Empire: The Rise (Anakin x Reader)

The First Touch

A/N: This chapter is almost exclusively Ani and (Y/N) development, but I'm aiming for a very unique approach. I hope you enjoy. :)

Warm bathwater swirled around (Y/N)'s knees, whirlpools springing up at every touch of her fingertips. She sat quietly as streams of water trickled over her shoulders and down her arms, collecting in the pool at her waist. The bath was colored a translucent purple, compliments of the lavender serum Padme had added shortly before. Tiny petals tickled the surface of her skin, triggering the Empress to reach forward and wave them away. 

"My lady?" Padme's voice hardly reached (Y/N), who felt as if she were submerged underwater. "My lady..."

"Hmm?"

"How was your training with the Emperor today?" Her friend asked, helpfully lathering freshly pressed camellia oils into the Empress's hair.

To (Y/N), Padme's voice was garbled, as if she were questioning her from the bottom of a pool. The royal had been spaced out for quite some time. Her brain slowly tried to piece the words in her lady-in-waiting's question together, as if she were wading through the shallow end to reach her.

Training... today... the Emperor...

Finally, like a bubble popping suddenly within her ears, she could hear her friend clearly. (Y/N) abruptly turned in the bath to face her friend, who sat outside of the tub. The handmaid had a bewildered look on her face at the sudden move.

"Padme," (Y/N) said slowly, looking at her with serious eyes. "It's the strangest thing. I can't seem to focus at all."

"What do you mean, my lady?" The girl asked, resuming her task of pouring clean water through the royal's hair. The Empress returned forward, pressing her back against the cool porcelain.

"Don't take this the wrong way," (Y/N) quickly warned, tossing a glance over her shoulder. "But ever since Anakin caught me - or maybe since he sat on the ground with me - I've not been able to think clearly."

Padme snickered slightly, a devious grin creeping onto her face. The Empress's cheeks grew warm at the accusation growing in her friend's eyes.

"I said, not in that way!" (Y/N) huffed in exasperation. "It's more like... something in me has been disturbed. I don't quite know why, or what that thing is. I feel... as if... as if I'm suspended in invisible water, with nothing above and nothing below. Sound and light are traveling to reach me, but it's just not fast enough."

Padme tilted her head quizzically. 

"I've never heard love being described that way before, Your Highness."

(Y/N) stifled a small laugh.

"That's why I don't think it's love, Padme. Besides, Anakin would have to spend more time than that to earn my adoration. I'm not quick with emotion." 

The Empress reached out her index finger, swirling the suds around her into a gentle purple cloud. As she returned to silence, the smile on her face slowly faded, and she felt herself sinking into the invisible water once more.  

Something inside of her had certainly shifted, and it made her want to see her husband again. Perhaps, if she was lucky, he would be able to explain what was going on. Maybe something had shifted in him, too.

(Y/N) pushed agilely out of the tub, water splashing around her and onto the shiny tiles below. She welcomed the thick towel Padme draped around her shoulders, pulling it tightly as she moved into the bedroom.