. They’re there for a reason.”

“To make you die of boredom before you get to wherever it is you’re going?”

She sighed. “No. So imbeciles who want to drive 5 bajillion miles an hour won’t for fear of getting in trouble.”

He snorted. “Can this heap even break 50?”

She very pointedly checked the speedometer, then feigned a heart attack. “Holy shit! Cap’n, we broke 65!”

“Can I drive?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Aww, come on!”

“Ani, look ….”

He broke in. “One thing. Please don’t call me Ani. I hated that.”

“Okay. Anyway, Anakin, you don’t know how to drive.”

He pointed downward. “Gas.”

“Yes.”

“Brake.”

“Yes.”

“Steering.”

She shot him a withering glance.

“And all I have to do is maintain the designated speed.”

“Technically.”

“So I know how to drive.”

“You know theory. I know, in theory, how a TIE fighter works. Doesn’t mean I can fly one.”

“That’s a completely irrelevant argument.”

“Only ‘cause I’m right.”

“Sort of.”

“You’re still not driving.”

“Please?”

“Hmm. Nah.”

He sat back in his seat in a huff. “Fine. I didn’t want to drive your crappy vehicle anyway.”

The rest of the drive passed in relative silence, with the exception of Anakin bouncing through every radio station on the airwaves. He hit the classical station for the third time when they pulled into Danielle’s driveway.

“Hey, this place is pretty nice,” he commented as he grabbed his bag and got out of the SUV.

‘This place’ was a two-story white farmhouse sitting on six acres on the outskirts of town. “Yeah, I like it,” she answered. “My parents bought it when my dad was first stationed here; got it paid off by renting it out; said I could use it while I’m down here. I’ll make up the guest bedroom for you.”

“The … “ he started to protest. “That sounds good,” he finished as he saw the look on her face.

An hour later found them sitting on the porch, watching the sunset.

“Can I drive now?”

She stared at him. “Do you ever give up?”

“Nope.”

“What are you going to do if you get caught? You don’t have a license.”

“I just won’t get caught.”

She smirked. “Yeah, that’s what everyone says.”

“Come on … let me.”

“Why do you want to drive so badly?”

“Because it looks like fun, because I want to try it, and because it has to be good if you don’t t me to.”

She rolled her eyes. “You always get what you want?”

“Generally.”

“Figures.” She thought about it for a moment. “Wait a second. You told me this afternoon you have a Firebird. Where’s that damn car?”

“I heard a couple of guys talking about it when I came to the office today; I borrowed what they said about it when you asked me about cars.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Well, I couldn’t very well say that I didn’t have a car, now could I?”

“No kidding, honesty is so passé,” she retorted.

He grinned. “Come on, let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

She sighed again. “Fine. You better not get a ticket.”

They walked out to her Expedition and she handed the keys over with trepidation. “Please don’t wreck it, I really like this car.”

Anakin got in and spent five minutes fiddling with controls. “Okay, I think I’m ready. Wait, how do I move backward?” he asked, turning to look down her driveway.

“Oh good lord,” she said under her breath, and pointed to the gearshift. “P is for park, which is what we’re in now. N is neutral; the car won’t go forward or backward unless it’s on an incline. R is reverse. D is drive. And don’t worry about the other ones. Got it? Oh yeah, and you have to step on the brake to shift.”

“This is so much more complicated than a speeder,” he remarked.

“Great. Just what I wanted to know,” she muttered.

He carefully eased the car into reverse and backed down the driveway. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“Good job, you made it 20 feet.” She clapped, rather sarcastically. “Now you just have to make it to wherever it is you think you’re going without killing us.”

A few minutes later, they were on their way down the road, heading out of town.

“I’m impressed, Anakin – you’ve stayed within the speed limit the whole time so far.”

“Well, I try. Where are we going?”

“There’s a nice restaurant downtown we could go to.”

“That works for me.”

“Okay, get on the interstate at this onramp coming up.”

He navigated onto the freeway, then settled back into his seat.

“Hey, look, I can drive with my knee,” he said as he waved his hands in the air.

She rolled her eyes. “Another driving milestone reached.”

When she looked over again, she noticed that neither his hands nor his legs were on the wheel. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying something. It’s not like it’s hard to do this.”

She took a deep breath. “Please don’t do anything crazy.”

“You may not want to watch what I do next, then.”

She promptly unbuckled her seat belt and crawled into the back seat. “I’m not going to have a front row seat to your fiery death,” she said as she buckled in.

A moment later, he joined her in the back.

“Anakin!” she yelled. “You’re supposed to be driving! Wasn’t that the whole idea of this exercise? How the hell are you driving, when you’re back here?”

“The Force, naturally. And yes, I know when cars are in our way, I know how fast we’re going, and I can manipulate everything just fine.”

“I should have known this was a bad idea,” she mumbled.

He grinned rakishly and scooted next to her. “That’s a lot of space there in the back.”

“I took the back bench out – didn’t really need it in there.”

He moved so close to her that their legs were touching. “Uh-huh, that’s nice.” He reached over and unbuckled her seat belt, then pulled her over the seat with him.

He kissed her, hiked her skirt up with one hand, and ran the other up her back to undo her bra strap. She pulled back and looked at him for a second, then shrugged and pulled her sweater off. After pushing him back so he was sitting on his heels, she whisked the t-shirt off over his head, yanked the belt out of the loops, and unfastened his pants.

“Lay down,” she commanded. He obliged with a smile.

She pulled his Dickies off, threw them to the side, and snickered when she saw his new boxers. “Darth Maul this time. Sheer morbid curiosity makes me wonder what I’m going to see next.” She deftly pulled those off as well, tossing them in the same general direction as the Dickies. She stretched to her full height on top of him, putting her mouth right by his ear.

“It’s about time you weren’t in control for once.”

He swallowed hard. “Only because I have to concentrate on driving.”

“If you can podrace, you can navigate this car.”

“Basically,” he smiled. “See, I knew you’d understand.”

“And since you’re navigating the car, I don’t think you should really do anything else,” she added.

He smile faded. “What?”

“I think you should just lay there.”

“And not …?”

“Nope. You can’t do anything. And you can’t cheat, because you’re already busy.”

His eyes widened. “Um … okay.”

She kissed his earlobe … his jaw … his neck. She planted one on the corner of his mouth, flicked her tongue across his bottom lip, then pulled back and grinned as he lunged toward her.

“Ah-ah, what did I say?”

He laid back and sighed.

She winked at him, then continued planting kisses down his torso. She paused and lightly rubbed his nipples with her fingertips, making him groan softly. As she reached his waist, she sat up and scooted backward, until she was down by his ankles. He looked at her incredulously, but said nothing.

Starting at his calf, she trailed a finger up each leg. As she reached his ramrod-straight cock, she leaned over and very deliberately ran her tongue around the tip, staring at him the entire time.

The car wove in the lane a bit, but that was the only sign she had that he noticed what she was doing, as he hadn’t moved or made a sound. She sat up, spread her legs, and knelt over him.

“Maybe we should stop,” she said with a wicked grin. His eyebrows shot up and he whimpered, but he didn’t say anything. She lowered herself barely onto him, moved slightly, then withdrew.

“Do you think we should stop?”

“No,” he managed to choke out.

She lowered herself a little more, then withdrew again.

“You sure?”

“Yes,” he said between clenched teeth.

This time she lowered herself about halfway onto him, squeezed, then withdrew.

“You’re shaking a bit,” she observed casually.

He managed a weak smile, but that was all. His eyes were still blue, but the amber streaks were glowing. Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead and chest. He’d bitten his lip so hard that the teeth marks still showed, and his breath was coming a little faster. She leaned over him again, pressing her breasts against his chest.

“I like you when you’re all worked up. And completely at my mercy.”

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” he said hoarsely.

“Oh, I’ve only begun to enjoy this,” she answered. Straightening back up, she sheathed him completely and leaned back. He let out a half-groan, half-sigh of relief … which abruptly changed to a hissed intake of breath as she began moving up and down.

As she leaned back to brace herself with one arm, he noticed a glint of silver amid the light blonde curls around her clit. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” she asked lazily, concentrating on how he felt inside her.

“That ring,” he replied.

She opened her eyes and looked. “Oh, that’s my clit ring. My friend dared me to get it last year, so I did. I was basically looking for an excuse to get one, anyway.”

“What’s it do?”

“Oh … mostly it just sits there, but … “ and here she paused to lick three fingers, “it’s also nice when I’m playing with myself, like so, because of this ball on the ring, there.” As she leaned back, watching those hypnotic eyes, she positioned her free hand over her clit and ring and began slowly massaging. While she did that, she ever so slightly picked up the pace at which she was fucking Anakin. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he watched her pleasure herself and screw him at the same time.

“So, ahh,” he asked between short breaths, “how long do I have to just lay here?”

She smiled slowly. “I’m sorry … I’ve been neglecting you.” She began moving faster and pulling farther out with each stroke. Outside, horns blatted and angry drivers gesticulated as the Expedition picked up speed and started weaving more noticeably. Anakin looped one hand through the seat belt from the corner seat and pulled as she rode him faster and harder. The other hand knocked hers away and took up stroking her clit.

She took a deep, shuddering breath as he changed the pressure and speed. “Oh my fucking god,” she moaned as she pushed herself harder into his fingers. The Expedition passed 95 miles per hour as she felt her climax rushing at her like a freight train. She threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs a split second before he roared her name and arched up toward her as he exploded inside her. She collapsed on top of him, shuddering, then absently looked out the back window.

“Ah, we’re still moving,” she observed.

Anakin was trying to catch his breath. “Well … yes … although I probably … should tell you that … we’re going quite a bit … over the speed limit.”

“Should slow down,” she said.

He half-nodded, and dropped the Expedition back down to 70.

“Oughta turn around soon.”

“Do we have something to do tomorrow?”

“Nah.”

“So, let’s head to the big city, stay there, and relax until we have to go back to work.”

She looked up at him, smiled, and laid her head back down on his chest. “Whatever you want,” she answered. “Don’t have anything else to wear, though.”

“We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

“Where are you getting the cash for all this?”

“I have my ways.”

“I don’t even want to know.”

He smiled. “Probably not.”

A half hour later, they were back in the front seat and pulling into the Ritz-Carlton parking lot.

“Holy shit, Anakin, how much money do you have?”

“I had some changed before I came here.”

“You have currency exchanges for planets outside your galaxy?” she asked skeptically.

“Of course. Are you really that surprised?”

She thought about it. “Nah. Not really.”

“Well, suffice it to say, I have enough money to do most likely anything you’ll dream up this weekend.” He parked the Expedition, got out, and came around to open her door.

“Can you walk yet?” he grinned.

She stepped out and stuck her tongue out at him. “Just fine, thank you.” She took his arm and they walked inside.

At the desk, the female desk clerk looked up, then did a double take and stared at Anakin, jaw open. He grinned, and it looked like she was going to faint. She finally recovered her wits enough to ask the name the room would be booked under.

Anakin winked at Danielle. “Christensen.” She hid a smirk by searching through her purse.

The clerk gasped. “I knew it! I knew it was you!” she squealed. “Ohmigod, I love your movies!”

He smiled. “I’m glad. Can … uh … we get our key?”

She blushed. “Of course!” Retrieving them, she handed one to Anakin with a smile, and one to Danielle much more slowly, with something almost resembling a glare, which might have worked better if she hadn’t been trying to smile at Anakin at the same time.

He grinned again. “Thanks.” He took Danielle’s arm and they made their way to the elevator.

“I bet she’s on her phone before we even get to our room,” she laughed.

“Okay. I put the shower curtain back up and fixed the faucet, but the sink is a total loss. Hopefully they won’t notice. And didn’t hear when it came off the wall,” Anakin said as he walked out of the bathroom.

Danielle looked up from where she was sprawled on the bed. “Meh. They make enough money, I’m sure they can repair it.”

He threw himself on the bed next to her. “So, what’s next on the agenda, now that we got the pressing ‘sex’ issue out of the way … again?”

She snickered. “Well, we can go shopping, and then maybe hit some of the clubs around here.”

“Clubs?”

“Music. Dancing. Drinking. All engineered toward getting people to hook up with each other.”

“Ahh.” He grinned. “Sounds like my kind of fun.”

“That may be, but you’ll want something besides denim and a polo shirt. Let me get dressed and we can go.”

“Why didn’t you just buy the store?” he snarked as he carried their bags upstairs.

“Well, I didn’t think the gimp suit really fit you,” she retorted. “Quit bitching, it can’t possibly be that bad, and don’t think I didn’t notice you looking around while we were there.”

He stuck his tongue out at her back while she unlocked the door, then smiled innocently as she stepped aside to let him pass.

Snatching his bag, he disappeared toward the bathroom. “I still say I’m not wearing this in public.”

She threw a pillow at him. “Just go change.”

While he was in the bathroom, she threw off her t-shirt and skirt, wriggled into the lace-up leather pants and top, and fixed her makeup. She was putting on her boots as he walked out of the bathroom.

He posed dramatically … to no effect, because she wasn’t watching him.

“Ahem!”

She looked up and dropped the boot she was holding. “Oh … my … god.”

He looked a little uncertain. “It’s good?”

She stood and walked over to him. “Good? Babe, this is fucking hot. I’ll have to beat girls away with a stick.”

“What are we beating them away for?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m not even going to answer that. Although, while you’re distracted by the girls, I can entertain a circle of guys.” She winked.

His brow furrowed. “You’re kidding, right?”

She laughed and shook her head. “You have some of the wildest mood swings I’ve ever seen.”

Anakin smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I know.” He looked in the dresser mirror. “You know, I’m thinking this haircut and these clothes really don’t go together.”

She glanced up from buckling her boots. “Oh?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He studied the mirror for a moment longer, then ran his hands through his hair. As Danielle watched, wide-eyed, his hair grew out to his shoulders.

“Now that was a cool trick!” she exclaimed.

He grinned. “Every once in awhile it comes in handy. How do I look?”

She scrutinized him, then tossed him black eyeshadow and a small eyeshadow brush. “Get the brush wet, dip it in the shadow, and line your eyes. Then we’re good.”

After he was done, she nodded. “Okay. That works. Let’s go, I’m tired of sitting around.”

“Where’re we going?”

“There’s this club I really like, called Noise. You’ll like it.”

As they walked up, Danielle eyed the long line and sighed. “Looks like … wait. Can’t you do that Jedi Mind Trick thing?”

“What, to the bouncer? Sure.”

They strolled past everyone else, eliciting a chorus of boos and snide comments from the people in line.

“You don’t need to see our identification,” Anakin said.

“I don’t need to see your identification,” the bouncer repeated.

“We can go on in.”

“You can go on in,” he repeated, leaning over to unlatch the rope.

Danielle turned to blow a kiss to the line, much to the ire of the crowd.

Inside, she grabbed his arm and pulled him close to make herself heard over the music. “I’m gonna go grab a drink; you wanna come?” Watching him ogle the chicks was enough of an answer for her; she shook her head in exasperation and headed toward the bar as he wandered into the crowd.

“Bacardi O3, please,” she shouted to the bartender. He smiled, nodded, and tossed her one. She caught it, left her money, and turned back around. Leaning against the bar, she surveyed the crowd, looking for Anakin.

She was only able to guess she’d found him by the crush of girls over in one corner. They were jockeying for position close to the center of the circle, where every once in awhile she could see a toss of dark-blond hair. Danielle rolled her eyes, then settled back onto a barstool.

“Lose My Breath” came thundering out of the speakers, and she saw a girl with purple and platinum streaks pull Anakin out of the corner to dance with her. This spurred about 15 other girls to attempt the same thing, until he was surrounded in a swaying feminine mass … and grinning like a Cheshire cat about it.

A few shots, 6 Bacardi O3s, and 4 Long Island iced teas later, she decided, “Two can play this game, bastard.” She downed the last of her drink and made her way to the dance floor.

She’d gotten about two steps onto the dance floor when two guys came up to her. The blond got behind her, while the dark-haired one stepped in front of her. With hands on her hips and her shoulders, they began grinding in time with the music. By the end of the song, they’d attracted a sizable crowd.

A few songs – and not a few drinks – later, “Dirrty” came pulsing through the club. Danielle grinned, and the crowd started moving again. Halfway through the song, the mass of people suddenly parted, as though shoved with invisible hands. People unfortunate enough to be in the middle stumbled and fell as everyone was jostled around.

Anakin strode through the crowd, a petulant look on his face. He approached the ten or so people in the center of the circle, and motioned dismissively at the women; they suddenly looked confused and wandered off. The guys were Force-shoved halfway across the dance floor, landing in a heap with the people caught in their path.

Danielle turned to him. “I’m sorry; can I help you?” she asked icily.

“What are you doing with them?”

“I’d guess that I was dancing, Anakin.”

“You were all but fucking them right out on the dance floor!”

“Can you please explain how that was different from what you were doing with all those women?”

“Don’t turn this back on me! You always do that!”

“Well, maybe if you held yourself to the same standard you apparently hold me to, I wouldn’t be able to! And don’t come out here acting like you own me when you couldn’t even be bothered to talk to me once we got here!”

“You could have come over!”

She snorted. “And what, joined the Court of Anakin Adoration? Please. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the day I fawn over you.”

“Fine!” he shouted, and stomped away.

She shook her head and turned back to the people actually dancing, as opposed to standing around watching the little drama unfold. Suddenly, she was swooped up and tossed over Anakin’s shoulder.

Rotating her body upward, she bit his shoulder as she kicked him in the side. He yelped and dropped her. Danielle landed in a crouch, then stood as he spun to face her. She grabbed his shirt and yanked him close.

“Don’t you ever fucking treat me like your goddamned property, Anakin Skywalker,” she hissed, emphasizing each “ever” with a sharp poke to his chest. “Don’t you ever expect me to just fucking nod and say, ’Whatever you want’ when you lose your temper. And don’t you ever fucking think for a second that I’m going to be a little wilting flower. If you want demure, you for damn sure won’t find it here. And if you can’t handle a woman like me, just say so. I’ll be outside whenever you’re done here.” She turned on her heel and melted into the crowd.

Outside, she made her way to the corner of the building, took a deep breath, and punched the wall. Hard. “That goddamn, motherfuckin’ … what an asshole! Who the fuck does he think he is? I don’t fucking give a rat’s ass if he’s the fucking ruler of the entire goddamn galaxy. What kind of shit does he think he’s pulling? He takes ’flinging testosterone‘ to a wholly new and intolerable fucking level! I just want to fucking strangle him sometimes!” She hit the wall again, heedless of the blood now running down her knuckles.

As she stood there staring at the wall and trotting out every curse word she’d picked up in the military, she felt someone grab her ass. She whirled around, fists already up to beat the hell out of whoever had had the temerity to grab her.

No one was there.

“Oh, what in the hell?” she muttered. “Whatever. I don’t care.” She moved around the corner … just in case. As she rounded the corner, the laces on the left side of her shirt loosened. Danielle looked down, then looked around again.

“This isn’t funny,” she mumbled. She almost had the laces retied when the other ones loosened. Danielle threw up her hands and slouched against the wall. “I’m not even going to bother anymore.” She scowled again. “God, he is so frustrating! I could just – whoa!” Her rant was cut off as the laces in her shirt split and the shirt slid off her shoulders. She tried to snatch it but missed, and just stared at it in disbelief as it fell to the ground. As she peered around, something – “It feels like a hand; fuck it, I’ll call it a hand,” she thought – ran rough hands over her breasts and down her torso.

“What the hell is happening to me?” she whispered. To her mingled disbelief and suddenly flaring anger, she got an answer.

**You are gravely mistaken, love. I take what I want … when I want.**

Danielle’s response was lost as she felt him caress her ass underneath the leather. She moaned and arched forward involuntarily as he moved across her folds and began rubbing lazy circles around her clit. Her leg started shaking as she felt something large and pulsing push against her slickly wet opening, and her head bounced off the brick wall as she was shoved upright.

**And I’ve decided that I want to hear you scream. Now.**

Her head started throbbing from the strain of holding back the scream triggered by the sudden, rough penetration. She bit her lip hard enough to send a trickle of blood down her chin, but she didn’t make a sound. She could feel his frustration, and permitted herself a tiny, self-satisfied smirk.

**You’re only making this more difficult on yourself,** she felt him snarl.

Her patience had been wearing thin the whole night, and it finally snapped. She was done playing nice. “If this is the real you,” she hissed through clenched teeth, “then I can see why you were betrayed at every turn.”

She felt an obliterating black rage roll through him, and shrank back against the wall as the thrusts jarred her. Strands of her hair fell when he pulled it, and bruises blossomed on her arm where he held her against the wall. Tears ran down her face as she shrieked against the back of her hand, and the pain and anger mingled when she felt his surge of conceited satisfaction. He withdrew wordlessly and she slid down the side of the building, collapsing into a shaking huddle by the corner.

She awoke to the sharp sting of rubbing alcohol being dabbed over the raw patch on her arm, and looked up to see Anakin, brow furrowed, tending to her. She slapped his hand away and stood up.

“I ought to just leave your ass here, Anakin Skywalker.” She advanced on him, until he’d backed up to the window of the hotel room. “I’m going to say this as clearly as I possibly can: I don’t give a shit that you’re the leader of your galaxy. I … don’t … care. If anything, you should have a higher standard of behavior than the rest of us! See, there’s this saying we have around here: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ I guess they don’t have a similar equivalent on Coruscant.”

“Well, not exactly,” he mumbled.

She shook her head. “But I digress. I don’t care who you are, or what position you hold. I don’t know who encouraged the idea that you can just take whatever you want, but I’d hazard a guess that it wasn’t your mother. I give you a place to stay, let you drive, take you shopping, take you out partying, and how do you thank me? You put your vast and varied powers to use raping me!”

“I didn’t think ….” He trailed off.

“You didn’t think what?”

“I didn’t think it would end up like that. But you taunted me!” he added defensively.

“Maybe, but is that an excuse for what you did to me?” At that, he looked away from her; she had to grab his chin to turn his face back to hers. “Anakin, I understand you’re not perfect. I don’t expect you to be. What I do expect is for you to treat me with the same respect and dignity I show you. If you can’t, we’re going to end this friendship now.” He didn’t answer, and she continued. “I realize that no one ever makes you take responsibility for your actions. You blamed your turn to the Dark Side on Palpatine, and rationalized it with ‘I was trying to save my wife’. You blamed your lack of progress on the Jedi, and not on your lack of maturity.”

“I’m sure it’s a lot easier to see these things when they’re not happening to you,” he mumbled.

She nodded. “That may be, but you still weren’t honest with yourself. And you will never progress until you understand that you choose what path you take; no one else is responsible. You made the decision to act on your jealous impulse, and it ended up with me lying unconscious in an alley.” She stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “So, what is it going to be?”

Anakin had been pacing for an hour. She was stretched across the bed, watching him.

“What is that song playing?”

The radio had been playing softly in the background, and she identified the song automatically. “The band is Green Day, and the song is ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. I have that CD – it’s pretty good.”

