4 Years Later

Padmé was having a girls' weekend away with Sabé, Satine, and several of their other friends—which was lucky, because Anakin had something he needed to talk to the kids about without her knowing. He'd been thinking about it for months and actively looking for an opportunity for weeks, and he was relieved, and also a little nervous, that the time had finally come.

"Can we be excused?" Luke asked hopefully once the three of them had finished dinner.

"Actually, I'd like you both to stay for a minute," said Anakin, making them sigh. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Leia looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

Anakin took a deep breath, nerves increasing a hundredfold. He just needed to come out and say it. Surely they'd both be happy about the idea. He had nothing to worry about. "I want to ask Padmé to marry me," he said finally.

They both gasped. "Really?" Leia demanded.

He nodded. "Yes. But before I do, I wanted to make sure both of you are okay with it."

"Of course we are!" Luke burst out, beaming. "We've been wanting you to get married forever, right, Leia?"

"Yeah!" Leia was also beaming. "You've really been putting it off, though. Mom's probably wondering what's taking you so long."

Anakin huffed indignantly, and the kids snickered. "I haven't been putting it off, I've just been waiting for the right time. I didn't want to rush into things, especially with your feelings to consider in addition to mine and hers."

"The four of us have been living together for three years," Luke pointed out; they'd sold their two smaller houses and moved into a bigger one the summer before Luke and Leia started second grade. "How different could it be once you're actually married?"

"Well, for one, Padmé will officially be your stepmom and I'll officially be Leia's stepdad and you two will officially be stepsiblings."

"That's basically what it's like now anyway," said Leia. She smiled at Anakin. "But I can't wait for you to officially be my stepdad."

Anakin smiled back, heart swelling. He hadn't expected the conversation to go badly, but still, their strong positive reactions were extremely heartening. "So you're definitely happy about us getting married? You're one hundred percent sure that it's something you want?"

"Yep!"

"Well, she has to say yes first," Luke said slyly, and Anakin made a face. Asking the kids had been nerve-racking enough; asking Padmé herself was going to be a thousand times more terrifying.

"Aw, Luke, that's mean," Leia said, though she was grinning too. "Of course she'll say yes. How are you gonna ask her, Anakin?"

"I-I'm not sure," he admitted. "I've mostly just been focusing on asking you about asking her."

Luke looked scandalized. "Dad, you have to figure out how to ask her! It has to be perfect!"

"Trust me, I know that. And I'm open to suggestions, if you have any."

Luke and Leia offered a number of increasingly ludicrous and over-the-top ideas, and Anakin was forced to squash a recommendation involving dolphins and hot air balloons before saying, "Okay, how about this. I'll take her out to dinner—"

"Where?" Leia interrupted.

"It should be her favorite restaurant," Luke said wisely.

"So Kitster's, then," said Leia, nodding. "Is that even open for dinner?"

"No, it closes at three, right, Dad?"

"I'll take her out to lunch at Kitster's," Anakin amended. "Good idea. That'll be extra romantic, because Kitster's is where we had our first date. Well, kind of. Neither of us knew it was a date at the time, so it doesn't really count."

Luke frowned. "How did you not know it was a date? That doesn't make sense."

"It's a long story. Anyway, we'll have lunch at Kitster's, and then we'll go somewhere after, and then I'll propose."

"Go where?"

"I don't know. I'll figure it out."

"I guess that sounds okay," Leia conceded. "But I still like me and Luke's ideas better."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Then write them down somewhere and save them until you're the ones doing the proposing."

He promised to take them with him to pick out a ring the next morning (Padmé wasn't due back until the late afternoon) and swore them to secrecy. If Padmé heard about his intentions from one of their kids before he even got a chance to ask her, Anakin was going to be pissed.

Fortunately, Luke and Leia were good at keeping their lips sealed—surprisingly so, Padmé would think later when she'd heard all about it. But for the moment, she was totally unaware of what the rest of her family was plotting…although, just as Leia had predicted, she was starting to get a bit antsy. She and Anakin had been dating for four and a half years and living together for three. Was he ever going to propose to her? Did he even want to marry her? Padmé was pretty sure he did; some of their discussions of the future over the years had involved marriage, though usually in general enough terms that she was now starting to worry she'd misunderstood and Anakin didn't actually want to marry her at all. At this point, she was strongly considering just proposing to him herself.

