"Bant, please don't, they're nothing."

"Oh really! So huge Nexu scratches down our back count as nothing do they? I'm terribly sorry but they don't count as nothing in my book. Just keep still while I clean and re-bandage these, if you keep all this sand in them it will rapidly become infected.."

"But I got them cleaned by the clones on Geneosis."

"Well their version of clean is not the same as mine, especially when I hear you were in a bit of a hurry. Now if you don't stay still I'll get Anakin down here to deal with you."

I groan and stop fidgeting in the small healers room. Bant works carefully on the wounds on my back, but I still wince as she extracts small grains of sand from them and rubs bacta ointment over them. Upon seeing me wincing in Obi-Wan and Anakin's apartment, Bant had insisted she check me over, and Obi-Wan hadn't helped by laughing at my protests and encouraging Bant further.

I just want to be with Anakin, to hold him close, share his pain, help him to overcome everything that is haunting him. Has he told anyone else about us? Has he told Obi-Wan about the events at the Tusken Camp? I can't believe that he would normally, but in his frame of mind I've come to think that anything is possible for him, especially after his proposal. I am over the moon about it of course, but something is telling me that I shouldn't be…that if anyone found out….like Bant must have found out. Bant…friend to Obi-Wan, a Jedi with good connections to the Jedi Council. A wave of sudden panic rises in my chest, and I frown, hoping that maybe that what she has said earlier has no connection with his proposal….

"Bant…what did you mean when you whispered to me couple of hours ago?"

"I meant what I said earlier Senator, I hope you and Anakin will be very happy together. I'm just going to bandage these."

"What did Anakin tell you?"

"Anakin didn't tell me anything, well not directly at least."

"You were eavesdropping!"

I hear her laugh and feel her start to place gauzes over the scratches.

"No, you and Anakin were talking so loudly anyone walking past the door on their way to the fresher could hear."

I quickly spin round, earning myself a disapproving glare, but upsetting Bant is the last thing I'm thinking about."

"Bant…does Obi-Wan know?"

"Senator please turn around so I can finish my job. Honestly, you are worse than Anakin."

"Not until you tell me!"

She sighs and looks wearily at the floor, before returning her gaze to me.

"No…not of your engagement anyway. He does suspect something is going on between you though."

"Have you told him anything?"

"Of course not, I couldn't put Obi-Wan in that position."

"What position?"

"Having to choose between his duty to the Order and his duty to his best friends."

I feel instantly uncomfortable. Bant is one of Obi-Wan's best friends too….she could tell him at any moment, despite the fact she says she couldn't. Anakin and I will be torn apart again. Or would we? Didn't Anakin say he would leave the Jedi Order for me if the decision came to it? But I can't do that to him, the Order is his life, his only family now his mother is gone. If the time did come, I wouldn't give him a choice.

But would Obi-Wan? Of course he would, he would turn Anakin over to the council, and then Anakin would be forced to choose, and I have a good idea of which way he would choose to go. I also know that they way he would choose would gradually destroy him. He was born to save people, not being able to would destroy him.

"You know, you should give our Obi more credit. He may be loyal to the Order and the Code, but he cares for the ones he loves."

I look up startled, wondering if I had perhaps said these things out loud. She's smiling softly, almost wistfully at a point just behind my head. I turn around to see what she is looking at, but groan as Bant quickly resumes her healing, and I realise I've been tricked. But something troubles me, how did she know what I was thinking? And how, after being separated from Obi-Wan for such a long time, did she know so much about the people he cares about, the people he loves? The only people I know directly who could do that are Anakin and Obi-Wan….

"Bant…..are you a Jedi?"

"A Jedi Healer….I may not be able to fight with a lightsabre as well as Yoda or Mace Windu, but if it comes to it, I can defend myself and others. And I can guarantee, I've saved almost as many lives as my friends on the council have, doing what I do."

"So that's how you knew what I was thinking then."

"Partly, I can also tell by the look of hurt and confusion that passes through your eyes. There all done."

I slide gently off the table, rolling my top back down, wincing slightly as it rubs on the bruises, though Bant's ointment is starting to bring them down considerably.

"How do you know so much about Obi-Wan? I didn't think you were together that much."

"We aren't. He's almost always away on missions and when he isn't he's generally too busy training Anakin or doing some work for the council. I just know from past experiences how far Obi-Wan will go to protect someone he loves."

"Past Experience?"

"Senator, must you always ask so many questions? That is an entirely different story."

"Please call me Padme, and I have time to listen to a story. I need one to take my mind off of Anakin."

She's looking at me intently, and I quickly put my mock pleading look on my face causing her to relax and laugh.

"You look like a little girl when you do that."

"mmm, that's what Anakin says. Come on Bant tell me! Prove to me that Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't always the strict, uptight master that Anakin is always winging about."

"Alright, but you cannot tell him or Obi-Wan that I told you."

"I promise, my lips are sealed."

She takes a deep breath and sighs, settling herself in a chair while I re-take my position up on the bed.

"Ok, it was around 15 years ago. Obi-Wan and I grew up together and he had been training under Master Qui-Gon Jinn for a number of years…..but one day, something happened….something that changed Obi's life..."