"Master, D210 reports that Senator Amidala will be alright," came the voice of Threepio. Anakin hardly heard him. He sat beside Padme, holding and kissing her hand.

"And the baby?"

D210 and Threepio exchanged a series of chirps. "The pregnancy is going well... but she's afraid-"

Anakin turned, looking at the droids for the first time. "Afraid of what?" he barked.

Threepio took a step back. He and D210 launched into a series of chirps, Threepio looking at Anakin and throwing his hands in the air derisively before turning to D210 again. Apparently, D210 had mentioned something the Senator did not wish to tell! Threepio was quite upset about the breach of confidence.

"I, uh..."

"Threepio," said Anakin crisply. "What are you hiding?"

"Shall I get the Senator some water? She looks quite thirsty..." Threepio had been instructed not to tell master Skywalker about the problems. The senator said it would worry him incessantly.

The protocol droid scanned Master Skywalker's face. Computing... anger, danger, alert. Threepio began to knit an imaginary sweater with his hands, his fingers twisting nervously.

"D210 said...Senator Amidala will be out for a few days. The concoction poured in her drink is non-lethal, but can easily overwhelm a woman in Senator Amidala's condition. In a normal healthy pregnancy, the effects would wear off in hours... but in Senator Amidala's case... " Threepio couldn't tell him that she was already physically overtaxed. The Senator wouldn't want it. "She's going to be alright."

"Three days without Padme?" Anakin whispered, his eyes fixed on something distant and unseen. "I-I don't think I can do it."

"Master Skywalker, I assure you, Senator Amidala will be fine. I promise to take good care of her," Threepio assured. "I always do."

Anakin leaned forward and kissed Padme on the forehead softly. Her eyelashes fluttered and he waited for her to awake. She didn't. He backed away, then stood, turning to Threepio. "You always do," he repeated.

"Uh, Master... what about our 'houseguest'? Seems she's still asleep on the Senator's bedroom floor in a rather...(sigh) interesting position."

Anakin's mouth twisted to a look of disgust. What was he to do with Dorme? He couldn't even look at her. Not without doing something to hurt her for what she did to Padme -- what she did to him.

"Throw her out on the street-"

"But sir, she's not wearing any..."

"That's not our problem Threepio. Get rid of her."

Threepio sighed. "Very well, master..." so rude, he thought.

Anakin walked down the hall of Senator's court, his black cape flailing wildly behind him in the drafty corridor breeze. He cringed, thinking of Padme and her being unconscious. It was his fault, he sensed something was wrong with Dorme but left his wife alone with the handmaiden anyway. How was he going to tell her about Dorme? Would she believe him?

He stopped outside the Chancellor's door. He needed to talk - anyone would do. Suddenly, Anakin thought better of it. He couldn't tell anyone about this. No one. It was too humilating. Anakin turned on his heels and walked toward the elevator, and felt a very familiar presence. A comforting one. A presence that always seemed to give him the right answers. Sometimes, answers he didn't like, but the right ones nonetheless.

"Anakin? What are you doing here?" Obi Wan asked, a look of surprise on his face.

"I'm on an errand for Senator Amidala."

Obi Wan gave him a funny look. "Figures," he replied somewhat tersely. "What are you Anakin? A Jedi? Or Senator's aide?" he griped.

"Padme has fallen ill."

Obi Wan immediately regretted the harsh words. "OH dear..." he said, patting Anakin on the shoulder. "I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I know the two of you are good friends. Will she be okay?"

"Yes, Master. Though she's in a coma... a light one that is expected to last a few days."

"This is quite grave. More than I might have expected to hear. You know how deep my admiration of the senator is. Please keep me posted, will you, Anakin?"

Anakin sighed. It was a heavy sigh that brought his eyes to the floor to stare at their boots. A sigh he gave when he was troubled the most. It made Obi Wan nervous.

"Master...may I talk to you about something? It's deeply personal."

If this was Anakin's confession about his relationship with Padme, Obi Wan was suddenly very reluctant to hear it. Knowing would put him in a position to act. Or not act. And the truth was, he would never betray Anakin. He loved him... he was like a son... his brother.

