The elevator ride up to the senator's apartment couldn't be over sooner, in Padmé's opinion, yet if it never ended she would have been thrilled. She looked out the window, trying to ignore the impossibly bright presence at the top of the building as they got closer and closer to the top floor of the building.
"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan pulled her attention away from the window she was gazing out of, and onto the ride up. The truth was, she wasn't sure. The elevator ride up to the senator's apartment felt impossibly long as it came nearer to the top floor of the building. "You're not normally this nervous, my Padawan."
Padmé laughed and gave a smile, hoping to seem more at ease. "I'm not your Padawan anymore." She had recently completed her trials, which probably helped explain her nerves. It was the first mission the council had deemed to give her since she'd been knighted, a matter of pride to her and Obi-Wan, and it was expected for her to be a little nervous. Though the nature of the mission, and who they were protecting, were more the cause than her new promotion.
An assassination attempt had been made on the Senator of Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker, and so she and Obi-Wan, by request of both the Chancellor and the council, had been assigned guard duty to the young man. To make sure no other attempts were made on his life. It was a compromise, she was sure, but Anakin knew them best after all. It was only natural they'd be sent to help.
Obi-Wan smiled at her. "So I keep forgetting." It was clear he hadn't, he'd been there when she was knighted after all. "But I'm sure it doesn't make things less nerve-wracking, I remember my first mission after being knighted wasn't much easier."
She couldn't imagine it would have been, he'd had a Padawan following him for the entire mission after all. "It was probably harder, you had to watch out for me too."
"So I did, though I'm sure that's probably not all that's plaguing you." Obi-Wan indicated her to express her worries. "So what else is wrong?"
"Not wrong, not necessarily." At this, Padmé couldn't help but keep the smile off her face. "I'm worried about Senator Skywalker, of course, but I'm also excited to get the chance to see him. It's been too long since we've seen him." Five years had passed since their last trip to Tatooine, and Padmé still remembered the young fourteen year old.
"That it has. Hopefully Anakin's been taking care of himself." They knew he had to have been, to some degree. He was a senator right now, and one didn't become a senator overnight with no hard work involved.
"I'm sure." She smiled. The elevator opened up, and Padmé and Obi-Wan walked into the apartment, watching the senator's advisors and Anakin himself discussing what they would need to do for the next meeting of the Senate.
It wasn't long before they were noticed. "Padmé, Obi-Wan." Before Anakin could even greet them, Shmi had come over, giving both Padmé and her Master a hug. "It's good to see you."
"Good to see you as well, Shmi." Obi-Wan bowed to the woman after being released from the quick hug. Padmé hugged the woman back, happy to see her again as well. She was a compassionate woman, and Padmé couldn't deny a bit of excitement at seeing her alongside her son. "How has retirement from the Senate been serving you."
"I'm glad I'm not in it right now. The stress Ani has to deal with to stop this bill…" Shmi gave them a tired smile. Admittedly, Padmé hadn't been able to follow Coruscant's politics with her preparation for the trials, so for once she had little idea what Shmi was talking about. "You'll protect him, right?"
"We'll do our best." Padmé gave the woman a smile. That was what they were here for.
"Mom, what are you–" From the kitchen, Anakin's voice stopped as he looked at the two Jedi, a smile forming on his face. Padmé couldn't stop one from forming on hers as well.
In the five years since they had last seen each other, Anakin had grown up from the gangly young teen into an adult. His blond hair had grown longer, but darker, likely due to him having spent less time under the twin suns on Tatooine. He'd also grown considerably more attractive, and Padmé felt her face warm up several degrees. She tried not to think about it. "Ani?"
"Hello Knight Naberrie," so he knew she was no longer a Padawan, "Obi-Wan. It's nice to see you both. I'm surprised you two didn't try to stop by sooner."
"We've been off world on missions, with the Separatist unrest stirring, it's been difficult to find a moment of rest for any Jedi." Obi-Wan gave an exhausted smile to Anakin. "Not to mention, Padmé had to study for her trials."
"I heard." Anakin smirked. "I've been keeping an ear in the Jedi Temple's business to see what I could hear about you two." That surprised Padmé, at least a little bit. She knew they had parted as friends, but she hadn't expected he'd be able to keep tabs on them. "Congrats, Padmé. I knew you'd be able to do it. I'm sure you'll make a fine Jedi."
