Author's Notes: Oy! FF.N has been very annoying! I've had this chapter ready for a while, too!  Well, I hope you guys haven't forgotten about this story.  Thanks again for all the reviews (although it seems I can't proudly show them off anymore) and hope you like!

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Part Eight (6/26/02)

The loft was only half lit inside when the landspeeder pulled up. The droids, of course, needed no light to operate, but the power was kept on low in preparation for our homecoming.

The trip had been silent the entire time, making me extremely uncomfortable. I snuck a few glances at the girl as she stared out the window. Eventually, however, she caught me in the act, and, after her stern look of annoyance, I chose to stare at my knees instead.

Maecenas, still angry with me, strode through the threshold ahead of us, incessantly clenching the girl's transmitter protectively. When he had walked to the center of the entryway, he turned around to face us. Or me, rather.

"Do you have any idea how many credits you nearly cost me?" he bellowed. There was no pretending now - we both knew our real positions in this galaxy.

I planned the best reply. My only usual goal was to make the most sarcastic statement possible while avoiding the largest amount of bodily harm. I suppose, in this case, the truth was the least painful route.

I glance towards the slave girl at my side.

Okay, not the complete truth.

"You saw my hand," I attempted. "How was I going to know about the randomizer?"

"That's not the point, boy," he hissed. "I wanted the credits; not this cheap excuse for a-"

"I only wanted …" I interrupted before he could finish his thought. When he stopped talking to stare and wait for me to complete my statement, I found I didn't know what to say. What did I want? Surly to help the girl, but Maecenas could never understand such concepts as compassion and empathy. A life under his ownership might be no better than her life with the Gran. I had come up with a plan to set her free, but only after I had won her, and I was sure as the fire pits of Sullust not going to tell him of that little detail.

"Oh, Skywalker," Maecenas continued when it was obvious that I would remain silent. "You wanted what?" He glided closer to us, emerging right before my face. He let his eyes fall upon the girl, who was now standing less than two meters away from us. "I know what you wanted."

Strangely, he laughed as if he'd made a joke that only he was familiar with. I stood motionless, watching him gloat. A lump slowly formed in the back of my throat. The girl seemed to think his behavior was odd as well and stared, her eyes wide.

Suddenly his cackling ceased and the back of his hand connected with my face, slapping my left cheek hard enough to sending my entire body to the floor.

I was taken off-guard by this action, but I can't honestly say I was surprised. I allowed myself to fall, bracing for impact against the hard floor.

I saw the girl's shock out of the corner of my eye. She had backed up and held her hand to her mouth.

I rubbed my red cheek gently and tried not to stare back at my owner with the hatred. I knew my eyes must contain at the moment.

"Next time," Maecenas growled, "you will do exactly what I tell you. You will always do exactly what I tell you. Understand?"

I nodded.

Unsatisfied, he lifted me nearly off the floor with my shirt collar, proving that spice addiction can really add superhuman strength to some.

"I understand perfectly, Master," I whispered, my heart sinking at the utterance of that hated word.

The amusement returned to his face, and he let me drop back down. I landed softer than before because the fall wasn't as far as the first.

Maecenas pointed loosely to the girl. "Put her in one of the rooms next to yours," he ordered me. "I'll figure out what to do with her in the morning."

I nodded again this time, hoping that would be enough. Maecenas turned and left, apparently going to his office before bed.

My sharp gaze followed him as he went because I didn't want to see the girl at the moment - my characteristic pride had been shattered too deeply.

"Are you all right?" I heard a voice say behind me. It was soft and gentle, with a hint of sadness and concern. It was exactly how I thought an angel would sound. I realized that this was the first time I'd heard her speak.

My body froze and my spine went straight. My throat had gone dry, and I couldn't say anything - no witty reply, no flirtatious remark, no sarcastic comeback. I was totally speechless, nervous even.

I heard light footsteps that could only belong to her small frame. She was walking around to face me.

"I'm fine," I told her, gruffness in my voice. I was about to get up, when a small, delicate hand reached out for my own.

She was standing before me now, her figure completely filling my view. I forced myself to look up, to stare at her face, and into her eyes. They were filled will concern, confusion, and worry.

I took her hand, and - adding her strength to my own - lifted off the floor. Our eyes didn't leave each other the entire time. There was no pity in her brown orbs, which set me off guard. I didn't know what to expect from her - as my experience with fellow slaves became very limited after Maecenas won me, though all the free people that knew my true condition often felt sorry for me.

For the first time since I had left my mother, it seemed, I felt I was standing next to an equal.

The moment (for that's all it was, mere seconds) soon ended, and we both felt the need to return our gazes to the floor. Perhaps the situation was just too new and strange for us to handle directly.

What could I possibly say to her? There were so many things I wanted to know - who she was, where she came from - and so much more I need to explain - why I had gambled for her, who I was - but I could not speak.

I breathed silently, letting some of my frustration go. I was tired, which meant she must have been, too. Maecenas had said to go to bed - his first good idea all night.

"I'll show you to your room," I half-whispered. Luckily, she heard me, and nodded when I finally allowed myself to look at her. I took her bag, initially surprising her with that form of courtesy. She set herself to grab it back, but stopped her hand midway, as if remembering some long-forgotten etiquette.

