SIX:
The walk back to their rooms was a weighted one, to be sure. After an intolerably wordless walk down one hallway, Padmé forced herself to break the silence.
"Sorry if I, ah, overstepped my bounds, or, you know, surprised you… or something," she said, lacking all the grace one would expect a senator to have. It was awful. What he'd done was ruin her ability to speak properly, and that wasn't something she'd dealt with for a very long time. She was trained to be better than this!
"No, no," he said right away, "It was nothing."
But it was nothing? She choked back a laugh.
"Yes, of course," she muttered and glanced at a small, passing droid.
"I mean, it was fine," he said, as if not knowing quite what to say.
They were silent, painfully, agonizingly silent for the rest of the walk to the door of their quarters. As they arrived at the door, she felt a sudden panic as if she didn't want to go in yet, not with Anakin. She wasn't sure if she was afraid Anakin might sense what had happened somehow, or if she was just panicking over unfinished business with Obi-Wan, but she couldn't go in. Not yet.
She stopped in front of the door and turned to Obi-Wan.
"Do you think Anakin is all right?" she asked.
"I suppose we're about to find out," he replied with a wry smile.
"But did we learn anything tonight?" she wondered at him.
"Maybe," said Obi-Wan, observing her more closely.
Padmé sighed in frustration, glancing up at a pipe in the corded hallway, oozing steam.
"You've, at least, endeared yourself to half the crew," he said, as an offering.
"Yes, but –" she began, but Obi-Wan stepped closer and she stopped.
"Padmé," he said, and he drew all her attention, shrouding her in the alcove of their door. "Sometimes things happen, and we don't know why. Sometimes things are meaningless, and sometimes they might seem meaningless but end up having great meaning later, even imminent meaning."
She brushed his shroud a little, and the blue of his eyes grew clearer.
"But in the moment, we don't know what spare parts of tonight will have the most meaning. We can't possibly see the end from the beginning, but we'll see the beginning from the end, and then the value of which parts matter will be clear as day."
"Well, that doesn't help now, does it?" she muttered, fingering the edge of his shroud on his shoulder.
"No, it doesn't," he said, with a small smile. "The fun part is trying to figure it out somewhere in the middle."
"And what if we don't?" she asked.
"We will," he said, and then, after a pause, "We have to. The Republic's at stake."
In that moment she felt the great love and dedication Obi-Wan had for the Republic and thought she might melt into the metal floor-grates. He took her hand, the one in his shroud at his shoulder.
"Remember everything that happened tonight, everyone we met, and everything they said," he said, seeming to be half in his own thoughts. "I… feel as if there was something significant."
"Oh?" she asked.
He came back to fully focus on her and said, "Yes."
Unfortunately remembering everything required her remembering the kiss, and with the closeness of Obi-Wan at this moment, she remembered the gentleness of his lips, and her eyes fell across his face, and her hand, quite out of line, had the gall to miss the softness of the beard on his cheek.
His hand tightened on her wrist, bringing her back to focus on what was important, which was the Republic, of course.
"I'm sorry," he murmured to her, softly.
"For…?" she inquired back.
He drew a breath and released her hand, and stepped back, and it was as if a spell was broken, as if she could breathe again. It was as if her world, for a few minutes, had been nothing but Obi-Wan Kenobi and now there were more things there. Her hand, which he had just released, fell to her chest, where she felt the rise and fall of her breathing and steadied it… steadied it.
He watched her with something akin to sadness hidden in his shroud.
She turned at once and opened the door.
"We're back!" she called, not wanting to surprise Anakin (not after the surprise in the marketplace nearly killed her).
Practically stumbling into the main room, she saw Anakin sitting at a desk, fiddling with some diminutive mechanics, and using a few tools. Nearby was a plate of half-eaten chocolate cake.
"Oh finally," he groaned, upon seeing them. "This was getting really boring, but I did make a droid."
"What?" asked Padmé in disbelief.
"Oh, it's just a small one," he said, as if it was no big deal. He held up a palm-sized round droid that squizzled. "Might be good for spying, I guess."
"Wow, Ani," she said, coming closer to look at the little droid. "That's actually pretty amazing."
