Surprise! I wanted to get the next chapter for Visions of the Future posted but instead I did this one. And just a heads up: if you think things are moving too fast, just wait. They aren't moving nearly as fast as you think. I have a good ten chapters planned out so far, trust me they are taking their sweet, sweet time getting to the end.

Enjoy!

-DFD

Chapter 3

Anakin knew he had said too much as he watched Padme leave. He knew he had overstepped from how flustered she was about his antics. He was moving too fast. He had barely given her any time to adjust to being around him again and he goes off and tells her he still loves her. Padme had only ever been impulsive two times when they had been together- the first when she agreed to go out with him, and the second when he asked her to marry him. With everything else she had always been logical- well planned but prepared for almost anything. And clearly she was not prepared to see him again so she has yet to figure out where he stood in her plans. She needed space to adjust, time to figure things out and he needed to wait for her to come to him. At the very least he knew she would come to him if only to tell him she wasn't interested, but that was something that needed to happen if it did. Waiting would not be easy for him. Besides having the opportunity to hold a heart in his hand everyday, seeing her was the only other thing he looked forward to. Talking to her, spending time with her- it helped him forget the real reason he came home. What she doesn't realize- what no one realizes is that he hasn't really gone home since he started working. He sleeps in the on-call rooms and showers in the attendings' lounge bathrooms. Its not because he doesn't have a home- he does, he just doesn't stay there for long. The longest he stayed at home was three hours and that was only the day before he started work and only because he was tired from the long flight and needed to sleep somewhere.

He'll survive. He can back off and give Padme all the space she needs. He has survived worse and saved lives in the process, so this should be easy, right? Give her enough time, let her adjust to him being here, then let her adjust to the idea that they might be able to work this time. Then maybe she will say yes when he asks her out for a drink… maybe he needs a hobby.

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On Padme's day off she takes the time to travel up to visit her sister in the suburbs. She doesn't do this nearly enough, she loves to spend time with her nieces but her job is often so demanding she barely finds the time. Most of her days off, she spends them in her pajamas in bed sleeping, reading a medical journal or, very rarely, actually watching TV. She admits it; her life outside of work is boring. But today is one of the extremely rare exceptions: she needs to talk to her sister.

Padme pulls into the driveway and she sees her nieces in the window sitting on the back of the couch waiting for her. When she gets out she sends them a little wave that results in them jumping off and running for the door. Padme smiles as the door burst open and the two girls come running at her. She gets on her knees to embrace the two girls in a tight hug, the three of them laughing as it happens. Padme gets to her feet when she sees her sister Sola walking up to her.

"Good to see you, little sis!" She greets, hugging her just as tightly as the girls had, "When you said you were coming up, I found that hard to believe for a moment!" She said, "Come on." She says leading them inside.

Sola has a beautiful home. The walls are lined with pictures of the family- pictures from when they were children, pictures of their parents, her wedding, and her children at various stages of life. There were also pictures of buildings her husband Darred had designed. Padme spent time entertaining her nieces until they decided to run off and play their own games, finally leaving the adults to talk.

"So why did you decide to come up here?" Sola asked as they settled to sitting at the counter island, a cup of tea in front of both women.

Padme let out the sigh she has been holding in all day, "Anakin's back."

Sola's eyes widen, "Hell no!" She argues, "The guy you married after a week?" Padme nods her head, slightly embarrassed by that. "What does he want?"

She sighs, "He's working at the hospital now and while he said he wasn't back for me, he did say that he still… wants me."

Sola shakes her head adamantly, "No. Absolutely not! That boy has caused enough problems!"

Padme rolls her eyes, "You know he wasn't that bad, Sola." She argued, "Besides some of it was my fault too, remember?"

Her sister scoffs, "True, but 'nice guys' don't convince you to get married without telling the family then just show up one day and say 'guess what! I married your sister!' You're right, Padme he's a really nice guy."

Padme resists the urge to slam her head on the marble counter, "Go on, lecture me on my impulsive marriage again why don't you!" She says, throwing her hands in the air, "Its not like you and dad haven't reminded me time and time again how stupid it was. But that is not why I'm here."

"Then what did you need to talk about then?" Sola asked. Padme looks away from her sister, unsure what exactly she should say. Sola's eyes widen, "Please don't tell me you still have feelings for him."

