Chapter Twelve

Anakin chose to ignore the ruckus coming from upstairs, although it was quite loud. He couldn't discern what the two women were screeching about and he didn't really care. He was much more concerned with trying to figure out a way to get out of his current predicament and make sure his Master was all right.

But much to his dismay, the Force was beyond his reach. Not only could he not feel the training bond he shared with Obi-Wan, he could not rely upon it to assist in his escape.

He'd already tested the door at the top of the small flight of stairs. The inner core was possibly wood, but the outer frame was durasteel. Without his lightsaber, there was no way he could break through it.

The young man went back down the steps and pushed the lone metal stool in the basement over to one of the high narrow windows. Reaching up, he gripped onto the windowsill and peered through the glass, balancing precariously on the stool.

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice suddenly shouted out behind him, startling the padawan, who immediately teetered and ended up falling off his perch, landing heavily to the floor onto his side, the metal stool skittering across the stone floor.

Anakin groaned as he clutched his ribs, feeling a pain radiating up his back and then small but strong hands gripping his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry!" Dormé declared as she attempted to help him stand, but Anakin moved into a seated posture with his back against the cool, damp wall, curiously viewing the young woman crouched before him. "Are you hurt?"

"No. I don't think so." Anakin rolled his shoulders, the pain turning into a dull, subsiding ache. He then turned his attention once more to Dormé, surprised to see a playful smirk on her face.

"I thought Jedi were more coordinated than that." She said, leaning her head onto her hands, propped on her knees.

But the apprentice obviously did not see the humor in the situation. "I can't feel the Force, and I suppose you have something to do with that!"

The smile quickly disappeared from the bodyguard's face. "I sure do." She answered quite smugly. "I have a Force inhibitor in the house."

"So, you knew we were coming." Anakin noted with a glare. Who did this woman think she was anyway? "But I don't understand why you're holding me and my Master hostage."

"I have to protect the senator." Dormé murmured, rising quickly to her feet.

Protect her from the Jedi? Why would Dormé feel the need to do that? Unless there was somebody else threatening the senator. Someone they didn't know about. Someone Force sensitive perhaps?

"Protect her from who?" He finally asked.

"From you!" Came the loud, accusatory reply.

"It's too quiet." Padmé noted as the stillness of the evening settled inside and outside the small lake home.

"That could be a bad sign." Obi-Wan jokingly replied.

"They're not dead." Padmé chuckled, but then turned somber as she dwelled on that exact possibility.

"Maybe not, but I'd like to know what they're up to, and what they did with my apprentice." The Jedi pondered as he sat next to the young senator, focusing upon a pair of bare feet that were sticking out from underneath her dark green velvet gown. They were petite like she was, the toenails manicured and painted. Quite attractive, as far as feet went, he decided.

"I was wondering about that myself." The senator said as her eyes drifted down the tan leggings to Obi-Wan's toes. Nails trimmed almost too short, she noted. They weren't too big and at least they were straight. Not bad looking at all, for feet.

"I hope that he's all right." She added and from the corner of her eye saw Obi-Wan's attention move upward to her face, and she turned her head to meet his gaze.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" He asked, fully aware that Anakin had been spending a lot of his spare time with the young woman, and the truth was, he couldn't blame him. Padmé was a beautiful creature. He had always thought so. But underneath her beauty, she was also intelligent, brave, and compassionate. Qualities that he admired in a female.

He would have pursued a relationship with her himself after Naboo, but acquiring an apprentice had required his full attention. Attention that he hadn't wanted to deny her. She deserved much more than he could give her at the time.

In just a few years though, Anakin would be facing his trials and then Obi-Wan have much more free time. Maybe then, he would allow himself the opportunity to pursue other pleasures. And the company of Padmé Amidala would certainly have been pleasurable.

However, it now seemed that he was too late. His apprentice had obviously noticed her and how could he not? One would have to be blind not to see her many favorable attributes.

"Of course I'm worried." Padmé answered Obi-Wan's question.

And although it pained him to hear it, the Jedi simply had to ask. "So tell me. How serious are you about my apprentice?"

Obi-Wan's gaze flickered from the blush of her lips to those deep, dark orbs, and he was surprised at the flash of confusion that he saw there, as short-lived as it was. What he saw now in her face though, could only be described as relief.

"I'm not." She sighed. "We're just friends."

"But what about all the dates, the messages, the secret meetings?" The Jedi asked in confusion to which Padmé smiled sweetly in return.

"I've been helping Anakin with a….project." She explained, hope bubbling within her, coloring her cheeks. Was that the reason Obi-Wan had been so distant with her? He was friendly, yes, but nothing like he was when they first met. At that time, he had been attentive, energetic, and even flirtatious.

After the Naboo Occupation had ended, Padmé had half expected him to ask her out, but then Master Jinn had been killed and Obi-Wan had begun training Anakin, and then…Well, then they had simply lost touch.

Until recently when her life had been threatened and the two Jedi had been assigned as her protection.

However, upon seeing Obi-Wan again, Padmé had immediately noticed the change. He was not only more older, he was much more serious; all duty and business – like a Jedi Master should be.

Anakin, however, was charming, attentive, and funny and they quickly became good friends. So when the young man had asked for her help, she couldn't refuse him.

Besides, spending time with the padawan guaranteed that some day, her path would cross with his Master's. Or at least she had hoped so.

Was it possible that the reason for Obi-Wan's lack of interest was that he thought she was romantically involved with his apprentice?

She had to find out.

Firming her resolve, Padmé decided to test her theory. Boldly reaching out with one hand, she grasped onto Obi-Wan's. "Anakin and I are just friends." She confirmed, watching his face intently, her chest swelling with joy as the grip on her hand tightened and a large smile erupted on his most handsome face.