deduukkk

[constellation-skirmishes]

luke finds a MSE-6 one day and decides to repair her for padme. he names the droid 'emmy'

l: emmy's almost done! i just need to finish tweaking a few things, but soon she'll be up and running like a kryat in her nest!

then you won't have to be alone when i'm not here!

[dettiot]

beauty and the beast

Surprise, surprise, this got away from me! So enjoy a very long twist on your typical Beauty and the Beast AU. Because the formatting got all wonky and I couldn’t put in a cut, I deleted the original ask from the anon and just posted this separately. 

Humming softly to himself, Anakin looked over the pieces of wire and scraps of metal in the old mechanic shop. He was looking for something very special–something that would make the automaton he was creating just right–

“This is it!” he cried, plucking a quarter-meter circle of shiny gold metal from underneath a pile of rusted bolts.

The mechanic, a kindly old man, smiled a little. “Yes? Just what you need?”

Anakin nodded happily. “It will be perfect for the face of my … clock.” Because in his small village, his interest in mechanical men would not go over well with the people. So he told everyone he was building a new kind of clock.

“If it’s perfect, you should take it,” the mechanic said with a smile. He held up a hand to hold back Anakin’s protests. “I’ll never find a use for that, and you have a need for it. So you should take it.”

“Thank you!” Anakin said eagerly, tucking the metal under his arm and practically stumbling over his feet in his eagerness to get home. “Thank you so much!”

As he hurried home, thinking about his mother’s reaction to his automaton, Anakin did his best to block out the voices of the villagers. How they talked about how beautiful he was, how he was sure to marry the lord’s daughter, how odd he was. It bothered him to hear people talk like that about him, but … people would always talk, his mother told him.

Pushing open the door of the small building that was their home, his mother’s shop and his workshop, Anakin called out, “Mom? I’m home!”

Only silence greeted him, making Anakin frown. He looked around, stepping into Shmi’s shop, only to remember that she had told him about making a trip to the nearby town for some supplies.

With that question settled, Anakin got down to work on his automaton.

XXX

With a start, Anakin realized it was too dark to see. He sat up straight, stretching his back, and reached out to light a candle stub in an iron candlestick on his worktable.

His automaton was practically done. He couldn’t wait to show his–

“Mom?” he said aloud, suddenly realizing how late it was. She should have been home hours ago.

And he had a bad feeling about this.

Pulling on his cloak, Anakin dashed out into the night. A quick stop at the table to get their cantankerous horse, and Anakin set off on the path his mother always took to town.

Between the clouds and the trees, Anakin couldn’t see the moon. A stiff breeze was starting to blow, heavy with the scent of rain. He nudged his horse along. “Come on, Artoo, keep going. We’ve got to find Mom.”

It had started to rain when Anakin spied the rusty gates that marked the abandoned castle. It had once been the home of the village’s original lord, before the family line had died out. For as long as he could remember, the gates had been shut, overgrown with vines.

But now … the gate was ajar.

Perhaps his mother had taken shelter here? Although he couldn’t think why she would do something like that. She had always warned him to stay away from the castle. Like she was scared of it. But if something was wrong, his mother was practical enough to set aside her misgivings.

Besides, what choice did he have?

Anakin dismounted and pushed open the gate. He took the reins in one hand and led Artoo into the overgrown courtyard. The castle in front of him was probably beautiful once upon a time. Now, the stones were mostly gray, with splotches of white and yellow to show its original colors. Stones were missing from the facade and the windows were shuttered, while vines were draped over the whole castle.

Artoo snorted and stomped a foot, and Anakin stroked his mane. “I know, boy. You stay here. I’ll be right back.”  

Stepping up to the large doors, Anakin pushed them open and stepped inside. He coughed, the dust tickling his nose and throat. There was no light inside, so he could barely see the dim shapes around him. But he kept moving, because something inside him told him his mother was here.

“Mom? Are you here? It’s Anakin …” he called out, hearing his voice echo.

“Ani?”

“Mom!” he yelled, moving towards her voice. He ran down a flight of stone steps, into a cellar that was lined with … cells?

