AN: I still don't own Star Wars. I hope you enjoy the second chapter! Thank you for all the reviews you've given me in the first chapter, I hope you like this second chapter as well, as well as I hope I did some justice as well in portraying some of the key characters in this chapter.


A Twist in the Tales: Slipping like Sands

Chapter 2

Smuggled and Rescued


Morning came sooner than Anakin had anticipated and he could feel someone nudge him awake. He opened his eyes and saw it was Padmé, smiling at him brightly, "Do you want some breakfast before we head off to where you want to go?" she asked as she held up a tray filled with food, not found in Tatooine. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before taking the tray, mumbling a soft thanks to her when the cockpit slid open and a blonde woman came out. And smiled at him…

"So sleeping beauty awakens, huh?" she asked him and he laughs slightly. She takes a seat on the table near him and Padmé takes a seat across from him, "I'm Satine by the way." she introduces as they begin to eat, "Where are you headed next?"

"Oh I couldn't impose." Anakin interrupted, "Besides, I could always take the speeder bike in your cargo bay and head off by myself; you've done enough help really."

"Nah, we don't mind." Satine interrupted and took a sip from some water and wiped her hands and took her plate, preparing it to be discarded. "Me and Pad don't really have much things to do right now and are just waiting for our next job."

"Oh?" Anakin asks and looks at Padmé, "What do you guys do?" he asked and Satine and Padmé exchange glances, "Is there something wrong?" he asks and Satine smiles at him nervously and exchange glances with Padmé once more. Anakin didn't miss the slight glances and glares exchanged by both girls, and he realizes it's probably a work that they can just tell anyone with authority, much less a jedi. His jaw tightens at their sudden urge of secrecy, "So I can't even be trusted?" he states and stands up abruptly and goes to the cargo bay. Satine lets out a sigh and hisses at Padmé, who goes after him…

"Anakin, wait," she calls out and they get into the cargo bay, "You have to understand, we don't like to keep secrets but it's the only way we are safe."

"And you don't feel safe with me?" he asks, snapping at them, "Are you slave traders?" he asks with a glare towards her and she shakes her head…

"Wha- no!" she exclaims.

"Good." He huffs out and calms down for a moment and Padmé lets out a sigh of relief, "Sorry, for snapping at you like that." He admits softly and Padmé just nods…

"No, it's understandable, you've had a rough day yesterday and I guess secrets kept from you would make you upset."

"It was still rude." He says and Padmé lets out a sigh…

"The offer still stands though; we'll take you to where you're headed next." She adds softly and gives him a soft smile and he smiles back as well…

"You both are angels." He says, "But I will only call one of you Angel." She laughs at him…

"You really are a funny boy Ani," she says and Anakin looks at her. He would have probably snapped at her for calling him a nickname his mother often used as a child, but he couldn't find his voice or the strength to do it, "Think you can fly this baby?" she asked cheekily, gesturing to the ship and he gave her a smirk…

"I think the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant." He counters and she guides him to the cockpit where Satine was waiting for them. At the sight of Anakin following Padmé, Satine beams at them and stands up…

"We're sorry, we just aren't comfortable telling Jedis our occupation." She says and Anakin shakes his head…

"No, I should be sorry, I was rude about it." he says, "I should have respected your wishes." Satine smiles and shakes her head…

"Are all Jedis as cute and charming as you?" Anakin laughs along with the two of them, "So where're we headed?" she asks, putting all jokes aside and Anakin slides into the pilot's seat smoothly and starts up the ship, "Wow, you seem like a natural Ani," and just like Padmé, he doesn't snaps at Satine for using a childish nickname like that. He feels at ease with the two of them, and for a moment, he doesn't feel like a Jedi. For a moment, he feels like a friend. Just a friend.

He flies the Millennium Falcon, and lands it in front of the Nubian ship, "Wait, is that from Naboo?" asked Padmé as she stares at the ship in front of them. Anakin nods and gets off the seat preparing to get his mother's corpse and bring it to her family. Padmé sits down on the pilot seat and Satine places a hand on her shoulder momentarily before leaving to help Anakin. Padmé rests her head on her hand and stares in shock at the ship in front of her, trying to breathe normally.

She unbuckles herself and gets out of the ship hesitantly and looks for Satine who wasn't around as of the moment. She sits down at the end of the ramp and glimpses of broken glass and blaster bolts swim through her vision before she focuses on the peaceful dessert in front of her. It was all in the past, she was safe and she was Padmé Amidala now. Satine was now coming towards her and Padmé stares at her silently as Satine sit down beside her, "He was escorting a senator from Naboo." Satine stated, "Do you think she'll recognize you?" Padmé shakes her head…

"I was very young when I escaped from Naboo, no one will recognize me."

"Alright, just asking."

