Hey everyone!

I have been possessed with the writing bug lately, and while a lot of it is not worthy of publishing, I did like this idea.

This AU fic is set at some point in The Clone Wars. Anakin was never assigned to protect Padme in Naboo, so they circled around one another, ignoring the sexual tension and becoming friends. That is, until now.

I own nothing in this story bar my OC Princess Ecosa. (Why do I always own the worst characters!) I plan to make this a 3 or 4 part short story, not an epic like my other story, 'A Second Heart' (shameless plug there! Go and read it!)

Please drop me a review if you enjoy the story or have any notes, pointers, or scenarios you would like to see me write in the future!

'So you're trying to tell me that no one here has slept together?' Princess Ecosa leaned back on her chair, smirking provocatively at the circle of uncomfortable faces before her.

She wasn't fazed. If anything, their nervous shuffles seemed to spur her on.

Excellent, thought Obi Wan. Just what this camp needs. 300 men, cooped up for 2 months with nothing but their own imaginations for company, woefully unprepared to have a sexually liberated woman in their midst. Her gaze ran over the line of awkward faces, causing a ripple of muscle spasms as she licked her lips, smiling.

He almost regretted rescuing her in the first place. Well, instructing Anakin to rescue her.

His gaze travelled over to his former padawan, who seemed to be suddenly engrossed with the straps on his leather glove. Unluckily for him, he seemed to be the main focus of the Princess's seductive glances. Poor bastard. Well if nothing else, she sure was demonstrating the power of persistence

'Come on! None of you?!' her grating laugh made a few of the soldiers startle, accidently catch her probing gaze.

'Do you think if we say nothing for long enough, she'll give up?' Ahsoka whispered behind her hand to her silent Master.

Bad idea.

'What was that back there!' The Princess turned her abrasive spotlight on the poor Padawan, who jumped, then internally cursed her stupidity for not staying rigidly still. Any movement disturbs the beast! She knew that!

'You two seem pretty cosy back there!' she cackled loudly. 'I knew you would be the culprit of any…naughtiness, Anakin.' Her lips pouted, letting every syllable of his name cascade off her tongue like syrup.

Anakin's head fell to his lap. Why was he being singled out now! Hadn't he done his time with this insufferable woman when he spent 3 hours cooped up in the cockpit of his ship with her?! That had been, without doubt, the worst rescue mission he had ever had the misfortune of embarking on. The moment her shrill voice had pierced his ears, he could see why General Grievous's henchmen had been so quick to set her free.

Safe to say that voice didn't get any better with time. Every second spent returning her to camp had chipped away at his sense of self. 'Oooh Anakin, you're so braaave' 'Ooh Master Jedi, how did you get that sexy scar?' 'Oooh Anakin, can I have a go steering? You can be my teacher, I'll sit on your lap …' His ears had barely recovered.

And the moment he was finally free from that compression chamber of a ship, she had demanded he introduce her to the rest of the team. 'Come on, don't be a spoilsport! I just want to be One Of The Boys!'

So here he was. Having to endure yet another night in a dingy tent, being probed about the one subject best left to stew away at the back of his mind; his sex life. And by Princess Loudmouth no less.

'So go on then! Dish the dirt?' her nasal cackles infected his eardrums like toxic soundwaves. 'Have you two done the deed!'

Glancing to his left, he was relieved to see that Ahsoka was as shocked and perplexed as he was. Unfortunately for him, she seemed to be frozen in her chair. Looks like he wouldn't get any words out of her then. For fucks sake. Maybe it was time to take a leaf out of Obi Wan's book and hit this woman with a dose of stern chastisement. The older Anakin got, the more he began to empathise with his Master's constant irritation. God! Maybe this was how it all started! Day One: mild annoyance. Day Two: greying hair and an inability to fly faster than 30mph without motion sickness.

'Don't be ridiculous, Princess.' His curt tone cut through the room. 'We are soldiers. We have a war to focus on. Not everything is about sex.'

