Chapter Seven

Obi-Wan lay in bed. He was restless. Tormented thoughts raced through his brain. And he couldn't stop them. He groaned and turned on his stomach, he felt like hurting something…hmm, how about his padawan! 'NO! No, snap out of it Kenobi, you're not hurting your padawan'
'DANGIT!' the evil side of his conscience replied.
GRRRR, he just couldn't get that stupid image out of his mind! Obi-Wan turned back onto his back and stared at the ceiling while he thought back on what happened.

FLASHBACK.
Obi-Wan had just climbed up the hill in a good mood to see Anakin and Padmé laughing and Anakin was laying on top of her. His spirits plummeted and so as not to freak them out too much he had stood there and cleared his throat. Padmé looked up to see Obi-Wan, she blushed a deep red and pushed Anakin off of her. Anakin stared in shock at her. She quickly stood up and walked over to Obi-Wan saying hastily."Obi-Wan, it's not how it looks. -- I..," she stammered and looked down.
"You don't need to explain yourself to me"
During this Anakin had stood up and was brushing off his clothes. He came to stand next to Padmé.
"It's true ya know, what she's saying. It really isn't how it looked," he had stated calmly although inside his brain was screaming at him. 'OH SHIT! I'M SCREWED'
Padmé had a pained expression on her face, she kept searching Obi-Wan's face for anything..anything at all, any emotion. Nothing. She sighed in frustration and sadness and just plopped herself on the ground. She started picking at the grass as she watched the sunset. Obi-Wan sighed and sat down on her right while Anakin on her left. They just sat there in silence, albeit an awkward one, watching the sunset. As soon as the sun disappeared Padmé had gotten back up and was slowly walking back to the house. Obi-Wan and Anakin heaved themselves up off of the ground and followed her, saying nothing to each other. Padmé was a few paces in front of them, humming a light Nubian lullaby that her mom use to sing to her. The notes of the song floated through the air and the Jedi could hear it clearly. Obi-Wan could feel Padmé's emotions just sliding off of her, although he knew she was trying to conceal them. Mostly the emotions were sadness, regret, and worry. He really didn't want her to feel this way. He had to make her feel better, he just had to. So, once they got in the house Anakin said that he was tired and walked into his bedroom and didn't come out. Obi-Wan stood next to Padmé and laid a hand on her arm softly. He turned her head to look at him.
"Look, Padmé, I don't want you to feel sad or anything, alright? I'm not mad from what I saw." he said softly while settling her on the couch next to him.
She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"I know, I'm just…" She couldn't go on, she didn't know what to say. All she did was lay her head on his shoulder and held his hand in hers. They sat like that for awhile, each lost in their own thoughts. After what seemed like a long time to Obi-Wan he felt Padmé's head nod suddenly, he looked over at her. She had her eyes closed…she must be asleep. He smiled softly and stood up and cradled her in his arms, like he would a baby. He walked quietly to her bedroom and laid her on it, tucking her in. Before he left he looked down at her sleeping face. She looked so trouble free. Away from everything…including me, he thought sadly. He bent down and kissed her on the lips softly and walked out.

END FLASHBACK.
So, here he was, laying in his bed, thinking that over and over. He just couldn't believe Anakin would actually do that, take advantage of her. He had to have a talk with him soon. Not a father/son kind of talk..more like a brotherly talk…he guessed. Obi-Wan sighed and closed his eyes. He knew Padmé's feelings were mixed up, but he knew for sure that his love would always be for Padmé, and no one else. Yes, he had finally admitted to himself that he loved her with everything. He knew that she loved him..but she also liked Anakin, he just hoped for the sake of them all that she would pick the right person. Anakin Skywalker lay in bed. He was restless. He couldn't sleep. Too much was on his mind. He sighed, it always seemed there was a lot on his mind these days. Anakin's heart quaked at that thought of Obi-Wan kissing Padmé. His hands clenched into fists. He couldn't stand it! SHE WAS HIS! Why couldn't have her! Wait…he'd have her, no matter what, even if it meant destroying anyone who got in the way. She was his, and she knew it, that's probably why she was…always so hesitant towards him. Every since he had laid eyes on her in Watto's shop on Tatooine all those years ago, he had sensed it, even back then. When he was only 9 years old, he knew deep in the back of his mind that she was going to be his. He just had to figure out a way to get her to like him…
Padmé turned on her stomach and angrily punched the pillow. She groaned and laid her head on the pillow, face first. Stupid stupid emotions! They don't help worth bantha fodder! Why oh why did she have to have all these feelings, love for Obi-Wan and yet liking Anakin! SHE WAS SO CONFUSED! Padmé had a strong urge to scream into the pillow but she knew it was no use. Why couldn't she have brought Sabé along with her! If Sabé were here she would have fixed this problem…well, she would have said.."Padmé, what does your heart feel"
Well, there was the problem! SHE COULDN'T TRUST HER HEART! Well, her brain wasn't any better but still…Gods, I need help. Well, staying up all night won't help your problem! she chastised herself. She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.