"Thank you, Anakin." She was flattered for sure. "I only with you could share this moment with me. I know how much you wanted to be a Jedi too." The little slave boy from Tatooine who'd been so eager to learn how to use a lightsaber when she'd shown him hers as an initiate was a far cry from the man sitting in front of her now.
"It's the past." He waved her off, though she detected a small wave of irritation in the Force at the reminder. "Besides, I can do just as much good for the world without one. That's why I'm a Senator now." He indicated for the two of them to follow him to another room. "Mom, can you discuss the plan for dealing with the Military Creation Act? I need to discuss security with Padmé and Obi-Wan."
"Of course." Shmi nodded, her voice turning slightly more serious. The reminder of why they had reunited was a slight damper on the mood. It should have been under much better circumstances. All of them agreed on that. "I'll keep everybody occupied." She returned to the Tatooine senatorial delegation as Anakin entered into the kitchen, grabbing a seat with the Force for Padmé and Obi-Wan to sit down on.
"Somebody's still been practicing." Obi-Wan noted, watching as Anakin looked away.
"I didn't want the training you both gave me to go to waste. I try not to use it around others. You both warned me to keep it a secret for a reason, after all." Anakin's position likely meant the Force wasn't useful for much, but Padmé didn't blame him for keeping up with it. She likely would've done the same in his position. "Which means I think we can rule out the whole extremely powerful Force sensitive thing as the reason I'm being targeted, though I'm pretty sure it's the only reason I've survived so far."
"I agree." Obi-Wan nodded. "Not that we're here to help you solve the mystery of whoever's trying to kill you. We're merely here to serve as your protection."
Anakin frowned. "What do you mean you're not here to help me figure it out. That's the most important thing. Bail and I both agreed I need to be there to help deal with the Military Creation Act. I can't do that if I'm being hunted down by assassins."
"It's not our mandate." Padmé explained, almost feeling bad for Anakin as she felt a wave of irritation come from him in the Force. "The Jedi Council didn't assign us to solve the mystery of the attempts, just to guard you from them until they stop."
"And? That doesn't help any of us." Anakin wasn't wrong with that sentiment. "If you're here, you can't help deal with the Separatists and try to pacify them like the Jedi are supposed to do, and so long as I'm under threat I'm not supposed to be making anymore public appearances."
"Anakin–"
"No Obi-Wan, I'm not going to pretend that you should 'just' be protecting me." Anakin crossed his arms in irritation, clearly unhappy with Obi-Wan's attempt at an argument. "A part of protecting me is stopping who's doing this. My bodyguards and Force sensitivity would've been enough if that wasn't the case."
Neither Jedi knew what to say to argue against that, because technically, Anakin wasn't wrong. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. "We understand Anakin, we'll do our best, we just can't go out of the way to find them." Padmé smiled, trying to placate the senator. It seemed to work, as the moment she gave the explanation, he seemed to calm down just a bit. "But if we learn anything while serving as part of your security, we'll make sure to look into it."
Anakin smiled. "Right, I knew I could count on you guys. So, shall we discuss plans for my protection? I have an idea."
"An idea? I'm not sure I want to know given how infamous some of your ideas are." Despite having not run into him in their visits to the Senate, both Padmé and Obi-Wan knew of just some of the insanity Anakin was known to get into. The borderline fights with other Senators just to prove that he was right and that they should follow his ideas and policies. Still, Obi-Wan indicated for Anakin to continue. "But I'm willing to hear them out."
"Use me as bait."
"Use you as what?" Padmé stared at Anakin as though she couldn't believe what the Senator was saying.
"It's the best way to lure out my assassin. If he thinks my defenses have minimally increased, then he'll attack again. The Force can give me warnings, but if not then you two can sense what's going on too and keep me safe." Anakin leaned back in his chair. Padmé had to admit, the idea had merit. If they lured them out, at minimum they could kill whoever was targeting him, or perhaps even learn why. Either way, it was an idea that held promise.
"Absolutely not." Obi-Wan crossed his arms, denying the idea before Padmé could voice her opinion on it. "Anakin you can't play with your life like that. You're far too important." He didn't object, merely listened and looked to Padmé, waiting for her answer.
"Obi-Wan is right." In spite of the fact that she wanted to solve the mystery for Anakin, she knew her Master was right. "Your life is the first priority here Senator. We can't leave your life to chance."
Anakin sighed, relenting far too quickly on the matter. "Right then, if you're both decided, Padmé, would you mind coming with me. I'd like to discuss some extra security details with you. Alone." Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain. So Anakin did. "I want her watching the security feeds."
