Anakin sat cross-legged on the floor of the Queen's sitting room, eyes half closed in meditation. Only a few standing lights were still burning and the door to the bedroom was securely shut. Suddenly his eyes popped open and he got to his feet. A moment later the lift door opened for Qui-Gon, still accompanied by Obi-Wan and Jacen.

"Captain Typho has more than enough men downstairs," Obi-Wan was saying. "No assassin will try that way."

The Master nodded, face closed eyes distant. His past and present Padawans looked at him and then at each other, they knew that look.

"Master?" Anakin prodded.

Qui-Gon blinked, focused on him and smiled; "Anything to report?"

"Quiet as a tomb, the girls went to bed an hour or so ago." Anakin glanced uneasily around the luxurious room. "I don't like just waiting here for something to happen to her."

"Don't anticipate, Anakin, focus on the moment." the Master sat down on one of the couches. "We must be patient."

"I'm sorry, Master," Anakin shrugged at little. "I'm not much good at patience."

That got him an amused glance from his Master. "I know."

Obi-Wan picked up the small security monitor lying on a table and frowned at the blank screen." "What's this?"

"She wouldn't let me put any cameras in her room." Anakin explained, adding apologetically. "I don't think she liked the idea of me watching her."

"What is she thinking?" Obi-Wan looked towards the bedroom door as if tempted to shake the Queen awake and demand an explanation.

"Artoo is in there with her," Anakin assured Qui-Gon, "set on surveillance mode. He'll pick up an intruder as quickly as the cameras would."

"I'm not worried about intruders," Obi-Wan snapped. "Professional assassins have ways of killing from a distance that not even Artoo could detect."

"I know but we want to catch this assassin, don't we, Master?" Anakin countered, still addressing Qui-Gon.

"You're using her as bait?" Obi-Wan sounded incredulous as well as angry.

"It was her idea." Anakin retorted defensively and turned back to Qui-Gon. "Don't worry no harm will come to her. I'm aware of everything going on in that room."

"It's too risky," said Obi-Wan, also to Qui-Gon, then to Anakin: "Besides, your senses aren't that attuned, young Padawan."

"And yours are?" Anakin challenged, temper fraying.

Obi-Wan's look was sternly quelling, "possibly!"

"Obi-Wan is older and more experienced," the Master cut in quietly. "And you are letting emotion cloud your mind, Anakin. Let go of fear and feel the Living Force."

His Padawn bit his lip. "I'll try, Master."

"Do or do not, there is no try," Jacen quoted in a rather good imitation of Yoda's voice. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan grinned and the tension between them eased.

"Stay with us, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon continued. "It may be we'll solve your problem as well as our own tonight."

Hours passed. The Master occupied one couch, radiating peace as he meditated, and Jacen the other, openly dozing. Obi-Wan and Anakin stood near the bedroom door talking in undertones:

"Master risked his own future with the Order to see you trained," Obi-Wan said with quiet intensity, "will you throw that gift back in his face?"

"Of course not," Anakin hissed back. "I'd never do that to him!"

"Then think about what you are doing, Anakin!" the young Master retorted. "If you continue to follow your impulses you could hurt a lot of people," he nodded towards the bedroom, "including her!" Then his voice softened, "Not to mention yourself."

"I've thought about her and dreamed about her every day for the last ten years." Anakin admitted painfully and took a deep breath. "You're right, Padme's an attachment, like my Mother, and like Mom I've got to let her go."

Obi-Wan put a consoling hand on his shoulder suddenly both their heads swiveled towards the door.

"Obi-Wan!"

"I feel it also!"

Sabres drawn they sprinted into the Queen's Bedroom

Amidala woke with a shock. She had a split second glimpse of segmented, multi-legged somethings before they vanished in a flash of green light. She saw Anakin standing over her on the bed, sabre blazing in his hand, and Obi-Wan go through the window with a crash of glass and clash of blinds.

"Idiot!" Anakin doused his sabre and ran out past Master Qui-Gon.