"Well, it's what someone does when one is left all alone in the quarters all evening with nothing but food and droid parts for company," said Anakin, glancing over at Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan scratched his beard thoughtfully.
"We didn't leave any droid parts in here," he mentioned.
"Yeah, so," said Anakin, "The, uh, comm system in our room doesn't exist anymore."
Padmé laughed.
"Fine," said Obi-Wan, "Next time we're bringing you with us."
"Good," said Anakin, satisfied. "So, what did you find out?"
Padmé glanced at Obi-Wan and they shared a look, an unintentional look.
"Er… what did you find out?" asked Anakin, more suspicious and alert.
"I found out that Corellian Hooch is to be avoided at all costs," said Padmé, taking an aloof tone.
"I knew that before I was ten," said Anakin. "What else?"
"Games of chance are best left for those who can move matter… or dice… with their minds," said Padmé.
"What, you cheated at gambling?" asked Anakin, looking aghast at his master. "First you gambled, and then you cheated?"
"It was for a good cause," stated Obi-Wan, obliquely.
"I hope you found out something good," said Anakin.
"Maybe," said Obi-Wan, and then he changed tack in an instant. "However, I'm tired and will now retire. Good night. Don't stay up too late, Anakin."
With that, Obi-Wan was gone to his quarters like a puff of smoke. Immediately Anakin stood and turned on Padmé.
"What did you do to him?" he demanded.
"Nothing," she replied, defensive at once.
"He's all," Anakin said, and then with his hands, he made gestures around himself like shaking matter. "Like that."
"Huh?" replied Padmé, not at her most eloquent.
"The force, Padmé, the force around him is… it's… it's just not like him," he said, not seeming to know how to explain it, and then he began again with another try: "It's like he's normally a placid lake, not just normally… he's always a placid lake… but tonight he's all shaken up and roiling."
"That's something you can see?" asked Padmé, feeling uncomfortable with the force. He ignored her question entirely.
"I'll ask you again… what did you do to him?" Anakin asked with a focus she rarely saw in him. Or, at least, it was rarely wholly focused on her. It was intense, and almost terrifying. She felt as if he could see inside of her.
"Nothing, I did nothing," she said, averting her gaze.
"You're lying," he said, and it was as if he knew.
There was a long, weighted silence where she didn't dare look at him.
"It wasn't anything," she finally spat out quickly.
"What wasn't anything?" he demanded at once.
"It was just a game, it didn't mean anything," she said.
"What happened?" he insisted.
It was almost as if he reached inside of her and pulled it from her by force.
"I kissed him," she half-whispered, and then she gasped, never meaning to tell anyone, let alone him.
"You what?" hissed Anakin, rushing her and looming. "How dare you?"
She backed into the wall to defend herself, though she knew she was guilty.
"He's a Jedi Knight, a Master, no less! Have you no respect for his authority?" he demanded. He was angrier than she could have imagined he would be.
"It was completely innocuous!" she objected.
"Stop using senator speak," he groused, "You only do that when you're insecure."
That stung because he was right. She hated it when he was right.
"Well, it was," she insisted.
"Then why was the force so disturbed around him?" he asked.
She didn't know what to say to that. Maybe it affected Obi-Wan a lot more than she thought. Maybe, just maybe, she'd made a really bad mistake.
He poked her shoulder with his finger and said, "Exactly."
"Don't poke me!" she replied, knocking his finger away in irritation. As if she needed immature Anakin poking her and giving her uncomfortable revelations.
"Then stop kissing my master!" hissed Anakin more quietly, perhaps so Obi-Wan wouldn't overhear. He poked her again.
"I said stoppit!" she spat, and poked him back, in the side.
"You're bad at that," mocked Anakin, unmoved.
"I am not," she replied with determination, and began poking him relentlessly where she knew, from years' experience, he was ticklish.
She felt a surge of satisfaction as Anakin muffled a shriek and pulled away from her offensive maneuvers, yet she had felt so attacked, and so much that her hand had been forced, that she wanted him to suffer. She tickled him until he was helpless on his back upon the floor, a child beneath her skilled knowledge of his weakness, her knowing of his missing dragon's scale. She was victorious over him, and he had been subdued.