At the end of the room, a small light barely managed to push back the darkness enough for him to see his mother.

“Mom!” he said again, dashing to her and kneeling in front of her. “What happened to you? I’ve got to get you out of here!”

His mother’s warm, gentle brown eyes widened in fear. “No, Ani, no! You must go!”

He stared at her. “I’m not leaving you here!”

“GET OUT!”

Jerking to his feet, Anakin put himself between his mother and the voice, which was coming from … a woman?

Her hair was dark, swirling around her white face. Her body was thin and spindly and small, swallowed up by the large cape that seemed to float around her. But most chilling of all was the effect of her large, black eyes in her white face.

“You are intruding! Get out!” she bellowed, her voice loud and echoing.

“Ani, please,” his mother said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

“No! What right do you have to lock up a poor woman in your dungeon?” Anakin asked.

The woman’s face twisted into something remote and powerful. “She stole. For that, she deserves imprisonment.”

“I picked a rose for myself,” Shmi said. “I’m sorry! It was just so beautiful!”

Anakin didn’t know how anything could grow on this estate, but he knew his mother. She was the kindest, warmest, best woman on earth. She didn’t deserve this. And he wouldn’t let her suffer.

“Take me instead,” Anakin said, stepping forward and ignoring his mother’s gasp.

The woman looked at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. “Agreed.” She stepped forward, a cold feeling coming off her as she moved around Anakin to unlock the cell holding his mother.

“Ani, no–no–” his mother begged. He had enough time to reach out and take her hand, squeezing it, telling her silently how much he loved her.

The woman dragged his mother away, Anakin staring at Shmi’s face until it was gone.

“Hello.”

Anakin nearly jumped six feet in the air before turning around towards the sound of the voice.

Which was … a candleabra?

That was smiling at him?

“Please excuse the mistress. We … we don’t receive many guests,” the candleabra said. “But come, come! Allow me to show you to your room!”

A throat cleared, only for a mantle clock to hop into view. “Excuse me, that is my job, if you don’t mind, Lumiere.”

“Ah, yes, mon ami, of course!” the candleabra said cheerfully.

The clock bowed, which made Anakin want to pick it up and examine it. To figure out how it was possible for clocks and candleabras to talk and move!

“Good evening, sir, I am the butler of the household. You may call me Cogsworth. And you are … ?”

“Anakin,” he replied, at a loss for words.

“Excellent! Charming name, sir, if you don’t mind me saying. Come, follow me,” Cogsworth said, hopping along towards the stairs.

Lumiere did the same, the metallic clangs ringing through the chamber every time he made contact with the stone floor. Shrugging his shoulders, Anakin followed them, wondering just what was happening to him.

XXX

After two days in the castle, Anakin thought he might go crazy with boredom. Or curiosity.

He was well-fed at every meal, waited on by Lumiere, Cogsworth, and the teapot named Mrs. Potts who reminded him a bit of his mom. He was provided with old-fashioned but very fine clothes–clothes he constantly worried about messing up. But otherwise, he was left alone. He hadn’t seen the woman who lived here in the castle. All he heard was her roars.

What had happened to her? She might be small, but something about her made her seem so much larger and more commanding than her size. And there was something about her that seemed to be in such pain …

Without anything to do, Anakin found himself wandering through the castle, exploring. Taking in the broken furniture and destroyed paintings. The library with books spread across every surface, piles of wax showing where candles had burned down to the end of their wicks.

The west wing was off-limits, Cogsworth told him. But Anakin wasn’t about to let a whole wing of the castle remain unexplored.

And when he drew near a room and heard voices, he wasn’t above doing some eavesdropping.

“Mistress, please,” Cogsworth said. Anakin could practically picture the clock putting its hands together in a begging position. “You must try.”

“What’s the use?” she asked, her voice managing to echo in yet another piece of magic in this castle.

“Padme, you can’t give up like this,” Lumiere said.

Padme? Was that her name? Anakin had never met anyone with a name like that. It was … interesting. Unusual.

