Title: A Clever Seduction
Author: Chrissykat

Ship: Dormékin
Category: Drama/Angst/Romance
Part: Flirting Friends
Rating: PG/PG13/R (Future Chapters)
Authors Note: Here is the latest installment of my Dormékin tale. The characters of Dormé Jaffa, Anakin Skywalker, Palpatine, Padmé Amidala, Teckla, and Nandi do not belong to me and I am using them without permission of Lucas Films ltd. The Dormékin ship belongs to Cariel and I thank her for letting me dabble in this wonderful fandom.

Please remember to read and review! Enjoy!

The Samukaa who had been standing near her immediately set upon her, his sword pointed at the young woman lying in pain before him. Dormé looked at him with angry tears forming in her eyes. "Urugalshe baraed, ke saabarra" she spit out venomously.

"Sig kinattu!" He shouted back at her as he raised his sword.

Dormé closed her eyes, raised her chin high, and prepared herself for the final blow.

Dormé sat defiantly with her eyes closed, but the blow from the Samukaa never came.

Upon opening her eyes, she understood why. Lying on the ground in front of her was the one who had been threatening her. There was a large, charred hole through his chest and his head was clearing missing.

In a desperate attempt to get away from the corpse, Dormé forgot about her injured arm and cried out at the pain that tore through her arm. Pulling her hand away from the wound, she bit back the bile rising in her throat. Her upper arm looked charred. The skin blackened; some of it clearly burnt right off and only a small portion of healthy, pink skin was visible underneath.

Dormé closed her eyes once more, trying to regain her equilibrium. It was a useless gesture and she quickly sought out Anakin. He wasn't difficult to spot of course with his lightsaber flashing through the air. She watched as he viciously struck down one Samukaa after another.

Anakin had launched into attack as soon as he reached Dormé. Landing in front of the startled Samukka, a dark grin passed over the young Jedi's face. He could feel the fear dripping off the soldier. Without further hesitation, Anakin thrust his lightsaber through the man's torso before relieving the Samukka of his head. Spinning around and rapidly losing himself to the dark side, the Jedi set off to dispatch the rest of the slime that had attacked them.

Dormé watched as long as she could before the pain and exhaustion of the battle made her vision blurry. Putting her head down she tried her best to see to her own wound.

The battle ended almost as quickly as it had begun and the haze of the dark side that surrounded him began to dissipate. Breathing heavily from his exertions, Anakin turned off his lightsaber. While the haze was gone, a more oppressing disorientation now gripped him. Anakin was so overcome that he could feel his hands shaking as he looked upon all those he had killed. The first inklings of nausea were unpleasant, but he forced himself to brush it off for the time being. Turning around he rushed back over to Dormé. "Dormé…"

She tried to focus on his face as she replied. "I…I'm alright. It's not bad, really. We have to get out of here though." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but her concerns where genuine. How would they explain the mess around them?

Anakin could feel her shaking and saw that she had ripped part of the dress she was wearing and tied it around her injured arm. The wrap covered only a small portion of the wound, but from what he could see, the blaster had done its job well. However, unless they could come up with a very good excuse for the massacre of these men, they were going to have to move fast. "Come on. I'm going to get you out of here." He lifted her up into his arms and the pair made for their boat at top speed.

An hour later, they finally arrived at the Lakehouse. Getting there was uncomfortable, not only for Dormé, who was in pain, but for him as well. Though growing up on Tatooine should have made him happy to see water, previous experiences gave him a strong aversion to large bodies of water not to mention rain. During the entire boat ride, Anakin forced himself to focus on tending to Dormé to keep his mind off his own fears.

She remained conscious throughout the whole ordeal. For that, he was grateful because they never would have found their boat had she passed out. By the time they reached their destination, Dormé was losing the battle to stay awake. Anakin was worried that she might be going into shock. The boat came to a stop and with the help of several servants, Anakin managed to get her inside.

He barely heard the servant girls calling for a doctor for 'the senator' as he gently laid Dormé down onto a couch. Anakin untied the makeshift bandage around her arm. When he saw the entire wound, he was amazed that she hadn't already passed out. Yet, she lay there looking up at him, her eyes a bit glazed. "You're going to be okay, I promise you."

Amazed at her own strength, Dormé smiled weakly up at him. "I know…I'm sure…my Jedi protector…will allow…nothing less."

Something in her voice concerned him. Anakin thought it best she remained conscious at least until the doctor arrived. "What kind of Jedi protector would I be if did?" His attention was drawn back to her injury.

She watched the expression on Anakin's face as he inspected her arm. By now, Dormé realized that she could barely feel her arm. Perhaps the blaster had done more damage then she thought. Anakin's inward grimace only confirmed her suspicion. "Well, I suppose…I could learn to sword fight with my other hand" she spoke jokingly. At his puzzlement, she elaborated. "My arm is numb."