The other Padawan started to follow but the Master called him back. "No, Jacen, I need you here."

Eirtae and Rabe hurtled into the room, flinging themselves down beside her. "Your Highness, are you all right?"

Amidala managed a nod, her voice wasn't working yet.

Typho was right behind them with a pair of guards. "What happened?"

"The Queen is safe," Qui-Gon answered, "but she mustn't stay here."

"She can come down to my rooms." Jamillia spoke breathlessly from the doorway, a robe clutched around her and a handmaiden at her back.

"An excellent idea, Senator," Qui-Gon approved. "Your Highness?"

"Yes, yes of course." Amidala said shakily. She got out of bed and Rabe quickly draped a dressing gown over her. She started for the door, Eirtae's arm around her, paused to look at the broken window and then at the Master. "Obi-Wan, Anakin...?"

"They'll be all right," he reassured her eyebrows quirking ruefully. "I'm afraid both my past and present Padawans are somewhat reckless."

Amidala scraped up a smile. "I wonder where they could have learned it from?" and his eyes crinkled in answering amusement.

"Come on, Ammi," Jamillia said taking her arm, "it'll be just like at school. Remember how we used to sneak into each other's rooms after hours?" they headed for the lift, the other four women clustered tightly around her, and nearly collided with Jar Jar and the two armed Gungans at his heels.

"Padme! Yousa not hurtin?"

"I'm fine, General Binks, don't worry." Then they were in the lift, the doors closing behind them, as Jar Jar demanded; "Captain Typho, whatsa goin' on heren?"

….

Anakin wove frantically through the nighttime traffic high above the rooftops of Coruscant. Flashes of blaster fire some distance away caught his eye. "That's gotta be him." he decked the accelerator but by the time he got to the scene there was no blaster fire, no assassin droid, just a spread-eagled human body falling towards the brightly lighted canyons thousands of feet below. Anakin dove steeply, pulled up and Obi-Wan landed on the speeder's stern as neatly as one could please. He clambered breathlessly into the passenger seat.

"Master Kenobi, fancy meeting you here," Anakin greeted mockingly.

"What took you so long?" the other snapped.

"You know me, Obi-Wan, I had to find a speeder I really liked; mach 10 engines, open cockpit, totally cool paint job -"

"I am underwhelmed by your wit, Padawan." the Master's voice dripped icicles, "Where's Jacen?"

"Back with our Master I guess, he didn't catch up with me in time." As they spoke Anakin spotted a sleek closed speeder leaving with suspicious speed and gave chase; "That him?"

Obi-Wan's face went blank a moment as he searched the Force. "Yes!"

"Riiight!" Anakin hit the accelerator again.

Sensing he was being followed the assassin wove confusingly through traffic lanes, between buildings and through the interlaced beams of a half-finished skyscraper.

Obi-Wan clung white knuckled to the side of the speeder. "Careful! Hey! Easy!"

"Sorry, Master, I forgot you don't like flying." The speeder dropped a few feet, just enough to miss an oncoming transport.

"I don't like flying with you!"Obi-Wan retorted.

Anakin looked over at him. "Obi-Wan, you know I've been flying since before I could walk I'm very good -"

"Watch where you're going!" An oncoming stream of private speeders split to avoid them.

Anakin dropped out of the lane. "Sorry about that."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and inhaled a calming breath. "Just slow down," he said in carefully measured tones. Suddenly he opened his eyes and pointed. "There! There he goes."

The assassin's speeder ducked behind a line of freight transports. Anakin went under them, gaining steadily as the two vehicles banked right turns around tower spires and neon billboards. Attempting to elude his pursuer the assassin ducked into a tram tunnel. Anakin promptly followed.

"Wait! Don't go in there!" Obi-Wan gasped as the tunnel closed around them.

"Don't worry, Master, I know what I'm doing," Anakin assured him. They skimmed round a bend and right into their prey, accelerating frantically towards them with a tram filling the tunnel behind.

Anakin flipped the speeder upside down in a tight loop-over and raced out of the tunnel barely ahead of speeder and commuter tram.

