A/N: Sorry for taking a little longer to update. I've been so incredibly busy (just started a new job and all, plus Christmas shopping, plus my cousin is getting married on the weekend). Anyway, this is a longer chapter so I hope that makes up for it. And it's full of feels. You're welcome. xx

The silence was deafening and the tension so thick in the air, Padme began to feel claustrophobic. Her eyes darted across the patterned rug, flicking into the fire and back to her shaking fingers. Anywhere but at her father. He was deathly quiet, as still as a statue, and she couldn't even hear him breathe. Not that she was going to look at him to check. Her stomach squirmed uncomfortably and she shifted, restless and nervous. Why wasn't he saying anything? Anakin had left the room three minutes ago – Padme had counted every second in her head to give her something else to think about other than the fear that her father had found out – and yet he hadn't said a word.

She vaguely wondered whether she should break the ice and speak first. Perhaps it was a test, and he was bating her. Either way, Padme remained just as silent. If he had something to say, he would say it. Ruwee Naberrie was not shy in expressing his opinions; that much she had inherited from him.

After a moment, she heard him exhale sharply and her breath caught in her throat at the familiar start, followed by the low rumble of, "I can't believe you would do this, Padme." She sighed and turned to face him, his expression one of anger and misery. It was then he looked at her and met her eyes; they were cold. "You deliberately disobeyed me."

"I'm not a child, dad," she hissed. "You can't tell me what I can and cannot do!"

His expression grew harder, as if that was possible and he frowned at her. "You lied to me," he accused. "You lied directly to my face, Padme."

She swallowed and turned her head away sharply. "I had to," she muttered.

"I'm your father," he growled and she could hear the venom singeing each word as they cut through the air. "I have a right to know whether I'm inviting criminals into my house!"

Padme snapped her head up angrily at that comment, glowering at her father. "Anakin is not a criminal!" Her fists clenched. "You have no right to talk about him that way!"

"I have every right, Padme!" he roared, his anger bubbling over. "This is my house!"

At his words, Padme rose to her feet, throwing her arms out aggressively. "You liked him not three hours ago!" she informed him.

Ruwee scowled. "That was before I figured it out your little secret. Tell me, Padme, did you really think I wouldn't have noticed?" When she refused to respond, he simply sighed. "I never expected this from you." The way his voice dropped an octave, quiet and sad, made Padme falter just a little. It was unexpected. But she refused to let her guard down. "Sola was always the headstrong one," he continued, seemingly to himself, for he was speaking so softly that Padme could hardly hear him. "I would expect this from her. But you?" His eyes met hers and she swallowed at the utter betrayal and disappointment swimming in them and instantly felt guilty. "I did not raise you to lie and keep secrets and sneak around behind my back."

How did you know that, she was about to ask, but decided it was not the right time to anger him even more. Instead, she said, stubbornly, "I didn't lie to you."

"Omitting the truth is the same as lying, Padme."

She frowned at him. "So, I suppose all that stuff about you just wanting me to be happy was lie then, was it?" She spat the words at him, intended to sting his heart, and it worked, for she saw his face fall.

"Of course not," he assured her sincerely. "But… how can you possibly be happy with a man like that?"

"I love him." The explanation seemed so simple to Padme. There couldn't possibly be any other reason. Tears sprung in her eyes as she stood before her father. She had to make him understand; she had to stand up for Anakin. She had to fight for him. "You have no idea what Anakin has been through. He's grown so much and I've seen him make changes in his life and I'm so proud of him, dad. He's…" she broke off as a tear rolled gently down her cheek. "He's turning his life around. How could I not love him?"

Ruwee merely shook his head. "This is not healthy, Padme. Can't you see what is happening to you? Being with this boy… it's turning you into something you're not."

At this, Padme laughed cruelly, a cold, uncharacteristic laugh and her entire expression narrowed. "I guess you just don't know me as well as you think you do," she hissed unkindly, and the way her father jolted at her words made a part of her grin. Good.

"Padme," he almost pleaded, disappointment laced through his words. "You can't expect me to accept this… this boy, with a reputation like that. I urge – no I demand," he became more forceful, but he still had not risen from his seat, which surprised her. "I demand you to break this off, immediately!"

