A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! They made me smile. This chapter was interesting to write, and I hope you find it interesting to read!
ShalBrenfan - Thanks for your support. I certainly will keep updating
noxavis - Yes, these chapters are kind of short compared to my first fic, but I do update every day. This chapter should answer your questions :)
Trinity Day - Glad you understood! I know what you mean about regular updates. I'll post one chapter a day, and there are seven chapters - so after this one, just 3 to go!
Leigh the Wonderlord - Thanks for the review! And no, Ani won't feel that way for long. But it'll be made clear in the chapters to come, no worries. Hope the random turtle is fine :P
sarah - this chapter will tell you what she likes to do! I noticed the fake persona thing ina few people I know, so I thought it would make Telisse more real. hope it worked!
Okay, on with the chapter!

Chapter Four

Anakin sped through the city, using the Force to guide him. He had left the sabotaged speeder behind, as he had no time to repair it. It was a pity – fixing things had a soothing effect on him, and he was in need for relaxation. He felt stressed and angry at Telisse – because of her, he was now in trouble when it wasn't even his fault.

He could sense her presence in the Force – she was close now. He moved to the building he sensed her in – and his eyes widened in disbelief.

A club. She endangered her life to go to a club, he though numbly. His face darkened as he strode inside and began looking around for the princess. His irritation was rising rapidly.

Finally, he spotted a flash of brown at the far edge of the dance floor – it was Telisse. He stalked towards her, but when he was a few paces away, he stopped.

She was dancing, her body moving and swaying freely to the music. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed blissfully unaware of the crowd of other dancers around her. He could tell by the puffiness around her eyes and the slightly red tint of her nose that she had been crying, yet her face bore a peaceful and happy expression as she danced.

He felt his anger ebb slightly as he watched her. She was looking so different to how he had become accustomed to seeing her – she seemed genuinely and truly happy, rather than almost hyperactively cheerful. He had never thought that she had depth of character, had assumed she was always the way he saw her. Yet as she moved, her façade was stripped away, revealing a glimpse of the real girl beneath the smile.

Suddenly, he felt a strange disturbance in the Force – some kind of menace…

He reached out, grabbed Telisse's arm and pulled her off the dance floor a second before the blaster shot hit the space where she had been dancing. The club patrons shrieked and got out of the way, but Telisse had not noticed the blaster shot. Her eyes flew open and she glared at Anakin.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, trying to wrench her arm out of his grasp. She was already emotional – seeing him brought back images of his bored and irritated expressions when talking to her, and these pictures cut her deeply.

Anakin saw the assassin raise his blaster again.

"Run!" he yelled, and he took off, dragging Telisse by her hand behind him.

As they burst out of the club, shots exploded around them. They ran on, skidding around corners and weaving about, trying to shake off their pursuer. They darted down an alleyway, and Anakin drew his lightsaber.

"Stay back," he ordered as he ignited it, preparing for the assassin.

The killer tore around the bend but stopped short as he saw the young Jedi. The lower half of his face was covered by a black mask. He raised his blaster pistol and fired at Anakin, who deflected the shots easily.

Remembering what Kimmel had said about the Teidonese people being essentially peaceful, Anakin took a more aggressive stance and cocked an eyebrow, daring the assassin to come closer.

The man's eyes were terrified – he was no match for a Jedi. He dropped his blaster and fled in the direction he came.

Anakin deactivated his lightsaber and replaced the hilt in his belt. He took out his comlink and contacted Obi-Wan.

"Master, I've got her. She's fine," he told him, glancing at Telisse.

"All right, Anakin. Get back to the palace as soon as you can," Obi-Wan replied.

"It might not be safe – an assassin just tried to kill her. I don't think we should risk walking back," Anakin said.

There was a pause, and Anakin knew that his Master was considering all possible options.

"Very well," Obi-Wan said. "Tell me where you are and we will send someone."

Telisse stepped forward and silently held her hand out for the comlink. Anakin handed it over and she moved away again.

"Hi Obi-Wan," she said. "Tell Kimmel that we're in the alley behind SunSpot. He'll know what I mean."

"Yes, milady. I'm glad you are safe," he replied.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan." She handed the comlink back to Anakin, who replaced it in his pocket. She glared at him. "Why did you drag me away like that?" she demanded angrily.

He stared at her in disbelief. She runs off, I save her, and now she's angry at me? "In case you didn't notice, Your Highness, someone was trying to kill you. I was simply obeying my mandate to protect you."

"Oh yes, of course – just make sure you don't get into any trouble, never mind how I feel!" She was tired of feeling like a fool, tired of trying to be someone she wasn't. Despite the fact that she still liked him, he had hurt her, intentionally or not.

"How you feel? You're always happy! What could have possessed you to run off like that?" Anakin was also at the end of his tether. Her accusations were worse than her constant talking.

