Authoress Note~ Sorry for taking so long to update this story! I'm not going to give you my reasons, as I'm sure you don't want to hear them! I would like to thank these people:
Ketch~for her recent email which made me realize how long it had been since I posted a chapter and made me type chapter 16 and 17
Vera-Sabe~ for her review over the summer, which got me to start writing chapter 18
Obiwanfan~ for her review over the summer which got me to write chapters 16 and 17 and for adding my story to her favorites
Handmaiden Aniriel~ for her review telling me that she really liked my story and I needed to update it and for adding me to her favorites list
Thanks to all of you who have read this, reviewed this, and waited patiently for these next chapters. I love you all! Thanks to all of you who put this on your favorites! You are the greatest!!!
There are many different POV's in this chapter. It is constantly flip-flopping from one person to the next… but I hafta say this is one of my favorite chapters, especially the parts involving Megaira, Arsinoe, Jodi, and Andé!!! Have fun reading!! Don't forget to review! I want to know your thoughts, ideas, questions and comments!!!
CHAPTER 16"Ryoo! Pooja! NO!!!"
"Padmé! Padmé! Wake up!" Anakin shook her violently. Padmé jumped up suddenly into a sitting position. "Pad, its ok, it was just a dream." Padmé panted, trying to catch her breath.
"A dream? Oh God, Anakin! It was a nightmare!" Padmé exclaimed in tears. Anakin pulled her close and hugged her. "They were torturing them, Anakin!"
"It's ok, Padmé, it's going to be okay," Anakin reassured her while brushing loose curls that had fallen in her face. Anakin looked out the window. All he saw was darkness. He knew it was either very late or very early. "Go back to sleep, my love," he whispered in her ear. They lay back down, with Anakin's arms wrapped around Padmé, who quickly fell asleep again. "I love you," Anakin whispered before he fell asleep.
*****
Wake up, sleepy head." Padmé's eyes fluttered open. "Hurry, or Obi-Wan will leave before we get a chance to say goodbye!" The sun was streaming through the window onto Padmé's face. Anakin stared at her as if she were an angel. My angel, he thought. "I'm going to get some breakfast for us from the cafeteria. I'll bring it back here."
"Ok, I'll miss you," Padmé told him sleepily.
"I'll miss you, too. Be back soon." Anakin turned and walked out the door, making sure to lock it behind him.
*****
Megaira was walking quickly down the hallway. She wanted to get her breakfast before the cafeteria became a mob scene. She stopped suddenly when a familiar figure appeared from inside a doorway. Anakin, she thought. I knew he'd end up back in her room! That backstabber! Pretending to be our friends and then taking Anakin away from us! Wait until I tell Arsinoe, Jodi, and Andé about this! She hid quickly behind a statue of an Iego moon angel, so that Anakin would not see her. When he was out of sight, she continued to the cafeteria.
*****
Padmé lay still, waiting for Anakin to return. She'd had a series of nightmares last night, mostly about Ryoo and Pooja. The smell of Anakin on her covers relaxed and comforted her as she lay their a little longer. Finally, she pulled herself out of bed and went to the closet to get dressed.
*****
Megaira grabbed her breakfast and sulked over to her normal table.
"Hey Meg!" came a cheery voice.
"Hi," Megaira replied grumpily. "Do you always have to be so perky Arsinoe?" Megaira hissed at the younger girl.
"Well, Sor-ry! Someone obviously got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!"
"Hmmph. Well, you'd be angry too, if you'd seen what I just saw." Jodi and Andé joined them at the table.
"Hi guys! What's going on?" Jodi asked. She looked at Megaira and said, "Uh-oh. Meg's doing her 'I'm-in-a-bad-mood-' slouch again." Megaira immediately straightened up. "What's wrong?"
"Well, I was about to tell you three, but then I was rudely interrupted!" Jodi made a hissing noise, which Megaira tried to ignore. "I saw Anakin this morning."
"Yeah, so? Isn't that a good thing?" Jodi asked her impatiently.
"I'M NOT FINISHED!" Megaira screeched. She looked up to see most of the Jedi Padawans in the cafeteria staring at her. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "He was leaving Padmé's room," she finished. She spoke normally again. "Ugh, that girl just waltzes in here, and takes him away from us! I'll bet she was just pretending to be our friend to get to him. Megaira's jealousy had obviously rubbed off on Arsinoe and Jodi, because they started making silly assumptions and freaking out over the matter.