Anakin squeezed her hand, "Once the doctor arrives, he'll have you patched up and swinging that sword in no time. Just relax." He only hoped his words would ring true.

The wait for the doctor took too long in Anakin's opinion. When the doctor did arrive and had set about healing Dormé, Anakin finally gave in to his own exhaustion collapsing into a nearby chair.

He didn't know how long he had slept when the doctor roused him. Anakin rubbed his eyes, spreading his focus to Dormé's still form and on the man in front of him.

"She is resting now son." The doctor addressed the younger man. "She will probably be unconscious for a few hours."

Anakin nodded his head before asking, "Will she be alright? She spoke of not having much feeling in her arm."

The doctor noted the obvious concern in Anakin's voice. "The blaster did cause more damage then normal. That might have to do with the distance she was from whoever fired at her. I was able to clean up the damaged flesh and treated the injury with some bacta. Infection is my main concern, but I have wrapped up her arm. I am hopeful that the bacta salve will stave off that particular complication."

"Can't you have the equipment brought here somehow?" As always, Anakin's voice rose with his growing frustration. Though he was grateful to the doctor, he was more irritated that Dormé had not received all the necessary care she needed.

"It would take days to make the preparations. There is always the possibility of bringing her Theed, but I would rather not move her until she is conscious. For right now, there is no need to put her through such an ordeal. We must let the bacta do its job." The doctor calmly suggested.

As he looked over at Dormé, Anakin frowned. "Isn't there anything else you can do?"

The doctor shook his head. "I will leave some instructions for cleaning the injury and some pain medication, until she is well enough to travel to Theed for the skin grafts. If you follow those instructions she will avoid infection and losing her arm entirely." He patted Anakin's shoulder before turning to fetch his things.

Anakin watched the doctor place a data pad with instructions and a Narco-mist spray for pain, on one of the small tables, before departing. As he kept his silent vigil over Dormé, Anakin never saw the sly grin the doctor gave them as he left.

Upon returning to his office, the doctor sent a quick dispatch to Coruscant.

Palpatine was listening to one of his favorite operas when a message from Naboo reached him. His disgruntlement at being disturbed turned to delight. The Samukaa had done their job well. Unfortunately, for them, Skywalker had reacted in just the manner Palpatine had predicted. Duke Jaffa would no doubt attempt to contact him about the loss of his favorite troops. As he read the report, his displeasure with Duke Jaffa grew. The man had gone against his wishes; he had ordered Jaffa to have the Samukaa capture the girl, not to try to kill her.

Though the handmaiden's injury was unexpected, it was not entirely an unfortunate happenstance. Her injury had obviously provoked a very strong reaction from Skywalker. Another attack would no doubt provoke him even closer to the dark side. For now though, Palpatine would allow them both to heal and get closer. He contacted the doctor and told him that he was to spare no expense to heal the girl. She was not to die…yet.

Anakin had fallen asleep while he kept his vigil over Dormé. His nightmares did not let him sleep for long. The images of his mother calling out to him, shifted to Dormé. He saw her screaming as she fell slowly to the ground during the battle. Unlike the battle they had fought, he was not in time to save her and he watched helplessly as the Samukka killed her.

His eyes shot open as her screams faded. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked down at Dormé. She was looking up at him, her eyes filled with concern. "Anakin…" She was still groggy from the medicine the doctor had given her.

"Dormé, you're awake. How are you feeling?" He whispered back, sitting forward in his chair, and brushing a strand of hair out her eyes.

"Like I just went a few rounds with a gundark" Dormé smirked "I can feel my arm again at least…boy does it hurt."

Anakin grinned back but it faded when she mentioned her pain. "The doctor left some pain medicine…" He was about to get up and retrieve it, but her hand on his sleeve stopped him.

Dormé shook her head, motioning for him to sit back down, "No…it's not that bad. Pain is good." She shifted position so she could sit up more, wincing as she moved. Once she was situated, she looked back at him. "What did the doctor say?"

"He was concerned with the numbness in your arm, but it appears that particular symptom has vanished." Anakin grinned before continuing. "The blaster did a lot of burn damage because your assailant was so close. You will need skin grafts to cover the damage, but he can only perform that in Theed."

"I see." Dormé looked down at her bandaged arm. She had glimpsed the skin underneath after she was hit. The burns would leave a terrible scar of that much she was sure. "When does he think he can perform the skin grafts?" She was anxious to get them done as soon as possible.

"The doctor didn't want to move you again while you were unconscious. As soon as your feeling up to moving around, we can head back to Theed, I suppose." Anakin was still rather displeased that the doctor was so quick to put off her complete healing, but he had agreed that the journey back would have been entirely too uncomfortable for her.

Desperate to get the skin grafts she needed, Dormé slowly swung her legs over the side of the couch. Pain rushed through her arm, but she brushed it off. "There's no sense in wasting anymore time, then."

