At the appearance of all the Jedi, the arena had gone deathly quiet. It seemed to take an eternity for anything to happen. Everything was so frozen in time as Padmé squinted to see what was happening between Dooku and Mace Windu on the balcony above. They were conversing, the Jedi wielding his blade, ready to duel, but the Count looked calm and collected, as usual.

Then the endless lines of droids appeared from every which way, firing their blasters without pretense. Obi-Wan, Padmé and Anakin fell off the reek, using it as a temporary shield along with Qui-Gon until the creature itself was felled by a well-placed blaster shot. Jedi jumped into the arena to assist them, tossing Qui-Gon and Anakin new blades to use, which they did effectively, creating a defensive circle as Padmé knelt to pick up a fallen blaster for the second time that day.

It was all or nothing, and she kept her finger on the trigger no matter what, even when the skin went raw. Padmé leaned against Obi-Wan's back and he deflected shots in one direction while she shot in the other, just as Anakin and Qui-Gon mimicked the gesture. For a while it seemed like they were making progress, until the realization dawned on them that Jedi were falling fast and even if the droids and Geonosians fell faster, there was an endless supply of the enemy, while their allies were in short supply.

The pretense of coordination and predetermined formations was gone and Padmé accepted it immediately, finger still on the trigger as she made her way to the cart that had brought her and Anakin out into the arena, overturned and secure enough to provide cover. Obi-Wan was right behind her, providing the defensive as she brought the offensive.

"I wouldn't call this diplomacy!" he remarked.

"No, I would call it aggressive negotiations!" Padmé shot back, grinning despite herself. She looked to Anakin and Qui-Gon, attuned to each other's movements without even having to glance over at one another, fighting back droids valiantly, even as hope still diminished before their very eyes.

More and more Jedi were falling to the ground, making it impossible to ignore, to fight against looking as life left their bodies and one less lightsaber was ignited to deflect the fire. Soon, she guessed, they were down to twenty. Twenty.

Just when it seemed they were to lose ten more, everything in the arena stopped. She knew that when she looked up to Count Dooku, still standing at his balcony, that he had a hand raised, motioning for everything to be put on hold for him.

"You have fought well," he complimented and even from where she stood, she could see a sickeningly amused smile on his face. "Surrender."

"We will not become hostages to be used as barter!" Mace Windu replied with a moment's hesitation.

"Then…I am sorry. You will have to be destroyed." He raised his hand again to give another signal.

Exhausted, dirty, sweaty, Padmé looked to the sky when she heard a noise, a foreign noise compared to the memory of blasters firing and lightsabers humming that echoed in her ears. She pointed, eyes widening. "Look!"

At least a half a dozen gunships were descending upon the arena, masterfully targeting the droids and firing upon them mercilessly, while some flew down and provided cover for the tiring Jedi defense.

Someone, perhaps Mace, shouted out, "Jedi! Move!" And that was that - without hesitation, everyone moved to the ships to be taken out of the arena. Refusing the proffered hand of a trooper inside the ship, Padmé instead turned and made sure to help her friends in as well, hopping in only when she knew they were all safe. The ship took off immediately, and she crouched along with them by the open side, watching in amazement as a larger, expanded area outside of the arena was revealed. This was no longer just a fight, just a rescue mission.

This was a battlefield. This was a war.

At the sight of everything, Qui-Gon commented on the skill of the troopers below. "Clones…they're good."

"Clones?" Padmé's brow furrowed, along with Obi-Wan's. The older Jedi explained to them what he and Anakin found on their mission. For once, Padmé found herself to be too exhausted, too numbed by what was happening, to express true surprise at the development.

A sudden defensive measure by the ship to avoid gunfire and return offensive fire back nearly threw them all out of the ship.

"Hold on!" Obi-Wan shouted, grabbing the edge of the door immediately.

Padmé couldn't help but make a comment. "Can't think of anything I'd rather do!"

He smirked at her with a shake of his head. The moment didn't last, however, Qui-Gon pointing through the cockpit outside. "It's Dooku!"

"Follow him!" Anakin ordered the pilot, who did as such.

Padmé looked around the ship - it was her, the three Jedi and only two soldiers. "We're going to need more men!"

"There's no time," Obi-Wan said. "We can handle this."

Two fighters flanking Dooku's ship slammed on their brakes, falling behind the gunship they were in and firing upon them immediately. The pilot maneuvered quickly, just in time for the ship to avoid being hit, but the movement was too sudden, and everyone aboard only barely grabbed hold of something.

