Chapter Six

It was morning by the time Obi-Wan arrived back at the Senator's ship. Seeing that Padmé was asleep, Obi-Wan decided to take a small nap himself. He knew that he would need his rest, for he had a feeling that the next few days would be quite tiring.

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When, Padmé awoke, she saw Obi-Wan sleeping on the bed on the opposite side of the ship. She wondered how long he had been back. She knew that it couldn't have been too long, for it was still early morning. She knew that he must have had a very long and exhausting night so she let him rest. Seeing as there was nothing better to do, Padmé let her mind wander back to that boy, well young man really at the repair shop. He was fairly tall, had blonde curly hair that was a bit overgrown. Overall he had been quite handsome. But what had stricken Padmé most about his appearance had been his eyes. They were the most beautiful pair of blue eyes that Padmé had ever seen. That was the first thing she'd noticed about him when she had first seen him. And when she had looked into them, it took all she had to not be reduced into a puddle of jelly, which was something that as a Senator, Padmé never allowed herself to do. And while it went against her better judgment to flirt with complete strangers, Padmé could not have helped herself. Something about him just screamed, 'It's okay to hit on me, I'm a nice guy!'

Now that she looked back on it, Padmé had wished that she'd had gotten to talk to him a bit more to get to know him. Not just for personal reasons, but for their situation as well. She and Obi-Wan were trusting Anakin to get them out of their predicament, yet they didn't know a thing about him. And although she wished she knew more about his character, Padmé knew that he was their only hope of getting home.

The sound of Obi-Wan stirring brought her out of her daze. She noticed the twin suns had risen high in the sky and she wondered just how long she'd been lost in her daydream.

"Good morning Obi-Wan," she said politely "what time did you get back?"

Obi-Wan sat up and ran his hands through his copper hair.

"It was early morning, so I'm guessing it was a few hours ago. After much negotiation, I managed to convince Anakin's mas… employer to enter him in the race. Hopefully, we will be able to leave within a few days time."

Obi-Wan mentally kicked himself, he hoped that Padmé had not caught the blunder in his words. If she did notice, she didn't say anything.

"Yes, this planet is much too hot for my tastes, and its inhabitants do not do much for me either."

"Yes they are all rather…colorful aren't they?"

Padmé chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that."

"Well, I suppose that I should go and tell Anakin that everything's set for tomorrow. Padmé, I know that you won't be pleased about this, but I really would prefer that you stayed here.

"No Obi-Wan. We're trusting this young man that we don't know and I wish to better acquaint myself with him." Padmé knew that this wasn't the only reason she wanted to accompany the Jedi but she tried to convince herself that it was. Obi-Wan sighed, the last thing he felt like doing at the moment was arguing with the Senator about this once again. And besides, her tone left no room for dispute.

"Fine Senator." was all he said. Although Padmé was his friend, she really had the tendency to get on his nerves sometimes. The pair walked down the ramp and climbed back onto the swoop bike that they'd borrowed from Anakin. Obi-Wan started the engine and Padmé subconsciously tightened her grip around Obi-Wan's waist. Obi-Wan couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you sure you still wish to come along Senator?"

"Yes! Please just go," she said with an extreme edge in her voice. Obi-Wan laughed again took off towards the shop. When the two arrived, they found Anakin tinkering with what used to be a protocol droid. Anakin was facing away from the entryway and as the pair silently entered.

"Hello Obi-Wan, hello Padmé" Anakin said as he turned around to face the visitors. Obi-Wan nodded and Padmé smiled

"Hello Anakin, everything's all set for tomorrow," Obi-Wan said. "I had to agree to give Watto sixty percent of the winnings, but you're entered nevertheless."

"Will forty percent be enough for what we need?" Padmé asked.

"It should be if you bet enough money," said Anakin "I wouldn't be too concerned about it though. I made sure that the pod is in good order last night. I rather excited actually, I've never gotten to race it before and I probably never will again."

"What do you usually race instead?" asked Padmé curiously.

"I race Watto's pod. It's really not the best but with all of the updates and modifications I've made over the years, it runs great," he said with a somewhat cocky smile. Padmé laughed.

"You seem to be quite the expert with machines." Anakin shrugged

"I've been around them all my life, I've always loved to fix things, whenever I'm upset about something tinkering with something helps me clear my mind."

"Do you make things too?"

"Oh yes, I made a droid a few years ago, you want to see him?" he asked excitedly. Padmé smiled again.

"I would love to." Without thinking, Anakin grabbed Padmé's hand. When their hands met, neither of them could ignore the connection they felt. Embarrassed, Anakin let go.

"He's in the back." He turned away from her so she would not see the redness that had flushed onto Anakin's cheeks.

Obi-Wan watched Anakin and Padmé retreat into the back room of the shop. He'd been watching them interact and it was obvious that that they both felt something for each other. But what really fascinated Obi-Wan was Anakin's connection not with the Senator, but with the force. It was so strong with Anakin. When they had walked onto the shop, Anakin had known who had entered without turning around. Obi-Wan wished he could get a midichlorian count from him. He had a feeling Anakin's numbers may rival those of Master Yoda's. If only Anakin had been found by the Jedi at birth, he would've had the opportunity to become something great instead of wasting away on this dust ball. Thinking about this made Obi-Wan wonder, how many other infants had been missed just because they had been born in the wrong place. This made Obi-Wan want to free Anakin even more.

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