Hey team! Hope you are having wonderful weeks!

Thanks to all my lovely reviewers and good news- Modern Friendship is continuing!

I have decided to tentatively continue down one of the many mental avenues I have carved up for this story. So good news- there will be at least a few more chapters!

Without further ado, I present chapter 6! I hope you enjoy!

Anakin's speeder pulled into the hanger, glinting in the morning sun like a sleek metal arrow. In one fluid movement, he disembarked from the pilot seat, the door sliding aside just as he jumped, flipped and landed effortlessly on the hot tarmac.

'Show off.'

He shot a grin back at his padawan, who was still struggling with her seatbelt in the co-pilot seat. For some reason, she didn't share his elation at the news that they were to return to Coruscant, leaving the frontline for a two-week administrative debrief, at the personal request of Chancellor Palpatine himself.

In fact, he would go as far as to say the news irked Ahsoka. Plus, her spiral of irritation had certainly not been helped by a long flight back with him in his two-man speeder.

Well he wasn't going to let her moaning affect his good mood. Especially now he was back in Coruscant. Which could only mean one thing…

'Lighten up Snips' he smiled a wry smile, raising an eyebrow as she fumbled with his speeder door. 'Nothing wrong with demonstrating my physical prowess to the people of Coruscant. Get the word out on the street that I'm back.'

She glared, still tugging haplessly at the door. 'Are you sure this isn't just the first time you've returned to Coruscant in a speeder rather than accompanied by a medical droid? Some of us are used to surviving the battlefront unscathed Master. And God!' she gave up fumbling with the handle, 'do you have some sort of lock on this thing?!'

She flounced back against the seat with such force that the entire speeder trembled.

Anakin chuckled, walking over to the door, and with a single gloved finger, flicking a switch so that the door glided aside.

'Sorry Snips. I should have warned you about the child lock.'

The corner of his mouth was curled in a smirk, laughing as she huffed past him.

'Where are you going Snips?' he called after her.

'Um, it might surprise you Master that now we aren't obliged to spend every waking hour together, I'm not going to.'

He smiled. In hindsight, the hours of reckless piloting Ahsoka had endured might have a bit much…

'Well make the most of it Snips, because you know the minute we have completed Palpatine's extensive debrief interviews, we'll be straight back out there.' He grinned. 'Straight back in that cosy little cockpit, letting me take you on the ride of your life…'

'Ew Master that's disgusting! As if my stomach isn't in a delicate enough position after that journey!' she scowled. 'You know you don't have to go straight for the nose-dive the moment there's a meteor in our periphery, right? There are other ways to avoid being hit? Like, I don't know, simply flying over it?'

'But where's the fun in that Snips?' he smirked, striding off towards the Senate building that was glistening over the ship hangar like a grand fortress.

'Off to start your debrief already Master?' Ahsoka called after him.

Anakin simply shot her a smile over his shoulder, striding forward.

.

His stomach was doing somersaults as he marched into the Senate chambers. His nervous energy propelled him forward, smiling to himself as he refused to dwell on the apprehension that grew with every step. This wasn't something to fear. Quite the opposite.

He had two weeks in the capital. Two long, sweet weeks. Two weeks when, by law, he was obliged to stay put, to document his every move, past present and future, lest the strategy of the Republic be doomed to repeat their mistakes and forgo a valuable learning opportunity. And he knew exactly how he wanted to spend them.

He already knew she was here. He had checked. Twice. He had whapped out the Senatorial participant list the moment Obi Wan had informed him that yes, he did have to return to Coruscant, and no, it wasn't negotiable. His commlink confirmed all his hopes. 'Senatorial Meeting No. 11541. Location: Coruscant.' He scanned the list for her name and… yes! There it was. 'Motion Proposed by: Senator Amidala (present).'

Truth be told, Anakin had thought of little else but the Senator since their little tryst three weeks ago. He mentally replayed it nightly, his thoughts consumed by memories of his hands stroking her beautiful body as he thrust into her. Strategy meetings were more pointless than ever now. Before, his mind had wandered as soon as Obi Wan opened his mouth, ruminating on the force-tricks he could use to stun the enemy. But now? He could barely muster up one drop of attention for his former Master, too consumed were his thoughts with remembering the feeling of her lips around his cock.

He still couldn't really believe it had actually happened. That after years of a hopeless crush that developed into lustful longing, he had actually slept with her. In real life! And she had wanted it! It had been her suggestion! And better than that, she had loved it as much as he had.

He remembered the morning after, him groggily brushing his hair out of his face as he rolled over on his bed. Only to realise it was her hair, splayed over his pillow as she curled into his side.

