Author: valsolo
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Upon seeing Padme standing there dumb struck, Anakin had to laugh out loud and then collapsed exhaustedly back to the floor. "I don't believe it!" he declared, still unable to control himself. He knew if he didn't laugh, he might burst out in tears.
Padme looked strangely at the blaster in her hand, then over to the Falleen sprawled lifelessly on the floor, and finally at the chuckling Anakin Skywalker. As he laughed even harder, he grabbed his head and groaned in pain.
"Anakin!" Amidala exclaimed, running to kneel at his side. She gently took his head and cradled it in her lap, oblivious to the blood stains his injuries were bound to leave on her gown. "Oh, Anakin! I thought you were gone! I saw you fall.... and then the blood..... and you weren't moving...... "
"Hey, I'm here," he interjected. "I'm just a little sore." Padme helped him sit up very gently, and noticed the bleeding still coming from his face.
"Oh, Ani! You look awful!" Padme innocently exclaimed as she gently touched his wounded face.
"Gee, thanks," he stated flatly.
Padme smiled once she realized her slip, and a blush colored her cheeks. "Here--- come sit on the bed so I can check your wounds."
Anakin finally made it up with her help, but before he began to walk over to the bed, he stopped at the body of the Sith lying face down on the floor. Using his foot, he rolled the Falleen onto his back, then issued a few rough nudges just to reassure himself.
"Is he--?" Padme softly asked.
"Yeah... he's dead." Anakin looked upon the shirtless alien and a surge of hatred and disgust washed over the Jedi. The galaxy should be rid of Raveneau's kind, Anakin thought to himself.
"He was another Sith, wasn't he?" Padme stated more so than asked. Anakin simply nodded. His laughter had stopped. He continued on to the bed and a grunt of pain escaped as he plopped down.
Padme gave his wounds a cursory glance and then proceeded to rip at the hem of her robe. Anakin had no idea what she was doing until she began to dab the blood on his face with the fabric. She was standing so close to him now, and watching her tend to him stirred mixed emotions. He knew they had some kind of connection, but what had just happened in the past hour would not leave his thoughts. Had Raveneau touched her? Had she let him? She was standing here in her nightgown in the man's chambers, after all.
"Ow!" he declared when she pressed a little too firmly.
"I'm sorry, Ani," she apologized as she quickly pulled back. Then she began to cry. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault.... all of it." She put her hands over her face, too ashamed to look at him and walked away.
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked, curious to find out exactly how she had ended up in this situation.
Padme began to explain between tears. "He... he came to my room and told me he had information about someone wanting to kill the queen, and I believed him."
"Buy why? Why did you go with him?!" Anakin heard his own voice become touched with anger, and warned himself to get a grip on his temper.
"I... I don't know why. Something just took over inside, like it wasn't even me anymore." She moved back by the bed, a small distance from Ani. "I can't explain it. I knew I shouldn't have gone, but......... I couldn't help myself." Her eyes pleaded with Anakin for understanding and forgiveness, and his heart told him to give them.
Anakin slid his uninjured arm around Padme's waist and pulled her back to stand in front of where he sat. He then took her hands one by one and removed them from her tearstained face. "No. It wasn't your fault. He had some kind of ---chemicals, or something, that he could release that would make you do stuff you normally wouldn't. You didn't have a choice."
Padme looked at him and found the compassion she so needed. Anakin reached up and pushed a long strand of hair out of her face, and she gently caressed his blood stained cheek. No words were spoken for several moments as they continued to gaze long and hard into one another's soul.
Finally.... "You came for me, Ani," the young queen whispered softly as she leaned even closer to his face. "You saved me."
"No.... you saved me," he whispered back.. A smile brightened her face and she chuckled.
"I guess we saved each other, didn't we?" she said as she took her hand away from his face and began to straighten up.
"No," Anakin said as he pulled her back to land in his lap. "Not this time. I'm not letting you get away." Then he claimed her lips with a soft, warm, smoldering kiss that she couldn't help but give in to. Her arms instantly wrapped around his neck, and her fingers entwined themselves in his hair.
'Now this is for real!', she thought to herself. Her rapid heartbeat, her breathlessness, the aroused state of her entire body........ all caused by this Jedi here in her arms. Pulling her lips away for just a moment, Anakin opened his eyes, his lips still puckered and a questioning look in his eyes.
"I love you, Anakin Skywalker," she said with a big smile. "I love you!"
"That's the best thing I've heard all day," he admitted with a roguish grin. "Now... where were we?" Again he pulled her to him, unwilling to let her go just yet. In the middle of their heated moment, neither one had noticed the entrance of another party.
