Constructive criticism welcomed.

Chapter Four

It was relatively quiet that evening as Anakin stood over the large desk in his quarters, surveying reports from various clones about the fighting that had occurred that day around the planet. At least that was what he was supposed to be doing. Thoughts of Padme filled his mind and he didn't even bother trying to push them aside. This mission would be torture if he had to pretend to be only an acquaintance of hers. He wondered if it was worth the risk of being caught and exposed to go and see her and decided in an instant that it was.

Most people knew them to be old friends—it wouldn't be so unexplainable for him to be in her quarters. He started to turn to go, but stopped as a pair of slender arms slid around his waist from behind him. He laughed abruptly at the irony of the situation—it seemed as if she had come to find him—and received a sharp slap on the stomach for it. He was still smiling as he turned to face her.

For a moment, they stood frozen, and then Anakin slowly moved closer to her, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "I've missed you so much," he said softly, but intensely. His lips moved next to her ear.

In response her arms tightened about him. They held to each other tightly, for a long moment in silence, and then Padme pulled back from Anakin slightly tilting her head up for a demanding kiss.

After several long, blissful moments, Padme was the first to break the kiss. Without a word, she moved closer to Anakin, tucking her head up under his chin and holding onto him tightly.

Anakin held her just as tightly, stroking a hand gently down her back. Quietly, he asked her, "Are you all right, Padme?"

He felt her flinch under his touch and he wondered just what had happened to her since he had seen her. She clung to him for a moment longer, seeming to use his presence to ward off whatever was bothering her.

"Things are getting worse in the Senate," she confided so softly that Anakin almost couldn't hear her. "The Senate is so divided that no action can be taken and I fear that this is more than just the usual politics of the Senate. I fear that soon the Senate will stop working all together. I don't have any proof of it, yet, but . . .," she let her voice trail off.

Anakin could sense her reluctance to voice her suspicions clearly through the Force. Padme wasn't afraid of what she was fighting, but she didn't want to be right in this instance. "But, what, Angel?" he prompted her gently.

"I think certain members of the Senate are on the pay roll of the Separatists. They're stalling everything that comes through the Senate, making in impossible for us to take any kind of action, or even defend our worlds. We aren't even allotting funds to help the billions of beings that are now homeless refugees." Her voice had grown stronger as she spoke, but it still rang with frustration.

Anakin didn't know what to say. He felt helpless to do anything that could help her. He was a fighter, not a politician. He continued to hold her, hoping that would be enough and hoping that she knew how much he loved her.

She stayed pressed lightly up against him for a moment and then pulled away just enough that she could look him in the eyes. "Anakin, you should know....One of the Senators that I suspect of working with the Separatists is Senator T'Lexyn. He's one of the most powerful Senators and he has a large number of supporters among the other Senators. That's why Palpatine had to put him on this committee. He's also one of my most dangerous opponents."

A brief flash of anger surged through Anakin. He would allow no one to hurt Padme. No one should be allowed to make her feel like this. "We'll deal with him," Anakin said, reassurance and anger mixing in his voice. This added a new dimension to his mission, however. One that he hadn't anticipated, but one he had no apprehension about dealing with. It was simply one more thing.

"Do you think he's actively and directly working with the Separatists or just be relayed messages telling him what he should do?"

She considered for a moment the information that she knew, and then shook her head. "I don't know, Ani. I haven't been able to find any concrete information about him."

Anakin nodded. "Okay." He let go of her and turned back towards his desk, searching for his comm. link among the clutter. After searching for a moment, rearranging a few of the cluttered data cards, he found it. He activated it with a flick of his finger and raised it to his lips. "Captain?"

He hesitated only for a moment to wait for the Clone Captain to acknowledge his call. "I need you to assign two troopers to discreetly keep an eye on Senator T'Lexyn. If he starts to do anything suspicious or makes any unauthorized communications or meetings, I want to know about it immediately. Report to me only and instruct your troopers not to interfere in anything that he does."

"Aye, Sir!" His Captain's response was immediate and unquestioning. It was one of the advantages of the clone troopers.

Anakin clicked the comm. link off and glanced at the chrono. It was getting late. He considered quickly the rest of the most pressing concerns that were piled up on his desk, and dismissed most of them as not urgent. The only thing that caught his attention for a moment was the preliminary report on the droids. He scowled briefly. The analysis of the droids was taking far too long. He would have to talk to the techs that were in charge of the analysis about that. He sighed, it was too late now, however. He would have to talk to them in the morning.

Anakin turned back to Padme and held a hand out to her. She smiled up at him and placed her hand in his. He stood frozen for a moment, simply looking at her.

As he remained still, looking at her, she looked at him questioningly, still smiling. "Anakin?"

"You are so beautiful," he murmured, reaching towards her with his other hand. He wrapped his hands around her waist and whispered reverently, "I was wrong, Love. You're even more beautiful than an angel."

The smile on her face was brilliant as she leaned in to kiss him. "I love you, Ani," she whispered just before her lips touched his.

A sharp beeping woke Anakin abruptly. He struggled disoriented to catch his bearings in the darkened room. He relaxed imperceptibly as he felt Padme beside him and then struggled to locate the source of the offending beep. He recognized it, a moment later as the chime of his comm. link, and sat up in beg, careful not disturb his still sleeping wife. He resisted the temptation to fling the comm. link into the nearest wall and kiss her soft lips until she woke back up, and used the Force to bring him the comm. link.

"Major Skywalker," he answered, trying to banish the grogginess from his voice.

"Sir," the clone's voice was sharp and full of intensity. "We're getting reports of a full Separatist advance."

It was enough to immediately capture Anakin's attention. "Where?" He demanded.

"They're advancing on a command base on the opposite side of the planet. It looks like they're fully committing their forces, sir."

Anakin almost smiled. He had been waiting for them to commit their forces to unleash his clones. "Very well, Captain," he said calmly. "Put our plan in action. I'll be there in ten standard minutes."

"Yes, sir."

The Captain signed off and Anakin rose. The battle for this planet had now officially begun. His first decision was whether or not to wake Padme.