Author's Note: And now, the moment you have all been waiting for... Anakin and Padme finally meet each other! I've been reading the nice reviews everyone's been leaving for me and I have to say, I really enjoy them! Thanks for reading and continue to enjoy!

~ Aiden Skywalker


There were few things in life that intimidated Anakin Skywalker. And contrary to popular belief, women were one of those things. Giving one final glance at Obi-Wan, pleading with his eyes, hoping his friend would offer to go in his place; Anakin began his lonely walk over to the back rooms. The hallway reminded him of the Temple's infirmary; silent and sterile. He tried reaching out with his senses to see what was behind each of the doors he passed, but his attempts were met with emptiness. Even though he knew that there had to be something on the other side of those doors, there were no signs of life. Perhaps these were the rooms of the dancers out on stage. Whatever they were, these rooms were empty; except for the one near the end of the hallway. There was one sign of life and he could tell that this was the woman he was looking for. A woman, possibly in her twenties, was pacing the floor of her room. He could sense in her the same kind of anxiety he felt in himself. At least he wasn't alone. However, it seemed odd to him that a woman of her profession, and with her kind of experience, would feel nervous about a meeting such as this.

Anakin stood outside of the door way, waiting to be summoned by this mysterious woman. For all he knew, this could be her private residence, even if it was a dingy sort of place. It's not like he could really judge, anyone who chose this kind of a profession for themselves had to of been desperate. He couldn't understand what kind of self respecting woman would choose to whore herself out to men and yet he guessed that she didn't have much of a choice. Time seemed to pass slowly as he waited, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was because he was incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of meeting with a woman, especially under this kind of circumstance. It's not like he had never had contact with women before, it's just that the women he was used to seeing tended to have on a lot more clothing than he assumed this woman was. Then again, he had never really thought of what a woman of this sort would be like because everything he had heard was just rumors. It seemed strangely awkward that he was so inexperienced, but he had never really thought about sex before.

"Well, no. That's a lie," he thought to himself.

When there were so many women around the Temple and they all seemed to play hard to get, it was very hard to contain one's self. Just when he thought that she would never come out, she opened the door and there he saw her. She had herself casually leaning up against the door frame and his eyes went straight to her chest. She was wearing a very attractive leather halter top. For that matter, everything she was wearing must have been leather. From the halter top to the leather boots, this woman seemed as though she was ready for some sort of tiff, not the sort of outfit he assumed that a mistress would wear. She smiled at Anakin with one of those tantalizing smiles he felt all the way down to his penis. It was hard to ignore the very obviously displayed cleavage and her even bigger breasts. Leather clad or not, this woman obviously had found her calling. But it wasn't until he met her eyes that he suddenly felt something that set every hair on his body stiff.

If he had been asked what her eye color had been, he wouldn't be able to remember because right at that moment he felt something he hadn't been expecting and by the look of panic in her eyes, he knew she felt it too. Or was that a look of panic? Now her eyes looked smoldering and he noticed they were brown. But that didn't hide what he had felt, and what had sent a chill down his spine. Padme was force-sensitive. His job was about to get a lot harder.

Suddenly, she grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him into her room before quickly slamming the door behind her.

"What do you want, Jedi?" she demanded.

Her voice distracted him for a second as he was brought back to the situation at hand. Her voice was rugged compared to the soft feminine scent she possessed. Against his better judgment, Anakin reached out to stroke her cheek and she quickly backed away from him.

"I came here to see the Angel. Isn't that what everyone wants?"

"Everyone wants to see the Angel, but everyone has a different reason. So I'll repeat myself, what do you want?"

The scowl on her face said it all. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, and if he didn't need a confession from her, he wouldn't even be here.

"Look, I don't want to be around you either. But I didn't pay to receive this kind of an attitude."

"Well sorry I seem a bit sour, but when a Jedi comes knocking on my door, I know it can't be good."

"What makes you think that I didn't come here to sleep with you?"

Padme glared at him as she set her arms akimbo.

Anakin raised his eyebrows, "Fine, all you had to do was say no. I'll just leave and tell Nate that I was very sorely disappointed with your performance."

"Who do you think he's going to believe? Some man dressed up as a senator, or his prized trophy?"

"Fine, I guess this just means that you're going to have to tell me."

Her eyebrow rose, "Nothing here is free."

"Are you sure? How do you think Nate would feel if he found out that his 'prize' was a murderer?"

Padme paused for a second and by the hesitancy he saw in her eyes, Anakin knew she was trying to choose her words wisely. Finally she spoke.

"Don't you think he would already know if what you said was true?"

Anakin sat down on her bed, "Perhaps, but my involvement in the Jedi Order might mind change his loyalty."

"The Jedi Order changes nothing!" Padme screamed. Anakin almost cringed at the hatred in her voice as she continued. "Where were the Jedi when my parents abandoned me in the streets while I slept? Where were the Jedi when I was beaten and raped just because I was a woman? I had to sell my body just to stay alive. Where were the Jedi then?"

There were so many things that Anakin wanted to say to comfort her, but he knew she would only spit his words back in his face. He could see the tears forming in her eyes before she turned away from his sight. There was so much pain rolling off of her that all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her tiny waist. The woman who had appeared to be so strong before was now so frail. Before he could stop himself, Anakin stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. Padme whipped around with a sneer, "Don't touch me!"

Somehow, her ferocity actually hurt him, "I only want to help."

"Like hell you do! Do you have any idea how many times I've heard that line before?"

There was so much pain ripping through her that he could only imagine how many times she had been betrayed. Although he grew up in the Temple, Anakin was not ignorant of the difficult lives that civilians lead. His heart went out to each and every case he and Obi-Wan had. It was impossible to sleep at night knowing that you couldn't save them all. That there was never enough time. And it was almost always too late. It was the ones that he could save that made it worth waking up each morning. Because in his dreams, there was no one left behind. Anakin only wished that he could have saved Padme before her innocence had been taken from her. Now he knew that it was too late. Her hope had already been destroyed and there was nothing he could do to make her trust again.

Her voice made him lift his head, "If it wasn't for Nate, I'd still be in the streets. He gave me a chance, and that is more than you could ever give me." Padme took a seat upon the bed and glared up at him, "So if you don't mind, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Anakin knew that there was nothing more he could do. So he promised himself that he would have to return another night. He walked over to the door and rested his hand near the palm activator on the wall.

"As you wish, Milady."

And with that, he left her alone.