All Time High

Summary: Missing Scene with Anakin and Padmé from AOTC. Just before their execution on Geonosis. Song is "All Time High," sung by Rita Coolidge during the James Bond film Octopussy. This was a response to a James Bond roulette challenge on another website.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. I'm just borrowing George Lucas's characters for a bit. I also don't own "All Time High."

I run down the hall, not knowing what I will find, but sensing something is terribly wrong. My heart is pounding, seeming to give a frantic plea that my worst fears will not be realized. I barely glimpse the signs of blaster fire and other scorch marks that cover the walls around me all I know is my feet are taking me to the key scene in this nightmare.

As I round the corner into my apartment my breath catches and tears well in my eyes. Cordé and Typho are dead, their eyes staring blankly into the silence. The pain lacing their features makes my heart ache. My loyal security staff had given their lives up for me. However, I also feel guilt because for some unknown reason I know this is not the true horror I have come to see. Losing my security staff is a tragedy, but the fissure of fear down my spine is warning me that I am about to face something worse. In the distance I can see the doorway to my bedroom is slightly ajar and my feet move of their own volition to the door.

My whole body trembles as I draw nearer, almost making it impossible to reach the destination. Already my body mourns though I have yet to see why. Gasping deep breaths I try to calm my nerves as I push the door away and enter my darkened bedroom.

I'm certain there was a battle in here. My furniture is toppled over and all of my possessions are scattered throughout the room. A smart person would leave and seek help, or at least enter the room armed in case my would be assailants remain. However, I push myself forward, because my eyes do not care about the state of my room or my own safety. All they are focused on in the large form sprawled across my bed, one of my white sheets covering its body.

My trembling becomes worse as I approach the bed, but it does not stop my journey. I have to know, although I think the knowledge will likely destroy me more effectively than an assassin's blaster. In my mind I am studying the bulky form under the cover and trying to guess who it could be. I can tell it is male, but my mind draws a blank as to who it could be. Is it my father? A colleague? Or….

I nearly hyperventilate as the next thought crosses my mind and my hand makes a grab for the sheet. I send a silent prayer to the Force that this new fear is not true and try to prepare myself for what lies under the sheet. However, as I tug the material free from the still body lying cold on my bed I know there is nothing that could have readied me for… Anakin!

"Padmé!" Your voice mocks me. I can hear it in my head as I scream. My heart was broken from the deaths of my loyal security staff, but at the sight of your cold, dead body, it has been shattered.

"Padmé!" Your voice calls now and I feel a sudden shake to my shoulders. My eyes are clenched in pain as I scream your name over your own haunting shouts. "Padmé, look at me!"

I gasp and open my eyes as a firm hand grabs my chin. "Anakin!" My scream becomes a gasp of surprise as my brain wakes from its nightmare and you force me to stare at your eyes, the light of life deepening their cerulean hue.

"Anakin!" Your name escapes my lips again, but this time in joy. As relief washes over me I fling my arms around you, practically throwing myself at you, causing your back to hit the hard rocky surface of our Geonosian prison cell.

All I wanted was a sweet distraction for an hour or two.
Had no intention to do the things we've done.

"Padmé, wait! What's wrong?" You sound both confused and delighted as you tighten your arms around me. There was a time when I would have fought against such closeness, it was not becoming of a Senator and a Jedi, but I was just overjoyed that my worst nightmare had been just that, a nightmare.

"Padmé? Shhh… tell me, what's wrong." You coax as I try to snuggle into your chest and hear the gentle thump of your heart. The sound drives away any last vestiges of my dreams.

"Nightmare." I finally answer your question as I mumble into your tunic. My deep calming breaths are breathing in your scent and if I fell back asleep right now I am certain I would have pleasant dreams.

"Shhh." I can hear you comfort me and your fingers tangle in my hair. Not long ago in the Lars' garage I had soothed away your torment just as you ease mine now.

"I'm here." The soothing timber of your voice was enough to calm my breathing and heart rate, but your words caused my mind to start a frantic analysis. In a few short hours both of us would be executed.

Despite my efforts to remain calm a sob escapes my lips at this realization and my brain processes the true message of my nightmare. I do not care that I will die, but I cannot stand the thought of losing you.

Funny how it always goes with love, when you don't look you find.
But then we're two of a kind, we move as one

I almost scream again, in torment this time, but somehow I hold it in while my face collapses into my hands. I am in love with you. I know that deep down I already knew this, that is the 

only explanation for my strong reaction to my nightmare. However, it is still a bit of a shock to finally admit to something I had fought so hard against. After all, a Jedi and a Senator will never be allowed to be together.