Sunlight streamed through the house and illuminated the beds of the people sleeping in it. Padmé yawned and stretched. She breathed in the morning scents of the outside, for her windows were open. She smiled and stood by her dresser, once again studying the turquoise rock. She laughed at herself when she heard her stomach growl. Padmé put the rock back onto her dresser and walked out. She wasn't surprised to see Anakin and Obi-Wan in the kitchen eating already. She smiled when she saw Anakin stuffing pancakes in his mouth. He actually managed to smile at her when she passed him.
"Hewlooww Pwadmwé." he said, well, tried to say with his mouth full. Obi-Wan snorted and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Anakin looked back at him.
"WHAT?" he cried, he had swiftly chewed and swallowed so as not to get a lecture from Obi-Wan. Padmé grabbed a plate and stacked a pancake on and sat in between the two Jedi. "Goodmorning!" she exclaimed cheerfully while taking a bite out of the pancake. She groaned in delight. "AH! These pancakes are lovely! Did you make them, Obi-Wan"
Obi-Wan nodded and smiled. "Yup, sure did, glad ya like them." he winked at her.
Padmé chuckled and continued to eat. Anakin smiled and leaned back in his chair, humming a tune. Padmé quickly chewed the last of the pancakes on her plate and put it in the sink. She didn't look at the Jedi as she quickly walked past them and into her bedroom to get dressed. She hurriedly got her clothes on, which was a long dress of pale yellow. Padmé studied herself in the mirror, she frowned. There were dark circles under her eyes and she saw that there was sadness in her eyes. Padmé shook her head, all was well, they had to be. Today was a grand day. Padmé smiled and walked out into the kitchen. Today was a grand day because today was the day she was going to visit her grand-mere Ryoo Thale.
Padmé smiled and walked up to the table briskly, with a small smile on her lips. The Jedi looked at her.
"Would anyone like to come with me to go visit my grandmother?" Anakin, still leaning back in his chair put his arms behind his head and drawled.
"No thank you, Padmé. I'm going to stay here for awhile and keep myself company"
Obi-Wan looked at Padmé.
"Sure, I'd love to meet your grandmother, Padmé. I'll be right back though." and he walked into his bedroom and came out with his light saber hooked up. "Can't forget this!" he said laughingly while pointing at his light saber. Padmé laughed.
"Well, see ya later, Ani. Don't have too much fun now, all alone"
Anakin winked.
"Oh, you know I will!" he said laughingly, and his laugher followed Obi-Wan and Padmé as they walked out towards the docks. Paddy Accu was there, of course. Padmé greeted him with a warm smile and a quick hug.
"We're going to Theed, Paddy, so I don't know when we'll be back." she said as all three climbed into the water gondola speeder. Paddy nodded while they got comfortable and he started the speeder.
"Alright, m'lady, no need to worry bout nothing. I got it all under control." he said smiling at her. She smiled back at him.
"Thank you, Paddy"
"Welcome," and they started across the water.

Obi-Wan and Padmé walked along the grand allies between all the beautiful houses in Theed. They weren't in the same neighborhood though, Obi-Wan observed, as the one that Padmé's sister and parents lived on. Padmé stood at the front door of a house, to Obi-Wan they all looked the same. She turned to him and smiled."This is it," she said softly as she opened the door. They walked in, Padmé looking around, as was Obi-Wan.
"Grandmother, are you in here?" she called cheerfully, still looking around for any sign of her grandmother.
A faint call came from outside, in a nice cheerful warm old grandmaish voice (hopefully ya get what I mean, lol)
"I'm out here!" the voice called from the backyard. Padmé smiled and walked out the backdoor, Obi-Wan followed close behind and saw that an elderly lady, her white hair pulled up in a bun was kneeling down at a flower bed, attending to her flowers. The elderly lady stood up and a bright smile lightened her face at the sight of her favorite granddaughter.
"Padmé!" she exclaimed cheerfully while rushing up to her and giving her a hug and a kiss. "Oh it does my heart good to see you!" Ryoo Thale turned and saw that there was a rather young handsome man standing behind her granddaughter. Ryoo smiled at this man.
"I don't believe I've ever seen you before, young man." she said winking. Obi-Wan smiled slightly and nodded.
