Saga Love Letter The Saga anthology thread

Stacysatrp - I enjoyed your letter, I could visualize Anakin sitting at a desk writing that letter. And I thought it came across as a child writing it perfectly. Excellent work.

Rhonderoo - When I read your story, I pictured Vader in his black suit kneeling over a trunk, pulling out the dress and letters. You did an excellent job in the detail of describing what he was thinking and feeling.


Darth_Lex - You did an excellent job in tieing this letter with the comics. I like how they worry if Yoda thinks there is more to why she asks about Anakin's condition.

SaraKenobi - That was a wonderful idea of Leia writing her feelings for Han down on a letter after he was taking away.

Thumper09 - That was so sad, to find a letter from a girl that you were in love with only to find out that she was in love with someone else. But he was a great friend in still giving the ltr to Mikka. Some guys might be tempted not to do that. Excellent work.

LadyKenobi - another wonderful letter. Poor Obiwan so unsure that he is worthy of her love, I'm glad that Padme told him that he was worthy of her love.


Jacen200015 - excellent work. I like the fact this seems to take place during the jedi purges and how you show how a couple feels at this time.

Anakin_gril - I like how Obi-wan is willing to risk expulsion from the order in order to know Sabe's love.

GS - Excellent work. Very emotional.


Thats all I have time for right now. I will give comments on the rest at a later time.

 

Okay, here's mine.

Title: Butterfly
Rating: U
Summary: Troubled with feeling she can't control, a woman writes a letter that her lover will never read.

Butterfly

This is a letter that you will never read. It?s like? one of those bright butterflies that dance outside my window even now, as evening draws on and the sky darkens. I write by the light of the lamp on my desk, the one that people always say will ruin my eyes if I use it for much longer. I quite like its soft warm glow, so unlike the harsh light in the rooms and corridors where I spend most of my time.

The truth is, I love you, Anakin Skywalker, and I can never express the way I feel. Your heart will always belong to another, so it remains to me to place you on a pedestal in my mind, as you are in real life, distant, unobtainable. It?s not right that I should feel this way, but I need to let it out otherwise I feel like I shall burst, and that would not be a pleasant experience! So I will finish this letter, then, and burn it, and hope that some day, somehow, this feeling of mine will be fulfilled or fade.

Butterfly love,
Unimportant, unimagined, unrequited.
Flashes its brief colours
Against the backdrop of a soul.
For a moment, for a while, we will cry
We butterflies
Until the colours fade and die
And forgotten, like all things that pass away
It will lie, dusty in the corners of a heart
Unless some spark re-ignites the flame.


That?s all there is to say, really. The fire is ready, so that this letter will never reach you. Goodbye, Anakin Skywalker. I may share the face and voice of the woman you love, but I can never share her place in your eyes.

Yours forever, the forgotten handmaiden,

Iraé

 

I like your lover letter, Livi-Wan. It's very sad but beautifully written.

~aeryn

 

More replies:

Krystalblaze - That was great. It sent chills down my spine when he says she needs to fear him. He is one shadow that I would want to run away from as fast as I can.


Derisa - A proposal over the net, that was a very nice twist. A very nice letter.

JediNemesis - Interesting angle coming from a trooper in the Imperial army and one who says it was a mistake, very smart trooper in my opinion. Very sad one also.


Aeryn_sun - Wonderful letter. I hope bonding is the same as marriage too.


Livi-wan - A beautiful letter and a sweet and sad one also. I felt very sorry for Irae.

 

Here's my entry.

Title: Message Number 39

Author: geo3

Rating: g

Summary: Once in a while, a love letter arrives in disguise.

Author's note: This vignette takes place during the shadowy, morally relative time of the Clone Wars, between EPII and EPIII; a time about which we can now only speculate. The setting is the somewhat canon, somewhat AU universe of my story ?The Winds of Change.?


Padmé Amidala arrived at her office in the Senate building on Coruscant not long after dawn, and began grimly to work her way through the morning?s usual tidal wave of messages. The Galactic Senator from the Naboo system told herself that this was the only way to keep up with the overflow of work that seemed to be getting worse and worse as the war progressed. Every day she arrived early and went home late, and still couldn?t get over the feeling that, if she stopped working for a moment, she would drown.

Not that there was much to go home to when she finally did leave her office. Now that Anakin was working as Chancellor Palpatine?s right hand, he rarely had an opportunity to spend time with her. He was forever being sent away from the capital on one mission or another. Even when he did spend time on Coruscant, his days were as long as hers. It was frustrating and disappointing. Deep down, Padmé had hoped it would be different. But of course, she had known that it wouldn?t be.

Chancellor Palpatine never seemed to take his claws off Anakin.

What made it even worse was that communication was not exactly Anakin?s strong suit. He always let her know where he was; if he couldn?t do that, he always set up a complicated secure route so she could reach him if she needed him.

Actually, she wrote to Anakin every night, as though the act of writing could fill up the empty spaces. She used his emergency access channels to pour out her heart. She told him everything, down to the last details of her political and personal struggles. As long as she was writing, she felt closer to him. As long as she was writing, she could push away her worries about what he was doing, and for whom, and why.

