Part 16: What Misconceptions May Prevent.
Obi-Wan may have let the words take flight within the Force, but he had doubted that there would be a truth to them. During the years since her term as Senator began, on the rare occasions whenever they were on Coruscant at the same time, their duties allowed them little time together beyond the usual brief acknowledgement in passing as they walked along the corridors of the Senate, or if they passed each other in traffic.
He had not accounted for the Chancellor asking that his former sovereign was placed under the protection of the Order, or for Palpatine to suggest that he should be in charge of said protection. Not that he was unhappy with the decision, because it might give him and Padmé the opportunity to talk about things which neither felt comfortable saying over the com.
However, assigning him meant assigning his padawan. A few years ago Qui-Gon would have taken the reins of responsibility concerning the Chosen One from him, but his former Master was no longer able to leave the Temple for field missions. His health was increasingly erratic, the seizures more and more frequent, each one worse than the one before. Just before he and Anakin were sent to Ansion, one took hold of Qui-Gon, grounding him in the healers ward.
It had taken a great deal of persuasion to call the padawan from his beside. Even now that they had returned, the boy's emotions were still conflicted, making Obi-Wan doubt that the Council was right to obey the Chancellor in giving them this assignment.
"You seem a little on edge, Anakin," he observed now, glancing at his companion in the turbolift as it rose upward towards the apartment of the Senator from Naboo.
"Not at all," Anakin lied.
"I haven't felt you this tense since we fell into that nest of gundarks," Obi-Wan added, ignoring the lie in his attempt to get the young man to calm.
"You fell into that nightmare, Master, and I rescued you, remember?" Anakin reminded him pointedly.
"Oh yes," Obi-Wan chuckled, causing the Padawan to smile. "You're sweating. Relax. Take a deep breath."
"I haven't seen her in ten years, Master," Anakin said as he admitted the true source of his anxiety at last.
"She's not the Queen anymore, Anakin," Obi-Wan reminded him.
"That's not why I'm nervous," his Padawan murmured.
You're not the only one, Obi-Wan thought, allowing the words to pass no further than the privacy of his own mind. He recalled one of the last times he had talked with her before they left Naboo, the constant desire to behave rationally, to make allowances for her youth, and in the end she had been the one who offered the mature proposal. He wondered if she still felt the same way. His feelings had changed it was true, but only in the sense that they were deeper and better founded.
He remembered holding her on the platform, the remains of the explosion behind her, the way she clung to him as she poured out her grief. She had grown more beautiful in the month since he last saw and spoke to her, if that were possible. He hoped that the death of her decoy and handmaiden did not grieve her too much. Her compassion for others was one of the many things he loved about her, but often compassion could lead to one's undoing, as he recalled her affectionate promise to his padawan all those years ago on her ship. She had no idea of course that Anakin would take the words in the way that he did, but that one moment was bound to cause them trouble in the future.
The turbolift came to a halt and Knight and Padawan stepped out to walk into the reception hall of the apartment, coming face to face with a joyful and overly enthusiastic Gungan, who thanks to his anxiety the night before made no reference in his greeting to the fact that Obi-Wan had been here yesterday. The Jedi was grateful for that discretion, unintentional it may be, for the knowledge of such an event was hardly likely to eliminate Anakin's present internal conflict.
"Obi! Obi! Obi! Mesa sooo smilen to seein yousa. Wahooooo!" Jar Jar cried.
The Gungan's enthusiasm was infectious. Obi-Wan smiled as he shook the large hands that reached out to greet him. "It's good to see you, too, Jar Jar. You remember my apprentice, Anakin Skywalker?"
Jar Jar grew even more excited. "Noooooooo! Ani? Noooooooo! Little bitty Ani? Noooooooo! Yousa so biggen! Yiyiyiyyi! Ani!"
"Hi, Jar Jar," Anakin replied before his breath was taken away as the Gungan swept him up into a hug.
"Shesa expecting yousa. Ani... Mesa no believen!"
Obi-Wan's gaze moved from his apprentice to take in the rest of the room, a motion which he did not have the time to do so the night before. As with most apartments belonging to the Senators, the rooms seemed to a reminder of home, and every inch of this apartment displayed the beauty of Naboo.
"Mesa here. Lookie... lookie... Senator. Desa Jedi arriven," Jar Jar declared as he led the Jedi towards the Senator.
Padmé broke from her conference with Dormé and Captain Typho to step forward and greet her new protectors.
