Note: Updates may come slower from now on. I have 2 more ready to go, but the rest is still to be written. Due to exams time may be short for the foreseeable future, so I just want you to know that I won't abandon the story. Hope you enjoy chapter 2 :)
Chapter 2: Friends from the past
The bright blue sky of Coruscant was starting to shift towards an orange color, indicating that the sun would set in around two hours. Thin locks of chestnut brown hair dangled from the back of her head, where it was supposed to be tied up in one of her elaborate headpieces. Evening was about to arrive, and so were her new protectors. Padmé sat on one of the comfortable couches in the center of Republica500, reading a book on her datapad. At least, that was what she wanted it to look like. Her mind was someplace else, thinking of how she would act when or rather if she would see him again.
Sabé shot a glance at Padmé who wanted to look like she was just reading, but she knew better. She had been her handmaiden for a very long time, and thus come to know all the little quirks that would give away when her mind was occupied with something else. She could see it in her motionless eyes, and her face which lacked the look of focus that she usually had while reading. It amused her that Padmé had no difficulty speaking to thousands of people in the Senate, but was nervous about possibly meeting an old friend.
Padmé needed to be distracted so that she wouldn't overthink the upcoming meeting.
"Milady, it is time to get ready for this evening. You still have to decide what you want to wear when the Jedi arrive, and I will need to braid your hair. It is quite the mess right now."
Padmé nodded and pushed her thoughts about Anakin away. She then followed Sabé to her bedroom where a huge walk-in closet stored all of her dresses, headgear, and other essential clothing.
She opened the doors and decided that she didn't want to look too formal. That made it significantly easier to pick something to wear because half of the rack was filled with senatorial dresses which lacked the simplicity she was looking for. The remaining dresses were made of synthsilk and were much more comfortable anyway.
After careful consideration, she narrowed the possible dresses down to two beautiful long pieces. One was completely blue with a white pattern woven through the fabric, while the other dress had a slight gradient. These dresses were very pretty, and maybe even too beautiful for what she wanted. Although the bottom was a bit wider than most of her slim dresses, and not as flowy as the pieces she wore to galas, it still looked like she was going to attend an important social event. The solution consisted of a dark blue robe that hung on the other side of the closet. It would cover her shoulders, and make her look a little more informal. Because everything was blue already, the main dress needed some other tint, so she went for the dress with the white pattern.
Padmé excited the closet and lay the pieces of cloth on her bed. She glanced out the window looking at the traffic jams which never seemed to end. She quickly focused on the task at hand because she couldn't be half-done when the Jedi arrived. "Sabé, can you help me get out of this dress? I'm afraid that I will damage it if I did it myself."
Sabé knew that Padmé liked to do everything herself if she could, but when it came to dressing, she had long ago learned that it was better to ask for help than be stubborn and do it alone. The first time she wanted to take off a senatorial dress, she had ripped the back of it. Since then, she had always asked one or more of her handmaidens for help. Sabé had become one of Padmé's best friends while serving as a handmaiden and was often the one to help her change. When she managed to loosen the laces which held the cloth in place, she didn't leave the room to give her privacy as many other people would have done in her situation, but instead looked for the comb and other accessories that were necessary to braid Padmé's hair. They were very close and had seen each other in their underwear more times than they could count. When Padmé was queen of Naboo, she would sleep in the queen's bedroom together with all of her handmaidens. Sometimes they would even sleep in the same bed to cuddle when someone was feeling sad, or just because it was cozy and would keep them warm on a cold winter night.
While Sabé was gathering all of the things required to fix her hair, Padmé had already managed to step into her new dress. She went to sit on the edge of her bed. When Sabé started braiding, her mind had already wandered off to the arrival of her Jedi guests.
He stood in the turbolift shifting his weight from one foot to the other, not being able to think about anything else than their reunion. He was nervous, and he knew that Obi-Wan sensed it. His master was about to express his concerns, when he managed to calm himself, releasing his worries and doubts into the force. The best way to act was to follow Obi Wan's lead and focus on anything other than Padmé.