Anakin?s own messages to her were frequent ? if he was able, he would get in touch several times in a day.

The problem was, they were messages. That?s all. Short, to the point, and businesslike.

Mid Rim sector secure, he might say. Back in two days. Or, Skirmish successful. Minimal losses. I?m unharmed. If it was one of his all-too-frequent secret missions, a message might say something like, Thinking of you.

How Padmé wished for something more. Something in which he talked about his feelings, maybe. A few more words. Just a few personal, intimate words. They would make such a difference. Something ? something that would leave her feeling less neglected.

Still, she couldn?t stop herself from checking her messages compulsively several times a day, hoping to hear from him. Hoping that this time, he would send her more than a message. That this time, he would send her something that came from the heart.

Today was definitely going to be a grueling day. The first twenty messages contained at least fourteen additions to her ?to do immediately list? and three brewing crises, each of which would take hours to deal with effectively. There were over thirty additional messages after that. And this was on top of the relentless schedule of meetings that stretched into the evening. Padmé took a deep breath, raised her chin, and began to scroll though the remaining messages. She stopped abruptly at number thirty-nine.

All is well. It was Anakin?s code. There was no doubt.

Padmé stopped, and let out a short, sharp gasp of disappointment ? the kind of jagged disappointment that comes straight after a hopeful stab of joy. ?All is well.? What was that supposed to mean? She scrolled backward and forward to see whether she had missed something. No. That was the whole message.

She felt like crying.

An hour later Padmé?s staff had arrived a

 

For what it's worth, here's my offering:

Anakin,

It seems so strange to write this. This is the first time I didn?t write ?My dear Ani?, or ?Sweetheart?. But as the days go by, it seems even stranger to write those endearments. And ever more painful.

But then, you?ll never see this letter, will you, my darling? And you?re not my darling any longer. If the holonet reports can be believed, my true love is gone as surely as if you had died. They call you Vader now. The Dark Lord of the Sith. The Black Wraith. And yet, when I see that black mask I still cannot bring myself to believe that it has any connection with you.

I?m sitting in my suite in the Royal Palace on Aldera. Dawn is breaking over the mountain ridges in the distance. It?s peaceful. It?s so beautiful. It reminds me of Naboo. Or the Naboo that once was. My heart wants to break each time I remember the aerial views of its destruction. Was it necessary? Was your need for vengeance so great that you would forsake our love like that? I always believed that our love began on Naboo. Those halcyon days when you were my knight-protector. When I thought you were larger than life. So beautiful?not just handsome, you were beautiful. Perhaps it was the aura of the Jedi. Or just your natural charm. You were so earnest and so passionate. I tried so hard?it took every ounce of my will to resist you. And I couldn?t. I couldn?t renounce love.

And now the meadow where we had our first picnic is a gray wasteland. The lake a pool of sludge and ash. How could you have forgotten the lake retreat? How could you forget watching the sun set over the lake on our wedding day? I never felt more safe or protected or loved than that day when I gazed into your eyes?they were so blue I thought I could drown in them. There was a glow in your eyes. Those eyes that are now gone. Replaced by that hideous black mask. What do your eyes see now, my love? Do you ever close them and remember me? Every night when I lie in my bed, my cold bed, I see you. I feel the phantom sensation of your strong arms around me, and the warm sensation of your lips on my neck.

For a moment, I heard a stirring sound behind me. I thought Leia was wakening, but she was only turning. She started turning last week. She only rolls to her left, but she does it so well, and with such extreme concentration. Everything she does she does with such confidence, such dedication, such earnestness. She?s a daughter to be proud of. She?s beautiful, with her silky dark hair and her brown eyes so full of intelligence. If only you could see her. If only it wouldn?t be her death sentence to know her real father. Each day that I don?t see you I feel a little less alive, a little less real, a little less me. But none of that hurts me as much as the thought that Leia will never see you or that our son Luke will grow up without knowing me. He?ll never know my name. He?ll never know my face. Instead of being a family we once dreamed of being, we?ll be scattered throughout the galaxy as indifferent strangers. Lost to one another forever.

Can this really be our reality now, my darling? Once I knew your every thought. Once I felt a part of you?it was almost impossible for me to know where you ended and I began. You were tender, and gentle, passionate and loving. How could you share the same body with the man they now call the Demon of Death? Where did you go? I try so hard not to think back to those last days?those days before you left me forever. Those days when you listened to Palpatine?s lies, when you let him poison your thoughts and let him drive a wedge between us. I know we argued. I know I despaired. But never once did I believe that our love could die.

I hear noises in the corridor outside my suite. The palace is awakening to start the day, and I must end this soon. Not that you?ll ever see this letter, my love. This letter will go nowhere as have the hundreds of other letters I?ve written you every day since we parted. I write these letters to the ghost of Anakin Skywalker, the man who once was. I write

 

Great posts everyone, here's my addition, hope you like it.
Author: Ellcrys3
Characters: Shmi to Anakin
Time Frame: Between TPM and AOTC


Dearest Ani,

It's been over a year now since you went to learn the ways of the Jedi with Qui-gon Jinn, and I hope that your training is going well.

