Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the support! I am loving the attention that this story is getting! I just love hearing what you all have to say! And you have spoken! Happy Halloween, everyone! I'm going to bed now, goodnight! Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warnings: Language, OOCness, unbeta'd.

Word Count: 5,057

Padme didn't have any time to think or register what she heard other than recognition of the voice; that was definitely Master Yoda's voice.

"Senator?" Jarjar asks, making Padme blink slowly, feeling dizzy. One moment she was laying down, now she's standing upright. Her dark eyes fly toward Jarjar, seeing him standing off near the middle of the room, head tilted to the side and his fingers interlocked in front of his stomach. Then her eyes slide over to Obi-Wan, who had creases between his eyes, long blond hair reaching his shoulders before his haircut for the war. Then her eyes fall on Anakin, his hair chopped short with his long Padawan braid behind his ear and resting on his shoulder.

Padme's eyes find Anakin's. They are wide, innocent and open, with a touch of worry. They were the very familiar, very beautiful bluish gray that Padme always loved. She would look into them and try hard to commit them to memory. The signature scar over his right eye wasn't there yet too, giving credit to his Padawan braid.

But that didn't make sense. Why did he have his padawan braid? Where did his scar go? Why was Obi-Wan's hair long again? Why were they both standing before her? How did she get back from the hospital? What happened to Luke and Leia? Where did Jarjar come from? How is she back on Coruscant? Why is Anakin and Obi-Wan back to being friends? What is going on? What happened? That voice, when she blacked out after Palpatine...

Was that Yoda?

Yes, that backward talk and voice was distinctive. There is no way that could have been anyone other than Yoda. So what did he do? Is he giving her a vision of some sort? Trying to help her see something that she missed? Is this her life flashing before her eyes? Somehow, she imagined that if her life was flashing before her eyes, it would somehow be different. She would have control of her thoughts. It would almost be like living through it again.

Living through it again? Why did that ring a cord with her?

"Senator?" Obi-Wan asks, bringing her eyes away from Anakin's. She hadn't realized that she had just been staring into them, lost in her thoughts. Her head starts pounding and she has to close her eyes, trying to stop the room from spinning around her. She brings her hands up to her face, using them to cover her eyes for a moment. She could feel herself swaying from side to side, but she refused to be the standard damsel and fall into the arms of either of them men in front of her. She's strong, she knows that it's all in her head. She has to keep herself calm and upright and it'll settle with time.

"My lady," Dorme says, placing her hands on Padme's arms, trying to help hold her upright. "Are you alright? Can I help you?"

"I'm alright," Padme says, opening her eyes and turning to look at Dorme. "I'll be fine, thank you."

Dorme looks hesitant, like she wanted to protest, but then obeys, stepping back and bowing her head submissively. Padme offers her a dainty, weak smile, before looking over at Obi-Wan, who holds his hand out for her to take.

"Please, Senator, let's go and take a seat, shall we?"

Padme nods, taking his hand and walking over to the couches in the middle of the room. Padme sits down first and Obi-Wan sits down next to her. Anakin slowly lowers himself onto the couch across from them with only a small coffee table between them. Padme can feel his eyes on her, but she couldn't look at him yet. She was not acting as herself. She needed to salvage this conversation somehow. She doesn't really know what is going on, but she needs some time to really think about it. Maybe she can speak with Master Yoda. Perhaps he will have the answers she's looking for. She hasn't spent much time with Grand Master of the Jedi in her few years on the Senate, but she hoped that she would be able to now, if it was different then a flashback, which it is already becoming.

"I am sorry, Obi-Wan," Padme says softly, taking a slow deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts, before looking up into his light blue eyes. "I didn't mean to make a scene. My handmaiden, Corde, died in the most recent attempt on my life," she admits. "I am... still grieving, I think." It's not a lie. In fact, being back in this moment, she can feel the pain of the loss of her friend as freshly as she had when she first felt it. If she was somehow brought back in time, she wished it had been before they had left Naboo. Then she may have been able to save Corde's life.

Save her life..?

"Save us all, you can."

Padme looks over her shoulder, hearing the voice of Master Yoda in her ear, but he's not there. Where was he? What was going on? Could she really save people? Could she really change things? Save Anakin? Really? Have her family? Anakin could be with Luke and Leia? They could all be together? She could... she could stop Palpatine? Well, not her, she wasn't a Jedi, there was no way for her to fight a Dark Lord, but she could help them realize the truth.

"That is understandable," Obi-Wan says softly. "And I am terribly story for your loss, Senator."

