Years passed, a second term came and went, and Padmé was asked to become a Senator for Naboo. She kept herself abreast of the doings of Master Kenobi and his Padawan while she was in Coruscant, and was very aware of the reputation they were both making for themselves.
Anakin was growing into the reckless, emotional Jedi that the Council had predicted. Whispers of the Chosen One also made their circulation, until more than acquaintances were following his progress with interest. Kenobi was desperately trying to fashion himself into a calmer man than he was, attempting to emulate his late Master to the point of denying his character and in general appearing as a stiff-faced Jedi Master with a stick up his ass. When he wasn't pretending to be the ideal Jedi, he was training Anakin and setting him up to appear in the best light.
Fearing he wasn't encouraging enough verbally or in his own praise of the child, Kenobi would set up situations and perform less than his full in order to give Anakin the opportunity to save the day and feel the hero. This tactic, along with his late training and the glory of the Chosen One, all contributed to Anakin's arrogance and pride in his abilities.
And then came the day when Padmé's ship was attacked as she arrived in Coruscant. Her reunion with Obi-Wan and Anakin was overshadowed by her irritation by the whole matter. Why she was being singled out made no sense, and the Chancellor's pushing her aside seemed to be favoring the attacker's goal: of keeping her from speaking in the Senate.
Despite that, she was pleased that the past ten years had treated Obi-Wan well and that while his mannerisms were stiff, his golden beard certainly became him and made him seem even more trustworthy and friendly. Padmé was astonished at Anakin's size. Although part of her knew he wasn't a four foot child anymore, this six foot stranger was hardly the same person she knew.
His eyes smoldered, and she knew he still held that crush, as she still did for Obi-Wan. She tried to quench his feelings by calling him "little Annie." She saw the disappointment in his eyes, but it didn't last.
Later on he approached her regarding her security, and afterward, she couldn't tell whose idea it was to present herself as bait to try to flush the attacker out. As she was getting ready for bed, one of the cameras caught her eye. I'm not going to give that boy a peepshow, she thought as she placed pillows in front of the cameras.
She fell asleep listening to the Jedis argue about politicians. It saddened her that Obi-Wan had a low regard for her simply because of her occupation. She'd barely fallen asleep when the hiss of lightsabers woke her up and she was staring into Anakin's face as he crouched over her. R2D2 shone a light on two dismembered snake creatures, and Obi-Wan leapt out her window before she could even ask what happened.
"I'll be right back," Anakin promised as he raced from the room. Padmé flew to the window, and watched a little bot struggling to fly with a full grown man dangling from it. Panaka disposed of the creatures and gave her enough horrid details to make her face pale. Her maidservant tried to get her to drink some sleeping tea, but Padmé wanted to know if the Jedis survived the adventure, and if they were successful in apprehending the attacker.
It was several hours before they returned. Apparently the chase ended after a half hour, but it took them a long time to transport the body of the assassin to the authorities and return from where the chase took them.
Padmé rushed to hug them, glad they were safe. Only a Jedi could hold onto a circular bot like that and not fall to his death. Obi-Wan was surprised at the affection, and didn't return the hug. Anakin, on the other hand, held her tight and prolonged the contact. When she disentangled herself, she demanded to know what had happened. Obi-Wan tried to send her to bed, due to the late hour, but she refused.
She reacted well to the story, gasping at all the right places, and making the two unsuccessful heroes feel as though this adventure were as worthy of their skill as the mission to apprehend kidnappers on Muratango.
Anakin stared hard at her hand, which she'd placed on Obi-Wan's knee while he was telling how the little bot had swayed to and fro, trying to dislodge him. Anakin didn't get any such attention when he recounted how he'd bravely leapt from the vehicle to plunge six stories to the assassin's vehicle.
Then, spoiling her mood, Obi-Wan sent her to bed like a child, and mentioned that it might be a better idea to go into hiding while the bounty hunter behind the attacks was tracked down. Padmé resisted the idea, but, being tired from staying up waiting, went to bed, intending to voice her full argument in the morning.
Anticipating this, Obi-Wan went to the Chancellor and suggested Padmé be kept safe. He wanted to pursue the bounty hunter, following the lead of the poison dart that had been used. And he didn't want to leave Padmé behind in case she were attacked again while he was gone. Although any idiot would look for Padmé on her home planet, Obi-Wan came up with the idea of traveling as refugees.
Padmé protested hotly, partly because she felt it was counter-productive to remove her from the Senate if the assassin wanted her silenced, partly because the last thing she needed was to spend every day in close proximity with a hot blooded teenager smitten with her, and partly because Obi-Wan just made her feel so safe, she loathed the idea of leaving him.
But in the end, Obi-Wan's gentle voice assured her that this was the best plan and convinced her to go along with it. He almost seemed to be sincere in wanting to keep her safe. Padmé remembered the day he lost his Master and how he'd berated himself for neglecting the mission. I'm just the mission to him, Padmé sighed to herself as she packed.