He noticed her struggle for words, a blush creeping across her cheeks. He suddenly felt bad. Had he been too harsh? She was the recent victim of a kidnapping after all- he was supposed to make her feel safe, not give her a good talking to.

He immediately regretted his guilt as she licked her lips, making shameless sex eyes at him under her stubby eyelashes.

'Master Skywalker… you know I can't resist that stern voice.' His jaw dropped as she pushed the unsubtlety boat into the harbour of shamelessness, shimmying her dress down and bending over to give him an eyeful of her cleavage. Smacking her tongue over her lips once more, she topped off the whole display by lowering her voice to a sultry whisper. 'I am a woman, after all.'

Where was this low voice in the cockpit, he wondered. His ears might not still be ringing from their shrill onslaught if she had kicked this ridiculous act into gear a few hours earlier. Beside him, he saw Ahsoka's shoulders shaking as she tried her best to conceal her laughter. Oh, he saw how it was. All hilarity when the spotlight was turned on him.

'Princess, let's keep this professional shall we?'

He tried to ignore her visibly quaking with desire at the return of his assertive tone. God! Maybe he should try being a rude prick to the next woman he was actually interested in! It seemed to yield far more profitable results than his usual Little-Boy-Lost gig.

'Anyway, looks like it's time for me to retire for the night.' He checked his watch. 8pm. Oh well. Who said he wasn't a very early sleeper? He got up, cracking the bubble of tension in the tent by opening the door. Oh God. It was still light outside. Fuck it. He was committing to it now. Early to bed, late to rise, that would be his new mantra. Or, it would be for at least as long as this nightmare woman was in their company.

'Princess, Ahsoka will help settle you in your tent for the evening.'

He turned on his heel, ignoring the daggers thrown at him by his hapless Padawan. Oh well, he thought, that serves her right for laughing at him. A ludicrously early night's sleep was exactly what he needed right now.

The first sliver of light under the tent tarpaulin roused Anakin from his long slumber. He cracked open an eye, checking his commlink for the time. 9am! Jesus! This was the longest sleep he had had since the start of the war! 3 hours in a hermetically sealed compartment with the Princess had taken more out of him than his battle with Dooku. Even his dreams had been plagued with memories of the ordeal. Why else had he spent his entire night dreaming of being chased by a gramophone with googly eyes, sticky eyelashes and a dry blonde wig. Life clearly imitates art.

He rushed out his tent, shoving his tunic on over his dirty undershirt as he crossed the camp. He didn't have time to worry about hygiene when he was almost 2 hours late to morning practise. Obi Wan was going to kill him. Maybe this would be his revenge on his Master for delegating the 'Rescue the Princess' mission.

Anakin didn't have time to worry about how much brain space he had used reaping revenge on his colleagues lately, as his gaze spotted a large crowd of clones congregating by a makeshift platform at the front of the camp.

He spotted Ahsoka.

'Morning Sleeping Beauty! Enjoy your hibernation?' her face looked like a slapped arse. Clearly she wasn't over him assigning her to the Princess's aid last night.

'12 hours away from you could never come sooner, Snips.' He grinned in the face of her scowl. 'So how was your night with our distinguished guest? Actually, where is The Princess now? Aren't you supposed to be looking after her?'

The vein on Ahsoka's forehead was bulging dangerously, her brow furrowed so tightly that it looked like her skin was about to snap.

'Oh don't you worry Master, she is completely safe.' Ahsoka smiled sweetly, her bulging eyes betraying her rage. 'She's showering. I have been informed at great length how vital it is for her to take a private shower in order for her hair to keep its 'natural moisture''.

'A private shower? We only have one shower block! And 300 stinking clones!' Anakin forced back his laughter. God he was glad to have delegated that particular task.

'Yes Master, I am fully aware of the logistics' she glowered at him. 'As are the queue of men who I had to send away while the Princess used half of our electricity so she could dry her hair. After all, she couldn't be seen without her signature curls now could she!'

Anakin wasn't even trying to hide his laughter now. 13 hours sleep, and fully avoiding Princess Ecosa's morning routine? How could this day get any better?