"Demand?" Padme all but shrieked incredulously. How dare he? How dare he ask such a thing of her? "You can't demand me to do anything, father. All my life you've been telling me what to do, forcing me to do things and go places without any thought on how I actually felt." Her move to boarding school summed that up. She hadn't even been asked if she wanted to move, it had just happened because her father had said it would be good for her. As she stood in front of him, she realised she was not merely angry about his opinion of Anakin. All these years of pent up anger towards her father were suddenly surfacing and, for once, she didn't care if she spoke her mind.

"I'm not a naïve little girl anymore," she continued. "I'm twenty-four for God's sake. You stopped having the right to tell me what to do with my life the moment I turned 18! You don't own me!"

Ruwee smiled ruefully. "No, but I do own your credit card."

She was shocked to hear him say such a thing. He couldn't possibly be insinuating that, could he? He wouldn't. Not his own daughter. "Right, so you're going to cut me off, are you?" she asked petulantly. "You're going to leave your own daughter out to dry?"

Ruwee frowned and rubbed his fingers into his temples, sighing heavily. "No," he conceded. "But, sweetheart," he implored, trying to sway her with his sweet words. "I understand you have feelings for this boy, but have you actually thought about how this will affect your life? You want to go into politics, into the media. If his… past came out, it would affect your reputation."

She paused for a moment, because he was right, to a certain extent, as much as she hated to admit it. Padme hadn't thought about her future with Anakin at all. Which was strange, for she was the queen of plans and foresight and organisation. She was graduating in less than a year, and she'd told Anakin that they would figure things out once she had finished up her schooling, but she hadn't given it a single thought. That worried her. Why wasn't she planning for the future? Perhaps her father was right, she wasn't the same person now that Anakin was in her life.

"I don't care," she insisted, stubbornly. "I'm not leaving him. We'll figure things out, that's how we work. I – I can't give up on him." It was as though she was trying to convince herself.

"Don't be a fool, Padme," her father reasoned coldly. "Think about your aspirations, about your future. He will only drag you down. People like that… they're toxic to people like us."

Padme's fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug roughly into her palm and her knuckles turned white. "How dare you!" she hissed. "Is that what your parents said to you before you married mom? That she was toxic?" It was well known that her parent's marriage had been frowned upon by her father's family, because she was from a modest, middle-class family. Padme couldn't believe the hypocrisy coming out of her father's mouth.

"That is not the same," Ruwee said defensively. "Your mother was not a criminal…"

"Neither is Anakin!" Padme shrilled, tears streaming down her face. "He's had a rough life and he made some mistakes when he was young, but that was four years ago. He's a good person and I love him. And nothing you can say is going to change my mind!" She turned on her heel and began to storm upstairs, before she stopped in the doorway and whipped her head back around. "If you can't accept him as a part of my life, then I don't want to see you again."

Tears streamed down her face as she all but sprinted upstairs, ignoring her father's cries of her name. She couldn't believe what had happened, how quickly everything had changed. Never had she felt so angry in her entire life. Anakin deserved better. It wasn't fair. Padme couldn't stay another second longer in that house. She needed to get out before she exploded and her emotions got the better of her.

Anakin was sitting on the bed in his room, hands clasped together and his lip between his teeth. He snapped his head up when she wretched open the door, and his eyes immediately scanned her face, expression one of great concern, and he rose as she entered.

"Hey…" he began softly, reaching out with hands to pull her into his arms. "Are you okay? I heard a lot of shouting and – "

" – Get your things. We're leaving," she snapped at him harshly, refusing his embrace.

When he did nothing but stand still, watching her with a confused, dumbfounded expression on his face, she huffed petulantly. "Anakin. Did you hear me? We're going."

Still, he stood where he was. "Padme, it's late."

"I know." She stormed into her own room and began flinging her things carelessly into her suitcase, for once not caring about order because she needed to get out of there. She couldn't breathe. Anakin hovered about her, regarding her in concern and she glanced up at him. "Why aren't you packing?" she shot at him.

"You're upset." Another one of his annoying simple explanations.

She didn't say anything and continued her aggressive packing, so overcome with emotion that her vision became blurred. Everything was shoved in so haphazardly that she couldn't shut her suitcase properly, which only served to make her more frustrated and as she furiously tried to jam it shut, she felt Anakin's arms come around her, restraining her, as more tears leaked from her eyes.

"Padme, please, calm down," he whispered in her ear, running his fingers along her arms, trying to soothe her, but it was no use. She was too worked up.