'Not yet Ani' she had whispered, a smile ghosting her lips as she pulled him back down, wrapping her leg around his as she molded their bodies together, burying her face in the crock of his neck. 'Let's just stay here a little bit longer…'

He had kissed her, marveling as her body melted into his, longing evident in her reaction. It had been more difficult to have sex in the morning. The sun streaming through the tarpaulin had been one thing; the loud sound of clones having full conversations just minutes away from them was quite another.

It hadn't stopped them though. Anakin could feel himself trembling at the memory of Padme's silent gasps, her mouth falling open in a wordless cry as he had slowly fucked her, nibbling on her neck as they melted into each other…

God. He needed to control himself. He hadn't even seen her yet! Save it until you're at least inside the building Ani.

'Good morning Master Skywalker! What a pleasant surprise, I hadn't realised you were returning from the Outer Rim!' Padme's secretary Dzora beamed at Anakin as he strode into the Senate chambers.

He shot her a dazzling smile back, noticing a blush erupt on her cheeks.

'You know I couldn't stay away from you too long Dzora.'

He noticed her gaze trail over his muscular physique in a way that could only be described as hungrily. He didn't want to get too big-headed, but he never looked better than fresh from the rigorous workout of the battlefront. That was on the rare occasion where he hadn't, say, had a limb cut off.

'Oh Master, stop that!' She was a bright fuscia now.

He chuckled as she tried to slyly fan herself to get rid of the blush. 'So Dzora, is Senator Amidala in today?' he said, 'I wanted to, um, surprise her.'

The knot in his stomach tensed a bit at the prospect of seeing Padme again, but Dzora's flirtatious giggle was like a balm to his confidence.

'Oh Master Skywalker, she will be thrilled! I mean, who wouldn't' she giggled, spluttering slightly, flushing further with embarrassment as she tried to brush over it. 'Do you want to go in and wait in her office?'

He gulped. Did he?

Fuck it.

'Why not Dzora?' he shot her a smirk, watching her pupils dilate. 'I'll treat her to a bit of excitement.'

He glanced back at her smirking. 'Don't tell her though, will you Dzora? I don't want to ruin the surprise.'

'Of course not Master! Ooh she's going to be absolutely thrilled…'

Dzora's giggles echoed in his ears as he strode into the room with as much confidence as he could muster. He hoped Dzora wouldn't think too much of him waiting in Padme's office. But then again, he knew that all of Padme's staff had had their suspicions about their friendship for years. And nothing had even been going on between them then! Unlike now…

He looked about her office, standing awkwardly as he looked around at the plushly carpeted chamber. What now? It felt much more intrusive now the door was closed. He leant uncomfortably against her desk, facing the door like the conductor of an imaginary audience. No. This was far too odd. She would draw back the doors to him standing there like a gatekeeper welcoming her to his home? No.

The chair? He walked over to her desk, sitting in the chair as if addressing a crowd. Again he felt like an idiot. Maybe he needed to be more casual. He leant back, slinging his legs up onto the table and crossing his feet as he reclined.

No! How much more arrogant did he want to look? All he needed was a cigar dangling between his lips, or failing that, a toothpick, and his sleazy businessman role-play would be complete.

This was useless. He breathed out, trying to quell the nerves that had built to such a point now that he couldn't mask them with blind self-confidence.

He finally settled on one of the chairs on the side of the room. Legs down, hands clasped, trying not to fiddle with the buckles of his glove too much as he gazed at the door. His leg was bouncing up and down manically. God! He needed to control himself. It was all fine! At least he wasn't seated at her desk anymore like he was prying at her private documents.

He could feel each second passing at an agonizing pace, the tick of the second-hand lashing down on him like a whip.

He startled suddenly, hearing a woman's laugh reverberating outside the doors. And then they opened.

'Bail you can't be serious! Surely you back your chances against Nute Gunray? The man can barely spit out a coherent sentence without being consumed by anger!'

Padme's musical voice sent shivers down Anakin's spine as he stood up, unsure of what to do with himself as she entered the office.

'Well Senator what he lacks in language skills he more than makes up for in-' Bail Organa was cut off mid-sentence, noticing Anakin loitering in the corner.

'Anakin! What a pleasant surprise!'

He strode across the room, pulling Anakin into an energetic handshake. 'I hadn't realised you were back from the Outer Rim yet!'

Anakin laughed nervously, feeling himself gulp.

'Ye-yeh Senator, I'm back!' he smiled. 'Couldn't leave you lot too long without me, now could I?'

Bail laughed politely at his comment as he tried to catch Padme's eye. But rather than the flirty laugh he was expecting, she looked down, suddenly fascinated by something in the pattern of the carpet.