He turned and stared out the window, hands clasped behind his back. “I’ll have to find a copy. I really like that.” He paused. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“That you’re going to leave me here?”

She sighed. “Anakin … I … Look, I like you. A lot. You’re fun, you’re witty, and you have this astonishing ability to bring out my impulsive side. I don’t want to leave you here. But if you’re going to keep treating me like property, going berserk when I do something you don’t like, or do what you did-“

“I know; please don’t say it.”

“If you’re going to keep doing that, I’m going to leave. I refuse to be treated like that, by anyone.”

He nodded slowly, but said nothing.

“Why did you do it, Anakin? That’s what I don’t understand.”

“I … It was … I just saw you with those guys and lost it. I couldn’t help it.”

She sat up. “Don’t give me that. You could, but chose not to. I understand that it’s hard to say no to some things, but sometimes you have to. Why’d you choose to do what you did, instead of just talking to me about it?”

He turned and glared at her. “Because I knew I was doing the same thing, all right? And I couldn’t lecture you if I was doing it, so I just lost my temper. At least I wasn’t doing it in retaliation like you were. I just got caught up in the moment; you did it to make me mad.”

She shook her head. “No, I was tired of sitting at the bar by myself, waiting for you to come back.”

“But you certainly weren’t sorry that it got my attention.”

“No, I guess not. But I didn’t do to you what you did to me out of a jealous rage.”

“You’re right. You got in my face, talked to me like I was four – after biting _and_ kicking me, I might add – then stormed off. And you said exactly what you knew would make me the angriest outside.”

“I-“

“Just admit it.”

She pursed her lips and nodded grudgingly. “I wouldn’t have bit you if you hadn’t tossed me over your shoulder.”

“I was coming to get you so we could come back here.”

“You could have said that.”

“I ....” He stopped. She raised an eyebrow. He smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I guess I should have said that.”

She smiled slowly. “Might have helped.” Rising, she walked over to the window and stood beside him. “Tell you what, I won’t leave you here … this time, anyway. But you’ve used up all your coupons for some time, you got that?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes, then he hesitantly touched her shoulder.

“I hurt you.”

“Quite a bit, yes.”

He sighed. “One more thing to add to the list of stuff I’ve messed up, I guess.”

She turned to face him. “Anakin, as much as I would have been thrilled to beat you within an inch of your life two hours ago, I don’t want you using what happened to psychologically flog yourself, okay? Besides, you’re the ruler of the GFFA, how bad can it really be?”

He looked confused. “The GFFA?”

She chuckled. “Oh yeah. ‘GFFA’ stands for “galaxy far, far away”, which is how George Lucas referenced where you’re from in the movies.”

“Ah. Well, it’s not like I was elected, you know. I did a lot of bad things to get to where I’m at.”

“Don’t most politicians?”

“Most don’t murder people, Danielle.”

That made her pause. “Good point. So what happened? How is your story different from the one we saw?”

“Maybe it would be easier for you to see, than for me to tell you all of it,” he answered. “Although you may not ever want to speak to me again after you see it.”

“I’m up for it, if you are.”

He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I don’t have to do it this way, if you’d rather I not touch you right now.”

She placed a hand over his. “It’s okay. Promise.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

“Okay. Just relax.”

She rested more of her weight against him and closed her eyes ….

Striding toward the temple, robe billowing, with the 501st Legion in formation behind him, Anakin Skywalker – the newly christened Darth Vader – was lost in a sea of conflicting thoughts. The people inside this temple were his only family; was he really expected to cut them all down? What about the younglings? It just didn’t seem right. Palpatine knew what he was doing, though – or so Anakin hoped.

As they climbed the stairs, he once again admired the statuary outside the temple. Artisans of the highest caliber had been commissioned to do the pieces, and their work had lasted through generations. At the door, he saw Shaak Ti.

”Get inside,” he said curtly.

Shaak Ti stared at him. “Anakin Skywalker, that’s-“ She was abruptly cut off as his lightsaber ignited in front of her face.

”I said, inside,” he repeated. She nodded quickly, turned, and darted into the building.

Once he was inside, he beckoned to her. “Get all the Jedi, and the younglings, and bring them to the council room.”

“What is going on?”

He didn’t answer – just waved her away.

***

In the council room, he stood in front of the huddled crowd. The looks on the faces of the younglings – their hero, talking to them! – destroyed his original plan to contain the slaughter to one room. He took his hand off his lightsaber and cleared his throat.

“Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord we’ve been searching for.” Audible gasps and shocked murmurings followed this announcement, as he’d expected they might. He held up his hands for silence.

“He instructed me to come to the temple and wipe out the remaining Jedi.” At this, many pairs of eyes darted to the lightsaber resting on his belt. “That doesn’t make any sense, though. I don’t want to do it, and I’m not going to.”

Tentative looks of relief morphed to consternation as he continued. “You will remain in the temple. The 501st Legion will be outside, and I will be protecting the temple with a Force shield.”

A youngling broke in. “The whole temple?” he asked in awe.

Anakin knelt and looked at the young boy. “Yes, the whole temple. I can do that, and I will because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The boy smiled at Anakin as he stood back up. Anakin looked around. “Are there any questions?”

Cin Drallig spoke up. “If you were sent here to wipe us out, that means you have aligned with Sidious.” His lightsaber hummed to life.

Anakin shook his head. “Yes and no. I don’t believe that either the Jedi or the Sith realize the true potential of the Force, because they have separated neutrality into light and dark – or good and evil.”

Master Drallig stepped forward. “And you propose to what?”

“I propose to put things right, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Cin Drallig stared at him for a long moment. “If you go back on your word, Anakin Skywalker, rest assured I will find you.”

Anakin shook his head. “This isn’t the time for false bravado, Master Drallig. You may be a better swordsman than I, but there isn’t a Jedi alive who can wield the Force as I do. If you search your feelings, you will know that what I say is true.”

Master Drallig stepped forward. “I won’t listen to a Sith claim to be looking out for my well-being. It is well-known that the Sith care for nothing but themselves.” He raised his lightsaber into a ready stance.

Anakin sighed. “I don’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice.” Their lightsabers crossed with a flash and hiss.

Cin Drallig was the Order’s leading swordsman, and with good reason. Many had tried to best him; none had been victorious, until today. Within a matter of minutes, Anakin had disarmed him and stood in front of him holding both lightsabers.

“Master Drallig, please do not make me take this demonstration any further.”

He nodded slowly. Anakin handed over his lightsaber … then put him in a Force hold.

“Don’t think I’m stupid. I know you’d try something as soon as my back was turned. Your close-mindedness about anything different from what you believe is exactly what is wrong with the Jedi Order today, and exactly what I’m going to change about it. Now … sit down.”

Cin Drallig returned to his seat.

Anakin looked around at the gathered Jedi. “I mean what I say. I won’t slaughter you. As I said, I will be guarding the temple. Both my shield and the 501st will ensure you’re your safety. I will be back when I have a chance.” Before he left the room, he knelt down to talk to the boy who’d spoken up before. “You work hard on your studies, young man.”

The boy nodded solemnly. “I will.”

Anakin smiled sadly. “I think I’m having a little boy just like you soon. Maybe one day you’ll be his teacher.”

The boy smiled. “That would be fun, I think.”

Anakin stood. “So do I. You be careful.” He spun on his heel and left the room, breaking into a sprint as he reached the main corridor.

***

Anakin stepped onto the veranda at 500 Republica. Threepio walked out to meet him.

“Master Anakin! It’s so good to see you again!”

“Threepio, where’s Padmé?”

The droid fidgeted. “She had to run an errand, sir. She didn’t tell me where she was going.”

Anakin walked around the room, feeling the residue of her excitement. “Well, wherever it was, she was sure happy about it.”

“Yes, sir, she was fairly glowing as she left the house.”

“When she gets back, please tell her that I’ve been called to Mustafar. We’ve found the Separatist leaders, and I’m going to finish this war.”

“That’s wonderful news!” Threepio exclaimed. “I will be sure to inform her!”

“Thank you, Threepio.”

***

Anakin ran down the passageway to Palpatine’s office and was surprised to find the door open, and Palpatine’s personal guards sprawled in the entryway. He stepped over their inert bodies and looked around. Palpatine’s chair was tipped backward, and lightsaber scores were on the wall.

Suddenly, he heard machinery start up, and turned toward the antechamber where Palpatine’s Senatorial podium was housed. He darted out of the office, and up around to the top tiers of the Senate chamber.

Inside, red and green lightsabers flashed and hummed. Yoda bounced around Senatorial pods, dodging Sidious. As Yoda jumped to a higher level, Sidious Force-lifted a pod and hurled it at him. Yoda ducked, but had to catch the next one thrown. Spinning it adeptly, he tossed it back at Sidious, who had to drop to his knees to get out of the way in time.

As Yoda sprang up, intent on wiping out the Sith scourge once and for all, Anakin leapt down to intercept him.

“The apprentice, you must be,” Yoda said wearily.

Anakin nodded. “For now.”

“Then deal with you first, I must. Short work, it will be.”

Anakin glared at the last remark. “That’s right, because Anakin Skywalker, even though he’s the one to fulfill the prophecy, doesn’t pose any sort of threat because he’s just a boy, is that it?”

“Misread, the prophecy was, if joined the Dark Side you have.”

“We’ll see,” Anakin growled. He channelled all his anger at being underestimated, ignored, cut down, and talked down to into his actions within the Force. Yoda floated into the air, then was tossed across the Senate chamber like a rag doll. As he hit the wall, his lightsaber – thrown at blinding speed by Anakin – streaked toward him and cut him in two.

“Good!” Sidious cheered from the pod where he’d been crouching. “Marvelous work, my young apprentice!”

Anakin turned to him. “’Young apprentice’, is it? I have more mastery over the Force than you could possibly dream of.”

Sidious looked astonished for all of a second before smiling. “I see. I see you haven’t learned anything from what I’ve taught you – that the Dark Side will always triumph.”

Anakin vaulted forward and swung his lightsaber. Sidious dodged it … barely. A mere eyebrow twitch betrayed his surprise that Anakin had gotten close enough to nick his robes.

“I’m done being someone’s apprentice!” Anakin roared. “I’m tired of being enslaved, lectured, and punished by people who don’t know me!”

“But my boy,” Sidious answered, “I do know you. Very well.”

“No! You know the horrible things I’ve done, and that’s it! That isn’t all I am!”

“Isn’t it? You’ve killed Jedi. You slaughtered the oldest living member of the Order. Not to mention that business with the Tuskens … and Count Dooku.”

Anakin wavered for a moment. “I … but those aren’t the only things I’ve done.”

“No, but they are important things to consider when looking at your character, aren’t they?”

Anakin looked down as though considering Sidious’ words, then looked up. His eyes were shot through with amber, and he smiled sadistically.

“Then, I’ve fallen and am unredeemable,” he said, “and that means I have no problem doing this.” He stretched out a hand toward Sidious’ chest and slowly squeezed his fingers together.

Sidious staggered, but held onto the side of the pod and sent a furious burst of Force lightning at Anakin. Anakin swept it away with barely a glance.

‘Is that all he has?’ he thought. ‘The great and powerful Sith Lord, and he’s just going to throw lightning at me. Doesn’t he know who I am, what I can do?’

Sidious cackled. “Usually, apprentices wait more than a day to attack their Masters. I suppose, though, I’m not surprised, seeing how you’re still so young … and immature.”

“Then why’d you pick me, if I’m so bad?”

“Because I thought you were talented, more so than the rest. Apparently I was mistaken, young Skywalker.”

Anakin bounded over pods toward Sidious. “Is that so?”

“Yes. Be honest with yourself, Anakin … even Padmé didn’t think you were talented enough, did she?”

Once again, Anakin faltered. “What?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know, Anakin. How often have her and Kenobi found excuses to spend time together? How often has he called you back to the temple, only to be leaving as you arrive? Are you really so gullible?”

“It can’t be. Why would they betray me? I’ve done everything in my power to make sure she’s taken care of, and to make sure Obi-Wan isn’t chastised about me anymore.”

“I guess, as always, what you were doing wasn’t enough,” Sidious answered, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “Surely you’re not surprised, Anakin – it’s been like that ever since you tried to save your mother.”

Red swam in Anakin’s vision at Sidious’ last remark. He launched himself at Sidious, screaming his pain, rage, hatred, and guilt.

Sidious laughed and raised his lightsaber as Anakin flew at him … only to have it knocked out of his hands. It landed in a pod eight levels down. Amusement turned to shock when he had to call on all his resources to avoid Anakin’s frenzied strikes.

Sidious backed up against the edge of the pod. “Wait, Anakin, please ….”

Anakin backhanded him, sending him flying into another pod. As Sidious stood, he launched a concentrated stream of energy directly at his former Master’s heart.

The look of shock on Sidious’ face froze, and he clutched wildly at his heart. Anakin vaulted over to the pod Sidious was in.

“Looks like I’m not so lacking in talent after all … Master,” he hissed. Sidious raised his hands … and Anakin sliced through both of them. Sidious yelped and fell backward.

“I tire of this,” Anakin said, and drove his blade through Sidious’ heart. A visible dark cloud rose from the body, writhed, and dissipated. Sidious’ corpse was decaying at an alarming rate; Anakin prodded the body with his boot one time, then leapt down, collected Sidious’ lightsaber, and headed back to his speeder.

“It’s time to end this war once and for all,” he murmured.

Anakin emerged from his fighter and looked around. Lava ran underneath and around the station, while droids skated over the top of the molten river. The heat enveloped him, and he instantly began sweating inside the hooded robe.

He stormed the control center, searching for the Separatists. He found them celebrating the end of the war in the main control room.

“Good evening,” he said cordially to the gathered leaders. “I’m here to negotiate a peace treaty.”

“Anakin Skywalker!” Nute Gunray exclaimed. “But … how did the Jedi know where to find us?”

“I am no Jedi,” Anakin growled, as he sent his lightsaber spinning out to impale San Hill. As he called it back to his hand, the spinning blade decapitated Passel Argente. The remaining Separatists backed toward the doors. Po Nudo made a run for it, and was subsequently crushed when Anakin swept the doors closed. Shu Mai, Rune Haako, and Poggle the Lesser were the next to fall under Anakin’s whirling blade.

‘This is what a lightsaber is meant for – to perform the dance of death for those unworthy of drawing breath. It’s meant to cut, to rend, to kill. It wasn’t designed to look pretty, or just for defense. In the hands of a master, this blade is the Reaper himself, come to collect.’

Wat Tambor backed away from Anakin, hands raised in surrender, pleading for his life. Anakin’s response was Tambor’s dismemberment and decapitation.

The coppery scent of blood in the main control room tickled his nose as Anakin stalked toward the gibbering, shaking wreck that was Nute Gunray. Anakin didn’t even look down as he swung his lightsaber and sliced off the Neimoidian’s head in one slash.

He turned to face the carnage littering the room. “Gentlemen, I believe this will conclude our rather aggressive negotiations.” He saw the outline of a ship on a monitor as he walked out of the room. Recognizing Padmé’s skiff, he strode out of the control room, shutting the doors behind him. At the landing bay, he ran to meet her as she slowly made her way down the ramp.

“Hello, Padmé.”

“Anakin, there’s been a slaughter at the Senate! Master Yoda and Chancellor Palpatine were killed!”

“I know.”

“How … how do you know?”

“Trust me. I have everything …. “ His voice trailed off as he noticed another figure standing at the entrance ramp. “Obi-Wan.”

“Anakin.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m overly surprised. Why did you bring him here, Padmé?”

“He … he just came with me to help pilot, Anakin.”

“I see. Whose idea was it for him to come, yours or his?”

“Does that matter, Anakin?”

“It matters! Answer the question!”

“Well, it was a mutual decision,” she murmured.

“I spent quite some time trying to convince myself that this wasn’t going on, but now the evidence is overwhelming.”

“Going on? Anakin, what are you talking about?”

“You and Obi-Wan!”

Padmé opened her mouth, then closed it again. “We … “

Anakin’s stare bored into her. “Is the baby even mine?”

“Well … I’m pretty sure.”

“’Pretty sure,’” he mocked. “Nice to know this isn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“Anakin, we … I never meant for this to happen. It just … did. You of all people should understand that.”

“’Gee, Anakin, why are you mad?’” he parroted. “Please, Padmé, spare me.”

“Anakin, all I’m trying to say is-“

In an instant he was in front of her and wrapping his mechanical hand around her throat. “No!” he roared. “I’m through with your treachery!”

Obi-Wan sprinted down the ramp. “Anakin,” he started, before he ran into a Force wall and bounced backward.

“You’ll have your turn soon enough … Master,” Anakin snarled, and sent Obi-Wan hurtling back toward the skiff with one dismissive gesture.

He watched his fingers sink into Padmé’s throat as though he were watching a holovid.

‘I wonder if I should just snap her neck. I knew this had been going on, but I didn’t know it was for that long. How could he do this to me? How could she do this to me? And then expect me to just nod and understand? I shouldn’t be enjoying this … is that really what I am, some kind of monster? What if the baby is mine?’

He abandoned that disturbing train of thought when he felt her throat collapse, then snapped her neck and cast her body off to the side. Turning, he advanced on Obi-Wan.

“So. You take me on as a student, even though you don’t want to. All of your dislike comes out in little passive-aggressive ways, making me work that much harder just to make you happy. But then when I do something really impressive, you tell me I’m showing off or that that’s not how Jedi use the Force.”

“Anakin, I ….” Obi-Wan was endeavoring to stay away from Anakin, to no avail.

Anakin knew his former Master well enough to predict how he was going to move, and he used that advantage to slowly back Obi-Wan into a corner. “I’m not finished yet! You’re so intent on following the rules that you don’t realize that people are different. You were brought to the Order as a baby; I had to leave everything behind, and you didn’t seem to think it was right that I would have a problem with that! I wasn’t allowed to miss my mother, because ‘attachment is of the Dark Side’. What kind of rhetoric is that, Obi-Wan? You’re not allowed to love, to bond, to care for others? What kind of life does that leave you with?”

“Anakin, you’re wrong. The caution is against attachment, not – “

“And you’re telling me that love isn’t attachment?”

“Well … it is, but ….”

“No, Obi-Wan, you can’t have it both ways! I wasn’t allowed to live with Padmé openly because it would get me expelled from an Order supposedly created to help people. Meanwhile, the Order’s own people are forced either to be monastic, or to live a lie. The failure you set yourselves up for is astonishing.”

“’Yourselves’, Anakin? Do you no longer consider yourself a Jedi?”

“Do you consider me to be one, Obi-Wan?”

“After that slaughter in the Senate, no. No, I don’t.”

“Exactly. But only because Yoda was involved! If it had just been Sidious, I would have been hailed as a hero!”

“That’s because ….”

“No, Obi-Wan, there is no ‘because’. Even though I destroyed Sidious as gruesomely as I destroyed Yoda, I would be a hero because Sidious was ‘bad’. Even though I gave into my rage, and hatred, to be able to destroy him … it would be okay, because I was on the Jedi side, the supposed ‘right’ side, when I did it. How do you live with that double standard?”

“You are oversimplifying things, Anakin.”

“No, I’m not. I’m seeing both sides clearly for the first time. The Light are so self-absorbed, so buried in their dogma and meaningless rules that they’ve lost touch with the one thing that sets them apart from everyone else – their command of the Force. They’ve come to take it for granted – it’s now their right, and not a privilege. They’ve grown so self-centered that no one else could possibly be right.”

“And Sidious was better, was that it, Anakin?” Obi-Wan snapped.

“No, he wasn’t! But he at least was going to purge the galaxy of the bureaucratic nightmare that the Republic had become!” Anakin had gotten Obi-Wan pressed against the side of the skiff, and was right up in his face. “Bogged down in procedure, with the people they’d promised to represent left behind as Senators chased money, fame, and power. Megalomaniacs ruled, and that was all going to change. Are you telling me that this change could have been effected through normal means, Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan was silent, staring at Anakin.

“I didn’t think so. The Dark is just as self-centered as the Light – it cares only about power, greed, and all the base emotions. The Light went to the opposite extreme – caring so much about ideals that it lost emotion altogether. Is that how you wanted to live your life, Obi-Wan?”

“I knew nothing else, Anakin.”

Anakin pulled backward and assumed a casual stance. “How did you feel when you first realized how you felt about Padmé?”

“I … I tried to fight it.”

“You tried to fight one of the purest emotions that exist.”

“I wasn’t supposed to be feeling that way – not only because of the Order, but because she was your wife, and you are my friend, Anakin. Or were, anyway.”

“But once you accepted it?”

Obi-Wan debated silently. “It was amazing, Anakin. It was like the love I have for you – as a brother – multiplied and magnified into something I could barely comprehend.”

Anakin nodded. “But I was supposed to ignore it.”

“Anakin, there are rules … rules that are there for a reason.”

“What, to be broken? You obviously did.”

Obi-Wan started to reply, then fell silent.

“Exactly.”

Obi-Wan watched him sorrowfully. “Anakin, I can’t let you leave here.”

“Why?”

“Because of what you’ve become.”

“And what is that, Obi-Wan? I destroyed the Sith, I defeated the Separatist leaders … what more do you want from me?”

“While all those things are admirable, Anakin, the fact remains that you yourself have fallen from the path of the Light. You are the most powerful Force-sensitive in the history of the galaxy, and your complete lack of maturity and foresight have turned you into a very large liability.”

“So, I’m to be summarily executed for not following ancient dogma anymore.”

“That’s not it, Anakin. The purpose of the Jedi Order is to promote peace, and you have taken it upon yourself to become a one-man killing machine.”

“Completely unlike the Jedi out fighting the war, I presume,” Anakin remarked sarcastically.

“Yes!”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “No matter. You have a choice now, my former Master. You can join me … or you will fall here, never to rise again.”

“So I must betray the code I have lived by all my life in order to live.”

“You must realize the code you have lived by all your life is outmoded, and demands that its followers be automatons.”

“You will not sway me, Anakin. I was born to be a Jedi, and will die as such if need be.”

“So be it.”

***

The battle raged for hours, but at the end, there could be only one victor. Obi-Wan stood over Anakin on a bank of the river.

“I have the high ground!” he shouted, extinguishing his lightsaber. “It’s over!”

Anakin lunged up and forward, impaling his former Master and sending him staggering backward. Anakin caught Obi-Wan as he fell.

“I didn’t want it to come to this, Obi-Wan. But you wouldn’t listen.”

“I will never … abandon my ideals … as you did, Anakin.”

“But you’ll abandon me!” he said, suddenly angry again. “I didn’t abandon my ideals – I finally discovered what they were. I should have known that I couldn’t make you understand.” He laid the lifeless body back onto the onyx sand, then stood slowly and made his way toward the landing pad.

***

Three days later, he stood in front of HoloNet crews in the Senate building to make his announcement. The full Senate was assembled behind him.

“Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was the mastermind behind the war with the Separatists. He was planning a slaughter of the Jedi, and a forceful takeover of the galaxy. I have eliminated this threat.”