"Anakin are you sure?" She saw why Obi-Wan was unsure, she was unsure herself why the Senator felt more comfortable with her watching him sleep over Obi-Wan.
"I trust Knight Naberrie with the task. She'll be faster to alert the team, she's not as old as you." There was a teasing note to Anakin's voice, and Padmé started to laugh as she watched her master start sputtering, clearly taken off guard.
"I'm not that old."
"Aren't you pushing thirty-five, Master?" Padmé smiled, joining Anakin on his teasing. "That's old in my books."
"Yours aren't the only ones that matter, my Padawan." Obi-Wan sighed. "I can see when I'm not wanted. I'll discuss with the rest of your team about where they think I might be of most use."
"Thank you, Obi-Wan." Anakin watched the Jedi Knight walk out of the room. "Padmé, if you'll follow me." He led the way, leading her into a room with dozens of monitors and a single blue Astromech droid, plugged into the main console to watch the feed.
"Artoo?" Padmé looked at the droid in surprise. "Artoo's on your security team?" She remembered the eccentric droid. He'd stayed behind back when Padmé and Obi-Wan had returned to Tatooine to inform Anakin that they wouldn't be training him, but she still couldn't imagine him doing so much for him.
"I trust Artoo to keep an eye on any intruders, he's pretty good at keeping an eye on everything." He put his hand on the Astromech's dome with a smile, and the droid let out a series of beeps in return. But if R2D2 was going to be keeping an eye on everything, then…
"Anakin, why did you want me here if you have Artoo covering security?" She wasn't necessary for the job. The droid would be able to activate the system instantly so long as he was watching.
"Because, I know you don't agree with Obi-Wan's or the council's mandate just to stay here and guard me." Anakin looked to her, waiting for her to deny what he said. When she didn't, he continued. "You want to get down to the bottom of this just as much as I do."
"Of course I do, but Ani, I can't just go around the command I'm supposed to follow by putting you in more danger." He was right, she wanted to investigate and put an end to the threat, but not by putting him at risk.
Anakin laughed. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm not the little kid from Tatooine anymore. Artoo here will alert you the moment something goes wrong, and between the three of us we should have enough Force powers to recognize when something's going to go wrong."
It took Padmé a lot of effort to respond. "What if we don't?"
"If I die, then we can use it as proof that people are targeting senators opposing the Military Creation Act. Maybe then the Senate will listen to people saying it's a bad idea." Was that the bill Anakin was working so hard against?
"Anakin, your life isn't something you can just throw away like that." She needed him to see reason.
"This bill is wrong. If it takes my life to stop it, then it's a life I'm willing to give. I'm willing to die to stop something I don't believe in."
"You're that against creating a military?" That was...unlike Anakin, to say the least. He wasn't afraid of conflict, at least with what she'd seen. He was the one who freed all the slaves on Tatooine when he was still so young. She wasn't for the creation of one, of course, but it surprised her to hear that he wasn't either.
"Don't get me wrong, a lot of times a fight is the easiest way to handle things, but it's not that simple, not this time." Anakin pulled his data pad, letting Padmé scroll through the files to see the data the Senators had gathered. "A war would take the attention off of what needs fixing in the galaxy, take funds from where they're needed, and most importantly, it won't cause the Separatists to fold back into the Republic. Not fast enough to make it worth forcing thousands of sentients to fight in a war they don't believe in."
Padmé smiled, it made all too much sense that the boy from Tatooine would be against an army formed by a draft. The way he'd thought out his position to come to the conclusion that violence wasn't the answer was a far cry from the boy he had been as well. "You really have grown up, haven't you?"
She noticed Anakin's cheeks turn red, as though he was embarrassed by her comment. "I have. I wanted to become somebody you'd be proud of. Y-you and my mom, of course."
Padmé smiled, and she noticed Anakin's face had turned redder. If she didn't know any better, she'd assume it was the same puppy crush he'd had on her all those years ago. She decided better than to dwell on that, instead returning to the topic at hand. "You have, but that doesn't mean I want you throwing your life away for a cause."
Anakin was snapped out of his embarrassed state. "I won't be. I trust you." He looked at her with the same intense, blue eyes that hadn't changed a bit, and she met his gaze. He believed in her, the least she could do was believe in him and his plan too.
"We'll do it." Padmé relented, and Anakin's face broke into a grin.
"Thank you, Padmé. I knew you'd help me."
What had she signed herself up for.