"I have to get out of here," she told him with a shaky voice. "I need to leave."

Anakin only frowned. "That's not a good idea," he warned her. "You shouldn't go anywhere right now, not in this state. You need to take a breather for a minute, and calm down and – "

Padme pushed his arms off her, whirling around to glare at him. "Don't tell me what to do, Anakin!" she yelled at him. "I've had enough of that from my father, I don't need it from you too."

Her outburst seemed to shock him, and his eyes narrowed as his hands came up in surrender. "Hey," he began, voice still soft, though there was a sharper edge to it. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm trying to help you. We should talk about this first."

She scoffed at him. So, now, he wanted to talk? "I don't want to talk about this right now, Anakin. I'm not in the mood."

"Right," Anakin scowled. "Because not talking is exactly how we got into this mess in the first place." His arms were crossed now, and Padme was suddenly aware of his towering form standing before her, but she was far from intimidated. If anything, it only encouraged her anger.

"So, this is all my fault then, is it?" she snapped. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but her emotions were all over the place and she couldn't keep them under control. It was unfair to Anakin, she knew that, because he had just as much reason to be upset as she did, but somehow, he was the only keeping calm and she was the one flying off the handle.

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck and sighed deeply. "I'm not saying it's your fault," he explained. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't leave like this. You and your dad need to sort it out." Padme blinked at him, incredulous. How could he possibly say that? "I don't want you to do something you'll regret later."

She rubbed her temples roughly, unsure of what she was hearing. "There isn't anything I could possibly want to say to him right now, Anakin. The things he said about you…" she sniffed back tears, "that you're not good for me and will only drag me down and you'll affect my – my future… why are you taking his side?"

Anakin closed his eyes and grew silent, but Padme noticed his fingers were trembling. She wanted to reach out and take them in hers, to reassure him, but she knew it was not the right time. "Because he's right," he muttered quietly after a few moments. Eyes snapped open and she was suddenly imprisoned by his intense, blue gaze as he held her there. There was a heartbreakingly tortured expression on his face that made Padme want to cry again. "What father would want their daughter to be with someone like… me? If I had a daughter, I'd react the exact same way."

Padme whimpered and reached out, grasping his forearms tightly, never tearing her eyes away from his. "I don't care, Ani. I don't care about that."

Anakin simply shook his head. "But you should care, Padme," he implored almost desperately, placing his hands on her shoulders as if to shake her. "That's the problem. It's a big deal. It's a big part of my life, and while you're with me, it's going to affect you too. But you haven't thought about it at all." His eyes were moist, like hers, but he had a stronger grasp on his emotions and held back, for her sake, she assumed. When she didn't say anything, he continued. "We never talk about our future. I mean, you graduate in six months and yet we have nothing figured out!"

She snuffled. "We'll work it out. We always do."

"Will we?" he asked, and the desperation straining his words was crystal clear in his voice. "It's alright now because we're both at college, but what's going to happen after that? You'll want to do things and go places and I'll constantly be holding you back. My past will…" he broke off and his hands left her shoulders and he began pacing, like he did when he was distressed. "It's always going to affect me. Who knows if I'll ever be able to travel, or even get a job? And people will judge us, Padme, judge you."

He met her gaze and the guilt was evident, swimming in the depths of his beautiful blue eyes. "I'm used to it," he told her. "It's been happening for four years. But you're not. No matter how hard we try to hide it, the truth always comes out. And people will judge you… because of me. How do you think that makes me feel?" He sank onto the bed and rested his head in his hands, his entire body shaking and Padme realised he was crying. "You don't deserve that kind of treatment."

She approached him and sat next to him, resting her hand on his knee. "I don't care, Anakin," he repeated firmly but that only served to make him more frustrated.

"Not everyone is like you, Padme. People are judgemental and cruel. They will constantly question why you're with me, just like your dad does. I can't – how can I subject you to that?"

"You want me to leave you then, is that it?" she asked meekly, blinking at him through wet eyelashes. She couldn't even bear to think the words. The thought of leaving Anakin was… heart-wrenching. And yet, that was exactly what he was implying. "Is that what you want?"

"Of course that's not what I want," he replied immediately, aggressively. "But you deserve better. You deserve so much better than me."

Padme scowled. "See, this is exactly what my father wants. He's trying to drive a rift between us, Anakin."