Finally, she allowed him to catch her wrists as she leaned over him, though he was weak and panting. Somehow it was as if they'd been wrestling on the floor like youths. It was strangely refreshing for Padmé, who'd never had much of a youth.
"Padmé," he said, between breaths.
"What?" she asked, as if waiting for him to explain himself.
"Why did you kiss Obi-Wan?" he asked, differently this time. It wasn't demanding. It seemed as if he really wanted to know why.
"It was all a game," she said. "He saved me from having to kiss one of the more unpleasant choices. It truly wasn't supposed to mean anything."
"But did it?" he asked.
He was strangely vulnerable, and Padmé felt it. Her gaze fell away from his and she felt his grip tighten slightly on her wrists.
"It shouldn't," she concluded, firm, insistent.
There was a sudden shift, a change in gravity, a burst of centrifugal motion, and Anakin had Padmé on her back, and he suddenly didn't seem child-like at all. His razor-like intensity had returned, just like that, and she felt him tremble through her wrists.
"Anakin," she began, but his hand touched her cheek and she felt his fingertips shake.
"I want to kiss you," he sighed.
"Anakin," she said again, confused by his sudden change of tack.
"It won't mean anything," he said, but his voice made her think otherwise.
"You're lying," she replied.
"Please," he whispered.
"Anakin," she insisted.
But he did it anyway. He fell and kissed her and it was like being kissed by a being made of fire. It was as if all of his conflicts, all of his torments, were pushed into a single metaphysical act, and as if she were blinded by it, seared by it, and left scalded.
He pulled back as a man breaking the water's surface for air, and scrambled from her at once, sitting on his heels.
"Ah, Padmé," he said, "I…"
"Just assaulted a senator?" she said, sitting up and trying to put herself to rights, feeling thoroughly irritated.
"What? No, I…"
"Yes, you did, you idiot," she said, and then she leaned over and shoved him. He fell sideways, easily.
"But," he began, but Padmé wasn't having it.
"How dare you accost me over the incredibly harmless way I kissed Obi-Wan, and then proceed to kiss me like you're dying of thirst?" she said, standing to do her own looming over Anakin. "Did I say you could do that? When did I say you could do that?"
"I'm sorry," he said, defeated by his own weakness.
"You'd better be," she said. "I'm going to bed. I hope you enjoy it when I explain this to your master in the morning."
"No, Padmé!" he said rising to his knees to stop her from leaving, "Please… don't tell him."
"Why not?" she asked. "You made me tell you I kissed him. Shouldn't we all know each other's secrets, now?"
"It would cause unnecessary conflict in the group," he said, sounding a bit silly.
But, he was actually kind of right. Padmé glanced back at Obi-Wan's room. They were supposed to be doing something more important than worrying about who's kissing who, they were supposed to be protecting the Republic. For a wry moment, Padmé felt that if their sorry trio was all the Republic had guarding it, maybe it deserved to fall. It was all seeming very ridiculous, especially with how late it had gotten.
"Fine," said Padmé at last, and Anakin sighed in relief. "But don't try anything like that again, or I'll have your head."
She gave him a stern eye and left. It was unfortunate that later, when recalling the extent of his passion, she might have shivered a little.
[']9][']9][']9]
Padmé woke at a strange hour, not sure why she had awoken. As she lay on her bed, however, she discovered why when the bed, room, and ship shifted momentarily, like it had been buoyed sideways in the deep by a torpedo. A moment passed and then it came again, the shift, coupled with a deep bass sound which was hardly perceptible, but she knew what it was. She jumped up in a flash and ran to the Jedi's room at once.
"Obi-Wan! Anakin! They're here!" she cried.
Obi-Wan was alert even before she'd spoken, and it was as if the moment she opened the door the change in pressure woke him. Anakin took more time to rouse.
"What?" asked Anakin, who flailed. "What?"
"The pirates!" she hissed, as if he should already know that, and she slammed their door, running to throw on some proper clothing. The men were out in less than a minute, and fortunately she'd been quick enough to be mostly dressed before they arrived. Obi-Wan was buckling his lightsaber to his belt.
"At which part of the ship are they?" asked Obi-Wan.
Anakin sat down at the holo, flicked it on, and started flipping through ship readings, which he had somehow accessed in his downtime.
"Front hull, left side," said Anakin.