My son, I know that you will succeed at everything you try because you are a gifted, special boy, and it is your destiny to succeed.

I know that the Jedi see your gifts as being an important part of you and what makes you special in their eyes, I want to remind you of something though.
You are a very loving boy, Ani. Your compassion for people, from the children whom you played with, to the lady who sells those ruby biels you love to drink at the marketplace, to strangers from other places who need supplies for their ship; this is what sets you apart as special in my eyes. The love for your fellow man that you hold close to your heart, your unselfish attitude that makes you so willing to give of yourself if it will aid another, this is what is most important.

Ani, hold onto your compassion and love, it will see you through the most trying times in your life. It will see you through feast and famine, joy and sadness, love and hate.

My son, I miss you every minute of every day, but I am thankful that you have this opportunity to become something greater than I believe either of us could've dreamed. Be well, and know that I love you.

Your mother,
Shmi Skywalker

P.S. You may wonder how I know that your compassion and love will see you through anything that you will face. I know it to be truth because my love for you is how I faced letting you go, and every day afterward.

 

Well, this will be my first challenge here, but I certainly hope it won't be my last.

Title: Letters to Daddy

Rating: G

Author: kayladie

Character: Luke Skywalker

Notes: This is my idea of letters Luke might have written to his father when he was a child. He is reminiscing as he watches his father's funeral pyre on Endor. Technically, this is Saga because it takes place before he returns to the Ewok village, so that's why I put it here.

Hope you enjoy as much as I have enjoyed reading all the other entries!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The flames of his father?s funeral pyre had died down some hours ago, but he still sat on the cold, hard ground, staring at the ashes that remained. He knew that he should return to the Ewok village where the Alliance was celebrating their victory. He knew that his sister would be worrying about him, although he had felt her presence awkwardly reaching out for his as the Death Star had exploded, so she was aware that he had survived the confrontation with their father.

Father?

The mere word sent a spasm of mingled joy and pain through his heart. Joy, that his father had returned to the Light before he had died; that Luke had had those precious few moments face-to-face with the man who had twice given him life. Pain, that those few moments would be all that he would ever have.

His gaze followed one of the tiny sparks left over from the flames as it drifted upwards towards the black skies of Endor?s night. He hoped his father was with Ben and Yoda now because he couldn?t bear the thought of Anakin being alone. His father had been alone most of his life, surrounded as he had been by the darkness of Palpatine?s evil. Of course, he realized that Darth Vader had done horrible, horrible things in the twenty-odd years that he had been the Emperor?s apprentice, but Luke had to separate the two entities--Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader--in his mind. It was the only way he could make any sense of the confusing choices that his father had made so many years ago.

He loved the being that had been Anakin Skywalker and he came dangerously close to hating the thing that had been Darth Vader. Vader had stolen his father from him. He understood that his father was the one who was actually responsible for their separation, but it was easier somehow to blame it on the Sith Lord. Perhaps at some point in the future, he would be able to come to terms with the many crimes his father had committed, but at the moment, he was simply a son who had sorely missed having his father when he was growing up.

If he added up every minute that he had spent in his father?s presence, the pitiful total would equal less than a standard day. One day out of an entire lifetime. It wasn?t enough. And it was infinitely more painful when he considered the fact that most of those minutes had not been pleasant. A silent tear slid unnoticed down his cheek as his mind drifted to what could have been.

He reached into his tunic and pulled out the object that he had quietly snuck back to the rebel camp for when he had landed the Imperial shuttle on Endor several hours ago. He hadn?t been ready to face anyone at that point, not even his sister or Han, and so he?d slipped in and out again with no one aware of his presence.

He brushed one hand over the cover of the old-fashioned journal. He had kept it hidden away in his X-Wing ever since he had retrieved it from his old homestead on Tatooine right before the mission to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt. It was made from genuine nerf leather and contained real flimsiplast pages, with an antique ink pen tucked inside. The words ?Luke?s Journal? were on the cover, stitched in his Aunt Beru?s fine handiwork.

He smiled softly as he remembered the birthday that she had given it to him. That time seemed so long ago now.

?What is this, Aunt Beru??

?Why, it?s a journal, Luke. You use it to write down all your secret hopes and dreams. Things that you can?t tell anyone else.

 

Title: In Our Own Way
Author: Shaindl
Rating: PG
Summary: A few words can start to change the galaxy...
Author's note: Well I interpreted love letter a little differently from most. I hope you like it. My thanks to Nat and OE for reading both drafts, and to Diane for reading and helping with the ending.


* * * * * *

If one man turns to listen to the message that you bring,
One day the world will sing your song.

* * * * * *

Dear Whoever Happens to Find This,

I know, letters are supposed to be addressed to someone in particular. But I don?t have anyone to address it to anymore. Force, I don?t even know why I?m writing it; it may be an exercise in futility since if it?s found by the Empire it will be destroyed, incinerated along with everything else connected to the Jedi. Call it eternal optimism, I suppose. I have to believe that it will make it past the Imperials, because I certainly won?t for much longer.

