Updated: 08/21/2022
The Bounty Hunter: Ch. 2
Before Jango leaves, I follow him as stealthily as I can and manage to get a tracking beacon on the exterior of his ship. Then I race back to my ship and follow him out from a distance, out of visual range, relying on the tracking beacon to do its job. It does, and based on his current heading, he's not going far. Naboo is only a short distance away and his heading brings him straight there.
If Jango is going to Naboo, then that means Padmé is either there, or that she soon will be.
For the past few months, Padmé has been leading the opposition in the Senate to a proposed bill that would create a military for the Republic. Don't judge me. I can't help that Padmé won't leave my mind, body and soul. And heart- especially my heart. I also can't help that I set an alert on the HoloNet terminal in my heavily modified VCX-100 light freighter that I named Blue Angel, to keep me up to date any time her name is mentioned.
I might've only been a nine year old boy when we met, and she might have called me a funny little boy, but I'm not a boy anymore. I'm a man. And she can't deny that. Or at least won't be able to deny that. I can feel my palms growing sweaty just thinking about seeing her again, and my heart even skips a beat.
When I asked her if she was an angel when we first met, I meant the words. She has an angelic look to her perfect face. Full lips. Glowing eyes. A light pink flush across her cheeks. Don't get me started on her body. She's beautiful enough to turn heads no matter what formal clothes she's wearing that only she can pull off.
Stop it, I chastise myself and decide to move on to more important matters.
Like, why now? Why would the Viceroy want Padmé dead after all this time? It doesn't make sense that he'd wait this long to hire Jango to abduct or kill her. My stomach revolts at even the thought of him getting her in his crosshairs. You'll have nowhere to go if you dare touch her, Jango, I growl to myself then shake my head as if to clear it.
What's coming over me? I don't remember ever feeling this way before, and even as the question crosses my mind, I already know the answer.
Padmé.
Before I could even process the confusing feelings building inside me, the navicomputer beeps. We've arrived.
Once we enter back into realspace, I plot a course towards the Theed Royal Palace. If I'm gonna start my search anywhere here on Naboo, that's the best place to start. Surely someone there will know where she is and point me in the right direction.
Before I disembark my ship, I change into regular civilian clothes that'll help me blend in and not look I'm the one to hurt the only woman I've ever loved.
Well, like that. Romantically.
"Stay here R2, I may need you soon," I don't know what'll happen, so better to prepare for all possible scenarios.
Leaving R2 behind on the ship, I make my way towards the Palace and all of the memories here rush back to the surface. It might not've been the best time to visit, considering it was under Trade Federation occupation at the time, but the beauty of the planet from high above and seeing what it was like during the victory celebration still made it the most beautiful planet I've ever seen. I've visited many planets since, and it's still the most beautiful. Even more so now, ten years after the illegal blockade and Trade Federation-
Nope. Time to focus and get my head back in the game. I make my way towards the Palace and then pause. What am I gonna say? I highly doubt they'll allow just anyone into the Palace. Let alone to see Padmé-
But I have to try. I walk towards the main entrance of the Palace and one of the Royal Naboo Security Force officers, dressed in the standard brown and blue uniform, approaches me.
"Can I help you, sir?" he asks, looking and sounding even younger than me. Huh. Curious.
But no time to get sidetracked.
I nod, even if only to myself, and stick my hands in my pocket to try to look cool, calm and collected and not the nervous wreck I was on my way here. "Yeah, I'm looking for Senator Amidala," I tell him, my voice betraying my emotions. I've learned over the years to mask my feelings, to not let them cloud my judgement while I'm chasing down a bounty and to not sound like a teenager with an annoying; cracking voice.
He scrutinizes me, and it takes some effort not to look amused at the intense expression. I started to wear a helmet just so people wouldn't know how young I truly was, so that they wouldn't look at me and dismiss me as a non-threat like I'm doing to this unarmed security officer. If I didn't, I'd be much like this young officer, the farthest thing from intimidating. He clicks the earcomm in his ear and says something over his radio. "Wait here," he tells me, taking a few steps away and continues talking to someone on the other end. He turns to me, his face red, embarrassed. "Do you have an identichip?" he asks, something he probably should've asked before he went on his radio to report me, and I'm sure his superior on the other end pointed that out.