"You spent an awful lot of time with the Senator." Padmé stepped out of the security room a couple hours later, having listened in on Anakin's plan as best as she could. "Was everything alright?"
"Anakin had...a lot of details to go over." She sat down next to him, hoping Obi-Wan wouldn't ask too much about just what those details entailed.
"I see...so what plan has he come up with this time." So she wouldn't be able to hide the change of plans from Obi-Wan. "I can't imagine it was more dangerous than his last one."
"It's...slightly better." She grimaced at the hesitation in her words, but it was true. Slightly better really was the only way to describe it. "Anakin has Artoo serving as the one in charge of monitoring the cameras, we both figured it'd be a better idea than having somebody watching that the assassin could see."
"Artoo?" Obi-Wan stopped for a moment. "Is he really sure an Astromech, us, and a couple of his normal bodyguards will be enough to deter whoever's after him." She didn't answer, causing Obi-Wan to prod her again. "Padmé?"
"Anakin's insisting that we use him as bait," she admitted to her indulging the Senator in what was a terrible idea. "He wouldn't listen to me when I asked otherwise."
Obi-Wan sighed. "Of course he wouldn't, Anakin is far too impulsive and willing to take risks. I suppose judging by the way you're talking, you agree?"
"The best way to protect him is to ensure that the assassin can't return. We won't be able to get them to make another attempt if they know that the security around him is tighter. It solves the case faster, so we can help try to get peace with the Separatists." She took a deep breath, feeling slightly ill at ease, awaiting the reprimands from Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan, however, simply nodded. "Very well, though I'm disappointed in you for trying to work around our orders, I accept your judgement."
Wait, what? "Master?"
"Padmé, you're a Jedi Knight now. You should be making your own decisions by now, rather than relying on mine. Whether it's the right or wrong one, it's too late to do anything about it now. You have to stay firm in the belief that you chose right" He stood up, walking over to the window to check to see if anything was out of the ordinary. "We can only hope Anakin knows what he's doing."
"I think he does. Otherwise he wouldn't have asked us to do it." She watched Obi-Wan's behavior as he paced around, seemingly anxious. "Everything alright?"
"I'm not sure, something–" They both felt it from Anakin's room. Something different. Something wrong. "Padmé."
"Right!" She ran into the room, shortly after followed by Obi-Wan to see two worm like creatures and a probe droid. Without another thought, she sliced through the worms, unwilling to let them come close to harming the Senator.
"Obi-Wan, Padmé?" Anakin looked at the two of them. But before either of them could say anything, Obi-Wan took matters into his own hands, and jumped right out the window onto the droid just outside, likely the culprit in letting the worms into his room. "What the kriff?"
Padmé sighed. "You were right when you said they'd make another move tonight." She gave him a slightly embarrassed smile. "You wouldn't happen to have a speeder I can borrow, would you?"
"I've got something better."
Better, as it turned out, was Padmé clinging to the seat of a four person speeder as Anakin zoomed through the Coruscanti skies at a speed that had to have been downright illegal for your average person to be going at. "Anakin! I could've driven myself."
"Where's the fun in that?" Anakin gave her a smile, clearly in his element. Despite that, Padmé clung her hands onto the seat. "Besides, you need to keep up with Obi-Wan. I'm the better driver."
"You don't know that?"
"You didn't win a podrace when you were nine." Anakin swerved out of the way of an incoming speeder, keeping an eye on the droid above them and the dangling Obi-Wan. "Somebody fast has to keep up with the droid."
"Somebody safe could have kept up with it too." She wanted Anakin to stop for literally one minute, but she did know he was right. If they didn't keep up, Obi-Wan would fall a lot farther than even a Jedi using the Force could survive. Loathe as she was to admit it, Anakin's help was probably for the best. "Or somebody who doesn't have an assassin after him."
"I'll be fine. The assassin will be too busy running from Obi-Wan to attempt to take me out." Anakin positioned himself underneath Obi-Wan in preparation for the knight to fall. "So, when did Obi-Wan get such a reckless streak?"
"You're one to talk." Padmé huffed, but Anakin just laughed. After a moment, she answered. "Always. He follows the rules, but he's not afraid to take a risk or two if it gets what he needs. But only if it's his own life at stake." If Padmé had decided to jump out of a window attached to a droid, she'd be murdered as soon as she was back on the ground. But Obi-Wan could do it without so much of a reprimand.
She was going to have to lecture her Master on safety, that was for sure.