For lack of a better term, call it one Jedi?s love letter to the galaxy.

If there?s anyone who deserves to be angry about what has happened since the Emperor took power, it is the Jedi. We?ve been hunted and killed, the Empire?s minions taking pleasure in our destruction. I watched in horror and soul-destroying helplessness as anonymous armoured soldiers methodically turned their repeater rifles on children who didn?t even reach their white-plated knees. I watched entire squadrons of troopers surround and ruthlessly cut down a lone Jedi who had dared to stand up to them. But I don?t blame them, those soldiers created expressly to murder innocent people. They were following orders, doing only what they were told to do by their Master. Indeed, some would have described us Jedi in much the same way.

So still, despite everything ? the destruction of the Temple, my home, the obliteration of all the knowledge the Jedi built over countless millennia, the murder of innocent, helpless children ? I somehow still love this galaxy and the beings in it, including all those who have murdered the Jedi by the thousands.

So I guess that means I?m writing it to all of the faceless, nameless trillions living in this galaxy under the yoke of oppression the Emperor has laid on them. As to why, I suppose it?s my way ? my only hope ? of exposing the lies the Empire has told about me and my brothers and sisters of the Jedi. My one last shake of the fist at the tyranny that has enveloped the galaxy.

Because you see, we did love you, in our way. We just didn?t show it or maybe, on reflection, weren?t allowed to show it, in the usual ways. We couldn?t show love to individuals, so we showed it to entire populations by trying to stop wars, or by going in to clean up after a natural disaster. We thought you all knew. We were wrong.

Perhaps the idea of loving a population, rather than an individual, sounds pretentious and perhaps that was one of the things that led to our downfall. People couldn?t understand why we didn?t show love in the customary ways. They didn?t understand that we thought love could mean terrible, dangerous things. We weren?t blind to the beautiful things love could bring, far from it, but we thought we had to treat it like one treats a dangerous animal ? with awe, with respect, but carefully, keeping it at a safe distance. But make no mistake, we did love and those of us that are left ? so very few now if what my Force-sense tells me is correct ? still do.

So there is the final reason I?m writing this. Please, whomever you are that finds this letter, please don?t destroy it or turn it over to the Imperials. Hold on to it, in my hopes that the Dark Times will one day be lifted and that you can perhaps tell the galaxy that we did care, that we did love.

And if, by some grace of the Force, the Jedi ever reappear in our galaxy, tell them that maybe our way wasn?t the best way. Maybe they need to embrace love in all its forms, not keep it at a distance. We didn?t and look where it got us. But please, whatever you do, tell them that we loved, and loved deeply.

Because, in

 

Howdy folks. Here's my entry. Hope you like it.




Title: Whispers of Love
Author: Arldetta
Timeframe: Right before Obi-Wan goes into hiding.
Disclaimers: I don?t own it, I just borrow it now and then.
Author?s Note: This is gonna be a bit long, so please bear with me. First off, this is AEU(Arldetta?s Expanded Universe) and contains many references to a number of my other works, posted or otherwise. The character of MysAri has appeared in the following stories, Iedos Liberare, Don?t Cry, Interlude, Catch Me if You Can and If Only by One, it Ends(Epilogue to Not as it Seems.) The last of which, this follows almost directly after. There are also two other references to stories that have never been posted. Most of the pertinent flashbacks can be found in Catch Me, but it is not necessary for you to read any of them to get the general idea here. One other note I would like to make is the name Tschüxani. It was a nickname given to Obi by Mys in Iedos Liberare. A very rough translation of the word?s meaning is: Troubled. There is a little more of an explanation at the end of Iedos, but again it is not absolutely necessary to read it. If you are interested you can find links on my bio. Lastly, I would like to say, I?m not a romance writer. Although, I?m not a stranger to it, I prefer angst. I believe it may show through here. The hardest challenge for me however was not the romance but the length. I have never written anything this short and to be honest I don?t want to either. But the PB hit and I figured I should give it a go anyway. I hope you like it. Thanks for reading!

-------------------------------------------------------

Easily finding his cabin, Obi-Wan headed inside. However, he didn?t relax until the ship was safely en route to Alderaan. It was over. His last attempt at bringing his apprentice back to the light had failed. Those dark inner voices kept whispering, Failure. You?re a failure. It?s all your fault. And as much as he didn?t want to listen he couldn?t get away from them.

So much was lost. So much that would never be regained. Yet it was the mixture of regret and pain he felt the most. His heart ached, all that he ever cared about was taken from him. Hope was fleeting. But it was not gone completely, it resided in two tiny babies. In the future. Which, he thought wryly, was good because the past had been completely destroyed.

Before he could fall too deeply in the pangs of memory, the Knight decided he should try and get some rest. It wasn?t often he had time to himself but he feared this was only the beginning of his solitude. Reaching for his pack, he rummaged through its innards to prepare for sleep. His fingers brushed against something he didn?t recognize. Intrigued, he pulled it out to learn what this foreign object was.