Nearly everyone. Padmé reached out, and there was nothing but air. She could hear her name being screamed out by both Anakin and Obi-Wan, she could see everyone scrambling to grab her, but it was too late. She was falling, facing upwards, not knowing if she had only a second or an eternity to really ponder whether she'd survive this fall, if there was anything she could do to -

And then she slammed onto the ground in a moment of such immense, shocking pain, that everything went black.

-

When she awoke, she wasn't sure how much time had passed. But when she gathered her senses, pushing past the soreness throughout her entire body, the first thing that came to mind was that she needed to get to Obi-Wan, a sudden gripping fear that something bad was going to happen overtaking her.

Getting up, she was approached by some clone troopers who had landed a speeder just a few meters away. "Senator, are you alright?"

"I'm…" She arched her neck, and there was a pop. Wincing, she nodded. "I'm fine. We have to…we have to go where Dooku was headed, we have to help them!"

"It would be best to go to an aid station, ma'am."

Padmé shook her head, pushing past the trooper. "No, we're going to help them. Now."

-

"Obi-Wan!" Padmé's heart swelled at the sight of the Jedi Knight when she and the troopers arrived at the hangar. He was tired, but uninjured, and that was all that mattered to her. She ran to him, catching him in a tight hug that nearly knocked him over. She knew other Jedi were in the room but, for once, she didn't care. She kissed him on the cheek, tears at the corner of her eyes, daring to fall. "Oh my - I'm so glad you're okay!"

"I…" He squeezed her tightly, sighing against her neck. When the hug broke, he wouldn't meet her eyes, turning slowly on the ball of his foot to let her see past him.

It was then that she saw Anakin. Her heart stopped. "What…what happened?!"

The young Jedi winced, sweat glistening along his brow and cheeks - she almost mistook it for tears - and a certain refusal to meet anyone's eye-line as he struggled to walk forward. From just above his elbow down, there was nothing there - his arm had been severed clean.

"It's…it's nothing," he tried to wave it off when she stepped towards him. He hissed, belying his words immediately. He continued through gritted teeth. "Just a scratch."

Qui-Gon stood just a few meters away, looking just as exhausted, with his sleeve torn, stained red. Padmé's throat tightened and she looked to Obi-Wan. "Dooku?"

The Knight merely shook his head. Qui-Gon wordlessly swung his Padawan's good arm over his shoulder and helped the young man towards the exit. Padmé watched as they went for a moment, completely speechless at the defeat. A soldier ran into the room, saying something urgent about evacuation in clipped, even tones that seemed to make the atmosphere even more unnerved.

Obi-Wan touched Padmé's arm and she met his eyes. He nodded towards the exit, sighing once more. "Let's go, before - "

Before anyone else is needlessly injured? Imagines flashed before her eyes - images of explosions, dying soldiers, of Cordé. There was very little she could do to keep her hands from shaking as she walked back towards the transport with Obi-Wan.

-

The medical bay on a ship rushing out of the system of all places is where they found more calm and clarity. There was a sealed door between the room they were in and the ICU, so maybe that was it. Padmé still had a slight quiver to her hands, still thinking far too much about the repercussions of what just happened, of how the Republic would be affected, but moreso thinking of Anakin in surgery - the medical droids said he would be fine, other Jedi said the Force was on his side, but she was still thinking, despite her best efforts otherwiseFor once, the possibilities truly frightened her. The only thing more dominant in her thoughts than that was shame at allowing herself to be afraid, like a child.

But then, all she had to do was look into Obi-Wan's eyes for comfort, for assurance. Unlike how he had been immediately after Dooku's escape, he seemed more attuned to the positive. He wasn't giddy, obviously still slightly on edge with concern for Anakin, but more put together.

"What happened?" Padmé asked, finally, curiosity getting the better of her.

"With Dooku?" he guessed. He looked down and away from her for a moment, before returning his gaze. "He mentioned Anakin's mother - he used it to manipulate his anger to his favor. Anakin can't think clearly when he lets that side of himself take over. Dooku surmised as much and said things about Shmi, that she lay dead on Tatooine, that she was like that because he left her…"

"Exactly what Anakin doesn't want to hear," Padmé breathed, running a hand over her face, saddened, exhausted. "He lost focus, then?"

The Knight nodded. "He rushed in without thinking. We should be thankful he only lost his arm."

"Thankful," she repeated doubtfully. It was true, of course, but it didn't sound right, said aloud. The thought of Anakin losing himself in such a way scared her. The bright young man who helped her through the factory, who displayed as much steely determination to help Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as she had, contrasted with this dark image of an angry man throwing himself at an enemy in rage? It didn't sit right with her, not in the least.