'Well if anyone knows the importance of looking good, it's me.' He winked at her as she rolled her eyes. Today was not her day. One arrogant idiot was bad enough, let alone two!

'So why are we gathered at this platform Snips?' he asked. 'Is the Princess about to give a persuasive speech about why someone in this camp should fuck her?'

'Shh Master, she's just over there!' Ahsoka hushed him, pointing to the gaggle of figures on the platform.

God, how had he not spotted her? All this sleep must be chipping away at his razor-sharp perceptiveness. How could he miss someone who thought it was appropriate to wear pink taffeta to the battlefront? He suddenly realised that she must have brought an outfit change with her when she was kidnapped! Was that what was in her rucksack? The rucksack she had made him land his ship to retrieve after they had already taken off from Greivous's clutches? That he had sliced through a battalion of droids to pick up, because don't you realise Master, it's an absolute necessity? All so she had a change of outfits?! God, he hated this woman more by the hour. The only way he would make it through the next day until the Senate sent someone to pick her up was to stay sleeping the entire time. The Princess was rapidly sending him into a voluntary hibernation.

'Why the hell is she wearing a ballgown?'

'Maybe she wants to catch your eye master?' It was Ahsoka's turn to stifle a giggle. 'Make sure she gets the sex you didn't give her yesterday!'

'I would rather let Greivous suck me off than her.' He wasn't joking.

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. 'Have you ever considered that sex isn't just about which ever girl is lucky enough to suck you off Master?'

He hadn't actually.

Their intellectual discussion was brought to a rapid halt as the circle of figures on by the platform began to ascend and cross the stage. The cloaked figures turned to the audience, revealing the faces of Bail Organa and Mas Amedda.

Anakin's stomach dropped.

'Snips!' he hissed at her, feigning a whisper about ten minutes too late. 'You didn't tell me the Senators had arrived!'

'I assumed you knew Master!' she said, eyes wide. 'Why else were you standing at this platform? Just waiting about to see what the drama was?'

He didn't have time to inform her that that was exactly what he was doing before he had another surprise.

Joining the Princess and the Senators on the platform were two other cloaked figures, one in beige and one in a silvery blue. He knew the beige figure as the bland colour palette of Obi Wan (not that he, the man who had worn black for the last three years, was one to talk.) His heart jolted as the silvery blue hood was lowered, revealing the final figure to be Senator Amidala.

He gulped.

He could feel Ahsoka's gaze scrutinising his face for any sign of him being flustered at her presence. Well not today, Snips. He wasn't the nervous young Padawan of yesteryear. It would take more than the beautiful face of the Senator to throw him. Him and Padme had been friends for years at this point. (look how comfortably he used her first name! They couldn't be more platonic!) He was a strong, brave Knight, easily the master of his childhood crushes.

(Although his sweaty palms would beg to differ…)

'Oh! It's Senator Amidala!' Ahsoka looked at him pointedly. 'Isn't that interesting Master! Weren't expecting to see her now, were you!'

Anakin's gaze stayed firmly ahead, half avoiding Ahsoka and half transfixed by the vision of the Senator on the stage.

'Don't be ridiculous.' His stern tone made its second appearance of the week. He cleared his throat. 'Senator Amidala and I are friends. Nothing more.'

'Yeah you keep telling yourself that' she muttered.

Why did she have to be so damned perceptive of how jittery he got whenever Padme's name was mentioned! This was not the first time he had cursed Ahsoka for being quite so in tune with The Force.

He gulped as Senator Amidala shot a dazzling smile out at the crowd. She still hadn't seen him. He could do this. After all, him and Padme were friends! Good friends! Yes, it may be true that he had harboured an all-consuming crush on the beautiful Senator for quite some time before they were reunited a few years back. But now their relationship was strictly platonic. Over time, he had mastered the precarious balancing act between his feelings for her and maintaining the excellent rapport they had. He knew he was her favourite person. Her little Ani. He saw how her face lit up whenever he arrived unannounced at her Senatorial meetings, a little surprise to spice up the usual legislature rundown. And for now, that would do. She needn't know how he felt The Force pushing them together. Or his secret plan to make her his. Once, stupidly, he confessed 'The Long Game' plan to Ahsoka after a late night of playing cards and talking. Safe to say, she hadn't forgotten that one easily.