"It's lovely to meet you, my lady, I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé's protector and friend." he said while looking and smiling at Padmé fondly. A bit more then fondly though, then just friendship…thought Ryoo. She secretly smiled. She knew something was different about Padmé, she could see it in her granddaughter's eyes. Padmé was in love! And I can guess who that certain would be! she thought to herself in a singsong voice. Ryoo laughed and took Obi-Wan's hands in her own and looked in his eyes.
"It's so nice to meet you, Obi-Wan. I'm glad that you are Padmé's friend." Ryoo had intentionally left out the word "protector" out of her sentence because she hadn't wanted to have trouble, Obi-Wan and Padmé were grateful of that. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I am Ryoo Thale, Padmé's grandmother, on her mother's side." Ryoo suddenly jumped and hurried into the house.
"Come, come! You must be hungry! Would crackers and tea be good?" she asked behind her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen.
"Sure, Grandmother, sounds fine." Padmé smiled and ushered Obi-Wan into the living room. "Might as well sit down, Obi-Wan, otherwise she would force you to." she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Obi-Wan smiled and a vision entered his mind, of Ryoo Thale, barely up to his shoulder threatening him to get in there. Obi-Wan chuckled at the thought. Padmé smiled at Obi-Wan as Ryoo came shuffling in holding a tray full of crackers and tea. Ryoo set the tray down on the coffee table and sat down next to Obi-Wan. She took a hold of the tea kettle.
"Well, I am especially grateful that you have come to see me, Padmé. Did you come here just to see me? Or are you asking for something"
Padmé looked shocked, she almost dropped her cup of tea.
"Granmother! You know I would never come here just to ask for something! I came only to visit you and to introduce you to Obi-Wan." she said while smiling fondly at Obi-Wan, who winked at her. Yup, those two are definetly in love! Oh, I'm so happy for Padmé! thought Ryoo as she took a sip of her tea.
"So, Obi-Wan, how did you come to know Padmé?" she asked kindly.
Padmé smiled at the memory of how they met. Obi-Wan cleared his throat.
"Well, it was when the Trade Federation was holding Naboo back, about 10 years ago. I was only a padawan then though. My Master, Qui-Gon Jinn and I…including Jar Jar Binks," Obi-Wan chuckles at the memory of Jar Jar, "well, we jumped over a balcony and had run to the Queen, which we thought was Padmé Amidala, instead it was Sabé, her decoy. While we were on Tatooine, our ship had been damaged and Tatooine was the closest planet to land on. Anyway, while we were on Tatooine Padmé and I got to know each other a bit better. Qui-Gon and Padmé had met a young boy, Anakin Skywalker, who is now my padawan. There was a Sith apprentice tracking us, going after the Queen. Qui-Gon and I fought the Sith apprentice, and…" Obi-Wan sighed sadly, "My Master, Qui-Gon, he died during the battle, but I eventually killed the Sith apprentice. After everyone was safe, we came back here to Naboo and had a proper Jedi burial for my master. Padmé and I said our goodbyes and then we weren't to see each other in ten years. Of course, my padawan, being "in love" with Padmé had never stopped thinking of her and of course I could easily tell what emotions he had for Padmé. But, what I never told my padawan or Padmé was that I never stopped thinking of her either." Obi-Wan smiled lovingly at Padmé and held her hand. He snapped out of his trance from her beauty from Ryoo chuckling softly and mumbling something that sounded like ."Young love"
Padmé smiled at Ryoo.
"I never stopped thinking about you either, Obi-Wan. How could I possibly forget you? You know…I had a crush on you when we first met"
Obi-Wan laughed.
"I thought you did!" he said teasingly and he moved away from the slap that Padmé had aimed for his shoulder.
"Ah ah ah! No hitting!" he said laughing.
Padmé snorted and rolled her eyes. She looked at Ryoo. Her grandmother stood up and looked at her expectantly.
"Come, Padmé. I have something I want to show you. Obi-Wan, dear, if you wouldn't mind taking a walk outside just for a bit"
Obi-Wan smild and stood up, he bowed. "Of course not, my lady." and he walked out.
Ryoo grabbed her granddaughters hand and pulled her into her room. Padmé stood there waiting while she watched Ryoo scurry around, looking under the bed, in her drawers, and finally in the closet. Ryoo cried triumphly and laid a small box on her bed. She wiped the dust off and opened it. Padmé looked at it excitedly.
Anakin twirled around in his chair a couple of times and sighed. Gods he was bored. There was nothing to do! Well, wait..he could go out for a walk. Hmmm, sounds fun. He smiled at himself and walked out the back door and towards the forest. He was walking around in the beautiful sunlight when he froze and listened. He had thought he heard something. He shrugged and kept on walking. He froze…he had heard it again! But..what was IT, exactly?….Anakin narrowed his eyes and followed the noise, as he got closer it sounded like someone crying softly. The noise was coming from a bush….or..not FROM the bush directly, it wasn't like the bush was crying or anything….. Sure it wasn't.