Beyond speech Obi-Wan gave his companion a withering look.

"Okay, that was a mistake," Anakin conceded. The Assassin's speeder pulled alongside, a blaster barrel protruded from a side window, Obi-Wan ducked just in time.

"Oops!" Anakin hit the brakes, dropping behind and under their attacker, safe from blaster fire. The assassin dove steeply downward, skimmed low over the flat roofs of a continent sized industrial complex, forcing Anakin to fall behind again. "Right, this isn't working."

"No kidding." Obi-Wan said acidly. Their prey pulled further ahead, shooting through a quasi-tunnel of giant energy couplings topping a power plant. "Anakin, don't go through there!"

Ignoring him the younger Jedi accelerated right after the assassin, under and through the gigantic arcs of blue lightening leaping from coupling to coupling.

"How many times have I told you, stay away from power couplings!" Obi-Wan complained as they shot free.

Anakin grinned. "Yeah, but don't you just love that power-field tingle?"

"No actually." Obi-Wan scanned the skies. "There he goes!"

"This is getting old," Anakin muttered as they darted upward in pursuit. "We gotta get ahead of him somehow."

The assassin's speeder veered sharply, diving into a brilliantly lighted throughway for air traffic piercing a dense range of multi-spired towers. Anakin banked the other way looping around the buildings.

"What are you doing? You're going the wrong way."

Ani shook his head, eyes unfocused. "No I'm not. This is a shortcut." He blinked. "I think."

"You think?" Obi-Wan echoed, incredulously.

They hovered above the stream of traffic emerging from the throughway for long seconds.

Obi-Wan, grimly; "You've lost him."

Anakin, calmly; "No I haven't."

Obi-Wan, beginning to lose his temper; "He went completely the other way!"

Anakin, even more calmly; "We'll see."

Obi-Wan breathed deeply, regaining his composure. "Anakin, we've lost him. We should -"

"Excuse me, Master." Anakin said politely and vaulted over the side of the speeder - falling some five stories to land right on top of the assassin's speeder as it passed beneath them.

Looking after him Obi-Wan shook his head and muttered. "I hate it when he does that."

…..

Anakin clawed for a handhold on the sleek surface of the speeder as the wind tore at him. 'Okay, maybe this wasn't such a brilliant idea.' He worked his way painfully forward to the transparent canopy and looked in. For an instant it was a woman's face looking back at him with big dark eyes then abruptly, without warning, it shifted to something grey skinned and quite inhuman. 'A Changling!'

The assassin whatever she or it was braked suddenly and Anakin nearly went flying, barely catching himself on the left prong of the forked front, dangling by his hands. 'Calm, remember, calm.' He managed to swing over to the right prong and then work his way up on top again. The assassin, back in Human form, glared at him through the canopy as he ignited his sabre to cut his way in. She grabbed the blaster lying on the seat next to her and fired up at him. Anakin just managed to block the bolt, not easy at such close quarters, but the impact knocked the sabre from his hand.

'Oh no, not again!'

He shoved his hand through the hole in the canopy, grabbing the assassin's wrist as she tried for a second shot. It went wild, striking the control board and the speeder began to lose altitude, bucking wildly. Anakin hung on as the assassin fought for control but the impact as they hit the pavement of a pedestrian way sent him flying into a row of fuel drums.

Picking himself up Anakin looked around. Not one of Coruscant's more salubrious districts, a varigated crowd of panhandling undersiders, criminals, con-artists and slumming glitterati were lit by garish neon signs as they wandered along an esplanade of gritty entertainment clubs. A few glanced at Anakin but quickly looked away, not wanting to get involved. He pushed through the crowd towards the crashed speeder, saw the assassin climb out and gave chase, pushing and shoving people out of his way. His quarry darted through the door of one of the clubs and Anakin was about to follow when a hand fell on his arm stopping him in his tracks. He started to throw it off then realized it was Obi-Wan. "She went in there!" he panted.

