What's the best way to spend a birthday? Writing fanfics of course! Still trying out the slow build up to the Anidala goodness but it's getting there! You can see the sparks already starting to fly!

Happy Reading!

Chapter 8

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

His leg shook as he sat on the edge of the couch, his phone sitting directly in front of him on the coffee table as he waited. The armchair to his right was occupied by the young pilot-in-training, Ahsoka. Her legs were slung over the arm of the chair as she balanced a plate of leftover pizza she was eating for dinner. Anakin hadn't planned on her stopping by but when she came knocking on his door and whining about how she didn't have any food at her place, he caved and let her heat up the leftovers in his fridge.

"You'll burn a hole through the table if you stare any harder, Skyguy," She said as she took a bite from her pizza.

"Shut up," He groaned, tapping the screen on his phone to check the time. Nine o'clock. It had been about two weeks since Seattle. They'd texted every few days just to keep in touch since he was working an awkward schedule and she wanted to spend her time with her son. This was just the first time they were both in the same timezone and they'd agreed she would call him at nine. But she hadn't yet. Should he just try and call her? No, that would look desperate, but, what if she didn't call? What if she was just running behind?

"Would you look at the smoke coming out of your ears!" Ahsoka said laughing, "It has to be a girl if it has you so strung out!"

Before he could retort, his phone started to ring and in a flash he snatched the phone from the table, fumbling with it as he tried not to hit the ignore button. "Hello? H-hey! How's it going?" Anakin mentally kicked himself as he fumbled to sound relaxed.

He heard her giggle on the other end, "Not too bad," she said. "I just got settled at the hotel. You won't believe the day I had."

"That bad, huh?" He asked.

"I wouldn't say bad so much as just stressful." She sighed, "Large family traveling together, parents, grandparents and six kids. From the start we kinda figured they'd be a bit loud because the two youngest were crying before they even got on. But then it turned out all their seats were scattered around the cabin and they were trying to switch seats so they could all sit together and that caused a delay with boarding and it took us three times and a threat to kick them off if they didn't sit in their designated seats."

"I take it, it gets worse in the air?"

Padme groaned on the other end, "You have no idea. They were some of the most ill-mannered people I've seen in a long time! The kids were throwing things, the parents yelled for us when they wanted something… I don't think I've ever seen a plane disembark as quickly as the one I was on today."

He smiled as he heard her heave a sigh, "Well, at least it was only a regional fight. Could you imagine having those people for over six hours?"

"I swear this flight felt like ten hours today. I'm beat! I almost wish I had an extra day or two here just to relax." She said, "Take a nice long walk on the beach, swim in the ocean, and dry in the nice hot rays of the sun…"

"It seems you and I have different ideas of relaxing," He laughed.

"Oh? And what exactly don't you like about my idea of relaxing?"

"Sand," He said. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ahsoka roll her eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to say. Standing up quickly, he relocated himself to his bedroom before the young girl could say anything about his supposedly irrational dislike of sand.

"Really?" Padme asked, "You don't like sand?"

"You never grew up in a desert. It gets everywhere! Every crack and crevice in the house, every shoe, every sock… even in bed!" As petty as it might seem, the rough and irritating substance had left a lasting negative impression on him and if he could avoid it for the rest of his life, he probably would.

"You have a point there… but there's a lot of other nice things about a beach! The water, the salty breeze, the hot sun, fishing…"

"I don't know…" He said, shrugging his shoulders as he sat at the edge of his bed, "I've never actually spent time on a beach."

"If we're ever on a layover near a beach I'll have to take you then. That is, if you're not too opposed to all the sand."

Anakin smirked as he leaned his elbow against his knee, "For you, I'd climb a mountain of sand." He heard her laugh on the other end and he cringed, "That… that didn't sound as epic as I thought it would…"

"No," She agreed, "But it's the thought that counts, right?"

"I suppose…"

They talked for a little bit longer, time seemingly forgotten as spoke about meaningful and meaningless things. Anakin swore he could see her reactions as he spoke, her smile, every time she probably shook her head at his jokes, her face as it scrunched when she laughed… the distance between them felt like nothing despite knowing she was really hundreds of miles away and the real distance only dawned on him when she decided it was time for her to retire for the night. And reluctantly, they said their goodbyes and hung up. Anakin flopped backward on his mattress, a wide grin on his face. How could one person be so perfect? They hadn't known one another for very long but the ease with which they talked felt like the way people who'd known each other for a lifetime spoke. It only further cemented the feeling that he was falling hard for her and with each subsequent interaction he had with her, he was starting to think she liked him too.

