AN: "aaaa" - talking through a holocomunicator or comlink. 'aaaa' - talking through a bond

Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 9

After their chat on the veranda, Padmè asked Anakin if they could head out to one of her favorite spots for a picnic. Anakin agreed and followed the Senator as she headed inside. Having arrived in the living room, she left him there and headed into the kitchen where she asked one of the servants to pack them a lunch that they could take with them. She wanted to enjoy her childhood summer home while she was here, even if it was on the orders of both the Chancellor and the Jedi Council.

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Anakin was still standing in the living room, near the door that led to the backyard. As he looked outside, he could see that there was a balcony that led to a path down to a private beach. On the other side of it, near the beach, was a fire pit with some logs placed around it.

He had never been to this part of Naboo before and he was quite astounded by what he saw. Everything was beautiful. From the gardens, mountains, beaches, the sea and even the usually annoying sand. There was one thing that he couldn't stop thinking about.

Padmè.

She was beautiful, even more so than when he had last seen her.

The padawan tried to push the thought out of his mind, but it just kept coming back. He already had a commitment, as Obi-Wan had told him when they had been assigned to protect her on Coruscant, and it wasn't to the Senator, but rather the Jedi Order. He knew that he wasn't ready to break it. But the temptation was hard to resist. He had no experience dealing with girls, aside from a few flirtations with a few of the prettiest female padawans at the Temple who were in his age group. All he knew was that he had never really felt this way for anyone.

Even though they had been reunited with each other less than a few standard days ago, he knew how she felt about him and couldn't help but think back to the prophecy. What if she was the one?

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While their lunch was being prepared, Padmè had gone upstairs and changed into a light summery dress that was yellow all over. The tan skirt was a lighter shade than the rest of the dress and decorated with tiny, white, stitchwork flowers and olive-colored leaves. The bodice was a golden color with brightly embroidered flowers, leaves and scrollery. The full sleeves were tan and tied off at her lower arms by some brightly colored ribbons. Over the top half of her dress, she wore a sheer, light cape with flowers that was similar to her corset, with scalloped edges that were done in bright yellow and green. She wore her hair down except for two buns that she had placed on the side of her head in yellow hairnets. The rest of her hair was tied behind her by ribbons that were similar to those on her sleeves and she wore a green headband across her forehead that was decorated with stitched on flowers.

It was no lie that Padmé's admiration and love for Anakin Skywalker had grown since the day that she had been reunited with him on Coruscant. If she was being honest with herself, she really didn't understand what was happening or why she was feeling this way whenever she was around him. Ever since she had been crowned Queen and then become Senator, she had always been focused on her work to have time for such a romantic relationship.

She thought back to her relationships with Palo, Rush Clovis and Ian Lago. Each one of them had ended because she had her work to focus on and had no time for such things. But since she and Anakin had come here, her thoughts had started to dwell on places they normally wouldn't. She saw how he had grown into a mature teenager. The last time that she had seen him was when he had been a boy, dressed in a child sized set of Padawan clothes with a small braid hanging off the left side of his hair. She was beginning to feel sensations she wasn't supposed to and desperately wanted to go back to Coruscant so she could bury herself in her work at the Senate and forget that this adventure had ever happened in the first place.

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At last, the picnic basket was ready.

Padmè came downstairs, picked up the basket, and thanked her servants who had prepared the food. Then she and Anakin left the villa and went to one of her favourite picnic spots, which was a meadow out in the Lake Country. The waterfalls there formed a semi-circle around a small lake. The meadow was filled with wildflowers. It was the perfect place to take a picnic lunch. And best of all, there was no sand.

After they both had eaten and the leftover food had been put back in the basket, they decided to stay in the meadow for a while and talk.

"I find it hard to believe that after everything I've seen and done ever since I left Tatooine, this beautiful place was one that I've never seen," Anakin said while twirling a few blades of grass that he had pulled up out of the ground between his fingers. "I also find it hard to believe that you used to come out here for picnics when you were a teenager."

"Well, you did leave a few hours after the festivities were over," Padmè said, a soft smile on her face. "And yes, my family and I loved to come out here for picnics. We didn't do it all the time, but when we did, we loved to sit here and talk with one another."

Anakin smirked. "Tell me, did you ever fall in love when you were a teenager?" He asked.

