Padmé grew even more fascinated with Anakin as the days went by. He was eager to learn the slightest things about literature, about her home, and always helped his classmates, even the young ones. She could swear she had an assistant.
Almost every day, he would linger behind after class and she would find herself discussing literature with him. Once, she had lost track of the time, speaking eagerly, feeling like a student all over again, passionate about the old Naboo authors.
Anakin listened silently, every now and then, commenting. She had downloaded several datas from the Holonet, encouraging him to continue his learning even whenever he could not come.
She soon learnt more about him. Knew he was living alone with his mother, that he had lived on Tatooine and she was excited to hear that because she had been there once, as it was not very far from Naboo and they laughed together as they criticized the planet. She also knew he was now working in a farm, essentially fixing droids and machines. What he loved most was flying, he told her with a dreamy gaze.
"I've won a podrace once." He had told her. "And with the money I earned I-"
He had trailed off and changed the subject. She knew not to push an issue further.
Padmé was becoming more and more comfortable with him and it began to scare her one day. That day she was so caught up in their discussion they stayed up much too late for a professor and her student and his eyes were suddenly too blue, too intense as he listened to her incessant babbling.
That day, she forgot to talk to her husband for the first time in a week.
"If only you could see this…" she told her husband a week afterwards. "This boy is really intelligent. It's such a shame he never got any access to education."
He smiled knowingly, the connection flickering slightly.
"I know. You've kept chattering about him from the first day."
She stopped swiftly.
"I've been doing that?"
Her husband smiled soothingly.
"Yes, you have. If I didn't know better, I'd start worrying."
He didn't look worried at all, only looked enthusiastic over whatever he had succeeded in drawing. He trusted her. Completely.
"I miss you, Padmé." He said suddenly.
She bit her lip and realized that all this past week, she had barely thought of her husband and the dreamy eyes that had charmed her when she was barely twelve.
"I miss you too. And I miss Naboo." She replied, guilt eating at her. She could only think of how she felt changed somehow.
"Your family says hello. I think your mother is a little bit frustrated you are away again."
He sent her a meaningful glare and she understood right away her mother was not the only one being discontent. If she listened to him, she would never leave Naboo and help those who needed her.
I would have never met Anakin.
She fought the urge to sigh in frustration. How was it he was never far from her mind?
"I'll call you tomorrow, Palo." She whispered before shutting down the device.
After this conversation, she stopped her late hour talks with Anakin. She couldn't explain her reaction. She had done nothing wrong and yet she couldn't help but feel guilty. Anakin closed off instinctively when she told him to go home dryly. She hated it. He had never really been her student. She had not taught him that much, he had learnt everything on his own.
But this is not professional, she was telling herself repeatedly.
And she was starting to notice small details, things she shouldn't pay attention to.
How his eyes never left her, everywhere she moved inside the classroom. The sound of his laughter, something she only heard when they stayed late to talk because he looked so closed off in the classroom. The way she found herself studying his hands as they moved over his datapad swiftly.
And there was her heart, refusing to listen to her lately. It would skip a beat at odd times. Like when he smiled. It would beat slightly faster as she leant closer to assess his work.
Thinking of his sad nod when he bid her good night and the way he always seemed to look right into her soul, she lay awake the whole night, tossing in her bed.
"Did I do anything wrong?" he asked one night as the other students left the classroom.
She looked up from the datapads in her hands and shook her head, a little bit embarrassed.
"No, of course not, Anakin. I have held you up too much these past weeks. This is not professional."
She tried to say this with authority but failed miserably. His mouth was twisted up in what she had come to know as his familiar smirk and her heart skipped a beat.
"Besides," she added, putting the datapads in her bag and raising her chin to look into his eyes, "I'll be gone soon."
His eyes widened in surprise.
A week.
She would be gone in a week and there would be no blue eyes to haunt her on Naboo. She pushed all her nervousness behind the mask she had forged with years past teaching and dealing with financers to get credits for her program.
Strange how he seemed to go through her barriers anyway.
Even Palo never knew what was really going on behind the wall she had built around herself.
She cursed inwardly and looked away from his unsettling gaze, biting her lower lip. She tried to think of her husband back on Naboo and she succeeded in finding her composure again.
"Anakin-"
"I only wanted to tell you something." He interrupted her smoothly. He looked sad, she realized with a pang. "I'm giving up on the program."
"What?" she asked instantly, taking a step towards him and forgetting all about her previous reservations. "But why-?"
"I need to work at night now," he elaborated. "I need to earn more credits if I want to get out off this planet."
"I thought your mother wanted you to go on with your education?"
She felt so frustrated to see him giving up on studying when he could do so much, become something else than a poor farmer.
He smirked. "If I don't work at night, the farmers I'm working at will find someone else to help them for the harvest. And I will not let my mother with only one pay. It's hard to find a job around here."
His jaw was firm now. She only saw determination in his eyes.
"Education would be a great asset, you know."
"They don't care about education here." He shrugged. "I only wanted to know the basics before leaving the planet."
She sighed in frustration.
"It's such a shame, Anakin…" she whispered.
The room was suddenly too dark.
"A shame?" he whispered and suddenly he had taken a step towards her. She was frozen at her spot. "If you ask me to stay, I will." He said quietly.
Her eyes widened. "Don't do this for me." She snapped. "I'll be gone in a week anyway. You have to do this for yourself."
He shrugged. "I will go back to studying once I leave this planet."
Tense silence.
She cast her eyes down.
"Good luck then, Anakin." She whispered and tried to leave the classroom, her mind spinning suddenly.
"Wait."
His arm had caught hers as she went past him and she spun around, shocked.
"Could you bring me data-books again even if I'm not part of the program?" he asked very softly, looking embarrassed now.
She sighed inwardly though she could not figure out why.
"Of course, Anakin, I will."
He waved at her and grinned.
She found herself grinning in turn though the wind blew around her, swatting at her suddenly too thin dress and coat. The wind was sweeping his blond curls slightly as he finished putting the droid outside. She sighed and looked at her surroundings. She could hear the rustle of trees nearby and the waves of the ocean down by the cliff, the farm standing strong and proud in the middle near an endless meadow. She had not taken too much time to find the farm Anakin worked at, following his indications and rushing after her class to join him. Strange how she felt completely removed from the whole world, here on this cliff in the darkness, smelling the salty ocean down below. She saw Anakin's tall figure coming closer to an older man and shouting him something. Squinting slightly, she noticed the young man jogging to join her in the darkness.
His eyes shone as he reached her and even with the wind blowing around them, she found herself almost swept up in something warm, enveloping them.
"I brought you the data-books." She yelled against the fierce wind blowing away her voice.
He nodded and took them into his callused hands, smiling. She turned to leave but he took her by the shoulders gently, stopping her.
"What is it?" she asked, frowning.
"I won't let you go back there," he shouted, pointing at the clouds gathering above them. "Storms are dangerous here."
She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not afraid of a little storm!" "It's not too far."
He shook his head. "No, my mother and I can shelter you for the night. Come!"
And with that, he took her hand and led her away from the farm.
