Distraction: Chapter Seventeen

I had my head buried in the engine compartment and it wasn't looking very promising. "What?" I'd heard Padme's voice but couldn't understand her. Suddenly, her face appeared above me.

"Are you lying down on the floor?" I asked her, though it didn't surprise me. This woman was an intriguing mixture of intelligence, playfulness, bravery, and curiosity.

She smiled at me until noticing how much damage had been done. I'd extinguished the electrical fires, but was concerned what was left wasn't salvageable. I didn't want to deliver bad news, but I really didn't have a choice this time.

"Is it bad? It looks bad," she said to me as I spliced a wire and pulled it over to connect it to another. The wires wouldn't reach and I was forced to add another splice in between. "I'm not certain I'll be able to fix this. We don't have all the parts I need."

"Looks like the generator is busted and needs to be replaced and the ignition coil is melted. You might as well leave it. There's nothing you can do. "

I looked up at her and chuckled. "Is there anything you don't know?"

"Yes," she answered, sobering immediately. "I don't understand how Anakin found us so quickly."

I had been wondering the same thing. "Master Sidious always plans for every possible contingency. My guess is he had at least one back-up clone at the palace. Possibly more than one."

"That's disturbing and it means there may be another Obi-Wan out there as well."

"No doubt," I answered right before I burned my finger on a coupler. "Damn, that's hot," I uttered.

"This is useless. Get up here and let me take care of that burn. We both need to clean up anyway. I found some unisuits in a closet we could wear. My gown has seen better days for sure."

She was correct. The damage to this engine was beyond my help even if I knew what I was doing. "All right. Coming up," I warned before jumping through the hatch and into the engine room.

Padme had already disappeared and was making her way back with the First Aid kit. "Let me see that."

"It's no big deal," I pointed out as she inspected the blister already forming on my index finger.

Ignoring my plea, she applied a generous amount of Bacta gel. "You won't be saying that if it gets infected and we have to amputate it."

I had a feeling she was enjoying this more than she should. Padme was a true nurturer and empathetic to a fault. I was enjoying it as well - in a completely selfish way and was disappointed her touch was gone so quickly.

"There," she announced, smiling and obviously pleased with her work. "Let's clean up. I'm starving. There's got be something to eat around here."

I took inventory of the injury. She'd wrapped it so thoroughly, I couldn't bend the joint, but I wasn't about to complain. It was nice to be taken care of.

I had already used the sonics located in my sleeping cabin and decided to reconfigure our navigation while I waited on Padme. What would've taken us nearly a day would now take closer to a week's travel without hyperspeed. I didn't like it. Not that I wasn't looking forward to getting to know Padme better, but without the ability to jump to hyperspace, we were a crawling target. If another Anakin or even an Obi-Wan couldn't catch up to us, pirates or smugglers would.

I noticed her delicate footfalls approaching before she'd entered the cockpit. What did surprise me was how she leaned over my shoulder to take a look at the nav computer. She smelled of fresh air and flowers.

"We ought to steer clear of the trade routes and come in on the opposite side," she advised, pointing to the screen to indicate her proposed path.

Great minds think alike. I smiled and traced my own route with my finger. "Exactly as I was thinking. If we cut through Wild Space and avoid the trade routes, we should avoid any traffic as well."

"And potential predators," Padme agreed. "It will take longer."

I was well aware of that. At least a couple of days were just added to our already-long trip to Dagobah. "Yes, but it's the safer route." At that moment, my stomach growled and I turned to glance up at her. She was very close to me and I didn't mind that one bit. "Was that yours or mine?" I teased.

"Could've been either! Let's go rummage up something edible."

"I'll join you in a minute. Let me re-enter our route and destination first."

She grinned at me before leaving, although I wonder if she'd be happy if she knew was I was thinking as I watched her walk away. Even in plain clothing, she did things to me no other woman ever had. Not only did I want to sleep with her, but I also wanted to spend all my time with her. I wanted to know her every thought and motivation; what made her happy, what made her sad, her favorite food and drink. I wanted to know about her family and her history, and yes, the history of her and Obi-Wan. I wanted to know it all, but mostly I wanted to know what she looked like under that unisuit.

I shook my head to clear my mind of her and focus on the nav computer instead. Our new route would get us to Dagobah in eight days; that is unless we encountered more trouble along the way.

By the time I'd joined Padme, she had spread out a feast on the galley table. There was an assortment of dried fruits and cheese, dehydrated meats, and crackers. Whoever owned this vessel apparently was used to taking long voyages. We had plenty of sustenance, which was one less thing to worry about.

"Here, try this," she suggested, holding up a piece of blue milk cheese and what looked like dried muja fruit.

Instead of taking the offering out of her hand, I opened my mouth. She laughed softly and placed the morsel onto my tongue. Before she had the chance to withdraw her fingers, however, I closed my mouth to suck every crumb and moisture from her hand. I had done so deliberately and kept eye contact with her the entire time. Her breath caught in her chest as she slowly withdrew the digits. For an instant, her dark eyes had turned sultry, but then something triggered her mind and brought her back to reality.

My bold move had awakened something in both of us, although with one statement she proved her self-control was better than mine.

"We need to talk."