When Anakin woke up the next morning, he heard someone splashing the water. He walked to the balcony to see who it was, and to his surprise, he saw Padmé swimmimg towards the island next to the shore. Anakin leaned on the rail and watched her as she approached the island. When Padme reached the shore, she looked towards the balcony and saw Anakin. She inmediately walked away to the other side of the island. Anakin lowered his head and returned to his room.

Padmé was sitting on a rock next to the water with her chin leaned on her knees. She had her arms wrapped around her legs, as if she was afraid that they would run away without her permission. She was thinking about the dream she had last night about her mother. It wasn't really a dream, it was more like a nightmare. Her mother was in danger, and she couldn't do anything to save her.

"Are you alright?"

Padmé turned around and saw Anakin, standing soaking wet next to her. She turned her head back to where it was and sighed.

"Come on, Padmé. You can tell me", he said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, but as soon as Padmé felt Anakin's hand touching her skin, she moved to avoid the contact. Anakin realized that she was upset, so he sat next to her, but at a propper distance.

"I had a dream", she said. All of the sudden, Anakin felt uncomfortable.

"About us?", he asked. Padmé looked at him and raised a brow.

"NO! About my mother. Force, Anakin, does everything has to be about you?", she asked annoyed. Anakin blushed.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be", she said coldly. Padmé sighed and continued. "My mother was in danger, she was suffering and there was nothing that I could do to help her...", she said lowering her head. She was very sad, and he hated to see her like that because it hurt him too. Suddenly, Anakin had an idea that he thought would chear her up.

"Padmé... I was thinking that maybe you could go to Tatooine and visit your mother"

"I can't go, I must stay here and protect you". When she said this, a weak smile formed in the corner of her lips. Anakin smiled.

"Well, then I'll go with you", he suggested. Padmé sighed.

"Thank you, Anakin. I really appreciate your help, but I must do as Obi-Wan says and not return to Tatooine until I have the council's permission", she said. Anakin nodded and looked at the water beneath him. The waves were softly crushing against the rocks, making them return as white foam and bubbles instead of water. It was soothing, in a way.

"Padmé, I wanted to appologize for what happened last night", he said. Padmé just nodded.

"It's alright, I'm fine with it", she said. Anakin turned to her and grabbed her hand.

"But you shouldn't be fine with it. I can't just turn to you every time I feel like it and then act as if nothing happened. You don't deserve to be treated like that". Anakin paused as he saw Padmé looking at their entwined fingers. He released her and sighed. "And I'm doing it again...", he said. "I keep acting in a certain way that is not appropiate between two friends. It doesn't matter how many times I draw the line here, I always seem to go across it one more time", he said shaking his head.

"Look: the only reason why I'm not mad at you is because you see those things and make an effort for not to keep making the same mistakes again. That's prizeless, Anakin, I really admire that in you", she said placing a hand on his shoulder. Anakin gave a little jump when he felt her hand touching his skin. "What is it?", Padmé asked confused.

"Nothing, uh... it's just that... your hands are cold", he lied. Padmé smiled and removed her hand from his shoulder. Anakin watched her hand as it returned to the rock. Without thinking it twice, he grabbed her hand and entwined his fingers with hers. Padmé looked at him in surprise.

"What are you doing?", she asked with a raised brow.

"I just wanted to hold your hand", he answered.

"Why?", Padmé asked. Anakin looked down.

"For no particular reason", he lied again. But Padmé's intense stare made him tell the truth. "I like you, a lot". Padmé frowned as Anakin waited for her answer.

"And...?". for an answer, she got a kiss. She moved her head and pushed Anakin away. "Hey, I thought that we had settled this last night. You are a senator, I'm a Jedi, remember?". Anakin looked down as he realized that his own words had betrayed him.

"Yes, but I still want to be with you", he said. Suddenly, an idea crossed his head. "We could keep it a secret!", he said excited. Padmé shook her head.

"No. If it were a secret, it wouldn't be something real. We would be lovers and only see each other from time to time, and I don't want that. I want you to take me seriously, Anakin, I don't want to be your dirty little secret", she said in a hard tone.

//Ouch, that hurt...//, Anakin thought to himself. He sighed and squeezed her hand.

"I can't offer you anything else", he said. Padmé laughed sarcasticly.

"That's a lame answer, Anakin Skywalker. You could offer me so much more, you just don't want to. You would hate to be attached to someone else, wouldn't you? You just want to have an affair with me". anakin cleared his throat.

"H...how can you say that?", he asked in an offended tone. Padmé raised a brow and looked deeply into his eyes.

"Because it's there, I can see it in your eyes. The most important thing in your life is the senate, your work", she paused and took a deep breath. "Not a Jedi Padawan that you haven't seen in ten years..."

"Padmé, I...", he started, but she interrupted him.

"You don't feel the same way for me as I feel for you, Anakin, not even the half of it. If we don't mean the same to each other, we are going to different directions. Besides, you are not ready to make a commitment, it's clear after what happened last night", she said standing up. "And you don't have a very clean reputation, I live in this galaxy too, you know?" She looked at him and walked away.

Anakin just sat there thinking about what she has just said. Once again, she was right. She was very matture and grown up, she could tell everything he thought or felt by just looking into his eyes. And that thing she said about his reputation was true, too.

Anakin was known for having relationships with different women from all over the galaxy, and they lasted as long as a carton of milk does if you don't keep it in a refrigerator. But with Padmé, it was different. Somehow, he felt as if she could read him and really feel him. But now, she wanted nothing to do with him. at this last thought, Anakin sighed.

//I'm a lost cause...//, he thought. Anakin stood up and turned around. To his surprise, Padmé was facing him. Anakin looked deeply into her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. They were inches away from each other, when Padmé brought them together by pulling Anakin towards her. They kissed until their lips hurt.

"I can't even put my foot down on something and respet my own choices...", Padmé said smiling. Anakin laughed and hugged her.

"Well, that way it works better for me...", he added.

"And what about me?", Padmé asked curious. Anakin sighed and smiled at her.

"We will have a real relationship. I promise that you will not become my dirty little secret, as you put it a while ago...", he said teasing her. Padmé rolled her eyes and Anakin kissed her.

They spent the rest of the day in the meadow, where they'd had their picnic a couple of days ago. Anakin's feelings were growing deeper every minute that passed by. He was falling for Padmé, but he wanted to be sure of this feelings before she told her. It only took one kiss to assure him that his feelings for her were real and even stronger than he thought himself.