II

The years that followed were long and lonely for Padmé, but also full of professional satisfaction.

She threw all of herself into her job as queen, working hard to improve the quality of life of all of Naboo's citizens. She signed a good treaty with the Gungans and did everything in her power to make sure that what had happened to her planet with the Trade Federation would not befall other words.

Padmé's dedication paid off. She was elected to serve a second term as queen, and when it was over, her successor, Queen Jamilla, chose her to represent Naboo in the Galactic Senate on Coruscant.

It was exactly the future people had envisioned for her when she was just a girl, but not everybody was happy when it became reality.

Padmé's family, especially her mother, had hoped she would settle down after her second term as queen ended. While they had always supported her, they could not understand her fascination with politics and wished to see her married with kids like her sister Sola.

It was not to be. Several men approached Padmé along the years, with more or less honourable purposes, but none of them was able to break through the walls she had built around her heart.

Losing Obi-Wan had hurt her too much and she did not want to suffer again like that. Perhaps it was a cowardly behaviour, but it was how she felt.

In truth, Padmé had not completely abandoned the hope that one day she too would have a family of her own, but she no longer imagined a marriage based on overwhelming love and passion. She thought that maybe she would find a man, a much older one, solid, reliable, whom she would care for enough to have children with.

Padmé knew, of course, that those were not the thoughts usually running in the mind of a woman barely twenty, but it was what she believed back then, when she used to feel much older than her age.

And so no one was more surprised then she when Anakin Skywalker entered her life again and took it over like a storm.

§

The raise of the Confederacy of the Independent Systems, the CIS, was not seen at once as a threat to the Republic.

The Republic had seen several movements like this one rise and fall along the centuries, so no one took Count Dooku's threat as real, until one of the republican spies reported the CIS was asking its members to create armies of droids.

The news threw the Senate into a state close to panic. Count Dooku was serious in his threat, several star systems were choosing to side with him, and the Republic had no power to oppose him.

The possibility of a massive secession became less and less remote, and with it the need to take appropriate countermeasures to avoid the chance that the Republic might be torn apart.

The Senate's most immediate and impulsive reaction was to respond to Dooku's menace with threats of its own. A proposal was made to create a Republican army to oppose the Separatists' one. As soon it was made, the Senate broke into two parties, the one that approved the creation of the army and the one that opposed it.

Padmé joined the second group. She believed that the creation of an army would not make the chance of a secession more remote, it would only make the chance of a war closer. Violence bred violence, and she firmly believed the only possible way to resolve the crisis was through diplomacy.

Unfortunately, her party was a minority in the Senate. People were scared of possible civil wars between loyalists and separatists and did not want to wait for the time needed to find a diplomatic solution. They did not care that the Jedi and the Sith councils were firmly against the creation of an army—they wanted to feel safe, and they thought the two orders had not enough members to guarantee peace.

Padmé fought with all of her being to make sure that the Military Creation Act did not pass. She travelled across the Republic, met people, argued, discussed, coaxed, did everything in her power to stop the downward spiral of events.

It was around the time her efforts intensified that the first attempts against her life were made. When one of her trusted decoys was killed just after arriving on Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine couldn't help but trust her safety to the Sith and Jedi Order.

§

Padmé would always remember the day she saw Anakin, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon again.

It was a bright late afternoon and she had been waiting for their arrival for several hours, something that had given her too much time to think.

The Chancellor and the Jedi and Sith Councils had probably believed they were doing her a courtesy by bringing back together the team that had saved Naboo ten years before—and, in a certain way, it was so.

Padmé was happy to see again the men and the boy that had helped her and her people. A part of her looked forward to meeting them; she was curious to see how Anakin had grown up, how Qui-Gon had aged and how Obi-Wan had matured and changed. The other part of her, instead was afraid. What would it be like to see Obi-Wan? Would she feel again the pang in her heart she used to feel when she thought about him? Would she still read anger on his face? Love? Indifference? Had he found someone else and married? What did she really feel for him?

It was clear to Padmé that she had not completely left him, and what had happened between them behind, but were they only the bitter-sweet memories of her first love or was there something more?

Padmé shook her head. 'You are pathetic,' she reprimanded herself. 'You haven't thought about him for years, and now, suddenly you start getting all worried. He belongs to the past. The only thing that matters is that he does his job quickly, so that you will be able to get rid of all these guards soon.'

By the time she heard the buzzer, Padmé had managed to regain the cool composure she was noted for, and thus there was no agitation or worry in her as she crossed the living room to meet with her protectors.

The first one she spotted was Qui-Gon. Years had been gentle with the Jedi master; there was a bit more grey in his hair and beard, the lines around his eyes were deeper, but for the rest he was as tall, imposing and distinguished as she remembered.

He bowed deeply to her. "It's a great pleasure to see you again, M'Lady."

"It has been far too long Master Jinn. I'm so glad our paths have crossed again... but I must

warn you that I think your presence here is unnecessary."

"I am sure the Jedi and Sith Councils have their reasons," Qui-Gon answered calmly, as her eyes posed on the youth at his side.

If Qui-Gon had barely changed, Anakin was almost unrecognizable.

"Ani? My goodness you've grown!"

Gone had been the big-eyed child of her memories, replaced by a tall, still growing young man with a winning smile and masculine, angular features. His short hair had darkened and his eyes seemed bluer.

They looked at each other for a long moment, then Anakin spoke, trying to be smooth but failing miserably.

"So have you... grown more beautiful, I mean... and much shorter... for a Senator, I mean."

Qui-Gon looked indulgently at his apprentice, as Padmé laughed and shook her head.

"Oh Ani, you'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine."

