Hey hey!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I actually hadn't considered Padme to be selfish, more just a repressed girl struggling to process her emotions after years of work in the Senate where the last thing you should be is overly emotional. But don't worry, as the story goes on she won't be able to keep pushing those feelings down!

Anyway, here's the next chapter! Someone else has issues with these two's unhealthy coping mechanisms too…

Padme couldn't believe her luck. Seriously. Can we just pause a second to note that in the space of two weeks, she had somehow gone from being sexually empowered, having locked down the best one-night-stand of her life that was totally uncomplicated (if she didn't think about it too hard), to standing on an open landing platform, receiving her second fist-bump of the week from the very same man who she had unintentionally friend-zoned. Oh, and to make matters worse, standing just two feet away from her was the woman who had actually gone home with him (sex or no sex).

She sighed. What a disaster.

'See you soon Pad. Can't believe I won't get to see your face for God knows how long' he said, voice soft enough for Bail Organa, who was standing rather close on her left, wouldn't hear. She looked up at his twinkling eyes, then down at his hand extended in yet another fist.

Reluctantly, she bumped it. 'Best friends for life Ani'.

She could see the corners of Bail's mouth curling in a laugh.

Fuck you Bail, she thought. If anyone gets to laugh at the ridiculous state of my life, it's me.

Anakin stepped back, bowing to Mas Ameeda on her right as he made his way down the platform. What a ridiculous debacle this whole thing was. Why did they have to stand in line for this pointless send-off as if the Jedi returning to the battlefront was some Senate-endorsement act? If Padme had her way, she would be standing on this platform welcoming the entire Republic army home for good as the war ended. The fact that Palpatine was making them all symbolically stand in favour of continuing the war, while still postponing the meeting to discuss her bill and dodging her calls, was a comment on the sorry state of democracy.

'Don't look now, Senator' said Ahsoka under her breath as she made her way down the line, standing in front of Padme and bowing.

Padme subtly glanced to her right. What she saw made her stomach heave.

Princess Ecosa, who for some reason had been included in the send-off party (something to do with her status as member of the Monarchy, or whatever), had grabbed Anakin by the collar and was whispering in his ear while twirling a strand of her hair. Visibly uncomfortable, Anakin was wriggling out of her clutches, but still leaned in and gave her an awkward kiss on the cheek as he stepped off the platform.

'I'll miss you baby!' she screamed, flinging out her arms wildly as he pursed his lips in a smile and turned towards the ship.

'I take it she's looking for Round 2 then' said Padme to Ahsoka.

'Maybe this time they'll get past second base' laughed Ahsoka, not notice Padme's squirms. 'Men eh? What a brainless gender.'

She grinned to her left. 'No offence Bail.'

'None taken Padawan Tano' Bail smiled, evidently rather amused by the display.

Ahsoka completely avoided The Princess, who was now making a display of crying noisily, blowing her nose on a custom-made pink tissue.

'Goodness me, what a show!' whispered Bail to Padme, who grimaced in response. 'I really wouldn't have put those two together myself, but you know, the heart wants what it wants!'

'I don't think the heart has anything to do with it Bail' retorted Padme, surprised at his appetite for gossip.

'Well I suppose who can blame the poor girl for getting swept up' he continued, either oblivious to or choosing to ignore Padme's reluctance to continue this line of conversation. 'He's a very good looking boy isn't he?'

'Are you talking about my baby Ani?' the shrill voice of The Princess pierced Padme's ears before she had the chance to blush at Bail's question.

'Eurgh Senator it's just so horrible having to watch him fly off to war, who knows when- or if!- he'll come back unharmed' she sighed, taking Padme's arm in a tight grip and leaning her big blonde head on the unfortunate Senator's shoulders. 'You wouldn't believe the connection we have. And now he's just gone! Flying away like a ghost in the night!'

'He hasn't even got in his ship yet Princess!' Padme pointed to Anakin, still loading a collection of weapons into his ship on the landing strip.

