Disclaimer: This story includes excerpts of the movie Star Wars. The characters and idea of Star Wars is property of George Lucas. I'm borrowing the characters as respectfully as possible, simply to entertain myself and anyone willing to read this fanfiction.
AN; Dear readers. As many of you may be aware of, writing takes time and effort. However, when the writing has to come second to a university education, it will taken even longer! That is why I would like to thank in advance all of you who will faithfully read and review my story. I immensely appreciate your support, and will not forget your presence. Rest assured, I want to fully complete this story, right up until the end of ROTS, and of course in my own style. Obidala goeswithout saying. Muses come and go, and sometimes there just isn't enough hours in a day to find some peace and quiet to sit down and actually write the bloody thing! I just hope that you all will continue on this journey with me, and I will try not to disappoint you. X, Mu-san

Peace of Heart

Together

The first thing that slowly returned to her was her sense of smell. Funny thing to start with after being knocked unconscious, but that's just how her body decided to start up again. The smell of slowly baking sand, dry air and a hint of the slightly sweet smell that accompanies lighting invaded her nostrils and raised her awareness. Soon after her vision and hearing came back, especially the first one with a vengeance. She groaned softly at the intense brightness assaulting her eyes and she would have chosen to turn around onto her stomach and continue being unconscious had it not been for the sudden flares of pain down her back. In a split second reality returned to her and she remembered how she got here, lying on her back on the flank of a large dune.

Suddenly a clone trooper appeared at her side. "Are you alright?"

Personally she thought it was a dumb question. Logical, but dumb. "Yes"

Ignoring the protests her body was sending her she set her limbs in gear and stood up. Well, struggled up, but that's not the point.

"We'd better get back to the forward command centre—"

"No, no," she interrupted him.

She quickly dusted herself off a bit to appear stronger and more in control. She didn't feel a hundred percent yet but she knew Anakin and Obi-wan were on their way to apprehend Dooku and needed her help. Okay, her heart had quickly added that she needed to help Obi-wan, but that wasn't the point. She needed troopers and a transport, pronto.

"Gather what troops you can, we've got to get to that hangar. Get a transport."

When the clone didn't move she added a little incentive. "Hurry!"

"Right away!"

Without further hesitation the trooper turned and quickly and efficiently communicated with the command centre using his name and authorization as well as hers. This surprised her momentarily, but it quickly turned into approval and slight admiration as a transport showed up in record time. She boarded the ship and happily noted several troopers were obediently awaiting their orders. 'Hang on, Obi-wan, hang on!' In a collected manner she couldn't really feel she ordered the pilot to follow the last known course of Obi-wan's transport. With a short acknowledgement he lifted them off the hot sand and flew eastwards. Padme's mind was too busy running possible scenarios of what they could expect that the trip only seemed to take a few seconds. But all the scenarios turned dark when they reached the cliffs where the jedi's transport had last been reported.

"Scorch marks on the side of the cliff indicate and explosion, ma'am," the commander remarked.

Her heart skipped a beat for the umpteenth time with the promise of Obi-wan's life being threatened but she quickly cast it aside. I would know if he had died, she resolutely thought.

"Set the ship down on that platform!" she ordered rather forcefully.

Again without question the clone turned and performed a flawless landing. Even before he had set down completely she was the first one off the ship and with a graceful jump she set foot on the platform. In a quick scan of the area she couldn't see any traces of Obi-wan, Anakin or even Dooku for that matter. She was about to go ahead when with the hum of accelerating engines a ship exited one of the round holes in the cliff next to the landing pad. The exterior didn't look like any republican ship she knew of and she quickly reasoned its current use wasn't trying to rejoin their forces. She fired a few shots at it but it was too fast. Even the heavy blasters of the troopers couldn't damage it anymore. For a moment she watched it fly away until it rose up and left the atmosphere. She felt like swearing and cursing in frustration, although she didn't know why.

'Inside'

The instant the thought flitted through her mind she was off. She marched inside the hangar. It took a moment before her eyes adjusted to the half dark. The first thing she noticed was a pile of rocks on the floor. For a split second she thought the roof was unstable but she couldn't see any other debris. When a few sparks jumped into the air her attention shifted and she noticed a large stump with a broken powercoil lying next to it. She briefly wondered what could have severed the thing, but only very briefly as again her attention shifted when she saw two figures lying on the ground in front of the powercoil with a third one looming over the one on the right. Without thinking she raised her blaster and called out in a clear voice.

"Drop your weapons and step aside!"