"How is Anakin?" she asked and Satine lets out a sigh…

"They're burying her as we speak. He tells me we can come and join them if we like, I told them this was a family gathering and that we'd wait here by the ship." Suddenly the ramp of the Nubian ship rolls down, both Padmé and Satine look at it as an astromech droid rolls away and heads towards the direction Satine had just come from, "What do you think happened?" Satine asked Padmé, who just shrugs. A few moments later, Anakin, a girl, protocol droid and the astromech droid get in the ship, "There must have been an emergency."


"Keep the senator safe and protected Anakin." Master Windu's holoimage disappeared and Anakin looked torn between wanting to disobey and knowing his duties. Valé knows Anakin wants to go after Obi-Wan, but even she wasn't too keen in going into enemy territory. She stands up and walks over to Anakin, who was back to looking at his feet as if it was such an interesting thing to look at.

"Hello!" they hear someone from the ramp call out and a couple of voices talking with each other. Anakin seems to recognize the voices and heads out to meet them, "Anakin!" the blonde girl he was with breathes a sigh of relief, "We saw you guys come in, and well we got curious whether everything's fine." She said and Valé notices another girl behind her. They both stare at each other for a moment, and Valé could almost swore she looked familiar before Anakin's voice interrupted her thoughts…

"You better come inside then," Anakin says, and they both start going inside, "We've received a transmission from Master Kenobi," he plays the transmission and the two women watch it, "I've relayed the message to the Council already and they are already starting to move to rescue Obi-Wan." A replay of Windu talking and relaying orders to Anakin also shows itself before it finally ends. Padmé looks at Anakin and then replays the transmission over her head once more…

"They'll never reach Geonosis in time." Padmé says and moves to access the ship's database and shows just how close Tatooine is compared to Coruscant, "See? Tatooine is less than a parsec away compared to Coruscant, and I can tell you want to go there and rescue your master."

"It's not easy," Valé interrupts, "Anakin is given strict orders to stay on Tatooine."

"No," Satine counters, "He is given strict orders to keep you safe and protected."

"And how is he going to do that if he isn't with me?"

"Sometimes we need to distance ourselves from the person to keep them protected." Anakin mumbles softly and looks to both of them, "Will you stay here and protect the senator?" he asked them both and Satine and Padmé exchange glances…

"I thought you'd bring her along, except you know, keep her safe and protected?" Padmé asked for clarification but Anakin shakes his head…

"I can't take her; she'd be at risk if I expose her to enemy territory."

"Indeed," Satine says, "Besides, bringing a Republic Senator there and a fight breaks out, it'll be a declaration of war against the Republic."

"The Republic won't be ready; we don't have an army to defend us if it does come to that." Valé points out. Padmé purses her lips together and stares blankly in front of her before she notices her ship in front of her, and an idea pops into her head…

"We could always smuggle them in and out." Padmé suggests casually and three pairs of eyes stare at her, "It'd be no problem, Satine and I have done this plenty of times."

"You'd smuggle Anakin and I into Geonosis?" asked Valé and Padmé shakes her head…

"No you're right, if we bring you into Geonosis, and somehow a fight breaks out, it could very well lead to a galaxy-wide civil war, which we cannot risk. But if I smuggle Anakin into Geonosis and this plan fails, you're out of the danger and the Jedi will have one less thing to worry about and we could possibly prevent a war from happening."

"And you?" interrupted Anakin, "If you are caught in the crossfire I'd worry about you."

"Don't worry about me," Padmé says, "I can handle myself." She then turns to Satine, "You are staying here with the Senator."

"What? Why?"

"We both know you dislike fighting."

"Why does everything have to end in a fight?"

"And if it does? You can't just talk your way out of it or expect a treaty to be signed." Satine sighs in defeat and nods, "So are we going?" Padmé turns to Anakin for affirmation, and he nods…

"Yes." Anakin says…

"No." Valé says the same time as Anakin, "No, Anakin, I can't let you do this. If you go through this, you could fail your Jedi trials and will need to be a Padawan longer than you should."

"Right now m'lady," Anakin says, "I'm far more concerned for my master than me passing my trials." He nods at Padmé who leads him to the Falcon

"Bring my baby back in one piece!" Satine called out and lets out a sigh as she and the senator exchange glances. Padmé and Anakin board the Millennium Falcon, and strap themselves in…


Padmé and Anakin were now being reeled into the Execution Arena, and she runs over her head how things have gone wrong. One minute everything was going fine, and suddenly the Geonosians were flying everywhere and engulfing her and she was brought in front of their leaders, who immediately ordered for their execution and proceeded as planned. "For force's sake," she mumbles under her breath, she lost count of just how many she's said this, "I am not the senator from Naboo!" she hissed and one of them poked a spike at her. Apparently, they weren't good with face recognition as well and she couldn't help remembering the events that transpired before…

