CHAPTER III

Night fell on the city, but that didn't stop the bustle of the city. Coruscant never slept. It was always moving. At night you would have to travel to the abandoned sectors of the city. But that was too dangerous. They weren't all that abandoned. Scum and thieves waited there for those fools who wanted to see the stars. And those fools would never been seen again.

Padme longed to see the stars this night. She wanted to try and locate the star system Anakin would be at, but it wouldn't be possible. Not unless the whole entire city had a power outage, but that also wasn't possible. Coruscant had millions of backup generators to help until people got the main power restored. No...she knew the only way. Then it occurred to her. She wasn't longing for just the stars; she was longing for Anakin. But he'd only been gone for mere hours. Why did she long for him so?

Padme ran her hands across her stomach, where her and Anakin's child was. This was the reason she wanted him back on Coruscant. She wanted to tell him so bad. Anakin would be gone for a whole month, but she didn't want to tell him over a communicator. She wanted him to know in person. She was just bursting to tell everyone. She couldn't do that. The only ones who could be trusted with this knowledge were Zak and 3PO. Padme took a deep breath and shook the thoughts off. She had to concentrate on her work at the moment.

It had been a few hours since she had sat down to work, when the door alert rang. Padme stood, but 3PO was already ahead of her to the door. She waited to hear who it was.

"Jedi Master Ronan! What a pleasant surprise! Miss Padme! We have a guest!" 3PO exclaimed.

Padme couldn't help but chuckle at 3PO's excitement. 3PO came into view, followed closely by Zak. She was surprised to see him here tonight. They didn't have dinner until tomorrow. "Zak! What a surprise. What brings you here?"

Zak smiled at her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Padme, I came here to tell you something."

Padme actually looked hopeful. She remembered earlier and how distressed he looked. "What is it? Is it about earlier?"

Zak shook his head. "No. Actually...its not about that. Um..." Zak paused for a long moment and looked at her. "Obi-Wan reported something to the Council tonight. The Separatist armada is coming here in at least a months time."

Padme was taken aback and surprised. "Well...do we inform the Senate?"

"No. The Council isn't one hundred percent sure that it is going to be in a month. It could be as long as two or three months. Maybe even a year, but...we are not going to inform the Senate. The Council doesn't feel it necessary at this moment in time," Zak explained.

Padme nodded and almost immediately pushed that aside. She had grown curious as to his thoughts of earlier in the day. She just had to know what he was thinking. Was it something about Anakin or about her? What was it? Padme walked over to her balcony and looked out over the city. There was something beautiful about it tonight she thought.

Zak watched her as she looked out over the city. She looked so beautiful this night. Her hair was pulled into a high pony tail and it look, like always, as silk. Her skin was soft. But she looked slightly distracted. He walked over to her and placed his hands on the balcony railing. He looked out across the city. "Its nice tonight isn't it?" Zak said, in an attempt to break the silence.

Padme nodded. "Yes it is. Its very nice. I just wish I could see the stars tonight. But that doesn't matter right now." She looked over at Zak, who returned her gaze. She placed a gentle hand on his and looked him in the eyes. "What was really bothering you earlier Zak? We've been friends for twelve years. You can talk to me. And don't give me that line about it not being the right time to talk about it."

Zak was taken aback by this. He could tell that she was concerned. He didn't want to trouble her with his problems. But he wasn't going to get out of this and he wouldn't dream of trying to do a mind trick on her. He loved her too much for that. Zak looked at her. He knew he couldn't hide it from her anymore.

"Zak please...talk to me. Whatever it is, maybe I can help you," Padme said with an unusually gentle tone in her voice.

Zak looked down at her hand on his. A wave of emotion hit him. He knew that he had nothing to fear if she was really a true friend, and he knew that she was. He looked at her, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Padme...I don't know how you'll react to this. I know you are married. I was there when you got married. I would never dream of coming between you and Anakin-" Zak was cut off by the sound of a communicator alarm. It wasn't his.

Padme sighed, looked longingly into Zak's eyes, and walked to the comm, turning it on. A hologram of Anakin appeared. Padme's face lit up when she saw it was him. "Anakin! I'm so glad that you contacted me!" she exclaimed.

Zak could see the hologram of Anakin smiling at Padme. Anakin was just as excited to see her as she was to see him. Zak looked at them as they talked. He sighed and took this moment to sneak out. When he reached the door, he saw 3PO standing next to it. "3PO. Could you tell Miss Padme something for me?" Zak asked.

"Of course Master Zak! Anything!" 3PO said excitedly.

"Tell her that the Jedi called me away to the Temple and that I will see her for dinner tomorrow evening please," Zak told 3PO.

"I will indeed sir! Good bye!" 3PO said and walked back into the main room of the apartment.

Zak sighed and left the apartment. He walked down the corridor to the landing platform, got in his speeder, and sped off to the Jedi Temple.

Padme turned off the communicator and looked around. Zak was gone. When did he leave? "3PO? Could you come here a moment please," she called.

3PO came out of the back room and looked at Padme. "Yes Miss Padme? How may I help you?"

"3PO, where did Zak go?" she asked.

"Oh! He told me to tell you that the Jedi Council called him away and he will see you tomorrow evening when he comes by for dinner," 3PO told her.

"Thank you 3PO. You may go," Padme said, with a light sad tone in her voice. She felt like crying because Zak had not said goodbye to her. He never left without saying goodbye. A tear slid from her eye down her cheek. There was something very wrong with Zak and she had to know what it was. She had to help him.

She was going to go to him tonight. She decided that she would do what ever was necessary to help him. Then it occurred to her, there was this feeling she was getting. She couldn't figure it out. It was more than friendship she was feeling for Zak. Then it hit her. Maybe she was falling in love with him.