"Sure," Obi Wan swallowed nervously. "Whatever you tell me will be held in the strictest confidence. You know this, Anakin. I sense, you are very deeply troubled. Let us take a walk."

The two men walked in silence, taking the elevator down to the ground floor and walking a few blocks to capital garden. A place, where Anakin often met with Padme -- their secret place. Obi Wan sensed the pair had been there before. There were traces of both Anakin and Padme near the gazebo where he now stood with his apprentice.

Anakin turned his back to the master, looking over his shoulder ever slightly. Obi Wan thought about the senator being injured and in a coma, and slowly pieced a story together.

"Anakin... you didn't do anything to hurt Padme, did you?"

Anakin turned, giving the master a hurt look. "How could you think that? You think I'm some type of monster? I could never hurt Padme... never-"

Obi Wan waved a hand. "I'm sorry, it seemed..."

"I know how it seems. You always think the worst of me!"

"I'm sorry, Anakin," Obi Wan stressed. "Please forgive me, I just don't have a clue as to what could be so difficult for you. We've talked about many things. You know you can trust me."

"I'm not sure I can trust you with this."

The situation must be really grave, Obi Wan thought.

"I was assaulted," Anakin said.

"Assaulted? Is that all? You're soon to be the most powerful Jedi in the history of the Order. You're hardly defenseless."

"NO, master. Not that kind of an assault..." Anakin's voice went flat. He turned, head down as he peered through his lashes at Obi Wan. "Not the kind I could fight."

Obi Wan's face turned three shades of red, light to dark. "Oh dear," he mumbled, hand stroking his ginger colored beard.

Anakin whirled around and stalked toward the stairs of the gazebo. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything," he raged.

He warned Anakin about the dark clothes, the punkish haircut and being a "sex symbol". He could have chosen a more appropriate look. Like his. He warned him about being on holonet news everyday, and how the girls were going to love him. . It was only a matter of time before something awful happened. But then... HOW could it happen to someone as strong and easily to defend himself as Anakin? Whoever it was, might have been powerful indeed. Perhaps someone who wasn't female.

"No, wait, Anakin... I- uh, I'm sorry I just didn't know what to say, please come back."

Anakin reluctantly turned, slowly walking up the gazebo stairs again.

"Do you mind my asking how it might have happened?"

"I was asleep and she crawled into bed. Before I realized it, she had taken advantage of me."

"You don't mean the senator do you?"

Anakin waved a hand irritably. If it was the senator he'd still be in bed, taking advantage of HER.

"No."

Obi Wan thought about it and realized the question didn't make sense. This was apparently a crime of coercion, equal to rape. In fact, it was rape. Obi Wan wasn't sure he could approach the subject in a sensitive or tactful manner. Anakin was obviously very troubled by the situation... and it's never the victim's fault.

"Who is it? We can take her before the courts and have her punished. You've taken a vow of celibacy and she violated that vow."

That vow was blown to bits eons ago, Anakin thought. Both men suddenly flushed.

"And tell everyone?" Anakin griped. "It would be humiliating. I would become a joke."

"What can we do then? Let me take you before the council. There have been cases of this happening before, we can help you."

"No! You promised our conversation would be held in strictest confidence. Please don't report it to the council, it would embarrass me. You don't understand, master."

"You think my integrity has never been challenged before? You think I've never been place in compromising positions?"

None that you didn't like... Anakin thought.

"Who is she? Let me talk to her, let me straighten her out."

"And have her giggling that I ran home to daddy? Big brother? Like a hopeless child? Not on your life. Forget it, Obi Wan. I - just... don't know what to do." He couldn't tell the master that he was worried about Padme finding out. Not without him knowing that he and Padme were together.

Obi Wan pressed him on the shoulder. "Who was it?"

Anakin sighed, looking at Obi Wan's face. "Dorme. Padme's former handmaiden."