Padme shakes her head. "With you here, Obi-Wan, I know that this will all be resolved soon enough," she says before her eyes finally flicker back over to the younger boy, still staring at her with this intense look on his face. "Ani," she says so softly, she barely realized that she spoke. His eyes light up a bit at the nickname. Or, maybe it was because she finally acknowledged him.

He was always like this. He was so innocent and cute. He was just like a little boy, always vying for her attention while trying not to be so obvious about it. She could recall one night, laying curled up in bed with him, one of the few nights that he was home from the war, him telling her that he's loved her since he was nine years old. The moment he saw her, he thought that she was an angel. That he loved her almost immediately. He wanted so badly, for so long, to be with her, when she finally agreed to marry him, to love him, he felt a tangible shift in himself.

"I don't need anyone else," Anakin said softly, his metal hand running up and down her bare back as she lay on his smooth chest, her head on his shoulder. "I don't need anything else. I just need you. Nothing, and no one, else matters. I would do anything for you."

She thought, at the time, that it was such a sweet sentiment. They hadn't seen each other in so long and the moments they did share together were fleeting, so he was trying to romance her a bit. At least, that's what she thought. But now she's beginning to wonder if those words were closer to the truth than she realized. Maybe she needs more time to think about it, but it could explain why he fell to the dark side.

He fell, because of her.

"I'm happy to see you," she says softly, her throat tightening a bit. She didn't know what to think. Was she really the one responsible for Anakin's fall? Is there anything that she can do to prevent it? Is that why she's even here? To be able to save him? Could she? She didn't know.

Anakin's smile is surprised, and kind. "I'm happy to see you too, Padme."

"Senator," Obi-Wan reminds him, sternly.

Padme looks over at her friend, realizing that at this point in time, they've barely spent any time together. They aren't really friends right now. Just... acquaintances, to say the most.

Padme opens her mouth, wanting to tell him that it was okay that Anakin call her that. She was used to it, anyway. She even wanted to insist that he call her Padme too, but then she realized how strange that would be. Anakin loved her, Obi-Wan did not. He would find it odd that someone he spoke a total of probably five times to, since they've met would want him to be so personal with her.

So she closes her mouth.

Anakin bows his head. "I'm sorry, Master." He's embarrassed. His gray eyes lower, scanning the carpet rather than looking into anyone's eyes. Yes, he's definitely embarrassed. It was so cute. She definitely liked Anakin's hair longer, but with it shorter, it gives him an almost pure look. Maybe it's because he still has his padawan braid behind his ear.

Knowing that she shouldn't address the issue, however mundane simple title is, Padme looks over at Obi-Wan. "Thank you for being here, Obi-Wan. I really do appreciate it. And you as well, Anakin." She looks back over at the young man who appears so bashful before her. As he grew older and joined the war, his bashfulness was something of a rarity, replace by smugness and haughtiness. She loved both versions equally, but it was the bashful Anakin that she originally fell in love with.

"You are quite welcome, Senator," Obi-Wan says. "You don't have to worry about your safety."

"And about the one's targeting you," Anakin quickly adds. "We will find them and we will stop them." He stares at her with steely blue eyes, intense and focused. He wasn't just saying those words. He meant them.

Obi-Wan must have sensed that too, or simply not liked his words, because he gives Anakin a pointed look. Disapprovingly, he says, "Forgive me, Senator, but my Padawan speaks out of turn. It is not our position to be looking for the one who did this, simply to keep you safe." Anakin frowns at his words, turning his eyes toward Obi-Wan's, when they lock together, he immediately backs down.

"Don't worry about it," Padme says, already knowing the truth - or was it just a version of the truth? - so she didn't want to drag out this conversation for fear that an argument would break out between the two jedi. "What matters is..." she hesitates. What did matter right now? Everyone was still alive. Palpatine didn't know that she knew who and what he was. She knew all about the war. What happened when, who went where. Strategies that she overheard Anakin talking about and later read about. She could do a lot of good. Help a lot of people. Like she's always wanted.

"What matters," Padme says, pulling herself back to look between the two men, "is that everything is going to be okay. I trust my life to the two of you." She dips her head a bit, politely.

"The pleasure, Senator," Obi-Wan says, "is all ours."


"Goodnight, Padme!" Jarjar calls as he's entering the elevator. "I'll sees you laters!"