"I did, but I don't know if you want to hear about it as it didn't really go anywhere," Padmè said.

"You just don't want to tell me as you think I'm going to get jealous," Anakin responded.

"What if I just don't want to?" Padmè asked. "Are you going to use one of your Jedi mind-tricks on me?"

"Those only work on the weak minded," Anakin responded. "From what I've seen, I doubt they would work on you."

"Fine, I'll tell you," Padmè said. Then she softly smiled. "His name was Palo. I was only twelve at the time. We had both joined the Legislative Youth Program. He was a few years older than me and very cute. He had dark curly hair and dreamy eyes."

"Alright, I get it," Anakin said, turning away so Padmè wouldn't see him rolling his eyes. Then he looked at her. "Whatever happened between you two?"

"We parted ways. I went into civil service and he ended up becoming an artist," Padmè replied.

"Sounds like he made the better choice," Anakin commented.

"You really don't like politicians, do you?" Padme inquired.

Anakin softly sighed. "I'm blaming Obi-Wan for this one. Master Qui-Gon trained him and he passed on his training to me. Somewhere in there, I learned that neither of them are huge fans of politics," he said. "There are a few that I like, but I'm not really sure about one of them. You see, I like her, but I'm not sure if she feels the same way about me."

"Oh really?" Padmè asked, a small smirk on her face.

Anakin nodded, clearly wanting to get away from the topic of politics. Then he looked behind him at the herd of animals that were busy grazing on the wild grasses that grew in the meadow. "What are those?" He asked.

"Shaak," Padmè answered.

"What's a Shaak?" Anakin asked, having never seen one before.

"There peaceful animals," Padmè explained, watching as he stood up to analyze them. "Mainly popular among my people and the Gungans as herd animals."

"Have you ever ridden one before?" Anakin asked curiously, a small glint in his eyes as he wanted to show her that he was still a little reckless. Plus, he wanted to make her smile.

"No," Padmè responded. "No one has. Well, except maybe the Gungans. It's back is a little too bulbous. You'd fall off in five seconds."

"I still want to try it," Anakin cheekily told her as he used the Force to get a Shaak to come close to him. Once it was standing perfectly still, he jumped onto it's back. The animal grunted at the unexpected extra weight and lumbered off, carrying Anakin with it.

Despite the silliness of the act, it made Padmè laugh as Anakin intrepidly rode the Shaak on his feet. She was surprised as she saw that he had managed to remain balanced on the creature. Her laughter soon faded as she saw Anakin loose his balance and fall off of the animal. She watched as he landed on the ground and seemed unable to get up. The creature snorted as it rejoined the rest of its herd. Padmè called his name and ran over to him in worry, hoping and praying that he wouldn't be seriously hurt. As she rolled his body over, she swore she heard him laughing. When she realized that he was indeed laughing, she smacked him in the chest for giving her a fright and let a chuckle escape her lips.

That just made Anakin laugh harder. Then Padmè gave a small yelp as he tugged her down and rolled over, not realizing that they were on a small hill. The pair rolled through the grass a few times, laughing the entire time. When they finally came to a stop, Padmè was laying on top on him, with her hands braced on either side to keep her balanced.

They smiled at each other. Then Padmè got off of Anakin and helped him up. After they headed back to their picnic area and packed up the blanket, Anakin led the Senator back to the villa, where she changed clothes and got ready for dinner.

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Outside the cloning facilities on Kamino, one of the Kaminoans was riding an Aiwha back to the small cluster of buildings that had been built on stilts.

Inside, Obi-Wan and the female Kaminoan stood outside a nondescript white door. The Jedi Master waited patiently as she reached out and pressed the door buzzer. The door whooshed open, revealing a boy who looked exactly like the young clones that Obi-Wan had seen when he had been given a tour of the facility.

"Hello Boba. Is your father home?" She asked.

Boba paused for a moment before nodding. "Yup."

"May we see him?" The Kaminoan asked politely.

"Sure." Boba said as he peaked out to see if anyone else was with them. When he saw that it was just the two of them, he regarded Obi-Wan with thinly veiled suspicion. Then he turned around and headed down the hallway. "Dad! Taun We is here!"