Anakin frowned at her answer, but she paid no mind to him, her attention focused on the third man in the room.

Obi-Wan.

He had changed a lot in the past ten years. He had filled out in the body and grown a well-trimmed beard that made him look ruggedly handsome. His hair was slightly longer than his military cut, and his braid now reached past his chest. It looked like Obi-Wan had been very busy in the past years, at least judging by the number of beads his braid sported.

Padmé could not suppress a small shiver when their eyes met for a moment before he bowed deeply in salute.

"Senator Amidala."

"Sith Knight Kenobi," she answered, as formal as him, as her eyes roamed his face, trying to read his expression but with no success. His features seemed etched in stone, hard, unbending, cold.

He didn't even react when Anakin exclaimed, "It's no longer Knight Kenobi; it's Master Kenobi now. He was elected to the Sith Council last year!"

"Oh…then congratulations are in order," Padmé smiled at him in the hope of getting some reaction.

Obi-Wan just bowed his head and curtly said, "I think it is best if we start discussing the situation with your security forces, Senator. The sooner we get down to business, the sooner we will discover who is trying to kill you."

His cold tone, his decision to take charge of the meeting irritated Padmé. She did not like to feel dismissed and certainly she did not appreciate to be implicitly told she was wasting time.

Her eyes narrowed and she shot an irritated glance at Obi-Wan, but he simply stared back at her, emotionless.

Padmé found herself at a loss about dealing with him. Was his coldness reserved only for her or did he behave like that with everybody?

Whatever the case, she had already enough problems without trying to add new ones to the list. Thus she decided to move on and summoned her chief of security.

"This is Captain Typho," she introduced the officer when he arrived.

"I am very grateful you are here, Master Kenobi and Master Jinn. The situation is more dangerous than the Senator will admit," Typho said, after the group had moved to sit on the couches in the middle of the living room.

"I don't need more security, I need answers. I want to know who is trying to kill me," Padmé commented.

"We're here to protect you Senator, not to start an investigation," Qui-Gon answered with a frown.

"We will find out who is trying to kill you Padmé, I promise you," Anakin exclaimed with ardour.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan gave a reproachful glance to the younger man.

"We are not going to exceed our mandate, my young Padawan learner," his master answered calmly, as Padmé shifted her weight, uncomfortable.

"I meant in the interest of protecting her, Master, of course."

"We are not going through this exercise again, Anakin. You will pay attention to my lead."

"Why?"

"What?" Qui-Gon arched an eyebrow in stunned surprise, as Padmé and Captain Typho exchanged an embarrassed look, and Obi-Wan's eyes seemed to become even colder.

"Why else do you think we were assigned to her, if not to find the killer? Protection is a job

for local security... not Jedi. It's overkill, Master. Investigation is implied in our mandate," Anakin explained, his words full of passion.

"We will do as the Council has instructed, and you will learn your place, young one," Qui-Gon said with a hint of steel in his voice, and Anakin bowed his head.

"Don't worry, Padawan Skywalker," Obi-Wan interjected. "My mission is different from yours; I am here to discover who is behind the life attempts."

Padmé did not like his slightly mocking tone, nor the way he looked at the boy. It was like he did not approve of Anakin's obvious concern for her, but in a different way than Qui-Gon's. The Jedi master had reprimanded Anakin for his lack of control, while Obi-Wan…what?

The truth flashed into her mind as a lightening. Obi-Wan was jealous! The thought made her head spin. He was jealous! It meant he still cared for her, even after all those years.

A warm feeling spread inside Padmé as she gave him a smile, a smile that meant 'You can be as cold as you wish, Obi-Wan, but I know how you feel'. Then she said aloud, "I am sure that with your presence here the mysteries surrounding this threat will be revealed. Now if you will excuse me I will retire."

Padmé then stood up and walked away, followed by Dormé. She retired into her bedroom, wanting to go to bed soon after an almost sleepless night.

Padmé dismissed Dormé, and after disrobing, she sat at her toilette table and started brushing her long, curly hair, with long, methodical strokes.

Her mind kept on thinking of the just-ended meeting, as she second-guessed her interpretation of Obi-Wan's reaction toward Anakin.

Maybe she had been mistaken when she had taken it for jealousy. Maybe it was just her wishful thinking, the desire to believe he still reputed her attractive…or the darker wish to know he had not been able to build a life with someone else, that he was as alone as she was.

It was a mean thought, and Padmé pushed it away.

She stared at the mirror in front of her and watched her face broaden in a smile as she remembered Anakin's reactions to her.

Now, there was no mistaking in his feelings! They had been more than clear.

'You have grown more beautiful," he had said, and she repeated it in her mind, again and again.

Padmé was aware she was attractive, but this was the first time someone had told her so openly. Not even Obi-Wan had been so explicit.

More importantly, there had been an authentic feeling in Anakin's words. His compliment had been sincere and embarrassed, not one of those suave but artificial shows of appreciation she sometimes received from men more attracted by her power than by her.

In Anakin's gaze, Padmé had seen admiration, real liking…desire? She looked critically at her figure, wondering how the young man would judge her, when a sudden thought made her freeze.

Anakin was a Jedi—and Jedi were forbidden to love or even form attachments with other people. Whatever she had seen in his eyes could not be possibly be desire, for it was not something he was allowed to feel, at least not coupled with the liking he felt for her—and she for him.

Padmé took a deep breath and shook her head. She was allowing her fantasy to run too much. She was letting her loneliness, the loneliness she had thought she had buried so deeply beneath her duty it would not resurface, come out and influence her. The jealousy and the desire she believed to have seen in Obi-Wan and Anakin, were only the fruit of that loneliness. She would be best to stop musing about it and catch a good night of sleep.