Anakin was able to spend the rest of the day basking in Padmé's presence, with Ahsoka periodically dropping in to update them on the complete lack of assassins or bounty hunters. It was a wonderful break from his time in the Temple, searching for a solution to his transformation. Anakin was free to be around Padmé in front of other people because no one cared that she had acquired a kitten beyond the initial cooing over his cuteness, and he decided not to meditate on his visions any further after the breakthrough he'd almost had earlier.
Once Padmé returned to her suite in order to prepare for her committee dinner with Bail Organa, something Anakin would definitely be attending with her, he felt a shock of alarm from the Force, a signal of impending danger, and a rush of adrenaline from his bond with Ahsoka. She was under attack, and the threat was headed their way.
He sprang at Padmé's head with a yowl, unable to otherwise convey the urgency of the situation, his claws carefully tucked away so as not to hurt her.
"Anakin? What are you doing?" Padmé yelled as she ducked out of his way.
Anakin was unable to answer, both because he was a kitten and therefore incapable of speech and because Ahsoka had just crashed through the window, pursued by blaster bolts.
"I found the threat, Senator," Ahsoka yelled while she deflected the bolts away from them. "He's just a little tougher than I expected."
Padmé pulled her own blaster from underneath her skirts and returned fire out the window from her position on the floor.
Anakin hid against the wall underneath the broken window, the Force and common sense telling him that the assassin would using that as an entrance.
He had already begun his leap moments before the assassin, a rodian wearing a rather light set of armor for an assassin, jumped through the opening, latching onto the man's toughened synthleather trousers. The muffled thump of the assassin's boots landing on the carpet masked the sound of claws catching on fabric. He climbed up the bounty hunter's back while the man dueled Ahsoka, the toughened synthleather and armor keeping him from feeling the prick of Anakin's claws.
Through luck or the Force, Anakin was able to make his way up to the top of the rodian's shoulder, despite all the jumping and dodging he was doing to avoid lightsabers and blaster bolts, before the assassin noticed him. Anakin slashed at his face, missing the assassin's eyes but raising deep claw marks just underneath.
Unfortunately, the addition of an unexpected variable to the fight with a Jedi caused the assassin to reassess his odds and decide to choose his life instead of his wallet, jumping back out of the window and into his speeder, Anakin still clinging to his shoulder.
The assassin, of course, had no way of knowing that the kitten he'd just absconded with was also a Jedi, one who had an intimate knowledge of just about any form of engine in the galaxy, and so didn't know how futile his actions were.
A quick application of the Force in just the right spot to the speeder's engine, and not even the best mechanic in the galaxy would have been able to fix it in time to escape Ahsoka.
She yanked him back through the window, banging his head on the frame as it went by, and then dropped him in front of Padmé. Anakin leapt off of the rodian's body before it hit the floor, completely unconscious, not even needing the Force to land securely on all four feet.
"Anakin!" Padmé yelled, pushing herself to her feet and swooping him into her arms. "That was so reckless!"
"It's alright, Senator Amidala," Ahsoka said. "Master Anakin and I have been in much more dangerous situations before. That assassin wasn't even that much of a threat."
Anakin knew Ahsoka's words were meant to reassure Padmé, but he also knew that they would only make Padmé worry even further. She always feared for his life when he was away, even though she didn't have to.
Padmé closed her eyes and sighed heavily, momentarily tightening her grip on Anakin. When she opened them, she had the composed mask of a Senator, or a Queen, carefully in place. Padmé placed her blaster on the nearby vanity then nodded regally at Ahsoka.
"Thank you, Padawan Tano," she said. "Would you be willing to offer your assistance in the interrogation of the assassin? I'm sure the Senate Guard will have questions for him, but I want to get a chance before he disappears into the system."
Ahsoka bowed shallowly. "Master Skywalker and I will need to return to the Temple now that the threat is over, my lady, but an investigation may prove that wrong. Besides, Jedi are authorized to assist in any ongoing investigations. I can't imagine anyone would be upset if we helped you."
Anakin rubbed his face against Padmé's fingers, not even bothered by his cat-like behavior. Anything to give her comfort right now.
After all of his weapons had been removed, one of Ahsoka's boots to his side was enough to bring the assassin back to consciousness with a groan.
She stepped into his field of vision, waved two fingers in front of his face, and, in the low monotone of the Jedi Mind Trick, said "You will tell us everything we need to know."
Anakin held back a shudder of revulsion. Something about the Mind Trick felt really awful to him, even if it was only supposed to work on those with weak wills. Besides, the way Ahsoka was using it was risky, relying too much on whether the assassin would want to tell them.
"I will tell you everything you need to know," the assassin repeated.
"You can trust us."
"I can trust you."
Yeah, give him lightsaber combat and Force pushing any day.
Still, Ahsoka's Mind Trick seemed to work, as the assassin began to spill the details of who had hired him and why. By the time he was done, Padmé was nearly shaking with repressed fury.
Ahsoka also noticed. "Did you recognize the company that hired him?"
"It's a shell corporation. Officially, it can be traced back to the Hutts. Unofficially, some Senators have been known to send anonymous donations to it. Senator Taa of Ryloth is one of the more prominent members," Padmé said.
It all clicked. Human trafficking. One of the side effects of increased attention on Outer Rim hyperlanes would be that it would be more difficult to run the slave trade.