"Ahem," came the voice of one of the newest arrivals. Anakin suddenly felt a familiar presence and slowly stopped kissing Amidala.
"Oh, Ani," she moaned before opening her eyes and noticing the others for herself. Hurriedly, she tried to untangle herself from Anakin's arms. "Oh! Obi-Wan.... Sabe... I ... I didn't hear you come in," she said avoiding their smiling faces.
"Obviously," Obi-Wan Kenobi responded with a raised brow. The young queen could feel her face burning with embarrassment. Braving a glance at her partner-in-crime, she noticed she was not the only one with a red face. Anakin was trying to straighten his tunic and hair without drawing anymore attention to himself.
"I can explain," Anakin finally offered as he jumped up and moved to his master.
"What? Why there's a dead man on the floor over there or why you're on a bed kissing the Queen of Naboo?" Obi-Wan had to admit he was enjoying watching his padawan squirm.
Amidala wrapped her robe back tightly around her as the burning now covered her whole body. It's not that she was ashamed of kissing Anakin. She was just embarrassed at being caught by his master---- and a little disappointed that she had to stop.
After an awkward silence, Anakin went on to explain the demise of the Falleen Sith to Obi-Wan, while Sabe tended her queen. Kenobi then went on to explain how he had tracked down Governor Ember only to be attacked by an onslaught of eerily identical looking guards. He assumed they had been kept in hiding until Raveneau needed them. After fighting his way through the guards, Obi-Wan had unfortunately lost track of Ember who somehow managed to escape.
"Did Raveneau tell you why he wanted you?" Obi-Wan asked Amidala.
"No--- but his master did," she replied. The two Jedi looked at each other in surprise as Amidala picked up a small black box from the bedside table. She carried it very carefully as if it might explode at any moment. "He summoned another man using this," she informed as she held the box out for the others to see.
"Still the master remains," Obi-Wan muttered to himself. "You saw him?-- this master?"
"Yes... sort of. He wore a dark hood over his eyes like--- like the other from before... when Qui-Gon..." She let her words trail off noting the pained look on the Jedi's faces.
"Did he say anything to you?" Anakin wanted to know. Amidala looked away, uncertain of whether to share her new information.
Apprehensively, she decided to tell what the Sith lord said. "Yes..... He told me I was very powerful and that he wanted to control my special.......'gift'." Everyone's curiosity was peaked as they anxiously awaited more.
"Gift?" Anakin finally asked.
"Yes." Hesitantly, she continued. "He told me that if I were to have any children, they would be---" She paused again and the looks on the others' faces begged her to finish. ".... they would be exceptionally strong in the Force." There! She had said it, but now it sounded quite preposterous to her.
Silence filled the room. No one knew what to say. "I know. It sounds quite ridiculous----"
"No," Obi-Wan interjected. "That explains why this Sith has been trying to get to you for so long." He had a very serious look on his face. "This is big news for you and the Jedi. I must contact the council at once. I don't mean to frighten you further, your highness, but he is likely to try again if indeed you do have this gift."
Without even thinking about it, Anakin protectively put an arm around the queen and pulled her close to him. He could feel her tremble in fear, and he instinctively sent her a calming sensation through the Force.
"Let's get out of here," Anakin said.
"Yes, I agree with you, Anakin. The sooner the better. I'll go get the pilots to ready our transport. You get the queen back to her room for her things and meet me in the hangar." Obi-Wan started to leave, but then turned back.
"And be careful. There may be more of those guards lurking about. I have a bad feeling about them." With a nod, he was out the door.
Sabe checked her blaster and moved back to Amidala's side. "Are you ready to go, your highness?" Amidala nodded weakly and glanced back at Anakin who was once again nudging the dead Sith.
"Anakin? Are you coming?" He looked over and smiled.
"Yeah, I'll be right there. I just want to double check a few things."
Sabe and Amidala walked out into the hall, and Anakin continued his search. Where was it? It had to be here somewhere. Then he saw it over in the corner of the room. Anakin moved to pick it up. He lightly tossed the Sith's lightsaber in the air, caught it effortlessly in his hand, and then stuffed it into his pocket.
As he started to walk out of the room, something else caught his eye...... a small black box sitting on the bed. Conflicting thoughts raced through his mind as the mechanism seemed to be calling out to him. This device might be the Jedi's only hope of discovering the identity of the master Sith.
'Should I?' he asked himself, biting his lower lip in debate.
Slowly, he picked it up, turned it over in his hand, and then with a deep breath, slipped it into his other pocket. Now he was ready to go.
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Almost done!....