Ch. 2

"How did you do that?" Anakin asked Padme, staring at her in awe. She laughed and came over to sit next to him on the bed.

"I may not be Force sensitive but I have a few tricks of my own," she said, smiling and playing with his hair. He raised his eyebrow at her, skeptically. "It connects to the room next door," she explained, laughing. "I went out into the hallway from there."

Anakin pulled her into his arms. "I missed you," he said, staring into her eyes.

"I was only gone for a minute, Anakin!" She laughed.

"It was too long," he said stubbornly.

"I agree," she said, snuggling into his arms. "But Anakin, you do realize that we aren't going to get to be together very often…with your duties as a Jedi, and mine in the Senate. You have to be ok with that for this to ever work."

"I know, I know," he said sadly. "We will make it work."

"I know it will be difficult, but what we have, when we're with each other, it's worth it," she smiled at him.

"I know," he smiled up at her, and kissed her lovingly. "I'm just glad you finally realized it."

"It's not that I didn't feel this way, Anakin," she said softly. "It just seemed so impossible, it still does… but I suddenly realized that no matter how hard it is to be together secretly, it's better than not being together at all."

"I love you so much," Anakin said, hugging her tightly.

"Now, speaking of being together," Padme looked at him suggestively. "How much longer now until you get out of here?"

……………………………….

Obi Wan was puzzled. Something about the way Anakin and the Senator had looked at each other seemed to imply that they were more intimately involved than he had believed possible… Certainly the look on Anakin's face he had seen several times, but what was different now was that Padme looked at Anakin in the same way. He tried to shake it off, telling himself that he was imagining things- it was impossible, and at least Padme knew that, whether Anakin would admit it or not. Yes, he was definitely imagining things… but he had just walked out and left them alone together, and he couldn't help but wondering if that was such a good idea. Suddenly, he remembered that he had forgotten to give Anakin his present- he laughed ironically, realizing that if something were going on with Padme the little manual he had gotten Anakin would hold none of his Padawan's interest at all…But the book gave him a reason to return to the room, just to make sure that his suspicions were unfounded. He turned around and hurried back to Anakin's room.

………………………………….

"You know I am going to have to go with Obi Wan to our quarters at the Temple," Anakin was explaining to Padme. "But as soon as I am made a knight- and Obi Wan tells me I can take the trials soon- I will be able to live on my own, and no one will notice when I'm not there…"

"Well then you better work hard to pass the trials," Padme said, smiling. "Get focused, and I know you will do well, you're very talented."

"I really will try hard, but it will be difficult with such a beautiful new distraction to schedule in," Anakin said sheepishly, and Padme smiled up at him from where she was snuggled in his arms. He knew it was cheesy, but he also knew that both of them liked things like that.

A medic droid entered the room, and approached Anakin's bedside. Luckily, these droids, unlike the precarious C-3PO (as he was always reminding them) were not programmed to understand human behavior and thus it registered nothing of Padme cuddled with Anakin in his bed.

"Padawan Skywalker, you are free to return to your own quarters," the droid informed them. "Your body has adjusted easily to the new arm and you are otherwise in perfect health. You have regained your strength quickly. Come and see us if anything goes wrong."

"Thank you!" Anakin exclaimed excitedly. The medic droid exited.

"That's wonderful," Padme said, kissing him. She turned to him, concerned. "How does it feel, are you all right? Really?"

"I'm fine, it's a little strange but I'll adjust quickly, I'm already getting used to it," he assured her.

"I just want to make sure… I can't even imagine how difficult this must have been," she said compassionately.

"I like that you worry about me," Anakin smiled, pulling her to him. "But I'm really all right, especially now that I have you."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that the new arm gets a very good welcome into your life," Padme said, taking it in her hand and kissing it. Anakin again raised his eyebrow at her and pulled her closer to him, staring into her eyes, their noses touching. He kissed her slowly and they again got carried away, sinking lower onto the bed together.

……………………….

The more Obi-Wan thought about it, the less he really wanted to walk in on anything concerning Padme and Anakin, and, truthfully, the less he thought it possible that he would. He began to feel that he had really judged Anakin and Padme harshly, especially Padme- she was far too proper and elegant to have an affair with a Jedi. He knew that the revered Senator would never compromise her reputation or that of her planet by entering into an illicit a relationship…

But still, Obi Wan's mind nagged him- Padme was a very young and beautiful woman who had been thrust into the political spectrum at a very young age. She would never have had the chance to experience normal relationships- maybe she had served her people so well for so long that she needed something to make her happy. And he knew that Anakin would be tempting to her- more and more lately when they went out into Coruscant, on or off duty, women would approach Anakin, flirting with him and teasing him. Obi Wan laughed, thinking about how his poor Padawan was very confused about the whole thing- Anakin tried to be innocently polite and respectful, and Obi Wan had had to explain to him what the women were implying with their actions and advances. At that Anakin had become very perplexed and now he would simply blush and look away every time, much to Obi Wan's amusement. It wasn't that Anakin was that innocent, it was simply that Jedi didn't get exposed to normal social situations very often…so Obi Wan wondered to himself, how his awkward and innocent young Padawan could possibly have inspired that look Obi Wan had caught on Senator Amidala's face. It was a look of such love- and not only love, Obi Wan thought to himself, it was quite suggestive- that he couldn't imagine Anakin had become so good with women so quickly, it was just impossible. But still, something bothered Obi Wan about it all, and so he walked to Anakin's room. This time he made sure to block his Force presence- but he soon felt very disloyal to Anakin doing so, and let it go again as reached the door.