'Well you know what I mean silly!' she snorted loudly. 'Although one good thing of him leaving is I can finally get my normal rhythm back. Since he's been in Coruscant, I've been somewhat distracted…'

She cackled in Padme's ear, turning the Senator's stomach. She wanted to wrench free her arm free from the insufferable woman. If she was this bad when they hadn't even slept together, Padme dreaded to think how she would be if… No. It didn't bear thinking about.

Plus, she sighed, Anakin's personal life was clearly none of her business. He had put their encounter in the past. Better for everyone if she did too. She sighed, patting the wailing Princess on the arm as Anakin's ship took off, disappearing like a tiny yellow flame into the clouds.

.

Anakin could feel Ahsoka's gaze burning into his face as he swooped their ship gracefully through the stratosphere. God, he was a fantastic pilot, he mused to himself, wondering if it would be breaking the Code on committed relationships if he married this speeder.

'Look at that maneuver, Snips' he said, 'Smooth as silk.'

She scoffed, crossing her arms and turning to gaze out the window.

'Shocked into silence by my brilliance, Snips? I don't blame you' he said, laughing.

'More like overcome with nausea' she said, raising her eyebrows. 'You seem awfully chipper Master. Did that little display on the platform give you a lease of life?'

'Oh please. Quite the opposite' he looked firmly ahead, the swooshing of the clouds past the windows healing his shame like balm.

'It was humiliating, you do realise that don't you?' she said pointedly. 'You spend so long wittering on about me 'tarnishing your image' and then you do something as publicly shameful as that?'

'Look Snips' he shot her a glare, 'you think I wanted that? You think that was fun for me? Why do you think we took off without executing any of the usual fuel checks? I couldn't get out of there quickly enough.'

'Well maybe you shouldn't have gone home with the biggest loud-mouth in the galaxy!' Ahsoka was gobsmacked at his stubborn refusal to take responsibility for his actions. 'God, you can be so pig-headed!'

'Come on Snips, nothing even happened!' he said, laughing. 'Well, pretty much nothing…'

She shook her head, crossing her arms and sinking back into the copilot seat.

'What's your problem Snips?' he nudged her. 'Look. I know she's the worst, I know that more than most in fact.'

He looked over at Ahsoka, who was still glaring at the lights of the galaxy through the window.

He sighed. Well he might as well attempt an explanation. Here goes nothing.

'Snips, if you must know.' He paused. Was he really going to do this? Maybe a four hour flight would be drastically more enjoyable if his padawan was silent the whole time. He glanced over at her scowling away. Fuck it.

He sighed. 'Snips. Sometimes a man- or a woman!- has certain… shall I say… urges…'

'Master, I don't need this talk from you!' She covered her ears in disgust. 'I know what happens when men get horny!'

'Well why are you sulking then!' he said indignantly, 'You know I can't get off with prostitutes, or anyone else on the frontline for that matter! I had to take what I could get!'

She glared at him. 'You realise how disgusting you sound, right?'

'Look Snips, it's a fact of life' he said through laughs.

'But Master, her?!' Ahsoka interjected, the disapproval weighing down every syllable. 'She's literally the most brazen, irritating, slaggy woman in the enti-'

'Slaggy! Miss Tano, are you slut-shaming?' he widened his eyes in mock-disgust.

'Don't try and turn this on me, Master' she said, pouting. 'I just hadn't realised you literally had no taste in women, that's all'.

Topping this self-righteous display off, she leaned back, raising her eyebrows and said 'I'm not angry, just disappointed'.

'Oh get out your own ass Snips' he shook his head, eyes firmly on the road and regretted ever starting this conversation. 'We didn't even sleep together. I don't know what your problem is.'

They sat in silence for a moment, Anakin willing himself to bite his tongue and leave it be.

But when was he ever one to take good advice, even when coming from himself.

'And just so you know, I do have taste in women.' He regretted it as soon as he said it.