The news was met with a look of surprise. "I do remember her nursing a rather serious crush on you."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"What was the point? It's not like you could have done anything about it. Anakin, I'm here for you when you want the help. As a Jedi you will come across many things that are unpleasant to you. Have you not honored any of my teachings? My advice is to let it go... meditate."

"With flashes of her-- floating around in my head?" he flung his hand wildly -- angrily.

"You've seen worse," Obi Wan griped. "Without taking you in for treatment or taking her before the courts... there is nothing we can do. Stay away from Dorme. I have a feeling, she isn't done with you yet."

"As do I, master. I wish it were otherwise."

"I'm here if you wish to talk again."

Talking did seem to help. The men nodded, a look of understanding passing between them. Obi Wan walked away.

Anakin paced the veranda of his and Padme's apartment, a blanket of stars twinkling over his head. "I should tell her the truth," he thought, biting his lip."

Were it a patch of grass he was walking upon, it would have worn thin by now. Ocassionally, Threepio appeared with glasses of water and offers of food. But Anakin declined. He traveled to the bedroom every hour or so, checking on Padme and praying she would wake up. Her breathing was stable and he sensed she and the baby were alright. Though, the baby seemed to have a strongly dominant presence, a presence that seemed to overtake his wife. If he had to choose... if he had to choose between Padme and the baby...?

Anakin stopped his pacing and gripped the balcony's handrailing until steel shrieked. He closed his eyes, not wanting to think of negative things. "Meditate... Obi Wan said to meditate."

Anakin closed his eyes, letting the events of the past two days pass through him. Calm, center. He thought of being out on the battlefield. If only everyday life were so uncomplicated.

"Mind if I join you?" a soft voice called out.

Anakin turned sharply. The voice startled him. But nothing could be more startling than seeing Dorme back in Padme's apartment.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped. A look of murder filled his eyes.

"Padme gave me the security code."

Dorme walked onto the veranda with her hands behind her back. Her eyes were locked on Anakin's face, a look of lust within them.

"She asked me to be the baby's godmother. To drop in and help out. You know, like the old days."

"You poisoned her."

"I took a chance. I love Padme, I really do. But I love you more," Dorme said. "I want to have a child --- your child. I want to be married to you. But Padme is in the way," she pouted.

Anakin gave her a look of pure disgust. Dorme walked close to him, bringing her head beneath his chin the way Padme does. "That will never happen," Anakin said in a low voice.

"Your heart is racing," Dorme replied. She ran a hand up his chest seductively. Anakin leaned away in an attempt to avoid the vicious seduction.

He felt powerless. How do you fight a woman who can't fight back? It's not like she's Asajj Ventress or something. Someone he could settle the matter with over a lightsaber duel. By comparison she was more helpless than he, and used it to her advantage.

Dorme slid down his chest letting her hand and lips trail his body as she sank to his ankles, her fingers pausing over the bulge in his pants. He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet. He could blast her over the edge of the veranda without even touching her. But how would he explain it to Padme? How would he explain it to the murder investigators that the council would send from the temple? Obi Wan knew about Dorme. Obi Wan would know he pushed her over the ledge.

Dorme met his gaze defiantly. She was much worse than Cobra had ever been. Anakin suddenly felt guilty for having accused Padme in the first place. At least Padme never let the shady senator have his way with her... like Anakin had with the handmaiden.

Anakin was close to spitting in Dorme's face, but held back, biting down his anger and rage -- He held tight to Dorme's arm, yanked then drug her from the veranda, through the living room toward the door.

"Don't come back, Dorme."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Not about you and Padme, or you and I..." she said, her voice dropping.

"There is no you and I." He shoved her out and blew the door closed with the force. He didn't even wait to hear her body slam on the floor.

Anakin marched through the living room, calling Threepio by name.

"Yes, master?"

The droid had been recharging, and thankfully hadn't seen anything. "Change the security code on the door right away."

"Of course, master. Is something wrong?"

"Yes... and that's why we're going to change it. Give the new code to no one, especially the old handmaiden, Dorme."

"Yes, Master Skywalker."

Threepio walked toward the door, plugging in to communicate with the computer.