“I will not manipulate him. I will not make promises I cannot keep,” Padme said, sounding aloof and regal but very sad.

“It’s not manipulation,” Lumiere said. “You’re simply getting to know Anakin. He’s a very kind, caring young man. It would do you good to talk with someone, my lady. To not be so concerned with the whole world.”

“Please, Mistress, for us,” Cogsworth said. “There’s so little time left … what is the harm in trying?”

Padme heaved a sigh. “I suppose I have no choice, then?”

“Don’t sound so sad, my lady!” Lumiere said. “He’s also a romantic. He gave himself up to save his mother … he looks quite stunning in his new clothes …”

Anakin felt his cheeks flush. As his mother always said, eavesdroppers deserved what they heard. He drew away, feeling his curiosity stir as he wondered at the conversation.

What had Lumiere meant, there was so little time left?

XXX

To Anakin’s surprise, Padme entered the dining room just as he was sitting down to the table. She wore black, her hair loose around her shoulders and her eyes still dark. But even though she held her chin up, he thought she sounded nervous when she said, “May I join you?”

“Of course …” Anakin said, suddenly realizing he should have stood up when she entered the room. He stumbled over his feet as he got up. To cover his embarrassment, he said, “It’s your castle, after all.”

Without a word, she took a chair at the end of the table. Anakin sat back down, shifting a little.

“I … I hope you have been comfortable,” Padme said after a few minutes of silence.

“Um, yes,” Anakin said, poking at his plate of food. “Thank you.”

He started to eat, glancing at her as she sipped from a glass. Other than a few bites of bread, she didn’t appear to eat anything.

And he wondered what had happened to her.

“I suppose the servants have told you about me,” Padme said.

Shaking his head, he did his best to smile. “No, not really. I’ve asked a lot of questions, but they haven’t answered them.”

A smile appeared on her face as fast as quicksilver before it was gone. “My name is Padme.”

He nodded and smiled. “I’m Anakin. In case you didn’t know.”

That smile appeared again, lasting a little longer, and Anakin felt his heart give a queer thump. “Yes, I know,” Padme said.

For a few moments, they sat in silence as Anakin ate and Padme sipped from her glass.

“My … my mother told me once that the lords of the village used to live here,” Anakin said, his words a bit halting. “In the old days. Before the current lord’s family took over.”

Something shifted in her dark eyes, creating an expression of regret. “Are they … are they kind to the people?”

Anakin shrugged. “They’re all right, I guess. When there was a drought two years ago, they didn’t kick out any villagers. Their daughter gives a lot of charity to anyone who needs it.”

“It’s so little,” Padme said, looking off into the distance.

“What more would they want to do?”

“Help the people lift themselves up, improving their lives at all times, instead of just helping them in hard times,” Padme said, a spark of passion lighting her up.

He opened his mouth to argue, only to stop and consider her words. “Huh.”

“What?” she said, her voice sounding cold.

“No–it’s a good idea. I never thought about it. That lords could be different,” Anakin said.

“They can be,” Padme said, thawing a little. “Those who think long-range, instead of just squeezing the people for all they can get out of them.”

Raising his eyebrows, Anakin looked at her. “Who are you?”

There was something about Padme … he didn’t understand her, how she could roar and bellow, while also speaking so strongly about people. It didn’t fit.

She rose to her feet. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your meal.”

And before Anakin could say anything more, Padme swept out of the room.

For a long moment, he stared after her, wondering what had made her leave. Hoping he hadn’t offended her. It was strange, how much he was starting to care. The last thing he should do is care about his captor. But … he did.

Even though he missed his mother. Even though he didn’t know how long he would be staying here. He wanted to help Padme.

XXX

Almost without him realizing it, the days began adding up into weeks, time moving faster and becoming more pleasant. Because Padme began spending more time with him, filling up his hours with interesting conversations and unusual feelings.

He knew she was smart and liked to read. But as they talked, he realized just how brilliant she was. She had something to say about anything, but especially what it meant to be a good ruler, to lead people, to protect and provide for large groups.