'Pfft.' Ahsoka's disbelief was so strong she turned post-verbal.

'You don't know shit, Snips' he said, narrowing his eyes and continuing to fix his gaze ahead.

'Um, I know how you spent this last week Master' she interjected. 'Plus, I have eyes- I can see your neck!'

He quickly pulled up his collar to conceal the incriminating bruises.

'Yeah- those weren't intentional' he cringed.

'How old are you Master? Just been to your first big boy slumber party?' Ahsoka tried not to laugh. She was seriously disappointed in him, and she knew his uncanny ability to weasel his way out of taking blame.

'You are sure riding this high-horse hard today Snips' he said, slyly trying to make sure his collar didn't dip any further down. 'Good job you're perfect and have never made any mistakes.' He shot her a look.

'Oh a mistake? Is that what we are calling this?' asked Ahsoka.

'Precisely Snips' Anakin smirked. 'A blot on my otherwise spotless copy-book.'

'So where are these other glowing testaments to your taste level then Master?' she asked.

He shook his head, laughing.

'Seriously Master!', she said, 'you spend hours whining about how you respect bodily autonomy too much to ever be with a prostitute successfully, then your first chance to find an actual woman and you choose someone who reinforces every negative female stereotype ever? I feel like poor taste is an understatement. You might just be a suppressed misogynist.'

His mouth fell open in shock. 'Are you serious Snips?'

'Yes Master I am!' she folded her arms. 'Women like The Princess make the rest of us, struggling for respect in a man's world, look like dowdy fools. You see how tirelessly Senator Amidala fights to be taken seriously for her brain, not just her beauty. And then you choose someone who is proud to be objectified? Who actually thinks it's a compliment to be treated as nothing more than a collection of body parts?'

'Snips, I am not a misogynist. The Princess was a mistake that just… happened. She is not my normal type, nor will it happen again' he said, glaring at her.

'Right so who is your normal type then?' she asked indignantly.

'Snips, are you asking me out? Cos I hate to disappoint, but I think you're a bit young for me' he laughed.

'Ew! No!' she shot him daggers. 'Plus, I don't have nearly enough plastic in me for you to go near me even if in some perverse world I wanted that- WHICH I DON'T!'

'Well good' he said, chuckling. 'I don't think the integrity of the Code would take it if that happened'.

Ahsoka smirked out the window, muttering something under her breath.

'What was that Snips?' Anakin said, 'speak up since you so clearly want me to hear you.'

'I said 'Predictable'' Ahsoka shot him another sarcastic look.

'What do you mean, predictable?' he was fast losing patience with this conversation.

'It's an adjective Master' she shot back, 'it means deeply unsurprising.'

God she was insufferable. How had only half an hour of this tedious journey passed?

She continued. 'And in this context, I use it to indicate how deeply unsurprising it is that you shift the conversation on rather than give a single example to refute my claim that plastic sex-dolls like The Princess are all you look for in a woman'.

'Jesus Snips! This again!' he huffed.

'Master it's OK! Just admit it! You have been lured in by misogynist beauty standards!'

'Snips, The Princess is far from my type, OK?' he said, not quite sure how they had got stuck on this line of conversation. Oh yeah. His damned hickeys. Curse that woman.

'Ok so who is then? Who is the true representation of your dream woman?'

He looked down, sighing. How did they get here?

'Master?'

He shot her a glare. 'I think you know Snips' he said, trying his best to sound unshaken.

'Do I?' she questioned.

'Well I must hide it better than I thought' he said, an air of smugness competing with his sudden shyness.

She widened her eyes inquisitively, sensing it was best to let him spit it out in his own time.

'I guess- well, my dream dream woman is.. of course she's everyone's dream, but well' he stuttered over his words.

'Spit it out Master!' she said, laughing.

He narrowed his eyes, glaring at her. He took a breath. God, why couldn't he push himself over this verbal hurdle?

'Do you mean Senator Amidala?' Ahsoka asked.