She had flown the Falcon to Geonosis and landed as she normally would when smuggling something. She had also activated the protocol droid for extra measures in case her translating abilities were rustier than she thought. "They say they need to see some identification." TC-14 has said to her and she gave them her ID. The Geonosian who had greeted them clicked a few time, "You weren't who they were expecting to deliver the spare parts." Padmé blinked a few times…

"Well I was quite aware of that, but the one they were expecting ran into some trouble and asked me to fill in for a while. Though I'm afraid I wasn't briefed what it was I would be bringing, I have a contact though ready to make arrangements." The droid translated and Padmé pretended to look around, before spotting Anakin slip stealthily into the secret entrances into their building. She breathed out a sigh of relief before turning back to the matter at hand; better take this job then if it was going to pay well.

The Geonosian hands her a list and if her eyes could pop out, they would by the sheer amount they were asking her to transport, "These materials are enough to build like a thousand ships!" she exclaimed and the Geonosian seemed to snap angrily at her, "Alright, but I do wonder though, how much would I be getting for this?" she asked curiously, these parts were very hard to come by, she'd have to possibly break into top security Republic Factories, after all there were only few places these materials could be found, "Are you building an army of some sort?" she asked curiously. If they were, it wouldn't matter if there wasn't a senator, war would erupt throughout the whole galaxy if they were preparing this much, but for the life of her she couldn't decipher what the motive was.

She was too busy looking over the list, not realizing that the Geonosian was now communicating over a Holo transmission. She wasn't paying attention, but she figured that the one communicating with the Geonosian recognized her from somewhere and soon enough she was seized. She dropped the datapad with the list and they grabbed onto both her arms and flew away with her. The next thing she knows she was already in the middle of the council room, and unfortunately, Anakin was also there already bound…

"I didn't expect to see you here Senator Kamtonia." Padmé stared at them with her mouth open, trying to comprehend what they just called her, "I wouldn't have expected you could smuggle someone in, I guess even politicians have a few tricks up their sleeves now don't we?" a man with a perfectly trimmed white beard and seemed very dignified to be in such a place addressed her…

"You're making a mista-" Anakin didn't get to finish what it was he was going to say as his mouth suddenly clamped shut and Padmé looked at him for a moment and around her and realized they were the leaders…

"I'm not a senator." She said, "My name is Padmé Amidala."

"She lies." The Neimoidian said beside, "I've fallen for her tricks once; she wouldn't dare stay behind and let the Jedi go alone. She used a decoy to pose as herself once, and dressed as a peasant. This would be surely just one of her disguises."

"What!?" exclaimed Padmé, "Surely you have the wrong girl!" now that Padmé thought about it, she could very well pass up as the senator's double. They were around the same height, same brown hair, same brown eyes, same body build, but surely they'd recognize the few differences in their faces like how the senator had more plump cheeks and lighter shade of brown in both eyes and hair? Surely they weren't so blind. The old man, as Padmé had begun to dub as, seemed to be inclined to believe her…

"I do sense some truths in her words." He said, "But still, that won't excuse the fact that when you arrived, a Jedi was found lurking about in our premises." He said and gave her a pointed stare. Padmé shrugs nonchalantly, she could outright deny that she knew Anakin, but she was caught already anyway, better admit that as soon as possible or she could slip up. Satine knows she loses track of her lies, which was why when it came to storytelling Satine did most of the work…

"What can I say?" Padmé said, "I'm a smuggler." A Geonosian went to its leader and spoke to him, and then the Geonosian leader went and talked to the old man…

"I fear you've known far too much Amidala," he said, "You saw the plans." He pointed out and Padmé recalled the datapad she had been looking at…

"I saw parts of a plan," she pointed out. "Literally, what are you building? An army? A whole planet?" she asked and she felt her throat start to constrict. Her airway was being blocked by an unseen force. She could feel her vision was blurring, and she could feel the ground leave beneath her. She was floating…

"Let her go!" Anakin yelled, and tried to break free, but weapons surrounded him and he had none, "Let her go Dooku! She has nothing to do with this! She was just helping me!"

"And that is why she must go…" Dooku said before letting Padmé go. Padmé dropped to the ground and she took in large gasps of air. "But I will be lenient, seeing as she seems harmless and only has the misfortune of encountering you Jedi." Anakin lets out a sigh of relief and watches Padmé regain her breathing, "Throw her into the arena with them." Dooku commands them and they both haul Anakin and Padmé in cuffs and chains. They were brought to a carriage and their binds are tested once more and they confiscate Padmé's blaster as well, but leave the rest unchecked.

