Hellooo!

Thanks for all the great reviews on this story! I'm glad you're enjoying watching these two circle around each other like two lovestruck birds.

Without further ado, on to the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing bar Princess Ecosa (sorry not sorry)

Please Review!

The crowd in the camp canteen had an odd mood that night. The atmosphere was almost electric. The soldiers, usually sluggish and defeated after a day dodging bullets and slogging around heavy machinery, were moving with an erratic urgency, half fearful, half excited. Listen carefully and you could almost hear a buzz in the air.

Princess Ecosa was on a mission. Her target was secured, and God dammit she would not go home alone tonight.

Sitting in the corner, slightly more jovial and relaxed than their usual retrained demeanour, was a gaggle of Jedi and Senators, drinking and chatting. Ahsoka was regaling the party with some tale of her recent battle triumph ('None of you men could even dream of having my agility, and I'm half your height! Fuck the patriarchy!'), Obi Wan was savouring every drop of his whiskey (Two a day max, make them count), Mas Amedda was sitting like an oversized totem pole, staring into space with a scowl. And in the corner, giggling with Senator Amidala, was her target for the night. Anakin Skywalker.

Why did he have to be so hot? The Princess prided herself on being to reduce any man to hot sweats in minutes, either by her natural flirtation or, failing that, her crude and pervasive innuendos. But for some reason, Anakin wasn't budging. She had spent three hours (three hours!) in that cramped cockpit, stroking his arm and informing her that she could still do the splits (I'm very flexible Master…) And nothing. Not so much as a wink in her direction. She was beginning to think he maybe swung the other way. Him and Obi Wan did seem pretty inseparable…

Seeing him collapse with laughter, nudging that irritating Senator Amidala with his shoulder was the last straw. Fuck it. She wanted him. She wanted fuck no.10 to be with the perfect ten. The war hero, the forbidden fruit. Princess Ecosa, the woman who cracked the Jedi Code. She wanted to feel his famous metal hand around her throat as she rode him until the morning. And she was known to get what she wanted.

'Oh God Ani, look.' Padme leaned her hand on his broad shoulder, whispering out of the corner of her mouth. God, she was being tactile tonight! Those two gins must have gone straight to her head.

Anakin's head whipped around. And promptly fell as he groaned.

'Well hello soldiers' Princess Ecosa wrapped her mouth seductively around every last syllable as she twirled her blonde hair in thumb and forefinger. 'What's a girl got to do to get a drink around here?'

'Princess, you are here in the capacity of a trauma victim, not for Spring Break.' Anakin's stern alter ego seemed to be getting a good amount of airtime this weekend. 'Plus, you're underage. You shouldn't be drinking anyway.'

His gaze shot to Ahsoka.

'Nor should you Snips, come to think of it.'

Ahsoka, who had taken a large swig of rum, slowly let it trickle out her mouth back into the glass, glaring at her master the whole time. That girl needed a masterclass in manners. God, he was becoming Obi Wan!

'Maybe it's time you escorted The Princess to her chamber, Master?' Ahsoka shot a smile at Anakin, daring him to refuse.

'Oh Snips, surely it's better for you, a young woman who also shouldn't be drinking, to help The Princess out? Wouldn't that make her more comfortable?' Anakin let the corners of his mouth curl into a smile.

'Well Master Skywalker, you know, it might be nice for us to get to know each other more…intimately' purred the Princess. 'You know, if we are going to be working as partners.'

'Actually your majesty, I am walking back that way. I will escort you.'

Anakin, Padme and Ahsoka all jumped in surprise at the sobering words of Mas Amedda. Ever factual, ever sombre, he may just have saved Anakin's skin.

'Excellent idea Senator! Now goodnight Princess!'

Anakin turned in surprise to hear the words come out Padme's mouth.