Obi-Wan bowed before her. "It's a great pleasure to see you again, Milady."
"It has been far too long, Master Kenobi," Padmé uttered as she took his hand. "I'm so glad our paths have crossed again. But I must warn you that I think your presence here is unnecessary."
He smiled at her, his understanding unspoken, yet heard as always. "I'm sure the Jedi Council has their reasons."
She turned to his apprentice, whom she had not seen since their farewell on Naboo, for it was much more difficult for Padawans to leave the temple in search of acquaintances than it was for their Knights and Masters. "Ani? My goodness, you've grown."
Anakin tried for smoothness and as usual forgot the other half of Yoda's most quoted doctrine, thus failing abysmally. "So have you... grown more beautiful, I mean... and much shorter... for a Senator, I mean."
Obi-Wan turned to glare at him for crossing the lines of protocol once more, but Padmé just laughed, letting the meaning behind the sentence disappear. "Oh Ani, you'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine."
As his apprentice fell into embarrassed silence, Obi-Wan spoke again. "Our presence will be invisible, Milady, I can assure you."
"I'm very grateful you're here, Master Kenobi," Captain Typho remarked. "The situation is more dangerous than the Senator will admit."
Padmé shook her head as she found a seat, gesturing for the Jedi to do also. "I don't need more security, I need answers. I want to know who is trying to kill me."
"We're here to protect you Senator, not to start an investigation," Obi-Wan declared firmly, too firmly for his apprentice's liking.
Anakin forgot his embarrassment in face of his anxiety over her safety. "We will find out who's trying to kill you Padmé, I promise you."
Obi-Wan turned to him with a telling look. "We will not exceed our mandate, my young Padawan learner!"
"I meant in the interest of protecting her, Master, of course," Anakin rapidly tried to rephrase his assurance.
But as usual Obi-Wan saw through the cover. "We will not go through this exercise again, Anakin. And you will pay attention to my lead."
His words, the dressing down infront of Senator Amidala was too much for the young apprentice to take. "Why?"
"What?" Obi-Wan exclaimed with a calmness that was almost deadly. More and more lately, Anakin was questioning the rule of Council, chafing under their orders. Another reason why his Trials were delayed, though he had yet to realise it.
Anakin ignored the rising temper of his Master and continued to push his point home. "Why else do you think we were assigned to protect her, if not to find the killer? Protection is a job for local security. It's overkill, Master. Investigation is implied in our mandate."
"We will do exactly as the Council has instructed," Obi-Wan replied. "And you will learn your place, young one."
"Perhaps with merely your presence, the mysteries surrounding this threat will be revealed," Padmé diplomatically remarked, ending the disagreement. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will retire."
She rose to her feet and the Jedi followed suit, Obi-Wan adding a bow to the etiquette. But like his apprentice, his eyes continued to observe her as she left their presence in favour of the peaceful atmosphere of her rooms.
"Well, I know I feel a lot better having you here," Captain Typho admitted. "I'll have an officer situated on every floor and I'll be in the control centre downstairs."
"Thank you, Captain," Obi-Wan replied. "I promise you we will make sure this does not interfere with the Senator's duties. I know how important it is that she continues to carry them out during these times."
"Mesa busten wit happiness seein yousa again, Ani," Jar Jar said. "Deesa bad times, bombad times."
"She hardly recognised me, Jar Jar," Anakin uttered forlornly, sounding very much the little boy Padmé remembered. "I've thought about her every day since we parted, and she's forgotten me completely."
Jar Jar shrugged. "Shesa happy. Happier den mesa seein her in longo time."
Obi-Wan turned from Typho to his apprentice, knowing the boy needed activity before his emotive thoughts ruled him once more. "Anakin, you're focusing on the negative again. Be mindful of your thoughts. She was pleased to see us. Now lets check the security here."
"Yes, my master," Anakin replied.
Later that night, when Anakin had left the apartment to check in with the healers at Temple concerning Qui-Gon, Padmé left her room and joined Obi-Wan on the balcony.
"Milady," he bowed.
She walked forward until she was directly before him, a vision in a simple white shift, which hung loosely around her upper arms, her long dark hair pulled back into a high half ponytail, the dark curled strands cascading down her back. He noticed the chain encircling her neck, and followed the links to the end, whereupon he discovered the gift he gave her in the sands of Mos Espa ten years ago. "I'm surprised to meet again when so little has changed."
"Anakin has grown," Obi-Wan replied, puzzled as to her meaning.