Although Padmé was still trying to gasp for air, she can't help but think these Geonosians were quite foolish. They didn't even confiscate everything else she had on herself except those that were obviously weapons. She looks at them for a moment and the carriage starts to move, agonizingly slow and she looks down on her belt, "I'm sorry." Anakin starts, "I got you into this mess."

"Don't worry," Padmé waves of and finds the pocket she was looking for, "I've been in riskier situations." She says and he gives her a slight smile…

"I'm glad to have met you Padmé." He admits, "Even though it was only less than a day." Padmé smiles at him in return…

"Giving up master jedi?" she asks in a teasing manner, "Goodness, maybe it was good I went along with you." he stares at her in a confused manner…

"What are you talking about?" he asks her lowly and she smiles as she lets out a sigh and stares in front of her…

"You'll see." She whispers. The carriage passes by one of the pillars in which a man was already chained to, which Padmé recognized as the man in the holotransmission, Obi-Wan, as Anakin had called him…

"I was beginning to wonder if you've got my message." He told Anakin…

"I did retransmit it to Coruscant Master, just like you asked, then we decided to come and rescue you." he admitted and Obi-Wan looked to his bounded hands and back at Anakin…

"Good job." He remarked sarcastically, before taking notice of the girl on the third pillar, "And who is that with you? I thought at first it was the senator, but I could definitely see now she isn't." Anakin looked at Padmé who was being chained to the pillar, but he didn't miss the action of her slipping something out of one of the pockets around her waist…

"Oh, that's Padmé." He said and smiled as she winked at him and gave him a smile, "I think she's on top of things." He replied to his master who rolled his eyes…

"And where'd you pick her up? On Tatooine?"

"More like she picked me up." He says, "But if we live through this, I'll tell you how."

"I'll hold you to that." Suddenly the gates opened and three menacing beasts began to exit the cages, "I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan mumbled under his breath, but Anakin heard it nonetheless…

"You always have a bad feeling for everything."

"And for good reason," he rebutted, "Around you, things don't really go according to plan."

"Exactly, why plan things when things don't go according to plan?" they both turned back to the beasts already forming plans on their heads anyway, but Padmé was already breaking free of her cuffs. She smiled as she felt a familiar click and took one last glance in front of her before quickly climbing up the pillar. If a nexu was onto her, she'd best be getting a high ground.

"You're right; she is getting on top of things." Obi-Wan told Anakin after a brief glance at their companion and dodged one of the acklay's legs as it snapped his chains from the pillar and proceeded to dodge the others as well. Anakin Force jumped and landed behind the reek set to attack him. He rounded his chain around its horn, just as he had expected, the reek yanked his chains, unfortunately the sudden movement caused him to fall down and he was unable to help himself as he was dragged around the arena…

"Need help Ani?" Padmé asked as soon as she got on top of the pillar and noticed that out of the three of them, she seemed to be doing fine, and that was saying something since she was the only one who wasn't a Jedi or have that mystical force they were always so proud about. Anakin grunted and Padmé hastily tried to get the other cuff off of her wrist since the nexu was already managing to climb up the pillar…

"Yeah, I could!" Anakin managed to cough out along with the other dusts getting into his nostrils and mouth, and his body was starting to hurt from the friction being dragged was forming. Padmé threw something at him and he managed to catch it, and realized it was what she had used to free herself from her cuffs. He quickly worked on it. Padmé had been too busy watching Anakin pick on his cuffs and didn't realize the nexu and managed to scratch her back. She let out a yelp of pain…

"Kriff!" she cursed and twirled the chain and slam it towards the nexu as it prepared to jump upon her as well. It growled and hissed on her, quite shaken at the fact something actually retaliated on it. "Kriff," she muttered again and touched her back before hissing again and saw the blood, "And this was my favorite jacket too." She mumbled and swung her chains and hit the nexu again, "I could do this all day until you get the message." She told the nexu as she stared at it from the top of the pillar. Just as it was about to pounce up the pillar once more the reek crashed into it, effectively rendering it motionless.

Anakin was already behind it and gestured to jumped down and get behind him. Padmé let out a deep breath and jumped. She was surprised she managed to land perfectly behind Anakin, but she let out a hiss, reminding her about the wounds at her back, "Are you okay?" Anakin asked her, concern laced in his tone and Padmé took a moment to stare at him. He looks worse for wear, his clothes seem worn out that it did a while ago and dusts covered his body, she couldn't help but cough as soon as she inhaled his scent…

"All in a day's work." She said, "You look like you've seen better days." She commented and coughed again, careful not to move too much lest she upset her back even more than she should. Anakin smiled and rushed towards his master, who took his place behind Padmé, "Hi," Padmé greeted him and held out a hand for him to shake, "I'm Padmé, I smuggled Ani here on Geonosis."