"You think this is about him?" he snapped.

"Well, you've never expressed these opinions before this weekend, so it has to be him."

Again, Anakin simply growled. "That's because we never talk about anything! You're the one who gave the big speech about communication, but you're just as bad. Anytime I bring up our future, you just dismiss it!"

"Right, because these are exactly the kind of conversations I want to have when we visit each other," she drawled, crossing her arms and frowning at him.

"So, avoiding our problems is the best solution then, is it?"

Padme screwed up her fists and leapt to her feet. "I'm not saying that, Anakin. I just don't want to talk about this right now! Why are you being like this?"

"Because we need to! We never talk about this."

"And that's my fault?"

Anakin put his head in his hands and exhaled sharply through gritted teeth. "I'm not saying it's your fault," he groaned. "Why do you keep thinking I'm blaming you?"

"Because you are!" Her voice had increased several octaves in her frustration and her eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm sorry if I don't want to talk about this, Anakin, but it's not how I want to spend our time together. Look at us!" she gestured between them. "I don't get to see you very often. Why would I want to spend all my time fighting with you?"

"We wouldn't be fighting if you would just admit that I'm right," he reasoned, his voice annoyingly smug.

She scowled at him. "It's not about who's right or wrong," she said darkly. "You're being ridiculous. I don't want to fight with you about stupid stuff like this?"

He faltered, and she suddenly wondered if she'd said something wrong, for his entire face fell. "You think talking about our future is stupid?" he asked, words laced with venom.

"Don't put words into my mouth," she retorted back. "I'm leaving."

Anakin stood up then, his arms still crossed, a sour expression on his face. "I don't think you should do that."

"Why not?"

"Because," he sighed. "He's your father. You two need to sort things out. I'm just trying to do what's best for you."

Padme scoffed harshly and muttered a dark laugh. "Don't presume to think you know what's best for me, Anakin. I'm twenty-four, I'm old enough to make my own decisions and handle the consequences of my actions."

"I'm not saying that – " he muttered.

" – you know what, do what you like," she interrupted him. "I'm leaving. Stay here for all I care. You and my father might actually get along after all, seeing as you both seem to know what's best for me." Padme turned her back on him and continued packing, as though he wasn't even in the room.

"Padme…"

"I'm done talking about this. Either you're coming or you're not."

She heard Anakin grumble out a response, but it didn't register as words. Even though she knew she was being harsh, she was frustrated and fed-up and just needed some space. Anakin's sudden outburst about them not talking got to her, mainly because it was true. They didn't talk, not about important things. It had been months since they'd had any real, deep conversation, before they'd even gotten together.

With a guilty sigh, Padme felt suddenly cowardly. She would never admit it, not even to Anakin, but she was scared. Their future was so uncertain; they had no idea where they were headed or what was coming next. They lived in the present, in each passing moment, wishing away the time spent apart in order to spend time together. Padme was scared of leaving that comfortable routine. If there was one thing that frightened her the most, it was uncertainty.

Anakin met her at her car minutes later, but he didn't say a word, and neither did she, for they were both as stubborn as each other. It was late, and Padme hadn't even said goodbye to her father, but he hadn't said goodbye to her, either. She didn't know where they stood, only that they weren't in a good place. All Padme wanted to do was curl up under her sheets and sleep. She felt exhausted.

The two of them were silent for the entire trip back, but Padme was grateful for the silence. It gave her time to gather her thoughts and calm down. Everything had drastically spiralled out of control and it had been so unexpected that she felt as though she'd been hit with a bus. She snuck a side glance at Anakin to see how he was handling it, but his stony expression remained fixed on the view outside.

While she drove, Padme thought over his words. All his insecurities about him not being good enough for her had resurfaced. That worried her. Why was he acting like this? Why was he so convinced that he wasn't good for her? Didn't he know that he was the greatest thing in her life? Didn't he understand how much this silent treatment was killing her? Didn't he know how much she loved him?

It was close to midnight when they arrived back at Padme's room, and they silently got dressed into their pyjamas and sank under the covers. As she lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, she realised that this would be the first night they'd spent together without having sex. Of course, that shouldn't have been such a big deal, but it was to Padme. Their desire for each other was a large part of their relationship, and for that to break down… there were obviously some bigger cracks that Padme hadn't noticed.

