Organa46: Sorry for the delay and updating. I blame laziness and the Olympics, but I'm going to try to begin posting at least once a week on this story.

Mixza: Well, Hello! waves You're reading this on the JC too aren't you? Nice to see a familiar face here.

Chirlagirl: I'm glad you're interested. I hope you like this next part as well.

Padme fleur: Yeah, this chapter won't have more of Anakin's bad feeling, but that will definitely be coming.

Erin: Thank you! And as I said before sorry for the delay in posting.

Chapter Two

Two mornings later, things were not looking much better for Anakin. His technical experts had made little progress on examining the droids that had been brought back, and while he knew that he could find what he was looking for if he had a few hours to look, he simply didn't have the time. He had been too busy organizing his troopers to defend against Separatist attacks and secure a landing location for the Senate Committee.

In fact, that was what Anakin was doing now. The closest area suitable for their shuttles to land was dangerously close to Separatist controlled areas and the Separatist's forces seemed to have some how gotten a hold of the information about the arrivals.

His troopers already had a perimeter set up around the landing area, but it was only a matter of time before the Separatists launched a full attack at them. All he could do was wait and prepare.

"Major Skywalker," called one of his troopers, a Lieutenant whose designation he couldn't recall, "the shuttle is approaching, sir. ETA five minutes."

Anakin nodded with a scowl. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Have your troopers standing by on alert," he added as an afterthought. Anakin took a deep breath and ran through a simple Jedi calming technique as the Lieutenant returned to his men. In a moment, he would have to be a calm, diplomatic Jedi in front of a group of unruly, conniving Senators. As much as he despised the idea of babysitting these Senators, Anakin recognized that he was being trusted with a significant responsibility by the Council and he would not fail Obi-Wan. Not after Yaddle, not after Geonosis.

He could see the shuttle clearly now, dropping down towards him. With one last penetrating look and a careful scan of the flow of the Force around him, Anakin turned back to face the descending shuttle, temporarily satisfied with the security situation, and folded his arms behind him in a pose of patience.

A slight breeze kicked up by the shuttles' repulsors as they landed ruffled Anakin's long hair. The landing ramp lowered and he stepped forward to the bottom of the ramp. He immediately recognized the Senator in the lead as Bail Organa, the Senator from Alderaan and one of the few Senators that Anakin still respected. He bowed formally to the senator as the rest began to take their places beside Senator Organa.

"Welcome to Honoghr, Senator Organa. I hope you and your esteemed colleagues will be able to investigate to your satisfaction."

Bail inclined his head in response to what Anakin had said. "Thank you, Jedi Skywalker. I'm sure we won't have a problem." He gestured to the three beings visible beside him. "These are my colleagues, Senator T'Lexyn of Ryloth, Senator Garm bel Iblis of Corellia, Senator Gryshkta from Kashyyyk, and," he paused and half-turned to look behind him. The Wookie and the tall Corellian parted to reveal the last Senator. "I believe you already know Senator Amidala of Naboo, Jedi Skywalker."

Anakin hardly heard what the Senator said as he saw Padme. He was frozen with surprise at seeing here there. Her beauty made him catch his breath and the connection between them was electric even from a distance.

"It's good to see you again, Jedi Skywalker," Padme said calmly, taking a step forward towards Anakin.

It was enough to snap him out of his momentary shock at seeing his love here, in this place. He was grateful for the time that she had given him to regain his composure.

"Thank you, Senator." He inclined his head towards her and then added, "It's good to see you again, as well. The tension of the moment lingered for a long instant, until the three Senators around her began to move down the ramp, taking their first look at the world that they would be investigating.

Anakin quickly took several steps up the boarding ramp until he was almost beside Padme, and offered her his hand to escort her down. Their eyes met as she slowly moved to place her hand in his. Only Anakin could her slight gasp as they touched and sense the complex emotions flowing through her at the moment. Most of all he sensed love—love for him—and he savored it. She was his angel and he loved her so much. There was nothing that they could say and neither of them felt like making small talk, so they walked in silence to the speeders that were waiting to take them back to the base of operations.

Anakin sensed the disturbance in the Force as Padme stepped into the speeder. He spun to face the incoming danger, his hand reaching for his lightsaber with Jedi reflexes. The blaster bolt burned across his shoulder. Anakin cursed more out of anger and frustration, than pain and batted aside two more incoming blaster bolts before he leapt in front of the small knot of Senators. His lightsaber flashed, deflecting incoming fire away from its targets and back towards the shooters. Snipers, his mind quickly supplied. It only took him an instant to find their positions. He would deal with them as soon as he knew Padme and the other Senators were safe.

The blaster rifles that the Separatist's droid army was using were capable of damaging the speeders that the Senators would be in, but Anakin wasn't worried.

Everything that he had seen so far and what the Force was telling him at the moment was that this was only a diversion for something larger. He noted that his clone troopers were moving quickly now, getting Padme and the other Senators into the relative safety of the speeders.

Anakin deflected another flurry of incoming blaster fire and took several steps back. He reached deeper into the flow of the Force, searching for something that he could use to quickly and decisively end this battle. Instead of barrage of images flashed through Anakin's mind and he screamed, "Padme!"

He felt her immediate response as he turned his back on the blaster bolts coming towards him, without hesitating. He dove deeper into the flow of the Force even as he ran towards his wife and the speeder that she sat in. "Get out!" He yelled as he quickly closed the distance between them, blaster bolts thudding into the ground at his heels.

He could sense Padme's confusion, but she moved quickly to get out nevertheless. She trusted him completely. He felt the flash of fear that spread through her as the door to the speeder refused to open. He ripped it off with the Force and pulled her towards him, just as the speeder erupted into a fiery explosion.

Coming Soon: The aftermath of the explosion.