Anakin was quick to stop her as she wobbled slightly as she got to her feet. Though he was impressed by her strength and determination, he was well aware that she was still not ready to make the trip back to Theed. "Whoa there Dormé, there will be plenty of time for that. You need rest. Besides, we've both been asleep for several hours. The sun is setting already."

Dormé looked towards one of the windows in the room. Sure enough, the sky held the pinkish hue of sunset. She sighed and let Anakin guide her back down onto the couch. She tried not to show her disappointment as she spoke. "I suppose it will have to wait till tomorrow then."

"Don't worry Dormé. It will be the first thing on our list of things to do." Anakin grinned trying to cheer her up. There was a quiet moment between them before both their stomachs began to protest, grumbling rather loudly. "I think we best see if "the senators" servants can fix us some food."

"That's probably a good idea." Dormé giggled lightly, blushing at the sounds her stomach was making.

Even when she blushed, Anakin couldn't help but think that Dormé was lovely. It brought color back into her face, which was a far better sight then the paleness he had seen hours earlier. "Just rest, I will return." He gave her one more look before crossing the room towards the door.

Dormé watched him go with a smile, but her smile faded once he was out of sight. Eventually he would want to know who it was that had attacked them. She knew who they were…the only question she asked herself was why.

When Anakin returned, he informed her that the cook was already preparing some food. Shortly after he returned, another servant came in to show Anakin where he would be sleeping for his stay there. Padmé had already briefed Dormé about what room was hers, and so she easily slipped into the role of Padmé. She told the servant that she would do the honors. Anakin protested at first, but Dormé was nothing if not persistent. "My room is probably not far from yours and I would like to freshen up a bit anyway."

Anakin hadn't really noticed that her dress, so beautiful that morning was now in shambles. His only concern had been to get her to safety. "Of course, as you wish…milady."

They walked in companionable silence. He walked slowly not wanting to push her. When they reached his room, Dormé finally spoke. "I was right." She leaned in to whisper, pointing down the hallway, "According to milady, my rooms are right there at the end of the hallway".

He insisted on walking her to her door. Once she was safe inside, Anakin went back to his own room to change.

Dinner was very delicious and before they knew it, the servants Teckla and Nandi were placing dessert in front of Dormé and Anakin. Dormé grabbed her fork and went to spear a piece of fruit when the piece moved. Frowning and thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her, she tried again only to watch as the piece moved once more. She looked up at Anakin whose eyes were focused on his plate. "Did you…did you see that?"

Anakin pasted a look of confusion on his face as he looked over at his companion. "See what?" He looked back at his plate and grinned.

Dormé turned her attention back to her own plate. She must be going crazy, either that or the pain medicine was making her see things. She stabbed at the piece of fruit again, this time it floated into the air. Dormé gasped in surprise, dropping her fork onto the table. "Anakin…look."

Planning it just right, the piece of fruit he was levitating floated back down to the plate just as he looked over at Dormé. "What is it, what's wrong?" It was getting harder and harder to hide his grin when he spoke.

"Um…nothing…I guess." Dormé carefully picked up her fork. As she brought the fork down toward the fruit slice, it floated back up into the air. When she looked over at Anakin this time, she saw him moving his hand and laughing, now unable to hold it back. Realizing he had been making it move all along, she shook her head in amazement. "You…you did that…how?"

Anakin floated the fruit piece over to his own plate. "Its one of the things you learn when you're a Jedi. I'm not sure how it really works though. Actually, if Obi wan were here and saw me do that, he'd be very grumpy." He cut the fruit piece into two smaller pieces then watched happily, as Dormé stabbed one in the air with her fork and ate it.

Dormé chewed on her piece of fruit, finishing it before replying. "It's amazing. You had me thinking I was seeing things."

They laughed at his little joke and finished eating their desert before retiring to the sitting room.

A fire crackled in the fireplace as they sat down. Anakin sat right next to her on the couch. It made her feel even more self-conscious then she already was. Dormé didn't mind the dress she was wearing. In fact, she wished it were hers and not the senators. She just did not want rumors to fly; rumors that may tarnish Padmés reputation. However, with her arm bandaged, pulling up the sleeve of any of the other dresses she had brought with her was just too painful. Brushing her own concerns aside, Dormés' eyes strayed over to the fire.

The firelight bathed her face in a warm glow. Anakin couldn't help but look at her. "May I tell you something Dormé?"

"I don't know, I suppose it depends on what it is?" Dormé replied jokingly. She was certain he was going to ask about her grandfathers soldiers.

Anakin smirked. "I just wanted to ask you … when we were battling those men earlier…um… I mean...well...your swordsmanship was incredible. You moved so fluidly through your opponents."

Caught off guard by his compliment, Dormé could almost feel the blush rise to her cheeks. "Thank you. I had a good teacher."

