Deceptions
Chapter 7
Padmé awoke early on the day her beloved Anakin was due to arrive. Much to her relief, she had requested and had received the time off without being questioned. Between Dormé and that damned Jedi Master, she'd had quite enough of questioning this week to last her a lifetime.
She yawned and stretched, trying to chase the last remnants of her own dreams away. Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie had been dead for nearly two years now, innocent bystanders in an assault on Jendar where they had been doing refugee work, but sometimes... just sometimes she thought that they were just a hairsbreadth out of reach. That they were waiting for her back at the house in Theed, that Jobal had prepared a large dinner for the entire family... Dinner... Suddenly, a bout of nausea sent her rushing to the fresher but thankfully, she wasn't but halfway there when it passed. She felt her face, a mild fever there but nothing to be too concerned about and she passed it off as the remnants of the previous week's illness. The bouts of depression? Loneliness for Anakin and her lost family... She sighed, remembering. In her dreams... Padmé scolded herself inwardly, she should be happy! Her loving husband was HOME! She knew that if Ani saw any signs of despair or distress on her part he would spend the entire time they had together worrying over her like a mother hen. In fact, she was almost positive that the only reason that he had left 3-po with her was so he could have someone to worry in his absence! She smiled at the thought and reluctantly pushed thoughts of family aside. If she was careful, gave her face a thorough scrubbing, stuck to just cool water instead of trying to eat, not even Anakin, with his Jedi sensibilities would notice that anything was wrong.
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"What do you mean that 'the information is classified'?" snapped Obi-wan at the holographic records clerk. "All I need to know is when Fleet Captain Skywalker will be returning to Coruscant... I don't need the movement of the entire fleet!"
"I'm truly sorry General Kenobi," the clerk replied nervously. "With your credentials, I would be permitted to tell you the planned movements of the fleet for the next 3 months if you so wished, but as for the whereabouts of the Commander..."
Obi-wan snapped off the holo projector, cutting the clerk off in mid sentence and sighed heavily. He supposed that if he pressed the issue with the Council... but in the end it wouldn't be worth it. Despite all of the accolades, the rank and the political protection Anakin afforded himself, he was still a Padawan Learner. Obi-wan's Padawan Learner. He couldn't avoid the inevitable discussion forever and not for the first time, Obi-wan realized that his own patience would have to prevail. At least for now...