In My Heart (The Pendant)

By Obi's Girl

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Summary: Set during Episode III, Padme remembers the good times she had with Anakin, while holding the japor snippet he gave her when she was 14.

Rating: PG

A/N: I'm not an Anakin/Padme shipper but I felt compelled to write this after I stumbled upon a topic similar to this that talked about the japor snippet. This is probably the only Anakin/Padme fic you'll ever read by me, so if it doesn't live up to your Anakin/Padme standards, well, just remember I'm an Obidala shipper and I'm used to writing about them as a couple.

~~

Padme Skywalker sighed as she sat in front of her dresser, staring at herself in the mirror. Days earlier, Obi-Wan confronted Anakin, hoping to bring him back to the light side of the Force. She stifled back cries; Anakin was dead, her husband and true love was dead. She didn't want it to be true but she knew that Obi-Wan wouldn't lie to her.

Still, it hurt so much. Everywhere she went, there was some reminder of him and the blissful time they shared together. She knew something had been happening to Anakin; he had become more aggressive. She had just assumed he was stressed because of the war. That wasn't the case, however; he had given himself to the Dark Side and the embraced the darkness.

Padme shook her head, brushing away her tears as she opened one of the drawers and pulled out a small blue acrylic box. She ran her fingers on the box before removing the latch and pushed aside the pieces of white paper. She smiled, yes, she had still kept it. Padme held the green japor snippet in her palm that Anakin had given to her when he was nine, when he had been a small boy uncertain about his future. She had told him that she didn't need something like that to remember him, but she kept it nevertheless.

She closed her eyes, a smile still lingering on her lips as she remembered the boy that became her husband.

**

Padme sighed, watching Anakin as she ate her dinner. It had been weeks since they left Coruscant, bound for Naboo. She hated the idea of leaving Coruscant while the Senate was still debating over the creation of an army to defend the Republic. But being alone with Anakin gave her the chance to get to know him again. Ten years. They had been apart for ten years, both devoted to their duties; she as senator and Anakin as a Jedi Padawan. But there always was that connection between them. She wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but it had always been there and was still there now.

"I look forward to seeing Naboo again," Anakin interrupted her thoughts, smiling, "I've thought about it every day since I left. It's by far the most beautiful place I've ever seen..."

Padme smiled, "You were just a little boy then. It may not be as you remember it; time changes your perception."

Anakin shrugged, staring intensely at her, "I think time has given me much more mature feelings to enhance my perception."

Padme ignored his stare, focusing again on her food, "It must be difficult having sworn your life to the Jedi... not being able to visit the places you like... or do the things you like..."

"Or be with the people I love," Anakin finished, but Padme only stared back at him.

**

Padme bit her lip, tightening her grip around the pendant. The small necklace held so many memories for her, but they were only memories. Even if the man she knew was dead, he would always be the good man she loved, the boy that became a part of her when she was twelve. He'd always be in her heart.

**

She glanced at Anakin and smiled, but maybe now was the time to revisit that memory. No, she couldn't allow herself to slip into that type of thinking. She wasn't there to relax and play. Still...

"I think it's true..." Anakin mused, staring into her eyes again. Padme couldn't help herself, she saw something in him. A longing, the same longing she felt. Anakin leaned in closer, bridging the gap between them, and kissed her.

Stop it, her mind cried as she came back to her senses and pulled away. "I shouldn't have done that," she mused, looking away from him and staring at the ocean.

Anakin shrugged, "I'm sorry. When I'm around you, my mind is no longer my own."

Padme lightly laughed, "It's the situation... the stress..."

"...the view," he finished, staring at her again and longing.

**

Padme sighed, opening her eyes, wiping away her tears again. She looked down at the pendant, feeling the smoothness of japor. It wasn't rough or worn like she thought it would be, considering how long she had held on to it. She looked deeper into its core, as if hoping she would see Anakin's face amongst the green. But she didn't.

Maybe it was meant to be that way. The snippet wasn't magical or enchanted, it just a simple piece of jewelry. Nothing more than that and a friendly gesture. Padme sighed, placing the snippet back in the box, and she wrapped it in the white tissue. She refused to let go of the memory of Anakin, the good man she knew, but it was pointless to think she could have stopped him. Finally, she closed the box and set it carefully back into the dresser drawer. She reached down into her dress pocket and pulled out a key, locking the dresser.

But he would always be in her heart, in her dreams, and in her memory.

The end.