"I'm Obi-Wan." He replied and shook her hand, "I was told you were going to rescue me." Suddenly they were surrounded by droidekas and they looked around…

"Some rescue mission huh?" Anakin asked them and they both nodded silently…

"Well, it was nice to meet you Obi." Padmé said, Obi-Wan raised a brow at her and Anakin smiled at the childish nickname she had given his master. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one given a childish nickname, even though he could only enjoy it for a short moment now. "You too Ani." She told him as well, and this time he ignored the smug smile his master was giving him. Good thing he won't have to bear with the torment of a childish nickname from Obi-Wan, seeing as they now only have moments to live…


Count Dooku had known that unless absolutely necessary, the Republic will not immediately send out the army the Jedi had discovered unless someone important to the Republic was within the arena. Seeing as he need only show a glimpse of the girl that looked like the Senator from Naboo, he immediately sent a broadcast to the senate, giving a live holovid feed to them. They were already tying up Skywalker and the smuggler to the posts and he stood in front of the transmission and gazed at the Chancellor, "What is it to be senators?" he challenged, "Unless you concede to our demands, I'm afraid I will have to leave Senator Kamtonia and these two Jedis to their fates." He turned the transmission off and watched the events unfold…

"What if they don't take the bait?" Viceroy Nute Gunray asked nervously and Count Dooku waved off his concern…

"Fret not Viceroy, war will come to the Republic, and soon it will be no more, and we Separatists will form the galaxy as how we would like." He said, "My master assures you of this."

"What if the Jedi realize this and survive?"

"The Jedi will only see what they wish to see," Count Dooku said, "Even if I gave them the key to unlocking the mystery of my master's identity, they will only wave it aside as a lie." He recalled his conversation with Kenobi, and he grinned slightly. The Jedi had become blind and foolish; truly the dark side has clouded everything, even their judgement. And to think they believed in the fact there is no ignorance, there is only knowledge. 'Who is ignorant now insolent Jedis?'He thought and sent out for droids as soon as he realized the beasts were no match for them…


"As a member of the Galactic Republic Senate, I, Chancellor Palpatine, granted by Representative Binks of Naboo emergency powers, grant you, Grand Master Yoda, to lead an army of clones to Geonosis." Palpatine told Yoda, and as soon as the holoimage of the grand master disappeared, he turned to the senate, "Fellow Senators, I am afraid that by the events on Geonosis, I, with great reluctance, now declare the clones found on Kamino as the Galactic Republic's army, whose purpose is to protect and defend our Republican planets and rid the galaxy of these Separatists that means to tear our thousand-year peace apart." The entire senate erupted into cheers.

As they cheered for the increase in their security, Palpatine's lips curved up ever so slightly as he watched the Republic step closer to their destruction.


They were prepared for whatever was going to happen to them, but that didn't mean they were empowered with hope when multiple lightsabers began to lit up everywhere in the arena. The Jedi had managed to arrive just in the nick of time too, "Well consider me surprised." Padmé said smiling, "I guess there was nothing to worry about, we should have stayed in Tatooine Ani." She said and looked around her just to double check. Anakin glanced at her from behind him…

"And miss all this adventure?" he asks and grins at her…

"A Jedi does not seek adventure Anakin." Obi-Wan reprimanded, "And where is the Senator anyway?" he asked and Anakin shook his head…

"It's not wise to disclose her information on enemy territories master." He reprimands back and Obi-Wan backs down. Another round of fight breaks free and Obi-Wan and Anakin are tossed a lightsaber. Anakin activates his and cuts the cuff from Obi-Wan and they both began to swing and deflect the blasts towards them and slashed a few droids here and there along with the rest of the other Jedis. Padmé managed to dodge all the flying blaster bolts and picked up a fallen blaster. As much as she favored her own blaster, she would have to make do.

She shot a Geonosian down who was riding a carriage, and quickly replaced him on it. She pointed the blaster and begun to shoot down droids with expert precision. "Need help Angel?" Anakin asked her and got on board behind her, deflecting the blaster bolts headed her way. Padmé glanced at him shortly before blasting at the droids once again…

"I thought you'd never offer." She told him and dodged a blast, which Anakin swiftly deflected back to its source, "How's this for diplomatic solutions?" she asked jokingly and he smiled at her…

"Nah, I call this more as aggressive negotiations." Padmé laughed at his wordings…

"Aggressive negotiations? What's that?"

"Negotiations with a lightsaber." The carriage crashes and both get thrown off. Padmé quickly gets into the fallen carriage, to use as cover, and Anakin stay beside her, deflecting the shots and sending them back as best as he could. Padmé could see they were outnumbered by the number of droids, and it seemed like more were still coming out into the arena. Padmé also noticed that fast dwindling of lightsabers around and she can't believe that the Jedi are so quickly eliminated. An arena once filled with numerous lights of green and blue only now hold a handful of it, and soon the remaining Jedis were herded to the center of the arena…

"Master Windu!" called out Dooku from the balcony, looking over at them, "You have fought gallantly, I'm sure the events of this battle will go down in the Jedi Archives."