I walked out of the entryway and into the nearby hall that contained our rooms, motioning for her to follow. I opened the door to a room next to mine. This one was a guest quarters for the people Maecenas didn't consider worthy of too much attention. Still, the room was bigger than my own and furnished comfortably. It hadn't been used in a while, but it was impossible to tell because the droids cleaned it daily.

I strode in confidently, switching on the lights as I went. I placed her bag lightly on the bed and turned back to face her.

She was staring about the room, drinking in every detail. Her preoccupation gave me a fleeting moment to memorize her beauty. Like I first time I saw her, the angel was flawless now. Ware and sadness had taken their toll on her face, perhaps diminishing her perfect skin from its original quality, but I really couldn't tell - I had never met another to match her looks.

As if she could sense me staring, she returned her gaze back to mine. Her eyes were unreadable, so it was difficult for me to plan my next words. I decided to go with the facts.

"This room is only temporary," I told her. "We're leaving tomorrow."

She didn't see the usefulness of that statement, but nodded anyway.

I was hoping that that information would be enough so I attempted to head out. Her eyes stopped my movement, however, and I stayed put.

"You're a slave, are you?" The question was blunt, and since it came from someone that had been quiet all night, it caught me off guard.

"I'm a person," I blurted out, not really sure why I had said it. Perhaps I was afraid of loosing my newfound equality with her; perhaps I wanted to remind her that she was a person, too. I slowed myself, choosing my next words carefully. All the while, the girl raised her eyebrow in expectance.

"My name is Anakin."

"A simple 'yes' or 'no' would do," she told me. Gone was her mask of confusion, only to be replaced by the haughtiness she had shown in front of the Duchess.

"Yes," I said, neither annoyed, nor chided. Equals, indeed. "Maecenas owns me. I race pods for him." The usual shame, however, was still there, and I found myself talking unevenly. My eyes found their way to the door jam behind her.

"Why were you playing sabacc?" Her voice was almost harsh.

"I do what I'm told to do," I answered, my voice soft.

"Winning me?"

At that point I looked at her. The blue mark was still there, reminding why I did what I did.

"He hit you," I said lamely. "You needed to get away from him."

"Into what exactly?" she said. Her arms moved around to showcase the room, a metaphor for her current situation. "One master for another. And, from what he did to you, he doesn't seem that much better. Thanks a lot!"

"I was trying to help you," I desperately retorted. When the anger in her eyes didn't lessen, I attempted a new approach. "I tried to let you to escape. I deactivated your transmitter."

Her features softened, returning her form to the silent beauty I had known before. She placed her hand on the nearby dresser, suddenly fascinated with running her nail along the polished wood.

"I thought that's what you were trying to do," she said, her voice gentle now. I noticed for the first time that her accent was unlike anything I'd ever heard in the outer-rim territories. It was fair, proper … educated?

She seemed unsure of herself now - her previous confidence gone.

"I hesitated," she finally admitted. "I was too … afraid to run." At this, she slumped, resting gently against the dresser.

For whatever reason, I went to her and wrapped my arms protectively around her. She leaned into my embrace gratefully.

"I didn't want them to catch me," she continued, her voiced muffled against my shoulder. "I didn't want …" She trailed off, knowing that, as I fellow slave, I knew what she meant.

"I'm sorry," I said, not really knowing what for. "I didn't mean to make it harder for you."

"I know," she pulled away from me, and I let my arms fall to my sides. "Thank you for the opportunity." She rubbed her eyes and attempted to ignore an oncoming yawn.

"You're tired. Get some sleep," I told her. Somehow, over the last few minutes, we had developed something … for some reason I felt as though I had known her forever. I could only hope she sensed the same thing.

She nodded and moved towards the bed while I stayed at the door, preparing to leave.

"Goodnight, Anakin," she said, a small, rare smile on her face.

"Goodnight …" I looked at her expectantly, realizing that "girl" and "angel" probably wouldn't work as terms of endearment.

"Padmé," she said. "My name is Padmé."

"Padmé," I repeated, returning her smile. "Goodnight."

With that I left, shutting the door in the process. My room was a few steps down the hall, a distance that I covered in a few seconds.

My thoughts were racing, clouded with the images of Padmé - a name worthy of her beauty. Would she be the companion I had longed for? A friend? Surely, her freedom was the original goal, but if she had to stay, could she not keep me company?

You hope for too much, I told myself.

I entered my room, willing my mind to clear. I even considered turning on Threepio to distract me, but I remembered how tired I was.

Throwing off those expensive tunics, I prepared to sleep. I sat on my bed, ready to drift away, when I felt something hard against my hip.

I reached into my pocket and retrieved the datachip Wiphshun had given me. Maecenas hadn't confiscated it.

My first impulse was to find a datapad and learn as much about Padmé as possible, but I stopped myself before I even got off the bed.

What right did I have to her personal information? I wanted to know her - everything about her - but not like this. I wanted her to trust me; I wanted her to tell me herself.

I buried the chip deep in a pile of my machine parts. Hopefully Maecenas wouldn't realize that a datachip was part of the bargain, but if he did, he'd be hard pressed to find it in my mess.

Satisfied, I turned off the light and closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself for a new day and the changes that would surly follow the rising sun.