Saga She Made My Bed -- {Yes, again! (Shmi/Cliegg, AotC-era)}

Title: She Made My Bed (yes, reviving the old classic!)

Summary: Cliegg Lars tells Owen and Anakin why he's still looking for Shmi. And his answer is ultimately something that neither of them had ever expected. AotC missing scene.

Author's Note(s): OMG. This doesn't even make sense to me, I'll be damned if it makes an ounce of sense to the rest of the world. But I finished now, so I have to post it ( ) so be nice and humor me for a while.

Officially the first vignette I've e'er written that's less than ten pages long.

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She made my bed.

I know people have been talking -- about me, about her, about us. They never say it to my face, but I know they've been talking. It's human nature, after all; stars know they were gossiping after I brought Shmi from Mos Espa, and they've started talking again after the attack, all the subsequent rescue attempts, and everything that's happened since then.

They want to know why -- why I bought and married a slave woman from Mos Espa, why steady old Cliegg Lars fell so suddenly for some woman he'd never seen before. There was talk of witchcraft after they found out about you, Anakin, and how you'd been taken by the Jedi -- a lot of people thought she must have used some sort of Jedi trick to capture ol' Cliegg's heart so thoroughly.

Sith, boy, sit down, no need to get upset! It was just talk, never amounted to anything, and they all got to know your mother well enough to learn to love her as the time went on ... I know you're worried about everything, but calm down; I promise you I'm getting to a point eventually.

So aye, the gossip died down after a while. But now it's started up again. And I know what they're talking about, even if they still haven't found enough courage to ask me the question they've been wanting the answer to. The one question on their minds and tongues right now -- why haven't I given up? Why am I still looking for her when I must know -- Cliegg's always been a pragmatist, after all -- that she must have died long ago. Why I'm still hoping, even after just about everyone has abandoned the search except for those very few friends or family members unwilling to crush my dreams.

And, you know, if they ever gather enough heart to ask me, the answer will be really simple: on the morning that it happened, she made my bed.

Oh by the stars, boys, don't look at me like that; I'm not insane and you know it.

Owen, son, you know what I'm talking about -- I've seen you staring at Beru when you thought I wasn't paying attention; I know how much you love her, how much you worship her. Sith, boy, you'd find a way to give her the planet on a platter if she so much as asked for it, even if Gardula the Hutt himself stood in your way. And you, Anakin -- I might not be your father, but I'd have to be blind as well as crippled if I couldn't see the way you feel about Padmé. Say whatever you want about Jedi, but you're human, boy, before you're anything else, and I know how the heart of a young man works even if I don't understand your Force.

The two of you -- you know love, as young as you are, and you were lucky in finding it as soon as you did. Me, though, I had to wait quite a while. But after the first time, after your mother, Owen, I was lucky enough to find it again. And, for a while, I dared to think that that would be that -- that, maybe, the universe isn't as cruel as I thought it was. That, maybe, a man could find happiness after all.

And then ... then it happened and tore all my illusions away.

I never thought I'd be able to love anyone after your mother, Owen. She was the first, you know? The girl you grew up with through your life, the one you played with through carefree childhood, gangly adolescence, and young adulthood. It took us a while, I guess, to realize that it was really love -- it had developed so slowly between us that we didn't really recognize it until much later. But, by the time we found it, the youthful love we might have

 

Oh, Elli! That was so sweet but sort of sad Poor Cliegg

 

*pounces* Elli! You found another plot bunny for this title? Something of a shock to see a new "He/She Made My Bed" story on the boards, let me tell you.

But it's lovely, dear! How sad for Cliegg, though! That's definitely not the reason I would have expected, but it does make sense.

Anyway, Anakin, your mother ... your mother was, is simply beautiful. I can't describe to you precisely what brought me to that conclusion; I know it's not the kind of beauty you see in the holos and whatever, but she has something about her that can't really be defined. Maybe it's her grace -- she has this way of moving that's the most captivating thing in the universe; it's not sensual like Gardula's dancers, but captivating in a way you can't really describe.

Or maybe it's her dignity -- she was standing there as a slave, the lowliest imaginable position in the galaxy, but she carries that cloak of nobility around like a queen, no matter what her surroundings ...

I think that's my favorite part. You got it exactly; Shmi may not have the GFFA's equivalent to a supermodel's beauty, but there are so many different kinds of beauty, and Shmi's is much more substantial than the stereotypical kind. And how sweet and fitting that Cliegg would think about it like that.

Sixteen-year-old boys -- most of you just take the easy way out and get a few scratches on the paint or something, but Owen Lars, of course, has to blow the accelerator.

I loved that part, too. So, Owen was a daredevil himself once, no matter how he might have shaken his head over Luke.

Because, you see, that morning she disappeared ... she made my bed.

And the perfect bittersweet ending. Wonderful job, Elli!

 

Atty - Thanks, Atty! *hands over a tissue* I don't do happy endings very well, I'm afraid ...

Gabri - *pounces* Elli! You found another plot bunny for this title? Something of a shock to see a new "He/She Made My Bed" story on the boards, let me tell you.

LOL, the bunny was born a while ago -- one of the HMs said something about Cliegg coming off as an idiot and I was all "No he's not!" Thanks, Gabri!

I think that's my favorite part. You got it exactly; Shmi may not have the GFFA's equivalent to a supermodel's beauty, but there are so many different kinds of beauty, and Shmi's is much more substantial than the stereotypical kind. And how sweet and fitting that Cliegg would think about it like that.

I love the actors cast in the prequels -- Shmi's looks, I thought, weren't the kind that'd make you double-take on the street, but ... there's something about people who've been through a lot like that, you know? *shrugs* Anyway ... you know. Thanks, Gabri!

I loved that part, too. So, Owen was a daredevil himself once, no matter how he might have shaken his head over Luke.

LOL! Everyone needs a chance to be hell on wheels at least once in their life.

And the perfect bittersweet ending. Wonderful job, Elli!

Thanks, Gabri!