Padme wasn’t afraid to challenge him. To make him think. So many people in his village seemed to think he was dumb, just because he was handsome. But Padme … she wanted him to be informed, to talk about so many things he had never really considered.

So he found himself opening up to her. Talking about his mother. About how he felt out of place in his village and wondered where he might fit in. He even told her about the automaton he was building, and how he loved to tinker and fix things.

And the day after he told her that, Padme was different. She was almost … giddy. Because after lunch, she asked him to follow her. And of course, Anakin did. Right outside the castle, through the overgrown gardens.

A cold wind whipped around him, making Anakin draw his cloak tighter around himself.

“Are you cold?” Padme asked, seeming not to notice how her own cloak was blown open by the wind and her hair swirled around her.

“A little … I’m always cold,” he admitted.

Padme nodded, and he almost sensed her filing away that piece of information. He didn’t really know why, and he didn’t have much time to think about it, because Padme drew up in front of a dilapidated building. It was tall, with large windows flanking its door, and Anakin wondered what the structure was for.

From underneath her cloak, Padme drew a rusty key and put it in the door’s lock. She turned it, but didn’t open the door. Instead, she turned to face him. “I thought you might like to see this building.”

“All right …” Anakin said slowly, not really sure where this was going.

She gestured for him to open the door, and knowing that it would probably be at least a bit warmer inside–it would give them cover from the wind–Anakin turned the knob and stepped inside, feeling his mouth drop in shock.

It … it was like the mechanic’s shop in his village, but much, much larger. As far as the eye could see, there were tools and supplies. Pieces of metal in all sizes, wires and springs and gears, long worktables stretching along the walls and open space for experiments.

“What–what?” Anakin asked, his head swiveling around before he turned to face Padme.

“When you talked about the machine you were building … I remembered this workshop and thought you might like to use it. To let you work on projects while you’re here,” Padme said, her voice soft and almost shy.

“Really?” he asked, beaming at her. “Padme, this is amazing!”

For the first time, he saw color on her face, as two soft pink spots appeared on her cheeks. “You like it?”

“I love it. I can’t wait to get started!” Anakin said, unable to hold back his excitement. He looked at Padme, and then, suddenly, he was hugging her.

He hadn’t realized how much bigger he was than her. Because in his arms, she felt so incredibly small and delicate and fragile. He wondered if he was hurting her, because she was standing so straight and stiff. But then, her body melted against his, in a way that made his blood light on fire.

Her hair was against his cheek, and Anakin turned his head just the slightest bit, to realize it wasn’t black like he thought. No, it was a deep, rich, warm brown. It smelled like something warm and spicy and comforting. Like cinnamon.

What was he doing?

Anakin jerked back, knowing his own face was flushed. He didn’t know what to do with his hands and ended up shoving them into his pockets. “Um, thank you,” he said, hearing his mother’s voice in his head, reminding him of his manners.

“You’re welcome,” Padme said, her voice higher-pitched than normal. Her face was still flushed. She drew her cloak around her. “I … I’ll let you begin to work. I hope you’ll enjoy yourself.”

And with her cloak and hair whirling around her, Padme left.

Even though he was itching to get started, Anakin couldn’t help watching through the window as Padme walked back to the castle. Her spine was straight, her head held high, but … but Anakin thought she seemed sad. Sadder than he had ever seen her before.

XXX

As the days went on, Padme’s sadness seemed to linger. She tried to act like she wasn’t sad, by smiling at him some and asking him questions and listening when he talked. But Anakin could tell that there was something wrong.

No matter what he tried, it didn’t seem to help her. He asked her questions about leadership and ruling, doing his best to draw out all her knowledge. He offered to go walking with her around the castle’s grounds, despite the cold.

And then Anakin had an idea. The perfect way to make Padme smile enough to make her sadness go away.

He got to work in his shop, glorying in all the supplies he could ever need. It meant missing a few meals with Padme and a few sleepless nights, but it was worth it, after four days, to have created the perfect present.

At dinner that night, he hurried into the dining room, checking his pocket for his surprise. Padme looked at him and smiled for a moment, before her face settled back into sadness.  