The turbolift let out a quiet beep to announce that they had arrived at their destination. The doors of the turbolift opened and they started walking towards the door that would lead straight into the apartment. When they reached the door, Obi-Wan pressed the bell to announce that they had arrived. Anakin's mind searched the area through the force for a familiar presence. Once he found what he was looking for, he was surprised by the calming effect that her force presence had on him. Even after ten years, the light that was Padmé Amidala still shone brightly as ever in the force.
The doors in front of him opened and revealed two young women and a middle-aged man. His eyes widened as he recognized one of the three people standing in front of him. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her face had matured and her figure was better defined than the last time he saw her. Her smooth hair and soft brown eyes were exactly as he remembered, and looked at him with curiosity.
"Milady, my name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and I have been assigned as your Jedi protector by the Jedi council. it is a great pleasure seeing you again."
Obi-Wan said smiling happily as he stepped forward and extended his arm to shake hands with the Senator.
Padmé stepped forward and shook Obi Wan's hand while she quickly glanced over his shoulder to get a better look at his padawan. When the doors of the turbolift opened she felt disappointed as she couldn't recognize Anakin in the Jedi padawan that stood behind Obi-Wan. She knew that he would have changed a lot, but the problem was that she didn't know what he had changed into. There was something about him though that was familiar. When studying his face she looked into two bright blue eyes which looked back at her with an intensity she had seen only once before. She frowned while she tried to put all the pieces of the puzzle that was Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprentice in the right place. Then she realized that the hair of the padawan was a dark tint of blonde which almost looked like gold. Anakin used to have light blonde hair on Tatooine, but with aging and less sun, his hair color would have darkened. This almost couldn't be anyone else but him, though she had to be sure.
Obi-Wan noticed the frown spreading across the face of the Senator. "Is there something wrong Milady?"
"No master Kenobi, on the contrary. I am glad that we meet again after such a long time, Though I do have a question. Who is the young man standing behind you?"
"Of, of course. Excuse my manners Milady. Let me introduce you to my padawan, Anakin Skywalker."
"Ani…? you mean…. the Anakin from Naboo?" Padmé asked still in disbelief of how different he looked when compared to his ten-year-old self.
Anakin smiled and walked forward until he stood beside Obi-Wan. "The one and only Milady." He made a small bow to greet her in a formal way that was expected in such circumstances. He wanted nothing more than to walk over to her and hug her as he used to do, but that would be very weird, so it would have to wait.
Because he now stood beside Obi-Wan in the center of the room, she could see him more clearly. The small and chunky face of a boy was replaced by the face of a young man while still carrying the same smile she had come to adore in the time they had spent together. His long straight blonde hair was a little darker and now appeared to have slight curls. His body had become very tall and lean, while already showing some muscles which he probably gained through his Jedi training. "I wondered what had become of you after you left Naboo to become a Jedi. I am glad that our paths have crossed again, even if it had to be under these circumstances"
"So am I Milady." Anakin's thoughts threatened to drift off to Padmé, so he changed the subject to their mission. "Captain, can you inform us about the security measures that are currently in place for this Appartement?"
"The senator has decided that security details could be discussed over dinner." Captain Typho responded.
"Would you please follow me to the dining room? Everything has already been arranged, as we guessed that you would be quite hungry after getting here on such short notice." Sabé said while she gave them a wink.
Obi-Wan smiled. "We appreciate and accept your kind offer, please lead the way."
Having a formal dinner wasn't normally a problem for Anakin, but because he just saw Padmé again, it would suddenly become challenging to just act normal. He felt the need to look at her, and soak his eyes in the image of her beautiful figure, but resisted. Instead, he looked out of the window hoping that Coruscant's traffic would keep his mind distracted while he followed Sabé to the dining room.