"You don't know anything about how I feel, Anakin. Not a thing. Don't even try to tell me that I'm always happy – you have no way of knowing that. Does it look like I'm happy right now?" She was close to tears now, her voice wavering even as she yelled at him.

Anakin continued to stare at her – he had never seen her so emotional before, never so…bold. He began to wonder just how well he really knew her personality – obviously his first impressions of her were wrong.

She shook her head and turned away. "Just forget it. You obviously don't care anyway." She sat down against the wall, and out of the corner of his eye, Anakin saw her flick her sleeve across her eyes, trying not to let him see.

He softened, and his exasperation with her faded. "Telisse, what's the matter?" he asked, stepping towards her.

"Why are you asking? You don't even like me. You never did. That much is clear," she said half-angrily, half-sadly.

"You're right," he admitted, sitting down beside her. "I didn't like you. I thought you were one-dimensional. I never saw anything in you that showed that you were anything more than a happy chatterbox."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she asked him. "You just told me that you think I have no depth. I'm used to people judging me by what they think they see – but I never thought a Jedi would do the same."

Anakin was stung by her words. It was true – he had immediately written her off as boring and irritating within minutes of knowing her. He had not acted as a Jedi should. He had not treated her with respect or compassion.

I never looked any deeper than the surface, he realised. And yet now I can see that there is so much more to her.

"Do you know what I thought when I met you, Anakin?" she continued. "I thought, 'there's something special about him, something beneath his silence and boredom'. And so I talked to you, trying to get to know who you are and hoping that you would want to know who I am."

"Well, I want to know now. Tell me who you are. Help me to understand and get to know the real you," he said gently. "There's obviously a lot more to you than my original impression."

"You really want to know the real me?" she asked, turning to look at him, fresh tears filling her eyes. "Fine. The real me is hardly ever truly happy. The real me is lonely almost all the time. The real me needs a friend to confide in, but has no one. The real me is so scared of this election, she can hardly sleep. And the real me is never going to be ready to lead her people."

"What do you mean?" Anakin questioned. "Your people love you."

"Popularity has nothing to do with my ability to lead the planet." She sighed. "I love my people and our traditions, but I can't run this place."

"Why not? You seem to have a good head for politics."

"A good head for politics?" She gave a short, humourless laugh. "Politics bore me almost as much as they do you. The only reason why I show any interest is because I've grown up with them, and my father told us from an early age that someday one of us would take his place. It scared me then and it scares me now."

"What are you afraid of?" he asked gently, moving slightly closer to her. Every minute revealed more of this apparently-happy girl, and his initial dislike of her was rapidly seeping away as he was drawn into the depths of her true nature.

She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. "I'm afraid because I know I can't do this. I'm not responsible enough or mature enough to become Queen," she said quietly in a voice filled with emotion. "The only thing I can do is talk to people, but people skills alone are not enough to make a good leader. And I know I can't be Queen, but I can do nothing about it. The people decide, not Kimmel, not me. I don't' deserve half the planet supporting me, and Kimmel doesn't deserve all this hostility from my supporters. He should win the lection – he would make a great King."

They grew quiet, and only then did Telisse become aware of his proximity to her. She shifted, uncomfortable and yet rejoicing in his closeness.

After a while, Anakin broke the silence.

"Why did you run to a club? Why not a store, or an arena?" he asked her.

She lifted the corner of her mouth in a lopsided smile. "You've been asking me a lot of questions. Let me ask you one. Is there something you do when you feel sad or angry or afraid that makes you feel calm?"

Anakin thought about this. "Yes," he answered. "Fixing and repairing machines."

"And when you're fixing something, the world makes more sense, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, it's the same for me with dancing," Telisse told him. "It is the only thing I do that I am good at, that I don't have to pretend for. It is the only time when I can be my true self – the girl that nobody sees – when I am in the middle of a crowd. I go out at night whenever I feel that it's all too much – I have been for years. Kimmel knows, but never stops me. I think he realises how much it means to me."

"Isn't it dangerous now?"

"Kimmel and I are seen as the same as our people – the only difference is that we were born to lead them. We might have a palace and guards and things, but we are not treated as celebrities. That's why we wear simple clothes. When I go out, nobody bothers me much. Nothing has happened to me at any club except for today," she said with a shrug. She smiled tentatively at him. "Thank you, by the way. For protecting me, I mean. I know I was angry at you before, but I was feeling a little…volatile."

He smirked. "Yes, I noticed," he teased. "It's fine. Kimmel would have had my head on a platter if anything had happened to you. Obi-Wan too – and me."

"You?" she repeated, staring at him in confusion. "I thought you didn't like me."

"It's not that I didn't like you," Anakin explained. "I just thought you were…irritating and one-dimensional. You were so cheerful all the time that it was difficult to see anything else in you."

"I suppose your opinion has changed now, hasn't it?" she said with a small smile.

He chuckled. "Yes, it has."