But I'm not going to point that out. I'm still young too, and I had to learn. A lot to learn. More than I knew at the time, even if I thought myself invincible. I hand him my real identichip and wait for him to confirm my identity. He clicks his earcomm again, speaks and then nods to me. "Follow me." He leads me inside to go through a security checkpoint, I left all of my weapons back on the ship for this very reason, just like I left my bounty hunting armor, and he eventually walks me up the main stairs and down some halls and a familiar woman comes to block my path.
"Well, well, well. I'll be," the woman says, her lips curving in amusement as she looks me up and down. "You've grown," she adds. Sabé.
I nod, and smile in a self deprecating kind of way. "It was bound to happen at some point," I agree, maybe blushing, though if I am, I'm not going to admit it. "It's good to see you, Sabé." Last I saw her, she was the decoy for Padmé, the Queen in disguise and then we saw each other again for Master Qui-Gon's funeral and the victory celebration soon after. I couldn't help realizing then how close she and Padmé look alike, though I'd easily be able to tell them apart, even without the Force. They may look alike enough to be able to fool others, especially when she was wearing the queen's face, but Padmé takes beauty to a whole other level. Star system really, maybe even galaxy.
She nods. "I'm sure it is," she smiles and gestures for me to follow her. "But I'm sure it'll be better for you to see Senator Amidala, am I right?" I don't answer the obvious, but my face heats and she smiles even wider. "She doesn't know you're coming. I wanted to make sure you really were Anakin first, before I said anything."
"Understandable," especially since she has a bounty on her head. And a pretty sizable one too, if Jango was the one hired. I follow her down the hall and she leads me inside a modest sized room, from what I remember the last time I was here, and I freeze when I lay eyes on the woman who's been imprinted in my very heart and soul since she walked into Watto's shop all those years ago.
Padmé doesn't see me yet, so I have a moment to look at the woman who's haunted my every waking moment, and sleeping one too. If only, because I didn't think I'd ever see her again. But here we are, only meters apart, where she's sitting at her desk, wearing a simple outfit compared to what I've seen her wear on the HoloNet, reading something on a datapad but she doesn't look any different than she had ten years ago.
She's still small, and yet, as beautiful as I remember.
But even more so now, because she's really here. She's not some image on the HoloNet. We're sharing the same space, breathing the same air. Once again, our paths have crossed. I just wish it wasn't under such dire circumstances.
Sabé tells her that she has a guest and she finally looks up and locks eyes with me, standing in the doorway of her office and I feel my heart skip a beat. Her beautiful brown eyes narrow as she takes me in. I swallow hard, what if she doesn't remember me? I'd be gutted alive if she didn't. Just shoot me in the head and be done with it.
Even if I wouldn't be entirely surprised. After all, I was just a slave boy, a Jedi reject, a-
Padmé smiles, brilliantly, radiantly, and it makes my heart skip a few more beats and my hands feel clammy as she stands. I gulp, taking in her gorgeous body, she's never been more angelic to me. Ever. Especially when she walks around her desk and says, "Ani?" her voice sounds awed, melodic, angelic, like she can't believe it's really me and all of my doubts and insecurities fade away. She walks until she's standing barely a meter away, within touching distance. I'm almost a foot taller than her since last we met. "My, you've grown," she says, tilting her head back in emphasis and then she wraps her arms around me and presses her small body to my much larger and stronger one. I return the gesture immediately, wrapping her up in my arms tightly and inhaling her sweet, intoxicating scent. I don't remember ever feeling like this before, not even the Force can compare.
It feels like I've found the piece of me that I didn't know was missing. My other half, the half I tried to forget about because- because I didn't expect this! I didn't expect Padmé to remember me or to hug me like I'm a long lost friend that she's happy to see.
I underestimated myself. Her.
After what could've been a moment, or a lifetime- or ten, she looks up at me from chest level. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again," she admits. Her eyes are even a little teary, and her voice trembles.
I smile and lean my head down, though she's so short that I can't lean down far enough to go forehead to forehead like I want to, not without letting her go and that isn't an option. Not yet. If I had it my way, I'd never let her go.
I'd whisk her away from here to keep her safe, to take care of her like I desperately want to. She's in danger any time she's not with me, and it kills me to be away from her. I know I've been miserable without her, but now I fully realize how lonely and cold it's been without her by my side.
I shrug, nonchalantly and shake my thoughts away, and blurt out, "I saw you every night in my dreams, my Angel." I never told anyone that, but around her, I can't seem to keep things from her. I don't want to keep things from her. "I just wish it was under better circumstances," I can't beat around the bush on this, as much as I'd like too.