Padmé checked the switch on her blaster and tucked it into the back of her belt.
"Let's get to it, then," said Obi-Wan, wrapping his shroud.
"Now or never," said Padmé, steeling herself and opening the door.
They marched down the hallway as if they were serious people, or something, with Padmé in front, and Anakin and Obi-Wan flanked slightly behind on either side. Anakin gave her directions quietly, as he had memorized the map of the ship and knew the way there. As they arrived at the scene, there were a few people waiting at a dock, one being the insect-like waiter from the night before, who spotted her and gave her a sideways grin.
"Well, if it isn't the negotiator," said Insect Man, and the others waiting at the dock turned to see. They were all in various staged of looking her up and down when Obi-Wan moved to stand in front of her.
"What do you want with Madame Negotiator?" he inquired.
Insect Man chuckled, as well as a few others.
"It looks like her friends are here," said the insect.
Padmé wanted to ask who her friends were, but she supposed that meant whoever was the previous trade negotiator was a yellow-bellied traitor to Naboo. She made a mental note to look into that at her soonest convenience.
At that moment, there were some sounds of men shouting and running towards them from another corridor, and the men who'd been waiting at the dock went on the alert.
"Ah, looks like the fight's on," said one of the dock men, pulling his pistol out of his holster. "Take those crates and we'll go behind these others. We've just got to hold them off until the docking's done."
She glanced at Obi-Wan and Anakin, and they all agreed without words to play along. Ducking behind the crates, they made ready to defend. Padmé found herself hoping the pirates would dock fast enough to avoid any real conflict requirements on her part. She had no desire to attack anyone who was innocently trying to protect this ship and its cargo.
Fortunately for Padmé, no sooner had the men arrived from the ship to defend it when the pirate ship dropped its platform and a mish-mash of questionable and scallywag persons erupted into the scene. As the pirates rushed past them into the fray with blasters blazing, Padmé and her Jedi were completely spared the requirement of defending themselves against lawful citizens of the Republic. She turned at once to Obi-Wan and Anakin and put a hand on each of their arms.
"Do not use your light-sabers," she murmured to them, then glanced behind her. "I don't know if I could explain that away."
The men who'd betrayed the freighter were in the process of loading stock into the pirate ship in crates, while the pirates fought off the crew security.
"Then what shall we use to defend you?" asked Obi-Wan.
Padmé glanced around and then darted out to a fallen soldier and a pirate, and, firing here and there to ward off blasts, filched the blasters off them both and ran back to cover.
"Here," she said, feeling a little breathless as she handed them over.
"What in the seven he-," began Anakin, outraged.
"Please don't do that again," finished Obi-Wan, long-sufferingly. "We would like you to live to see the end of this adventure."
Obi-Wan glanced down at the blaster in his hand with distaste.
"How I wish it had not come to this," he bemoaned softly, perhaps only to himself.
Anakin had already braced himself behind a crate and begun taking aim on the off chance that he might need to shoot somebody.
"We're loaded!" yelled Insect Man, and the pirates began to fall back to the ship. He looked toward Padmé and motioned for her to join him on the loading platform.
"Here we go," muttered Padmé, grabbing both Jedi by the sleeve.
They ran to the platform under fire and leapt to catch as it had just begun to rise. Insect Man helped her up and the Jedi fended for themselves. Somehow they all made it, and as the platform shut, there was a sudden humming silence that filled the space where chaos had just been. It was disarming.
"I wasn't sure you'd make it, madame," said Insect Man, as he turned to beckon towards the bowels of the pirate ship. "Your associates are waiting."
The dim corridor gaped in front of her, promising peril and the unknown. From what she could see of it, the ship looked shabby and unkempt. Padmé was gripped by a feeling of concern. Actually, scratch that. She was afraid. However, she'd made the choice to come this far and there was only one way to go in order to get out alive: straight through the belly of the beast.
She glanced over her shoulder at Anakin. He looked ready to smash anything that might look sideways at her, which was fine, but she needed to look over the other shoulder for Obi-Wan. He met her glance with his own gaze, as if he'd been waiting for it, to relay his soft confidence and knowing. He filled her spine with composite courage. She felt herself straighten and addressed Insect Man.
"Take me to them," she ordered.
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