In his hand sat a small bundle. The outer cloth was the typical brown cloth primarily used by the Jedi to make their tunics. Carefully, he peeled back the corners to find another wrapping. This time the material was soft shimmersilk the colour of milky lavender. Once again he pulled the edges back to reveal two small items. One he recognized immediately. The crystalline figurine was not something he could ever forget. It has probably been about 15 years since he first spotted the glass-like creature but he knew it was the perfect gift. Not even hesitating he purchased it. He could still see the beautifully honest and bright happiness sparkling in her eyes.

Eyes of emerald green that shifted with her mood. Eyes that only hours ago still held the light of life. His throat constricted again as he recalled the crimson blade pierce her abdomen. Fighting the sting in his own sea-washed eyes, he regarded the second object. It was a small holocube. By the other clues, he knew exactly who this message was from. A part of him was anxious to see it while another part of him wanted to get rid of it as qui

 

edit: Opps, guess I should have read more closely. This 'love letter' doesn't qualify because I've posted it to the boards already. *sniffle*

My bad for not reading the other thread more throughly. Sorry, Amsie


Good luck everyone!!

 

And so with tentative steps I tread into new territory...

Nothing like a challenge to inspire a writer to stretch her legs. So I must offer thanks to Lex for the speedy beta (and nudging my first attempt at Anakin the right way).

[Author?s Note: The opening of this piece takes place within the context of my fanfic Echoes of the Past, but the major portion of the text involves messages from long ago. In my fanfic, Luke and Leia have discovered that Artoo has held the secret files of their long dead mother all along, only now unlocked after a strange twist of fate. As the scene unfolds, the Skywalker twins are just beginning to understand who they are and where they came from.]


OF HOPES AND DREAMS

Two chairs occupied a space better suited for one, situated before a small workstation in the Skywalker residence. Leia watched over her brother?s shoulder as he toggled through the myriad of files left behind by their mother. On the other side, Artoo beeped and whirred as he downloaded a never-ending stream of information to the terminal.

?I see where you get your organizational skills,? Luke remarked wistfully, his words breaking the awed silence.

Leia noted the detailed compartmentalization of files before her and agreed with a slight nod. Everything had a structure and a place, just like she would have done herself.

With a sigh, Leia wondered what it must have been like for her mother, knowing that her life was in jeopardy, that her children were in certain peril, and understanding that she was going to have to give them up. Her mother ? Padmé Amidala Skywalker ? had known she would lose her children one way or another. For that reason, she had willingly let them go, with the hope her sacrifice would ensure their lives.

It was a pain Leia was not sure she could grasp. She was not sure she wanted to try.

Instead she concentrated on the information presented. Her mother was proving to be everything she had hoped and dreamed, even in the brief glimpses she had so far. At least, Leia thought, one of her parents had loved them beyond imagining. Finally, the scared little girl, who had been abandoned all those years ago and believed herself unworthy of love, was finding she had been loved beyond reason.

It was a truth Leia wanted desperately to hold onto and never let go.

Lost in her thoughts, Leia barely noticed when Luke had stopped his exploration of the data. She glanced to his face. Her brother?s eyes were focused on one file in particular. She returned her gaze to the screen and knew instinctively which one. In the top right of the display sat an unobtrusive folder with the title, Love Letters.

As much as her twin was captivated by the label, Leia feared it.

?Luke??

But it was too late; he tagged the file without bothering to ask. She was certain he had done so purposefully. Before she could manage to hurl a few sharp words the way of her overly sentimental brother, Artoo tweeted excitedly. The twins turned their heads in unison, just in time to catch a new holo of their mother as it appeared.

Padmé smiled longingly then began.

My darling Luke and Leia,

I am sure some day you will learn of your father, probably well before you have learned of me. The knowledge undoubtedly will make you fear the Skywalker blood in your veins, perhaps even despise it and the man who gave it to you. No one will hold such feelings against you. What I want you to better understand is the man your father was, the man who hides within him, the man I still love to this day.

Someday maybe, if you understand the good man who fathered you and loved you, you may be able to find him again, to save him where I have failed. I must cling to that hope.

For that reason, I have included every correspondence between your father and me. Since most of our relationship was spent apart rather than together, I think you will find the truest measure of our love within t

 

With your heart, he would be the Jedi I have always aspired to be.

That was so beautiful! I felt Anakin's frustration with that line.

I also loved the last lines of the post, where Luke and Leia realized they hadn't lost anything. It was fantastic! I think this is the best letter I've read. Congratulations!

 

Author: Happy_Hobbit_Padawan
Title: The Last
Summary: Anakin recalls the last letter he wrote to Padme.
A/N: Just so it's clear, in this vignette, Anakin is with Padme, and the italics parts are flashbacks - he's thinking of the letter he had written to her previously. Just so it's not confusing. Also, this is set somewhere around Episode III.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Last

Temporarily off-exhibit during the JC server switch, in the event the moving van breaks or loses something. Check back later, hopefully with edits and changes to improve the exhibit.
______________________________

 

Giving this another try.

