Chapter Twelve - Orbs of Seduction
Anakin's look quickly changed from playful seduction to feral. He wanted to taste her mouth. Now. He brought his other hand up to entwine in her hair, pulling her to him. He shifted his head to get better access to her sweet lips…
"Hey, Lili? I want to show-oh!"
Lili jumped slightly when she heard Sabé's surprised voice. It took all her will power to push Anakin away from her. Her heart didn't want to, but her mind told her otherwise. She tried to pretend that what almost happened, didn't happen. She was certain her flushed face wasn't helping, either. She looked up at Anakin, who was just standing there with a smug grin on his face, which infuriated her more.
"I'm sorry…uh, would you two like me to come back later so you can finish your, uh, kiss?" Sabé said, desperately trying to hold back her laughter and pointing behind her.
"No! No," Lili said, pushing Anakin out of her way and made her way towards Sabé. "Uh…ooooo."
Sabé was only able to catch Lili mumbling something about being tricked when she marched out of the bridge. Sabé turned to catch Anakin's expression, but he was sitting back down in the pilot's chair with a stern scowl on his face. She decided it would be more fun to pester Lili about what happened than Anakin. She already had her suspicions and was going to make sure she found out the truth.
"Oh, Lili!" Sabé sang as she almost skipped back to the room where Lili had retreated.
She found Lili face down on the bed with her head buried in the pillows. Sabé thought Lili was crying, but changed her mind when she saw Lili sit up and pound the pillows to death. Sabé was only barely able to dodge the pillow that flew by her head. She smiled sweetly and sat down on the edge of the bed. She folded her hands in her lap demurely and waited.
After more fist pounding to the pillows, Lili sat still. She was breathing heavily, her hair was in her face, but seemed to feel better. She looked at Sabé, who seemed to be waiting on something. Let's see how I can explain this…
"That man is infuriating," Lili sounded pathetic.
"How so?"
Sabé watched Lili open and close her mouth a few times, as if trying to decide what to say. She imagined she looked like a fish out of water.
"Every time I'm around him…I lose my train of thought…and I swear he knows it whether I'm Force sensitive or not!"
"And that's infuriating how?" Sabé gleefully asked.
"He's supposed to be with Faydra," Lili snapped.
"Uh-huh…and why do you suppose he's attracted to you?"
"Because he's a man? I don't know!" Like hell I don't know…
"Doesn't seem like he was thinking about Faydra just then."
Lili pressed her fingers to her temples and took a deep breath. She slumped over and tried to calm herself. It wasn't working.
"Faydra isn't supposed to be here," Lili mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Sabé asked, lowering her voice.
"I mean that Faydra isn't in Star Wars as far as I know," she brought her head back up and looked at Sabé, almost pleadingly, before continuing. "And Anakin isn't engaged to her. He supposed to be with-"
"Lili, you're attracted to him, too. I've seen it," Sabé interrupted Lili's admission. "You get this, I don't know, wishful and longing look when you see him. That day in the cafeteria, I thought you were going to kill Faydra, you were so mad. Why? What do you know?"
"I was just shocked because it isn't how it's supposed to happen," Lili said to the floor, skirting around Sabé's inquisition.
"How what isn't supposed to happen?" Sabé's eyes narrowed and her suspicion meter was more than going off.
"This isn't making any sense, is it?" Lili murmured.
"Excuse me ladies, but we are approaching Naboo," Anakin's voice suddenly blared over the ship's speaker and causing Lili to startle again.
"Already?" Lili asked, puzzled.
"We'll finish this later, Lili. I promise," Sabé said and started to head back to the bridge.
"Yes, mommy…"
Sabé smiled at Lili on her way out of the room. Lili laughed to herself. She really did enjoy Sabé's company.
Lili tossed the pillow she was holding out of her lap and stood up. She laughed again when she saw the state of the small cabin. The bed was a mess and the pillows were rumpled, half of them on the floor. The relief of her anger and frustration had always made her own room look like a bomb had gone off when she got through. At least I feel better…
She quickly took the time to straighten the cabin before heading to the 'fresher to wash up. She took one look at her disheveled appearance and blanched. But once again, she was reminded that it wasn't her appearance. I'm going to forget what I really do look like…maybe that's the point…No! Oh, I curse the day I ever said 'I wish I was Natalie Portman!' God…I can't do this to myself. There has to be a reason…She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts from her head. She had a purpose and she was bound and determined to find out what it was!