"Goonight, Jarjar," Padme calls back, still sitting on her couch, going through some of the paper work that she missed while she was in transit from Naboo to Coruscant. She should have gone to bed a while ago, but she couldn't bring herself to. She kept Jarjar with her, basically forcing him to keep going over the bills and discussions that she could already figure out, because she was worried about going into her room for the night. She knows that Anakin will rush in and save her - or at least she hopes so - but there is something about walking into a knowingly dangerous situation that doesn't settle well with her.

No, that's not right. She's ready and willing to walk into any and every situation dangerous or not so long as it helps someone, but most of the time she doesn't have time to over-analyze the situation before walking into them. There is lives at risk and she has to do something in order to save their lives, so it's really a no-brainer in those moments.

But it's just her life right now. Yes, this helps lead them to Kamino and ultimately Geonosis, but people got hurt along the way. Namely the bounty hunter Jango hired to assassinate her this time, who lost her life, and Obi-Wan, who was tortured by Dooku on Geonosis. Is she just suppose to be okay with that? Is she going to consider the death of the one who tried to take her life as payback and the fact that Obi-Wan didn't complain about the torture after word as collateral? That just didn't seem right.

But alas, the night has to come to an end. Jajar has to get to his own home and go to sleep too, or, whatever it is that he does in his free time. She has to go to bed early too. She has meetings in the morning that she's not going to be able to attend to, but still needs rest for them anyway.

Plus, Dorme seems anxious for her to get some rest. She keeps staring at her from the corner of the living room. She's got to be partially worried about earlier, but Padme is also usually punctual when going to bed. Sleep is important to her, so that she can think logically when dealing with important business. She bids goodnight to Anakin and Obi-Wan, already speaking to both of them that neither could be present in the room while she sleeps, before changing.

As Dorme and a few others of her handmaidens work around her, Padme takes this moment to crane her neck over her shoulder to see the mirror against the wall behind her. Her eyes lock with her smooth, bare back without the ugly three nail marks on her back from the Nexu in the arena on Geonosis. It's so weird not to see the jagged pink scars on her tanned back anymore. It was something that marred her beauty, but it was something that she was proud of. She did something goof, went to help Obi-Wan and got them.

They were sensitive to the touch and Anakin would often touch them lightly with his finger tips. She both hated and loved the feeling. She knew he hated them because it shows that he failed in protecting her completely, but she was proud of them and wasn't going to let him think otherwise. Padme knew she was beautiful, but didn't want her beauty to define her. She wanted her actions - and her scars - to do that for her.

She looks away, a bit sad that they are gone.

She's been thinking about whether having Anakin or Obi-Wan in her room with her tonight is smart or not. It's natural that Anakin be there. She loved him. She married him. But what if they didn't attempt at her life tonight because he was there? She's worried for her life, but she's not the only thing that matters. If she's not attacked tonight, Obi-Wan never would have tracked Jango Fett all the way to Kamino and then Geonosis. Without knowing about the Clone army on Geonosis, there is no way the Republic would be ready to face the Separatists. She's worried about her life and who she hurts along the way, but this is about the Republic.

She has sworn to protect it. She was wrong the first time - she failed - but she isn't going to fail this time. If what she's seen was something she actually lived through and somehow Master Yoda has sent her back in time, she's not going to waste this chance. She's not.

Once she's dressed down for the night, she sends Dorme to bed, wishing her a goodnight before letting R2-D2 into the room and heading to bed. She lays down as far away from the window as she can, her back to it. She can't sleep, though. She just stares at the shadow of her window against the wall, waiting - painfully so - for the droid carrying those parasites to appear. She's not sure how long she laid there, staring at the moving shadows across the wall, wondering if this was the shadow that held those bugs.

Each time there was nothing. The shadow just kept moving on. There is still a bit of time.

Her eyes begin to droop closed, she's had a long day and a few nights of flying. She starts to drift to sleep, her eyelids are so heavy she's not sure she's able to force them open again as she falls deeper and deeper into slumber. Maybe she waited too long going to bed and they've since given up for tonight. Is she okay with that? Or, is she mad at herself for being such a coward? She didn't know.

She hears the soft hum of R2-D2 scanning the room, then sees his light behind her eyelids, jolting her awake. She opens her eyes, but doesn't move, feeling this horrible tightness in her chest something is in the room but R2-D2 doesn't appear to see it for the light goes off and he enters back into sleep mode. Padme looks up at the light against the wall and her entire body tenses up. There is definitely a shadow against the wall, staying perfectly still. It's happening. The bugs are definitely in the room with her.

Padme squeezes her eyes shut, begging with her mind for Anakin to come. She can't get up and run out, the droid will detach from the window and they will never be able to back track it. She couldn't leave. She couldn't move. She had to just let them come and pray that Anakin and Obi-Wan came rushing in soon.