The thought made her grow sad, and she turned her head, to glance at his sleeping form. "Goodnight, Anakin," she whispered sadly into the night, not sure if he heard her, before rolling on to her side, her back to him. The bed shifted as she felt him roll beside her and she felt his heat moving closer to her. Her heart caught in her chest and she smiled in spite of herself. He was going to hold her. Everything was going to be alright. Instead, his lips brushed gently against her cheek and then he was gone, facing away from her, asleep, and she felt pangs of loneliness deep within her soul. Tears welled in her eyes and she curled her legs up to her chest, hugging them, squeezing her eyes shut. Even though he was right beside her, she felt completely alone. It was the worst sleep she'd ever had in her life.

When she woke the next morning, she reached out with her hands, feeling the spot next to her. It was empty. "Ani?" she called, blinking her eyes open, to find him gone, his sheets pulled back. Where was he? Biting her lip, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, before she got up and headed out into the main area.

Dorme was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal and looked up with a smile on her face as Padme shuffled out of her bedroom.

"Where's Anakin?" Padme asked her friend, without even greeting her. Anakin was gone. That was her biggest concern. Everything else paled in comparison. He wouldn't leave her, would he? No, she thought to herself. He'd never.

Dorme swallowed and shrugged her shoulders. "He said something about going for a walk." Padme frowned in confusion. "Did you two have a fight or something?" her friend asked softly, her face lined with concern and worry.

Padme cast her gaze to the floor. "Something like that," she muttered, miserably.

"Don't worry," Dorme said brightly, in an attempt to cheer her up. "I'm sure you'll be fine. That's boy's so in love with you. He'll come around."

Giving her a small smile, Padme nodded. "I'm going to have a shower."

Once she was by herself, however, she completely broke down. Anakin had never done this before. He'd never just left without even telling her where he was going. But, then again, they'd never fought like this before. Obviously, he was having just as much troubling dealing with it as she was. Tears fell down her cheeks and mixed with the water raining down on her from above and Padme wept, full of sorrow and guilt and loneliness.

Suddenly, the shower curtain was pulled open abruptly and Padme barely had time to turn around before she saw Anakin stepping into the shower, completely clothed. "Anakin! What are y – mmpff – " she barely had time to register his presence before his mouth was on hers and she was almost knocked backwards, or would have been if his hands hadn't steadied her. Suddenly, everything melted away and all she could comprehend was the feel of his lips, attacking her own aggressively.

He pulled back after a moment, his eyes flashing dangerously, and she simply stared at him in complete shock. "What – what are you doing?" she asked him, struggling to breathe for he had knocked the wind out of her.

His breathing was just as laboured, his chest rising and falling heavily as he stood under the shower head. Water trickled down the sides of his face. "You were crying," he said, his voice so soft and beautiful.

Padme simply blinked several times. Had he gone crazy? "You're still in your clothes!" she informed him, as though he wasn't already aware of that fact.

Again, he simply stared at her, his intoxicating gaze holding her captive. "You were crying," he repeated, but this time, a hand came up to her cheek and he wiped her tears away with his thumb. "It was me, wasn't it? I made you cry."

Her bottom lip trembled at his words and it took everything she had not to launch herself into his arms. Instead, she simply nodded, and then, unsurely, shook her head. "Yes, and no," she told him truthfully.

"I'm sorry." His expression was so sincere and beautiful that it almost made her forget what she was even upset about. Until she remembered.

"You didn't hold me," she said meekly as water gathered on her eyelashes. "I needed you last night, Anakin. I needed you to hold me and tell me everything was going to be alright. B-but you… you didn't."

Anakin crushed her body against his, one hand curling up into her hair, the other stroking along the curve of her spine and she gave into him, sobbing into his chest. Everything seemed to pour out of her in that moment – her anger at her father, her anger at Anakin, her sorrow, her frustration, her love – and she wept violently, her tears soaking through his already drenched shirt, but he didn't seem to care at all. He simply held her and muttered, "it's okay, I'm here now, I'm here, let it out, let it all out." It felt like hours before she finally broke free from his embrace, arms still clasped around his waist and his hands settled on her hips.

They blinked at each other, neither one saying a word, until suddenly, they began muttered apologies, stuttering over each other again and again and then Anakin was kissing her and Padme felt like she was flying.

"I'm sorry," Anakin mumbled against her lips, over and over again.

