Getting inside the heavy guarded Camino was an almost impossible feat and Obi Wan needed help for discovering the man behind Padme's assassination attempt. The best way in was to hire smugglers; men and women that could do anything for money.
They were excellent pilots, fighters and killers. If someone could get him to his destiny, was a smuggler.
He drove all the way out to the outer walls and arrived at the port. The city's port took a large portion of the city and was a place filled with extravagant spaceships, shining bars with psychedelic lights, loud music, and hookers - robotic and humanoid.
It that crowded place, the best way to recognize a smuggler was their leather vest and a crossroads tattoo in their left hand. It didn't take Obi Wan long to find one, a dathomirian woman with no hair and leather clothes. She wore black eye shadow and had a crossroads tattoo underneath her eye.
"Excuse me", said Obi-Wan as he approached her, but the woman didn't listen. She was talking and laughing with a couple of pirates from the outer rim.
"Hey!", said Obi-Wan and the group stood in silence.
"What?!", screamed the woman.
"I need a ride to Camino", said Obi Wan and the men accompanying the smuggler laughed.
"Only a fool will go to Camino", said the woman with a smirk and resumed her conversation.
"I'm serious", said Obi Wan and hold her arm but the woman took a hold of his wrist and throw him to the ground.
"Never touch a lady without her permission", said the woman and the rest of the men laughed. Obi Wan stood fast and cleaned his clothes.
"Please, I need your help to get there. A friend of mine needs my help", said Obi Wan, but the woman barely pay any attention.
He grabbed her wrist again, but now he was able to defend from her counter attack. He gave a good fight - for two minutes -until the woman throw him to the ground again.
"You have passion kid, but I can't help", said the woman.
"Please, my friend, Queen Admidala needs me. Dorian Marlow is trying to kill her", said Obi Wan and the woman turned to look at him with a serious look on her face.
"Marlow?", said the woman in anger.
"You know him?", said Obi Wan.
"Marlow is a monster. He killed my family, he needs to die", said the woman with a sad face.
"Please, for the sake of my friend I need your help", said Obi Wan.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend", said the woman and guided the young Jedi to her ship.
...
The days at the refugee camp were hard. There was always something to do, but Anakin was used to the hard work. After all he had lived as a slave for years and knew the mechanics of working without payment or recognition.
Padme had asked him to fix the water filters in the camp that had been broken for days and people had been starting to experience dehydration because the nearest water pumps were very far, about two kilometers away.
"How are you doing?", said Padme as she handed him some tools.
"Nothing a good mechanic cannot fix", said Anakin as he hit a pipe with a crowbar. The water started running immediately and people around the camp cheered for the liquid miracle that was finally available after so long.
"If that was all it took to fix the pipe, I could have done it myself", said Padme with a smile a she handed a rag to Anakin so that he could clean the sweat from his forehead.
"You need the knowledge on were to hit. And you're welcome", said Anakin with a smirk.
"Thanks… it's been too long since something had actually worked fine here", said Padme as she walked back to her tent, followed closely by Anakin.
"I know it can be an inappropiate question, but how have you been doing lately? With the attack and everything that has happened", said Anakin as he walked next to her.
"No one has actually asked me that lately. I guess I'm fine… or at least as fine as I could be", said Padme as she entered her tent and sat on one of the chairs. Her desk was covered with papers and large map scrolls. She gave one of her assistants a folder and she ran back outside. Anakin sat infront of her desk.
"Now, I don't know much about politics, but I can help you with this", said Anakin pointing at the large pile of documents in front of Padme.
"I thought slaves didn't know how to read and I mean no disrespect", said Padme.
"It's true what you said, you don't get the best education as a slave, but my mother did received some schooling so she taught me and my sister", said Anakin and suddenly a feeling of sadness reached him. It was the first time he had spoken of Reyla after her death in Naboo.
"I'm so sorry for you sister's loss", said Padme as she saw Anakin's sad expression.
"I'm sorry for you father's death", said Anakin, looking into Padme's eyes.
"I guess we both have lost a lot with this war" said Padme as she hold his hand tenderly.
"Yeah, but my sister used to say that there is no time for mourning. You gain nothing from it. Working is the best way to keep sad memories out of your head", said Anakin with a smile and handed one of the folders to Padme. She smiled at him because she knew he was right, work was the best medicine to keep you thoughts away from painful memories.
Both got to work as fast a they could. The amount of decision making was exhausting, but they sure made a nice team for solving problems. Anakin's analytic intelligence and Padme's ability to see pass the obvious, helped them finish each assignment very efficiently.
They must have spent so much time working that they didn't realize when they fell asleep with exhaustion.
Anakin woke up first. He had a piece of paper glued to his face and a stiff neck. He removed the paper from his cheek and cracked his neck. When he opened his eyes he saw Padme, profoundly sleeping in front of him. She looked so beautiful in the candle light, that it seemed unbelievable that a woman so pretty and smart could even exist.
The weather was very cold, so Anakin took one of the blankets from a nearby chair. He put it on her shoulders and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. Her skin was still soft, even under the exposure to the merciless weather that hit the camp every day.
He wanted to get closer to her and a strong emotion took over him, so he got closer and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek; making sure not to wake her up. She accommodate herself in the chair, but remained sleeping. He sat in the chair across her and kept checking some papers when he heard people talking and loud noises outside their tent. The noise made Padme wake up abruptly and both moved outside with caution.
"Surprise!", screamed Padme's maidens. They had organized a small reunion outside her tent.
"What is this?", said Padme with a smile.
"Do you think we will forget about you birthday princess… I mean Queen Admidala", said one of his closest maidens as she took her hand and walked her outside into the crowd.
"Your birthday is a national holiday and we are glad to celebrate it even under this circumstances", said General Bino as he gave the queen a hug.
"Thank you so much for this. It means the world to me, but you shouldn't have to", said Padme with a smile. For Anakin it seemed like the first time he saw that expression on her. After all the things they had been through, it was probably the only moment in their adventure to actually be glad.
"I didn't know it was you birthday. Why didn't you told me?", said Anakin a little preoccupied for not having any gifts.
"I didn't realize the date either", said Padme. She seemed honest with her response. After all, they had been so busy lately.
Soon the music started and everyone at the camp, all 4 million, for a moment forgot their problems. It was definetly a party to remember