“Padme?” he asked, unable to wait. Wanting that unhappy expression banished from her face.

“Yes?” she asked quietly, only glancing at him.

“I have something for you,” he said, stepping towards her.

That prompted a reaction. She slowly looked up at him, something in her eyes that almost made him hesitate. But he plowed ahead.

“Here,” he said quickly, drawing his present out of his pocket and setting it down in front of her.

Padme stared at the mechanical rose in front of her. Her hand lifted and reached out, but didn’t touch it.

“It’s a mechancial rose,” Anakin explained, his words coming fast. “It’s in its bud state right now, but if you press this button right here …”

Anakin pressed a small button at the base of the flower, and Padme gasped as the rose’s petals slowly unfurled into a full-blown bloom.

“So you can always have a rose, no matter what time of year it is,” Anakin said, watching Padme. Seeing her soft, pale skin–not white and cold like it had looked the first time he saw her. Her brown, curly hair, not the wild dark mass he remembered.

And her eyes–not dark holes in her face–but brown and full of emotion and warmth and fire.

How had he not realized how beautiful she was?

“Anakin,” Padme said. Her voice shook as one fingertip brushed against a petal.

“Eventually, I want to add fragrance as the flower blooms,” Anakin said, his palms feeling clammy and his throat as dry as a desert. “And a timer, so the rose will bloom slowly, like a real flower. Do–do you like it?”

It felt like it took a decade for her eyes to slowly meet his. She stared at him, and her tongue darted out to lick her lips, making Anakin lean towards her.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

The castle was full of magic. Anakin had accepted that, even though he couldn’t scientifically explain it. And right now, it was like all the magic was increased, making this moment last and matter.

And then, with a sharp, dissonant screech, Padme pushed her chair back and stood up. “I release you.”

Anakin stared as Padme turned and walked towards one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “What?”

Had he heard her say she released him? What did that mean?

Without facing him, Padme said, “You are free. There is no longer any debt to repay. Your horse is in the stable–you may leave whenever you like.”

His heart plummeted. He didn’t–he couldn’t–why was she–how could he–

“Please go,” Padme whispered, her arms wrapping around her torso.

Mrs. Potts appeared in the room, gently nudging against Anakin’s ankle. “It’s getting late. You need your rest, young man.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but the pleading look Mrs. Potts gave him made his shoulders slump. He nodded and turned, walking out of the dining hall. And as he left, he couldn’t help looking back at Padme, who was now surrounded by her servants. Their faces were worried for their mistress.

They weren’t the only one who was worried.

XXX

The next day passed like a dream. When he woke up, after a night of little sleep, the hatstand helped him dress like normal. But it wasn’t a normal day.

Cogsworth greeted him in the front hall. “Good morning, sir,” he said, his voice mournful. “Your horse is saddled and waiting for you. There is a saddlebag with food and drink packed for your journey.”

“Cogsworth–I don’t need that. I don’t need to go,” he said. “I …”

The words died as he realized he didn’t want to talk to Cogsworth. He wanted to talk to Padme.

Lumiere hopped to stand beside Cogsworth. “Farewell, mon petit,” he said, smiling sadly at Anakin. “Bonne chance.”

“Hurry along now,” Mrs. Potts said. “Your mother must be waiting for you.”

There was nothing he could say. They wouldn’t let him see Padme. And they were all just household items, but he wouldn’t want to cross them. So Anakin slowly turned and walked out of the castle.

The skies were filled with gray clouds and he shivered in the cold air. Artoo tossed his head and whinnied as Anakin approached.

“Hi, boy,” he said softly, stroking Artoo’s nose before mounting him. Anakin looked up at the castle, searching each and every window for any sign of Padme. But the windows were empty, just like his heart, and he took the reins and gently urged Artoo into a walk.

He did not look back. He kept his gaze locked on the space between Artoo’s ears, not paying any attention to his surroundings. Fortunately, Artoo knew the way.

