Don't kill me yet....

It's very possible that Anakin and Padme were not in love, but rather infatuated with each other. This is a very common thing in the real world, and at times, Star Wars almost seems real too... Real enough to seriously evaluate the actions of these two as the supposedly "fell in love".

Firstly, I'd like to say that love is a very real thing. Most people misuse the term, misinterperet it, or use it to explain a strong feeling of attatchment. Unfortunately, real love is entirely selfless, and most people don't fit that criteria. Anakin, who is a Jedi ,should know all about selflessness. But then again, Anakin is not a regular Jedi. But we already knew that.

On Tatooine, the first thing that caught Anakin's attention about Padme was her beauty. Without even saying a word to each other, Anakin was already dazzled by her looks. This carries over into Episode 2. Anakin was complaining about how all he did was think about her. Sure, the two were friends for a short while during the Battle of Naboo, but two things probably stuck out in Anakin's head; 'Padme is a queen... Wow. And to think, I actually got to know her!' and 'She's so beautiful!' These are the things what Anakin missed most about Padme. With her being a powerful Queen and eventually Senator, he was probably the last thing in her mind. This probably greatly upset the unstable Jedi Padawan.

When the two eventually meet, all Anakin does, for lack of better words is, "Tries to put the moves on her." He constantly flirts and sucks up to her every chance he gets, and on the first night in Naboo he confesses his love for her. That's not love. Anakin was getting his pent up feelings for her out of his system. He missed Padme, and he did nothing but think about Padme, and here she was. Anakin isn't content to have her as just a friend. Someone as influencial, respected, and beautiful as Padme had to be his. He had never wanted anything else in his life more, even more than becoming a Jedi. He wanted Padme and he had to do something. She finally brings him back to his sences and into the real world. Anakin might be okay now.

However, near death experiences can change a person. Before they face what should be their death, Padme confesses her love for Anakin. Why does she do this? She is about to die, and she wants to get something out. She's not in love with Anakin; They are more or less just good friends. Padme confuses whatever she feels for Anakin as love. A more appropriate thing to say would have been, "Anakin, you're a really good friend." For fear of her execution, she tells Anakin that she loves him because she doesn't know how else to describe what it is she's feeling. This false statement on Padme's part re-kindles Anakin's feelings for her. The two are even more screwed now.

After they survive The Battle of Geonosis, Anakin and Padme are faced with a rather awkward situation. Out of fear of losing each as they almost did on Geonosis, the two wed. They don't want to lose each other. At this point, the two become attatched and infatuated with each other. They are indeed good friends and they are glad they did not lose each other. But they are hardly in love. Neither had experienced these types of feelings before, and when you don't know, you tend to confuse what you have for love. They were good friends, they were attatched, and they didn't want to lose each other. They thought they were in love when they really were not.

During the course ofthe Clone Wars, the two do indeed miss each other when Anakin goes away to fight. Love? Unfortunately, still no. They are still just attatched to each other. When together, the two toy with each other. Anakin doesn't want their "love" to be a secret. He wants everyone to know. He want everyone to be aware that this beautiful woman is indeed his wife. Padme quickly convinces him that they can't. She believes she is in love, but she's still being as realistic as she was on Naboo. She tells him that they knew what their new life would include. When she tells Anakin the news of her pregnancy, he isn't being selfless as a true husband would be. She's realistic and worried as usual, but Nakin is upset. This isn't what he wanted. He didn't sign up to be a father. This was extra baggage for him, and it was un-needed. His beautiful wife whom he loved so dearly was going to have a baby, which would make life so much harder for him, and he is upset by this. He doesn't want to be a father, he just wants his beautiful wife. Maybe we shouldn't scoff at the line in Revenge of the Sith were Padme asks if love has blinded Anakin. It has. If he really loved Padme, he wouldn't have tried to push his plans on Padme during their confrentation on Mustafar. If he loved her, he would have been selfless and worked with her to make things better, not get frustrated and force choke her.

When Padme dies, Anakin, Darth Vader realizes that he has lost the one person that he cared about like none other. His "attatchment" was gone and now he couldn't even cope with it.

At no point do I believe that the two were really in love. Both of them knew what they wanted but couldn't understand what the other really needed. Their lifestyles and the war prevented them from having any sort of serious relationship, and their inability to judge their feelings led to the downfall of the Republic.