'Well Senator I'd best be off' said Bail, catching Padme's eye with a smile. 'We will have to finalise our best debater in the Republic list next time.'

Anakin's eyes narrowed as Bail winked, causing Padme to giggle.

'We hadn't even included you yet Bail- or more importantly, me!' she smiled. 'I'll definitely see you next week then!'

She turned away, walking away from Anakin towards a stack of papers on her desk.

His gaze trailed over her as she still refused to meet his eyes.

He took a step forward.

Her head shot up, a dazzling smile painted across her beautiful features.

'It's wonderful to see you Anakin', she said, shooting him with her best Senator face as she continued. 'So how long will you be in Coruscant for? Palpatine will be overjoyed that his mid-war debrief idea actually has been taken seriously.'

She began ruffling through the stack of papers as Anakin walked over to her.

'Well I wanted to come back as soon as I could Pad' he smiled at her, running his hand down her arm and resting his hand on her waist. His voice dropped as he spoke huskily. 'I hated being away from you this long.'

He could feel her tremble slightly under his touch, but her hands stayed grasping the papers, her gaze downturned, refusing to meet his piercing blue eyes.

'Ani, stop.' She shrugged out of his hold, his hand falling down limply to his side.

'What's wrong Pad? Is something up?' he took another step towards her, gently stroking her cheek with his flesh hand and titling her gaze upwards to meet his.

Her eyes were burning. 'Ani please… this can't happen.'

She placed her hand over his, gently removing his hold on her and stepping back.

He looked at her, confused. His heart was hammering through his chest.

'What's wrong Padme.'

'Nothing!' she stepped back, walking away from him behind her desk and laughing shakily. 'Look it's lovely to see you Ani, but I really should get on with-'

'What are you doing Pad?' he cut her off, his gaze probing through her polite act, 'Do you not want me to be here or something?'

She looked down, still refusing to meet his stare.

'Well? Are you just going to ignore me and hope I go away?' he was exasperated now.

She looked up, unimpressed and unsmiling. 'Well if you're going to be so immature Ani then I am in half a mind to ask you to leave.'

'Immature?!' he actually laughed. 'Excuse me if I have done something to offend you Senator, please do accept my condolence for my sheer unprofessional behavior.'

'I don't need the sarcasm Ani' she shot back, raising an eyebrow, and taking a breath before continuing. 'Nor do I need you coming into my office in the middle of the day for… non-work matters.'

He laughed in amazement.

'You can't be serious!' his mouth fell open in shock. 'My mistake for not booking a calendar meeting 3 business days in advance! Do forgive me for travelling for hours and having the audacity to be excited to see you- it won't happen again.'

'Well good.' Her deep brown eyes were cold and she shot him a piercing look.

His gaze was as cold as hers now.

She breathed out, composing herself before she spoke. 'Look Ani', she said, trying to stop her voice wavering, 'I am pleased to see you- truly I am. But you can't just come by my office without warning, waiting here as if we have arranged something. Especially when we haven't. I can't have my colleagues thinking something is going on here, it's not-'

'Not what?' he hissed, 'not true? I don't seem to remember you having such a problem with me when you were crying out my name last time I saw you!'

'That's enough!' the famously calm Padme raised her voice, causing Anakin to startle slightly. 'Ani- Anakin. I won't have you come into my office and speak to me like that.'

He was silent.

She looked down, smoothing out her dress under her hands as she continued, lowering her voice to a whisper. 'What happened between us was- was a …'

'What?' Anakin butted in. 'A mistake?'

Her head shot up, her brown eyes burning. 'It was what it was Ani. It's certainly not something I need to be brought up in my office, in front of my colleagues. My personal life is just that- personal. I won't have you thinking you can make demands of me like that, particularly in my place of work.'

She was disgustingly calm, professionalism dripping from every syllable. He hated it.

'Now if you would like to catch up over a coffee this week, I have a few free slots' she continued.

'What, like one of your fans?' he jeered, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment. 'I wouldn't wait up for that call Senator.'

'Well in that case Ani I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to please leave.' She pointed to the door. 'I have a very busy afternoon and haven't the time to-'

'Gladly Senator.'

Before she had the chance to finish, he had stormed out. She looked down, trying to ignore her shaking hands.

EEK! Poor Anakin! I wonder what will happen next?

Shoutout to one of my favourite OCs, Dzora from my other story, A Second Heart (shameless plug, I know.)

Looks like the happily ever after won't be quite as simple…

Please drop me a review if you liked it/hated it/didn't feel strongly either way!