'Good Morning troops!' Padme's sunny smile radiated out to the crowd before her as she took to the mic. Anakin could feel the men responding to her brightness, a ripple of happiness flowing through the crowd. Well, who could blame them. They hadn't seen a beautiful woman in months. It seemed a bit unfair to see how they fared in front of Padme, the pinnacle of female beauty, after being out of practise for so long.

'I wanted to personally send my gratitude from all of us in Coruscant for all your continual bravery and sacrifice.' She beamed at the crowd. Anakin pretended she was only speaking to him.

'Our entire way of life, the democracy that we have fought so hard to protect, is under threat if the Separatists win this war. And you, the wonderful defenders of justice, are fighting for the peace that we in Coruscant take for granted. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.' Even from the back of the crowd, he could see her eyes fill with tears as she lay a hand sincerely on her chest. God, she was good.

'And I want to assure you, myself and The Senate are working tirelessly to do all we can to end this war. This is not a way of life. It's a temporary state of emergency. We want this war to be over, and to get you home.'

Mas Amedda took to the mic next, quickly dispelling the lovelorn crowd, his monotone voice cracking the haze that Padme had so masterfully created.

'We look forward to our time with you. We will spend two days in observation, and then escort Princess Ecosa home.'

Wow, thought Anakin. Dry delivery. No chance of chucking in a personal anecdote to spice it up? An extended metaphor? The crowd were gagging for even the smallest dollop of pizzazz!

No such luck. Mas Amedda was sticking to the facts.

Anakin was torn at how to feel at this news. On one hand, he had to endure two more days with the Princess, where every second was a battle against being sexually assaulted. On the other, he had two full days in the company of Padme. 48 hours gazing at her ethereal beauty as she wowed him with her sage take on the world, brilliance rolling off every word. The challenge of the next two days; upweight time with Padme while keeping time with The Princess to below an hour.

He grinned to himself. This was going to be fun.

'Ani!' Padme bounded off the platform, a bundle of energy, and hurtled towards her friend. Anakin caught her, swinging her petit frame round in a joyful hug. (God it was amazing holding her. No! Stop that. They were platonic, friends only!)

'Ani! I had no idea you were going to be here! This is the best surprise!' Padme's grin was about to burst off her face.

'Where else would I be Pad?' He laughed at her warmly. 'A soldier? At the battlefront? Who would have thought it?'

He nudged her playfully. She shoved back.

'Oh shut up you! I take it all back- why can't you be safely away in The Outer Rim, away from me!?'

He chuckled, trying his best not to play up their natural chemistry in the face of the glowering Princess. Yeah, that's right Princess. This is the calibre of woman who does it for me. You have no chance.

'Don't even pretend you wouldn't find some way to follow me out there Senator!' She opened her mouth in mock outrage as he continued, pouting his lips in an impression of her ''Oh Ani, this is so weird! You've been posted to General Grievous' ship too? What are the odds!''

'Oh Anakin, you vastly underestimate my loathing for Grievous. Even my desire to see you wouldn't incentivise me to spend a half hour with that rusty old crone.'

'I'll believe that when I see it Senator' he giggled. 'You've made it halfway around the Galaxy to see me here- who knows how far you'll go next!'

'Halfway round the Galaxy all for a torrent of abuse from you, Ani? It's definitely not worth it!' She was full on cackling now. The clones looked at Anakin with envy as he flaunted their rapport in their stupid faces.

'Not worth it? How dare you!' It was his turn to get the mock-anger out. 'You really need to practise this whole stalking thing, Senator.'

'Well good job I have two full days Ani' he tried not to swoon at her dazzling smile. 'I'll be a professional Anakin Skywalker fangirl by the end of this weekend!'

He was aware how embarrassingly wide his smile was.