Rolling back to his feet and standing, he returned to the living room only to stop in his tracks when he noticed the dirty sock tied to the knob of his door. His eyes shot over to Ahsoka who was now lounging on the couch he had been sitting on earlier, her dirty plate on the coffee table and a devilish smirk on her face.

"Thought you might want the privacy," She said with a cocky shrug.

"Very funny," He deadpanned, pulling the sock off the door and throwing it at her face.

Ahsoka screamed as she ducked, narrowly avoiding the sock before he marched over to the couch and grabbed her ankles, shifting her over so he could sit next to her. "Are you going to tell me about this mystery girl?" She asked.

"No."

The sweat coating the back of his neck felt cold as a prickly breeze blew past him at a red light. Anakin slowed his run to a stop as he caught his breath. His heart raced and his legs had that tired tingling sensation from a well-balanced run. He was only a block from his apartment and as the light turned green, he started up a light jog to finish the rest of his run. Anakin had always been an extremely active individual. It had been nearly impossible to get him to sit still as a child, he always had to be doing something. He got better as he got older but he still needed an outlet for all the energy that seemed to course through his veins. So in middle school at the suggestion of one of his teachers, he joined the track team. Long runs after school and on the weekends helped him find the balance and focus he needed and eventually running just became so apart of his routine that even if he didn't want to, he still did as if on autopilot.

Pulling out of the morning sidewalk traffic when he reached his stoop, he closed his eyes as he folded his hands behind his back, breathing slowly, he stretched out his shoulders and back as his pulse returned to a resting rhythm. Moving slowly, he stretched his legs on the stone pillar at the steps before shaking out his legs and leaving the cold morning Philadelphia air behind as he went inside. He was hungry. Starting up his stove, he rummaged through his fridge, pulling out a carton of eggs, sausage links, cheese, tomato, and onion. His mouth watered as he prepared the omelet and he could barely wait to eat it once it was done, nearly burning his tongue as he took the first bite. He turned the news on just for background noise but he wasn't really paying attention to it as he scrolled through social media on his phone.

Unlike a lot of the other people he worked with, he always felt his days off were extremely dull and boring. The only person whose days off were duller was Mace Windu and he was basically a vampire. Anakin heaved a sigh as he tried to think of something interesting to do. He had to get groceries, pick up his dry cleaning, do the laundry… boring. He did have friends outside of work, but they obviously had jobs of their own. Kitster worked for some insurance company, Aayla ran some holistic medical practice, Sheev Palpatine worked for some company that everyone swore was crooked… basically, they all had things to do during the day and were it not for the company having (albeit reasonable) restrictions on flight time, he would gladly work Monday through Friday year round. But instead, his days off were more often than not in the middle of the week leaving him nothing to do but the tedious mundane everyday things to do and when those ran out, he was stuck watching crappy daytime television until five o'clock hit and he could go down to one of the local pubs and enjoy a sports game with friends or total strangers… Yes, this is exactly how he wants to spend his time.

It was times like this he was almost envious of Obi-Wan. He at least had someone and even before he met Satine, he had that weird red cat that sat in front of the TV all the time. Granted, he isn't desperate enough to get a cat, but the idea to try and build a robot to talk to has crossed his mind more than once. Anakin cleaned the remnants of his breakfast, rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher. He could still feel the sweat on his neck and back and now with his hunger sated, he decided a nice hot shower would work wonders on his tired muscles. Disrobing and throwing his dirty clothes in a pile by the door, he stepped under the hot water blasting from the shower head. He wished he had something like what Obi-Wan had— he wanted more than what he had. His days off could be so much more than what they are. He'd still have the typical everyday responsibilities he had to do, but there could be lunch dates, maybe after school activities if he had kids, going to restaurants for dinner, or even just staying in and enjoying each other's company. Talking or even not talking… companionship. A mutual desire for… something. Anakin didn't know. But he could see it. Waking up in the morning with someone beside him. The fuss of getting kids up and ready for school, he could make breakfast for them. Kissing Padme on the cheek before she left for work. He could drive Luke to school and pick him up. They could play video games after school, he could help with homework. And then when Padme gets home—

His eyes shot open as his hand reached out and grabbed ahold of the shower curtain as his left foot slid out from under him. He'd just barely righted himself before he realized what he had been thinking about. Padme.