But she's in danger and has to know. I can't keep this from her, as much as I'd like too. Her eyebrows furrow. "Care to explain?" she asks, her voice taking on a different tone. One she reserves for those who aren't long lost friends, or blasts from the past.
"The Viceroy of the Trade Federation put a bounty out on you, they're coming for you, Angel." I swallow around the lump in my throat and take a step back to put some distance between us, I need to clear my head and focus. Think. Not get lost into the sight of her beautiful eyes I can easily get lost in, that are digesting what I'm telling her. "You have to be careful, Jango Fett is one of the most dangerous bounty hunters out there and his partner's a clawdite, a changeling, a shapeshifter. I followed them here to Naboo."
Padmé shares a concerned look with Sabé, and she nods and disappears. "But Ani, how can you know this? I mean, how do you know that there's a bounty on me?" Her eyebrows furrow even deeper, almost making a V. "And why would you put yourself in danger and follow them here?"
There's no sense of hiding the truth from her, though I find it encouraging that she cares enough about me to not want me to put myself in danger for her. I take a step forward and reach out a hand as if to reach for hers, then I let it drop and look her in the eyes. "You know how determined I was to free my mother. I raced in a podrace in Malastare. I won and planned to use the money I won to free her, but Watto wouldn't have it." I sigh and fight the urge to look down at my feet. I don't want to see her reaction to any of this, but I can't take my eyes off hers. This woman- this beautiful, amazing woman has the power to break me, and she doesn't even know it. "Jabba the Hutt found out, there's nothing that happens on Tatooine without him knowing and he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I went to work for him and he freed my mother."
This time, Padmé is the one who reaches out, and she grabs my hands in hers and squeezes. "Oh Ani," she says, her tone changing again, this time to one full of sadness.
One I never want to hear from her again. "It's okay, Padmé. Really," I try to ease her worries just like I do with my mother. Probably the only two people who ever really cared about me for me- not for what I could offer them in return. "Mom is free and happily married. I made a life for myself," I shrug. "I might not be a Jedi. But I'm happy. Really, Padmé, considering the path I could've gone, the life of many on Tatooine, it couldn't have turned out any better, all things considered," I try and convince her.
And I'm not even lying. It might not be the life I envisioned for myself when I was just a kid growing up, but does anyone really grow up to be what they really want to be? I did the best I could, with the options I had and managed to make a better life for myself than most on Tatooine do, especially for slaves. If I wasn't freed by Master Qui-Gon, there's no telling where I'd be today.
Not here is the most likely one.
But I am here. Here with Padmé only inches away, her hands still in mine and looking every bit as beautiful as I remember. And then some, I'm not the only one who grew-
She squeezes my hands again. "Mmm mhmm," she murmurs, sounding like she doesn't believe me, and then gets all serious again when a RNSF officer enters with a few others behind him, she lets my hands go and turns to face one in particular.
The man in front.
He must be the leader.
He's a human, darker skinned and has a patch over his left eye wearing the standard Royal Naboo Security Force uniform. "Senator, I was told we might have a situation?" he turns to look at me and gives me an appraising glance.
His glance doesn't intimidate me, neither does he. I make sure he knows this with my tone as I fill him and the security team in with what I know. "There are two bounty hunters here, Jango Fett, a Mandalorian in Mandalorian armor and Zam Wessel, a clawdite bounty hunter that works for Jango. They were hired by the Viceroy of the Trade Federation to capture or kill the Senator," I tell him. "Jango's the most dangerous and relentless bounty hunter there is. He'll stop at nothing to complete his mission." Even if it means his own death. Damn Mandalorians.
My gut gets all tied up and twisted just imagining that it'll be me who has to kill him. But then I look at Padmé and determination sets in. I'll kill him if I have to, if that's the only way to ensure Padmé's safety. Nobody will ever hurt the woman I love and get away with it.
Love pushes me past my limits. Maybe it's a good thing I was rejected by the Jedi. I can't follow their strict code or completely deny what I feel. My emotion toward those I care for makes me stronger, and it makes me deadlier.
Padmé shakes her head. "He invades Naboo, kills thousands and takes a bounty out on me just because he failed?"
I don't know what to say to that. I don't know if there is anything to say to that. I'm a big part of the reason why he failed too. Force, if I ever get my hands on him, I'll kill him. Slowly. Painfully. I'll make him regret ever invading Naboo in the first place.