'What?' she whispered as Mas Amedda frog-marched a dazed Princess Ecosa out the canteen. 'Ani, I spent three hours with that woman, listening to a detailed account of her sexual preferences while she completely ignored my comprehensive and excellently curated trauma evaluation. I deserve a drink without having to hear how "bendy" she is.'

'Oh I know Pad' he laughed. 'Did you know she can do the splits? Cos I do.'

'That's just the start of it!' Padme guffawed.

'And then she told me that she had never fucked anyone with a net worth of –'

He joined in, speaking in unison '-below 6 figures!'

They collapsed into laughter. Looking about, they were two of the last people still in the canteen. Their circle had slowly trickled away, member by member, leaving Anakin, Padme alone with a gaggle of haggard clones in the corner, engrossed in a high-stakes card game..

'Well you know she was pretty set on going back with you tonight Ani!' Padme could feel the three gins loosening her up. The usual processor in her brain that carefully considered every word was clearly closed for the night.

Anakin laughed and his gorgeous face lit up. 'Oh, I am fully aware, Pad. Her subtlety needs some serious work.'

Padme smiled widely as he continued.

'Plus, she only wants to tell everyone she's been with a Jedi' he grinned, 'She's been watching too many of those romantic holo-films anyway. The real experience of sex with a Jedi is less of a sweeping forbidden passion and more like a pity-ride with a repressed and inexperienced teen.'

Padme chuckled. 'Surely you're underselling yourself Ani!'

'I wish I was Pad.' He smirked again, causing her stomach to flip. 'It's hard enough getting girls when in Coruscant. Try getting someone back to yours with the promise of a night of sex in a tent, surrounded by 300 soldiers, and to top it off, a night's sleep on a sandy sheet. You would have to be pretty keen to accept that offer that's for sure.'

Padme laughed. 'So you do find girls to try and take home with you?'

(Her interest was, of course, purely academic. Walk a day in the shoes of a Jedi and all that. Or so she told herself.)

'Well we sometimes do a depressing crawl of whatever local bar will take us' said Anakin, running a hand through the back of his hair nervously. This was dangerous territory. But he was also a few beers deep. So it was anyone's game. 'The thing is Pad, any girls who are out in a bar within driving distance to a war zone are going to be, by definition, a bit… shall we say… reckless.' His lips curled into yet another smirk. 'And it's tiring enough staying awake for normal sex, let alone mustering up the energy to Force-choke some punk girl who wants you to shove a bullet up her ass.'

Padme cackled with laughter.

'I spend all day using the Force to choke droids! I don't want to spend my evenings doing the same!' said Anakin, 'Plus, don't they realise that bullets don't grow on trees? We don't have a limitless supply that we can just shove up girls assholes willy-nilly!'

Padme was crying with laughter now.

'And then any girl who isn't a hardcore thrill-seeker is hardly likely to take me up on my offer of 'Hey, want to come and quietly service me while my boss sleeps 10 feet away with only a thin tarpaulin sheet between us? If you're good, you can get your own bed on the sandy floor! And don't worry; there's only a 45% chance of midnight air strikes.''

Padme was bent double with laughter. He continued.

'Unsurprisingly Pad, they tend not to follow me up on that tempting offer.'

She wiped tears away.

'So what Ani? You just resign yourself to celibacy while on the front line?' She looked incredulous. 'Don't you need a.. um.. r- release?'

She tried not to cringe at her clunky wording. He knew what she meant.

Plus, he seemed to find it pretty hilarious.

'Well, I guess there's always the other option.' He looked down at his hands, afraid to meet the probing gaze of her deep brown eyes.

'The other option?' she was confused. 'You mean… doing it yourself?'

He laughed, nudging her gently with his shoulder. 'No silly! That's a given. Even when we only have one communal shower block for all 300 men…'

Padme's eyes creased with laughter. War truly was inhumane.

'No, I mean prostitutes.' His bright blue eyes melted with hers as he looked at her with sincerity.