____________________________________

The beginning of AOTC ? Padmé is about to leave for Coruscant regarding the Military Creation Act

Senator Amidala
Private Journal entry

Why do I feel so pensive? This is just another visit to Coruscant. It?s not as if I haven?t made this trip before ? too many times as a matter of fact. Except there will be one deviance in this occurrence. Anakin Skywalker will be there.

Oh, Padmé! You have much more important matters to consider! The Military Creation Act for one!

Here I am, writing in my private journal and chastising myself. Padmé, you?re either losing your grip on reality?or acknowledging something much more profound. No, no, I can?t?can I? I haven?t seen him face to face in ten years. I?ve kept active on his progress but? I feel like a schoolgirl. My heart races when I think of him and I can?t help inwardly smiling when I hear his name. What is it about you, Anakin Skywalker? Why do you stir such sensations in me? No other man has ever had an affect on me as you have. Of course, those men are only interested in their own political aspirations and how I can further their career along.

But you! I?ve never tried to contact you in all these years ? I didn?t want the Jedi to assume something incorrectly.

But then, would it have been? You once told me that you would someday marry me. Quite a boast for a young child and I must admit, you impressed me.

Oh, my thoughts are raging all over this datapad. A combination of excitement mingled with apprehension. Perhaps I won?t see you? After all, you?ll be returning from a mission? And how do I know this, one may ask? Well, I do more than just update myself on your progress?

Padmé, stop! He?s a Jedi, you?re a Senator! Such a union is forbidden!

But, ohhh, one look into his blue eyes? I?ve seen the holos of the man he has become. I can imagine the countless women that would be swarming around him if he were not a Jedi.

Still, how can I be so enamored by a man I don?t know? Perhaps it?s the imprints of him in my mind. I wish I could just stop dreaming of him.

Yes, I know what to do. I?ll just have a talk with Padawan Skywalker. Yes, I?ll get him out of my heart and mind and move on. After all, what good could come of such a forbidden union?


We?re about to leave for Coruscant so this entry must come to a close. I?ll have to add an update after my agenda there is complete. In spite of my security chief?s concerns, I hope to have some quality private time away from the hub of politics ? there are those in the Senate that can numb the mind of even the staunchest Senator.

Padmé.

 

Title: We're in This Together
Author: RebelScum77
Timeframe: About 6 months after the beginning of the Clone Wars
Rating: PG
Summary: Already weary, Anakin Skywalker writes a letter to his wife as he again takes his leave for the Clone Wars.


*******
you and me
we're in this together now
none of them can stop us now
we will make it through somehow
you and me
if the world should break in two
until the very end of me
until the very end of you
~NIN
*******


Padmé,

I know you don?t want to hear it, but I must say it one more time... I?m sorry for leaving you, I?m sorry for everything. It?s becoming more than I can bear, each time it gets harder and harder to go. I know it?s the right thing to do, but it?s wearing me down. Even Obi-Wan is starting to notice what he is now calling my ?unusual melancholy.? But enough of Masters and Apprentices, I want only to think of us, husband and wife.

Husband and wife. I?m still not used to the sound of that.

It was miserably early when the call came this morning, the sun had not even risen over the black durasteel buildings. I have never gotten used to the cold darkness. On Tatooine, the sun shone so brightly during the day that it burned its mark on the night. You lay in our bed so peacefully, your bare back exposed where the blanket had slid off. I ran my hand down you slowly, warming your skin with my touch. Did you feel it Padmé? I wish the sun would never rise in Coruscant again so that I would never have to leave you.

Seven hours later and we are still in a transport ship. Obi-Wan says I must not tell anyone where we are going, not even you. He says it with a concerned raise of the eyebrow. He suspects something... I suppose I?d be disappointed if he did not. If only he knew the truth. But the thing of it is, Padmé: Part of me likes keeping you as my secret. At least this way we truly belong to each other. My love for you is the one thing no one can take away from me, I won?t let them, not this time. Someday, my beautiful Princess in the Tower, I will come and rescue you. Someday, Milady, I will sweep you into my arms in the middle of the Jedi Temple itself and kiss you until even the Younglings sense a disturbance in the Force. These thoughts calm me on journeys such as this because... there is worry- I cannot hide that from you- worry that we will always be forced to live a lie, that the Jedi are so suffocated by their stoicism they will never understand how right this is.

Perhaps they don?t deserve to understand.

For now I must be content to leave you safely dreaming in our bed... while I am left to linger on in the memory of what it is like to be inside of you, at peace. And my memory of you is perfect Padmé. I can feel your hair through my fingers, and taste the sweetness of your lips. I can touch your cheeks and your shoulders and that little spot on your neck where you?re ticklish. My heart pounds with your laughter as if it were the blood in my viens. There is no Force, only you. I can never truly thank you for that my angel. I hope this war has not made me bitter or jaded. I fear it has. You have seen it yourself. There is so much destruction and pain. The frustration is overwhelming. I want to fix it, I want to make it right. The fire burning inside me will not abate until this war is over, until justice is restored. I know you understand.