"We will not be made bargaining chips for the republic." Windu rebutted to Dooku…

"Bargaining?" Dooku asked, "And who said anything about bargaining. You've no importance, the Senator from Naboo isn't really amongst you, and I could quickly dispose of you right now and lessen the Jedi Order completely. You've nowhere to go, and I'm afraid our dungeons and prisons are too crowded already." He said and gave the go signal, when he suddenly felt a presence he hasn't felt since he had been in the Jedi order. He narrowed his eyes, so the republic did take the bait.

Master Yoda had arrived, and with tremendous number of clones. He quickly began to make his retreat and headed for his ship.

"Around the survivors a perimeter, create." Yoda ordered and the clones' ships immediately began to fire at the droids, and help the remaining Jedi get on board them. Blaster bolts of blue and red were exchanged, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padmé could only watch. The ship flew over Geonosis sands and they spotted a large army of clones engaging an equal large army of droids, and they spot the factories…

"We must destroy those droid factories." Obi-Wan told them and the clones prepared to fire the rockets. Their aim was good, and it brought down several rockets. The factories exploded and crashed down upon its neighboring droid factories. Anakin made a call as well and the clones followed it. It was wonderfully planned and Obi-Wan couldn't help but praise his soon-to-be ex-Padawan, "Good call my padawan." He said and he could feel Anakin's pride swell by the appraisal, but it soon vanished as they spotted a ship leaving, just right ahead of them, flanked by other ships that weren't the same as the one with the clone army…

"Dooku." Anakin stated and Obi-Wan nodded, "Fire at the ship."

"Sir, we're out of rockets." Said one of the clones…

"Then follow that ship." They continued to fly, but an unexpected explosion caused the ship to swerve a little. Anakin and Obi-Wan both managed to grab onto something just in time, but Padmé's reflexes weren't as good as the Jedi, and she was knocked out of the ship along with one other clone. "Padmé!" she heard Anakin call and tried to reach for her, but she was already too far from the edge, he wasn't able to grab a hold of her. "Lower the ship!"

"No Anakin!"

"I can't leave her," he stated, "I should never have brought her here master, she should have never been here in the first place!"

"You forget she can handle herself Anakin!" he replied, "She can handle herself in the arena, she can handle a little fall."

"But-"

"She's been in worse situations," he assures Anakin, "Considering her occupation, this would be nothing to her." Anakin wants to go back, really he does, but he sees and understands the reason of his master, "I need you to face Count Dooku, I can't do it alone." So Anakin nods and takes one last look at the sand, and sighs in relief as he sees Padmé begin to shakily stand up…

"I'll come with you Master." He finally says and Obi-Wan smiles at him and claps his back…


Padmé gained a bit more of consciousness and the first thing she noticed was the sudden need to scratch her back. She wondered where she was before she realized how she exactly came to this predicament. She looked about her and finally knew why her back was starting to itch and sting. "Kriff, I'm surrounded by sand, again." She muttered and sat up and started to stand up. She notices the trooper stand up and approach her…

"Are you alright?" he asks her and she nods, "We must get back to the army." He states and she nods and gestures for him to go ahead and he does. Padmé searches through her pocket and is relieved to realize that they haven't confiscated her comm. link as well back when they were searching her for weapons…

"Idiots, the lot of them." She mumbles and activates her comm. link, "Satine?" she asks over the howling wind, "Satine? Come in, it's me, Padmé." Static cackles to life and a familiar and welcome voice answers it…

"Padmé, thank goodness you've contacted me." Satine answered, "For a moment I thought things had gone south there on Geonosis. How's Anakin? The senator's very worried, but she's safe."

"That's good." Padmé said and winces, "Think you can trace the coordinates and get me here?" she asked, "I'll give you the rest of the details, but my back's driving me insane!"

"For force's sake Padmé, you aren't old yet." Satine replies, "Why on the galaxy would your back bother you anyway?"

"Add that to one of the long story I'd be telling once you get me from here."

"How's my baby?"

"Uh, add that one too." She answered after much deliberation.

"Padmé, where the kriff is the Millennium Falcon?"

"I left it behind."

"You what!?" Padmé winces at the sound Satine makes over the comm. link…

"Look, before you get mad at me, at least let me be present physically." She quickly interrupted, "I'm sure the ship's fine, it's just by the docking bay, where I last left it. So get me here so we can retrieve the Falcon and go."

"And where would we be headed next?"

