When Padmé opened her door, she was surprised about two things: Anakin was standing in the doorway and it was late. Almost twenty-third hour.
"Hey Padmé." The usually jovial youth placed a quick peck to her cheek and entered her apartment in long strides.
Padmé glanced toward Dormé who had responded to the door chime and shrugged her shoulders in confusion. Dormé returned the gesture and reluctantly withdrew back to her room, although fully expecting an explanation for Anakin's unexpected visit in the morning.
The Jedi padawan wasted little time in settling down on her couch, busying himself with the marble sphere collection on the table in front of him. He seemed particularly interested in the dark green and gold flecked one this evening, Padmé noted. The one with the large chunk missing out of one side.
Padmé sat down across from him, also noting the expression of worry on the young man's face.
"Ani? Is everything okay?"
"Huh? Oh, uhm, yeah."
Typical conversation for the sixteen-year-old, Padmé sighed in relief. He seems to be acting like himself.
"I just, uhm," he continued, "wanted to ask you if you were busy tomorrow night. It's the first round of the padawan laserball tournament, and I thought you might enjoy watching it."
Padmé smiled sweetly. "I'd love to, but I'm afraid I've already made plans." The sweetness of her smile was replaced with a nervous giddiness. "I have a date." She announced, her small smile now turning into a full-size grin which was not shared by her company. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Fine." Anakin murmured. "I'm fine."
He gently set the decorative ball back on the table and leaned back into the couch.
"Tell me about your date. Who is he? And where did you meet him?"
Padmé responded once more with a sheepish smile. "We met on the Holonet actually, almost a month ago. I know that doesn't seem like a long time, but I feel like I've known him forever."
Anakin bit his inner lip.
"We were initially attracted to each other through our love of poetry, but discovered we shared many of the same interests. We enjoy the same music, the same seasons, even some of the same foods."
"What's his name?" Anakin asked.
"I don't know." Padmé laughed softly. "We decided to remain anonymous. It was exciting at first, but now I think I'm ready for more. I've never met anyone like him before. I'm ready to take it to the next level."
Oh, you've met him before. Anakin kept to himself as he drummed his fingers on his lightsaber.
"What happens if, when you do meet him, he's not what you thought he would be? What if he's a Wookie or something?"
Padmé snorted with laughter. "That's ridiculous." She then looked pensive. "It wouldn't matter. I care for him too much, but I have to be careful."
"Why?" The young man leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
"Because he's been hurt before. He hasn't mentioned any details, but I can tell he hasn't forgiven her. He's still hurting, I think, and I want to help him."
Anakin stood up abruptly and began pacing behind the couch. What was he going to do? Should he tell her? He turned to look at her and could see the confused concern regarding his actions on her face, but behind that, he could also see the genuine happiness that she had discovered. He recognized that look. His Master wore the exact same one.
With a deep sigh, Anakin decided that he would keep the information to himself, for now. However, he would go back to the Temple and do his best to try and talk his Master out of this meeting for tomorrow night. If he didn't, the two people he cared about the most would be hurt, and he wasn't about to let that happen.