He paused. “However, one threat still remains. Behind me is the Galactic Senate – symbol of the Republic for many years now. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has corrupted many of the senators you see here today. And today, I rectify that problem, as well.” He turned from the news crews to address the Senate. “You are all summarily removed from office.” Ignoring the outcry from the assembled former senators, he continued. “I have your names, and you will not be campaigning for office again, I assure you.”

A senator three rows back from the news crews stood up. “Who are you to proclaim yourself ruler? What have you ever done for this galaxy? What makes you think – ack!” His words were cut off as he suddenly began grabbing at his throat. Half the HoloVid crews captured the dying senator; the other half captured Anakin. The split image was broadcast across the galaxy – Anakin standing motionless at the podium, and the senator clutching madly at air.

“You were one of the first to fall in line with Palpatine! You sold out opponents; you offered your planet up to the Separatists and their destructive factories! You were one of the first to volunteer your people to be test subjects for new weapons! Don’t stand there and question what I have done for the galaxy, when you yourself have been nothing but a bully and a scourge!”

The thud as the senator collapsed was clearly audible throughout the silent Senate.

“Anyone else?” Anakin roared.

No one moved.

“As for the rest of you ….” He fell silent, staring at the Senate.

All through the room, senators began clutching at their chests and toppling over. Anakin waited until the last one fell to continue.

“Now, I have assured that those corrupt beings will never be in office again,” he said. “The remaining senators you see before you are the Delegation of Two Thousand, who believed that Palpatine was running a corrupt government and wanted him removed from office. These are the only beings, out of countless worlds, who I feel I can trust to continue serving their people.”

 “What of the Jedi Purge?” a reporter asked.

“I did not know of Order 66,” Anakin replied. “Had I known, I would have stopped it. We have lost many of the great Jedi who kept the Republic safe from external threats. However, the Order remains. Will the representative please come forward?”

Cin Drallig maneuvered his new pod so it was in the center of the room.

“The Order, essentially, will not be changed. You are still charged with keeping peace throughout the galaxy. You have historically been the voice of moderation, and I will be changing policy within the Order to reflect that.”

“What do you mean?” Master Drallig asked calmly.

“The ideals of the Jedi, and their unattainable goals, are largely responsible for their downfall. As I don’t want to see this happen again, I will be keeping strict watch over how the Order is run. I will not interfere in your day-to-day business, but will ensure that you are teaching your students a broader grasp of the Force. Only in that way will they be able to deal with ever-changing foes. The Jedi would have lost to Sidious, because they didn’t understand how to evolve. You will also have a seat on the representative body. The Jedi are an entity unto themselves, and should be treated as such. However, you are no longer above the law. Jedi law does not take precedence over galactic law. Do not let me catch your Order thinking it does.”

Master Drallig nodded, then returned to his place.

“If there are no further interruptions, I believe this concludes this press conference.”

Danielle stepped out of his arms and turned to look at him, but said nothing.

He sighed. “I told you.”

She looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve done horrible things. You’ve seen enough already, and that was just over a short time span. I killed both of my mentors, my wife, my unborn child, the most venerated member of the Jedi Order, and over three-fourths of the Senate.”

“That’s true.”

“And that’s not all of it. That was only in the first two days.”

“Then show me the rest.”

He took her head in his hands.

‘This is what I’ve done,’ he thought, as images of bodies piled in her mind. ‘All of these people disagreed with me in some way that I decided warranted death. Sometimes I sent squads, but most of the time I had them brought to me. At first, each swing of my lightsaber cut me as well, but as time went on, I found that I liked what I was doing. I liked the pleas for mercy. Each show of false bravado, each tearful breakdown – they were what I woke up for every morning. I was at my most content sitting in my interrogation room, watching the body of the morning cool on the other side of the room. It became my only release.’

She saw prisoners begging for their lives; people summarily executed without trial; insurrectionists killed and put on display as warnings to others.

‘One morning, I woke up and realized that I was turning into the same kind of monster Sidious was - I didn’t care whose lives I destroyed as long as I got my way and everyone agreed with me. During my studies of the temple holocrons, I discovered a way to portal. I decided that if I was ever going to change, I would have to remove myself from the temptation. That’s when I started coming here.’

She stepped back. “So you’ve only been ruler for a few years?”

“Yes. Four, to be exact. And I’ve spent those four convincing systems that I mean what I say. I will have things done my way, or people will pay the penalty. And when systems didn’t need ‘convincing’ … I demonstrated my point just because I could.”

“Anakin, I ….”

He turned away from her and began pacing the room. “The first nine years of my life were fantastic. We didn’t have a lot, but at least my mother understood me, wanted me to do well, and did what she could to provide for us. She even saw how much I wanted to become a Jedi like Qui-Gon and told me I should follow that dream no matter what.”

“You were very lucky, Anakin. A lot of children don’t have parents like that.”

“Oh yeah? She was the one who told me I should go with the Jedi … and look what happened! Betrayed by both my wife and my best friend, and I’ve turned into someone my mother would never let in her house, let alone accept as her son!” He threw up his hands. “Why did she make me go?” His voice caught and he turned to stare silently out the window.

“Anakin … she couldn’t have known what was going to happen. Even you didn’t know, and you have visions of things that are to come. She didn’t send you off so you could be miserable. I’m sure that watching you chase Qui-Gon down that street broke her heart ... but she was hoping that she was sending you to a better life.” She laid a hand on his forearm. “Do you really think your mother would willingly send you away if she knew that you were going to be hurt?”

“I don’t know,” he muttered sullenly.

Danielle grabbed his arm. “Yes, you do! Stop playing this ‘Poor, poor me!’ game for a minute, and realize that sometimes, bad things are going to happen, and that you can’t change that.”

He yanked his arm away. “Then what’s the point of the visions if I can’t do anything about them? What kind of sick Force gift is that? Just so I can be miserable both before and after the tragedy happens?”

“Maybe this is a wild guess … but perhaps they’re there in order to give you a heads up on the kind of trials you’re going to face. Most people would give their right arms to know what they were going to have to deal with! Instead of looking at this like a curse, find something positive in it.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “You don’t understand what it’s like, Danielle.”

“No, I don’t, Anakin. But I know that dwelling on things that cause you pain, and on the grimmer aspects of life, will turn you into a bitter husk of a man. You’re already at the point where you’re so emotionally stunted that you have to kill people to feel anything – doesn’t that tell you something?” She stepped closer to him. “I know that’s not how you want to live the rest of your life.”

“No!” he roared. “I won’t listen to this! I don’t need your lectures!” He stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Danielle stared at the closed door. “What the fuck?” she muttered. “I’ve never seen anyone more bi-polar in my goddamn life.” She removed her boots, tossed her clothes aside, and drew a peignoir over her head. She knocked on the bathroom door.

“Are you coming out sometime tonight?”

Silence was the only reply.

“Fine! Act like you’re four! I’m going to bed; I hope the bathtub’s comfortable!” She turned the covers down with a huff, threw herself on the bed, and curled up in a ball, trying to will herself to sleep.

Four hours later, she woke up and looked blearily around the room. Anakin was silhouetted against the window, watching the lightly falling snow. She got out of bed, shuffled over to him, and slipped her arm around his waist. He looked down at her.

“Those non-skid fish made that bathtub way too uncomfortable to sleep in,” he said with a small smile.

She chuckled. “So you decided to stand and stare out the window?”

“I guess I got mesmerized.” He beckoned toward the window.

The snow had been falling for some time, covering the city in a shimmering blanket. Streetlamps cast a faint yellow glow over everything, and large flakes lazily drifted through the light beams. A solitary car made its way down the side street their window faced.

“That’s snow,” she said. “Haven’t you ever seen snow before?”

He thought about it. “No … no, I haven’t.”

“Well, get dressed and get your coat; we’re going outside.”

“Now? It’s two in the morning!”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“Well, no.” He looked out the window once more, and a grin spread across his face. “Okay, let’s go.” He pulled a black t-shirt over his head and grabbed his coat as Danielle got into her jeans and put on her hoodie. She tossed him a glove.

“You’ll want this, too,” she said as she reached for her own. She put hers in her hoodie pocket and took his arm. “Ready?”

He grinned. “Yeah.”

Anakin pulled on her arm just outside the door of the hotel. “Hang on,” he said. He cautiously stretched his hands out and watched the flakes land on his gloves.

Danielle smiled. “Come on, silly, they don’t hurt.” She gave him a gentle shove toward the sidewalk. “I think there’s a park down the street; we can go over there,” she said.

He didn’t answer, and she looked over at him. He was watching the falling flakes, the buildup of snow on the trees and cars, studying the tire tracks along the road. She smiled at the snowflakes caught on his long lashes as they meandered down the sidewalk. He wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“This is beautiful,” he said in a near-whisper. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“This is my favorite time of year,” she answered. “The park is just over this rise.”

As they came over the top of the hill, Anakin stopped short. “What is that?” he exclaimed, pointing toward the center of the park.

“It’s a Christmas tree,” she said. “At this time of year, we decorate evergreen trees to celebrate Christmas.”

“What’s Christmas?”

“Well, it first had its origins with Christians – a predominate religion in parts of the world – trying to convince pagans – a different religion – to be Christian. They decided that Christmas – the holiday celebrating Jesus Christ’s birth-“

Anakin interrupted. “Who’s that?”

She sighed. “I’ve never tried to explain this to someone with no idea about it before. I’m not religious, so I might get this wrong.”

He nodded. “It’s okay; just tell me what you know.”

She smiled. “Jesus Christ is the person Christians believe is the literal son of their God. They believe he came to Earth to save humanity from itself. And Christmas is the holiday they use to celebrate his birth.”

“I see.”

“Well, anyway … so, Jesus is believed to have been born in April, but because the Christians wanted the pagans to be Christians-“

Anakin interrupted her again. “Why didn’t they want them to just be pagans, if that’s what those people believed?”

“Because a lot of religions are quite intolerant of all others.”

Anakin nodded knowingly. “Like the Jedi and the Sith.”

She laughed. “Yeah. Never really thought about it that way, but yeah.”

“Okay, continue.”

“So, they wanted the pagans to convert. Instead of leaving Christ’s birthday celebration in the spring, they moved it to coincide with a pagan winter holiday to make Christianity more palatable to the pagans.”

Anakin pondered for a moment. “So, basically, people couldn’t get along and used celebrations to deceive each other. All in the name of your god.”

She nodded. “Basically.”

“And no one saw anything wrong with that?”

“Some did … but back then, those people were probably socially ostracized and cast out of the church.”

“Harsh.”

“It’s no different than what you went through, is it?”

“That’s true. Come on, I want to go look at this tree.”

They made their way across the park. “So, is it still a very religious celebration?”

Danielle shrugged. “Quite a few people still celebrate the religious aspect – even people who don’t go to church the rest of the year try to go on Christmas. In general, though, it’s become more about Christmas carols, shopping, presents, and a huge dinner with family members that you only see this one time a year.”

“It sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, for the most part. Decorating the tree is one of my favorite parts of this time of year.”

“I didn’t see one at your house,” he said.

“I haven’t had time to go buy one yet. Some people use artificial trees; I have to have a real one every year. Maybe we can do that when we go back.”

“I’d like that.” He walked around the brightly lit tree. “It looks like people put a lot of time into this.”

“It’s quite the popular tradition,” she said. “The capital has a huge tree, along with carriage rides and Christmas light displays.”

“Can we go see that?”

“What, this weekend?”

“Yeah.”

“We won’t have time, Anakin. I have to be back to work on Monday.”

“Well,” he said determinedly, “we’ll go back, I’ll get everything taken care of this next week, and then we can go.”

“What do you mean by ‘taken care of,’ Anakin?”

“I can’t stay here, Danielle. I joined the Marines mostly to see if I could hack it. I did, and it was fun, but no matter how competent my governors are, I can’t leave the Empire running itself. I have to get rid of my service record; I’m so new that they won’t miss me, anyway.”

She bit her lip and looked away. “I see.”

He tilted her chin up so she was looking at him. “And you start your … what’s it called, terminal leave? You start that in two weeks, don’t you?”

“How did you know that?”

“Your request was on the desk in my office.”

“That’s right. Lieutenant Kent buried it in his inbox and forgot it before he left.”

“Well, I’m going to authorize your leave to start after next week. Your replacement is already down here, correct?”

“Yes. He’s normally there, but he had some personal issues to take care of on Friday.”

“So, you’re going to start your leave next Monday,” he said with finality. “And once you’re on leave, we can go to the capital and see all these trees and lights you’re telling me about. We’ll have … Christmas up there.”

“What am I supposed to do with my house, Anakin?”

“The same thing I’m doing with my Empire, Danielle – just let it take care of itself while you’re gone. There’s nothing that can’t be fixed when you get back.”

She looked at him, then ran a hand through his hair, scattering snowflakes right and left. He started grinning even before she answered.

“Oh … what the hell? I’ve always wanted to go on one of those carriage rides, anyway.”

“You haven’t gone on one?”

“Nope. Never managed to make it up there.”

“Okay. So what we’re going to do is rent a house, and-“

“Rent a house? Anakin, house leases are for a year or more! How are you going to rent a house for 3 weeks?”

“Well, obviously, you’re going to live there, aren’t you?”

“I am? What if I want to live somewhere else?”

“Well, if you want to live somewhere else, then we should go there when you start your leave.” He paused. “But they’ll have a big tree, and lights, and carriage rides too, right?”

She laughed. “Yes, Anakin, they’ll have them.”

“So where do you want to live?”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Salt Lake City. Less expensive than Denver, with just as much skiing.”

“If that’s what will make you happy, then that’s what I want to do,” he said. He took her hand, kissed it, and pulled her close. “Thank you.”

“For what? Not that you’re not welcome, of course.”

“For not leaving me here, even though you should have after what I did.”

“That may be, but it wouldn’t have been right, Anakin. Besides, I like ya.”

He hugged her. “I like you, too. Even when you talk back … I think.”

Danielle flopped onto the couch and sighed as she looked at the clock for the fourth time.

“I hate waiting for TMO,” she muttered. “These people take forever.”

A small stack of boxes by the front door caught her eye. “I may as well go load those in the Expedition,” she said, making her way through the slightly organized disaster covering the living room. She hefted two boxes onto her shoulders and eased out the front door. “Why is the Expedition’s back door still closed? Dammit, Anakin!” she yelled.

He poked his head out from behind one of her dad’s old gadgets in the garage. “What?”

“Can you please open this door … you know, like you were gonna do before you started fiddling around in the garage?”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, waving a hand at the SUV. The door opened, and Danielle set the two boxes in there. “Now, only five more to go,” she said, turning to head back into the house.

“Hey, you wanted me to remind you to call your parents,” Anakin called.

“Oh yeah. Thanks,” she said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. “I may as well do that now.” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and they won’t be – Hi, Mom,” she said. “Yes, I started terminal this week … no, I don’t think I’m going to stay down here … yes, I’ll get the house rented out. How are you and Dad? … that’s great … well, actually, no, I don’t think I’m going to be moving back there … because you know I’ve never been a big fan of California, Mom … No, it’s not because I don’t – Mom … Mom, it’s not like I’m moving to Maine, I’m only going to be living three states away … No, Mother, it’s not because of a guy!” she exclaimed.

“Hey!” Anakin yelped. Danielle glared at him as her mother started again.

“No, Mom, that was my friend Anakin … no, not that kind of friend! … he’s not even from Utah, Mother .. hey, I have to go, I’ll call you when I’m on the road, okay? … Uh-huh, love you too … bye.”

“Well, that sounded like it went well,” Anakin observed sardonically.

“Shut up.”

He burst into laughter. She glared.

“You know, you could actually help, instead of sitting out here tinkering with this crap,” she said.

“Sorry. You know how I get around mechanical stuff.” He looked back down at the various objects strewn around him. “I wonder what this went to,” he mumbled to himself as he removed pieces from an old car engine.

“Anakin!” she snapped.

He looked up, startled. “What?”

“Are you going to help me, or not?”

“How does that work?” he asked, pointing at her old go-kart.

“With a key,” Danielle answered icily.

He opened his mouth to reply, then thought better of it. He set the tools down and looked up at her. “What do you want me to do?”

“Can you bring the rest of the boxes by the door out? I’m gonna finish going through the stuff in the kitchen. We can probably bring most of the snacks, but since we’re leaving tomorrow, we’ll have to get rid of the majority of the food in the fridge.”

“So … take out the boxes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah.”

“Got it.” He headed into the house. She pulled the Expedition keys out of her pocket when she heard the moving truck pull into the driveway.

The driver parked the truck and climbed out. “Ma’am, if you can move that-“

“No problem,” she said. “I’ll pull it back by the garage. Will that leave you enough room?”

“Should.”

She nodded and went to move the SUV. A box-laden Anakin walked out of the house as she pulled the Expedition away, and the look on his face made Danielle laugh aloud. She beckoned to him through the window, and he stuck his tongue out and walked over to her.

“Very funny,” he said as she jumped out and opened the back door.

“Hey, the movers needed to be able to back the truck up to the door.”

Anakin looked over at the truck, now backing up toward the house. “Ah.”

“I’m going to go in and make sure everything is off the walls and separated. Can you run to Target and pick up a large cooler so we can keep this milk and stuff?”

“Sure.” He took the keys and kissed her cheek. “Back in a little while.”

Danielle watched him leave, then pulled her phone out again and dialled her realtor.

“Hey Chris … yeah, Mom and Dad want to rent it out again … I’m TMOing today and leaving town tomorrow, just fax all the paperwork to my parents … I think $750 should be more than reasonable, considering the land and the size of the house … okay, I’ll talk to you later.” She flipped her phone closed and headed inside.

Anakin returned with the cooler a few minutes later, and they finished taking everything out to the Expedition while the movers boxed and loaded all her furniture.

“Where are you sending this stuff, again?” Anakin asked.

“Well, I technically have my friend Kevin’s address listed, but hopefully we’ll have a place before then, and we can just re-direct them there,” she answered.

“Ahh. Got it. So, do you want to leave today, instead of waiting until tomorrow?”

“Yeah. No point in staying in an empty house.” She wrapped her arm around his waist. “And I’m driving.”

“I thought I was supposed to be the mind-reader here.”

“Shoulda spoken up sooner, I guess,” she laughed.

The second night of the cross-country drive, Danielle tried to sneak up behind him one night as he was tapping away at his laptop. He heard her and snapped the computer closed.

“Dammit, Anakin, why won’t you let me see the houses you’re looking at?”

“Because I want it to be a surprise when we get there.”

“You know, I have to live there … maybe you should let me see it to decide if I like it.”

He rolled his eyes. “I already know if you’ll like them or not.”

“Kind of cocky, aren’t you?”

He grinned. “Always. It’s my best feature.”

Danielle snorted. “So says you. I’m going to go take a shower; I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

He barely hesitated. “Okay.”

She turned, then paused. “Anakin, I ….”

He swivelled his chair around. “Danielle … don’t worry about it. I understand.” He smiled. “Every once in awhile, I realize that what I do has consequences.”

She sighed, then gave him a small smile. “Well … it’s … I mean … you don’t have to sleep in the other bed tonight, if you don’t want to.”

He grinned. “Well, at least I’ll be closer if you have a nightmare.”

She snapped her towel at him. “You!”

He laughed and waved her toward the bathroom. “Go, before you change your mind.”

An hour later, she was stretched across the bed, watching him scrutinize the computer screen.

“Will you please come to bed?”

He looked over at her. “Yeah. I probably should … cause you’re going to let me drive tomorrow, right?”

She snickered. “Yeah, right.”

Anakin pouted. “You’re mean.”

“Yep.” She patted the bed. “Come on.”

He stood, threw off his shirt, and stepped out of his jeans. Looking out the window, he observed, “Wow, there’s a lot more snow here.”

“The Midwest is like that. Hopefully we won’t get snowed in.”

He turned and grinned, then took a flying leap onto the bed. Danielle squealed and rolled out of the way, then sat up and playfully pushed him. “God, you act like you’re four sometimes, Anakin.”

“Well, if they have more fun … then so be it,” he retorted.

Danielle yawned. “Well, I’ve gotta get some sleep, or I’ll never make it through Nebraska.”

He chuckled, and stretched his arm out. She curled up against him and was asleep almost instantly.

They’d been at the Salt Lake Hilton for two days when Anakin announced they were going shopping, and then househunting.

Danielle looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow. “Do I get a say in this?”

“Um, well, you can say whether you’re going to come or not.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. What are we going shopping for?”

“I need a suit and a nice briefcase.”

“Ahh. Well .. you know, maybe I’ll stay here, okay? I’m really sucked into this book.”

He shook his head. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

Anakin strolled through the door three hours later, carrying numerous shopping bags. He deposited them ceremonially on the bed, and cleared his throat to get Danielle’s attention. She looked up and whistled.

He was standing there in a black and white pinstriped suit and a snazzy fedora, complete with feather. He grinned as he saw her eyes widen.

“You like?”

“You bet your ass I like,” she replied with a grin. “You won’t even need your little mind tricks to get the house for a lower price with that outfit.”

He laughed. “I got you something, too. I hope it fits.” He tossed her two shopping bags and beckoned toward the bathroom.

Danielle grinned as she caught the bags and stuck her tongue out at him over her shoulder as she disappeared into the bathroom. He sat on the bed to wait.

“Anakin, this suit is one hundred percent wool,” she called from the bathroom.

“The lady said that would be the best choice ‘cause it’s winter,” he replied.

“And I noticed the price tag has been conveniently removed.”

He grinned. “She said that no man would give a gift to his wife with the tag on.”

“Your what?” she shouted.

“I didn’t say you were – she assumed,” Anakin said, trying to stifle his laughter.

He heard bags rustling. “Ooh, and a three-quarter length coat!” Danielle exclaimed.

“Well, I thought the standard-length ones looked funny.”

She pulled something else out of a bag and squealed. “You got me Jimmy Choo’s!”

He jumped up and did a little silent happy dance. “Well … naturally.”

He stopped as she threw open the door and twirled. He applauded.

“I’m impressed, Anakin,” she said. “This fits perfectly.”

He smiled. “I was hoping so. It looks marvelous.” Suddenly he looked around at the other bags strewn on the beds. “Oh! I almost forgot.” He dug through them and pulled out a small bag. Danielle raised an eyebrow when she noticed the company name on the bag.

“Anakin, tell me you didn’t go to Tresor.”

“Well, I was walking through the mall, and saw this necklace sitting in the window-“

“The window?” she exclaimed. “You picked a piece they had in the window?”

He looked confused. “Is that bad?”

“Anakin, they put the most expensive pieces in the window!”

“Oh, do they?”

She shook her head. “Never mind, continue with whatever you were saying.”

“Well, I saw this necklace sitting in the window, and I thought you’d like it.” He pulled a long box out of the bag and handed it to her.

She gazed at the maroon velvet box in her hand for a moment. “You know you didn’t have to do this, right?”

“I know,” he said. “But if you don’t like this, I probably shouldn’t show you anything else I got for you.”

