Chapter Three

It was the 21:30 the next evening and Anakin had yet to see Padmé. She'd been in meetings all day and he had been training in between conferences. He figured he should shower before he made an appearance, and he had just stepped out of the fresher when the comm buzzed outside. Since he was the only one in the suite, he held his towel with one hand, opened the door and called the comm with his other hand.

"Hello?"

"Anakin? Is that you?" a frenzied voice asked.

"Sabé? Yeah it's me, what's the mat--"

"Could you come over here really quickly?" she interrupted. "Please? Please hurry, we need you!"

"What's the matter, Sabé!"

"Just please, hurry! We need you!"

"I'll be right there." he answered, taking just enough time to pull on pants before bolting out the door, lightsaber in hand.

He reached the Senator's suite and banged on the door, which slid open immediately to reveal a worried Sabé.

"Wow, that was quick!" she commented. Then she noticed his dripping hair and illuminated saber. "Did I interrupt practice or something?"

"Where's Padmé?" he asked hastily.

"She's in there," the handmaiden gestured. "But the problem is--"

"What's going on, Sabé?"

"In here!" she finished, pulling him by the arm. "The problem is in here."

Anakin followed the young woman into Padmé's room where the Senator and two of her maidens were standing on the bed. Padmé's mouth dropped open when she saw Anakin.

"I can't believe you! Why did you call him!" she shouted at Sabé.

"You said to!" she called back. "Besides, it's not like any of us are going to do it!"

"I was only kidding!"

"Nevermind! He's here now, so let him take care of it."

"What is going on!" Anakin finally shouted.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," Sabé began sheepishly. "Really sorry to get you out of the fresher, but-- in there, on the wall of the shower, there's a really huge, hairy-- spider."

All of the maidens blushed bright pink. A grin tugged at the corners of the young Jedi's mouth.

"A-- a spider?"

"Yes! It's the size of a wrist blaster! And it has about a million eyes and I think it's one of those ones that carries the babies on its back and--"

Before she could finish, Anakin deactivated his ice blue saber and entered the bathroom. Sure enough, there it was on the shower wall; a rather large, but quite un-deadly spider. Feeling four slightly braver presences behind him, he turned to face the girls.

"Size of a blaster alright!" he smiled. "It's a good thing you called." He activated his saber again. "Would you like me to cut it in half?"

"No, don't kill it!" Rabé cried.

Anakin laughed. "Don't kill it! What do you want me to do?"

"Can't you just put it outside or something?" she asked.

"Why? So the babies can grow up and crawl back into your suite while you're sleeping and--"

"Oh just kill it!" Padmé cried. "Cut it in half or blast it or something. Just get rid of it!"

Anakin grinned. It was hilarious watching the Senator lose her cool.

"Very well, stand back Your Majesty, this could get messy."

In under ten seconds, the spider was dead and gone. A unanimous sigh went up from the maidens and Anakin was grinning, obviously amused.

"You ladies are amazing." he grinned. "Risking your life for the Senator every day, but when it comes to spiders--"

"Thank you, Padawan Skywalker." Padmé interrupted. "We appreciate your assistance."

Anakin eyed her, longing to say something smart, but simply grinned. "You're welcome, my lady. Glad I could be of service."

Sabé noticed that the young Jedi's eyes had yet to leave Padmé. She smiled to herself.

"Yeah, thanks, Anakin." she grinned deviously and then beckoned the others. "Come on girls, let's get out of here," her voice dropped to a whisper as they surrounded her.

"... so Padme can thank Anakin properly."

They giggled and Sabé winked at Anakin. Padmé threw her an evil look as the door slammed.

Once again, the Senator and the Jedi stood alone with an uneasy silence between them. Anakin finally met her eyes.

"I know you could have killed it yourself," he smiled. "But it's nice to rescue you once in a while."

Padmé smiled to herself, slightly embarrassed. "It's nice to know that you don't mind doing it--"

She suddenly realized that his neck and shoulders were still covered in water droplets and started for the fresher closet to get him a dry towel. "Even if we do pull you out of the shower just to kill a spider."

"I can't think of anything I wouldn't put on hold for you, my lady."