It feels like hours have passed, each second dragging on so unbelievably long. Her entire body is starting to ache as it's wound up so tight like a spring. Where was Anakin and Obi-Wan? What were they out there doing? Did it usually take this long before? Or was she going to die because she waited so long going to bed and now Anakin and Obi-Wan aren't in a position to be able to help her at the moment?

She couldn't wait any longer, she can feel them crawling on her. Or, at least she's starting to believe that something is crawling on her. She could feel it like it's real. What was taking so long. She had to move, she had to move, she had to move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move!

Padme launches out of bed the same moment the door busts open and Anakin - her knight in shining armor - comes flying into the room, his lightsaber blazing to life in his hand. She runs into his chest and he wraps an arm around her, swing his lightsaber around a bit before the room falls silent. Padme's heart is pound, she can hear the blood roaring in her ears, but she can also feel another erratic heart beat, right next to her head. It's Anakin's. His entire body is tense, muscles pulled taut like a snake coiled back and ready to strike.

Padme takes a few breaths, trying to calm down, her fingers curled up in his robes. Once the moment has passed, she pulls away, just as Obi-Wan rounds the corner and into the room, spares a look at them - Anakin twists around at the waist to look at him - before his attention is drawn toward the droid outside of Padme's window. It pulls away from the window and turns to leave but before it can get too far away, Obi-Wan take a running leap out of the room, through the window, and onto the droid. It wiggles a bit before flying away with Obi-Wan still attached.

"Are you okay?" Anakin asks, looking down at Padme.

She nods quickly and takes a big step back. "Go, Anakin!"

He doesn't need to be told twice. He turns and runs back down the hallway he came from, right as Dorme comes rushing toward her the opposite way. She grabs onto Padme, brown eyes wide.

"Are you alright, my lady?" She asks.

Padme nods, sending a short glance toward her bed before stepping away, feeling sick to her stomach. She sends a look toward the captain of her guard as she leaves the room, Dorme attached to her arm and R2-D2 on her heels. They go and sit out on the couch. There is flurry of motion, people, and speaking. Padme just calmly murmurs that she's fine. She wasn't hurt. Anakin and Obi-Wan have been gone for a long time. No, she's not worried.

Padme closes her eyes for a moment, settling her thoughts, before she opens her eyes and watches as people walk about her apartment. Her handmaidens and guards, and the Senatorial security also find their way into her apartment, asking her all sorts of questions about what she was doing, what she saw. Once they were done, repairmen came in and fixed her window. Padme didn't move from her spot on the couch and refused to stay in another place for the night. She watched as the bugs bodies, now sliced in half were removed form her apartment in clear plastic bags for later study.

Now that the attempt is over with, as she had predicted - or like the memory? - she is finally able to relax. Padme can't think that what she went through was anything less than a went through. She doesn't want to think that everything she saw, felt, learned, did, and had done to her, was all a vision of the future. She wasn't a jedi, she didn't have any sort of sensitivity to the Force, she's lived on Coruscant long enough that someone would have probably said something sooner, so she knows it wasn't some vision. She lived through it. It was her life that she went through. It wasn't a chance to change the future, it's a chance to rewrite it, before it even happens.

Padme doesn't know exactly what happened or how Yoda did it, but he had to of been the reason that she's back with the memories of her future self. Somehow, he made this possible. It's because of him that she is here. When she has the chance she's going to see him and ask what's going on. Hopefully when she was brought back here, he was too.

At least then he will be able to tell her what she needed to do for certain. Then, like that, the entire Jedi Order is on their side. If they had the grand master, it would be easier to figure this all out.

Padme knew that she was going to save Anakin. She was not going to allow him to fall to the dark side, especially not because of her. She doesn't have everything planned out - or most of it for that matter - but she does know where she needs to start. She just has to hope and pray that she's making the right choice.

The next morning, after Anakin and Obi-Wan return, they immediate go and speak with the Council. Padme takes this time to speak with the new Queen of Naboo, Neeyutnee. Worried for her safety, Neeyutnee insisted once more that she return to Naboo until the actual time to cast her vote against the push for an army. Padme still doesn't believe in war - and hates it with a passion - but right now she knows that they will need the Clone army in order to fight the Separatists.

"Please, Amidala," Neeyutnee says in her small holoform on Padme's desk in the early morning light, "return to Naboo for the time being. Send your vote in from Naboo, or through Representative Binks. There is no need to put your life on the line any longer."