The small figure turned its head to her and with great surprise she recognized the face of jedi master Yoda. Quickly she waved her left arm to the troopers behind her to indicate they could lower their weapons.

"Master Yoda? What happened? Did—"

The end of her sentence ended in a strangled gasp as she could now make out the features of the two prone figures. Even at a first glance Anakin and Obi-wan looked hurt. Out of instinct she rushed forward to place herself as close by as she could, but a gnarled hand stopped her in her tracks. Yoda fully turned to her and kept her pinned to the spot with his extended hand. A blind panic had robbed her of speech and she could only blink at the powerful jedi.

"Senator Amidala."

She managed to nod.

"Good it is you are here, needs you he does."

Again all she could do was blink at the old jedi, his words not really registering.

"Need you I do to call the medical transport. Higher than mine, your clearance is."

This snapped her out of the daze she was in and immediately she turned and approached the captain that had accompanied her.

"Captain, please inform mobile command we need a medical transport. Also inform jedi master Windu that Count Dooku managed to get away, he will take the appropriate actions."

The clone quickly nodded and went back to the ship to convey her message. When she turned back to Yoda he was looking at her with a curious expression.

"How did you know, Dooku has escaped, hmm?"

She lightly shrugged. "I didn't. But I saw a ship escape this hangar when I arrived and knew it wasn't one of ours. So Dooku would be the only logical answer."

Yoda nodded. "Right, you are. Dooku defeated Obi-wan and Anakin. Almost too late I was. Fought Dooku, I did, but prevent him from escaping, I could not."

Maybe she was imagining things but she could hear a trace of guilt in his voice. She filed it away for later analysis. He looked up at her and she tried to stand firm under his scrutiny. But she couldn't help but think the old jedi master had held her up long enough. She needed to see if Obi-wan was alright.

"Go. Needs you, he does."

Yoda's whisper made instant relief flood through her and without hesitation she stepped forward and sunk to her knees next to Obi-wan. Yoda had already levitated Anakin to the side and was inspecting the young jedi's arm. She completely missed the fact Anakin's hand was missing as her attention was entirely focused on Obi-wan. The first obvious injuries were the burns on his upper arm and thigh. Although they weren't life threatening she knew he had to feel a lot of pain. On a quick inspection of his body she couldn't see any other wounds, which relieved her immensely. She turned her eyes on his face. A strain was clearly visible in his features confirming her earlier assessment. His eyes were closed and his breathing slow. She almost assumed he was asleep or unconscious but the sound of his voice proved he was still very much present.

"And, doctor, will I live?"

She cracked a weak smile at his joke. Instead of responding with a witty remark of her own she brought her right hand to the left side of his face. She stroked his cheek a few times before burying her fingers in the hair of his beard. The slightly coarse texture made her skin prickle a bit. To her it was the reassurance she needed that he was still alive. Their warmth travelled up her arm and soothed a great deal of her worries. Suddenly Obi-wan tried to sit up, pushing her hand away.

"Anakin, is he—"

A groan of pain cut off his question as his injured arm refused to hold up his weight. With a small thud he fell back on the ground. Quickly she placed her left hand on his chest and returned her right hand to his cheek.

"He's alright, don't worry. Master Yoda is with him now and the medical transport will arrive soon. Now stay down."

He made a strange face when he heard Yoda's name, but it was replaced with a small grin at her last words.

"Yes, nurse."

She almost playfully smacked his arm but fortunately remembered he was injured. She settled for a verbal response instead.

"Better be careful or I'll confine you to bed rest for the next two months."

It was meant as a threat but he pulled its legs and toppled it flat on its back.

"Perfect idea. Two months in bed, you as my personal nurse, what more could I want?"

Her eyes grew wide for a split second before she thought up an answer that could top his.

"I don't know, perhaps…," she lowered her voice to a seductive whisper, "a spongebath?"

Now it was her turn to grin as his eyes grew wide as saucers. In fact he had a positively shocked expression in his face that quite endeared her.

"Padme!" he whispered.

"What?" she shrugged, still grinning like nexu that caught the peko-peko. It only took a second before he started grinning too. She wiped a few locks of hair from his forehead. "Now lie down and rest."

With his grin fixed to his face he laid down his head and closed his eyes again. He brought up his uninjured arm and placed his hand on top of hers, which was still resting on his chest. She felt him take a few deep breaths and a calm settled on both of them. Behind her she could hear the transport approach. The noise reverberated through the hangar but she didn't miss his words.

"I'm glad you're alright."