"In some ways," she agreed. "In others he is still that little boy we met on Tatooine." Her hand reached out to where his were folded against his chest. "Just as you are still the knight who jumped from a palace passageway to rescue me."
Now her meaning was unmistakable. Obi-Wan allowed a hopeful smile to grace his face, letting her part his hands to stroke one of the palms with hers. "And you, milady, are still the Queen in disguise."
She understood him, as he had known she would. "Where has Ani gone to?"
"He's checking in with the Healers at the Temple," Obi-Wan replied.
"Qui-Gon's condition is worsening?" Padmé astutely inquired.
"Gradually," Obi-Wan answered. "Paradoxically. Anakin was told recently, which has heightened his emotions lately. We had hoped to keep it from him until he was ready for his trials, but Qui-Gon suffered an attack before we departed for Ansion, bringing the illness and truth out into the open."
"Do you need to continue to train him until his trials?" she asked.
"That depends on Qui-Gon," he replied. "And on Anakin."
Padmé frowned. "It appears our duties will soon part us again," she murmured.
"Perhaps," he allowed. "Neither of us are tied to one planet anymore however."
"And the Force has caused us to spend some time together," she added.
"I'm certainly not one to argue with the Force," he agreed.
"Then why don't we make use of this time it has given us?" she suggested.
"When your life is at risk?" Obi-Wan asked her. "I would not be the Jedi you believe me to be if I surrendered to that temptation."
"Obi-Wan, I have faith in your ability to protect and love me," Padmé assured him. "And if we wait, when you have found those who are after me, you'll be sent on another mission, and we will be parted again."
He looked at her, accepting her point, but still reluctant to risk her life by dividing his attention, though both would be focused on her. "Padmé, I cannot refuse you anything. But even assuming your safety, separation is a necessary part of our lives. I am a Jedi, and you are a Senator. What ever the outcome of this mission, we will have to endure some distance between us, frequently. Are you sure?"
She moved closer, her arms climbing to wrap themselves around his neck, mirroring the movement she had made when they first kissed, that brief affirmation during a separation, on Tatooine, all those years ago. Her lips touched his gently, tentatively, still a little unsure that he would agree. "Yes," she uttered, the word blowing warm breath into his mouth.
Obi-Wan barely allowed the word to finish before he kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing one against her back while raising the other in a sensuous journey upwards to entangle in her hair. As she kissed him back he pressed her closer to him, seeking to feel no barrier between them, even air.
Their lips touched and parted as they had longed to all those years ago in Mos Espa, but without the restraint of their positions from then, for now he was a Knight and Master to a Padawan, she a Senator, their love was no longer made to wait. The Force broke in chorus around them, a joyful salutation which he remembered hearing that first time, only more eloquent, more devout. He wanted more of her, and he knew from her response that she was equally desirous of him, but the Force had also warned him to the return of a witness, who would not take well to seeing the crush his heart had harboured for ten years shattered so right before his eyes.
He pulled himself gently from her embrace. "Anakin," he murmured, his tone enough to remind her to distance herself from him, and return to her bedchamber, so by the time his Padawan was pressing the door release to the main room, Obi-Wan was alone within, rising from a meditative pose on the sofa.
"How is Qui-Gon?" he asked, calling the wondering gaze of his apprentice to come to rest upon him.
"Recovering," Anakin replied. "He agrees with me that investigation is implied within our mandate."
Obi-Wan frowned. This was another piece of the Padawan's behaviour which alarmed him more and more of late; the constant determination to pit his and Qui-Gon's styles of teaching against one another. His former Master's affection for the boy forced him to become the disciplinarian, a role he did not relish. "At some point we may be called upon to track down the source behind the attacks on Senator Amidala. But for now our role is to protect."
Anakin nodded, his thoughts displayed across his face, clearly now occupied elsewhere. Obi-Wan noted the shadows underneath his eyes, recalling their presence during the mission to Ansion. "You look tired."
"I don't sleep well anymore," Anakin admitted.
"Because of your mother?" Obi-Wan sought to confirm what he and Qui-Gon suspected to be the source of their Padawan's recent anxiety.
Their apprentice sighed. "I don't know why I keep dreaming about her now. I haven't seen her since I was little."
"Dreams pass in time," Obi-Wan reminded him.
"I'd rather dream of Padmé," Anakin revealed. "Just being around her again is intoxicating."
"Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin, they betray you," Obi-Wan remarked, inwardly aware that he was walking a fine line between his own emotions as well as that of his Padawan. "You've made a commitment to the Jedi Order, a commitment not easily broken. While you are still a Padawan such thoughts are forbidden. And don't forget she's a politician. They're not to be trusted."
"She's not like the others in the Senate, Master," Anakin protested.
"It's been my experience that Senators are only focused on pleasing those who fund their campaigns," Obi-Wan argued in the hope that it would make his apprentice see maturity. "And they are more than willing to forget the niceties of democracy to get those funds."
But as usual it was a vain one in favour of the Padawan's dimming enthusiasm concerning his teaching methods. "Not another lecture, Master. Not on the economics of politics. And besides, you're generalising. The Chancellor doesn't appear to be corrupt."
Obi-Wan held reservations over that. "Palpatine's a politician. I've observed that he is very clever at following the passions and prejudices of the Senators."
"I think he is a good man," Anakin protested. "My instincts are very positive about..." abruptly he broke off, turning towards the bedroom where Padmé was sleeping.
The Knight was already moving towards the source of the disturbance he detected in the Force. "I sense it, too."
Anakin was the faster and reached their destination first, bursting through into the bedroom to find two Kouhuns crawling across the bed towards the sleeping Senator. Rapidly he leapt upon the bed, drawing out his lightsaber to slash the creatures in half, killing them.
Padmé woke and instinctively shied away from the bright laser sword, her gaze almost running from Anakin's harsh one to that of his Master.
Obi-Wan met her eyes only for a moment, before his caught a slight movement outside the large shuttered window. He then broke into a run, crashing through the glass to catch the assasin probe in his arms before it could take flight.
A shocked gasp escaped her at this display of his abilities, and she turned in time to hear Anakin ordering her to stay here before running out of the room to help his Master.
Typho and Dormé entered the room then, the latter sitting upon the bed before her. "Are you all right, Milady?" she asked.
Padmé nodded, her gaze moving back towards the broken window, where Obi-Wan had disappeared. The reality of what had just happened was only now beginning to sink through. She glanced at the remains of the Kouhuns upon her bed, knowing them to be poisonous. Yet she could not help but think that Obi-Wan had taken the greater risk by grabbing the droid who transported them, in the hope that the machine would lead him to the assassin.
"You need to move out of here, Senator," Typho commanded, and Dormé rose from the bed to fetch a dressing gown.
"I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway," Padmé informed them as she stood, letting her handmaiden place the robe about her shoulders. She headed for the living area.
Captain Typho followed her and Dormé. "I'll call maintenance and have them clean the area once the evidence has been examined," he remarked.
"Thank you, Captain," Padmé uttered as she sank down on to one of large sofas where she had been talking with Obi-Wan and Anakin mere hours before. The memory of that discussion was too poignant for her to remain settled and she rose once more to pace near the balcony, knowing Typho and Dormé would not allow her to go out upon it and keep watch for the two men which occupied her thoughts.
Where were they now, she asked herself, almost fearing to imagine the journey Obi-Wan was taking, at the mercy of the probe, dodging and weaving through the airborne traffic until Anakin presumably caught up with him in a transport. The moment he broke into a run and leapt through her window haunted her mind, which unconsciously seemed to have slowed the pace of it down, allowing her to see the skill behind it, the miraculous talent of the Force.
She often dreamt of the time he had shown it to her, all those years ago on Tatooine, when their love was somehow innocent, despite the threat to herself and her world. In the decade since then he must have gown in his ability to use the Force, just as Anakin had gown in height and into his own powers, though clearly not in control of his emotions.
She had felt the conflict from him and she was borderline Force sensitive. Obi-Wan had confided in her during their conversations over coms about his doubts concerning the boy, his uncertainty in his teaching style, how Qui-Gon's methods often forced him into being sterner than he would have liked. She saw that earlier this evening, as Anakin questioned the meaning behind Council's mandate concerning her. Clearly the boy lacked control of his emotions, the discipline which Obi-Wan had seemed more secure in when he was a Padawan.
Padmé wondered if he had been like that when he was Anakin's age, for when she first saw him he was five years older, yet even as she contemplated the thought, she could not make it reality. She recalled her conversations with Ani a decade ago, contrasting the man whom she had seen now, and not liking the result. He had wanted to become a Jedi so much. Yet now the apprenticeship seemed to be hanging over him like a shadow, becoming a burden he was unprepared for. Obi-Wan had questioned ten years ago if it was right to take him into the Temple, and she now feared that he had been right to do so.