After Anakin got into a conversation with Captain Typho about the security of the senator, he found that it was easier to keep Padmé out of his mind. The apartment needed to be completely secure for when the assassin wanted to finish what it started. The lower levels were heavily guarded, so no assassin would try to go that way, Typho stated. If that was the case, then the only way for someone to kill her was to get an explosive inside the building or to land on the balcony and try to get inside from there. He would have to talk with Obi-Wan after dinner to determine how they were going to contribute to the security already in place.
The food tasted delicious. Far better than what he got at the temple. It was always the same bland food that they served, so this was a welcome change of diet. His master was currently talking with Padmé about their previous mission to Ansion. They had to settle a border dispute between two powerful landlords who were about to start a civil war. In the end, the problem could be resolved by Obi Wan's incredible negotiation skills. Both landlords eventually agreed that the borders would return to their former position, with exception to a region where people lived who were loyal to one of the lords.
Although Obi Wan's story about the events on Ansion was fun to listen to, Padmé couldn't restrain herself from taking a quick glance at Anakin once in a while. She didn't know why, but there was something about him that interested her. Turning her head to get a glimpse of him once again, she suddenly found herself looking at bright blue eyes which instantly looked back at her. Kriff. She quickly looked away but immediately recognized her mistake as it only made her look like she was caught doing something improper. Hopefully, he hadn't noticed all the other times she glanced at him. If he had, then she would certainly look like a creep. It was better to stop sneakily studying Anakin, so she decided to talk with Sabé about all the bills that were passed in the senate today.
Anakin noticed a couple of times that Padmé looked at him, but he didn't know why. What was on her mind that made him so interesting? Are my manners not good enough, or have I spilled some food? He quickly checked the latter but couldn't find anything. Then Padmé looked at him again, and he turned his head to look into her eyes. She quickly turned away, but he saw something that surprised him. Conflict. She wanted something, but she held back. This further increased his need to talk to her in private, to discover what was troubling her. He looked at her again to see if he could find something that would clarify the conflict he saw in her but remembered that it was not something he should do during dinner. His resolve and focus for not thinking of her were failing. He needed to leave this room in which Padmé was, and regain his focus. "Excuse me Milady, would it be alright if I went to get some fresh air?"
"Of course Anakin, you are free to do as you please." She was surprised and worried that he wanted to leave. Did he find her creepy because she sometimes stared at him a little longer than appropriate, or did he not like seeing her again? Scratch the last theory because when he entered her apartment, a big smile had appeared on his face which seemed impossible to remove. She tried to think of another reason which would make him want to leave, but couldn't find any after long minutes of contemplating.
She felt someone gently poking her right side, and realized that she had been staring in one direction while her mind was someplace else. She quickly turned her head towards the right and saw Sabé looking at her with a worrying expression on her face. Hopefully, no one else noticed that she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings. Picking up her utensils, she continued eating. If Anakin had a problem with her, he would confront her if he wanted to. There was little she could do now, and overthinking wouldn't help solve the problem.
Dinner had finished, and everyone was ready to continue their evening activities. Obi-Wan and Captain Typho would check the security downstairs for the last time this evening, and she would probably have to go and do some preparation for tomorrow's senate meetings. Anakin still hadn't returned from his walk, which worried her. Why would he be gone for so long? He couldn't have gotten lost because he practically lived on Coruscant as the Jedi temple was located here. Asking Obi-Wan would be her best option of knowing what he was doing or where he was.
"Master Kenobi, do you know where Anakin is? He has been gone for quite some time. He looked troubled before he left. Is there something I could do to help?"
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, connected to the force, and searched for Anakin's presence. It didn't take long because he was close and seemed to be connected to the force as well.
"He is meditating on the balcony. Anakin tends to carry more burdens than he can bear. I can help him deal with most of them, but there are some that I can't help him with. I don't know if it would help, but maybe talking to an old friend would ease his mind."
"I'll see what I can do." As everyone stood up, she started walking towards the veranda. Hopefully, his troubles didn't concern her.
Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2!
If you got any suggestions, or noticed errors feel free to comment :)
I'm almost done writing chapter 4, so stay tuned. When I've uploaded all chapters that are finished, updating will be more slowly