…………………………..

"Obi Wan!" Anakin exclaimed, in the middle of a kiss with Padme.

"Ok, seriously, Anakin, you have to stop doing that," she laughed, though this time she knew what he meant. She quickly got up to go back through the 'fresher.

"Wait, it's ok," Anakin said quickly. "He knows you're here, remember? Sit in that chair."

Clumsily, Padme sat down quickly, and straightened her clothing to make it look as if she had been sitting there the whole time. When she looked at Anakin, she laughed out loud.

"Fix your hair!" She told him, and he patted it down quickly as Obi Wan walked through the door.

Obi Wan entered and saw his Padawan and the Senator exchanging an amused and knowing glance…this certainly didn't help to rid him of his suspicions, although it helped that he hadn't found them in each others arms as he had worried he might. An awkward silence ensued, all of them in their own thoughts, when suddenly, at the same time, all three of them realized that someone should speak.

"Anakin, I-"

"I was just-"

"Master, I-"

They laughed, and looked around at each other, waiting for someone to start again. Anakin lifted his mechanical hand and gestured toward Obi Wan, who smiled at him.

"I forgot," Obi Wan said kindly, sitting on the side of Anakin's bed. "I got this for you, in case you get bored during your convalescence."

"A little late Master, seeing as I've just been released," Anakin said smiling. Padme almost hit him on the arm for telling Obi Wan, but satisfied herself with a quick look right at him. Anakin confusedly questioned her with his eyes, and turned back to Obi Wan. "Thank you, it's great."

"You've just been released?" Obi Wan asked, his eyes darting between Padme and Anakin. He could have sworn he just saw them teasing each other with their eyes… maybe he really was going crazy, he thought, as he saw Padme staring at a painting on the wall and Anakin eagerly looking through the manual Obi Wan had given him.

"Yes," Anakin answered, looking up. "Just now." He smiled awkwardly and

turned back to the manual.

Obi Wan nodded silently, and Padme looked up. Her eyes unwittingly caught Obi Wan's, and they smiled at each other clumsily before both looking down again.

"Um I should probably-" Padme began, speaking at exactly the same time as Obi Wan.

"Well I guess I will-" Obi Wan said, speaking over Padme. They both stopped and looked at each other, and then at Anakin, who smiled at each of them, paused, then stared back into the manual his face turning slightly red.

"So, you're all right then Anakin?" Padme asked kindly, though she tried to make it as casual as possible.

"Yes, well," Anakin began, flustered. "I will be, of course."

"Well, I should get back to the Senate then," Padme suggested, getting up to leave.

"Is the Senate in session now?" Obi Wan asked. He was sure that the day had ended for them hours ago.

"Oh, well, I mean," Padme stumbled around for a response. "I mean I should get back to my office. Lots of work to do," she added hastily. She went over to Anakin to shake his hand, but he interpreted it as a hug and leaned in to her, causing her hand to jab into his abdomen. She patted his back with her free hand and both laughed nervously. Padme then turned to Obi Wan, who quickly put out his hand to shake hers. Fake smiles plastered across the faces of all three occupants of the room, Padme departed hastily. As she left the room, they both heard her exhale loudly as if she had been holding her breath for some time.

Anakin and Obi Wan smiled at one another uncomfortably, each wondering how much the other wasn't telling him. Obi Wan reached out and put his hand on Anakin's shoulder comfortingly, and Anakin smiled up at him, more warmly this time.

"So you're free to go then?" Obi Wan asked.

"Oh," Anakin said, suddenly realizing that he could, in fact, leave, "Yes, guess so."

"Well then, shall we head home?" Obi Wan asked kindly. "Or do you need to get some dinner?"

It broke Anakin's heart that Obi Wan was being so kind to him, so comforting, and yet all Anakin could think about was Padme and how soon he could be with her again. He felt terrible how little he wanted to be around Obi Wan right now, especially because his Master really did mean so much to him. Worst of all, Anakin felt terrible keeping this huge secret from Obi Wan, especially one so life changing, not to mention against the Jedi code- but that was just it, Obi Wan would be forced to report them. And as much as Anakin wanted to confide in his Master, he didn't want to put Obi Wan in the position of choosing between him and the council- of weighing his personal feelings against his duty. For that reason, Anakin had to keep it a secret, though it killed him to do so. Anakin really did love Obi Wan like a father, or an older brother, and yet here he was unable to tell the person closest to him, now that his mother was dead, the most important and wonderful thing about his life.

Anakin sighed- maybe one day he would be courageous enough to tell Obi Wan. Or maybe one day, when his taste for adventure had been satiated and he felt he had proven himself as a strong Jedi, he would leave the order and settle down with Padme…But for now, he needed to return to his quarters in the temple with his Master and share a drink of blue stuff and a casual conversation, before Obi Wan went to bed and Anakin, for the first time, began the soon to become familiar routine of sneaking out to Padme's apartments in the middle of the night.