Danielle opened the box and stared at the diamond necklace, then looked at him in astonishment. “Anakin … this has to be at least a carat worth of diamonds! I don’t even want to know how much this cost … wait. How much of that other stuff is for me?”

He glanced around for a moment. “Um … well … all of it,” he answered, grinning.

“I … you … Anakin, you don’t have to ….” She trailed off as she saw his smile fading. “Thank you, Anakin.” She hugged him. “I really do appreciate it.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “You’re welcome. Now, since you’re dressed, let’s go househunting.”

She pulled back to look up at him. “Remember, I’m still working on getting a job, so we don’t want the mortgage to be too high, or I’m not going to be able to make the payments.”

Anakin stared at her for a moment. “Right. Payments. Got it.” He took her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Now, sir, what amenities are you looking for in your future home?”

Anakin glanced over at Danielle. “Well, Susan, I’d like a house with a sizable yard, preferably with a theater built in, and lots of windows.”

Danielle’s eyebrows shot up. “What?” she hissed.

He patted her leg and turned his attention back to the realtor, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Anakin since they’d walked into the office. “So, do you have anything that might suit that?”

“Of course I do,” she fawned, “would you like to go see the properties today?”

“That would be fantastic,” he answered.

The woman shot a glance at Danielle. “Would you like to follow us?” she asked.

Danielle glared. “I think we’ll follow you,” she answered.

The realtor pouted. “If that is what you’d prefer,” she said grudgingly.

As they walked out, the realtor chatted about the house. “This house is on the outskirts of Salt Lake, so you shouldn’t be much more than a ten minute drive from downtown.”

“When was it built?” Danielle asked.

“In 1927,” Susan answered. “It has a stucco exterior, and while the view isn’t quite as good as one you’d get higher up on the mountain, I’m sure you’ll agree the house itself more than compensates for that.” She opened the driver door on her Escalade. “If you’d like to just follow me, we should be there shortly.”

Anakin nodded and took Danielle’s hand. “Come on.”

As they got in the car, she turned to look at him. “Down in the city?”

He shrugged. “Let’s at least look at it.”

Fifteen minutes later, the two cars pulled up in front of a stucco house in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood. As Anakin started to get out of the Expedition, Danielle grabbed his arm.

“This house has to be on the market for an inordinate amount of money, Anakin Skywalker. There is no way in hell I’ll be able to afford this.”

“You really don’t get it, do you?” he asked.

“Get what?” she snapped, offended.

“You’re not paying for the house; I am.”

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him. Anakin’s smile faded as he noticed her lips compressing into a thin line. “Is … is something wrong?”

“So let me get this straight,” she whispered angrily. “You’re going to buy me anything I could possibly ever want.”

“Well … kind of. Why do you look so pissed about it?”

“And then you’re going to leave!” she exploded. “You’re going to buy me a house with five bajillion square feet, and leave me to live in it alone! What’s the point? There’s no point in having all this great stuff if I’m alone!” Her voice cracked on the last word and she turned to stare out the window.

Anakin opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, ran a hand through his hair, and sighed. “I have to go back, Danielle. Haven’t we already gone over this?”

She didn’t answer.

“I … look, if I could leave it behind, I would.”

“You’re choosing not to,” she muttered.

“What do you want me to do? Just not show up? Do you realize that all the people I keep in line would tear those worlds apart? Who would run things? Who would make sure that things get taken care of properly?”

“I don’t care,” she mumbled sullenly.

He drywashed his face. “Danielle, it’s not like I’m going to stay gone.”

“Oh, good, so I’ll see you once a year. Or so.”

Anakin threw up his hands in frustration. “I’m going in to look at this house. You can stay here and pout, or you can come in and see if you like it.”

After a moment, she opened the door and got out without looking at him. He got out of the Expedition, stormed around the front of the car, and grabbed her arm.

“At least act like you want to be seen with me,” he whispered furiously. “I’m already tired of this woman throwing herself at me.”

Danielle looked at him, took a deep breath, and took his arm. “I’m sorry.”

Susan hurried over when she saw them get out of the car. “Now, this house has a backyard pool, almost a half-acre of landscaped yard, and numerous amenities inside. Shall we take the tour?”

As they walked into the house, Danielle looked around. “It would cost a fortune to furnish this house, Anakin.”

“Well, if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes.”

“Have you asked her how much this house is yet?” she whispered.

“When you’re looking at something like this, you don’t ask how much it is.”

“Ah. I wouldn’t know, I don’t look at bajillion-dollar houses.”

He laughed. “Well, that’s why I’m here.”

“Now,” Susan said as they walked inside, “as you can see, this house is designed in the Mediterranean architectural style – very open, with the house surrounding a courtyard. It’s just over 9100 square feet, and includes an outdoor kitchen, a finished basement, and a poolhouse. The interior is decorated in mostly light colors, and the kitchen – as you’ll see – is a chef’s dream.”

Danielle nudged Anakin. “Perfect for you then, dearheart.”

He made a face. “Leave me alone. Just cause a man can’t cook …. “

She laughed and turned to the realtor. “Susan, the attention to detail with the decorating is beautiful.”

She nodded. “The couple that is selling it has owned it for quite a few years. However, they’ve tired of the winters and have decided to move to California. From what I heard, they both worked in interior decorating.”

Danielle nodded. “It shows.”

Anakin broke in. “Can we see the theater?”

“Of course,” Susan answered. “I believe this is the only room decorated in dark tones, but as with the rest of the house, their taste was impeccable.” She opened the door as they reached the theater room. “Do you like it?”

“I think his grin answers that question,” Danielle replied. Anakin was looking around the room like a kid on Christmas. She poked him. “Ready to go look outside?”

He nodded. “I guess so.”

The trio walked outside as Susan pointed out various features.

“Over there is the outdoor kitchen … and the poolroom … and as you can see, the landscaping here is exquisite.”

Anakin nodded. “What do you think, Danielle?”

She looked around. “I like it.”

Susan began leading them back through the house. When they reached the front door again, the realtor turned. “So, what did you think?”

“Oh, we’re definitely interested,” Anakin said. “What can we get started today to ensure someone doesn’t buy it out from under us?”

Susan smiled. “Well, we can head back to my office, and I’ll get everything going. Would you like to put down the earnest money today?”

“Can we just pay for the whole thing?” he asked.

Susan blinked a couple of times. “Pay for … the whole thing,” she repeated.

“Yes.”

“Sir, not to sound sceptical, but this is a 5.6 million dollar house.”

“Indeed it is, Susan.”

“I … I’ll have to check with my boss,” she stammered.

Anakin smiled. “Well, we’ll go back to your office, and you can do that while Danielle starts signing paperwork. Will that work for you?”

Danielle stared at him in shock, but didn’t say anything.

Susan was already pulling out her cell phone. “Of course, Anakin. I’ll meet you back at the office.”

“Tell me again why I just signed everything.”

“Because you’re paying for it.”

“And I got five point six million dollars from where?”

“Me. I put it in your account. Well, that and some extra.”

She swivelled around to look at him. “How’d you do that?”

“Simple. I got your account number, and … convinced the guy to let me deposit it on your behalf. I told him I was a long-lost relative and this was a Christmas blessing.”

She rolled her eyes. “And naturally, he totally fell for it.”

Anakin grinned. “Yes.”

“Man, Susan was all over you, wasn’t she?” Danielle observed.

Anakin rolled his eyes. “I know. I was this close to telling her to get us another agent.”

“I can’t believe you just bought a five-and-a-half million dollar house.”

He chuckled. “Actually … you did, technically. Besides, what am I going to do with the money? I don’t need it.”

“So when can we move in?”

“Thanks to encouraging the woman a bit, we should be able to next week.”

Danielle grinned. “I’ll be so happy to move out of that hotel.”

Later that night, Anakin was going through the bags.

“So, you like these, right? Right? Danielle?” He looked up when she didn’t answer.

She was curled up in the armchair, staring out at the falling snow. He moved the bags aside and crouched on the floor next to her.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really. I’m sorry for acting so abominably today, Anakin.”

He gave her a small smile. “It’s alright.”

“Not really. I know that you have to leave. And it shouldn’t matter, anyway.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t matter?”

“Well it’s not like we ever had a hope of a future anyway, Anakin. It’d give an entirely new meaning to long-distance relationship.”

Anakin stood, biting his lip. “I see. Well, knowing you feel that way … I … I’ll see you tomorrow. It’s getting late and I think I’m going to go for a walk before I go to bed.”

She nodded silently. He shrugged into his coat and made his way out of the room.

Danielle saw him come out of the hotel, shove his hands in his pockets, and make his way down the sidewalk.

“Why do I care, anyway?” she muttered to herself. “I mean, come on. It’s not like him having to leave should come as a tremendous shock, Danielle. He told you about that the day you met.” She angrily pulled her shirt over her head, shucked off her jeans, and threw herself on her bed. “And then he leaves, being all emo and shit, like he’s surprised I’m not happy he’s leaving.” She wrapped herself in her blanket. “Whatever. I’m not going to sit up and wait for him to get back.”

Two hours later found her staring at the dark ceiling, inwardly fuming at the fact he’d been gone longer than she thought he would and at how quiet the room was. She’d been tossing and turning, thinking he’d get back “in the next ten minutes” for the last hour and a half.

“Dammit, Anakin!” she shouted, punching her pillow. She heard him slide his keycard in the door and pulled the covers up around her chin, feigning sleep.

He opened the door quietly, tossed his coat on a nearby chair, and stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers. Anakin stood by the bed for a moment, looking at Danielle, then sat down on the edge. He gently tapped her shoulder.

“Danielle.”

She rolled over and mumbled something unintelligible.

“I know you’re awake.”

From under the blanket came, “I hate that.”

“I know.”

“Can we not have a serious discussion right now?”

“We can’t avoid it forever.”

“Says you.”

Anakin chuckled. “We’ll see how tomorrow goes. Will that work?”

“Can we at least put it off until after Christmas?”

“What’s today?”

Anakin saw a faint blue glow as she consulted her watch. “It’s the sixth.”

“Twenty-four days, then.”

“Yessir.”

“Okay. Besides, we have to go furniture and Christmas-stuff shopping still.”

She sat up. “Anakin, I’ve never met someone so interested in shopping as you.”

“It’s because of all the interesting things you have here.”

She scooted over. “Are you going to bed?”

“Yes. I walked around for awhile, so I’m pretty tired.”

She patted the bed. “Come on. You’re probably cold.”

He tumbled onto the bed and snuggled up to her. She wrapped her arm around his chest, and one leg around him, and kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, Anakin.”

“Good night, Danielle.”

“Are the movers still watching?”

“Yes, Anakin, and if you drop this chest, I’m going to kill you.”

“It’s just some wood.”

Danielle snorted. “Yes – some wood that’s been in my family for generations, and I’m not going to go down as the Smith that broke it.” She hazarded a glance behind her. “They’re gone.”

Anakin lifted the chest out of her hands and Force-moved it down the hallway. “Do you think we got too much furniture?” he asked.

“Well, it only took them five moving trucks to bring it out here … I’d say yes, but it is a pretty big house.”

He looked suddenly uncertain. “Do you like it?”

Danielle tried to suppress the grin, but finally gave up. “I love it!”

He picked her up and swung her around. “Good, because I was starting to worry.”

“We need food; can you finish putting stuff away while I run to the grocery store?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She blew him a kiss as she pulled out of the driveway.

She walked back into the house, laden with plastic bags.

“Anakin?” she called as she looked around the house. He didn’t answer, and she put the groceries away then walked around the house looking for him.

She was four rooms away from the theater when she felt the bass make the floorboards vibrate. Danielle rolled her eyes and opened the theater door.

Anakin was sitting in the center chair, with the volume on the surround sound turned way up. He saw her open the door out of the corner of his eye and sprang out of his seat.

“What song is this?” he shouted as he walked over to her. “I love it!”

Danielle bit her lip … snickered … and burst into outright laughter.

“What?” he asked petulantly, turning down the music.

Danielle was trying to stifle her laughter, with absolutely no success. Tears rolled down her face and she hugged her sides as she collapsed into a nearby chair.

“What is so funny?” he shouted, stomping his foot.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It’s just ….” She hitched in another breath. “It’s the Imperial March.”

“The what?”

She burst into laughter again. “It’s … it’s your theme song in the Star Wars movies.”

Anakin snickered. “Well, that’s entertaining. Hey, speaking of Star Wars, can I watch those?”

She instantly sobered. “No. No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because, Anakin … all they’re going to do is make you mad.”

“I think I’m mature enough to handle it, Danielle.”

Danielle opened her mouth then closed it again. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

Anakin stomped his foot. “But I want to!”

She thought for a moment. “Tell you what. You make dinner without ruining it – “

“That is completely unfair. You know I’m really horrendous at cooking.”

“As I was saying … you make dinner without ruining it, and maybe we’ll watch one.”

“One! But there are six of them!”

“Well … six movies and two DVDs of a cartoon.”

Anakin scowled. “Come on. At least two movies.”

“We’ll see.”

Danielle woke up to Anakin pushing the bedroom door open, Force-carrying a tray loaded with food. He sat down next to her and the tray glided over her lap as she sat up.

“What’s all this?” she asked.

“Well,” he explained, “I’m just doing something nice for you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Anakin, not to hurt your feelings, but you always have an ulterior motive. It’s not usually sinister, but you always have one.”

He affected an innocent look. “Who, me?”

“Yes, you,” she said.

“Well … since I made you breakfast ….”

“Here it comes,” she muttered.

“I thought that maybe we could … you know … watch some movies.”

She nodded. “I take it back. This time it was a sinister motive.”

He pouted. “Come on … the first one couldn’t hurt. Please?”

She glanced skeptically at the tray of food in front of her. “Let’s see if this is edible first.” She cautiously took a bite of scrambled eggs. “Wow! These are actually pretty good.”

He looked hurt. “Did you really have so little faith in me?”

“Anakin, you made oatmeal inedible the last time you tried to make breakfast.”

“You were supposed to forget about that,” he mumbled.

“Forget about it?” she laughed. “I’ve never seen a bigger mess in my life. I still don’t know how you made it explode.”

He scowled. “And I’m not going to tell you.”

Danielle shrugged. “Fair enough.” She took a few more bites before giving in. “Okay. We can watch the first movie. But you’re going to have to do something amazing to get to watch any more of them.”

He levitated the tray so she could get out of bed, then she took it from him and carried it out of the bedroom. “I still can’t believe I’m letting you do this,” she muttered.

He grinned. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

“No, but you might,” she said under her breath as they walked down the hall. Anakin swung by the kitchen to grab a bagel, a gallon of milk, and a carton of orange juice, catching up to Danielle as she opened the theater door.

Settling onto a couch, she tossed Anakin the remote. “Do you know how to work this?”

He caught it as he strode up the steps toward the mini-fridge. “Yes, I was down here earlier fiddling with it when I was trying to make the music work.”

“Ahh.” She pulled out the footrest on her side of the couch and settled back to finish eating her breakfast.

Anakin handed her a glass of milk as he sat down on the other end of the couch. “We need to get some more of this swirly cream cheese,” he said. “I’m almost out.”

“Well, if you didn’t put a pound of cream cheese on each bagel half, you’d still have some left,” she replied.

He stuck his tongue out at her. “Whatever. I’m starting the movie.”

(Author’s note: Time hacks are denoted by / /. Version is the widescreen DVD, should anyone feel the need to watch along. XD Times weren’t always exact to the second, but I caught them as closely as possible.)

/3:30/ Anakin stared in shock at the screen. “Obi-Wan really was a padawan? The way he acted, you’d’ve thought he was born to knighthood in the Order.”

“Anakin, is this going to be one great big snark-fest?”

“Probably,” he grinned.

/5:00/ He tapped his chin. “You know, I always wondered why the Neimoidians let one guy control them that much. They had a vast army, lots of money … and got treated like puppets. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“So it was really like that?”

“Yeah. They were terrified of a guy in a hood. Isn’t that sad?”

/8:20/ “Wow, that Padme decoy has a low voice. What’s up with her talking in a near-bass register?”

Danielle just shook her head.

/11:26/ “He’s been on screen for about a minute, and I already want to smack this Jar-Jar. Please tell me he wasn’t a popular character.”

She burst into laughter. “Not by a long shot, Anakin.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Did he just say ‘exqueese me’? The Gungans were not this annoying. What the hell was George Lucas thinking?”

Danielle snorted. “That’s what the rest of us asked.”

/15:30/ Anakin pointed at the screen accusingly. “Qui-Gon just misused the Force. Where’s Obi-Wan’s lecture about it? I guarantee he mentioned it later.” In a mocking voice, he continued, “Mastah, I don’t really think it was … appropriate to use our abilities in that way.”

/18:10/ He threw his hands up in the air. “Okay, someone needs to figure out how to mute just one character on the screen, because Binks has gotta go. If that was what he was really like, Qui-Gon would have let him get run over.”

/26:04/ Anakin turned to look at Danielle. “I thought this was supposed to be a sextet of movies about me.”

“It is.”

“Well, I haven’t seen any me yet,” he retorted. “But seeing R2-D2 was cool.”

/26:56/ “So, on that high-tech ship … Obi-Wan gets the oldest looking computer imaginable?”

Danielle shrugged. “Apparently.”

/28:31/ A wide grin spread across Anakin’s face. “Ohhh, I bet Padme loved being ordered around by a decoy. Somehow, I’m not seeing that going over very well. ‘Clean the droid? You clean the droid, handmaiden!’” He rolled his eyes. “Does she even get a bad side in this movie?”

“Sort of.”

“Great. Padme the Martyr.”

/31:33/ “Holy crow! That’s a much more sanitized version of Mos Espa than actually existed. But other than that it-“ He stopped mid-sentence. “Watto!”

“I take it you got along?”

“For the most part. And I knew I never wanted my mother to cut my hair – it looked almost as bad as that poor kid’s.”

/32:36/ “‘Are you an angel?’” he parroted. “What? I never said that!”

Danielle raised an eyebrow.

He scowled. “Fine. I said it once, to a girl in a club. And yes, it worked,” he said in reply to her unasked question. “But I sure didn’t use it when I was nine.”

/36:35/ “Why did Sebulba just run away from me? He could have smacked me up and down that street, which is why I stayed away from him.”

“I think the general idea is to show that you stood up to someone bigger than yourself to help someone out.”

Anakin shrugged. “Whatever works, I guess.”

/37:22/ “I know it’s mean, but Obi-Wan with that ponytail is hands down the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I forgot how silly he looked.”

“You know, Anakin, you had one, too,” she reminded him.

He shot a sideways glance at her. “So?”

“I’m just saying, it’s kind of hypocritical, isn’t it?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t look that dorky.”

She chuckled. “No, the poofy hair you had looked much better.”

He folded his arms and sat back in his seat. “You’re mean.”

/47:21/ “There … there what? There was no father?” He looked at Danielle incredulously. “Did I really just hear that?”

“It was their way of explaining you were strong in the Force.”

“What, Force-created? What a stupid idea. Sounds to me like my mother didn’t want to admit to something.”

“So … who was your father?”

He thought about it for a moment. “She never told me. But immaculate conception? Please.”

/48:00/ A small smile crossed his face as he watched the scene with the kids looking at the pod. “I miss having real friends. Once who liked me for me – not for my power, money, or influence.” He paused. “And it’s been a long time since I had friends like that.”

She patted his arm. “It’s hard to be the leader sometimes, Anakin.”

He nodded.

/50:45/ “What the hell are midichlorians?”

Danielle hid a smile. “They are tiny beings that make up the Force.”

He stared at her. “What? No! The Force just … is. It’s not made up of anything. Living things are created from it, not the other way around. The Force can’t be explained with science or technology – it rises above all that, and that’s why it will always triumph above said science and technology.”

“But what about things like lightsabers?”

“Those are technological tools, but we use the Force to create them, and to guide our hand when we use them. Tools do not affect the source of the power.”

She pondered that. “Interesting.”

/51:35/ “I’m appropriating this whispered music that Darth Maul has in this movie.” He crouched dramatically. “’Ha-shha-shaa!’ That’s so great.” He watched for a moment. “And Darth Maul looks much cooler here than he actually was.”

/53:39/ He pointed at the screen again. “Qui-Gon cheated! I saw that! I knew I liked that guy.”

/58:46/ Anakin grimaced. “Ahh, there’s the complaining Padme we all know and love. Can’t just go along with a fun plan and see what happens, can you? And your faith in my piloting abilities is just astounding, dear.” He stuck his tongue out at the screen.

/1:00:10/ “I didn’t stall!” he shouted, leaping to his feet. “Why’d my pod stall?” He shot a wounded look at Danielle.

She gave him a helpless look. “For drama, Anakin?”

“What, me winning the race wasn’t enough? Come on! I was nine, and beat out galaxy-renowned podracers!”

“Why don’t you sit down and finish watching the movie before you hurt yourself?”

He flopped back on the couch, scowling.

/1:15:27/ “They made this scene with me and my mom way too emotional. I still think I should have stayed there, though.”

Anakin got up and threw some popcorn in the microwave. He leapt into his seat as the big Senate scene commenced, and promptly burst into laughter.

/1:28:53/ “What is up with that headdress she’s wearing? I turn around to get me some popcorn, and it looks like she got assaulted by draperies! And now we know whose fault it is that Sidious got power. Way to go, Padme. She never admitted that was her doing.”

“Anakin, keep in mind these are more like historical fiction for you.”

“No way, she danced around it every time I asked. And that totally seems in keeping with her character anyway. What was Valorum supposed to do, charge in with a cavalry with no proof? It’s not like an investigation was asking so much. He didn’t say they were going to debate it in a committee, he said he was going to send a delegation. It’s not like it would have been all Neimoidians.”

Danielle sighed. “Not to ruffle your feathers, but you’re not biassed or anything, are you?”

He threw popcorn at her, but didn’t say anything.

/1:31:26/ “I bet that actress was really tired of all the costume changes,” he remarked casually.

/1:32:45/ “’Please, your Majesty, stay heah, where it’s safe.’ Yeah, he sounded real sincere there. Palpatine wasn’t that transparent, you know. If he had been, he never would have made it as far as he did.”

/1:37:49/ She saw him stare at the screen. He looked over at her. “That purple headdress is the worst yet. That’s all I’m saying about it.”

/1:41:12/ “You know what?”

“You made it almost 5 minutes without saying anything?”

Anakin made a face. “No, that isn’t what I was going to say. Maybe I’m a horrible person, but that nifty hairdo she’s wearing when talking to … I’m guessing that’s Boss Nass … would make a great handhold for-“ He cut off abruptly as she reached over and smacked him with her fork.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Because I didn’t feel like hearing the rest of that.”

/1:46:55/ “These people aren’t even aiming!” he exclaimed in an annoyed tone. “How are they hitting anything?”

/1:50:25/ “You know, it’s too bad Maul bites the big one, because he had the best entrance in the movie.”

/1:52:23/ “Obi-Wan never fought like that!” he said. “Well … not that aggressively.” Anakin reflected for a second. “That is one thing I’ll give him – the man was a master with the saber. Well, until he tried the same trick twice. Good with saber, crappy with tactics.”

