Author Note: Never fear loyal readers! Anakin has come to the aid of the poor Padme! And perhaps later on, I will add a completely new scene about Padme's past because at last, I have invented a reason for why she would marry such a monster...sounds kinda familiar don't it!

Padme was in her room later that evening. She had had enough of her husband's drunken behaviour and comments about the other women.

She sat at her dresser in the light of a dozen tall candles, removing the flowers from her hair and dropping them into a bowl of water.

As she removed another flower, she heard a noise and looked up to see Anakin standing in the doorway. For several breaths, both were silent, staring at each other. And then Padme summoned the courage to speak.

"You shouldn't be here."

Anakin stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"That's what you said last night."

"Last night was a mistake."

"And the night before?" Anakin asked as Padme went back to removing the flowers from her hair, trying to hide a half smile.

"I've made many mistakes this week," she sighed as he approached her.

"Do you want me to go?" he asked gently, running a finger down the back of her neck and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Yes," she whispered, closing her eyes, as though too ashamed or frightened to look at him.

Anakin kissed the back of her neck and the tightness he saw in her face when she sat by her husband's side was gone, replaced by contentment.

"Where should I go?" he whispered into her ear as she turned to face him at last.

"Away. Far away," she replied, but Anakin knew she didn't mean it. He opened his mouth to speak but she leant forward and kissed him full on the lips. All thoughts flew from his mind as he absorbed the kiss, and her beauty.

oOo

Down in the hall, as more and more wine gourds were emptied, the scene was growing rowdier. An impromptu choir of Endorian and Nubian soldiers drunkenly sang battle songs.

Dorme sat on Grievous's lap. She whispered in his ear while he laughed and drained another cup of wine. Obi-Wan sat nearby, half engaged in conversation with several Endorian generals. He was clearly not happy that his brother was still missing, but no one else seemed to notice his absence. Infact, Obi-Wan thought they were all too drunk to even notice anything except their women and the wine.

oOo

Up in Padme's room, Padme lay in her bed, the silk sheets covering her beautiful body as she watched Anakin pulling back on his belt, the silver saber swinging from his side.

"I have something for you," he said, pulling a necklace of baby pearls threaded with silver from his tunic. He sat down beside her on the bed.

"Pearls from the lake on Naboo," he told her, stringing them round her neck.

"They're beautiful," she whispered, fingering them delicatelty. "But I can't wear them. Grievous would kill us both."

"Don't be afraid of him," Anakin said gently, stroking her soft cheek with the back of his hand.

"I'm not afraid to die. I've been dying a little bit each day since you came into my life. I'm only afraid of tomorrow, watching you fly away and knowing you'll never come back."

She ran one hand through his mop of long sandy brown hair affectionately. He took her hand in his own and kissed it.

"Before you came to Endor I was a ghost. I walked and I ate and I swam in the sea, but I was a ghost," she continued.

Anakin looked at her sympathetically, as though he knew how she felt.

"You don't have to fear tomorrow."

Padme watched him, unsure of what he meant.

"Come with me," he answered at last.

For a long moment they stared into each other's eyes, Padme's emotions conflicting inside her head. Part of her wanted to believe him, the other part told her that he was just trying to make himself feel better so that when he left, she would know that he had given her the chance.

"Don't play with me, prince of Naboo. Don't play," she replied as though he were a child again.

The sound of footsteps and laughter outside the door startled them both and Anakin instinctively pulled out the saber hanging from his belt. Whoever was walking by the door passed without stopping and Anakin, breathing a sigh of relief, returned the saber to his belt and took Padme's hand again.

"If you come we'll never be safe. Men will hunt us and the gods will curse us. But I'll love you. Until the day they burn my body, I will love you," he muttered into her ear and there wasn't a bit of falseness about his tone. Padme stared into his irresistable sky blue eyes, contemplating the impossible. She knew what her answer should have been, yet she couldn't help but think of the alternative.