#suppressionchapter2

Suppression

The forbidden tale of Anakin and Padmé's AOTC courtship. A detailed expansion covering the movie, known deleted scenes, and many new scenes. If George showed 20% of their screen time, this is the other 80%. Told in Padmé's POV with ROTS awareness. Written for the enduring fans of Anidala.

I Coruscant. Chapter 2: The First Night

Twice. I'd barely escaped dying in horrific ways twice today. I made my peace with death years ago, and I'd never been dissuaded by it nor second-guessed my service. I knew I was fighting for the right cause. But staring at my almost deathbed, for the first time since the attacks began, I felt the cold, mortal fear of being prey.

Just because I'd made my peace with death did not mean I wanted to die.

I'd just spent an evening making consolation calls to seven families. Who would be the one to call mine? Typho? Queen Jamillia?

I tore my focus from the bed to the spots on the floor where the halved Kouhuns landed. With a brush of paint, the wall might be spared from the corrosive residue. But there were faint stains on the carpet fibers below— a permanent reminder of what would have been had Ani arrived a second later.

I looked up at him. Ani was staring at the same mark on the floor where my eyes just left. The ivory light coming through the blinds cast horizontal lines across his torso and face. His expression was hard, almost frightening in the dark, but his features softened as his gaze trailed up to meet mine.

There's a unique intimacy that forms between two people when one of them has saved the life of the other, and we looked at each other for a long moment as the weight of it sunk in. A silent yet poignant communication passed between us.

Would Anakin and I have bonded so quickly and deeply over the coming days if he had not saved my life in the first eight hours of our reunion? I can only offer that it didn't hurt the odds.

This wasn't the first time someone had rescued me from possible death. I could still remember the name of every person who ever stood by my side and fired a blaster (or swung a lightsaber, though that list is much shorter) in my defense. I'd been a target since I was a child-queen, but I'd never forgotten the face of any soul who used their skills to keep me safe. Across ten years of activism, this roster had gotten long. But maybe because it happened in the sacredness of my own bedroom, maybe because the Kouhuns got so close, maybe because we'd schemed together and tempted fate to bring the whole thing about— maybe because of the way Anakin's intense stare affected me… this just felt different. More intimate.