Taun We stood to the side and let Obi-Wan go ahead of her. Then she followed behind him as they both headed down the hallway into the main room of the apartment. The Jedi Knight looked at the large window that had been placed on the rounded wall on the far side of the room. Lightning flashed in the sky, as the rain continued to pour outside. Then he discreetly began to look around for anything that could link Jango to the female bounty hunter who'd been assassinated on Coruscant while they waited. He also began to wonder why this man had not made more of an effort to turn the quarters into a home until he remembered that Jango was a bounty hunter.

"Ahh Jango welcome back," Taun We said as she spotted the man step into the room from another hallway that Obi-Wan hadn't even seen when he had entered the apartment. "I trust your trip was successful?"

Obi-Wan turned around and bowed slightly to the man who was busy folding back the sleeve of his left hand.

"Fairly," Jango said curtly. His voice was just as cultured as Obi-Wan's. From the way that he was standing, the Jedi Knight could tell that his demeanor was imposing and closed off.

"This is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi," Taun We said as she gestured to Obi-Wan. "He's come here to check on our progress."

"Your clones are very impressive," Obi-Wan told him, while he watched for any change in Jango's expression. "You must be proud of them."

"I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe," Jango said humbly.

"Have you ever made your way as far into the core as Coruscant?" Obi-Wan inquired.

"Once or twice," Jango replied, ever the perfect picture of calm.

"Recently?" Obi-wan asked.

"Perhaps," Fett replied.

"Then you must know Master Sifo-Dyas," Obi-Wan remarked, glancing behind the man as a glint of silver caught his eye. The Jedi Knight took notice of the small room. To him, it looked like armor, possibly the same armor he'd seen on the bounty hunter that had taken out the woman who had gone after Senator Amidala on Coruscant.

Jango walked over to the window, saying something to Boba in a foreign language. Obi-Wan reluctantly turned towards him as Boba walked over to the door and closed it.

"I'm sorry, Master who?" Jango asked as he turned around to face Obi-Wan.

"Sifo-Dyas," Obi-Wan repeated. "Is he not the one who hired you for this job?"

"Never heard of him," Jango said with a smidge of defiance as Boba came to stand next to Taun We.

"Really?" Obi-wan asked skeptically.

"I was recruited by a man called Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogdan," Jango explained.

"Curious," Obi-Wan said, getting the sense that the man was telling the truth.

"Do you like your army so far?" Jango asked as he swiftly changed the subject.

"I do," Obi-Wan replied courteously. "I look forward to seeing them in action."

"They'll do their job well, I'll guarantee that," Jango promised.

"Thank you for your time, Jango," Obi-Wan said as he slightly bowed his head.

"Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi," Jango responded. He and Boba watched as Obi-Wan walked towards the door, followed by Taun We. As the door opened and Obi-Wan exited, he turned his head and glanced back at Jango before leaving and letting the door slide shut behind both him and the Kaminoan.

Jango closed his eyes and frowned. Then he opened them again.

Boba watched what his dad was doing and recognized the signs. It worried the young boy who knew that his father was possibly going to leave again and never return. "What is it Dad?" He asked.

"Go pack your things," Jango told his son. "We're leaving this place." He knew that they would eventually have to return as he was the template for the clones and the Kaminoans would still need his DNA. Plus, he needed the money that they paid him. But with the Jedi sniffing around, he knew that it wasn't safe for either of them to be on the water planet right now.

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The sun was setting over the Lake Country by the time Anakin and Padmè finished their dinner. The servants had already come in and taken away their plates, leaving both Padmè and Anakin with their dessert plates, a knife and a fork. There was also a pitcher of water on the table.

Padmè already had a dessert plate near her. One of the servants came into the room with one for Anakin. She placed it on the table next to the Padawan as he was talking to Padmè about one of the many adventures that he and Obi-Wan had been on.

"When I finally managed to catch up to Obi-Wan and the mercenaries, he and I went into what I like to call aggressive negotiations," Anakin said. Then he turned to the servant. "Thank you."

The servant smiled and then walked out of the room to give them their privacy.

"Aggressive negotiations?" Padmè asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Negotiations with a lightsaber," Anakin explained.

Padmè laughed as soon as she heard his explanation. Then she picked up her knife and fork to cut into the pear that was laying on her plate when she saw it move. She looked up and watched as Anakin made it float into the air and land on his plate. A smile appeared on her face.