"Will you three PLEASE shut up!" the usually quiet Andé yelled. The three others turned and stared at her. "You don't own Anakin, he can make his own decisions. AND you can't force him to love you!"
"But he does! At least he used to before Padmé showed up," Megaira told Andé, who gave her a doubtful look. "Have you seen the way he flirts with me?"
"Have you seen the way he flirts with all the girls?" Andé asked, challenging Megaira's assumptions. "Well, the way he used to flirt with all the girls…he changed last year. I haven't seen him flirt with anyone for the past year or so, with the exception of Padmé once."
"Ugh," Megaira said as she waved her arms in the air. She looked up and said, "Speak of the Sith! Look who decided to show up for breakfast!" The four girls looked towards the check out line, where Anakin was standing. He paid for his food and started walking in their direction. "When he sits down, don't say anything, don't even acknowledge he's here," Megaira instructed.
"You're acting childish," Andé told her.
"Here he comes," Megaira said. But to her surprise, Anakin only smiled and walked right past them and went out the cafeteria doors. "I wonder where he's going?" Megaira asked bitterly.
*****
Anakin fumbled for his card key to open the door, but he couldn't find it. The door slid open and Anakin jumped back at the unexpected movement. Padmé must have heard me and opened it from the inside, he decided.
"I missed you while you were gone," Padmé said playfully.
"I missed you too," Anakin replied, and he kissed her pink lips. He handed Padmé her breakfast. "It's nothing like the food you'd get at your mother's house, but at leasts its food," he said, staring at the oatmeal and toast he had brought for them.
"We'd better hurry. Obi-Wan leaves in 40 minutes," Padmé reminded him. They quickly ate their breakfast and got ready to leave. Padmé had a worried look in her eyes.
"He'll find them, Padmé," he said. "Obi-Wan can do it, I trust him. He'll find them quickly," Anakin told her as he wiped the tears off her face. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too," she said, trying to smile. "We should go," she added, looking at the clock. "We can clean later." Padmé went to the bathroom to wash her tear-stained face. When she was done, they hurried off to the landing platform.
*****
Obi-Wan looked at his watch. He had to leave in ten minutes and there was still no sign of his Padawan. He hopped into his ship and turned on the homing device. Within seconds, a blinking light appeared on the screen.
"Leaving without saying goodbye to your most favorite apprentice?" Obi-Wan jumped slightly, startled by the sudden voice.
"You are the only Padawan I've ever had Anakin," Obi-Wan reminded him.
"Which is why I'm your favorite of course." Padmé laughed, but quickly returned to her worried state.
Obi-Wan noticed this and added, "I've found the tracking device which Anakin had attached to the kidnapper's ship. They are on the planet Jezmandia."
"Where's that?" Padmé question. She assumed it wasn't part of the republic since she hadn't recognized its name. It's way out past the outer rim. About twenty parsecs from Geonosis," Obi-Wan told her. The three knew very well where Geonosis was located, as they had all been there last year.
"Ow! Padmé, loosen up!" Anakin yelped as he tried to shake his hand free of Padmé's grasp. His fingers tingled with numbness and his pinky was a bluish-purple color. He shook it around, trying to get some feeling back into it.
"Sorry." Padmé took his hand and tried to rub the numbness away.
"I should get going. It's going to take me awhile to get there," Obi-Wan told the couple.
"May the Force be with you, Master."
"And with you, Anakin."
"Good luck, Master Kenobi," Padmé said before he hopped back into his three-person ship and took off.
Padmé turned and started to walk away when she realized Anakin wasn't following her. "Ani? Ani, are you coming?"
"Hmmm, oh, I'll be there in a bit. You go, and I'll catch up with you," he told her while he stared up into the polluted Coruscant sky.
"Alright, I'll be in our room then." She ran back over and gave Anakin a quick kiss before leaving.
Anakin stood there for a few more minutes before he whispered, "Please hurry Master," and headed back towards his room to find Padmé.
A/N- I had another really funny part at the end, but after rereading it, it sounded kinda stupid. Anyway, the phrase "Speak of the Sith" is equivalent to the phrase "Speak of the Devil" Wow. I used a big word *sounds it out* e-quiv-a-lent. Hmmmm…interesting. Please review!!!