She was surprised and pleased one day in early September when Anakin suggested they have lunch at Kitster's that weekend, just the two of them. They'd been going on dates less frequently since moving in together now that they no longer needed an excuse to see each other, but Padmé always loved the opportunity to get to spend some time alone with him outside the house every now and then, so she eagerly agreed.

Ahsoka dropped by to look after the kids for the afternoon, and Padmé and Anakin had a leisurely, delicious lunch during which they reminisced laughingly about their first sort-of-date. As they got back in the car, Padmé was expecting them to head home, but Anakin said mysteriously, "There's somewhere else I want to go."

Intriguing. Ten minutes later, Padmé's brow furrowed as she realized they were at Leia and Luke's elementary school. "Ani, what are we doing here?" she asked, hurrying to keep up with his long legs as he led her across the deserted schoolyard and came to a halt near the end of the building that housed the kindergarten classrooms.

"I think it was right about here," he said.

"What was? What are you talking about?"

"When we met," Anakin explained. "It was exactly five years ago today, right in this spot."

"It was?" Padmé said, surprised. "I can't believe you remember the exact date."

"I didn't, actually," he admitted, "but it wasn't too hard to look back at my calendar to figure out when Luke and Leia's first day of kindergarten was."

She let out a small laugh. "You scrolled back five years on your calendar just to figure out what day it was? What on earth for?"

Instead of answering, Anakin reached into his pocket and pulled something out, though Padmé couldn't tell what it was. And then, to her astonishment and utter, utter joy, he got down on one knee and held the mystery object out to her, revealing it to be a small box with a ring inside.

Padmé gasped, heart flying into her throat, and tears sprung to her eyes, though she furiously blinked them back so she could see properly. She didn't want to miss even a second of this. "Padmé Amidala Naberrie," said Anakin, smiling at her with such love and happiness in his eyes, which were also swimming with tears. "On the day we met five years ago, I think I knew even then that you were going to change my life. I just had no way of knowing exactly how much of an impact you'd have. I am so totally, completely, utterly in love with you. Words can't do it justice. Before I met you, I didn't even know this kind of love existed. Having a family with you and Luke and Leia is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I want to finally make that family as official as it can possibly be. Padmé, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" she cried as soon as the words had left his mouth. "Yes, Ani, yes, yes, yes!" Padmé practically shoved her left hand at him, tears spilling over onto her cheeks as he took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger, beaming.

As soon as the ring was on, she tugged Anakin to his feet and pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace, kissing him fiercely. Objectively, it was a pretty terrible kiss, seeing as they were both smiling and crying instead of actually kissing, but neither of them could have cared less. "I love you, Ani," Padmé wept, resting her forehead against his and cupping his face in her hands and stroking his cheekbones with her thumbs. "I love you so much, I love you, I love you."

"I love you, too." Anakin looked overjoyed, happier than Padmé had ever seen him in the entire time they'd known each other, and it made her eyes well up anew. "I love you so much, Padmé. Or should I say, the future Mrs. Skywalker?" he tried.

She let out a watery laugh. "I don't know, I think I might keep my name. I wouldn't want Leia to feel left out, being the only non-Skywalker in our house."

Anakin laughed too. "I knew you'd say that. Thought it was worth a shot."

"Maybe I'll hyphenate," Padmé said thoughtfully. "Padmé Naberrie-Skywalker…I like the sound of that."

He smiled and kissed her again. "So do I."

9 Months Later

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," Padmé moaned.

Sola placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "You're going to be fine. You and Anakin love each other. Today's just the start of a new chapter of your life together."

"What if something goes wrong during the ceremony?"

"Nothing will go wrong," Jobal assured her. "You've been planning this for months, and every last detail is taken care of. Everything will be perfect."

"Besides, you look beautiful," Sola added.

Indeed, as she looked in the mirror again, Padmé's anxiety lessened a tiny bit. It was by far the most beautiful she'd ever felt in her entire life. Her wedding dress was extremely elegant, with a flowing skirt and lace sleeves that stopped just below her elbows. Her hair was in a complicated updo that had taken a very long time, but it was worth it, and the whole ensemble was topped off by a gauzy veil. Imagining the look on Anakin's face when he finally saw her made her lips curve into a small smile.