Obi-Wan looked into the other room, eyes wandering along the injured, struggling soldiers, blue-grey intensifying in a way that made Padmé think he was, in some way, trying to will good health upon each and every one of them. She smiled ruefully up at him, but remained silent, letting herself enjoy the sight, unadulterated.

A few minutes of silence passed before someone spoke. Obi-Wan cleared his throat, "I'll be escorting you back to Naboo, if that's alright."

It seemed as if Palpatine already had the unconditional support from the Senate for the Clone army, considering what had just happened on Geonosis. She would need to regroup with advisors on Naboo before returning to Coruscant. "I don't want to impose."

"I owe you," he admitted with a wry smile. "I put you in all of that danger - the least I could do is give you a ride."

-

After Anakin was released to return to Coruscant to enter into rehabilitation, Obi-Wan and Padmé departed for Naboo. The trip was long and mostly silent, unfortunately, the only shared words being small talk, at most. There was that tension again, building towards something. She had to hide her hands underneath the table in the dining area of the transport so that they could fidget on their own accord.

She knew exactly what it was all building up to, of course. It took her long enough, but she had come to a realization on Geonosis, so sudden yet so already…so already the truth in her mind that when she acknowledged it, was a simple fact, it didn't stop her in her tracks, it was simply something she knew, instead of trying to deny and question.

But, of course, that didn't mean their problems were over with, that things would be an easy ride for them. Because, really, she loved Obi-Wan Kenobi and was finally willing to admit it to herself, but that did not, in any way, mean that anything could happen between them. Anything more, that is. What she loved most about him was his dedication to his duty, his honor, his compassion - he was a Jedi, through and through, and any pursuit of something more than friendship between them would only tear that distinction away from him. Was she truly selfish enough to do such a thing? Of course not. As much as it pained her, she knew that, even if she was going to talk about it with him, that if she was going to force it out into the open - just once, like Anakin said - that nothing would ever become of her feelings for Obi-Wan and his, if he had any, for her.

When they arrived at her parents house to find it empty - they most likely went to town to get groceries, she told him, since they still think I'm in hiding - she went back to her bedroom on the pretense of unpacking. She stopped at the foot of her bed and saw that he was still standing on the other side of the doorway. "Come in, please."

"Padmé, I don't - "

"We need to talk. Actually, really talk, Obi-Wan." She practically pointed threateningly at him to get the Jedi inside her room. The door slid shut behind him. A moment of awkward silence passed before she spoke again. "I thought you were dead on Geonosis. When that walkway broke off and fell, I…I thought you died. And there was nothing I regretted more than the fact that I never allowed myself to be honest with you. Truly honest."

"You're right, I - "

"I'm not finished," she held up her hand, not caring if she was being rude. She could see from his face that if it weren't for the crushingly tense discussion they were having, he would've smiled at her insistence. "I don't think I can say that from the moment I met you, I felt this way. But I know that when we met, there was a connection there, something I only realized recently, really, and even when I did, I wouldn't accept it. I tried not to accept any of this as reality - ever since you came back into my life, I've been fighting against this invisible force pulling me closer and closer to you. I've been afraid to even name it, naming it would only solidify that it exists. I…"

"Perhaps it would be best if - ," his voice cracked. "I know where you're going with this, Padmé. And if we're going to be honest with ourselves, then maybe we should admit that yes, there's something here, but we shouldn't say it, we shouldn't say what I think you're going to say."

"What do you think I'm going to say?"

He swallowed and opened his mouth, then closed it. When he finally did speak, he avoided the question entirely. "Padmé, I…fighting Dooku, I saw what became of Anakin when it came to his mother, just the mention of her being in mortal danger…" His hand moved, just a bare twitch, as if he wanted to reach out and grab hers. He sighed heavily. "Allowing anything to happen between us, Padmé, would only do us harm in the end. I can't let myself be drawn into these feelings I have for you, I'm sorry. Attachment is forbidden for a reason, it will only lead to anger, to the Dark Side. If that ever happened, if I ever went down that path…it's…it would be very hard to come back from that. And the last thing I want is to bring harm to you, to put you in any danger. I already care for you enough to raise alarm, by normal standards. It can't go any further than this."

"We both have our duties," Padmé agreed, even if her throat tightened around the words, desperate to force them back into nonexistence. "It's for the best."

"Yes," he nodded. After a moment, he allowed a small apology. "I'm sorry for cutting you off."

"No, you…" She almost laughed. Almost. "That's basically where I was going too, Obi-Wan. I just wanted to stop lying and just acknowledge this. Now that we have, we can move on."

"Move on," he nodded again, almost like a droid. The smile he offered was barely convincing. "I would like that."