Anakin returned the smile with one of his own. "Obi-Wan would not be happy if he caught me doing this," he said. "He and Qui-Gon don't like it when I show off in front of others." He cut the fruit into two pieces and then used the Force to float the end piece over to her.

Padmè smiled and plucked the fruit out of the air with her fork. She softly giggled and then bit the end of it.

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After they had finished desert, both Padmè and Anakin headed into one of the sitting rooms that had been built in the large house. The fireplace had been lit and they both ended up sitting on one of the couches together.

Anakin couldn't help but think that Padmè looked simply gorgeous in her black corset style dress that fanned out at the bottom in a black, metallic printed mermaid skirt. Around her neck, she wore a long, drapey, beaded necklace that ended at her knees. When they had been eating, she had been wearing a black feathery shawl, but she removed it right after since she was beginning to get hot. He couldn't help but notice that she was wearing long black gloves and that. her hair had been fashioned in a twisted braid with a silver headband for decoration.

Then he turned away and thought about the prophecy again. "There's this child that I met while I was helping out with one of the many lightsaber classes that we have at the Jedi Temple," he said. "Her name is Rosella and she's really good with a lightsaber. I keep having dreams about her fighting by my side and I'm not entirely sure what they mean."

"Have you told Obi-Wan about them?" Padmè asked.

Anakin nodded. "I have," he replied. "He thinks that she is part of this prophecy that has been made known to only the Council, myself, Obi-Wan, and now you," Anakin responded.

"Prophecy?" The Senator asked. "What are you talking about?"

"It's called the Sun and the Star," Anakin responded. "It says that I will be powerful Jedi, although I apparently have some darkness lurking deep inside me. It also made mention of another person, someone who goes by the name of Star. I think It's supposed to be a nickname or something. She will be the one who will expose this Dark Lord of the Sith, whoever he or she is."

"Why are you telling me this Anakin?" Padmè asked.

Anakin nodded. "The prophecy also states that I will find love with a former Queen," he said.

"And you believe that it's me?" Padmè asked.

"Yes Padmè," Anakin responded. "I believe that it's you."

The Senator softly sighed. "I think we need to talk about this Anakin," she said, knowing that this was going to be a tough conversation for the two of them as the more that she had observed him over the past few hours, the more she felt her own feelings for him grow.

Anakin was the type of man that she had been looking for in a partner. He was caring, kind and very considerate of her needs. He also allowed her to do her own thing because he knew that she could take care of herself. If only he wasn't a Jedi and she had just retired after her two terms of ruling her home planet, then they would have been perfect for each other.

"You know I can't change the way that I feel about you," Anakin told her. "From the moment that we first met in Watto's workshop all those years ago, there hasn't been a day where I haven't thought about you."

"I know Anakin," Padmè softly answered as she stood up and walked over to the fireplace. "But we can't do this. Our chosen paths have made it impossible for us to commit to one another."

Anakin sighed, knowing that she was fighting her own battle against the feelings that she had for him. "Anything is possible Padmè," he said. "I know we share a connection with each other and if you weren't a Senator and I wasn't a Jedi, then we would be free to explore our love."

Padmè nodded, glad that he understood what she was talking about. "I know that you have been training to become a Jedi Knight and that your Jedi Code has been changed for more than a year, but regardless of the way we feel about each other, I will not let you give up your future for me."

Anakin could feel his heart break as he heard what Padmè was telling him, but then he heard Qui-Gon's voice in his head, telling him to stay calm and be patient. For now, this was how things had to be. "I know that my duty is to be a Jedi," he said. He had a feeling that Padmè needed time to figure it out on her own. "If you truly feel for me the way that I sense you do, then I will not go against your wishes."

"Anakin…" Padmè said, seeing the heartbroken look on his face.

"Padmè, please, you don't have to say anything right now," Anakin told her. "I want you to take some time and think about this conversation. You can tell me what you have decided when you're ready."

She could only agree to that and they sat in silence. After a few minutes, they both bid each other goodnight and headed to bed.

UP NEXT: Obi-Wan reports his findings to the Council while Padmè and Anakin continue to stay where they are. Padmè will be asking more about the prophecy as she is still a little confused by a few things.