"There's a smile," Jobal said approvingly, squeezing her hand and looking a bit teary. "You look so beautiful, darling. And Anakin is a wonderful man. I'm so, so happy for you."

"Thanks, Mom," said Padmé softly, and she turned to give her mother a hug as best she could without wrinkling her dress.

"Mom, it's almost time to go!"

Padmé looked over Jobal's shoulder and saw that Leia and Luke had burst into the room. Their eyes widened as she stepped away and her dress came into full view. "Wow," Leia gasped.

"You look really pretty, Padmé," Luke said, beaming.

"Thank you." Padmé enveloped them both in a hug, as well, then took their hands in her own and did her best to put on a brave face. "Now, what do you say? Should we head out?"

"Yeah!" Leia and Luke chorused excitedly, and they accompanied her downstairs, Sola and Jobal following behind.

Anakin had already left for the venue—the public gardens a few towns over, which were beautiful in June—so as not to risk him and Padmé seeing each other before the wedding, and now the coast was clear for Padmé to depart as well. Padmé's parents were accompanying her to the ceremony (Shmi had gone with Anakin) but she'd opted to have Luke and Leia walk her down the aisle instead. Sola was her maid of honor, and Sabé, Satine, and Ahsoka her bridesmaids. On Anakin's side, Obi-Wan was his best man and Kitster, Rex, and Darred his groomsmen (Anakin and Padmé had been sorely tempted to ask Kitster to cater, then decided that they ate his food way too frequently as it was and had ultimately gone with a more traditional catering company).

They'd faced a bit of a dilemma when first starting to plan the ceremony due to their different religious backgrounds. Padmé and her family were more religious than Anakin and his and so he'd been willing to do an entirely Jewish ceremony, but Padmé wouldn't have felt right about making him take part in a type of ceremony that was unfamiliar to him and emphasized religious beliefs he didn't hold. In the end they'd decided it would be simplest to keep religion out of the ceremony entirely and had selected a non-religious venue and a non-religious officiant, though they were still incorporating a few wedding traditions from both faiths. This decision had earned them some grumbles from older relatives (mostly Padmé's grandmother), but Anakin and Padmé were satisfied that it was the right thing to do and had turned a deaf ear to everyone else's opinions.

When they arrived at the gardens, Padmé exchanged tearful hugs with her parents, doing her best not to ruin her makeup by crying openly, then went to wait in a designated area that was separate from where the ceremony was being held so that none of the guests would see her as they arrived. Leia, Luke, Sola, and the bridesmaids waited with her, and they kept up a constant stream of encouragement and reassurance, but Padmé was still more nervous than she could ever remember being. Sola swore up and down it would all go away as soon as she stepped out into the aisle and saw Anakin waiting for her underneath the chuppah at the other end, and Padmé sincerely hoped that was true; the bride throwing up in the middle of the aisle would probably put a bit of a damper on the ceremony.

The ceremony began about an hour after Padmé arrived. The bridesmaids left first, and Sola gave Padmé one last careful inspection before it was time for her to also head out. "Perfect," she declared, smiling, though her eyes were suspiciously shiny. "You look gorgeous."

Padmé let out a tiny sob and threw her arms around her sister. "I love you, Sola," she said, voice muffled in Sola's shoulder.

Sola sniffled and squeezed her tighter. "Love you too, Padmé. Good luck, not that you'll need it."

They both chuckled and drew apart, and Sola gave her one last smile and left. Leia and Luke each slipped an arm through one of Padmé's, and Padmé gripped her bouquet of flowers so tightly it was a miracle the stems didn't snap. "Are you nervous?" Leia asked.

"How can you tell?" Padmé said rather sarcastically, and both kids giggled.

"Don't worry, everything will be great," Luke soothed her. "I bet Dad's gonna cry when he sees you."

"Tears of joy, hopefully." That elicited some more giggles.

After an agonizingly long couple of minutes, it was finally time. Padmé took a deep breath, walked down the path leading to the area that had been set up for the ceremony, and stepped out into the aisle.