When he drew up in front of the small house, he gave his head a shake and tried to look on the bright side. He was home. He could see his mother again. He could …

“Ani!”

His mother’s voice had never sounded sweeter. Anakin smiled through some tears as he watched her run out of the house and into his arms.

“Oh, Ani!” she said. Anakin hugged her back tightly.

She pulled away and cupped his face, her fingers stroking against his skin. “How did you get away? Are you all right?”

“I … she let me go,” Anakin said softly, leaning into her touch.

“She let you go?” Shmi said, sounding shocked. “What?”

He shook his head and stepped back. “I don’t know why. But she did and now I’m home.” He did his best to smile, and his mother smiled back, but she still looked confused.

“Let me put Artoo in the stable and you can catch me up on everything that’s happened,” Anakin said, patting his mother’s shoulder.

“All right, Ani,” she said, her face lighting up. “I’ll start cooking some lunch for us.”

And just like that, he was back home. The village hadn’t changed, according to his mother. On his first visit, he saw that she was right. Nothing had changed.

But he had. He saw everything with new eyes. He could see how unfair life was, how much it was affected by chance and luck. And the lord of the village, who was supposed to protect the people, didn’t seem to do anything to make everyone be equal.

It made him realize how much Padme had changed him. How much he had learned.

And it made him miss her even more.

One night, he was poking at his food when his mother sat down beside him. “Ani. Why don’t you go back?”

“What? Go back where?” he asked, feeling his heart skip a beat.

Shmi gave him a long, fond look. “Go back to her. Because you love her.”

Anakin swallowed. “She–she took you prisoner.”

“Because I stole,” his mother said. “I knew that. Perhaps it was too harsh, the punishment she exacted, but it was fair. And in the moment, I was scared of her. But now that I think about it … I think she’s lonely. She needs someone.”

Shmi looked at him again. “I think she needs you.”

“Mom,” he said, reaching out to take her hand, squeezing it tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said, squeezing his hand back and then reaching out with her free hand to ruffle his hair. “But you miss her. I can tell. So you should go back to her and see if she loves you as much as you love her.”

He rose to his feet and pulled his mother in for a hug. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I will see you again.”

His mother gently patted his back, then pulled away from him. “Go ahead and pack. Don’t forget to take your automaton–you’ll want to finish it. I noticed you hadn’t worked on it since you returned.”

Smiling sheepishly, Anakin nodded and started moving, gathering his things and carefully packing his automaton. With everything loaded in a small cart and Artoo hitched up, there was no need to wait.

And he didn’t want to wait. He would miss his mother, but … but she was right. He loved Padme. And she needed him.

This time, he wouldn’t let anyone stand between himself and Padme.

XXX

The gates were closed when he approached the castle, but he didn’t care. He tried to open them, but they wouldn’t budge. So leaving Artoo and the cart at the gate, Anakin climbed the gates. He tore his shirt and nearly fell a meter when his cloak caught on some pickets.

But he didn’t care. He was nearly there.

Anakin pushed open the doors and stepped into the castle. It felt cold–colder than it had ever felt before. He walked through the main hall, not seeing any of the servants.

It felt wrong.

He had only gone into the west wing once, when he had eavesdropped on Padme with Lumiere and Cogsworth. But now he climbed the stairs and stepped towards the room that he thought was Padme’s.

When he stepped into the room, he shivered. It was so cold …

At the far end, beside a large window, there was a low, wide bed. There was a small lump in the middle, barely visible in the flickering candelight. As he approached the bed, he realized it was Lumiere.

But then he saw Padme, and any thought of anything else fled his mind.

Her cheeks were flushed and sweat poured down the sides of her face. Her hair curled damply against her forehead, and her eyes were moving fast under her closed eyelids.

“Padme?” he breathed out, leaning over the bed.

“Mon petit?” Lumiere said, his flames going higher to see better.

“Lumiere, what happened to her?” Anakin asked, kneeling on the bed to be closer to her. He brushed her hair back, practically seeing steam as his cold fingers touched her hot skin.