'Oh right.' It was her turn to look at her hands. He knew how she felt about the scores of women forced into sex work all over The Galaxy. Tormented for years at the hands of oppressive regimes, selling the last bit of dignity they had left. How hard she had fought to implement any legislature that could help them. And how it was constantly the first doctrines to be revoked by any new, tyrannous government.

'I know Pad. It's not right. But you wanted to know.'

He was right. She had ushered them down this ridiculous conversation. Should have just stuck to the weather.

'So is that it then Ani? You manage to beat your frustrations in the arms of prostitutes?' She tried hard not to picture that image.

He ran his hand through the back of his hair again, laughing nervously. She realised she was holding her breath for his answer.

'I have Pad. I won't lie to you.' She felt a weird stab in her chest. Must be the gin. 'But as a former slave, I just can't do it. I can't relax knowing full well that these women don't have free will.'

She melted, stroking his arm.

'I know Pad. I really am just such a good person.' He laughed as she smacked him on the head playfully as he continued.

'It's more that honestly, it's more trouble than it's worth to have sex with someone and not… you know… get that relief' he laughed awkwardly.

'Wait, so you can sleep with prostitutes, but you don't get off?'

'Exactly.' His embarrassed little smirk and deep blue eyes melted her heart. 'Plus, it's just a bit humiliating! The next morning, all the guys talking about how great they feel, how amazing their night was, and me just sat there painfully aware I had to leave the brothel still fully erect and get myself off in the communal bathroom? How is that fun Pad? You tell me?'

'That to me sounds more trouble than it's worth Ani' she said through giggles. 'So what? You just don't go?'

'Worse' he smiled up at her. 'I am the designated driver! I drop them all off to get fucked and sit in the ship like a chaperone!'

Padme cackled. 'What! They must think you're asexual or something!'

'I think they genuinely think me and Obi Wan are a couple!' he laughed. 'which again backfires on me, because Obi Wan gets plenty of action from the afore-mentioned bar girls. So I'm still the only man in the camp who hasn't seem a woman's breast in a year.'

'Aww little Ani.' She stroked her hands through his hair, suddenly becoming aware of the dangerous line between infantilising and flirting that her gesture crossed. She gulped, deciding to power on and ignore the burn of his icy blue eyes.

'Maybe The Princess would have been a best-case scenario tonight?'

'Don't say that Pad' he laughed. 'The day I resort to The Princess, you have permission to smack me across the face with those stupid fans you carry.'

'How dare you insult my ornate fan collection!' she was gobsmacked! 'Those were a present from Queen Jamillia!'

'Of course they were Senator' he looked at his hands, laughing. 'You really are a woman of the people aren't you.'

'Oh what and you are Mr 4-personnalised-starfighters? All paid for by the taxpayer?'

'They are a battle necessity Pad!' he shook his head laughing.

'Anyway Ani- back to what's important. Getting you some action.' She hoped he wasn't finding this awkward. Because she totally wasn't! Not at all!

(Keep telling yourself that, love)

She gulped, deciding to power on despite his slight squirms. 'So it's definitely a no for The Princess?'

'Padme! Do you really have to ask that!' Anakin's mouth widened in shock.

'Why? She's good looking!' Padme was genuinely curios.

'I spent three hours in a cockpit with her and she topped up her lip-gloss 12 times. 12!'

Padme giggled. 'Why's that a bad thing Ani? She just wanted to look good for you?' She gulped. 'Can you blame her?'

The corner of his mouth curled into a smile. 'Stop that you.'

'So it's really a no? Anakin Skywalker will give a prostitute a try, but he draws a line at spoiled and irritating.'

'Padme!' he feigned shock. 'Are you shaming the hard working women of the sex industry?'

'Not at all! I'm just trying to figure out why you spent the last half hour telling me your difficulties pulling girls, then reject the hot, if slightly annoying, blonde who's literally bending over backwards for some no-strings-attached sex? And she's very bendy…'

He chuckled again, massaging the back of his neck.