It was just like Sola had promised.

There were dozens and dozens of people there but Padmé could only focus on one of them, and by the time she took her second step, all of her nerves had completely vanished. Even from her distance away, she could see that Anakin's lips were parted and his eyes wide as he looked at her, and a broad smile spread across her face, her eyes filling with tears. Anakin smiled back, looking so handsome and perfect, and it was all Padmé could do to keep her pace slow and steady rather than just sprinting the rest of the way down the aisle and throwing herself into his arms.

She could barely even hear the music, could barely even feel Leia and Luke holding onto her, could barely even sense anything at all other than Anakin, her Anakin, the love of her life, the man who was about to become her husband. It was like the entire rest of the world fell away as they gazed at each other, like no one else existed except for the two of them.

At last she arrived, and now she could see that there were tears in his eyes too. The kids let go of her and went to stand off to the side along with the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and Padmé moved to stand directly in front of Anakin, passing her bouquet to Sola as she did so.

Anakin reached out to take her hands. "Padmé, you look—" he began, voice wobbling and soft enough for only her to hear. "You look so—so—" He broke off and shook his head, as if he couldn't even put it into words.

She beamed and squeezed his hands. "So do you," she whispered, and he let out a watery chuckle.

Afterwards, Padmé was very glad that they had a recording of the ceremony because she was sure she never would've been able to remember exactly what was said without it, so occupied was she with gazing into Anakin's eyes and thinking in amazement that they were about to become a married couple. They exchanged vows and then rings, and finally the officiant was pronouncing them husband and wife.

Padmé leaned up and Anakin leaned down, and their lips met in the middle. Vaguely, Padmé could hear applause and cheers, but everything going on in the background utterly paled in comparison to the sensation of her and Anakin sharing their first kiss as husband and wife. When they finally drew apart, Anakin's smile was so bright it ought to have been illegal, and Padmé was sure she looked the same.

Anakin moved slightly to the side where a wineglass was lying on the ground covered in a cloth, and then he raised his foot and stomped down hard on the glass, shattering it. "Mazel tov!" all the guests shouted. Padmé laughed and wrapped her arms around him again; he returned the embrace and they stood there holding each other for a few seconds.

"I love you," Padmé said, wishing that the three little words weren't so insufficient at conveying the overwhelming euphoria and adoration she was feeling in that moment.

But Anakin rested his forehead against hers and smiled tearfully at her and said, "I love you too," and she knew he understood.

Then Luke and Leia ran over and hurled themselves into their parents' arms and the four of them dissolved into a tangled, crying, laughing mass, effectively ruining the formality of the ceremony—though if the laughter and "awww"s that followed were anything to go by, none of the guests minded.

"Congratulations, Dad!" said Luke as hugs and kisses were exchanged all around. He looked over at Padmé and smiled. "Congratulations…Mom."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she reached out and pulled him into her arms, overcome with emotion. "You don't have to call me Mom if you don't want to," Padmé said, voice breaking slightly.

"I know, and I probably won't 'cause I've called you Padmé for so long." Luke drew back and looked at her earnestly. "But, for the record, I've thought of you as my mom since I was six."

Then, finally, Padmé actually did start to cry, and she hugged him tighter and showered his face with kisses. "I think of you as my son, Luke," she wept. "I always have." Luke was crying too now, and judging by the sniffling noises coming from where Anakin and Leia stood hugging, they were having a similar conversation.

Eventually Luke and Leia moved away again, and Anakin pulled Padmé in for another kiss. Then she felt his arms tighten around her waist and she broke away to say, "Don't you dare pick me up."

He grinned. "I'm picking you up."

"No! Ani!" But it was too late, because Anakin was scooping her up into his arms and carrying her bridal-style back down the aisle, and Padmé figured that being a literal bride was as good a time as any to be carried bridal-style, so she just laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged his head down and kissed him again.

I've literally never been to any wedding in my entire life, whether Jewish or Christian or interfaith or non-religious or any other kind, so I hope the wedding scene was okay since I was just going off of wedding planning websites for my information lmfao anyway thanks so much for reading! And hoooopefully I'm gonna be starting another fic pretty soon (quite a long one this time :O) so keep an eye out :)