Padmé pulled a white towel from the closet and grinned. "You are quite noble, Padawan Skywalker--"

Suddenly, she was face to face with him; the nicely built, broad shouldered, damp haired Jedi had followed her into the fresher. Padmé froze and as she locked into his gaze, a long strand of hair fell over her eyes. The Jedi gently tucked it back behind her ear and in a low murmur he implored her,

"Please—just call me Anakin."

Padmé's voice caught in her throat and the fresher was suddenly very warm with no help from the shower. No words could escape her mouth and she found her gaze fixed on his lips. They slowly parted in a boyish grin that melted whatever was left of her speech ability. She blushed furiously and he finally moved aside so she could re-enter her room.

The pair finally settled in the living room and spent the next hour talking a little, and flirting a lot. While Anakin showed off, Padmé giggled at his desire to impress her, and controlled her heartbeat as he hypnotized her with his devious grin and fantastic blue eyes. It was almost embarrassing to admit how much she enjoyed his company. But she hoped that by continuing their conversation, he would lose track of time and be forced to stay longer. The plan was childish and uncreative, but Padmé didn't especially care. The electricity of knowing that Anakin was sleeping only one room away was enough to wake her up the next morning without an alarm. Of course she didn't know that he had already decided to spend the night. The only debate was whether to run home and grab a shirt and toothbrush or stay where he was, as he was. He opted for the latter.

They eventually delved into slightly more serious conversation. Padmé, feeling bolder, decided that perhaps she should behave like an adult, speak her mind-- and issue an obvious invitation. So, she took a deep breath and when the conversation lulled, she asked the question she'd been wondering about all day;

"So was there a reason you left here so early this morning?"

Anakin, instantly more awake, forced away a giddy smile. "Sure, I'll sleep in your room tonight!" He thought with a grin. But pushing various hormones aside, he answered,

"Well, I just figured you might want your space. I had no intention of insulting your hospitality."

"Oh, is that all?" she quipped. "I thought maybe you were afraid of me."

Anakin's eyebrows shot up. "Afraid?"

"Of course! I'm a normal person, and I look pretty awful in the morning."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Padmé, I've known you a long time, and seen you under a lot of circumstances-- and never once have you looked anything close to awful."

"You've never seen me in the morning!" she exclaimed.

"You've never allowed me to!" he answered.

"You're right, and I won't!" she grinned. "Allow me the opportunity to rescue you from something frightening."

"I'm not sure I like being rescued--" he answered, standing and sauntering in her direction. He stopped just inches away from her and raised her hand to his lips.

"But I wouldn't mind expressing my gratitude in advance."

Padmé glanced down and pulled her hand away. "I'm not quite ready for such an unabashed display of affection, Padawa-- Anakin." She smiled softly.

He smiled back, only slightly deterred. "You tell me when you're ready--" he whispered. "And I'll show you unabashed."

Before Padmé could think of a way to respond, Anakin continued,

"And speaking of affection-- whatever happened to 'thanking me properly'?"

Padmé cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I did rescue you, didn't I?" he asked.

Padmé's hands slid to her hips. "I'm supposed to reward every Jedi Knight who rescues me?"

"No-- but maybe you'd make an exception for your favorite padawan?"

Padmé giggled. "If I made an exception for you, I'd have to do it with everyone."

Anakin sighed with mock-mock disappointment. "Not even a little peck on the cheek for the hero, huh?"

The young Senator backed away and rolled her eyes. "In your dreams."

"You'd better believe it." Anakin replied, a little too quickly. Padmé's eyebrows shot up. Anakin wrinkled his nose.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Padmé shook her head with a grin. "Goodnight, Anakin."

Anakin sighed as the door to the Senator's room slid closed. "Goodnight, my lady." He smiled and slid down under her blanket, only slightly discouraged. He thought for sure that being the hero of the evening would win him a kiss, even just a small one. Especially after she'd hung on his every word all evening! But inside he knew that no matter how hard he tried, the Senator would not be easily charmed. He could only hope that her shy stolen glances and the sweet smiles of her unpainted lips meant that she was as attracted to him as he was to her. Yes, the kiss could wait-- but not for too much longer.