"We still do need to escort the senator back to Anakin's protection now, don't we?" she hears Satine sigh in defeat…

"Fine, but if I find a single bolt unhinged or scratch on that ship you're going to be fixing it." they end their exchange and now all Padmé has to do was wait. She was fairly grateful for the fact that she was a good distance away from the raging battle in front of her. She watches as the factories burn, bodies' fall of either trooper or droid as she witnesses the beginning of what she feared to be a galaxy-wide war. Her mind flashes back to a distant memory, remote and far away…

She was back in her house, playing outside in the garden, when glasses shatter, screams and blaster bolts are exchanged, and blood…

Blood not of hers but of someone she once held dear.

Soon she could hear a sound of familiar engines getting ready to land and she looks up and smiles at the sight of the Nubian cruiser. It lands right in front of her and the lamp lowers and she rushes towards it, and meets Satine halfway through the ramp, "Padmé, goodness, you didn't tell me we'd be getting in a war zone!" she said, "I thought we were trying to prevent a war? Not start it!" Satine exclaims, "Did the Republic issue for this!?"

"I'm afraid so!" Padmé shouts over the howling wind, "Now come on! We need to get the Falcon up and flying or else it'll be blasted to pieces within this much firepower!" the ramp closes up and Padmé suddenly feels ache spread around her back…

"Padmé your back-"

"Don't tell me," Padmé interrupts, "I could feel it." She shreds her torn jacket and drops it to the floor. Satine immediately guides her to a seat and gets to work on her wounds immediately. "We should go to the docking bay." She informs Satine who nods and goes to the cockpit. As Satine arrives Valé stands up to meet her…

"Anakin?" she asks urgently and Satine shakes her head, "Is, is Padmé alright?"

"She is but she's wounded." Satine flies the ship and steers it away from the battlefield. As she sweeps her gaze over the battle, she can't help but wince. Flashes of explosions and dark hallways emerge from the back of her mind and she shakes her head to keep the memories away, to stop them from resurfacing. "We'll get the Falcon, then once the battle dies down, we'll find Anakin." She assures the senator who seems nervous and agitated, "I'm sure he's fine." She adds softly and Valé offers her a weak smile…

"If you don't mind me asking Satine," Valé begins, "How did you meet Padmé?" Satine smiles softly…

"We both met under similar occurrences, and we both promised not to talk about it." Satine sighs in relief as she sees the Millennium Falcon unharmed. "I'll be landing this ship now." She says and as soon as the deed is done, she unbuckles herself and strode out of the cockpit and gently supports Padmé to stand up, "Come on, we'll get you patched up real nice in the Falcon." She says and Padmé nods. Valé trails behind them and they get into the Falcon. Satine quickly rushes through their present materials and grabs a cloth and some water. She moves to clean the wounds off of sand when Valé's hand stops her…

"Let me." She says and Satine smiles at her appreciatively and Valé cleans off Padmé's wounds, who hiss at the sting it causes…

"Sorry." Padmé says, "I didn't mean for all this to happen."

"No," the senator interrupts, "You've done it to help us and keep me safe at the same time. You and Satine have helped us far more than we could ask you to. I don't blame you for the start of this war. It was a long shot, but even if I have been voting on the Senate to oppose the Military Creation Act, most of them would have voted to support the decision."

"Maybe you should have pleaded harder?" Padmé hisses again, "Sorry. I stepped out of the line." Satine returns and the wounds are clean and Satine spreads some bacta cream on it and Padmé relaxes as the soothing effects finally settle in on her wounds, "However, I believe that by going into war not only will many people lose their lives, but all will lose their freedom." She tells Valé who eyes her curiously…

"And how would the people lose their freedom?"

"By giving into violence, they become enslaved by violence." Satine answers as she wraps around bacta strips on Padmé, "And the Jedi, sworn to protect and keep the peace, have already lost by fighting and participating in it."

"The Jedi are fighting because they are protecting the peace."

"Then send them as diplomats not soldiers!" Satine counters, "A simple solution to a simple problem, no need to make it bigger than it actually is."

"We would, but the last time we tried to negotiate with the Separatists, they invaded a planet." Valé counters, "If we don't stand up and defend ourselves, we'd only be giving into their demands and we'd lose our morals and lives and freedom at the same time by bowing down to them."

"Sometimes it takes a stronger will to spare a life than to take one." Satine finishes and Padmé smiles at Satine in thanks and the blonde woman makes her way into the cockpit and it slides shut. Padmé lets out a sigh and puts on a different shirt…

"I get your reasoning senator." Padmé says, "I get it I do, sometimes we need to fight to protect what we believe in, but offer the Separatists violence, they will only show violence in return. I've never experience war but I know their effects, I hope the members of your senate wake up and stop this war from continuing." She stands up and goes into the cockpit as well, leaving Valé to her thoughts.