Dream of me next to you, within you. Try not to worry. It will all be over soon.


All my love,
Anakin

 

Derisa, I just read your entry, and I liked its originality. It's a nice exchange of letters you wrote there between Wedge Antilles' parents. Of course I'm biased, seeing as I have a soft spot for pilots. Love the way she called him a "big lug", by the way!

- Rani

 

Whoever is causing the sidescrolling, could you please edit for those of us with 600x800? Or the mods ... ? Thanks.

It would be too hard to leave individual feedback, but I'm really enjoying these entries. Here's mine, which Gabri_Jade kindly and quickly looked over. I wanted to try something a little different.

[edit] Forgot to mention - 1025 words.


~*~*~*~
Grime and Dirt
*~*~*~*


It was all dirt and grime. Anakin felt it to his bones, along with the exhaustion that seemed to weigh on his heart and soul. He was tired, but at the same time, he felt a deep burning of anger. He knew he shouldn?t ? that it was not the Jedi way, and moreover, it was would not help him in the fight. Palpatine said it was a natural reaction, and perhaps it was ? but simply because something was a natural reaction didn?t make it right.

The planet of Garove was unsettlingly quiet. The skies were no longer blue, but a musty gray. Debris and smoke kept the true color from shining. It had been a hard fought battle with the Separatists for the planet, and it showed. They had won, he supposed, but one could hardly tell ? where was once a city, there was merely flattened debris as far as one could see. It was like a plain of destruction.

Anakin?s men were off taking a break. So he was he, technically. Taking a walk was a break, of sorts, even when looking for . . . who knew what. Survivors? The chances were slim. The small city had been bombarded from space by the Separatists' massive canons. But he wandered among the rubble, nonetheless. There was probably nothing to be found, and even there was, it would probably be so scattered they would expend as much energy finding it as they could get using it. His men needed at least a month?s supply of food, as their cache had been hit during the fight. Markets and businesses were the first hit. His eyes felt gritty and he kept blinking, but it didn?t seem to help. Anakin wished he could cry just to ease the pain.

He was tired. And angry.

A flutter of . . . something interrupted the silence. Anakin turned, suddenly alert. The flutter ? there it was. His eyes darted until they rested upon a scrap of old-fashioned paper. It was probably nothing ? but then, who wrote on paper instead of flimsiplast?

Anakin stepped lightly and quickly, using the Force to know where to step, where to pause. The burned and tattered ends of his cloak ghosted silently along the scraps of rubble.

He knelt.

The paper was partially burned, the fire having eaten into bits and pieces of it in the random manner that fire always possessed.

The writing was little more than a scrawl, but Anakin got more comfortable in his kneeling position and looked at it carefully. He began to read.

My dearest wife, it?s been a long time, but I think I?m finally going to see you again. The Separatists ? you don?t even know who they are, do you? ? are attacking, and our lovely city is next. All I regret is that our house will ?

He encountered a burned spot and skipped to the next readable portion.

- hard to explain, really, but I?ll try. I like getting this down here. I feel like I?m talking to you, and maybe it?s a bit practice for when I do, aye? I hated you sometimes. Sometimes I didn?t love you. The young ones say that love will last them anything, but that wasn?t really it. That wasn?t what made us stick with one another for forty years. We stayed together through the good and bad. It was our determination to keep going that kept us going, and it was the renewal of love after all those hard times that made me truly live. At times I loved you, and at times I truly did dislike you ? more than Carie?s Special Berry Pie ? but it was worth it. It was all worth it. I think there was a quality with us that transcended simple love, and went beyond the ideal of romance to a deep commitment. All kinds of love (they do say there are different kinds, those youngsters). I wish -

Another spot simply gone. Anakin blinked rapidly. Something beyond lov

 

!!!REVIEWS!!!

Wow Kayladie! This is one of the few entries that isn't to do with romance! Hey, the rules said a love letter, not a romantic letter. You have pushed the boundaries and come up with something truly unique! It was very sweet, and even funny sometimes.

Uncle Owen had found the journal and to say that he?d been furious would have been like saying Jabba the Hutt was a little overweight.

*grins*

And you explored what Luke must have been feeling very well. You have my congratulations on such a delightful bit of work. One of my favorites!

Oohh... Happy Hobbit Padawan, I really like yours!! I didn't even realize that she wasn't alive until the very end. Very cleverly done, beautifully written, and an original style. It ties in with Ep III a bit too, which is on peoples' minds a lot lately! Excellent job!

Aww...RebelScum *sniffs* Very touching.

I wish the sun would never rise in Coruscant again so that I would never have to leave you.



But I can still see some of the dark side of Anakin showing through here!

There is no Force, only you.

Alright, maybe not quite dark side per say, but definetly something a little...iffy. You have the most subtle foreshadowing! Great job!

Oba... *shakes head* Oba, Oba, Oba...

Your ideas are always so different! I loved how you didn't name the people in the letter, and how thought-provoking were the things that the husband said! Especially to Anakin. If only he would truly take them to heart... *sighs* Some very deep things are being said in this little piece, making it another one of your mature yet delightful bits of work.

