Chapter Three:

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By the time he returned to see that Padmé had arrived fifteen minutes early. She looked beautiful even in her simple attire, lightly worn jeans, and a black long sleeve shirt that hung loose but hugged her breasts. The jeans she was wearing didn't make her backside look all that bad either, a shimmering white ski vest and white tennis shoes completed her ensemble. Her hair had been done in two French braids on either side of her head.

"Dad, Padme invited us to a barbecue this Saturday, please tell me we aren't doing anything."

"I don't think we're doing anything Saturday, I guess we'll be able to make it." Anakin answered turning to face Padmé; he didn't notice that she slightly gasped when she saw him. He had on blue jeans that were soaked in oil and dirt, his white muscle shirt showed off his fabulously built he really was.

A customer walked into the shop carrying a tub filled with what looked to be the remains of a protocol droid. The man gave a wary smile, Anakin excused himself.

"I was told you could fix anything. My droid powered down in his corner in our garage and our son backed up too far with our speeder. He's been with us for years." The man said dropping his head to look at the pieces of the droid in the blue container. Anakin nodded in understanding, even though droids were just a clever design of wires and metal, they still worked into your hearts, Anakin himself would be upset if 3PO were lost.

"Droids are my specialty; I can have him back to you in two days." The man's eyes lit up and he thank Anakin before sputtering something about being late to a lunch with his wife and granddaughter.

He left and Anakin carried the parts to a table in the corner, he set them down and turned back to Padme, Luke, and Leia.

"Are you going to the ice rink?" Anakin asked letting his gaze drop up and down Padme's body once more, this time she saw it and blushed –noticeably. Anakin chuckled seeing this, Leia grew uncomfortable at her father and Padme's silent flirting. Luke seemed to be happy though.

"I, uh, have to drop Luke off at my sister's house and then we'll be heading to the ice rink." She told him, he grinned and nodded. Padme smiled knowingly, she would definitely be seeing Anakin Skywalker again.

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The drive to Padme's sister's house was a long one, and a quiet one. Leia was happy to just look out the window of the back seat. Luke looked in the rear view mirror at Leia, a step sister perhaps? He had felt the connection between Anakin and his mother and was all for it, something was bothering the dark haired thirteen year old in the back seat though. She caught him staring but instead of looking away he just smiled, she returned the gesture as much as she could.

"You okay?" He asked, not sure whether the question was directed towards his mother or Leia. Both were strangely quiet, he expected this from his mother, however. She didn't like going to Sola's house, they had had a strained relationship, he didn't know why but he knew part of it was because she had him in high school, their family was highly respected on Naboo and off, having a daughter take a year off from high school to have a baby was looked down upon immensely, he figured that his aunt never forgave Padme, he knew that they had had a fight and neither apologized for the bitter words exchanged, it must have been extremely horrible. Luke had seen pictures of Padme and Sola in their younger years, and his grandparents had told him how the two sisters didn't like to be separated. Now they couldn't stand to be in the same room with each other.

His question remained unanswered as Padme maneuvered the speeder onto Grove Way, the tall white houses seemed to tower over them. Leia gasped at the sight of them, the fountains in the front, the gnarled iron gates, expensive flower arrangements decorated the outside of each mansion they passed. She had never seen anything like it and wondered if Padme had lived in a place like this, and if so, why did she want to live in a small village? The people here probably had everything they could ask for, she didn't want to think her friend was ungrateful, but who in their right minds would give this all up?

They turned once more, this time onto a long driveway with a graceful sign that read 'Private Property'. As they came to the end of the driveway an extremely tall black gate guarded the biggest mansion on Grove Way. Padme pulled up to the gate and reached out her window to type in the security code. Slowly the gates opened revealing a white mansion that looked more like a castle in Leia's eyes, ivy grew up the side of the house giving it an air of elegance. Large bird baths marred the spaces on either side of the elegant marble stairs that led to the porch and two huge oak doors, with door knockers the size of a human head, they were made to look like tigers. Leia thought the place was breathtaking and again wondered who would give things like this up, she certainly wouldn't mind all the finery.

"Don't let the glitz fool you." Padme warned noticing Leia's awestruck face, Luke just smiled and let her out of the back seat. The trio wandered up the stairs, before Padme had a chance to knock the door opened revealing a tall man dressed in a black suit with a red carnation in his pocket. His gray hair was combed over to the right side and his pale blue eyes sparked to life seeing Padme.

"Hello Shames." She greeted the man with a broad smile and a light hug, he was obviously very happy to see her.

"Miss Padme, Lucas." He nodded to Luke who blushed hearing his full name.

"Hi Shames." Luke gave a warm smile.

"Who his this beautiful young woman?" It was Leia's turn to blush.

"This is Leia Skywalker, we met recently and I've offered to teach her to ice skate. He shook Leia's hand and smiled at her.

"It's good to know your skills are being put to good use Miss Padme." There was the sound of heels clicking on the marble floor and an impatient tapping.

"Shames, I need you to run Miss Ryoo to her piano lesson." A woman with a tight, but beautiful face instructed. Leia then knew the reason behind the formal greetings, he was their servant. Anger coursed the her veins, she didn't like the thought of this nice aging man doing everything this family told him to do, cleaning up after them. After her father told her about his past she had developed a quick string of anger directed towards anyone who harbored servants. Shames lost the spark in his eyes and looked apologetically to Padme and Luke then nodded to Sola and left the room to find Ryoo.

"Padme you are fifteen minutes late. Luke it's good to see you, Darred is in the shed outside, he's waiting for you." Other than the light scold there was nothing more said between the sisters. Padme turned to Luke and kissed his cheek, then told him she would be back at six 'o' clock. Leia smiled witnessing the tender moment between mother and son. Sola tapped her foot once again, she noticed Leia then. Giving her a disapproving look she turned with a "humph" and led Luke away. Padme opened the large door herself and let Leia out before following.

"That was your sister?" Leia asked.

"Yes, that would be Sola." Padme answered trying not to sound aggravated but failing miserably, thankfully Leia knew the aggravation wasn't directed towards her. She let the subject drop and got into the speeder, taking the front seat this time. Padme smiled at her, Leia returned it. Then she started the speeder for the ice rink, making small talk. Asking little about Anakin, which shocked Leia. It wasn't that she didn't like Padme, she did. As a friend. Not a new mother. It was silly to get worked up when Padme and her father hadn't even went out on a date, but Leia could tell by the way her father seemed to be in a dreamy trance the night they returned from the ice rink after meeting Padme and Luke for the first time. She wasn't stupid and neither was Luke, they both knew it was only a matter of time before their parents got...close. Only, Luke seemed to support it.

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There we have it...Hope you enjoyed it!