Her insides squirmed in a delightful way. She dug her fingers into his beard again and willed all her positive feelings to spill into him through their physical contact and make him feel better.

"Me too," she whispered.

His grin changed into a soft smile that melted her heart. Seemingly out of nowhere three troopers appeared on their side, ready to get Obi-wan on a stretcher. She helped him roll over and soon he was placed on a stretcher and into the transport ship. Anakin was already present with Yoda at his side. She settled herself next to Obi-wan and carefully put her hand in his in such a way so no one could see it. When he lightly squeezed her hand her heart soared and she felt better than she had in many hours. For a second she closed her eyes and let Obi-wan's comfort exorcise all the stress from her visit to Tatooine and the battle in the arena here on Geonosis. And in that second she missed a knowing smile on Yoda's face. Then the transport lifted off and she focused on practical matters again.

- ∞ -

'I'm never running off to rescue someone from certain death again. I don't care how much—'

"Sss!"

She didn't manage to suppress a hiss when the medical droid pressed a fresh swab of disinfectant to the injured skin of her lower back. Instead of taking it away for a moment the droid kept going and Padme needed to intensify her grip on the bed to keep from getting vocal. Dam senatorial pride, she thought. Damn inconsiderate, of bedside manners devoid medical droid. And damn jedi master Obi-wan Kenobi for getting me into this. It's all his fault really, she reasoned. He waltzed back into my life after a decade and pulls me into this whirlwind adventure. And to top it all off he gets himself captured and expects me to come and get him out. Some nerve, she concluded. And I bet he isn't even aware of it, the trouble he's caused me. The sleepless nights, the worrying, the stress.

The droid finished cleaning the wound and applied a large bacta patch. It told her she needed to keep it on for at least eight hours and keep it dry. As quickly as she could she jumped off the bed and practically sprinted to the door. Outside in the corridor a calm ambiance made a big difference to the loud barrage of the battle they had just come from. Fortunately that was over. A part of the separatists was destroyed, but she had no doubt this wasn't the majority of their army. Dooku couldn't be that stupid.

But that would come in the future. Right now she had two things to do; review all that happened in the Senate in the time she was gone, and actively pursue a peaceful solution to this war. She took one step towards the command centre of the ship when her mind found a third option. One that was far more satisfying and pleasurable than the first two. Slowly turning on her heels she headed in the opposite direction, towards the crew cabins. A wicked grin formed on her lips as she thought up different ways of handling the situation. Or better said, the subject.

- ∞ -

With a few deep breaths Obi-wan emerged from his deep meditation. After the medical droids had treated his wounds he was told to rest and keep from heavy exercise for at least two weeks. Dooku's lightsaber had singed a nerve on the side of his leg and it needed time to heal properly. It, medically at least, explained why his leg had given way during his fight with Dooku and why he hadn't been able to stand up and continue. Immediately after the droids had patched him up and left the room he had resituated himself, ignoring all the spikes of pain from his leg and arm, and settled into a healing meditation. Truth be told he needed the meditation to calm and clear his mind as well. The fight with Dooku had left him…uneasy.

But now he felt a little better. The aches in his limbs had diminished and he felt calmer and more collected. Well, no time to sit around and do nothing, he thought. He gently stood up and stretched his muscles a little. A few sounds of protest but no real pain. So far so good, he happily concluded. He turned his head and looked for his clothes. He had to disrobe for the treatment of his wounds and currently he was only wearing boxer shorts. The temperature in the room was comfortable enough though and he decided to forego dressing. It felt good to be half naked, he mused with a small smile. More…free.

With a wave of his hand his lightsaber lifted off his robes and sailed into his awaiting palm. For a moment he looked at its sleek metallic edges, infinitely familiar with its height, weight and balance. Memories of him sitting behind his desk at the temple with his lightsaber only partially constructed floated back to him. He smiled a sad smile as he remembered Qui-gon giving him the blue crystal for his birthday so many years ago. He had been right though, blue was the color for him. Its bright and cool hue always managed to calm his nerves. With a sigh of relief he activated the blade. The small tingle of the powercell nudged his skin a split second before with its distinctive sound the narrow beam of energy rose.

But instead of bringing him the relief he sought the hum made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A strange shiver shot through him and made his insides contract. With a quick flick of his thumb he deactivated the blade and with a shaky hand tossed it on the bed next to him. He grabbed his right hand with his left in an attempt to stop the shaking. With a frown he gazed at his lightsaber, lying inactively and innocently on the bed sheet. 'What in blazes was that?' Taking a deep breath he regained the control of his hands again. Slightly bending down he extended his right arm, determined to get the comfort his weapon had always brought him.