He remembered the pain of feeling a thousand volts run through his body. He could remember passing out a few moments before her struck again. He had been careless, he didn't anticipate the lightning that the Sith were capable of conjuring. He felt the pain of his arm being cut off but he was sure he would pass out permanently. He had to save Obi-Wan of course, they rushed to the Count, but he rushed too early and got hit by the lightning. Obi-Wan had to fight him off by himself, but got injured and he rushed in to block the final blow, but he had barely been recovering from the lightning and he was quickly overpowered.

He didn't know what happened after his arm got decapitated. He blinks at the sudden brightness that greets him and he could feel someone was watching him, "Are you going to stare at me the entire time?" he asks the person, not really certain who it was. Padmé smiled at his response…

"I wasn't really sure if your smart mouth was intact." She replied and sat on the chair nearby, "How're you feeling?" she asked him and he sits up and shakes his head, steadying his vision…

"Like my arm's been cut off." He mumbles, "Force, my arm's been cut off." He repeats, the seriousness and reality of the situation finally sinks in, "How am I going to be a Jedi now with only one arm?" he asks himself. Padmé let out a sigh and sat beside him…

"Ani, does losing an arm make you any less of the person you are?"

"I've lost a part of my body, which make me less of a man. I won't be able to function like how I did."

"Yes, but does it make you less than the man you are?" she persists. Anakin purses his lips together before letting out a resigned sigh…

"No." he mumbles softly…

"Then that's it, it doesn't make any less of the man you are, it doesn't make you any less of the Jedi you are." she said, "Besides, look at how cool you will be with a cyberkinetic arm." She adds just to cheer him up and he laughs a bit…

"How're you?"

"Better than you." she replies and he laughs…

"I'm sure you are." he says and rubs his palm on his pants, when he feels a familiar bulge on one of his pockets. It was small, almost unnoticeable. He carefully pulls it out of his pocket and sees the Japor snippet Cliegg has given him shortly after his return and before his mother's burial, "I carved this out when I was nine, and gave it to my mother. I told her it would bring her good fortune, and it did. She got freed, married, she lived a happy life." He told her, and Padmé stares at the simple piece of jewelry…

"It's beautiful." She says, and truly it is, simple, but it held the feelings of a son for his mother…

"I want you to have it." he says and hands it to her…

"Ani, I can't."

"No, I insist you have it," he says, "I gave this to my mother so she could have something to remember me by, now I want to give it to you." he says and stares at her, "It was the Force's will that we met that night on Tatooine, and I don't know if we'll see each other after this. Please, take it, for me. Something to remember me by." Padmé finally takes it in her hands and stares at it…

"I don't need anything to remember you by Anakin," she says, "I'll never forget you. I only stopped by because Satine and I have to go, and I hoped to see you one last time." Anakin frowned at her words, they were going? But he's only just woken up. Speaking of Satine…

"Where is Satine?" he asked, wondering where Padmé's partner was when he hears a couple of voices engaged in what sounded like a heated argument coming from the hallway, growing louder and louder as they drew close…

"Oh so I suppose that when everything that goes wrong you'll have to use force to get them to agree?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke? Because the force does surround us and-"

"Ugh you're hopeless; I bet Anakin has more sense than you."

"On the contrary, he's more reckless than I." and two figures appeared by the doorway and Anakin and Padmé stared at them amusedly as Satine and Obi-Wan gave slight glares at each other. "Anakin, it's nice to know you're awake." Obi-Wan says and smiles slightly at his padawan, Anakin smiles back at his master, "Just in time too, these lovely ladies were just about to head off." Satine smiles at Anakin and gives him a gentle hug…

"Well, it was nice to say goodbye to you awake than asleep." Satine says, "We'll see each other again, I'm sure." She winks at Anakin and gestures for Padmé to come along with her now. It was time for them to go. Padmé stands up and follows Satine, "Bye Obi." Satine playfully says, giving him a smug smile and leaves, while Obi-Wan just rolls his eyes at her…

"I'm glad to have met you Anakin." Padmé says, smiling at him one last time as she walks backwards out of the room and finally turns away…

"I was glad to meet you too!" Anakin calls out and lets out a sigh and smiles slightly. Obi-Wan lay a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Master about the trials-"

"No need to worry about that Anakin," Obi-Wan says, "The council has already deliberated. You are to be presented in front of them as soon as you are able." Anakin nods and stands up and looks outside over the window. There he sees the Millennium Falcon slowly lift off from the ground, and disappears off to the skies.

Padmé.

Her name rolls through his mind as an echo. He wonders if he'll see her again…

What does your heart tell you?

The words of his mother ten years ago echo back at him…

He knows he will.


AN: And that's the end of the second chapter this won't be the end just yet, they will meet again of this I can assure you. Please review, favorite, follow. Tell me what you think thank you for reading!