"Patience," Obi-Wan answered, annoyingly unruffled. "Use the Force, Anakin, think. He went in there to hide, not run."

And even more annoyingly right, as usual. "Yes, Obi-Wan."

The older Jedi offered him his sabre. "I believe this is yours?"

"Yeah, thanks." Anakin tried to take it but Obi-Wan refused to let go of his end. 'Uh-oh, stand by for lecture.'

"A Jedi's sabre is his most precious possession. He must keep it with him at all times," Obi-Wan scolded transfixing him with those blue eyes.

Anakin restrained an urge to roll his own. "Yes, Master."

"This weapon is your life!" the Master emphasized.

"I know. I'm sorry." Obi-Wan did have a point after all. "It was an accident."

"Jedi don't have 'accidents', Anakin. You must be more focused."

"I know, I know. Look could we leave the rest of the lesson for later? We've got an assassin to catch."

Shaking his head Obi-Wan let go of his end of the lightsabre and led the way into the club. "How does our Master put up with you?"

"He practiced on the Padawan he had before me." Anakin returned saucily.

His predecessor grinned wryly. "He did indeed. Poor Master, he always picks the difficult ones."

Anakin nodded agreement. Still, if he could manage to turn out even half as well as Obi-Wan had...

It seemed to be some kind of sports bar. Giant screens lined the walls showing various games and contests - including pod-racing! Anakin tore his eyes away and reminded himself to focus.

"Do you see him?"

He scanned the crowd watching the screens, drinking, laying bets or just talking sports talk. "No. But Obi-Wan, I think he's a she and that she's a changeling."

Blond eyebrows lifted. "In that case be extra careful." Obi-Wan nodded towards the crowd. "Go and find her."

Anakin blinked. "Me? What about you?"

"I," Obi-Wan replied coolly, "am going to get a drink," he quirked an eyebrow, "possibly more than one." And with that he headed purposefully for the bar leaving Anakin gaping after him.

'What happened to his focus?' he wondered. The chase must have been harder on Obi-Wan's nerves than he, Anakin, had realized. 'I shouldn't tease him.' But flying was the only thing he did better than Obi-Wan and the temptation to show off was nearly irresistible.

Anakin circled the room, studying the polyglot patrons giving especial attention to the females, both Human and Alien. And they eyed him in return with an appreciation and invitation he'd only recently learned to recognize.

'I wish Padme would look at me like that.' Suddenly a familiar hum and flash of blue light spun him towards the bar. Pushing his way against the backwash of patrons he broke through into the empty space that had formed around Obi-Wan standing, sabre ignited, over a grey suited figure clutching at her arm.

'I shoulda known!' Anakin added aloud. "I can't take you anywhere, can I?"

Obi-Wan just flicked him a glance, extinguished his sabre and reached down to pull the assassin to her feet.

"Jedi business," Anakin announced to the staring crowd. "Go back to your drinks." The patrons turned uneasily away, self consciously resuming their activities as the two Jedi half carried their prisoner out a side door into a noisome alley.

"Do you know who you were trying to kill?" Obi-Wan asked, almost conversationally, as he examined the damaged arm.

"The Queen of Naboo." the woman mumbled.

"Who hired you?"

"It was just a job." she evaded.

Anakin wasn't having any of that. "Who hired you?" he repeated, and added with a touch of Force behind his voice. "Tell us!"

"It was a bounty hunter," she muttered unwillingly, "called -" she broke off with a little gasp. Her eyes glazed, then closed, and as Obi-Wan lowered her to the ground she changed, becoming the wrinkled grey non-Human Anakin had glimpsed in the speeder.

Instinctively the two Jedi glanced over their shoulders, just in time to see an armored form rocket away from a nearby rooftop.

They looked at each other, then Obi-Wan felt at the dead alien's neck and extracted a wicked looking multi-pointed object; "A toxic dart."

"Well it's a clue anyway," said Anakin.

….