Force, I'll make him regret ever being born. Maybe freeze him in carbonite for the rest of time and make him-
The RNSF officer steps forward. "If this…" he looks me over again. "Boy, can be trusted then I suggest we take every precaution we can. But we have to get to Coruscant. If we don't…" he doesn't need to finish.
We all know the implications here. And honestly, I don't care if the Republic builds their own military or not. They can all go to Sith's Hell for all I care. But I know Padmé cares. She believes in peace. In freedom. Not war. The military creation act is everything she stands against. It's admitting that peace isn't possible.
I know Padmé enough to know that she doesn't believe that. That she'll never believe that. "Cordé, looks like you'll have to gear up," she says to a woman who I guess could pass as Padmé, but like Sabé, she barely holds a torch to Padmé's natural beauty. "Anakin, you too."
"Senator-" the RNSF officer interrupts.
"Captain, Anakin is a friend. He's the reason why the Battle of Naboo turned in our favor. If he didn't blow up the Droid Control ship, everything would've been lost."
The captain eyes me in a new light.
"He's coming," she adds, then turns to look at me. "Do you still have your N-1?"
The smile on my face almost hurts. I don't think I've ever smiled like this before. "Of course, I even made some upgrades. R2 helped." I pull out my comlink and comm R2, "R2, have the N-1 ready for me. We'll be going for a ride soon." He beeps back at me in excitement. He loves that beautiful starfighter just as much as I do. And not only because Padmé gave it to me as a gift, though that is definitely a part of it. "Make sure to lock up the ship behind you," I add. This might be Naboo, not Tatooine, but you can never be too cautious.
Never let your guard down.
Especially with Jango around.
"Okay, then let's come up with a plan."
We're all in hyperspace. Cordé, one of Padmé's newer handmaidens, is disguised as the Senator. Padmé's dressed in a RNSF uniform, and so am I. I could tell the captain doesn't like it, but Padmé's command is law. He's smart enough to know that once she's made up her mind, there's no changing it.
I don't think there's any man dumb or brave enough to tell her no. I know I certainly wouldn't. And as much as I want to doze off and get some rest, I don't. I know that Jango wouldn't go to Naboo for nothing. I'm just surprised there wasn't an attack yet.
What's your plan, Jango?
Hours later, we finally exit hyperspace.
Coruscant hasn't changed in the last decade. It's as crowded and full and congested as I remember. I shake my head and focus back on the mission at hand. Captain Typho is doing a radio check to make sure we're all still here and together and we set course for the Senate District.
It's as we fly closer that my danger sense begins to flare up. Something's about to happen. "Be on guard," I say into the mic. "There's danger ahead."
There's a pause as we continue on course. "Can you-" the captain begins but Padmé cuts him off.
"What do you sense, Ani?" she asks.
The captain might not know I'm Force-sensitive, but Padmé most certainly does. She knows enough about the Jedi to know that they can sense what others cannot. "Danger. I can't tell what exactly, or where. Just that it's approaching. It's close. Real close." I don't elaborate further, I can't.
The comm is silent after that, just as we close in on our destination. The yacht lands, and we all land around it. The danger grows, it's nearly imminent. I punch open the canopy and hop down. I quickly walk towards Padmé, Captain Typho does the same. The landing ramp of the yacht lowers and Cordé appears at the top, my instincts take over and before I know what I'm doing, I hear myself yell, "Padmé!" I tackle her to the ground and cover her small body with mine.
Barely a moment later, her ship blows up beside us.
A/N: Don't you hate it when chapters end in a cliffhanger? Me too, but gotta keep you wanting to come back for more. I've been on a roll with this story and the plot is beginning to unfold as I write.
It should be needless to say, but this story takes place in AOTC and as you can see, the plot will be different (and some will be the same, like this ship blowing up), with Anakin not being a Jedi changes things. He changes things.
And she changes things too. There's nothing that holds them apart like canon (Jedi's code of no attachment), it's just how Anakin views himself. He believes himself unworthy as he's a former slave boy turned bounty hunter working for Jabba, a Hutt crime lord. While she's this magnificent creature, an Angel, a former queen turned senator. They couldn't be more opposite, but you know what they say.
Opposites attract.
I got four chapters already written so far. I'll post chapter three next weekend.
Until next time…
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