As though her concern had been enough to will the worst case scenario into existence, the droid Obi-Wan had been clinging to was shot at and destroyed, and he landed in the speeder's back seat. He sat up moments later. "Nice catch Pad-Anakin?"
"Hey Obi-Wan." Anakin waved to him, but didn't look back, thankfully keeping his eyes in front of him. "Hope you don't mind."
Obi-Wan gave Padmé a look, almost as though saying that she should have stopped this. To which she gave a helpless shrug. "Never mind, we'll discuss this later. After that speeder." He pointed to a green speeder ahead of them, likely where the shot that destroyed the droid had come from.
Anakin nodded, and if anything started to move faster, causing both Padmé and Obi-Wan to grip the seats beneath them. "Has anybody ever told you to learn how to fly properly."
"What's wrong with the way I fly?"
"It's not flying, it's suicide." But there was no room for arguing further as Anakin cut around a building, noting the green speeder moving almost constantly at the same speed as him, no matter how much he pushed the speeder.
As if in response, Anakin made a sharp right turn. "Anakin, what are you planning?" Padmé asked. "He's going that way."
"Short cut, don't worry." He grinned at Padmé, and she couldn't help but wonder just how often Anakin had raced around the streets of Coruscant since Tatooine got the seat on the Senate. How much chaos he had caused that had to be cleaned up. "I know what I'm doing..." She heard under his breath a mumbled "I think" as Anakin weaved in and out of the buildings, having a few close calls that she was pretty sure she and Obi-Wan would need therapy for before stopping just outside of an intersection.
"Short cut…" Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, though was clearly relieved to not be moving for a moment. "We've lost the assassin."
Anakin had the humility to look embarrassed at least, even if it was clear to anybody with any skill in the Force that he wasn't bothered at all, but before he could say anything, the green speeder had plunged down, going into one of the lower levels of Coruscant's underbelly. "You were saying, Obi-Wan?"
"Anakin. We need to go after him!" Padmé pointed down, and Anakin flew down with them, angling towards the ground and pulling up to a club, several hundred floors lower than the apartment in which they had started their evening.
The two Jedi jumped out, holding their lightsabers in their hands in case they had to stop any more attacks. Anakin jumped out with them, and went to follow, but Padmé stopped him. "No, Anakin. The assassin's after you. You need to stay in the speeder."
"Wouldn't I be safer with my two Jedi protectors than alone?" If he'd hoped that would win them over, he was definitely mistaken.
"In a bar like this, doubtful." Obi-Wan frowned, clearly full of distaste for the location they'd need to enter. "It's more likely we'd be separated. At least here, we know where you are."
Obi-Wan's denial must have gotten through to him, because although Anakin had frowned, he didn't try anything, instead sitting in the driver's seat. "If they escape, I'll try to track them down. Good luck."
With Anakin, for now, deciding not to follow, Padmé and Obi-Wan slipped into the club. Obi-Wan went to the bar while she slipped in with the other patrons, closing her eyes as she attempted to feel for any presence out of place. Something that might have indicated the assassin that had attempted to kill Anakin. She remembered vaguely what they looked like. Feminine in form, and from what little she'd managed to sense their Force presence, they'd felt slippery. Not somebody she'd want to run into without a method to protect herself.
Her eyes opened. In the corner, edging towards the front door. She'd felt their presence. They had to have noticed Anakin. "Obi-Wan!" He looked up at her and nodded, and the two activated their lightsabers, letting the blue plasma beams ignite.
The assassin must have noticed them, for they bolted out the door. "Official Jedi Business, nothing to see here." Obi-Wan covered for them as they ran outside. Obi-Wan reached the assassin, knocking them to the floor before they could make another attack on Anakin, and Padmé fell in behind him.
"Let go of me!" The assassin attempted to fight them off, but Obi-Wan held her down, unwilling to let her up. "It was just a job."
Ah, a bounty hunter. Somebody must have really wanted Anakin dead if they were willing to pay off a bounty hunter to do it. "Do you have any idea who you were trying to kill?"
"Tatooine Senator. Look I'm serious, he was paying me, it's just business.."
Padmé and Obi-Wan shared a look. "What was his name?" Obi-Wan asked. Before the bounty hunter could answer, something flew through the air and hit them, causing the hunter to go slack, their face transforming into that of another, greener face. A species with the ability to shapeshift. Obi-Wan reached into their neck, pulling out a dart before turning to Padmé.
"Looks like we have another mystery to solve." Several, if Padmé could give her opinion based on the events that had just occurred.
Anakin wasn't going to like this.