'Speaking of…'

The Princess came marching up, her pink taffeta ballgown trailing through a puddle of muddy water as she pushed through the crowd towards them.

'Um Senator?' She stood there, hands on hips, pouting in a way that distorted her face, giving her an eerie resemblance to Plo Koon. Padme clearly noticed it too, stifling a laugh politely under her hand. This was Anakin's fault! She wasn't half as brazenly inappropriate around anyone else!

'Senaaatoor? Aren't you supposed to be taking my post-trauma testament?' she tried to turn her twisted scowl into a poor attempt at sex eyes, presumably for Anakin's benefit. 'I mean, that is if Anakin doesn't want to join us…'

Padme's eyes shot back and forth between them, chocking back giggles at Anakin's sudden shock. God he was funny when he was uncomfortable!

'Ani? Your call!' she shot him a dazzling smile. 'Cold, hard battlefield or nice cosy tent with me and The Princess?'

'Unfortunately for me Senator, duty calls. I better get off to the front line.' He smiled at her.

Padme chuckled as he set off at a faster-than-average pace, trying not to be offended that he would rather face death than an hour with her and The Princess.

An hour later, she saw why.

'So the ninth guy I fucked was… wait for it… a billionaire' Princess Ecosa's smirk made Padme's stomach turn a bit. 'Picture this Senator. Picks me up on his private star ship. Whisks me around the stars. It wasn't long before he was whisking up something else… if you know what I mean.'

She winked her clumpy eyelashes at The Senator. This woman needed to work on the art of a cohesive metaphor, thought Padme.

She glanced down at the form on her holopad. 3 questions filled in. Name, Age, Occupation. The rest were still blank. They had been here for an hour. And only 3 out of the 100 questions needed to complete the post-kidnap trauma analysis. God. Padme would be the traumatised one at this rate.

She had, however, received a full and thorough breakdown of every sexual encounter of Princess Ecosa's 19 years. Most of them seemed to be largely uninteresting men who the Princess had fucked because of money/power/prestige (delete as appropriate). Padme wished with all her heart that the sombre Mas Amedda had been tasked with this debrief. The Princess would have had a far harder time talking about herself for an hour when faced with Amedda's to-the-point delivery. Padme was just too darn sympathetic.

'Anyway Senator, enough of my sexual past.'

Padme wanted to shriek with relief. FINALLY they might have a chance at completing this never-ending form before nightfall!

No such luck.

The Princess raised an eyebrow provocatively. 'On to my sexual future.'

Oh for fucks sake. Padme tried her best to stop herself audibly sighing, and failed miserably, realising with a start that she had gone into more depth about The Princess's former lovers than she had with any previous boyfriends!

She was snapped back into The Princess's sexual future, much to her dismay.

'So big news Senator.' Princess Ecosa smiled smarmily. 'I think I've located fuck number ten!'

Thank goodness! Finally Padme could sleep at night with this colossal weight off her shoulders!

She feigned interest. The quicker this was done, the quicker she could get balls deep into questions 4 through 100.

'Oh! Who's the lucky man?' (Lacklustre attempt at interest, Padme!)

'Ok I'll give you 3 guesses' said The Princess.

Padme was close to despair- she was getting as many guesses as number of questions successfully answered! By the time she left this tent, her best years would have passed her by.

'You know Princess, I'm not good at guessing. You just tell me.' GET THIS OVER WITH!

Ecosa laughed. 'Fine Senator, I'll give you a clue. You gave him a rather… friendly … greeting this morning.'

Padme froze.

'Ani?!'

'Bingo.'

For some reason, Padme's heart was beating furiously. She felt slightly shaky! This was odd. She decided to ignore her body and laughed nervously with The Princess.

'Ah, really? You know he's a Jedi Knight, right?'

'Even better! All the action and no strings attached!' Padme noticed that The Princess had a habit of punctuating every sexually suggestive comment with a little wink. It made her look a bit like one of the raunchy comic heroines from old slapstick holo-programmes.

Padme chuckled to herself. 'Well I'm sure Ani will be more than thrilled for some action. I can imagine it gets tough being away from women for months on end.'