But when his hand neared the small cylinder it started shaking again and a cold shiver ran through him once more. Quickly retracting his arm he ran his left hand through his hair. 'Blast! What is wrong with me?' The calm he had attained during his meditation was slowly disappearing. With a huff of frustration he tried to find another way to relax. He remembered master Yoda once saying that bringing the body and the Force in line with each other was the best way to filter out all problems of the mind. Weighing his options he chose for the balance exercise Yoda had taught him and Qui-gon.

He crouched down, grimacing at the pain in his leg. Bending down he placed the palms of his hands on the cold floor. Closing his eyes he opened himself up to the Force. With a rush of relief and joy he felt it flow into him, soothing his mind and body. Channelling the energy into his right arm and his sense of balance he quickly transferred all his weight to his right arm and pushed his legs upwards. In a mere second he was balanced on his right hand, his body standing straight up into the air with his feet pointing to the ceiling. With calm and deep breaths he allowed the Force to flow through him and take away whatever had bothered him a minute ago. But a small knot in his insides refused to budge. Cautiously he tried to identify it but he didn't get far. A shrill voice completely shattered his concentration and without the aid of the Force his arm couldn't hold up his weight anymore. In an unceremonious heap he fell to the ground, pain immediately flaring through his body.

"What in blazes do you think you're doing!"

- ∞ -

Padme rounded the corner and spotted the room that had been assigned to Obi-wan. Her wicked grin still firmly attached she approached the door. When the medical droid had finished cleaning her wounds she really wanted to make Obi-wan see how much trouble and stress he had caused her. Of course, during her walk to here, her rational side kicked in and pointed out that it really wasn't Obi-wan's fault. Reluctantly she had agreed. However the idea of visiting Obi-wan and getting him to express his undying gratitude over her coming to his rescue was still valid, and even her rational side thought that was a good idea.

She went to press the chime next to the door but stopped her finger about an inch from the button. Her wicked grin grew a little larger. 'They say a jedi cannot be surprised…' She shifted her finger and instead pushed the pad to open the door, hoping it wasn't locked. 'Well if he can't be surprised then he won't mind me coming in without knocking, now will he? Besides, everybody likes surprises…' Her rational mind tried to tell her the flaw in that particular reasoning but she quickly shoved it aside.

The door opened and she stepped inside. Well, she put one foot over the threshold when her eyes settled on Obi-wan's near naked form. Two very different thoughts instantly formed in her mind. One was how absolutely striking, athletic and sexy as hell he looked, even upside down. And his current spatial orientation was what prompted the second thought, which was why he was out of bed and exercising when he still was clearly injured. Without conscious thought or choice the second thought connected to her vocal chords and in a high, shrill voice she didn't really recognize as her own she practically screamed at him.

"What in blazes do you think you're doing!"

The moment the words escaped her mouth she regretted it, as he fell to the ground with an ominous thud. His cry of pain cut right through her and in a flash she was at his side.

"Oh Gods, Obi-wan, are you alright! Stay still, lie still! Let me see!"

In a flash of annoyance she noted she asked him the same stupid question the clone trooper had when she had regained consciousness on that dune on Geonosis. But this wasn't the time to pay attention to that, Obi-wan needed her help.

"I'm fine," he grumbled through clenched teeth, unable to suppress a few groans of pain.

"No, you're not," she stated.

He mumbled something that she didn't catch, but the look on his face wasn't very positive. Ignoring his demeanour for now she wrapped her fingers around his right bicep and softly pulled. "Come on, let's get you back in bed."

With a lot of effort on both sides they managed to stand up and shuffle over to the bed. Gingerly Obi-wan sat down on the bed, next to his lightsaber.

"Now lie down," she ordered.

Slowly he let his torso fall back onto the bed. Padme saw his lightsaber lying next to his thigh and gently picked it up. She then coached him to bring up his legs and lie down fully. After more grunts of pain she managed to get him on his back and lying comfortably. Well, relatively comfortably. Feeling the aches in her back herself Padme scanned the room for a chair. Locating the one with his clothes on it she dragged it right next to his bed, just next to Obi-wan's head. With her right hand she picked up his robes and placed them on the floor. But when she lifted his outer robe from the back of the chair she hesitated and stole a glance at his face. His eyes were closed, in pain she sadly reasoned. What the hell was he thinking, standing on one hand like that? Come to think of it, how the hell did he do that? She pushed the question aside for now.

