Padmé keyed the code of hers and Obi-Wan's apartment and slipped inside, trying to be as silent as possible. It was well past midnight and the large flat was enveloped by darkness but for the moonlight filtering inside from the windows in the large circular living room.

Everyone seemed to be asleep, her maids and Threepio included. It was not surprising given the late hour. The meeting with the committee she had created to revise and rewrite the constitution, and made sure another Palpatine-like tyranny would not arise again, had lasted far longer than predicted.

She was exhausted but satisfied about how things were progressing, and looked forward to sleeping well into the morning, for it was a vacation day.

Padmé posed her briefcase on a tall table near the door and tiptoed to the twins' room, wishing to see them before collapsing on her bed.

However part of her tiredness disappeared when she found the two cradles empty. Frowning slightly she wondered if Miarté, the nurse, had taken them to her room, as she sometimes did when the little ones were difficult to settle. Then she remembered Miarté was on vacation for a couple of days—which meant there was only another place where Luke and Leia could be.

Smiling gently, Padmé walked to Obi-Wan's bedroom and found her guess confirmed when she noticed the door had been left open.

She peered inside and what she saw made her heart flip-flop in her chest.

Her husband was sleeping in the middle of his large bed, and had Luke and Leia sprawled atop his bare chest, cradled there by his protective arms. The twins were asleep, their little bodies rising and falling with each of Obi-Wan's breaths.

Moving silently, she approached the bed and looked down. She did not know why the twins were there instead of in their room, but it hardly mattered, for she could see no signs of distress on their tiny faces.

Padmé stood there, looking at the three most important people of her life, enjoying that serene and tender scene. She studied Obi-Wan's face, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to observe – admire, really –him while he was not aware of her perusing.

He looked fine, the dark circles he had sported under his eyes for months gone. His face was relaxed, his mouth slightly open and the lock of hair fallen over his brow gave him a boyish look.

Padmé had press her fingernails into her palms to prevent herself from reaching out and brushing back the soft-looking lock. And it was not the only thing she wished to do. She wanted to stroke his beard and see if it was as soft as it looked, she wanted to comb the hair on his chest, before letting her hand slide down his belly and…her cheeks flushed flaming red.

What was she thinking?

"It is obvious," a sarcastic voice said inside her. "You want him."

Yes, she thought, she wanted Obi-Wan, but it was much more than a matter of sex. She wanted his love.

No, that was not right. She already had his love, she had always had it, and even if they had not talked about it since before their marriage, Padmé knew Obi-Wan wished to make their marriage a real one.

How many times, in the seven months they had lived together, she had seen the longing in his eyes when he thought she was not noticing? How many times had his hand stopped mid-air as he reached to touch her?

Obi-Wan wanted her, there was no doubt about it. But was she ready to give him what he wanted? What he deserved?

They had gotten closer during the past months. Living and working together, spending sleepless nights when the twins kept on crying had stirred in her powerful emotions.

Little by little all the feelings she had experienced thirteen, almost fourteen years before had returned. She had remembered all the things she had loved in young Obi-Wan as she had come to discover new traits of his personality.

She now knew Obi-Wan was grumpy in the morning and that, given the chance, he liked to sleep late, something she found strange in such a hard, disciplined man. She knew he preferred their old fashioned bathtub to the hyper-technologic sonic shower. He was able to spend hours in the warm water reading one of his beloved books, which made her grateful the house had two more 'freshers! And she knew that, as most military men, he was very tidy and meticulous, so much so that she could not leave something out of place before he arrived to put it away.

Padmé now knew all of this, the good and bad, and it made her love Obi-Wan even more.

"Yes, I love you," she whispered, looking down at him. He had to be very soundly asleep not to hear her. "I love you Obi-Wan Kenobi." Again. Still. It did not really matter.

Padmé gave her husband a final, loving look, then backed toward the door. As she walked to her bedroom, she felt like a burden had been taken off her shoulders.

She had finally accepted the truth and learned to live with it. While she would never forget Anakin and the happiness he had given her, and while she would never forgive herself for having, albeit unwillingly, set him on the road to perdition, she was now able to admit she loved Obi-Wan and had probably never stopped doing so.

Now the time had come to tell and show him it.

§

Several nights later Padmé switched on her bedside table lamp with a frustrated sigh. No matter how she had tried, there was no way to fall asleep as tense as she was. She needed to first relax—and she had a good idea of how accomplish it.

Getting up, she donned a robe over her nightgown, grabbed a large towel from the wardrobe, and left her bedroom and the apartment, taking the lift to their private gardens.

Built to look like a great greenhouse, the upper floor of the condo, hosted a seemingly wild environment, with trees, bushes, flowers, grass and an artificial pond large and deep enough to allow swimming. The water was always warm, just what she needed to relax and get sleepy.

Arriving at the right floor, Padmé walked into the garden, using the light coming from the transparisteel roof to follow the gravel covered path to the pond.