Padme bows her head a bit. "I understand, Queen Neeyutnee, and I thank you for your concern, but I must be here to cast my vote." She folds her hands onto her lap. "But I agree, I need to leave Coruscant for a little while. It is not safe here for me for a while. I need to get away from my enemies for the time being."

Neeyutnee looks surprised by her words, rightfully assuming that Padme would probably fight her on this. Padme's back is ramrod straight as she sits in her office chair, staring at the Queen of Naboo showing that she wasn't lying. She intends to leave Coruscant, and she does.

"Truly?" Neyyutnee says, eyes wide. "I am happy to hear it."

"Thank you," Padme says, bowing her head a bit. "You needn't worry about me, my queen. I will have my Jedi guard with me the entire time."

"Well, I'll feel better once you make your way to Naboo," the young queen says, sounding relieved.


"Thank you for seeing us off," Padme says, tipping her head a bit as she bids farewell to the Jedi Master and the Captain of her guard. Anakin and her step off of the tram connected to the platform leading to the shuttle off of Coruscant. She reaches forward and hugs her captain, keeping the façade of friends and family saying goodbye for a trip. Once she's done with him, she hugs Obi-Wan, who seems surprised by the action, but accepts it gracefully. She pulls back after a moment, smiling at the older man before looking up at Anakin, who was bowing respectfully to his Master and friend. It feels like it's been forever since Padme last saw him so nice and respectful to Obi-Wan. It kind of nice to see him admitting Obi-Wan rather than silently scorning him with his eyes.

Padme likes Obi-Wan. She wants the two of them to be close always. She didn't want the two of them to be split apart. She doesn't want the battle on Mustafar to even be a possibility. Anakin and Obi-Wan should be sharing a bond that couldn't be broken by anything. It kills Padme that she's the reason that the two of them split apart. It's because of her that so many bad things happened.

She was going to do everything that she can to help. If she can stop even a fraction of the death and pain that she originally lived through, then she's will consider it a victory.

But this all has to be step by step. She has to deal with the now. No amount of worry over the future will better prepare it for it. She will just have to roll with the punches and try to stay on her toes. That's the only way she's going to make it through all of this. When she gets the chance, and it's hopefully soon, she will be able to speak with Master Yoda and have a more clear idea of what is going on around here and what to do in order to move forward.

Anakin and Padme sit down, side by side, on the transport, keeping their heads low. Thankfully, Padme is able to just lead him around. He's careful to stay right on her toes until they've sat down, Padme is at the window and Anakin is on the outside next to the isle.

"Alright Padme," Anakin says, turning to look at her, his voice quiet in case anyone was trying to listen in on their conversation. "So it should take about three days to reach Naboo."

Padme doesn't respond. She offers him a thin smile before turning to look out the window next to her.


"It's not him I'm worried about, but her."

Obi-Wan gives the Nabooian captain a side-ways glance. "What do you mean by that?"

The man smiles. "You have much to learn about the young Senator, Master Jedi. She slipped something into your pocket while you weren't paying attention, I think. Unless you're just waiting for the opportune moment to check it out." He raises a single, dark eyebrow.

Obi-Wan stares at him for a moment before reaching into his pocket and feeling a small slip of paper deep in his outer robes. He pulls it out and spins it around for a moment before breaking the fold and straightening it out. He sees the little scribbles on the page before he crinkles it up in his hand and looks around for a moment, thinking about what he read before forcing a thin smile toward the guard before tipping his head and walking away from the door of the tram to sit down and wait for it to start moving again to take them back toward the Temple.

Obi-Wan turns light blue eyes out the window across from him, crossing his arms over his chest. He looks down at the paper one last time before looking back up at the window, lost in thought. He had to wonder, what was the Senator up to?

For the Reviewers:

1. Guest 1: Thank you! I hope that you liked the continuation!

2. Guest 2: I am liking the possibilities that this opens up, I just hope that I am able to capture her character in this situation well.

3. Lady Syndra: Thank you! I'm sorry about the wait!

4. Sami: I was thinking the same thing. Plus it gives me a bit more wiggle room. It's not obvious now, but things will start to change as she starts doing things.

5. Guest 3: Got it!

6. Guest 4: I would have to agree.

7. aidan scarletwolf: I was thinking about doing both. It would be kind of interesting to do them together, but I'll have to think about it. The Star Wars Universe isn't all rainbows and sunshine and with all the possible good coming their way, there has got to be a bit of bad to go with it. It would be cool for two separate ideas, though...