Jamillia was right, Amidala reflected, it was just like their schooldays with the two of them and their handmaidens all piled onto the big bed in the Senator's quarters drinking hot Chakka, talking and giggling. By common consent they avoided the subject uppermost in all their minds, instead she and Jamillia entertained the handmaidens and tried to embarrass each other with stories of schoolgirl pranks and misdeeds and if the giggles had a slightly hysterical edge everybody pretended not to notice.

"- so our noble Queen batted her big brown eyes at Professor Kendarro and claimed she had no idea how six river ducks came to be in her closet," Jamillia finished with a flourish.

Amidala picked up a pillow and threw it at the Senator who ducked. It hit Rabe instead. Their laughter was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Dorme climbed off the bed and padded across the floor on bare feet to peek out. "General Binks, Captain Typho and the Jedi, your Highness," she reported.

"Let them in." Amidala ordered, sitting up straight and trying to smooth her hair a little. Dignity be damned - and with six other women present propriety was guaranteed.

The four men lined up at the foot of the big bed. Artoo rolled in after them just as Dorme was starting to shut the door. All four looked very serious, even grim. "Well Master Jedi?"

"Two Kouhun multipedes were introduced into your Highness' room by a specialized seeker droid who neutralized the tower's defensive field and cut through the window," Qui-Gon reported gravely.

"I take it these - things are poisonous," Amidala said as coolly as possible, trying to remember her brief glimpse before Anakin's blade had destroyed them.

"Extremely," Captain Typho, looked a little sick.

Artoo, over by the door, vented a long string of bleeps ending in a falling whistle. Amidala didn't understand the words but the apologetic note was unmistakable. "It wasn't your fault, Artoo."

"No indeed," the Master agreed. "Kouhuns have a natural camouflage ability that makes them very hard to spot. Artoo's motion sensor picked them up but when his visual sensor failed to confirm he assumed it was a malfunction."

"I see. So you mustn't blame yourself, Artoo." The little droid whistled gratefully.

"I don't understand," Jamillia said frowning, "why didn't our proximity alarms pick up this seeker droid or the neutralization of the field trigger an security alert?"

"Because the computer controlling security functions was instructed to ignore activity in that sector, my Lady." the young Jedi, Jacen, answered. His ears were slightly pink and he was careful not to look directly at any of the women on the bed.

Amidala felt a touch of amusement but rather more compunction. It hadn't occurred to her that their state of undress might be embarrassing to the Jedi. Master Jinn didn't seem bothered, but of course he was much older and more experienced. Good thing Anakin wasn't here to be embarrassed - or worse embarrass her.

It was Jamillia who caught the implication of what the boy had said. "Do you mean some member of my staff -?"

"Not at all, my Lady," Qui-Gon cut in firmly. "Obi-Wan and Anakin caught the assassin. Unfortunately she was killed by an accomplice before she could be questioned but she was a Changeling."

"And a Changeling could easily infiltrate our security here and on the landing platform," Typho put in grimly.

"You mustn't blame yourself either, Captain," Amidala said firmly. "Changelings are very rare nobody would expect such a thing."

Typho didn't look convinced. "Thank you, your Highness."

"I'm glad to hear Anakin and Obi-Wan are safe," Amidala continued. "Where are they now?"

"They have gone to the Temple to make their report to the Council," Qui-Gon answered. "Obi-Wan has other leads to pursue but Anakin will be returning here to escort your Highness to the Senate building."

"In another five hours," Eirtae murmured quietly into her mistress' ear.

Amidala took the hint. "Yes, we should all try to get a little more rest while we can. Good night, General, Captain Typho, Master Jedi."

The men bowed and withdrew. Artoo remained where he was, still following the orders Anakin had given him. The handmaidens fussed about for a few minutes collecting cups and seeing their mistresses settled, the senatorial bed was quite big enough for two. Then they withdrew to their own quarters which Rabe and Eirtae would share for the rest of the night, shutting off the lights as they left.

"Goodnight, Ammi."

"Goodnight, Milla." Amidala closed her eyes firmly, but she didn't sleep - and she doubted Jamillia did either.