The candleabra sniffed. “Oh, mon petit … my lady is cursed. An evil wizard condemned her to always be seen as a monster, even though she is beautiful and kind and caring, full of ideas to save the world. The curse could only be broken when someone could see past her appearance … and when she could learn to love one person over everyone else in the world.”

It didn’t make sense to him, but Anakin knew that Padme was sick. “Why is she so hot?”

“The last petal is ready to fall,” Lumiere said, gesturing to the table on the other side of the bed, the table he hadn’t noticed.

Under a glass dome, a faded rose floated in the air. A single petal hung onto the stem, looking ready to fall as Lumiere said.

But what caught Anakin’s attention was the mechanical rose next to the enchanted rose. The rose that was open, in full bloom.

“She kept it,” Anakin whispered.

“She did,” Lumiere said sadly.

Anakin turned back to look at Padme. Her eyes were open in narrow slits, but he could see the warm brown there. He slid his hand under her head, lifting her closer to him.

“Padme,” he said softly. “Padme, I’m here.”

“Anakin …” she breathed out. Her lips quirked, and her tongue flicked out to smooth over the dry, flaky skin. “I get to see you … one more time …”

“No,” he said, stroking her hair with his free hand. “I can’t lose you, Padme.”

Her head tilted a little, her eyes connecting with his. And in that moment, Anakin let himself fall for her.

“I love you,” he said softly.

“What?” she whispered, her eyes widening.

“I love you,” he said again, smiling at her. “I love you so much, Padme.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips softly against hers. Her lips pressed back for a moment, before she jerked away.

“Padme!” he yelled, not knowing what to do as her body convulsed. He reached for her shoulders, holding on, watching as light seemed to burst from her body.

The light lifted her up, making Anakin’s eyes squint. He heard noises, heard voices. It sounded like an old man wailing in despair and disappointment.

And then Padme landed back on the bed, breathing slowly, her eyes closed.

No longer was she unnaturally pale or fever-flushed. Her cheeks were a soft pink, the rest of her skin smooth and soft peach in color. Her hair hung in perfect curls around her face, the brown a pleasing compement to her skin.

Her eyes opened slowly, and they were brown, too. Brown like he remembered them being their last night together, but–but different. Prettier, softer, kinder.

“Padme?” he whispered, stroking back one of her curls.

She slowly blinked as she stared up at him. And then, moving faster than he thought she could move, Padme was sitting up and throwing her arms around him.

“I love you, Anakin! I love you, too–so much, Anakin, so much,” she said, pressing her face against his shoulder.

Then she pulled back and gazed at him, her fingers hesitantly reaching out to touch his cheek. “I love you,” she repeated.

Anakin smiled slowly, then turned his head to lightly press a kiss to her fingertips. Padme drew in a breath, and Anakin slid his arm around her waist to bring her closer.

“Oh, Mistress!”

“My lady!”

“We’re real again!”

The voices of Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Lumiere broke into their own little world, and Anakin and Padme both looked at the now-human servants. Anakin smiled and nodded to them, but then looked down at Padme.

Her eyes were filled with tears as she gazed at her servants–her friends. Anakin drew her close and rubbed her back.

“Thank you for believing in me,” Padme told them, her eyes holding each of theirs for a long moment. “Now, if you don’t mind … I’d like to be alone with Anakin.”

Cogsworth blushed, Mrs. Potts smiled, and Lumiere smirked. But they all did as asked, and Padme turned to Anakin and smiled.

“So you’re a lady, huh?” he asked, stroking her hair.

“I suppose,” she said, wrinkling her nose up in a way that was utterly delightful. “But I don’t think that matters. I … I’m just Padme.”

“You’re not ‘just’ anything,” he said, resting his forehead lightly against hers.

Her nose gently brushed against his as she moved closer to him. “And you’re everything to me.”

Anakin looked at her for a moment, and then leaned in to kiss her. To kiss her with everything he felt.

So although Anakin and Padme’s story has come down through history of the love of a beauty for a beast, with some unfortunate changes from the real story, it was truly a love story about looking past first impressions. And really, isn’t that a better story?

End.