'I don't know Pad, what can I say?' he smiled crookedly at her, feeling a bit self-conscious. 'I guess I am just not into her whole vibe. Like why is she so into me and she doesn't even know me? What's that about? It's weird!'

'Ani because you're gorgeous!' Padme blushed deeply at her outburst. God! She had had far too many gins!

Anakin however seemed to be loving it. 'Well tell that to someone I actually find attractive then Pad!'

'Well what's your type then Ani? Who should I set you up with?

Was that a blush creeping across his face?

He fiddled with his gloved hand, not meeting her eye.

Finally he spoke.

'I guess I like that dark haired look' he trailed his finger over his knee, smiling, 'petite… smart…'

Padme's mouth fell open in mock-shock. 'So… me?'

Anakin looked up, his deep blue eyes meeting her piercing gaze.

'Well let's just say Pad, I'm not looking at The Princess when you're in the room, I'll leave it at that.'

Padme could feel herself going red. Her stomach felt tight.

Suddenly, an idea crossed Padme's mind.

An idea so great, so terrible, that she shivered. Before she could stop herself, her mouth had formed his name.

'Ani' she paused. Surely this was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

'What Pad?' his lips parted slightly. She suddenly realised how close together they were seated.

No. She couldn't. This was a ridiculous idea. It must be the gin getting to her head. There was no way they could…

But then again…

Was this the really so bad? Or was she just being a worry-wart as usual? They had a modern friendship after all. And she could feel the buzz from the gin spurring her on.

Why not.

'Well, I was just thinking…' she fiddled with her sleeve. Stop being so awkward woman! This was sexual liberation 101. Think confidence! Energy!

She cleared her throat, sitting up straight. 'I was thinking, you know, if meaningless sex is going to help you relax in battle, and you relaxing in battle is going to help end the war…'

His mouth went dry.

'What I'm saying is you need a service.' She looked up at him. 'Maybe I could provide it?'

Anakin was shocked. He could feel his jaw fall open like a cartoon rabbit. She couldn't be serious!

'Are you serious Padme?' he almost whispered, not wanting to break the spell by speaking out loud.

She sat up. 'Why the hell not Ani!' she seemed elated. He hoped this wasn't all some huge joke. 'After all, we are friends- aren't we?'

It was all he could do to muster a nod.

'Friends help each other out! You have a problem? I have a solution!'

She smiled her beautiful smile at him as he floundered for words.

'I guess what I'm saying Ani is that this could be a mutually beneficial arrangement.' She trailed her fingers lightly over his forearm as she spoke. 'You get a bit of time off from your cycle of sexual frustration. As do I. We know one another, we are attracted to each other…'

He shivered.

'…it seems like it could be a wise solution.'

She looked at him and smiled. He just sat there, dumbfounded.

'Plus, it would be great to shove it in The Princess's powdered face for making a three hour job out of 100 teeny questions.' She giggled, the musical sound somehow sending shivers down to his groin.

'I-um-well…'

'Look Ani, tonight isn't the night anyway. We've been drinking, it's pretty much morning' she looked around. Even the gamblers seemed to be dropping off to sleep. Clearly not a game of life of death.

'Why don't you sleep on it. Think it over. And if you want to, let me know.' She leaned over and kissed his cheek. 'The offer's open.'

Before he had a chance to pull himself together, she had sidled out of the room.

Anakin's head whipped around, unsure if he had just experienced his first hallucination or the best moment of his life. Or the best so far…

EEK! What's Anakin going to do? You're going to have to read next time to find out!

Writing chapters like these where these two sit around talking and being blindingly obvious about their love for each other is my absolute favourite thing to do. I could go for hours just writing these silly directionless conversations. If you like them too, let me know with a review! Or if you hate them and think I need to do more battle scenes, let me know with a review!

Basically, please review (I'm not needy I promise)

xxx