He tiptoed to the bush and spread it apart. There sat a young woman, and she looked like crap. Well…not her, I mean…she was pretty but right now she looked like crap, with dirt on her face..and she wasn't very clean…Anakin stared at the girl in shock. The girl looked up and gasped. She made a move and suddenly a blaster was aimed at his face and they were staring into each other's eyes. The girl was breathing hard and her eyes were huge with fright. Anakin's eyebrows raised and he held up his hands.
"Woah, now..just calm down, lady." he said while watching her closely.
The girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Who are you?" she spat out, while waving the blaster at him.
Anakin risked bunches and he took a step forward. The girl's eyes widened even more and she aimed the blaster again.
"Don't come any closer or I'll have to shoot!" she shrieked, but there was doubt in her voice.
Anakin shook his head and suddenly the blaster was in his hand. The girl gasped loudly and looked at her hand to the blaster in his.
"You're a Jedi!" she shrieked. She took a few steps back.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I just don't want you to hurt yourself." he said slowly, while walking closer to her. He actually managed to lay a hand on her forearm, the girl flinched but relaxed a bit. She looked up into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. The tears started again.
She laid her head in her hands and sobbed. Anakin didn't know what to do so he just…caressed….her arm a bit, and waited until she stopped crying. Anakin didn't like crying women, he felt like he wasn't in control when he was around crying women. Anakin mentally kicked himself. This was not what he intended his walk to be like. Finally the girl..lady..person looked up at him and she blushed.
"I'm sorry.." she stammered while looking down.
"S'k, I guess all girls do that. Anyway….what's your name? And why are you out here!" he asked bluntly.
The girl shook her head.
"I'm Ciana.." the girl mumbled.
"Well, Ciana, mind if I take you back with me"
Ciana looked at him in fright.
"Take me where?" she asked. Anakin took her arm and started walking back to the lodge. He was sure Obi-Wan wouldn't mind…
"Back to the lodge, look, you obviously are in distress and I don't sense that you'll do anything bad so." he said shrugging, not stopping to look back at her. Ciana's eyebrows in surprise and she stared at the back of this guy. Who is he? And why's he here! HA! He's probably thinking the same of you, Ci.
Ciana guessed there was nothing else to do but follow him. So, she did and was surprised when they walked into a beautifully furnished lodge. Ciana stood there, mouth opened in shock.
Anakin looked back at her and smirked.
"Yeah, that's what I thought! But, anyway..um, its not my place, it's my friends…so, yeah…um…you look like crap." he said. "But….I mean…no offence or nuttin." he added hastily as Ciana had looked at him in disbelief and looked like she wanted to hit him. "You can take a shower and a nap or whatever. I'll show ya the fresher." Anakin turned and didn't bother to see if she was following, he stopped in front fresher and pointed to it.
"Er….go ahead and take a shower, I guess….I'll get ya some clothes." and he walked into Padmé's bedroom. Hope she won't mind! he thought while looking through her drawers and closet. Finally he found suitable clothing of Padmé's to give to Ciana. He smiled and walked to the fresher, clothes in hand. He opened the door and stopped. Ciana stood there, hair wet, with only a towel on. She screamed and Anakin quickly turned around and shut the door. He leaned against it, his heart racing and shut his eyes, banging his head on the wall lightly. Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Gods! Ok, no…calm down..just calm. Anakin breathed in and blushed. crap, that was not cool. He knocked on the door lightly.
"Ciana?" he called.
He could hear some movement and the door opened partially, he held out the clothes and she grabbed them quickly and shut the door. Anakin grimaced and walked into the kitchen, he was hungry.
Padmé looked at her grandma and then back at the ring in her hand. It was a man ring, gold and it shined beautifully. It had a lion on it, on it's back legs. But…why did her grandma want to show this to her?
Ryoo looked at her granddaughter, a smile on her face.
"This ring has been in our family for generations. Every woman in this family gave this ring to the man they love. I want you to give this to Obi-Wan. I am very happy for you Padmé." she said while handing over the ring and hugging Padmé.
"Oh, wait, there's something I want to show you." Ryoo took the ring and turned it upside down, engraved on the bottom of the ring said 'Pour mon amour'. "It means, For My Love. I thought that that was always special, now, go find Obi-Wan!" Ryoo said with a wink and putting the ring in her hand. Padmé clasped the ring and kissed her grandma's cheek. Her eyes spoke the words she could not. Thank you. Padmé turned and walked out the door, to find her love.