Anakin breathed, aware of his treacherous face flushing. He looked at his padawan, then back out the window.

'Master?!'

'Well yeah! Of course I do!' he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, then suddenly remembering the hideous hickeys, pulling up his collar.

He shot Ahsoka a look. She was suppressing a giggle. 'What Snips? She's … well she's pretty hot. Well, gorgeous in fact.'

Anakin wanted to slam his face on the steering wheel at how painfully stilted he was even when Padme wasn't in the room.

Ahsoka pursed her lips, grinning.

'What?!' Anakin asked.

'Well…' she fiddled with her robes, shooting him a glance. 'That doesn't really count, does it?'

'What! Why not!' Anakin's mouth fell open in shock! After the ordeal of actually vocalising her name, now it wasn't good enough for her? The girl was insufferable!

'Well first of all, everyone is into the Senator. Hell- I would call her my dream woman too! And more importantly, you have just spent a week pursuing Queen Bimbo, then hold the Senator on some theoretical pedestal of what you actually want, despite going for her complete opposite?'

Sometimes he hated how bright she was.

Anakin now had a choice. Keep his secret and be known as a misogynist. Or clear his name, but at a cost. Which road would be less painful?

He sighed. Might as well make this flight interesting.

'She isn't a theoretical concept, Snips' he said. 'I mean- The Senator, P-Padme. She's not theoretical.'

Smoothly put Skywalker.

'How is she not theoretical?' asked Ahsoka. 'What- have you got with her?' she said, laughing.

Anakin narrowed his eyes, gaze fixed firmly forward.

'Master?' Ahsoka's mouth slowly fell open.

Anakin continued saying nothing, focusing on smoothly avoiding some space-debris floating in their vicinity.

'Pfft. No way.' Ahsoka sat back in her chair, scrutinizing him.

'What?' asked Anakin, still looking forward. 'Think she's out of my league? I'm not disputing that Snips.'

'You got with the Senator?' she said, not sure whether to dispute it or process it.

Anakin shot her a timid glance.

'I'm so confused! Is this some joke?!' Ahsoka pulled her legs up to her chest, hands raised to her cheeks in shock. 'When did this happen?!'

'Look Snips, I don't want to go into it, and I can imagine she would say exactly the same' Anakin fixed his gaze out of the window, fighting a losing battle against the blush that spread across his face. 'All I would say is maybe don't go on about my terrible taste in women in front of her, OK?'

Ahsoka was struck dumb. All she could do was gawk, still not sure if this was all one big joke.

'I can't believe this Master!' her mouth was still wide, as were her eyes. 'When did this happen? Was this some weird thing that you kissed her for one second when you were 14? Cos I'm not sure that really counts…'

He glared at her. 'If you must know, it was recently. About a month ago in fact. And before you ask- that is ALL the information you're getting from me.'

He shuffled in his chair, cracking his neck as his padawan continued reeling with the news.

'A month ago?!' she was so shocked! 'What- when she visited camp?'

Anakin shot her a glare.

'Well?!'

'Yes! Fine! It was then, OK!'

'And what?! Was it the night you two stayed up? Ew Master, did you kiss her in the canteen?' Ahsoka couldn't believe she had thought last week's gossip was scandalous after hearing this. 'Surely someone would have seen!'

'Well no- it was the next night' he said, regretting giving her anymore information than the bare facts already. 'And it wasn't in the canteen! Who do you think I am! Being with a girl two tables away from an old plate of beans and chips?'

'Well Master you did get with Princess Ecosa. Your standards clearly aren't too high'.

He glared at her. 'Well no. It wasn't there. And, again, that's all the information you're getting.'

Ahsoka completely ignored his assertion of boundaries. 'So did you just kiss then? What was it like? Was it magical? Did she smell like strawberries?'

Anakin laughed, shaking his head and not dignifying her with a response.

'Master? Was it just a kiss?' she asked. God, getting information out of him was like hand pressing cloth; cumbersome and backbreaking for a minimal yield.