Her attention turned back to the piece of clothing in her hand. The slightly rough texture of the resilient material brought back a strong memory in her. For a second she could feel the cloak, along with Obi-wan's arms, around her, offering her safety and support during a difficult moment. Any thoughts of scolding Obi-wan for his stunt disappeared as she remembered how much Obi-wan had done for her. Then and now. He had been there for her during the bad times and never asked anything in return. She stole another glance at him before she decided she was allowed some liberty. Carefully she put on the cloak and sat down on the chair. She wouldn't lean against the back of the chair because of her injury so she settled for bringing up her knees and leaning her chin on top of them. The cloak provided her with a sense of security, one she connected to Obi-wan's presence and smell. Strange how a smell could mean so much. For a moment she pressed her nose into the material and slowly breathed in. 'Mmm, definitely Obi-wan.' Not a smell she could define, but certainly one she was infinitely familiar with, even though the times she had been close enough to smell it she could count on one hand. Okay, so maybe two hands, but still not nearly enough for her likings.

A small weight in her left hand brought her out of her little reverie and she slightly turned her head to examine it. It being Obi-wan's lightsaber. The association she had with this jedi weapon was mixed. On the one hand she felt extremely glad that this weapon had defended her and her people, achieving victory when things seemed so lost. It had proven its use today again, in that arena. But the other feeling she always experienced when seeing a lightsaber was one of fear. She would never tell Obi-wan about this, but right after the battle for Naboo and their victory she experienced nightmares. Terrible nightmares. Theed in flames, her handmaidens strung up like puppets on stakes, thousand of gungans massacred in a merciless act of genocide, Qui-gon Jinn lying lifeless on the cold floor of the catwalk, run through by a lightsaber. A red burning lightsaber, wielded by a monster…

She shivered. Although the nightmares had diminishes greatly sometimes one would come and terrorize her at night. Like the other night. They were on her ship heading for Geonosis when she had nodded off. It had been a faint nightmare, but the hateful eyes of the Sith and Obi-wan's death scream had been crystal clear. Yes, Obi-wan's. Right after the battle for Naboo her dreams had only shown her Qui-gon slain by the Sith, never Obi-wan. But in retrospect she understood it was because of the Force suggestion Obi-wan did. Come to think of it, the face of the old jedi master had never been clear in her dreams. She only assumed it was Qui-gon because he was the one she remembered the most. But ever since she met Obi-wan again she was growing increasingly sure it was never Qui-gon she had been dreaming about. And now it was clear. It was Obi-wan in her dreams, his cold lifeless grey eyes staring at her. Anakin had woken her, saying she was softly mumbling and tossing in her sleep. Well Obi-wan had been in danger, how could she have relaxed?

Tearing her eyes off the weapon she looked back at Obi-wan. He still had his eyes closed and his breathing had become even again. Not slow enough to indicate he was sleeping, but quiet enough to know the pain had subsided a little. Her heart went out to him. He truly must be in pain if he was showing it, she reasoned. Dooku must really have done a number on them. She frowned for a second. Come to think of it, she didn't know what happened there in that hangar. No one had told her anything, leaving her in the dark about it. And if there was one place she never liked being, it was in the dark. She needed to know. If she knew what happened she could take better care of him. Yes, that was a good reason. Her curiosity had nothing to do with, she half-heartedly convinced herself. But other than her curiosity and her caring side there was another thing that kept bothering her about the fight they had with Dooku. She knew Obi-wan and Anakin were a formidable team, capable of doing incredible feats. How did Dooku then escape, and where did Yoda fit into all of this?

She knew Obi-wan would be hard pressed for information, especially about that fight. But she also reasoned Anakin would be even more tight-lipped, being the one to suffer the most. His injuries were more extensive than Obi-wan's, but she knew that wouldn't be the biggest problem. He was a young man, his body would heal itself very quickly. It was his pride that was equally wounded. And knowing Anakin was not nearly as in control of his emotions as Obi-wan it was going to be difficult for him to recover from this. She made a mental note to speak to Obi-wan about Anakin's recovery, but set it aside. Right now she wanted to help the man in front of her with his recovery. She bent over a little and laid her right hand in his left, slipping her fingers inside his palm. He opened his eyes and turned his head slightly, a question mark in his eyes. In a soft and soothing voice, as not to scare him off, she voiced the question that was burning in her mind.

"Obi-wan, … tell me what happened…"

- ∞ -