She hadn't actually given that much thought until now. It was bad enough to ask the Jedi to give up months of their lives to the pursuit of danger instead of the peace that The Order aimed to achieve. But they were even denied the basics of a sexual companion. It was so unfair! She thought about Ani, alone in his tent for months on end, wasting away and getting more and more frustrated.

Not that Princess Ecosa was the answer to this problem.

No way.

Padme had always been oddly protective over Anakin. The close friendship they had formed all those years ago on Tatouine had grown into something even more special over the years. Although her and Ani barely saw each other, she felt far closer to him than she really should. He was just so funny! So smart! He was one of the only people who actually talked back to her, matching her gentle teasing with an impressive wit. Plus, she hated to admit it given his growing arrogant streak, but he was just so gorgeous. She recalled the first time she had seen him since he was a boy. That was a few years ago. And even as a teenager, he had made her stomach drop. She had actually felt quite awkward around him! That golden tan, those piercing eyes probing her very soul, his tall stance towering above her. She had been painfully self-conscious of her body being drawn to him. So much so that she had kept their relationship overly formal for a few months. Of course, this was years ago. He had broken down her walls since then. Nowadays, she treated her attraction to him as an amusing fact of life. Oh that's my friend Anakin. Yes, he's gorgeous. Yes, he's a Jedi. Yes, I often think about him when I'm in the shower. She had come to terms with the fact that, sometimes around Anakin, she would find herself blushing, or feel sparks if they touched. It was just one of those things! A unique facet of their relationship. Just another thing that made them so special.

Her sister Sola thought it was hilarious. 'So you act as if you're all buddy-buddy when you blatantly want to fuck him?'

'Sola! I do not!' she had been indignant. 'You can say someone's good looking without wanting- that.'

'Ok sis. I believe you.' Sola had squinted her eyes probingly as Padme decided to be the bigger woman and firmly ignore.

The worst had come a few months later when she returned home for Pooja's fourth birthday. Padme had, by some miracle, forgotten the remorseless bullying she had received last time at the hands of her sister, and in a conversation about cute guys, had made a fatal faux pas.

'You know who came back to Coruscant with a killer tan and is weirdly looking quite cute lately?'

Sola looked extremely unimpressed. 'Could it be Anakin Skywalker per chance?'

Padme tried to look chill. 'Yes! It was so weird! Little Ani was actually looking kind of good!' Her sister wasn't laughing at all. Padme decided to commit to it, giggling a bit manically.

'How icky is that! Little Ani from Tatouine!'

Sola gave her a thoroughly unimpressed look. 'Padme. You realise you say this literally every time we see each other right? Just in case you thought this was new news-it isn't.'

'Whatever do you mean Sola!'

'Are you kidding!' her sister was infuriated. 'How many times have I sat here while you say 'Hey Sola, you'll never guess who's looking kind of built nowadays? Little Ani!' Or 'Hey Sola, how icky is this- Little Ani was looking so fuckable the other day!' Or 'you know who I bet has the biggest di-'

'Stop!'Padme laughed off her sister's comments. 'That is so not me!' She crossed her arms defiantly. 'Especially not the last one! Ani's just a boy- I would never sexualise him like that.'

'Just a boy?! He's in his mid 20s! There's barely 4 years between you!' Sola was exasperated. 'You might just as well admit you're attracted to him! It's not weird- he's not a boy anymore!'

So that's exactly what Padme had done. Admitted it. Come to terms with it. She was attracted to him. He was attractive. It was just a fact- like Obi Wan having a beard, or Mas Amedda having no charisma. He was attractive, and from time to time, she had the urge to do bad, unspeakable things to him. It was cool- he never had to know, they could still be top mates even if she sometimes wanted to run her hands over his tight stomach muscles and lick the pressure point in his neck. It was chill! Modern! And most of all Not a Big Deal.

She told herself to play it cool. So here she was. Playing It Cool. Nodding her head as Princess Ecosa made a pact to proposition Anakin that very night.

Padme gulped. Maybe this was just modern friendship?