Chapter Nine

Anakin and Ciana wandered down the sidewalks of Coruscant, looking around everywhere. For Ciana, this was a new experience, she had never been on this part of Coruscant with Padme, but now Anakin was showing her around, so obviously she'd see different places.

Anakin looked at her and chuckled as he saw the look of wonder on her face as she tried to look at everything at once.

"Try not to look at everything at once, you just might miss something important." he teased.

Ciana smirked and tried to stop staring at everything.

"So, where can we go first?"

Anakin was still looking at her, so he barely missed colliding with someone in front of him. He sidestepped that person, bumping into Ciana, who in turn alone would have fallen if Anakin had not grabbed her around the waist to keep her steady. They stared at each other, their faces barely inches apart. Everything else disappeared, so it seemed as if they were the only ones in the whole universe. Anakin lowered his head down towards hers, but Ciana was the first to move away from him. She untangled herself from him and turned to walk.

"Not here in public!" she hissed, walking from him, she could feel her cheeks burning but she tried to keep her face calm.

Anakin stared after her…he finally came to his senses and followed after her. A smirk came to his face as a certain thought came through his mind. Hmm, she said not in public..does that mean I can kiss her in private? Anakin followed Ciana, unbeknownst to him that there was a silly grin on his face.

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Obi-Wan led Padme into Dex's Diner, making sure not to bump into anyone. He sat across from her, settling as comfortably as he could against the bench. He ordered their food as soon a waitress droid appeared at their table. Once the waitress droid left, Obi-Wan and Padme just sat there, each lost in their own thoughts and both of them knew they didn't have to talk, they were comfortable in their silence.

Once their food came, they stared eating, about half way through her bantha hamburger, Padme looked up into Obi-Wan's eyes. She tried not to squirm under his watchful gaze. She cleared her throat and set her fry back down on her plate, she subconsciously smoothed the napkin on her lap to clean her sweaty hands.

"Obi-Wan…"

"Yes?"

"I need to tell you som--..." an image of someone outside the window caught her attention and she never finished her sentence. "Anakin?" she whispered to herself, as she saw that Anakin was with Ciana and they were walking into Dex's Diner. Padme looked at Obi-Wan, she prepared to stand up but was delayed by Dex, the owner of this diner, walking over to their table. Dex smiled and clapped Obi-Wan on the back.

"Hello, Obi-Wan! I'm glad to see my old friend back here, and who is this lovely lady you have with you.?" Dex asked, looking at Padme with a smile.

Obi-Wan opened his mouth, but Padme beat him to it. She smiled sweetly at Dex.

"Hello Dex, I'm Padme. It's nice to meet you."

Just as she said that, Anakin and Ciana entered the diner. Anakin searched around and was surprised to see Obi-Wan and Padme here. I thought they were at the apartment…

He felt a tug on his sleeve, he looked down as Ciana hissed in his ear.

"Let's go sit by Obi-Wan and Padme." and with that she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him over to their table, smiling sweetly at them, unknown to her that Anakin was struggling to get his captured sleeve back from her grasp. Anakin and Ciana sat down next to them as they ordered their food. The quartet ate in silence, until Obi-Wan set his fork down and smiled at Padme, who stopped eating and looked at him.

"Padme, I have a surprise for you tonight, all I ask of you is that you dress formally."

That piqued her interest, but she knew that it was no use to ask; instead she smiled and simply said,

"Alright."

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That evening Padme and Obi-Wan, and Anakin and Ciana, much to Obi-Wan and Padme's begrudge, walked up the steps to where the opera was going to be held. The place was quiet crowded so they had to keep together. Padme looked at Obi-Wan and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you for this." she said softly.

"You're welcome, Padme. I knew you had to get out and do something every once in awhile." he said, smiling. He longed to kiss her, but knew he couldn't…not in public, anyway.

Ciana and Anakin were following closely behind, not saying anything. It was odd, when Anakin and Obi-Wan had first gotten home from being gone 5 months, Ciana had been so eager to see Anakin, but now…now their relationship was strained. This hurt more than not knowing him at all. She didn't want a strained relationship with someone so close to her heart..infact..the only one who she held in her heart. That thought froze her to the spot, she stopped walking and just stood there, that one thought swirling in her mind. I love Anakin… She didn't see when Anakin waved a hand in front of her face and asked her something.

"iana..you all right?"

Ciana shook her head, as if to get rid of that thought and looked up at Anakin's face filled with concern. She smiled weakly and continued walking.

"Yes, yes…I'm alright Anakin, everything's fine…"

Anakin watched her with a puzzled look, but shrugged and continued to follow his master and Padme.

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A blonde haired blue eyed woman stood in the shadows of the opera building. She watched the quartet with narrowed eyes. Soon…soon, her job would begin. She only had to wait.

Anger welled up in her as she saw Padme squeeze Obi-Wan's hand and look at him with love. How dare she touch him, he was hers!

Her eyes narrowed even more and she resisted the urge to show herself. No, it was too soon. She had to wait. Siri turned from the quartet and walked deeper into the shadows of the night.

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After the opera was finished the quartet found themselves walking down the stairs and to the exit. It seemed as if the evening was gone way to fast. Padme was eagerly talking to Ciana about the opera, how wonderful it was and everything. While Obi-Wan and Anakin walked behind them, their eyes open and watchful, yet each thinking about how wonderful their evening was with their two favorite women. Suddenly a blonde haired woman in a long brown jacket stepped out of no where and began walking urgently, she bumped into Padme, who in turn almost fell over. The blonde haired woman stopped, turned and apologized to Padme. They stared at each other for a few seconds, Padme in shock, Siri with indifference. Anakin and Obi-Wan stared at her as well; they hadn't known that she was going to be here…

Padme, Anakin, and Obi-Wan all asked in unison.

"Siri?"

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A/N note: Sorry Kenobifan for bringing Siri back, I know you don't like her, but she is an essential part in the upcoming action, so yeah..but don't worry, as her character comes more into play in the next chapters, we can dislike her together! lol.

Hope ya'll enjoyed!

Reviews would be lovely : )

Thanks for reading!

Until the next chapter,

Padme. (P.K.-91)