She splashed water on her face, hoping to calm the still fierce blush she had. The one always caused by Anakin…I wonder if he… Lili's thoughts trailed off as she brought her fingers to her lips, touching them lightly, a small smile slowly forming…
"Lili? Are you going to hide back there all day?" The object of her daydream interrupted over the ships speaker again, with slight amusement in his voice.
She closed her eyes and counted to ten. I swear…if he doesn't go to the Dark Side first, I will…to strangle the man! She threw the towel she held into the sink and slapped a smile on her face, joining Anakin and Sabé on the bridge.
Anakin was intently making precise calculations into the computer. He glanced at Lili and immediately regretted it. Her hair was an absolute mess, her dress was wrinkled and her cheeks were rosy. She looked incredibly sexy. He took a deep breath and tried to think of something, anything, other than what he wanted to do to her. Dancing Yoda…naked dancing Yoda…
Sabé sat in the copilot's chair looking at a small datapad and frowning. Lili stood between the two, her gaze focused on the computer screen that counted down the seconds to the disengagement of hyperspace. She felt the odd feeling it was also the countdown to the beginning of something she couldn't explain…
"Five, Four, Three, Two, One…"
The ship lurched when it came out of hyperspace causing Lili to lose her balance and pitch to the side—and fall right into Anakin's lap. He grunted when he suddenly felt her added weight. Tiny as she was, it was unexpected. Lili groaned and buried her face in her hands, vowing to kill Sabé if she continued laughing at her misfortune. She dared to peak at Anakin's reaction instead of trying to get up.
"As much as I would love to hold you in my arms, I need to pilot the ship," he quietly said, his voice full of playful sarcasm.
Lili felt like she was going to catch on fire at any moment. Was it because of her renewed embarrassment or her position on Anakin's lap? She was ungracefully draped across him. She would have gotten up sooner, but it seemed Anakin didn't feel inclined to let her go. Why hadn't she noticed when he had wrapped his arms around her? He had both arms around her waist, making it impossible for her to move without help. Though, she didn't feel inclined to make any attempts to leave his arms, either. It could have been because of the way Anakin was looking at her… That same look earlier…oh dear… This man is infuriating…isn't he? He hated me only a few days ago! His obnoxious grin was enough to make her forget her thoughts, once again. Or was it the way his eyes sparkled in devilment? She wondered how many girls had crushes on him back at the Jedi Temple.
Sabé was about to remind Anakin to pilot his ship, but decided not to ruin the moment Anakin and Lili were sharing. The two were just staring at each other, as if they had tuned out the rest of the universe. She looked away when Anakin leaned down and brushed a lock of curly, chocolate brown hair out of Lili's face. She almost snorted in merriment when she heard Lili's soft sigh.
Faydra…I must think of my fiancé, shouldn't I? Force, Lili's beautiful…Oh my…is he going to…um…
Once again Anakin entwined his hand in her soft hair, bringing her head up to meet his lips. Lili braced her hands on his chest and closed her eyes, waiting for what she knew was going to come. Anakin leaned down at the same time to gently…
The sudden alarm from the console alerted Anakin to where he was. He all but dumped Lili to the floor beside him as he regained control of the Anakin's Angel. He had barely been able to keep them from burning up in Naboo's atmosphere. Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to see Lili dusting herself off, her movements over exaggerated. He was also able to catch the glare she gave him before she sat down in the seat behind Sabé. I'm so dead…
"What were you looking at?" Lili questioned a still grinning Sabé. "Oh, shut up…"
Sabé looked at Anakin, who was quietly inputting Naboo's clearance codes to the computer, before answering Lili.
"I was looking at the list of candidates for the election," she said with a frown.
"You don't look too happy about that."
"I'm not. One of the candidates is Role Jabin…and he's leading."
"Who?"
"Role Jabin," she repeated and looked at the list on the datapad again. "He's the man who murdered…my best friend, Queen Amidala."