We're an all time high,
We'll change all that's gone before.
Doing so much more than falling in love.

"Padmé?" Your tone is full of worry and your hands move me away from your body as your eyes assess my present state. "Everything will be all right, trust me."

My heart aches at your concern. I know you love me. I knew you loved me from the moment I spotted you behind Obi-Wan, your eyes focused solely on me. That was the start of my fight against your emotions and mine, but now I cannot deny my heart. I love you. Force only knows why I had to give into it now when we are about to be parted forever.

On an all time high,
We'll take on the world and win.
So hold on tight, let the flight begin.

"Look at me." I hear you state gently, but firmly as you pull my hands from my face. Instantly your blue eyes ensnare me and hold my gaze captive. "Is this about tomorrow?" You ask as your eyes rake over my face, following a tear that has escaped from my eye. A wave of longing washes over me as your calloused fingers brush it aside.

I do not answer your query, but instead bring my own fingers up to your face. I can only imagine what is going on inside your mind as I let my hands memorize the contours of your face. I hope it is bliss as your eyes have fluttered shut in response to my touch. One pass is not enough, but time is not on our side and I need to create these memories now before it is stolen from us.

Electricity seems to spark from my fingertips as they move down your jaw to the pulse point at your neck. I smile sadly at the heartbeat that confirms you are still with me before continuing to move my hands lower. I pause for a moment at the top of your shirt tunic, figuring out the best way to continue my fingers' descent.

I don't want to waste a waking moment; I don't want to sleep.
I'm in so strong and so deep, and so are you.

Just as I formed the decision to have my hands map the muscles on your chest, a gasp escaped your lips and your firm hand trapped both of mine against your tunic. "Please…."

I frown at the strain of your plea as you take several deep breaths to calm yourself. My eyes have drifted from your eyes to the steady rise and fall or your chest that my hands are following in their trapped position.

"Don't Padmé…" You begin to finish through clenched teeth as I try to wriggle my hands out of your grasp. "I know where you and I stand. You are my friend, my…." You hesitate as you repeat, "Friend. And I will respect your decision that we cannot be more than that."

In my time I've said these words before, but now I realize
My heart was telling me lies, for you they're true.

I stare up at your pain filled eyes, dumbfounded for a moment, but then my heart swells with love. You are denying this moment between us because a few days ago I had told you to. I told you we could never be together and you are respecting that. I cannot believe that it is only now at the end that I realize how much you love me.

I have to tell you that everything has changed. You need to know my true feelings for you. I know I owe it to you. "Anakin, I…."

We're an all time high,
We'll change all that's gone before.
Doing so much more than falling in love.

Why is the Force working against us? Just as I was about to reveal everything to you our Geonosian guards arrived to take us to our execution. Now I am silently questioning what I should do. Would it be wrong to tell you how I feel, or is it better to keep it to myself. Would it be too painful to share this with you now at the end? I don't know what to do, time is moving too quickly. They are chaining you right now by my side. Should I be content that you are here with me?

On an all time high,
We'll take on the world and win.
So hold on tight, let the flight begin.

"Don't be afraid."

You try to reassure me over your shoulder and your words end my internal debate as I answer. "I'm not afraid to die. I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life."

"What are you talking about?" I can almost feel your narrowed gaze as you take in what I just said.

"I love you." For a moment I see a flash of anger in your eyes and I reflexively bite my bottom lip in regret. Maybe keeping my secret would have been better, but it is too late to take back the words now.

"You love me?" What I thought was anger sounds like disbelief in your tone. "I thought that we had decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie, and it would destroy our lives."

I want to groan in frustration as you throw my words back at me. In retrospect the denial I was in was ludicrous. "I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway." My words sound almost hollow to me as I try to justify why I decided to confess to you. Out of the corner of my eye I can see movement from our captors and I know our moment alone is almost over.

I lock my gaze on yours as I whisper the final words my mind is forcing me to say. "I truly, deeply love you. And before we die, I want you to know."

I was leaning towards you in an attempt to emphasize my point, but that was lost to me as you leaned towards me and your lips gently caressed my own. Geonosis, the Jedi, and the Senate, all faded away, but once again the Force seems intent on ending our moments of bliss. A jolt tore our lips apart as the Geonosians set the cart that would take us to our deaths in motion.

In my mind I was trying to think of a way to end this so we could steal a few more moments. I came up with some ideas, but I was not sure if they would work. However, as I longingly sought out your eyes for one last glance, I saw a spark of determination in them. Your confidence cleared my mind to brush aside its fears and focus on a plan. Nightmare forgotten my own determination returned because I was not going to let this be the end of us.

So hold on tight, let the flight begin,
We're an all time high…