/1:55:26/ “And Maul had the best music. For the record.”

/1:57:54/ Anakin jumped to his feet and gestured angrily. “Augh! How’d he do that? This Jar-Jar guy drives me nuts!”

“A lot of people don’t like him, Anakin.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s obnoxious, mostly.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not why he drives me nuts – it’s because he has no skill! He gets into trouble, then miraculously gets out of it! At least the *right* Jar-Jar had some skill!” He pointed at the screen as Jar-Jar pulled off yet another ‘whoops’ move and did something right on accident. “See?”

Danielle cast aside the idea of continuing that debate further, and changed the subject. “So how’d George Lucas get your life story?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “From research in the Temple, I’ve gleaned that there are some places where time and space are thinner … perhaps this is where a lot of those science-fiction books you showed me at that bookstore came from.”

“What are you saying, that no one has original ideas?”

“I’m not saying no one has original ideas – I’m just saying that perhaps the idea of ‘The Muse’ is more concrete than some people think.”

/2:00:40/ “The Neimoidans can’t tell that second Padme is a decoy? They suck!”

“Anakin, your newfound command of our lingo simply astonishes me,” she said wryly.

/2:01:01/ He pointed insistently at the screen. “See, that was the Padme I fell in love with. She had spirit, and did what she had to do.”

“Oh yeah?” Danielle asked, trying not to sound too interested.

“And that’s all I’m going to say about it. I still hate her,” he said petulantly, slouching back on the couch.

/2:02:10/ Anakin stared at the screen in complete shock, which quickly morphed into annoyance. “Ooh! Obi-Wan didn’t tell me he lost his lightsaber to Maul! That punk was always yelling at me about losing my lightsaber. I’m keeping count now. Get some paper and a pen.” He gestured vaguely toward the back of the room.

Danielle crossed her legs under her and stared him down. “You get it.”

He glared at her. “Fine.” He darted up, snatched the notebook and pen, and ran back to his seat. “That’s one for Obi-Wan,” he gloated.

“Are you sure you want to keep track of this, Anakin?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh … no reason,” she said.

/2:03:17/ “Blowing that ship up was awesome.”

/2:04:10/ “Whoa, split body shot! What a crappy way to die. And he was raised by Sidious, too. Bet he was livid when he found out what happened.”

“What, you don’t know?”

“I was only nine,” he retorted, “It’s not like we were the best of friends at the time.”

/2:06:34/ Anakin pulled a Vanna White by the movie screen. “Witness the one and only time Obi-Wan Kenobi ever defied the council. Ten credits says that when I killed him he thought, ‘Man, Master Yoda was right. I never should have trained you.’ That’s how sucked into the rules and the Order he was.”

“Ah,” was all she said.

/2:07:56/ “This was one of the worst nights of my life,” he said, beckoning. “Qui-Gon was the first person besides my mother that had faith in me … and I barely got to know him. Standing there watching him in the funeral pyre was too depressing for me to talk about when I was that age. For the second time in less than a year, someone I really cared about was taken from me.”

“But surely you understood that sometimes things change,” she said.

He thought. “Well … no. Not really.”

/2:08:58/ “I wonder if anyone ever knew how much I hated that braid,” Anakin mused. “It looked silly.” He watched the scene for a moment. “But Padme looks hot in that pink dress.”

Danielle, without looking, reached over and smacked him again.

He grabbed his arm and jumped up. “Would you quit slapping me? What’d I say this time?”

“You men are pathetic,” she responded. “I’m taking my dishes back upstairs. And remind me never to take you to the movies – you talk way too much.”

Danielle paused in the middle of washing her hair and sniffed. Her eyes widened in horror and she snatched a towel, jumped out of the shower, and ran down the stairs.

“What’s on fire?” she yelled, trailing water and shampoo. She came to a shocked halt as she neared the kitchen. Thick smoke was billowing out of the doorway and she heard something sizzling on the stove. Waving the smoke away from her eyes, she carefully walked into the kitchen.

Anakin was frantically waving a small cookbook over a skillet of … something. He waved a distracted hand at the faucet and shoved the pan under the resultant cold running stream.

Danielle was smothering a laugh when she saw the other pot on the back burner boil over. Whatever was in there hissed as it hit the heated coils, started to smoke, and abruptly caught fire. “Um … Anakin?”

“Don’t even say it,” he growled as he scrubbed at the blackened skillet.

“The stove’s on fire,” she replied.

He whipped around to look at the stove, slinging water from the wet pan everywhere. He swore in some unrecognizable language, hurled the skillet back into the sink, and lunged for the pot. Yanking it off the burner, he dumped the contents into the sink, and threw water from the skillet onto the burner.

“Final score,” Danielle said in a phony announcer voice, “Kitchen 1, Anakin 0.”

He glared at her. “Very funny.”

She surveyed the scene – smoking stove, sink full of unrecognizable sauce-type stuff, Anakin with a dripping skillet and hair sticking out every which way – and burst into uncontrollable laughter. He scowled as she leaned against the counter, tears rolling down her face.

“It’s really not that funny,” he muttered, which only made her laugh harder.

“All this for a movie?” she finally managed to gasp. “What were you trying to make?”

He took a seat on a nearby barstool. “Well, I was looking through the cookbooks, and found a recipe for blackened tuna. We didn’t have all the stuff for that, so I decided I’d use the Tuna Helper we had, and try to improvise. I was blackening the tuna in the skillet, and making the sauce in the pot, and ….” He trailed off, dropping his head onto the counter.

She bit her lip, trying not to laugh outright again. “So … you were making blackened Tuna Helper.”

“That was the idea.”

“All to watch another movie.”

“Well, breakfast went well,” he said morosely, “so I thought lunch would, too.”

“I see,” she said sagely. “Your overconfidence was your weakness.”

He looked at her questioningly.

“Never mind. Inside joke,” she said hurriedly. “Tell you what. You make some sandwiches – some really good ones, none of this PB and J type stuff – and we’ll go watch one more.”

He grinned. “Really?”

“Yeah. You at least tried,” she said with a smile.

In short order, two saucers floated to the breakfast bar. Next came bread, condiments, and a wide variety of lunchmeats.

“Mayonnaise and mustard, please,” she said.

Anakin threw together triple-decker turkey-ham-roast beef sandwiches, and carried the saucers while Danielle grabbed sodas. When they reached the theater, he levitated two tray tables to them and set everything down on the couch, snagging the remote as he sat down.

“You don’t look very enthused,” he observed.

“I’m just thinking this isn’t the best idea, Anakin.”

“Why not?”

'Because,” she replied, “this is where you meet your future wife. Remember how well the two of you ended up getting along? You really want to walk down this particular Memory Lane?”

He waved it off. “It won’t be that bad.”

Danielle shrugged. “If you say so,” she muttered.

He flashed her a reassuring grin as he pushed play. “Come on, how bad can it be?”

/3:35/ - “Sweet, an explosion three minutes into the movie,” Anakin exclaimed. He looked at his soda, and then at the back of the box. “You know, maybe I will have one of those Bacardi O3’s.” A six-pack floated to his feet, and he grabbed a bottle and twisted the top off.

/5:07/ - “’The Dark Side clouds everything,’” he mimicked. “No kidding, especially since you all are in the same room with him and have no idea!” he shouted at the screen.

Danielle tapped her chin. “Well … neither did you, Anakin.”

“Shut up.”

She stifled a smile.

/6:40/ - He pursed his lips and stared at the screen for a moment. “’An old friend like … Master Kenobi,’” he repeated. “I know there was no way they were doing anything then. So … I’m not going to be mad about it.”

/7:39/ - Anakin looked confused. “Wait, why am I all panicked about seeing her again?”

“Because in this movie, you’ve thought about no one but her for the last decade.”

“I what?” He snorted. “Well, obviously someone was confused when they wrote this.”

/8:23/ - Danielle noticed he looked pissed. “What’s wrong?”

“I hated that nickname!” he exploded. “’Ani’. Ugh.” He rolled his eyes, then shot a glance at the screen. “’So have you … grown more beautiful.’” Anakin shook his head. “I was never that much of a dork.”

She snickered.

/9:11/ He grinned. “I loved being insubordinate with Obi-Wan. Poor guy never knew how to handle it. It was usually accompanied by a little more of a panicked look, though,” he said with a laugh.

/11:09/ - “So, did you really spy on her?” Danielle asked.

Anakin looked rather shamefaced for all of a second. “Yeah. She was kinda pissed about it.”

“How’d she find out?”

He rolled his eyes. “Obi-Wan apologized, naturally.”

/11:37/ - He grimaced. “I hated that poofy haircut. Really, really hated it.”

Danielle hid a smile. “Might one say you absolutely hated it?”

He nodded emphatically. “Definitely.” He looked at her. “What’s so funny?”

She shook her head. “Nothing; don’t worry about it.”

/12:12/ - He finished the Bacardi and tossed the bottle at the trashcan in the corner of the room. “Obi-Wan had no idea what I was going through with the visions about my mother, and I hated that he tried to pretend he did,” he said furiously. “Very few Jedi have the ability to see the future, and he certainly wasn’t one of those few.”

“Oh?”

“It was one of the abilities he didn’t have. Not to mention that he was taken from his family when he was younger, and so didn’t understand the emotional bond I had with my mother.” He twisted the top off another Bacardi and took a drink. “None of them did.”

/14:19/ - Anakin leaped out of his seat. “Booyah! I’m awesome!” he shouted, pumping his fist into the air. “Little slugs, feel my wrath!” He dropped back into his chair, pouting. “And then Obi-Wan has to go and upstage me. Bastard.”

/15:41/ - “I like the omniscient view these movies take,” he remarked. “I get to see things I didn’t know about before.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a movie without it,” Danielle replied.

He thought about that. “True. I still like it, though.”

/16:23/ - Anakin sniggered. “He really hated it when I was sarcastic.” He grinned outright. “And Mr. Zane was highly incensed that I took his speeder. Padme and her friend Annalise – who happened to be Mr. Zane’s daughter – told me about his tirade when he found out it was gone.”

“What was he so mad for? It was the middle of the night.”

“Well,” he whispered conspiratorially, “I guess he was going to go visit his mistress, and didn’t have any way to get there. Oops.” He laughed.

/18:11/ - “That’s one thing I miss about how things are being run now,” he said. “A chase like that would never happen – guards would catch you first and wonder what you were up to, driving like that.”

/19:15/ - Anakin nearly fell out of his seat laughing. “He was so pissed when I jumped out of that speeder! They made him look all nonchalant here, but I could hear him yelling almost three traffic lanes down. Not a happy Jedi Knight, I can tell you that.”

/21:59/ - “This weapon is your blah-blah-blah-I’m-reciting-things-that-have-been-drummed-into-me-without-thinking-about-it,” he recited in a monotone. Danielle snickered

/22:06/ - “Damn right I’m going to be the death of you,” he snarked. “Hey, why’d they put that line in there?”

Danielle fidgeted. “Um, foreshadowing.”

He grinned. “No way! They have the right ending in here?”

She beckoned to the screen. “Just watch, Anakin.”

/23:55/ – “’Jedi business. Go back to your drinks.’” He snorted. “Lame. Why didn’t I just make them forget? It’s not like I couldn’t do that.” He nodded thoughtfully. “But this has been pretty close so far, except for this whole thing with me pining after Padme for ten years. A decade? Please.”

/25:21/ – Anakin blinked in surprise. “Holy shit, Mace is trusting me to do something? You can definitely tell this is fiction.” He grimaced. “I got a three hour lecture before I was allowed to escort her to Naboo.” He rolled his eyes and added, “then again, I got a three-hour lecture before I went to the cafeteria, so a lecture from Mace wasn’t exactly a noteworthy location.”

She snickered. “Gee, I can see you two got along well.”

“He hated me,” he said vehemently, “and he made it perfectly clear to me every time we talked.” He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. “It’s not something I’m overly fond of talking about.”

“Understandable.”

/26:02/ – “I could have taken Sidious down right there,” he muttered furiously. “But … I didn’t know it was him.”

“Would you really have taken him out if you’d known?” she asked skeptically.

He paused for a long moment. “I don’t think so. Not there. Not before I got what I could out of him.”

“And what were you hoping to get out of Palpatine?”

He shrugged. “Recognition. Freedom. Power. I didn’t really know, but if you know someone that high up, you tend to hang onto that friendship, you know?”

/26:49/ – Anakin scowled. “Nice to know that Obi-Wan totally doubted me. Thanks, Master.” He shook his head. “And here all this time I thought it was just Mace and Yoda.” He finished off the bottle in his hand and popped the top on another.

/27:28/ - Danielle heard him snort, then snicker. She turned to look at him as he burst into laughter. “What is so funny?”

He wiped at his eyes. “She has bat-ear hair! There is no way Padme would have gone out in public like that.” He stopped. “Well … maybe. She wore some messed-up stuff when she was queen.” He chuckled again and took a swig of his Barcardi.

/28:12/ – “’You’ve grown up,’” he mimicked. “Aww, isn’t that just sweet.” There was a quick pause. “Bitch,” he muttered under his breath.

/28:32/ – Anakin turned to her. “Okay, am I this whiny arrogant dork all the way through this movie? Because this is just going to get on my nerves, and I don’t want me to be the second candidate for ‘one character muting.’

She grinned but didn’t say anything.

He sighed. “Oh, it’s getting worse …. “

/30:11/ – “Who put the bronze dinner plate … bowl … stupid metal thing on her head?” he laughed.

Danielle stared at him in exasperation. “Anakin, are you going to snark on Padme all the way through this movie?”

“Hey, Obi-Wan’s fair game, too,” he replied.

“Pass me a Bacardi,” she said. “I think I’m going to need one.”

/31:05/ – A small smile quirked the side of his mouth. “I did like making her laugh.” Anakin shot a sideways glance at Danielle. “There, you happy? I said something nice.”

“You’re my hero, Anakin,” she said, rolling her eyes.

/34:33/ – “Jocasta Nu didn’t like me. At all.”

She looked at him curiously. “What’d you do?”

Anakin actually blushed … barely. “Well, there was this one really cute padawan, when I was a padawan, and she and I were down in the library at the same time, and … well, Madame Nu caught us kissing. She didn’t tell our masters, but I got a tongue-lashing I’ll never forget.”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised,” Danielle grinned.

/35:46/ – Anakin threw up his hands. “Okay, now I’ve passed Dorktown and have crossed into the Land of Lame. Didn’t anyone check what I was saying to see if it sounded goofy?” He rolled his eyes. “I’m surprised Padme didn’t choke on her soup listening to that.”

A slow smirk spread across her face. “So … so you actually said that stuff?”

“No!” he replied much too quickly. “I meant, the actress playing Padme.”

She didn’t even say anything; just stared at him trying not to laugh.

Anakin flopped back on the couch. “Shut up.”

/37:00/ – He gestured toward the screen. “See why I couldn’t do anything to the younglings? They are so cute. And they were so much more open-minded than their teachers, despite all the masters’ best efforts.” He took a drink and started watching the movie again, not noticing Danielle’s rather concerned look.

/41:24/ - He tapped the side of his bottle absently. “I wonder if Kamino really looks like that.”

“You’ve never been there?” she asked.

“No, I’ve never had the opportunity to go. Someone else always went for me.”

“I see.”

“Those Kaminoans are fantastic-looking! I’m definitely going to make that a priority when I get back.”

Danielle briefly debated throwing her half-full bottle at him, then set it down with a sigh. “It’s not like he’s doing it on purpose,” she mumbled to herself.

“What was that?” he asked, turning toward her.

“Oh, nothing,” she replied, pasting on a smile. “Watch the movie, or you’re going to miss something.”

Anakin scrutinized her for a moment, then turned back to the movie.

/43:25/ – “My army,” he said reverently. “I have never met a more loyal group of men in my life. It doesn’t matter that they all came from the genes of one man – their skill and valor are unmatched.”

/44:21/ – He stuck his tongue out at the screen. “’No, Anakin, we can’t do anything, but I’m going to wear no-backed dresses, and look at you longingly, and basically lead you on like a fool,’” he said in a falsetto voice. “Thanks a lot, Padme,” he muttered.

“I seem to remember telling you that you wouldn’t like watching this movie.”

“I know… but I want to see it. Well,” he corrected, “most of it, anyway.”

/48:04/ - “The meadow. I’ve had this blocked out of my mind for some time now. I don’t know if there’s a time where I’ve been so happy and so miserable at the same time. It’s simultaneously a time that I wish had never happened, and one that I wish I’d never had to forget.” He took a deep drink from his Bacardi and watched for a moment. “I … wow, Obi-Wan’s pretty laid back talking to Jango. Impressive.”

“You sound surprised.”

“It was rare,” he answered. “It’s interesting seeing him interact with someone like that. When it wasn’t something near and dear to him, Obi-Wan was a master negotiator, no doubt about that.” Anakin paused. “Unfortunately, I always seemed to be threatening things near and dear to him.”

/54:07/ – “Oh, no,” he said in a horrified whisper while covering his eyes. “Not this scene. Anything but this.”

She looked at him. “What?”

He peeked out from between two fingers. “This horrendous whining, pleading, begging scene.” He sat up suddenly and pointed accusingly at the screen. “Not to mention that Ms. ‘We Can’t Be Together’ wore the most provocative outfit I’ve ever seen that night – talk about double signals!” He groaned and slumped back in his seat, putting his hand back over his eyes. “Of all the scenes he had to get completely right, why did it have to be the one where I act like an absolute fool?”

 Danielle snickered. “You mean that this actually happened this way?”

He nodded slowly.

“I don’t even have anything to say,” she laughed. “That’s great.”

/1:00:40/ – “Then all of a sudden, Little Miss Obey-The-Rules decides to go with me to Tatooine. I was grateful at the time – I needed the company.” He shook his head. “But now? I’m not so sure. Perhaps I would have been better off if we’d left it as she said.”

“But you wouldn’t be who you are today, Anakin.”

He shrugged. “Most of the time I don’t like who I am, anyway.”

/1:1:55/ – Anakin snatched up the notebook and pen, leaving his Bacardi hovering in mid-air. “Obi-Wan lost it again – Jango yanked on him and his lightsaber went flying. That’s two. I don’t even care if he gets it back – that’s two,” he gloated.

Danielle shook her head. “Good to see this isn’t a personal vendetta of any kind,” she chuckled.

He snorted. “Please. You know how often I had to hear the lightsaber lecture?” Taking a swig of his drink, he continued, “Obi-Wan could pull off some awesome stuff … I don’t understand why he kept his talent hidden.” He trailed off for a moment as he watched the fight. “He never told me much about his fight with Jango, either – just that they’d tangled a little bit and that was it. No word about any of this cool stuff he did that they show here.”

“Maybe he didn’t want to brag,” she said. “I thought Jedi were supposed to be humble.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “That might be it. He still should have told me, though.”

/1:04:16/ – “Okay, Mos Espa still looks way too clean. There’s no way that town was ever that clean.”

/1:04:53/ – A nostalgic smile crossed Anakin’s face. “Watto really was an okay guy. He did what he could to take care of us. And he made sure that Mother married someone that would see she was cared for. He never said outright, but her leaving really depressed him.”

Danielle raised an eyebrow. “It what?”

He nodded. “We talked longer than this movie shows, while he was finding out where my mother lived. He still had holos of me winning the podrace, even though he’d lost a lot of money on it, and a holo of my mother and me.” His eyes stayed fixed on the screen. “He didn’t own many slaves – we were his last ones. Once we were gone, he had to keep the shop running by himself. He did an alright job – repeat customers and the like – but he was never happy that both my mother and I ended up leaving him alone.”

“That’s sort of understandable; life out there certainly didn’t look easier. Having you and your mother there would have at least eased the loneliness,” she said.

“In a way, I really felt sorry for him – I understand what it’s like not to have friends. I heard that he ran afoul of the Hutts, and that was the end of Watto. An ignoble end for a decent being.” Anakin drained the last swallows out of the bottle and tossed it into the trash.

/1:11:53/ – “It was so great seeing 3PO again when we got to the Lars farm,” he said as he opened his next bottle. “But you know, Owen and I never got along. He always thought I should have stayed on Tatooine instead of chasing after the stars.” Anakin’s brow furrowed. “He didn’t know how badly I’d wanted to stay with my mother … and I realized that I would never be able to tell him, and that we would be brothers in name only.”

/1:14:43/ – “I can still feel the hatred I felt as I boarded that swoop bike that late afternoon. It wasn’t even like a fire – it was an icy, fathomless chasm,” he said in a low voice. “Even now as I think about it, it feels like the bottom is dropping out of my soul, even though I know that there is nothing I can do about it.”

“A lot of memories are painful,” Danielle said. “Too often, those are the ones we remember with the most clarity.”

He nodded. “I heard that the Tuskens avoid the site of the massacre, believing it’s haunted. I … it was my first taste of what it’s like, to wield power over someone and watch them cower in fear of you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t say that I know much about that.”

“I know. And you’re better off for it, I think.”

/1:18:06/ - He fell silent as the scene with his mother played itself out on the screen. As his lightsaber onscreen slashed through the tent side, the Bacardi bottle in his hand shattered. She scooted over next to him and set her hand on his arm.

“Anakin?”

He looked down, then at her, then back at the screen.

“I … I remember hearing Qui-Gon when I began my massacre … but I didn’t care. Everything else – judgment, morals, common sense – had been obliterated as she died in my arms,” he whispered. He paused for a moment, and then the words came out in a torrent. “I didn’t care that I’d slaughtered women and children. I didn’t care that most of them were unarmed. All I cared about was myself, and my loss. It wasn’t even about my mother – she would never have wanted me to do something like that. She would have done everything in her power to stop me. But I did it anyway. And … and I liked it when I did it. It bothered me later … but I liked it at the time. And maybe it just bothered me because of what I’d always been told was right and wrong.”

Danielle wrapped her arm around his. “I’m sorry this is bringing back so many painful memories.”

“I asked to see it,” he said matter-of-factly.

/1:24:46/ – “I was such a whiny bitch in this movie.” He turned to look at her. “Why didn’t anyone smack me upside the head?”

/1:26:06/ – “’To be angry is to be human,’” he parroted. “Right. Because since I was mad, it was okay for me to do that.” He shook his head. “Padme, of all people, should have said something to me. She, who was always cared about all creatures … didn’t care about those Tuskens. Because I didn’t.”

“So she didn’t tell you that what you did was a major fuck-up?” Danielle asked.

“No,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, we were sort of hoping that it was just George Lucas’s crappy writing, and that maybe she’d beat some sense into you.”

He snorted. “Right. By that time she couldn’t figure out if she should push me away or keep leading me on, so she went the middle route and just agreed with everything I did.” A scowl crossed his face. “And Palpatine kept my secret, and used it against me every chance he got.” Anakin looked down at the wet carpet and the shattered glass he was holding. “I need another Bacardi. And I’ll get a towel for the floor.” One came floating out of the bar, and he dropped it on the floor over the wet carpet.