Anakin leaped out of Padmé's arms so that he could pace back and forth, literally spitting mad. If he had hands, the assassin would be dead.
"I'll just restrain this guy, then," Ahsoka said and proceeded to do so.
"Of course." Padmé lifted Anakin up near her face and whispered "Stay safe, please," before placing a kiss between his ears.
Just as suddenly as Anakin had become a kitten, he was human again.
Padmé was the first to react.
"Anakin?" she whispered, her hand reaching up to touch his face tentatively. When her hand made contact, Padmé proceeded to wrap him up in one of the tightest hugs he had ever received from her.
"Skyguy!" Ahsoka yelped, clapping her hand over her eyes. "Put some clothes on!"
"It's not like I could wear anything as a cat," Anakin said, pulling away from Padmé with great reluctance.
Mirth was dancing in Padmé's eyes as she grabbed a purple silk robe from a drawer and offered it to him. "Sorry, but it's the only thing I have that will fit you."
That was an unmitigated lie. Anakin had left enough clothes at her suite to put together any number of outfits. Of course, Ahsoka would no doubt realize that their relationship was a little more than what they said if she knew he left his clothes here.
The robe fit. Barely.
"You can look now, Snips," Anakin said, resisting the urge to cross his arms over his chest, silken purple pulled taught and clinging.
Ahsoka started laughing the instant she saw him, bending over to brace her hands on her knees. Padmé, on the other hand, was the picture of composure, if one ignored the way her lips were slightly quirked so as to hold in her own laughter.
"Very fashionable, Skyguy," Ahsoka giggled. "You should wear that instead of the boring old Jedi robes from now on."
Anakin reached over with his arm and pulled Ahsoka into a tight hug. "Like you're one to talk, Snips. I don't think I've ever seen you wearing a proper Jedi robe."
He could practically feel Ahsoka rolling her eyes in the Force. "Whatever. I'm glad that you're back to normal now, Skyguy."
"As normal as he ever gets," Padmé said as she joined their hug.
Anakin wasn't able to wrap an arm around both of them, but he enjoyed the hug nonetheless, smiling so widely that his face hurt. The Force bubbled with the joy flowing from the three of them.
After a few more moments, they released each other, and the atmosphere of the room grew awkward.
"We should probably get rid of the assassin," Ahsoka said, breaking the silence.
Padmé was already heading towards the door. "I'll get the Senate Guard. Anakin, you need to think of an excuse for why you're here."
"So, Senator Amidala, huh?" Ahsoka teased once Padmé had left the room, wiggling the white markings over her eyes.
Anakin studiously stared up at the ceiling. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Snips."
"Oh come on," Ahsoka exclaimed. "She kissed you, and then you were human again. It's like something out of a bedtime tale. True love's kiss, or whatever."
Was it really that simple? Had the visions been pointing him towards love the whole time?
"The Order has rules against that sort of thing," Anakin reminded her, his mind barely on their conversation as he considered what he had learned. "Attachments are forbidden."
"Didn't the temple you visited split from the Order over attachments?"
She was right. Ahsoka had been able to see what was right in front of his eyes the whole time. Love was beautiful, like moments before when they had all been embracing each other, like Padmé, like his mother, like bringing Ahsoka back to life, but it was also destructive, like how he had killed the Tusken Raiders.
Ahsoka crossed her arms over her chest when he didn't answer. "Alright, fine. Whatever you say, Master."
Anakin sighed quietly in relief that she was letting it go for now. He needed to do some serious thinking before he was ready to talk about this with anyone else. "Thank you, Padawan."
"But if there was any sort of attachment going on, then Padmé's a good choice," Ahsoka said quietly.
Before Anakin could respond, the Senator in question returned with two members of the Senate Guard in tow.
"Thank you for your assistance, Commander Tano. Uh, General Skywalker," one of the guards said, eyeing Anakin's outfit, while the other one hefted the unconscious assassin over his shoulder. "We didn't see you come in, sir."
"I was tracking the assassin," Anakin bluffed. "I came through the same entrance he did. Unfortunately, he ruined my robes."
"Ah, I see sir, thank you sir," the guard said, glancing at the window.
"Yes, thank you, both of you, for your help in saving my life," Padmé interjected before any more awkward questions could be asked.
"It was our pleasure, my lady." Anakin bowed slightly to Padmé, Ahsoka following suit a moment later. "We'll be returning to the Temple now that the danger has passed."
Anakin and Ahsoka hurried out of the suite, heading towards where Ahsoka had parked the speeder.
"What's the big rush, Master?" Ahsoka asked as they walked.
Anakin looked down at Ahsoka, then back ahead. "Well, besides changing into more appropriate clothes, letting Obi-Wan know that I'm okay, and letting the Council know that I'm ready to return to active duty, I need to talk to Barriss."
"Barriss?" Ahsoka furrowed her brow. "Why? Is something wrong? Did something happen while she was watching you?"
Anakin swung himself into the driver's seat of Ahsoka's speeder and sighed gustily. "I sure hope nothing's wrong, Snips, but I want to make sure, just in case."
"If you think that's best, Skyguy," Ahsoka said. "Hey, wait, I wanted to drive."
"Be faster next time," Anakin suggested, laughing as she grumpily got into the passenger's side before speeding off to the Temple. He was still furious about what the assassin had revealed, but that was Padmé's battleground. He had every faith in her.