"Your teacher had an excellent student." Anakin contradicted. Again, they both drifted into silence again.

Each time he looked at her, Dormé quickly looked back down at her hands. Soon the silence began to grate on her nerves. She wished he would ask about the Samukka already. Deciding that she should approach the issue, Dormé spoke up. "Anakin…I think we need to discuss the attack."

Anakin lowered his eyes. "I should have sensed those men sooner. If I had, we could have gotten out of there instead of having to confront them. You wouldn't have been injured and…" he rambled on until Dormé placed a finger over his lips.

"Anakin…stop. My injury wasn't your fault." Dormé pulled her finger away from his lips and sighed. "These things happen, the Samukaa are well known for their fighting ability."

"Samukaa…?" He recalled her saying that right after the first blast. "You know who those men were?"

Dormé nodded. "They are called Samukaa. They're bodyguards and the law enforcers in Uriash."

"Where you're from?" Anakin injected, recalling that Uriash was her home before becoming a handmaiden.

"Yes…they…they are under the direct order of Duke Jaffa…my grandfather." She let that sink in for a moment before continuing. "The Samukaa are trained in the martial arts at an early age, conditioned to be loyal only to the Duke. Most of the people of Naboo know them well and they are second only to the royal guard."

Anakin bit his lip as he listened. One thing puzzled him, "Why would your grandfather send these men to kill Padmé?"

Dormé swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't think", she paused "I don't know if it's even possible, but I don't think he sent them to kill Senator Amidala".

Quick to catch on to her meaning, Anakin still had his doubts. "He was after you. How would he have known that you were you? I mean…that you weren't Padmé?" It seemed highly implausible that one of the servants had figured out the ruse. Even injured, Dormé had maintained the same mannerisms as Padmé.

"That is something I can not answer. Perhaps I failed to convince someone. If so, then I have jeopardized everything." Dormé stood up quickly, starting to pace. "How I ever thought I could do this is beyond me. Milady had so much confidence in me, but I've failed her." As she walked, the black headpiece slipped forward on her hair. Dormé yanked it off, tossing it onto the floor, before slumping back down onto the couch. She placed her head in her hands as the tears gathered in her eyes.

"I didn't sense any deception among the servants. They all believe you to be Padmé." Anakin moved a bit closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You haven't failed anyone Dormé. In fact, I think Padmé would be proud of how you have handled the situation." He lifted her head up. "Dormé, listen to me. We will figure this out, I promise you." Two small tears trickled down her cheeks and he wiped them away.

She sniffled once as she looked into his eyes. Just like on the freighter, Anakin's' face was so close to her. Dormé could feel her heart pounding and swore that he could probably hear it as well.

He didn't understand why, but he hated to see Dormé sad. Somewhere along the way, she had wedged herself into his heart.

Neither Anakin nor Dormé knew how it happened or why, but slowly their lips touched in a soft, gentle kiss. It lingered on and on, Anakin holding her face in his hands; Dormé let one hand drift to his padawan braid. She twirled it between her fingers as she kissed him. Anakin's hands drifted to her waist, pulling her closer.

Dormé continued to twirl his braid between the fingers on one hand, while the other hand snaked around his neck, tangling in his dirty blonde locks. Something about his lips on hers just felt so right.

Just as the moment threatened to spin out of control, Anakin pulled away. His hands dropped away and he quickly stood up from the couch. "That…I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that."

Dormé opened her eyes as the kiss ended. She was hurt when he so abruptly pulled away. His apology added to this feeling. She wasn't sorry about kissing him and was confused at why he was. "Did I…did I do something wrong?"

Anakin turned away to get his emotions in check, then he turned back to Dormé. "No…we um…we should just get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day." Inside his mind was screaming at him to get out of there and fast.

Upset that her actions may have cost her the friendship formed with Anakin, and unwilling to risk further damage, Dormé quietly replied, "Yes…you're probably right." She stood up and went to pick up the headpiece she had tossed on the floor. Her arm was starting ache again as well as her heart.

Anakin walked with Dormé back to her room. They spoke no words to one another and it was painfully clear that something had changed between them, though neither was certain just what that was.

Once they reached the door to her room, he bid Dormé a simple goodnight then hastily retreated to his room. Bewilderment had set in; he wondered what had provoked him to kiss Padmés decoy?

It would be a long time before the young Jedi came to realize that his once passionate feelings for the Senator of Naboo had faded to a mere childhood crush.

That it was Dormé, who now truly held that place in his heart.

Tbc

Sneak Peak

Dormé approached Anakin slowly as he stood silently on the balcony. As she drew closer, she realized that his eyes were closed and that he appeared to be meditating.

Thinking it was best not to disturb him, Dormé turned around to go back inside.

"Please don't go" Anakin spoke softly, not moving at all.