"No, I'm sorry, Ani," she shook her head, curling her fingers up into his damp hair.

"It's not your fault," he assured her sweetly, pressing drugging kisses all over her face until she felt like she would drown beneath his lips. It was the sweetest death.

She smiled. "It's not yours either." He cupped her cheek and smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip, tenderly, his eyes never leaving hers. "Where were you?"

He shrugged. "Walking. I had the worst fucking sleep of my life. I needed to clear my head." Padme swallowed and nodded her head. She knew exactly how he felt, because she had slept terribly as well. "I bought you some coffee," he continued. "Skim milk latte with a shot of vanilla, just how you like it."

The little smile her gave her warmed her heart and she pulled him closer to her so their foreheads were pressed together. "You know me too well," she said affectionately. "Anakin…?"

"Yeah?"

Padme glanced up at him shyly. "We're okay, right? You and me?"

Anakin beamed and brushed some wet hair that was sticking to her forehead away from her face. "Of course we are," he said firmly, as though there was no need to even think about the answer. His certainty always calmed her anxiety."Did you think you could get rid of me that easily?"

She grinned at his tease and pulled him down to her lips, kissing him deeply. "I love you, Ani," she told him, seriously. "Nothing is ever going to change that. I'm never giving up on you." Each word was enunciated with a kiss, and even though Anakin didn't say anything in return, she knew he appreciated the reassurance that he was all she could ever need. He needed to know that he was more than enough for her, especially after everything that had happened the day before.

Her fingers played with the collar of his shirt idly and she laughed, shaking her head at him. "I can't believe you're still wearing your clothes, you idiot. You can be absolutely ridiculous sometimes, Ani."

He grinned cheekily at her. "I prefer to think of it as spontaneous."

She rolled her eyes at him, but grinned back at him nonetheless, because she adored this side of him most of all and was glad to see it again.

"Come on," he took her hand and helped her out of the shower. "Let's get ourselves dried off before Dorme thinks we're having sex in the shower." Padme hit him with her towel. "What?" he asked, feigning innocence. "It's not like we haven't done it before."

"Get your mind out of the gutter," she scolded him playfully, helping him peel his sopping clothes off his body before handing him a towel. The two of them left the bathroom together, nearly naked, earning many suspicious looks from Dorme who promptly retreated into her bedroom at the sight of them.

Padme and Anakin spent the rest of the morning making up for lost time, in many different ways, until she had to drive him to the airport. It was a teary goodbye, as always, but Anakin promised that they'd see each other at Christmas, and Padme's spirits brightened considerably. When she came back, there was a bouquet of sunflowers sitting on the kitchen counter, with a handwritten note on a crumpled napkin lying next to it. Curious, Padme picked it up and her heart caught in her chest as she noticed Anakin's handwriting.

To my angel, it read.

I'm not all that good at romance, but for you I'll give it a go. See, I saw these when I went walking this morning. I know they're not the kind of flowers girls dream about. I mean, what kind of guy gives their girlfriend sunflowers? They don't exactly give off the romantic vibe. But they caught my eye, you know?

There's just something about them. They're bright and vibrant and beautiful, like the sun and I immediately felt better once I saw them. And, well, that's how I feel when I'm with you. It's impossible to be unhappy around sunflowers and it's just as impossible for me to feel unhappy around you, Padme.

I know things are complicated and there are things we need to discuss, but we'll get through it. That's how we work. Anyway, I hope these make you feel better and light up your day, just like you light up my life. I'll see you soon, my angel.

All my love, Your Ani.

Padme didn't know she was crying until she saw tear drops staining the page and a small bubble of giddy laughter burst out of her. Putting down the note, she picked up the sunflowers, admiring how large and gloriously yellow they were. They reminded her of Anakin. If he was going to be a flower, he would be a sunflower, she decided then and there. They both were so bright and full of life.

"He's pretty sweet, isn't he?" Dorme said from the door of her room. Padme looked up and nodded, unable to keep the smile off her face. "He told me to hide them until you left. I couldn't help but read the note, I'm sorry."

Padme shook her head at her friend, clutching her bouquet as though it was a newborn baby and she was scared she would drop them. "It's alright. You can."

"How did you get so lucky?"

Tears of extreme happiness rolled down her cheek and she shook her head. "I don't know."

Sunflowers quickly became her favourite flower in the world.