 

!!!MORE REVIEWS!!!

Stacystrip: All together now...

Awww!!!

That was soo sweet! You captured Anakin perfectly! One of the best portrayals of the little guy that I've ever read in fact! It was very touching, very childish, but so sincere. Adorable! I love every word of it!!

Oh Thumper!! *bursts into tears* This is the saddest one I've read so far! Maybe this is just my thick-headedness or maybe it's the way you wrote it, but all along, I thought that it was Welker Tianna was writing to. And it turned out it was his friend! The last paragraph was just heart-breaking! If you meant for it to be that way, than I am stunned. It was a work of a genius. Fabulous job!

*runs to get tissues*

(By the way, even though these chaps are OC's (I assume) they were all characterised very well, even through the few lines they said!)

KrystalBlaze Whoah!! This was...awesome... Being written in the present tense added so much drama and tension, as did your perceptive understanding of description, which was displayed in your exquisite poetic-prose paragraphs. (Too many p's in that sentence, I know! ) You really captured some of the more tricky aspects of Anakin's character. Fabulous work!

 

I just now had a chance to catch up with all the entries on this thread, and I am amazed a delighted by the creativity I see everywhere. I?m impressed by the fact that so many different kinds of love have been observed and interpreted and written about: unrequited love; love of a son for the father he never knew; love from thepast;love of a mother for her son who is far away; love lost; compassionate love; love that touches a stranger with its universality; I could go on and on. I didn?t mean to leave anyone out; there are just so many lovely stories on this thread alone!

I am SO GLAD that I?m not a judge! I would find it impossible to choose. This way, I just get to enjoy them all.

Well done, everyone, really. These are all just great.

 

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ENTERED!

 

Title: The Letter
Author: Dianethx (Diane Kovalcin)
Timeframe: About 6 months after the Phantom Menace ( AU where Qui-Gon didn't die)
Rating: G
Notes: Based on my fic, Betrayal. Qui-Gon Jinn has thrown out of the Order - the Jedi were downsizing as they struggled with decreased Senate financing. He has been on Naboo for about 6 months, struggling to make ends meet as he learns to be a farmer.

---

[i]I love you. [/i]

Qui-Gon Jinn stopped abruptly, the datapad loose in his hand. He read the letter again. Surely, she must mean someone else, some other, much younger man. But there it remained, hidden among the lines of what he had assumed was another dispassionate business correspondence.

Looking at the signature of the woman who had befriended him after all his failures, he shook his head in shock. Those three words - what was she thinking? It wasn't possible that she really loved him. It must have been some mistake, or perhaps a cruel joke. That would not be like her but any other explanation was less ludicrous than this. He began to reread the letter again, searching for - mistakes, an explanation, a trick of the eye. Perhaps, he had wanted it so much that his eyes would deceive his heart. It was just not...

[i]Qui-Gon,

I have just come from the nursery. Your fequstia has finally arrived and you can pick the lot up tomorrow. I suggest that you also get some estuqw dust for the plants - they are prone to black spot and will die quickly without intervention and care. I realize that they are also highly marketable but do need care. Be sure and keep after them. I love you. In addition, the callietrop will be in next week. [/i]

Yes, there it was, hidden between the fequstia and the callietrop, she had said that she loved him. [i]I love you.[/i] How was that possible? It was unbelievable that someone that beautiful and alive could want the failure that was Qui-Gon Jinn.

He was stunned and happy and confused. Picturing her lovely face, the coil of braided red hair framing the classic features, brought it all back, all those months of friendship and suppressed longing.

He had met Le'orath Antilles shortly after his precipitous arrival on Naboo. Still hurting, his expulsion from the Jedi Order for mere money matters continuing to shame him, he had not sought out other people nor did he welcome their presence. Failure, especially his failure, was not acceptable. But he struggled, still struggled to deal with the rejection of his life's work. And he was determined to make the farm succeed when all else had been catastrophic failure.

He had been cautiously picking out biologicals at the nursery for his first foray into the chaotic world of agriculture when Le'orath introduced herself and then began to discuss various options for his farm. She was a landscape designer, one of the best in the area, and her help was invaluable. He was too poor to pay for her expertise but when she found that he had helped in the Battle of Theed, she agreed to waive the fee. She had been coming to his farm ever since.

At first, he had been puzzled that she seemed to want to be around him. He could not understand it - he was far too old for someone that desirable and, besides a former Jedi did not have attachments. But their friendship deepened. Or so he thought. Lately, though, she had been rather standoffish. Last week, she said hardly a word as they ate at the restaurant in town - just looked at him with questioning eyes, the frown on her face disturbing and unexpected.

Her last few communications had been strictly business. That had hurt him in a way that he did not understand. Somehow, somewhen, he had learned to rely on her and he had thought that she was drifting away, away from the discard that was Qui-Gon Jinn. He accepted it, of course, because he must. But the loss had still ached.

And now she said that she loved him - a former Jedi, a failure that the Order had kicked out like s