/1:29:26/ – “For the record,” he said, “I’d like to point out that going to Geonosis really was her idea.” Anakin shook his head. “She had such strength of character sometimes … which is why I was so mystified every time she seemed to lose it.”

/1:31:24/ – “I think Dooku might have been wrongly vilified.”

“You what?”

Anakin nodded. “Yes, he sided with Sidious and aligned himself with the Dark Side. But he saw before anyone how the Jedi had lost their way, and paid the price. You know that he was Master Yoda’s student. And Qui-Gon was indeed his padawan. Perhaps that is why the Council never fully trusted Qui-Gon.” He chuckled. “I find it amusing how Dooku tells Obi-Wan the truth, but Obi-Wan is unable to believe that they have been so completely fooled. It fully illustrated what was wrong with the Order. They refused to believe that they could ever be wrong.”

/1:34:38/ – “’Lay power down,’” he repeated. “I can’t believe that no one saw through this.”

She looked at him.

“Including myself,” he sighed. “The man had been amassing power for years, and people really thought he was going to lay said emergency powers down once he had what he really wanted – the entire Republic.”

/1:37:58/ – “Ahh. Geonosis. What a fun place,” Anakin said. “And poor 3PO. It’s already looking bad for him.”

Danielle laughed. “That’s the peril of being the comic relief.”

/1:42:20/ – He picked up the pen and notebook. “Damn. One for me. I forgot about my lightsaber getting hacked in half on Geonosis.”

She grinned.

“What’s so funny?”

“Well, I always liked the way that Hayden Christensen did that line, and I can totally see you saying it the same way.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He put a hash mark under his name. “Obi-Wan’s still in the lead, though.”

/1:43:14/ – Anakin choked on his drink. “Oh, no way. It did not happen like that! ‘I truly … deeply … pause for effect … love you.’ Who wrote this drivel?”

“That would be George Lucas,” Danielle said. “Are you sure it didn’t happen that way? I mean, the last time you made fun of the dialogue, it was something you actually-“

“Riiight,” he interjected. “We didn’t have enough time for that. She leaned over, kissed me hard, and said, ‘I changed my mind.’ That’s it.”

/1:45:38/ – “Holy crap, that time I spent in the arena was scary as hell. But Padme was pretty resourceful.” Anakin paused. “Okay, I don’t like this movie – it’s much easier to hate her without thinking about all the times I admired her for something. Can we skip to another movie?”

“No. You wanted to watch them.”

“You owe me,” he said.

“Hey, this was your idea. ‘Actions have consequences,’ remember?”

He pouted. “Not fair.”

“Nope.”

Anakin pointed at the screen. “Wait. Why’d she lose half her shirt? That didn’t happen!”

She sighed. “For the fanboys, Anakin.”

“The what?”

“I’ll explain later. Just watch.”

/1:48:11/ – “That is complete and utter falsity,” he said, jumping up. “That beast hated my guts. Animals have never liked me. I don’t know how they have me doing this “tame the wild beast” thing … but that NEVER happened.”

“Really?”

“The damned thing only did what I said because I had a chain in its mouth. I was good with machines – creatures hated me.”

/1:50:50/ – “Look,” Anakin said in a voice full of false adoration. “Here’s Mace Windu, the Jedi too chickenshit to finish off Dooku when he had the chance.” He scowled. “I’m still happy I helped get him killed.”

/1:51:04/ – “You know, the battle on Geonosis was truly a wonder to behold. It was fantastic to watch that many Masters in action.” Anakin paused. “We lost so many that day, needlessly. All because of the stupid war. I watched a lot of the only family I had fall at the hands of many droids, and Jango’s blaster bolts.”

/1:53:24/ – Anakin drained his bottle and levitated another six-pack to the couch. “Poor Boba saw his father die. Even though Jango was on the side of the Separatists … no one should have to watch their father be decapitated.” He twisted the top off a new bottle and threw it into the trash. “It was hard enough for me finding my mother in the condition she was in … I can’t imagine how I would have felt if I’d watched her be struck down in front of me.” He gazed at the screen. “Wonder whatever happened to Boba. I haven’t heard anything about him since then. He’d be … 17 or 18 now, I think.” Anakin turned to look at her. “What happens to Boba Fett, or don’t the movies tell you?”

“Well, he’s in there a little bit.”

“Sweet! Don’t tell me; I want to be surprised.”

/1:56:30/ – “And here come my boys!” Anakin hollered as he jumped to his feet. “Men unafraid to risk their lives for those they served, and for the Republic that they were created to serve. I don’t know if I have greater respect for any group of beings.” Danielle just watched him as he continued. “Even though many of them knew they were created as cannon fodder, they didn’t let that hinder them from doing their job well. I’ve never had respect for those who directed the battle from afar – those fighting the battle are the ones that deserve the accolades.”

“Not to bring up a touchy subject, but what about Order 66?”

Anakin deliberated. “That was … unfortunate, and should never have been issued. But they were a breed of men created to follow orders, and that one was issued before I could stop it. While I am working to create peace … I cannot imagine a life without war. There is always conflict fomenting somewhere, and will always be threatening what I have created.”

She nodded. “That’s the nature of life, Anakin.”

“Even though I am doing what I can to rule fairly … well, for the most part, there are those who will disagree with me, and take their disagreement to violent ends. I could not ask for a better group of men to help me fight for peace. While Sidious wanted to rule the troops through fear, I recognized the importance of showing them that you are unafraid to fight alongside them.”

“That’s true. Troops have to know that their leader isn’t going to stand back and let them do all the work; you can’t lead from the rear.”

“See, you get it!”

“Well,” she drawled, “I was in the military for four years. I’m sure that helped.”

He tapped his nose in the classic “you’ve got it” gesture. “Good point. And Sidious, for all his power, had no concept of being able to fight for what you wanted. He could scheme and manipulate for it … but that was it. Anything more than that was beyond his ken.”

/2:04:11/ – “Leaving her there was the hardest thing I could remember having to do up to that point. I didn’t want to abandon her to the Geonosian desert, but couldn’t stop to ensure she was going to survive.” Taking a long drink, he added, “And for the record, that Force lightning really sucks when you’re on the receiving end. Going through power couplings has nothing on that.”

/2:05:40/ – Anakin scowled. “Nothing like being mostly unconscious through one of your master’s best fights. Well, until Dooku smacked him. And wielding two lightsabers was great!” He mimicked swinging two around. “I thought about adopting the style as my own, but since making one – well, making one properly - is such pain in the ass, I thought sticking with just one was simpler.”

/2:07:31/ – “I still can’t believe that asshole cut my arm off,” he said. “I look at this arm,” he held it out and flexed it, “every day … and I still can’t believe he cut it off.”

/2:09:11/ – Anakin cheered. “Woohoo! Yoda the gunslinger! Grabbing his lightsaber with the Force was a nice touch!”

“That was a big hit with audiences,” Danielle said.

“I never liked the Ataro style of fighting much – too much jumping around for my taste – but I will concede that Yoda was a master of it.” He sighed. “And of course I was unconscious for that fight, too.”

/2:11:17/ – He paused the movie. “I know she didn’t hug me right in front of Obi-Wan … we were keeping it a secret, remember? Who wrote that in there? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Shh, you weren’t supposed to notice that. Now start the damn movie back up.”

“Okay, but-“

“No buts. Just let it go,” she said.

/2:12:49/ – “It’s amazing how much time and effort Sidious put into taking over the Republic. And his rule was less than a day long.”

/2:13:55/ – “Ohhh, wow. Oh. My. Look at all those clones,” he said reverently. “And it’s my song! Wait – how is it my song if I’m not there?”

“It’s … well, it’s both your song, and the Empire’s song. But since you represent the Empire, it’s more well-known as your theme.”

“Ah. Well, either way – that is the most impressive shot in the movie. The ships … the clones … the music. Wow.”

/2:14:49/ – “And here, folks,” he said, beckoning at the screen with his Bacardi bottle, “we have the worst mistake I think I made. I let her talk me into marriage.”

“So why’d you do it, then?”

He rolled his eyes. “She wasn’t happy unless it was ‘legitimate’ … ignoring the fact that no one could know about it. But at least her family liked me. That was a plus.” As the credits rolled, he scrubbed half-heartedly at the carpet. “I guess it wasn’t too bad.”

“What, the marriage?”

“No, the movie. It got some stuff wrong, but overall was pretty close.”

“Well, that’s good,” she said.

“I hope the next one’s like that.”

“Ahh, well … guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.

“You mean, you’re going to make me cook again?”

She shrugged. “Hey, I said a meal per movie, and you agreed.”

“This is so unfair.”

She thought he might have actually gotten over his movie obsession; it'd been two days since the last one, and he hadn't asked about "Revenge of the Sith" at all. She had her fingers crossed that they'd be able to get all the Christmas stuff done without going through all that angst. She added a few more items to her shopping list, then looked up when she heard a tap on the door.

"Yes?"

Anakin came in, threw himself on the bed, and looked at her mournfully. "Are you really going to make me cook something to watch the third movie?"

She blinked. "This is rather out of the blue."

"Well, I figured I could wait for a little while, and I'm sure it's been long enough. So, you're not really going to make me cook again, are you? Look what happened last time."

She pondered for a moment. "I oughta make you compete and win the Olympics to watch the next movie."

"What are you talking about?"

Danielle sighed. "Never mind." She closed the book and sat up. "Anakin, I'm telling you, you don't want to watch the next movie."

He tried not to smile. "Sure I do."

"Why?"

"Because you're adamantly against me watching it."

Danielle glared at him. "Did you ever consider that I might have a reason for discouraging it?"

"It can't be that bad."

"Didn't you say that last time?"

"Yes … and it wasn't that bad. See?"

"You know what?" she mused. "I'm done trying to protect you." She motioned toward the door. "Sure. Let's go watch it. I ought to make you watch the damn thing sober."

He held out his hand to help her off the bed, and swept her up over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she yelled.

"Carrying you downstairs," he laughed. "So you can't run ahead and break the DVD before I get there."

She half-heartedly slapped his back. "You're a bastard."

Anakin chuckled. "Yep."

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help laughing.

He set her down when they were in the theater room. "Okay, what would you like to drink for this one?"

"I'll just stick with Bacardi, please," she said.

He pulled a six-pack out of the fridge as he scanned the bar. "What's … Everclear?"

"It's one of the strongest liquors made," she answered. "You might want to grab that."

He eyed her for a moment. "Fine. It can't be as bad as Corellian rotgut, so I'm not too worried." He snagged the bottle and a shot glass, then made his way to the couch, handing her a bottle as he walked by. She curled up on her end of the couch with the Bacardi and tossed him the remote. "Let's get this over with," she sighed.

He sat down and looked over at her. "Do you not like this one?"

She shook her head. "I love this one. But you're not going to."

"Would you quit saying that? You're making me nervous."

"You should be," she replied.

He hit the play button. "Hey, who's that black-masked guy they show in the last shot of the menu?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Just watch, Anakin."

/0:51/ – "'Revenge of the Sith'. I like that." He smiled. "That has a nice ring to it."

/2:09/ - Anakin leaned forward. "What an awesome shot! This … whoa." He trailed off and stared at the screen for a moment. "This is as close as I'm ever going to get to doing something that exciting again," he whispered. "And I hated having to watch those clones go down in flames without being able to do anything about it."

/5:48/ - He sighed. "I always had to help him out of scrapes … but when I offered my help at a crucial time, he rejected me." Anakin eyed the bottle of Everclear, then poured himself a shot and set it to the side. "Maybe … not quite yet."

/14:11/ – "That battle with Dooku was a lot longer than they show here," he muttered. "A lot longer."

/15:11/ - He frowned. "I can't believe he really tried to make me leave Obi-Wan there. Never in a million years would I abandon him there." He paused and looked at her. "Why didn't I realize what kind of person he was then?"

Danielle shrugged. "Couldn't tell ya."

He made a face and turned back to the movie.

/17:53/ - Anakin nodded in approval. "This has been remarkably accurate so far."

/19:13/ – He snorted. "'You're shorter than I expected' … was that really the best they decided I could do?" He shook his head. "Sad."

/19:47/ – He looked annoyed. "I was so excited when we got to confront Grievous … but he was so much more of a coward than we'd been led to believe. Stories about his lightsabers had circulated, as rumors do, and I was finally looking forward to a challenge. What I got was someone that would rather run away than fight." He contemplated the shot glass, then tossed back the Everclear. "Tragic, really, as I found out that he was once a revered and respected general on his homeworld, and Dooku had arranged Grievous' `accident' in order to experiment with a new type of cyborg-type suit."

Danielle tried to look innocent. "What was he experimenting with cyborg suits for?"

Anakin shrugged. "No idea. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering."

/22:48/ – A huge grin spread across his face. "That crash landing was one of the most exciting things I did in the war. And Palpatine's look at R2 was priceless!" He burst into laughter and picked up the Everclear bottle and shot glass. He poured himself a shot, raised the glass in a congratulatory gesture, and drained the glass again.

/24:17/ – He glared at the screen. "I know they'd been doing something long before now … but that duplicitous bitch acted like she was happy to see me, and that the baby was mine. Of course, at that point, she might not have known either way." Anakin grimaced. "I'm already starting to get pissed." He poured and downed another shot.

/26:12/ – He pointed at the screen. "For the record, I hated that stupid side buns hairstyle, too. Why the hell couldn't she do her hair? Isn't that why she had handmaidens and such?"

/27:29/ – "You know, I don't look too happy when she tells me about the baby," he observed.

"Well, is that surprising, given the circumstances?" Danielle asked.

Anakin looked hurt. "I really was ecstatic about the baby … I was. It was her and her behind-my-back activities that were bothering me. She really thought I didn't know."

/29:51/ – He rolled his eyes. "That girl spent so much time working on her hair; it was insane."

/30:28/ – He looked around. "For the record, that balcony scene … never happened. And if anyone says it did, they're lying," he said, pouring himself another shot and downing it. "Really. Never happened."

Danielle smothered a laugh.

/31:09/ – "The dreams happened, though. And for all that I knew what was going on … I didn't want her to die. I wanted to pretend that their dalliance was going to stop, and that we were going to run away, and have our baby, and live happily ever after, like everyone wants to do."

"Nobody thinks you wanted her to die, Anakin."

He snorted. "Right. Even though I literally choked her to death and broke her neck on Mustafar. I wanted her to die then."

"Well … that was at the end of all the drama."

"Still." He looked back at the screen as he polished off another shot.

/33:38/ – "Yoda was even less help than he's depicted here," he snarked.

"Maybe it's because you weren't open with him."

"Well, how could I be? Have any suggestions?"

"I know you couldn't," she sighed.

"All that blathering about attachment being evil – what would he know about it?" he sneered. "They weren't allowed to form attachments." He poured another shot.

"Maybe you should slow down," she said.

"Why? It's not like I'm even feeling a buzz or anything."

"What are you going to do when you run out of alcohol?" Danielle asked, beckoning at the Everclear bottle.

He shrugged. "Don't know. I'll worry about that then." He downed the shot and poured another.

/37:06/ – "And that right there is why I let Sidious kill Windu," he said, motioning toward the screen. "He knew my abilities … he knew that I was the Chosen One … and he persisted in calling me `young Skywalker' at every turn, and humiliating me in front of the Council, by ignoring every suggestion I gave." Anakin scowled. "Why did they even bother putting me on there? And then Obi-Wan got mad at me because I was hurt about it. What the hell did he expect me to do?"

/39:38/ – He looked a bit sheepish. "'The chancellor is not a bad man.' Okay … so I made a few judgment errors. Big deal."

Danielle raised an eyebrow. "A few?"

He scowled. "Fine, that was a major one."

/41:31/ – Anakin shook his head. "Our discussions weren't like this. They weren't so one-sided."

"Well, that's good to hear."

He shot her a look. "I was tired of everyone asking me to fix everything. I'm not infallible."

/47:32/ – "You know, Palpatine looked really creepy telling me that story … but I bought it. Every word of it. At first, I really was doing it to save Padme. She was my wife, and I thought we were going to fix things." He refilled the glass and downed the alcohol. "I was wrong, though."

/50:31/ – "This was the last time I ever saw Obi-Wan where we weren't fighting. I wish I'd known that, so I could have said things I never got the chance to say."

/52:47/ – He glared at the screen. "Damn skippy Obi-Wan had been there. I knew it. But she wouldn't tell me the truth. Scheming bitch." Anakin held up the more-than-half-empty bottle of Everclear. "Damn it." He took a big swig right out of the bottle. "Fuck the glass."

/53:53/ – Rolling his eyes, he sighed. "Boy, I sounded fierce with that `I promise you'. Yeah. Go me."

/56:43/ – He grinned. "'The Moostahfarr system.' Sheesh … overact much?"

/57:50/ – "I heard all about this battle between Obi-Wan and Grievous later. Most impressive. He really was the ultimate Jedi, by the antiquated standards of the Order at that time. Although … really, by any standards. Except for his mindless devotion to outmoded rules, he was the consummate professional in his chosen business. Which is why I'm still so angry about having to do to him what I did. He would have been a perfect civilized counter to the lack of civility I was forced to display. He would have been who I chose to head the Order.

/1:03:53/ – Anakin stared at the screen. "I hadn't been sleeping, trying to avoid the dreams of her death." He shook his head. "I should have struck him down when he told me he was the Sith Lord we'd been looking for."

"Why didn't you?"

"Well … I was using her. She was my justification for doing everything they didn't want me to do. They never had faith in me … never thought I would bring anything but trouble … made me stay behind when I should have been with Obi-Wan on Utapau instead of talking to Sidious!"

"You don't think that Obi-Wan did well?"

"I didn't say that! I said I should have been with him! Why did he have to split us up? Maybe I could have talked some sense into him if I'd gone with him."

"How likely do you think that would be?" she asked.

He pondered for a moment. "Not very. But still … anyway, I did everything that I shouldn't … because I knew that was what they didn't want me to do. And the bitch was perfect justification."

"So you were saving her, so you had a reason?"

He looked faintly chagrined. "Pretty much."

/1:07:53/ – "And when I tell them what happens – they tell me to stay in the Council chamber! He banished me, effectively, to my room!" He sneered. "And obviously, his great plan didn't work! They all got taken out! And when I could have been the most use to the Order, they left me behind!"

/1:09:25/ – "This was it," he sighed, beckoning at the screen. "This is where I really said, `This is what I'm going to do.' I'm standing in the deserted room … staring across the city at my wife's apartments. I know she's looking out at the temple. I know that she's been cuckolding me with my best friend. I know that she's going to die if I don't do something, and possibly our child with her. What was I supposed to do? Just let it all happen? Let Sidious take over? Let him have the galaxy? Or let the Jedi have it, and do with it as they wished? Do you think that I didn't want things to be different? That I wanted them to come to this?"

She moved a little closer and laid her hand on his arm. "Anakin, I never said that."

He took a swig straight from the bottle and shot to his feet. "I had no other choice! He said that he could save her, that he had the ability and would teach me. And I was sick and tired of being ignored or talked down to at every turn by people who thought they were better than me! How many of them had gone from one form of slavery to another?" She opened her mouth, but he overrode her. "None! They didn't know any other life, but I knew what it was like to love, and care for someone, and everything else. They didn't. They couldn't possibly understand me, and they wonder why I left the Order!"

Danielle pulled on his shirt. He looked down at her, then slumped onto the couch next to her. "Oh well. It's all over with now, anyway."

/1:11:28/ – He shot to his feet again. "That was awesome! That spinning leap thingy! And he cut down three of the most venerated Jedi Masters in a matter of minutes!" He made a face at the screen. "No Mace, you sure as hell didn't need me, did you? That's what you get for being as arrogant as you were!" He dropped back into his seat with a huff, folded his arms, and picked his bottle back up.

/1:13:27/ – Anakin burst into laughter. "Those `no's were great! I'm entertained. The funniest part about it is that I'm sure some people would say that that actor overacted … but he got it dead on."

"Really?"

He grinned. "Sidious, when he got the chance, was a bit of a showman for awhile. Although it looks like someone smacked him in the center of the head with a thin book while his face was still wet. Strange."

"Yeah, the makeup was a little overdone, I thought."

Anakin nodded. "But that `Powwwwwwwaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!' bit was right on, too. I love it. And I love seeing Mace fly out that window. Although … yeah, it bothered me at the time." He tossed back another shot. "Sort of. Mostly out of habit."

"So … not really."

He chuckled. "No, not really."

/1:16:10/ – He beckoned at the screen. "And there, Sidious lost me. `We can discover it together.' Basically, the bastard lied to me. He straight out lied to me to get me to do what he wanted. He didn't know, and told me … and I don't notice in this movie?"

"Well … you don't –"

He cut her off, grinning. "My music! My music with me in the scene! Yes!" He paused. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"You don't …." She sighed. "Basically, you don't notice, Anakin. Or you don't care."

"What? Are you kidding me?"

She sighed again. "Just watch."

/1:21:17/ - Anakin stared at the screen, tears silently streaming down his face. "Why'd Sidious do it this way? Why'd he have them shot down like animals? What had they done to him?"

"Anakin, had you never thought about this?"

He shook his head without looking at her. "No, I hadn't. I don't think I wanted-"

/1:23:38/ – Anakin stopped mid-sentence and looked from the screen to Danielle in slowly dawning horror. "I don't … don't spare the younglings, do I?"

She gazed at him for a long moment, then shook her head. "You don't, Anakin. I … I'm sorry."

"But that's not … I didn't …." He trailed off, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes for the remainder of the scene.

/1:24:11/ – "I hate that bitch," he whispered vehemently. "I hate her. Hate her, hate her, hate her. I don't even know why, but that scene … I hate her even more." He pointed accusingly at the screen. "And the timeline is all wrong, Obi-Wan was on his way back." He glared at the screen. "But it doesn't matter, because apparently the director lost the most important parts of this movie anyway." He took a long drink and sighed.

/1:28:11/ – "Okay, now we're all fucked up. Because I'd already killed Yoda and Sidious, and she wasn't home when I went there. What the fuck is he doing with my life?"

/1:29:31/ – "Does that open balcony make any sense to anyone else? I wonder if anyone's ever fallen off of it."

She watched him for a moment. "Anakin .. are you okay?"

“I'm fine," he snapped, then took a deep breath. "Fine. Just observing now, since George Lucas messed this shit all up."

/1:31:05/ – "He at least got Mustafar right – a hell of a planet. The air is so hot you can barely breathe. The only living things are the beetles indigenous to the planet. I hated it there."

/1:32:25/ – "So … Obi-Wan and Yoda survived. Interesting."

/1:32:59/ – He looked at her. "Please tell me I at least get to do something cool here."

"Well, you slaughter the Separatists. Does that count?"

"All right! Let's get to it."

/1:36:26/ – "That's right, grovel some more, Nute," he growled. "I loved listening to that."

She raised an eyebrow at his tone, but didn't say anything.

/1:37:10/ – He scowled and looked over at her. "I hate this movie, Danielle," he growled.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because it's making me feel sorry for Obi-Wan! He's acting like he cares!"