Once there she shed her clothes, let them fall near the shore alongside the towel, and stepped into the pond, until she was neck deep in the tepid water.

Padmé swam for awhile, then settled near the shore, where she could sit and still enjoy the soothing massage of the water.

Little by little her tension stared to unravel, even if her mind insisted mulling over the cause of such condition.

Obi-Wan.

Oh, he had done absolutely nothing wrong. He had been his usual, thoughtful self. The problem lay mostly with her and her inability to take a decisive step to transform their marriage in a real one.

It should have been easy to take him aside and tell him, "I love you, Obi-Wan". Instead something always went wrong every time she mustered her courage. Her or his comlink would beep, one of the twins would start crying, Threepio would come in asking some question, completely unaware of what he had interrupted.

Padmé had even considered sneaking inside Obi-Wan's chambers and bed at night, but she was not a seductress, and she did not want to give the impression she just wanted sex. Lovemaking, if it arrived, would come only later, after her feelings would be revealed.

Padmé was so taken by her musings she was almost startled when the sound of someone walking on the gravel reached her ears. The steps were coming closer and she realized there was no time to swim to the opposite side of the pond and reach for the towel or her clothes before the newcomer was revealed to her. She just hoped it was not Captain Typho or another security officer. Maybe it was just Dormé, she often suffered from insomnia…

The noise came even closer and Obi-Wan's figure left the vegetation to step into the small clearing surrounding the pond, wearing a blue bathrobe.

He stopped cold when he saw her, a stunned expression on his handsome face.

"Padmé…I was not expecting to find you here…I was lost in thought and I did not sense you…," he said, as his sharp eyes noticing her discarded nightgown and robe. "I will leave you now."

He turned around to walk away, but Padmé was quicker. She stood up and called, "Don't go, Obi-Wan!"

He slowly faced her again and swallowed hard as he stared at her.

Padmé bit her lower lip as his eyes roamed over body, which was different, more full and curvy than probably he remembered in his memories. It was the body of a woman who had given birth, not a girl. Obi-Wan's eyes did not know where to look first and he seemed to want to drink in all of her at the same time.

Padmé stood still under his scrutinizing glance, without any shame or embarrassment but her heart was hammering in her chest. She, too, stared at Obi-Wan, observing his reaction to her.

He was not indifferent to her, not indifferent at all. His beautiful blue-grey eyes were dilated, his nostrils were flaring, his jaw was tense and his breath was hurried.

They stayed still for what seemed an eternity, then Obi-Wan reached out his arm. He did not say a single word, but simply waited for her to swim across the pond, leave the water and take his hand.

When she was in front of him, he unfolded the towel he had picked up from the grass and wrapped it around Padmé, drying her body with strong but gentle strokes, his burning eyes never leaving hers. When she was dry, he tied the towel around her and bent down, sweeping her into his arms, walking then out of the gardens.

Padmé was amazed by his behaviour, by his intensity and by his continued silence, and tried to break his composure, grabbing his head and kissing him on the mouth.

His reaction was immediate; he stopped walking, opened his lips and kissed her back with a barely controlled urge, making her understand he had not acted till that moment for fear he was going to lose his control and take her there and now, on the hard ground.

She would not have really minded it, so great was her need, but she appreciated his desire for privacy.

Obi-Wan let go of her lips and resumed his walk with a much faster pace, as she snuggled more against his chest…

§

Padmé returned to the present and a happy smile graced her lips. She stretched, luxuriating as the feeling of well-being coursed along her body.

A movement at her side attracted her attention and she turned her head, meeting Obi-Wan's eyes.

A lazy, contented smile spread on his handsome face as he pulled her closer. "Good morning, wife," he murmured, kissing her gently.

"Good morning, husband," she replied in kind. "How did you sleep?"

"Briefly," he answered as his smile turned into a grin and his face looked much younger that his thirty-nine years.

Padmé blushed at his comment, and he laughed, before adding, "I slept wonderfully, my love, for I knew I was going to wake up with you at my side—today, and for the rest of my life."

Padmè snuggled closer and planted a kiss on his chest. "Yes…this is so wonderful…" After all their troubles, their pain, their sorrow, they were finally together and nothing and nobody would ever tear them apart again.

"I love you," she murmured, vowing to spend her entire life saying and showing it to Obi-Wan.

"As I love you," Obi-Wan answered with equal intensity. He kissed the top of her head, as his long fingered hand slid up and down her bare back, in long caresses meant not to be arousing but affectionate.

Padmé relaxed completely under his touch, soon feeling sleepy again, a not surprising occurrence after the previous night.

She saw no reason to fight her slumber, and there was no better place where to rest than in Obi-Wan's arms.

Then. Now. Always.

The end

°°°°°

A/N: This chapter has been edited to keep the rating down. If you wish to read the love scene, check my Live Journal (the link is in my profile) for I will post the NC-17 version there. I will post it later today.