He said nothing.

'Oh my god. Did you sleep with her?' Ahsoka's eyes widened.

Anakin shot her a look. 'I told you Snips. You're not getting any more information from me.'

'Did you though?' she asked excitedly.

'Please! I have privacy boundaries!' he said.

'Master, you have two red hickeys on either side of your neck. You look like the bolts in the neck of Frankenstein's monster. Why would you rather me know about The Princess than Senator Amidala?'

Anakin sighed. Why had he not simply said no to Master Yoda's suggestion he trained a padawan all those years ago? No Master, I'm not sure I'm ready. It could have been so much easier.

'Look Snips. This is something you must guard with your life. No one knows this, not Master Kenobi, not Bail, I'm pretty sure even her handmaidens don't know. If you let that big mouth of yours hurt her reputation, it will be a serious problem, OK?'

Ahsoka didn't know what to say. She just sat there, gazing dumbly with her mouth wide open.

'Lost for words?' he asked, smirking over at her. 'Fucking finally! Now I can get on with this flight with some peace!'

'Why in God's name would you give her fist-bump today then Master?' she exclaimed. 'Did you think that was some hip new trend with the youth for someone you've fucked?!'

'Please! Snips, watch your mouth!' he said. 'I take your point though. That was pretty humiliating of me.'

'You know Master, I'm not sure I'm buying this' she said, folding her arms again. 'If you've slept with The Senator, why would you ever spend this week with The Princess instead?'

'What's wrong with The Princess, Snips?' he prodded, smirking 'that sound's pretty derogatory of you. Maybe you're the misogynist after all?'

'Oh you know what I mean' she huffed.

Anakin sighed. Might as well detail the full humiliating ordeal now he had got this far.

'If you must know Snips, I'm pretty sure me and Padme was strictly a one-time arrangement' he said quietly. 'In fact, I know it was. And if she isn't keen to relive it, I have to just be overwhelmingly happy that she let me be with her in the first place'.

He shot his gobsmacked padawan a smile.

'After all, as you so kindly pointed out, she is pretty far out of my league'.

'So she said no?' asked Ahsoka, eyes wide.

'She made it pretty clear, yeah' said Anakin, clearing his throat and stroking the back of his neck.

'I'm sorry Master' she said softly.

'Oh come off it Snips' he said, glaring at her with a smile.

'No! I'm serious!' she said incredulously. 'That must really suck'.

'It wasn't a day I'll remember fondly, no' said Anakin, laughing sadly and shooting her a look. 'She chucked me out her office when I even hinted at it'.

'Ouch!' Ahsoka chuckled quietly, 'I now see why you needed something to soothe the old ego'.

'Well I can't let my famous ego shrink, now can I Snips?' said Anakin, laughing quietly. It felt kind of nice to share this with her. Not quite worth the humiliation of bearing his soul. But nice.

'So do you like her then?' Ahsoka decided to ask one final question. Might as well get it all out.

Anakin sighed, looking forward. 'Of course I like her. She's perfect.' He gave a little laugh, breaking the moment. 'But I don't think I'm that special for liking her. She has half the galaxy under her thumb, doesn't she?'

'But you've actually slept with her, which gives you a leg up on the masses' said Ahsoka, not sure if that really helped.

Anakin laughed. 'Well exactly. I just have to keep thanking the stars that I had that world-shattering experience and stop being a little brat who's always wanting more.' He sighed. 'She really doesn't give us a chance, being so beautiful, smart and endlessly lovely, does she?'

'None at all!' laughed Ahsoka. 'So you must have been thrilled when she showed up at the same bar as you and The Princess then?'

'Snips, I almost cried. I swear.'

Looks like a few hours in a cockpit means Ahsoka won't let her master get away with his shifty behaviour. And now she knows…

This was actually one of my favourite scenes to write. What can I say? I love a long, winding conversation.

Please drop me a review if you can!

Lots of love xxx