"Well, in this timeline, he didn't do anything with Padme. In this timeline, you were the betrayer."

He stared at her in shock. "No! I would never do that!"

She shrugged. "You did in this movie."

"Well … this movie's all fucked up then." He sat back, pouting.

/1:43:48/ – "Padme was bigger than that," he remarked, his tone overly casual. "Not by much … but bigger than that girl is. And she didn't run. But … whatever. I'm noticing that realism isn't mattering in this movie."

/1:45:22/ – "I didn't even get to ask her to rule with me … because she brought him."

"Understandable."

"But she wouldn't have. She would have run screaming from me. She would have left me, like everyone else left me."

/1:46:20/ – "All I get to do is choke her? What? She betrays me – or a semblance of me, anyway – and that's all she gets?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. "There's only so much violence they can put on screen, Anakin. Besides, that Force choke becomes one of your signature moves."

He snorted. "That's just plain laziness."

/1:47:49/ – "'Only a Sith deals in absolutes'," he snarked. "Yeah. That wasn't an absolute sentence, was it? Who wrote this crap? If Obi-Wan had said that, I would have smacked him right then and there."

She laughed. "Lucas isn't known for his outstanding dialogue, as you may have noticed."

/1:48:14/ – "Yoda knocked down Red Guards! Wow!"

Danielle looked over at him. He'd taken on the look of an avid soccer fan. "Enjoying yourself?"

"This fight is awesome! Even if it is totally wrong."

/1:59:18/ – He looked completely baffled. "He has the high ground? What? Didn't Maul? What the hell is Obi-Wan talking about?"

/1:59:33/ – "How in the living fuck did he just do that?" He swivelled to face Danielle. "I jumped … and somehow left limbs dangling for him to cut off? How come it works for him, and not for me? That doesn't make sense!"

She sighed. "Because you're the `bad guy', Anakin."

"Yeah, but … three limbs!" He paused. "Ooh, my eyes are glowing, though; that's cool."

/1:59:58/ – "Oh good, he's lecturing me again. And that bastard took my lightsaber! And, of all the indecencies this movie has wrought, it's trying to make the audience feel sorry for Obi-Wan!" Anakin shot to his feet. "Is leaving me there in flames the brotherly thing to do? No! Is that following what the Order taught? No!" He stopped for a split second, then his eyes widened in shock. "Oh my gods, I'm completely on fire! How did that happen? Look how far away I am from the lava! And he left me there, smoldering!" He finished off the bottle and angrily addressed the screen. "Whatever happened to all the Jedi teachings about the sanctity of life now, huh? You just go off and leave a triple amputee laying on fire. Someone wasn't paying attention in their classes, apparently."

/2:01:36/ – "Aww, isn't that sweet. She's asking about me. What happened to the spitfire Padme? Gone, apparently. Well, fine. Nice to know that at least one person cared about me."

/2:03:19/ – He looked over at her, shocked. "Did Sidious do something human there? Did I just see him touch my forehead? Why was that there? He would never have done that."

"No?"

"I'd say he only cared about himself, but I really don't think he even cared that much. It was all about power, regardless of any other factor. Look at how the pursuit of power physically corrupted him. He didn't care."

"Good point."

/2:04:25/ – "That rain had to feel good to him," he said softly.

"Him?" Danielle asked, confused.

He shot her a sideways glance. "That charred mess isn't me," he declared. "And – she's what? Lost the will to live? Padme? What about her kid? Doesn't he or she count?"

Danielle smirked. "Fangirls have been yelling about that since the movie came out. You're late to the party."

/2:05:23/ - He cringed as he watched. "Were they pulling skin off him? Ouch."

/2:06:23/ – "They gave him a huge chest … cool. And my music again!" He paused, studying the screen. "Wait … wait a second! I'm the guy in the black suit! With the sweet looking mask!"

Danielle smiled. "Yep. An iconic figure to much of the world, incidentally."

"Hmm. Maybe I should commission something like that when I get back. And that bass voice … that is perfect."

/2:09:51/ – "I'm not even paying attention anymore. Twins … she died of a," he made finger quotes, "'broken heart' … ugh. How pathetic."

"That's what most of us said."

/2:11:15/ – "That … I gave her that japor snippet," he said quietly. "I never found it, and she didn't have it with her when she came to Mustafar. I still want to find it."

She picked up the remote and turned off the movie when the credits started rolling as he got up and put the bottles in the trash. Danielle walked over to him. "This is why I didn't want you to watch these, Anakin. I knew you were going to get angry over how you were portrayed."

"That's not the point. I wanted to know how this world sees me."

"They don't see you as that monster, Anakin. You are redeemed in the last movie of the series. You're one of the most recognized icons in the world."

"Then I want to watch the other three to see what I did to redeem myself."

"Why don't we wait for that, Anakin? You've had enough for a little while, I think."

He shrugged her hand off his arm. "I'm not like that movie shows." He looked away. "Why did it have to be like that?"

She sighed inwardly. "Because that's how George Lucas thought it would work out best, Anakin. Because it was dramatic."

He looked sullen. "Well, either way, I end up with nobody. Good to see that doesn't change."

She bit her lip. "Well … maybe nobody there."

"Well, that's all that matters, isn't it? It's not like I'm from here."

She stepped away from him, glaring. "I guess it is to you, Anakin." She started to open the theater door then paused, facing away from him. "Has it ever occurred to you that you're alone because you lash out at whoever's closest to you? I've done nothing but help you, even when I should have fucking bashed your head in for what you did, and you spout off with some bullshit about how it doesn't matter how I feel, because I'm from here – not there." She looked out the door, then back at him. "Well … that's fine. Apparently you haven't learned your lesson yet. Far be it from me to attempt to teach it to you." She stepped out and slammed the door behind her.

Anakin stared at the closed door in shock, then drywashed his face and glared. "Who the hell does she think she is?" he fumed. He paced around the theater twice, then turned to the door and waved a finger. The theater door flew open and crashed into the wall, the doorknob leaving a dent where it impacted as he stalked into the hallway and turned toward the main part of the house.

Danielle heard him thunder through the house as he headed toward their bedroom; her only reaction was to adjust in the chair she was curled up in and wait for him. As he stormed into their room, she sat there and stared at him.

"Can I help you?" She paused as if considering for a moment. "Feel like acknowledging that I'm here for now?"

He glowered at her. "I never said that you didn't matter!"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course. You're just going to end up alone, because I'm from here and not from your galaxy."

"I didn't-"

"Yes, you did," she interrupted. "That's exactly what you fucking said."

"I didn't mean it like-"

"Yes, you did," she repeated.

"Gods, I hate when you fucking get like this," Anakin mumbled. He waved his arm at the room. "What am I supposed to do, stay here?"

Danielle stared at him for a long moment. "So, the truth finally comes out. After all the sweet talk, it finally comes down to you being my sugar daddy, doesn't it?"

He looked confused. "Your … what?"

She sighed. "A sugar daddy is the term for a rich guy, generally in a non-serious relationship with a woman."

"That's not what I am, though, Danielle."

She snorted. "It's not? Could have fooled me. You buy me a huge house, and pay for everything in it, and then you're up and leaving. Nice try at placating me with gifts, but guess what?" She stood up and started past him. "I don't do placated," she sneered. "Now get the hell out of my way."

He moved in front of her. "Where are you going?"

She stepped around him again. "I'm going to stay at Kevin's until I find my own place." She paused. "And I'll be returning the money you put in my bank account, as well."

Anakin raised an eyebrow at the last statement, then grabbed her arm. "Why the hell are you leaving?"

She yanked herself out of his grasp. "Because you obviously don't want me here! I'm nothing to you, remember?"

He managed to look bewildered and angry at the same time. "Where in blazes did you get that idea?"

Danielle glared as he blocked her way again. "'I don't have anyone here'," she parroted in a high, whiny voice. "You've made it painfully obvious, Anakin." She pushed him to the side. "Now get out of my way."

He let her stalk by, then put a Force shield at the doorway and wrapped his arms around her from behind and maneuvered her toward the bed. "No."

"This isn't amusing," she said through clenched teeth. "Let me go."

"I'm not being funny," he retorted. "You're not leaving."

She turned to face him. "That's right, keep everyone under your thumb. That's a marvellous plan. Works out every time, doesn't it?" she said sarcastically.

He ran a hand through her hair, then pulled it backward to make her look at him. "Occasionally," he replied. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Kiss me."

"No."

"Come on, you know you want to."

"No, I'm pretty damn sure I don't."

He trailed a fingertip down her cheek and across her bottom lip. "Are you sure?"

She stared at him, eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I'm sure." She turned on her heel and started for the door again.

He grabbed her and hauled her back toward him, then wrapped his arms around her, pinned her arms at her sides, picked her up, and leaned in to kiss her. "Well, if you won't, then I'll have- ow!" He dropped her as she kicked him in the shins.

"I said no," she growled as she stepped away.

"What, no `one last time'?" he asked, closing in on her again.

"Why should I?" she snapped.

Anakin picked her up and threw her toward the bed.

"Seems like a good idea," he said nonchalantly as he stretched a hand toward her and lowered her gently.

She grabbed a pillow when she landed on the bed and threw it at him. He chuckled and batted it aside as he crossed the room, then leapt onto the bed, landing on the other side of her.

She sat up and glared at him. "I told you no."

He grinned and poked her nose. "You're cute when you're angry, you know that?"

She pursed her lips, crossed her arms over her chest, and flopped back on the bed. "You're not going to goad me into anything."

"No?"

She didn't answer.

He watched her for a moment, then a rather sadistic smile crossed his face. "I really don't see how you're surprised by this turn of events," he said. "After all, I told you way back in the day that I'd be going back, remember?" She didn't answer, and he continued. "Did you really think you'd be able to convince me to stay?"

"No, that wasn't it," she muttered, not looking at him.

Anakin chuckled. "You know you can't hide that stuff from me. You honestly thought you'd be able to make me want to stay here, on this backwater little planet. Why would I want to do that?"

She shot him a look. "Backwater? Are you serious?"

He shrugged. "I could go into the many simple conveniences that this world doesn't have. Top on the list, however, would be willing women with a healthy respect for who I am."

She sat up and stared at him. "'Respect for who you are'?" she mocked. "And what are you? A boy throwing a temper tantrum, with no clue about leadership and harboring delusions of despotism. Maybe you should be more accurate, and say `fear of what they think I might do to them if they tell me no'," she sneered.

The smile disappeared. "So that's what you really think of me?"

She glared at him again. "Yeah, don't like getting your own game thrown back in your face, do you? Go ahead and be a fucking dickhead, cause it's going to get returned to you in spades."

"So that's how it's gonna be?"

"You choose, almighty one," she snapped.

"You know, not too long ago, you seemed very happy with me."

She got up and paced. "That's right! That was until your true side came out – the side that can't do anything but be an attention whore, playing whatever card you think will get the most favorable reaction for you." She walked over to him and poked him in the chest. "But don't you dare get mad at me for not playing your stupid little mind game, Anakin Skywalker. Not everyone was created to be your puppet."

He grabbed her arm. "Remember what I said about poking me?"

She smacked him with her free hand. "Remember that I don't care?"

Anakin grabbed her arms and vaulted her over him back onto the bed. She landed on her knees and launched herself onto his back, wrapping one arm around his neck and her legs around his waist.

He laughed. "I don't think you want to do this."

She tightened the hold on his throat. "I'm sure you're going to cheat and use the Force, aren't you? It's not like I expect a fair fight from you."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll play it your way." He dug his nails into her forearm.

"Is that supposed to have an effect?" she asked.

"No, but this is," he answered as he raked them downward toward her hand. She inhaled sharply as crimson streaks appeared.

"Christ, have you ever heard of a nail file?" she snapped.

"Meh," he shrugged.

She straightened her arm out.

"Thank you," he said.

She swung it back toward him and hit him full in the face. Blood droplets sprayed backward as she rolled back, planted her feet on his back, and shoved him off of the bed. He landed and rolled, coming around into a crouch.

"That was dirty," he grinned.

She snarled and launched herself at him, tackling him to the floor. Pinning his arms, she straddled his waist and glared at him. He laughed.

"See, this is more what I was going for," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "Fuck you, Anakin."

"Well, if you're going to ask so eloquently," he smiled. He brought his knee up and hit her in the back, throwing her off-balance and toward him, then caught her hair and pulled her to the side. She grabbed the neck of his t-shirt, attempting to pull him with her, and swore when it ripped.

He chuckled again. "Tearing my clothes off, too. And here I thought you weren't interested." He threw her back onto the floor and tossed his leg over her, propping himself up on his elbow. "Please don't make me have to resort to persuasion," he said.

"Oh no … not a girl who doesn't just throw herself at you," she muttered. "Whatever will you do?"

He bit the inside of his lip and watched her for a moment. "Well, it seems you leave me no choice."

"What are you going to do?"

Anakin leaned over, brushing his lips along her neck. "I'm going to do exactly what you want me to," he whispered. He lingered next to her for a moment, then stood. "Nothing." He stepped away from her. "You are obviously completely uninterested in me – far be it from me to coerce you into anything."

She sat up and looked at him. "Pardon?"

He yawned. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to go lay down." He made his way to the bedroom door.

"Where the hell are you going now?"

"Downstairs. I'm going to sleep on the couch."

She eyed him. "Fine. Good riddance."

He bowed. "Have a good evening, milady," he said, then strode out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

She stared at the closed door. "That's what I wanted, anyway," she mumbled as she stood, then threw herself back onto the bed. "Asshole."

She reached for her book on the nightstand, but stopped short as she saw the pictures scattered across the table: various pictures of her and Anakin during their cross-country trip. She picked one up and lay back, studying it while steadfastly ignoring the tears threatening to well up.

"I still can't believe that jackass is so nonchalant about leaving," she muttered. "Good to know nothing fucking matters here." She smiled a little wistfully as she examined the picture, taking in his unruly hair, high cheekbones, cocky smile, and those captivating eyes. Suddenly she frowned.

"Goddamn it, it shouldn't matter what he thinks of me or where I live," she fumed. "Why the hell should I care?" She threw the picture across the room and glared balefully at the door. "He's just another fucking guy." She sat there in silence for a moment, then sighed.

After a moment, a mischievous smile crossed her face.

"But … why should I deny myself one last time with him? We'll see who misses who when all this is over," she said. She stripped down to her velvet bra and panties and threw on stockings, then tossed her t-shirt and jeans back on. Smiling to herself, she opened the door and started down the hallway.

Anakin was stretched out on the couch in the den, eyes closed, when she leaned against the doorway and cleared her throat. He opened one and glanced at her, then did a double-take.

Hoping she hadn't noticed, he closed his eyes again. "Yes?" he asked lazily.

Danielle just walked over to him and leaned over, then thrust both hands into his hair and yanked, bringing him to his feet. She pulled his head down and kissed him hard, then shoved him backward back onto the couch. Ripping the tattered remains of his shirt off, she tossed that toward the fireplace and straddled his lap.

He eyed her. "Can I ask what this is about?"

She slid her hands down his chest. "Sure."

He watched her for a second, then sighed. "What is this all about?"

Danielle shrugged. "I'm in the mood for sex. You're here and have the requisite bits."

His eyebrows shot up. "That's it?"

She scooted forward on his lap. "Yes. I'm sorry, should there be something else involved?"

Anakin shook his head. "Well … I thought ... never mind. No, I guess not."

"Good," she replied, and kissed him. She trailed kisses from his earlobe down his jawline and neck and across his chest, then hooked her fingertips in the waistband of his Dickies and pulled him to his feet. She unbuttoned them, then slid them and his boxers down to his knees and pushed him back onto the couch. She knelt between his legs, looked down, and grinned.

"At least some parts of you aren't ambivalent about this endeavor," she snarked.

"Ambivalent?"

"You're acting thoroughly uninterested in fucking me, Anakin," she said. "But you know what? I don't care. I'll care if you say no, but that's about it." She looked at him. "Would you like to say no?"

He just looked at her.

She sat back on her heels and put her hands on her hips. "Well?"

"Nah," he said, straining for a nonchalant tone. "Do whatever you want to do, I guess."

"You guess," she mumbled as she pulled the Dickies and boxers off and tossed them in the general direction of the torn t-shirt, then trailed her fingertips up his legs and kissed the inside of his thigh. She grinned when she felt him tense.

"Ahh … so maybe you're interested, after all."

"Maybe," he answered.

She ran her tongue along the length of his dick.

"Maybe a bit more," he mumbled as he relaxed back against the couch.

She raised an eyebrow, then very slowly eased her mouth over him. He started to arch toward her, and she smacked his thigh and drew back.

"I'm sorry, I don't recall saying you get to participate," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "What? Why not?"

"Because I don't feel like letting you."

"That's kinda fucked up."

She shrugged. "Yep." She slid her mouth over him again, digging her nails into his thighs.

He tensed and inhaled. "So … what if I said I was definitely interested now?"

She flicked her tongue over his tip and straightened up. "Well, that's a shame, because I don't know if I'm interested anymore." She stood. "Must have just been a passing thing." She patted him on the knee and turned for the door.

His jaw dropped and he shot to his feet. "The hell you say!"

She openly ogled his naked form, then gestured dismissively. "Sorry. It tends to come and go, you know?" She tossed a grin over her shoulder and sauntered out of the room, closing the door softly behind her and grinning to herself.

Behind her, the door flew open and Anakin stalked out. He stepped behind her, put his hands on her waist and threw her over his shoulder, and continued toward the stairs without pause. He yanked her shirt off and tossed it to the side, and Force-stripped her jeans off, discarding them as well.

Danielle twisted around to look at him. "Where are you heading, dare I ask?"

He looked over as they passed through the kitchen and shrugged. "Here." He turned into the dining room and swept an arm at the table. Napkins, flatware, and plates went flying across the room as he tossed her onto the table.

"Still not sure you're interested, you know," she snarked.

He rolled his eyes and lifted himself onto the table, beckoning negligently to spread her legs and raise them. He eyed her hungrily, then leaned over. He traced a fingertip across her lower lip then bent and kissed her as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"You really think I'm not interested?" he asked.

Danielle shrugged. "Well, I figure if you were, you'd already be fucking me. Since you're not … guess that kind of speaks for itself."

Anakin heaved a drawn-out sigh. "You're such a slave driver," he said, snapping the ribbons on both sides of her panties and flinging them away. He reared back, and slammed himself into her. She moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist; he leaned over and nipped her earlobe as he languidly undulated his hips.

"Five minutes ago, you were pissed at me," she said. "Where's all that energy gone to?"

He chuckled. "And here I thought girls were all about the nice slow stuff."

She snorted. "Yeah, right. You know me better than that."

"Well, in that case," he grinned, "I'm sure we can work something out."

She laid there with her eyes closed for a moment, savoring the sensations as he glided into and out of her. Anakin nudged her.

“You going to sleep on me?” he smiled.

“Definitely not,” she replied, then dug her fingertips into his hips and pulled him down to her. She flicked the tip of her tongue across his earlobe, then whispered, “I got you a present.”

He swallowed hard and took a noticeably deep breath. “It’s not Christmas yet, though.”

“Oh, well … I might be persuaded to give it to you early,” she whispered in his ear.

He held himself up and eyed her. “In that case,” he murmured, punctuating each word with a thrust, “we ought to go upstairs, then.” He smiled. “So I can … persuade you.”

She made a small noise in the back of her throat. “Consider me persuaded,” she mumbled.

He grinned, eased himself out of her, and helped her up. “Upstairs?”

Danielle nodded, looking somewhat put out. She settled her hands on his waist, walking in step with him down the hallway. When they got to the top of the stairs, she beckoned toward the bedroom; he picked her up and headed that way, closing the bedroom door behind them as they entered the room.

Anakin set her down and looked around curiously. “It’s in here?”

She grinned. “Yep. I’m going to go get ready while you look for it.” She walked to the closet, opened the door, grabbed a few things, and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

He walked around the room, checking everything. “I don’t see anything different,” he called.

“Keep looking,” she answered. “I’m almost done.”

He glared at the closed door, then proceeded to go through the room again. The bathroom door opened when he had his back to it.

“Find it yet?” she asked.

“No, I couldn’t ….” He trailed off midsentence as he looked at her.

Danielle had emerged wearing a black leather corset, a black lace g-string, and thigh-high 13-buckle black heeled boots. She’d fastened a black choker around her neck, and her hair was cascading down her back. She curtsied.

“Like?”

“Holy fuck,” he said quietly, after a moment. “When the hell did you buy that?”

“Oh, I’ve gone shopping a couple of times when you haven’t been here,” she said casually. She tossed him a bag. “Here’s something for you, if you want to wear them.”

He opened the bag and extracted a pair of black silk pajama pants.

“These look extremely comfortable,” he remarked.

“Well, I figured that they wouldn’t constrict any erections you might possibly find yourself experiencing tonight,” she said with a grin. “Like that one.”

He looked down.

“Oh, there’s something shocking,” he mumbled. “You walk out looking like a domination fantasy come to life … what do you figure is going happen?”

She looked at him strangely and walked over so she was next to him.

“You sound like you think I’m … annoyed that I’m staring at your rock-hard cock,” she murmured as she lightly caressed him.

Anakin exhaled shakily, then stepped away from her and put the pajama pants on.

“So, I never did find my present,” he said.

Danielle smiled. “I’ll go with this change of subject … for now.”

She walked over to the closet, rummaged inside for a second, then pulled out two manacles, and attached them to bolts he hadn’t seen in the doorframe before. Then she pulled out two silk ropes and tied them through d-rings anchored to the frame, turned around, and gave him a wicked smile.

He stared at her open-mouthed.

“Holy shit, that’s my present?”

She smiled as she looked at the manacles mounted on the wall, and the silk ropes anchored just slightly below them.

“Yes. Unless, of course, you’re not interested in such things?”

He stared at her like she was daft.

“Of course I’m interested in it,” he said. “But who’s going to ….”

He trailed off as she walked over to the doorway and stretched, winding the chain around her wrists.

She grinned as she looked at him.

“If you’re interested, show me.”

Anakin took two steps toward her, then stopped.

“I don’t know about this, actually,” he said. “We’ve already had problems, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

She looked at him incredulously, then strode over to the nightstand next to the wrought-iron bed. She opened a drawer and rummaged through it, coming up with a beautifully crafted leather whip and a blindfold. She walked over to him, pressed her body against his, and brushed his earlobe with her lips.

“Well, then we might have another problem,” she whispered, “because maybe I want you to hurt me.”

She nipped his earlobe with her teeth, guided his hand up to take the whip and blindfold, and walked back toward the closet.

He stared at the whip and blindfold in his hand, and then at Danielle. She was leaning against the wall, idly running one of the silk ropes through her fingers, ostensibly ignoring him. Anakin inhaled deeply, then walked over to her.

“You’re sure?” he asked, somewhat hoarsely.

Danielle trailed fingertips along his arms and across his jaw. Anakin closed his eyes as she lightly traced his cheekbones, his nose, his ears … and then gasped in shock as she grabbed his hair and yanked his mouth down to hers. She kissed him roughly, then released him and looked steadily at him.

