Ch. 7

Anakin Skywalker sliced down storm trooper after storm trooper as they continued to pour into the little bar. He certainly was confused- he and Obi Wan had known for some time that the Clone troops had certain leaders that were not loyal to the Republic and the Jedi.The Order had gradually been trying to end the war before the troops could betray them, but no Jedi had imagined that the Sith they assumed was controlling the clone troops would have the guts to command an actual raid on Coruscant.

As he fought, the friends they had made stared at him in utter disbelief, and Padme stood dumbly in between, unsure of how to act. At first she had hardly even given his actions a second thought- she was, of course, used to him fighting. But as she noticed the shock on the faces of her new friends, she suddenly realized where they were, and did not know what to do. The repercussions to his actions were infinite- every course of action she felt they now had to take would make them end up looking suspicious- and their personal lives were now the least of her worries.

Who had permitted the troops to land on Coruscant? She couldn't believe that the Senate had been so misled- she knew it was corrupt, and it continued to get worse, but this was beyond anything she could imagine. Clones attacking the people? She felt stupid for having been ignorant to this coming situation. Anakin had warned her not to trust the Senate and the clones, knowing that they wanted the war as much as the Separatists, but she couldn't bring herself to believe it until now. She sighed, in complete resignation, feeling fairly useless. She knew that as risky as Anakin's actions were, he was doing the right thing in defending innocent people against the clone army. In fact, he had to defend them, and so she simply watched as he saved the lives of the entire bar, and seriously complicated his own.

As Anakin flipped around, hacking away at storm troopers, he didn't know what to think of this situation. Why were they here? This was supposed to be protected- it was destroying everything he believed in that these troops were here harming innocent civilians. He gravely hoped that this had nothing to do with his presence in the club, because, forget the Jedi order, he would probably be banished from the planet forever for having caused this while out illegally with his illegal wife. Yes, he was certainly in a bad situation, and yet he hadn't been able to let these people get hurt when he was sitting there, armed, one of the most powerful warriors in the galaxy. He knew that no matter what the situation, Obi Wan would have wanted him to defend the innocent. That was a Jedi's duty, was it not?
A laser blast nicked his upper arm, and he realized that he had let his concentration slip while he thought about the situation. He knew that he had to put all thoughts aside and simply fight, and that was what he did. He glanced back at Padme to make sure that she and his unborn baby were safe, and whipped around to face his next enemy.

"Aren't you scared?" One of the women next to Padme asked her, in tears. Padme suddenly realized she had been very unresponsive to the whole situation, as war-torn as she and Anakin were, and that the others were puzzled by her behavior.

"With a husband as a Jedi, she probably sees this a lot," spat one of the men, clearly insulted at their secrecy. "Hey, isn't that illegal or something? I thought Jedi couldn't marry."

"Please, I…" Before Padme could answer, she heard Anakin yell to her.

"Padme- here!" He yelled, throwing her a blaster that he had force pulled off of one of the dead Storm Troopers, "And be careful!"

As Padme stumbled backwards to catch the gun, her hood fell down, completely exposing her face to everyone in the bar. She knew it was too late to worry about that, and ignoring gasps from some of the crowd, she began to fire at storm troopers, hoping that these people would be intelligent enough to keep quiet. She hit her mark, and turned to find the next storm trooper.

"Wait a minute, I know her, she's a Senator!"

Padme cringed to hear these words, knowing that her pregnancy was certainly revealed, at least to the seven or so people whom she openly told about it.

"You're Padme Amidala, aren't you?" Asked the pregnant woman. "So you're-"

Padme cut her off before she could say anything.

"Please," Padme begged, "as one woman to another, please don't say it. Don't say anything."

The woman hesitated. "Of course… I'm sorry. It would be…"
"Disastrous, yes. Clearly, we can't keep this secret forever, but just pretend you never heard anything. Our reputations are literally in your hands."

"A Senator married to a Jedi," said the woman's husband. "So who's your husband anyway."
Padme was shocked that she would be recognized before Anakin, but turning to him she realized that, even through his entire battle, he had managed to keep his hood up. 'He certainly is impressive,' she thought lovingly, as she turned to shoot another storm trooper.

Anakin was growing increasingly weary of using the Force to hold his hood up on his head. But he couldn't even imagine the repercussions if his identity were revealed. Finally, it seemed as if theapparently endless line of clones had finally been defeated. He looked around, satisfied with his work.

"Has anyone been injured?" He asked.

Everyone stared at him; as if he wasn't even a human they could talk to. Jedi were growing increasingly rare, especially because they were all on missions in the Outer Rim these days. They were heroes to the eyes of the public, but this had been such a strange experience it was almost as if they were afraid of him. Suddenly, however, someone began to clap. Soon, the whole bar was cheering for him, thanking him for saving them.

Anakin smiled, feeling rather too proud of himself.

'Oh no,' thought Padme. 'They shouldn't encourage him.'

'Don't worry Padme,' he Force-spoke to her, 'I would never reveal myself. It would ruin both of us.'

He turned to her, upset to see that she had already been revealed. She smiled at him, but only in a professional manner, hoping that the whole group hadn't yet noticed that they were really a couple.

"Thank you, Master Jedi, on behalf of the Senate of the Republic," she wisely began, "It is fortunate that a warrior was here to defend these people."

Their friends from before gave her a strange look, but she begged them with her eyes to say nothing.

Gradually, people in the bar began to thank him, and no one yet seemed to recognize him. Everyone together began to clean up.

"So, Senator, what brought you here this late at night?" Asked one of the people who had recognized her.

"Senators like to have fun too sometimes," she answered, smiling.

"Come on, you must have had some reason."

"My business, as you all should now understand, is very private," she answered.

"Well what do you think about all this? I mean I heard it's the Senate that allowed it."

"Let me clarify that the Senate voted completely against ever bringing a war to Coruscant. Now, the implications of corruption in the Senate will certainly be dealt with. That is all I really can say on the matter." Padme stated truly professionally.

"Master Jedi, if I may," ventured a timid witness, "Why were you here? Did you know that the troops would be coming?"

"If the Order had known, more fighters would have been stationed throughout the city tonight. No, it was a complete surprise to me, and I was in fact out tonight to enjoy some time with my friend the Senator and forget momentarily about the war." Anakin answered.

Padme was proud of how he had dealt with that- she laughed to herself to think that Anakin could probably have made a good politician if he could learn to control his emotions.

The bartender approached Anakin and Padme. "Thank you for helping- I felt responsible, as the owner, for these people's safety, and you really helped me tonight. Can I offer you a free drink? I realize it hardly pays back for what you have done, but it's a gesture."

Anakin was about to accept, when he looked at Padme and remembered her predicament. "No thank you, we were just about to head home, I to the Jedi headquarters, and she to her apartment, of course." Anakin smiled proudly to himself at his answer.

Padme groaned. That had been unnecessary, now of course people would assume they were going to go somewhere together. As terrible as that fact was, she couldn't help but think how cute Anakin was when he tried to be clever.

"Come along, Senator, let me escort you home," he said.

Padme turned to follow him. As they left, everyone in the bar again thanked them for their help, and wished Padme the best of luck in dealing with the Senate and Anakin the best of luck in the war.

'It certainly is refreshing to be in a room full of kindhearted people,' Padme thought to herself.

But just as the Jedi and Senator thought that they had evaded what could have been a disastrous evening, Anakin opened the door to the club and a gust of wind blew off his hood.

A gasp from inside the bar told them that he had been recognized instantly.

"Anakin Skywalker?" Gasped one of the men with whom they had talked about the war.