He bit his lip in uncertainty for a moment. Danielle narrowed her eyes and stared at him, then grinned when she saw the flash of yellow at the edges of his pupils as he snatched her left wrist and secured it in a manacle. He tightened it so much that her fingertips tingled, then swiftly moved to her other wrist, binding it in the same fashion.

“My ankles?” she asked.

He shook his head, then picked up the blindfold and put it around her eyes, taking care not to catch her hair in the ribbons that held it. He barely brushed her lips with his own, then flicked a finger, bringing the nightstand over, and settling it against the wall a foot away from where he was standing. He perused the drawer’s contents, gasping as he pulled out a silver box and inspected its contents. He stood, still holding the silver box, and looked over at Danielle with a disbelieving expression on his face … then snapped the box closed and walked back over to her, leaning in close.

“I’m beginning to suspect that there’s a lot about you I don’t know,” he whispered.

She smirked. “You think?”

Anakin set the box down on the floor next to the whip and leaned in close to her.

“So, now I … finally have you at my mercy,” he whispered slowly, trailing a fingernail across her cheek. She shivered and arched her back toward him; he chuckled and pushed her back against a Force wall. “And now that I do … you are completely at my mercy.” He ran a hand up her inner thigh, pausing to trace slow, lazy circles around her clit. She whimpered; he smirked. “And now … you don’t get to move.” He cupped one of her breasts in his hand and played with her nipple idly. “Now, do I have to completely bind you,” he asked, leaning into her, “or are you going to listen to me?”

She whimpered again as he pulled his body away from hers, then attempted a smile.

“Maybe. You know I’ve never been a very good listener.”

His rough fingertip traced her jaw, her collarbone, the swell of her breast, and lingered on her erect nipples; she leaned into the warm, wet mouth that replaced the fingertip on her nipple.

“Ah ah, no moving,” he chastised gently.

She moaned softly, straightened, and attempted to not move toward him as she felt another finger tip flutter down her stomach, across her pubic bone, and down toward her clit. She swore as he danced around her clit again and then meandered to her inner thigh.

“Such language, milady,” he said as he stepped against her again, his silk-covered shaft pressing between her thighs. “I don’t think you should be allowed to talk if that’s the kind of thing you’re going to be saying.”

In one swift movement, his hand was over her mouth, her ankles were freed, and she was levitated to a sitting position in midair. He hooked one finger in the waistband of his pants and slid them down, stepping out of them as her ankles locked behind him and his body was against hers as he sheathed himself completely in her. She screamed against his hand and thrust toward him; he smiled as he felt her climax building with each long, slow stroke. As he felt her body tense, he pulled out, shaking his head in feigned disappointment. She strained against her wrist bonds and made a half-growling, half-sobbing noise deep in her throat.

“Oh, milady … surely you didn’t think I was going to let you off – “ he chuckled “- that easy, did you? While I have no desire to punish you as I punish all other who incur so much of my wrath, I do plan on making you suffer.”

She inhaled sharply and bit her lip as he began teasing the area around her clit again.

“Maybe if you can get through this without making any noise, I’ll let you have one hand free.”

She nodded enthusiastically. He smiled.

“You know this won’t be easy,” Anakin murmured as his fingertip moved excruciatingly slowly over her skin.

She bit her lip, and he could feel her body strain as he knelt and lightly probing at the bundle of nerves with the tip of his tongue. He relaxed and opened his mind, feeling an echo of her pleasure and pain as her teeth broke the skin on her lip and the coppery taste of blood rolled over her tongue. He stood abruptly, took her chin firmly in one hand, and kissed her hard, hearing chain rattle as she pulled against the manacles again in her desire to touch him. He ran a finger along the bottom of the blindfold, then lightly kissed her on the nose.

“Now, now, not quite yet,” he chuckled as he pulled away from her, savoring the faint taste of her blood still on his tongue.

He knelt in front of her again and lifted her legs up so she was sitting on his shoulders, then watched her body tense again as he lightly tugged on her piercing with his teeth, then caressed her hidden pearl with his tongue. He moaned softly against her as the connection between them let her pleasure wash over him; he sent it back to her, heightening the already intense experience she was having. She spread her legs wider and arched against him, twin rivulets of blood running down her arms where she was pulling against the manacles again. He brought her as close to climax as he dared, then leaned back and looked up at her.

She had her hands clenched in tight fists, heedless of how the manacles were cutting into her wrists as she pulled against them. Her eyes were shut tight and her mouth was open in a silent scream; desperation, desire, and anger played across her face. He eased her back into a standing position and leaned close to her ear.

“Oh … were you close, baby?” He grinned as her mouth thinned in aggravation. “Was there something you wanted me to do?”

She stood up straight and didn’t say anything.

He raised an eyebrow.

“No?”

She still didn’t say anything.

His eyes narrowed, and he grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her as close as her bonds would allow.

“I see,” he whispered. “Well, I suppose if I want to hear your dulcet tones again tonight, I should probably let you come?”

Danielle didn’t move.

He grinned and shook his head.

“You might be more stubborn than me.”

At this, she snorted; he laughed outright.

“I knew I could get you to react in some way,” he said triumphantly.

She shook her head, then sighed as he bent his head to her neck, dropping kisses along her torso as he sank to his knees again. He leaned against her thigh and looked up at her, admiring the dark blue velvet of the blindfold against her pale skin, satin ribbons trailing over her shoulders.

“I’ll be extremely impressed if you stay quiet through this, babe.”

She didn’t move; he grinned again and lifted her onto his shoulders again, flicking his tongue against her clit almost before she was settled. He used the rhythm he was in to concentrate more fully on feeling the sensations flooding her body – muscles tensing, waves of pleasure washing over her, faint pain in her wrists again as the manacles cut into skin once again – as his mouth worshipped her most secret places. Suddenly she arched toward his mouth, shuddering uncontrollably as clear liquid streamed down her thighs. A thin trickle of blood appeared at her lip where she’d bitten it again. She took a shaky breath and opened her mouth.

**Not so fast, love. You’re not done.**

**I think I might know when I come, Anakin.**

**I didn’t say you didn’t. I said you weren’t done.**

At that, while she was still shaking from her last orgasm, he rapidly flicked his tongue over her clit and smiled to himself as he felt a second climax start to build almost instantaneously; in what seemed like no time at all she was once again pressed harder against his mouth and fighting valiantly to stay silent as the orgasm exploded within her. He eased her legs off of his shoulders, and she hung limply from the manacles; he Force-lifted her up and wrapped her ankles around his waist, keeping her supported. He teased her clit with the tip of his phallus and looked at her as she squirmed against him.

**I wonder if you can handle another one.**

**Oh god yes please.**

He slid the head inside her.

**Are you sure?**

She tried to thrust toward him; he held her back.

**No, no … you’re at my mercy, remember?**

**But … **

He pulled back. **You weren’t sure you wanted me earlier; are you sure now?**

**Oh yes.**

**Completely sure? I don’t want another incident like the one at the club, you know.**

The voice in his mind became pleading. **It’s definitely not like that.**

**What do you want?**

**I want you to fuck me.**

He slid the tip inside her again, back and forth. **Like that?**

**That, and more.**

He slid in maybe a quarter inch more. **Like that?**

**You’re toying with me. Do you want me to tell you exactly what I want?**

**Actually … yes. Yes, I do.**

**I want you to put up a Force wall behind me, slam yourself into me, and fuck me until I can’t stand up, until we break something, and/or until I’m bruised.** There was a pause. **And if you can’t do that, maybe we should just call it quits now.**

He glared at her self-satisfied smirk, and backed her up into the hasty Force wall he’d put up, thrusting completely into her as she hit the wall. Chains rattled as she tried to reach for him again.

**Please let me have one hand free … please?**

**I don’t know about that … what are you going to do with it?**

**I want to touch you.**

**Well ….**

One of the manacles fell away; she immediately grabbed his hair and yanked him down to kiss her as she locked her ankles and pulled him into her. He groaned against her mouth and braced a hand against the Force wall as he rammed into her.

“Gods yes!” she screamed as she felt herself tightening around him. “Fuck me like you mean it!”

He reached down and began massaging her clit as he thrust into her; she mumbled something unintelligible and began thrusting harder against him. Her hand left his hair and nails raked down his back; blood immediately welled up in the deep scratches and ran down his back. He moaned and buried himself completely within her; she locked her ankles tighter behind his back and held him there, slowly squeezing him. He bit his lip, made a noise deep in his throat and with great difficulty pulled out of her. She growled as he left her completely; her nails cut into his back as he once again slammed completely into her. He kissed her as he felt his climax coming; the connection between them opened again and she screamed against his mouth as she felt his orgasm mirror her own. Shuddering, he unlocked the other manacle and wrapped his free hand under her ass as he felt her go limp; they eased to the floor in a pile of limbs.

She ripped off the blindfold and looked at the clock.

“I cannot believe you teased me for that long,” she muttered in disbelief.

Anakin smiled.

“Yep. Tell me it wasn’t worth it.”

Danielle stared at him.

“I’ll ask you the same question after I’ve cockteased you for the same period of time.”

She stretched out on the carpet and closed her eyes; he levitated an armless chair in front of the full length mirror next to the closet, then leaned over and trailed a hand over her breasts

She opened her eyes, sat up, and looked at him, eyes widening as she saw the chair next to them.

“Already?”

He looked down somewhat pointedly. She followed his gaze and grinned at his erection.

“You know I’m never going to let you leave,” she said conversationally.

Anakin smiled.

“Maybe I’ll just take you with me,” he said as he stood and extended a hand to help her up.

She stood, maneuvered him to the chair, and shoved him down into it.

His eyebrows shot up. “Would you like to be in charge now, perhaps?”

She gently placed a hand over his mouth and shook her head.

“You get to stop talking now,” she said sweetly. “We’re going to see who’s better at the quiet game.”

He smirked.

“I’ve got this in the bag.”

His smirk faltered just a bit as she sank to her knees in front of him, running her fingertips down his torso and along his inner thighs.

“We’ll see,” she said as she trailed fingertips along the length of his erection, then using her thumb and forefinger to oh-so-slowly massage the head.

He reached out to run his fingers through her hair; she abruptly let go of him and stood.

“I forgot about your hands,” she said.

She turned to the closet, took one of the silk ropes off the wall, and turned back, straddling him and pressing her breasts against him in order to tie his hands behind his back. She felt the tip of his phallus glide along her folds and saw him close his eyes in an attempt to regain control. She knelt again and slid him into her mouth, caressing his dick with her tongue. He moaned and tried to arch upward; she put both hands on his thighs and held him down, then pulled back.

“No noise, remember?” she said chastizingly.

He inhaled deeply, and exhaled as she leaned back over him and continued her ministrations. He could already feel the silk starting to make his wrists throb as he strained against it, wanting to bury his hands in her hair and feel her move as she fucked him with her mouth.

Danielle looked up at him from under her lashes as she leaned back, running her tongue along the length of him as she leaned far enough back for him to slide out of her. She took his hand and placed his dick into it.

“I have to grab something.”

She laughed at the dumbfounded look on his face as she stood and turned away, poking through the end table. She pulled out what looked like a blue candy and popped it into her mouth.

“Is it warm in here? Do you feel warm?” she asked.

“I can’t tell, but if I’m going off the color of my balls at this moment in time, I’m freezing,” he snarked.

She smiled at him, then walked over and turned on the ceiling fan.

 “Be that as it may, I’m warm.”

She knelt back in front of him and began caressing him again, massaging the length of his shaft with her hand as she teased the head with the tip of her tongue.

“What’s in your mouth?” he asked.

“You will be, in a second,” she said.

He glared at her. “But what’s in there now?”

She narrowed her eyes, leaned forward, and slid him completely into her mouth.

“You,” she said, muffled.

His eyebrows shot up as he felt the vibrations along his dick. He slouched in the chair and sighed deeply. She flicked the tip with her tongue, then dragged her nails along his inner thighs as she brought him close to the brink. She felt him tense, and ever-so-lightly grazed him with her teeth as she withdrew. He groaned, and then his jaw dropped as she literally blew on his dick – just a very light breath, but enough to react with the very faint blue residue on him.

“What in the seven hells?” he exclaimed, shooting straight up in the chair.

She looked up at him innocently. “What, you’ve never had the Halls treatment before?”

“The what?”

“Well, I suppose you wouldn’t have, huh? Silly me. Basically, I use a cough drop with mint in it, which reacts with blowing air-“ she paused as he tensed again as the air from the ceiling fan hit him, along with her exhaled breath “-and creates heat.”

Anakin opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. She grinned.

“Actually, I thought that might get a bit warm. I’ll be right back. Just sit here and enjoy this.”

She got up and sauntered out of the room.

He stared after her; he was still looking at the open door when she came back in with a glass of ice water.

“I got a little thirsty,” she said, holding up the glass. She took a drink and proffered it. “Want some?”

He nodded. She walked over, straddled him again, and held it to his lips, then set it on the end table.

“Now, where were we?” she asked, turning back to him. “Oh yes.”

She dropped to her knees in front of him again and took him into her mouth without any preamble.

“Holy fuck!” he yelled, jerking upward toward her as her mouth and the remnant of the ice cube she’d been sucking on enveloped him.

Danielle had anticipated this, though, and moved with him, continuing to exert pressure as her tongue massaged him. She wrapped one hand around his calf, while the other came up to caress his balls. She looked up at him again from under her lashes, and found him with his head thrown back, muscles standing out because his hands were clamped together so hard. Five times she got him close to climax, slowing down each time; the last time, she withdrew completely.

He sat up straight and glared at her. “Are you trying to kill me?”

She smiled sweetly. “No, I’m just making it better. Now sit back.”

He obliged, grumbling, “Translation: trying to kill me.”

She smiled, and slid her mouth over him one more time, milking him with an intensity that had him shaking almost immediately.

**You’re really going to hate me for this one, you know.**

Danielle could feel his panic.

**What are you going to do to … **

His thought trailed off as he started to come; she snaked her fingers around the base of his dick and squeezed, halting the orgasm.

She was pretty sure his bellow of anger could be heard down the street.

“What the hell are you trying to do to me? I wasn’t this mean to you!”

His eyes flashed amber, but she could see he was at least attempting to keep it under control.

She stood and sat on his thighs and began idly caressing his member with her fingertips as she talked.

“Oh, baby, I’m just trying to make it really, really good for you.” She paused, then looked as innocent as she could. “I just want you to remember me when you go.”

“Ohh, that’s dirty,” he mumbled.

“Well, maybe if you told me what you want, I could oblige you.”

His eyes narrowed and he scrutinized her. “Oh, so it’s like that?”

She smiled. “Yes, it’s like that. And you didn’t stay quiet at all through that, so the next time I’m in charge I’m going to have to gag you.”

“I have to say, that sounds fucking sexy, babe.”

She grinned. “Good. Now, what would you like me to do, Anakin?”

“If you’ll pardon my crassness, I really just want to get off right now. You’ve been fucking with me with cough medicine, and ice cubes, and your infernally talented mouth, so I bow to you and cede to your supremacy.” He strained toward her, his arms still bound. “Please fuck me.”

She stared into his sapphire and amber eyes, and lightly touched his face.

“Well … if I gotta.”

She winked.

“Can I have my hands free?”

“Oh, I suppose. You can do it, can’t you?”

The ropes fell away. He smiled at her.

“Didn’t cheat this time.”

She kissed his cheek. “Sweet of you.” She turned around, so they were both looking in the mirror, and then took one step backward and lowered herself onto his dick.

“Lean back against me,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist. She did as he said, her heels still firmly planted on the ground for leverage. “Now all you have to do is ….” He stopped talking as she began moving up and back, sliding off until the tip was just barely still inside her, then impaling herself on him on each return stroke.

Anakin saw her small smile as he felt his orgasm building again; he abruptly switched his concentration to stopping it, growling in frustration as he stopped her movement.

“I saw that, dearest.”

“Saw what?” Danielle asked innocently.

“You’re so not doing that to me again,” he rumbled as he lifted her off his lap and sent her tumbling to the carpet in front of the mirror.

She landed on her hands and knees as he stood and kicked the chair away, then knelt behind her.

He wrapped her hair around one fist and pulled her head back as he entered her and began sliding slowly in and out of her, caressing her ass with his free hand … and then abruptly digging his fingernails into her.

“And after I asked you nicely and everything,” he murmured.

She moaned, pain and pleasure commingling.

“What can I say, I … oh gods yes, Anakin … I couldn’t resist.”

“You’re going to have to be punished again,” he said, a dark excitement in his voice.

She saw the whip and the silver box levitate to his side and shuddered, her slick pussy clenching involuntarily around him in anticipation.

He continued his languorous movement as he released her to pick up and open the silver box.

“I have to admit, the flechettes surprised me,” he said. “Have you ever used them?”

“No,” she said absently, lost in the slow waves of pleasure ebbing through her. “Never found anyone interested.”

“So you thought I might be?”

“You have a taste for bloodsport; you showed me, remember?”

“So I did … but in all fairness, that was with people that angered me.”

“Didn’t I?”

He paused for a split second, then continued. “Yes, but you’re different from them.”

“Anakin, are you going to use them or not?”

He took one of the razor thin blades out of the case and looked at it.

“I’m actually rather hesitant about this.”

“If I don’t like it, or you’re hurting me too much, I’ll tell you,” she said.

He studied her.

“I don’t doubt you … but I have an idea for these later.”

He replaced the blade, closed the box, and picked up the whip; holding it where it was visible, he wrapped his hand in her hair again and pulled her head up sharply.

“However,” he paused as the whip cracked across her skin; she moaned and thrust back against him, “I do believe this will be adequate punishment for now.”

He flicked his wrist; the leather cracked across her back again as he thrust deeply into her.

“Oh yes, it was dreadfully wrong of me,” she breathed. “Maybe you should fuck me harder, too.”

She looked at him steadily in the mirror as she saw the whip rise again as he pulled almost completely out of her.

He grinned fiercely, then brought the whip down in a great arcing swing across her ass as he hilted himself in her again; she screamed his name and bucked against him. Anakin tossed the whip aside and dug his fingernails into her hips to pull her back against him with each thrust; she leaned forward so her ass was higher in the air and pushed herself back against him, barely noticing the sting as her knees and elbows were rubbed raw by the back-and-forth motion. He reached around with the Force and tweaked her clit; she let out a high-pitched squeak and reached back, grabbing his thighs and pulling him roughly into her.

“Oh, gods,” he groaned as her nails dug into his thighs. “That feels so fucking good.”

He pulled almost completely out of her, sliding just the tip into and out of her as he dragged his nails over her arched back.

“I swear, Anakin, if you don’t fuck me and make me come this second, I’m never going to forgive you,” Danielle hissed.

He chuckled as he continued teasing her with the tip of his dick.

“You sound slightly annoyed, my dear.”

“Your voice sounds somewhat strained, too,” she noted, as she suddenly reared back, making him slide almost halfway into her.

“Oh, fuck it,” he said. “I’m done playing games … for now.”

He grabbed her hair with one hand, her shoulder with the other, and slammed into her.

She braced one elbow against the floor to keep from sliding forward, and played with her clit with the other. He let out a long shuddering breath as she contracted around him; she turned to look at him with some amusement.

“Haven’t gotten off yet, baby?” When he didn’t answer, she laughed. “Looks like I’m going to have to take over.”

She moved away from him, off her hands and knees, turned, and tackled him to the ground.

“Hey!”

“I told you to fuck me and make me come; you weren’t fast enough.” She glared as he started laughing. “What’s so damn funny?”

He hitched in a breath.

“Only time in the history of the world a guy has been yelled at for not being fast enough.”

She grinned.

“But nevertheless, I want to get off … and I’d guess you do, too … so ….”

She lowered herself completely onto him, leaned forward and fisted her hands in his hair, and rode him roughly. Anakin moaned in pleasure, running his hands down over her breasts and grabbing her waist, accentuating her undulating motions.

“Oh hell yes!” she yelled as she began contracting around him; he arched his back and loosed a scream of pure relief as he came deep within her. She collapsed on top of him, breathless.

“Now,” she panted, “tell me that wasn’t good.”

He threaded his hands in her hair.

“That was fucking fantastic,” he murmured in her ear. “Even though I do still think you were way too mean to me.”

He pouted.

Danielle kissed his lower lip. “You liked it, and you know it.”

“Well … maybe.” He kissed her cheek. “Although I’m going to ruin your high estimation of me and suggest that maybe we ought to take a short break.”

She chuckled.

“Honestly, I would love to just lie in bed with you for awhile.” She winced as she rolled over onto the floor next to him. “Jesus, you fucked me up,” she chuckled, checking out the gashes in her arm, the cuts from the manacles, the carpet burn on her knees and elbows, and the deep welts on her back.

He sat up, looking concerned. “Let me see.” She obediently held out her wrists, and then pointed at everything else.

“Goddamn,” he whispered. “I really did. I’m sorry, babe.”

Danielle slapped at his shoulder. “I liked it, you retard. It’s not like I was complaining. Those weren’t screams of pain, you know.”

“Yeah, but still.” He took her wrists in his hands and looked at the abrasions. “Do you want me to heal those?”

She pulled her wrists away. “Hell no; that’s no fun. Besides, most people are way too polite to ever ask what happened.” She stood and extended her hands. “Naptime?”

He looked over at the clock, then took her hands and stood.

“It is getting kind of late, and we still need to go finish the shopping and decorate the house tomorrow. Maybe I’ll have to save my devious plan for tomorrow night.”

He wrapped his arm lightly around her waist and guided her to the bed, snagging his pajama pants on the way.

“I feel silly wearing pajamas when you’re not,” he said.

She stooped at the bag tossed at the end of the bed and pulled out a white satin babydoll.

“You didn’t really think that I didn’t get myself anything, did you?” she grinned.

She stepped away from him, slipped it over her head, and slid under the sheets, watching him with interest as he did the same.

Anakin scooted over to her side, propped up against the headboard, and pulled her over so she was resting on his shoulder.

“You know, I really don’t want to go.”

Danielle was quiet for a moment.

“Yeah, I know. I’m not going to apologize for being angry that you have to leave, though.”

“I know. I’m not going to lie, I like being in charge, but … I don’t know, I’d rather be here with you. It’s nice to be able to just be myself, without having to worry about all the other shit that comes with what I have do to back home,” he said quietly.

“That means a lot to me, but you can’t just abandon your duties,” she said.

“I know!” he said angrily. “Maybe I can figure something else out, though.”

“You sound like you have a plan.”

He didn’t answer for a long moment. She nudged him.

“Well?”

“I don’t know yet; it might not be feasible.”

Danielle yawned and nodded.

“Okay.” She sat up for a second and kissed him gently. “Whatever happens … I’ve had a really good time so far.”

“Me too,” he replied, then slid down under the covers.

She followed suit, sliding her body up against his.

“’Night, Anakin.”

He kissed the top of her head.

“’Night, Danielle.”

To be continued....

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