Padme blushes, "I-I don't know…"

Her sister lets her hands drop hard onto the counter, "You do still have feelings for him." She shakes her head, "You do remember he beat the crap out of Clovis just because he looked at you, right?"

"He was doing more than just looking." Padme reminded her, "But please, can you just shut up and let me speak?" Sola takes a deep breath but nods her head as she folds her arms on the counter, willing to wait for her to finish talking. "Anakin is back." Padme repeats, "He says he didn't come back for me, but that he does still have feelings for me. He's been flirting with me, and I really don't know what to do anymore." Padme pauses and takes a breath, "Dorme thinks I should just let things happen-"

"Well you're certainly not going to listen to Dorme of all people," Sola interrupted, "You know she gets her advise from romance novels and chick flicks."

"-But I'm not sure its such a good idea…" Padme continued, ignoring Sola's comment about Dorme, "He was the first guy who made me feel… alive, he made me feel wanted, and… sexy." Padme lets out a small sigh, "I just… I don't know what to do, Sola." She confessed, "I can't deny there is… some level of attraction between us, but I don't want to rush into this again."

"You don't want to get hurt again." Sola said with a sigh. Padme's family did not approve of Anakin, most likely because they married after only a week. It was very impulsive of both of them but it had felt so right- like destiny. But it wasn't. When Anakin saw Clovis kissing her he showed just how jealous he could get and it ended up hurting them both in the end.

Sola had thought after he left it would be the last they saw of him… Apparently not as now here he was, in her sister's life once more. But what should she say to her now? "Maybe he's changed." Sola started, she had to start optimistic, if only for Padme's sake, besides it's been three years and no one stays the same forever. "But maybe he didn't change." She added, not wanting to leave anything to chance, "If I were you… I think I'd keep my distance, at least for now. Do your job, save lives, get a boyfriend who isn't Anakin and test to see if what you feel for him is real attraction or just lust." Sola clears her throat, "Even I can't deny he's cute." She admitted.

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The day after talking with Sola Padme was getting ready to go to work. She had spent the better part of her day off thinking about what she was going to do about Anakin. There was no way she could avoid him forever so much like with surgery, she needed a plan. Right now it was just to keep things professional. That means no small talk, no coffee, no flirting. Normally it would be easier said than done, but Anakin seems to have implemented the same plan, which was very surprising. When she requested a cardio consult, he sent one of the cardio fellows under him to help. When he was finishing his charts if he saw her he didn't speak to her.

The trend continued for several days and it quickly became apparent what he was doing. He was waiting for her to make a move. He had stuck his neck out by telling her what he felt; now it was her turn to do something, or nothing. It was nice, very professional and very unlike the Anakin that left three years ago. Dorme argued they were being childish by pretending there was nothing, but she just wants to win the bet everyone seems to have about them getting together. Honestly, its like they don't have lives to save with how much everyone worries about her relationship.

About two weeks after starting her plan to avoid Anakin, she encountered the first problem with her professionalism plan. She had just finished work and as exhausted but also in desperate need of a drink. It had been a long day and her surgery on a little boy's spine resulted in the kid being paralyzed from the waist down. Walking into the bar, she ordered a glass of blossom wine and took a seat at the bar near the corner. Anakin sat a few seats down from her and when their eyes met he gave her a small smile before he looked back down at his drink. Over the course of the next ten minutes both of them gave the other subtle glances when they thought the other wasn't looking. They were both aware of the other's gaze but neither made a move to say anything. What exactly would they talk about? Work? That was too depressing tonight for Padme. Taking the chance to look at him again she noticed how he was slouched against the bar and how his head bobbed ever so slightly. She knew him well enough to know he had a couple more drinks than her.

With a sigh, she shifted down so she sat kitty corner from him. "You okay?" She asked.

He looked up and smiled at her again, "Just fine," He said, downing his drink in one gulp. He takes the time to look her up and down and takes note of her white shirt with blue stripes and jeans, "think this is the first time I've seen you without scrubs since I got here." He commented.

"Same goes for you." She said gesturing to his green shirt with a zip-up sweater. Padme shifted in her seat, they've been playing this game for two weeks now; she should be fine having a social conversation with him, he isn't too drunk yet, she knows what he looks like when he is, right now he's just a little tipsy. "How was your day?" Padme kicked herself for starting the conversation she didn't want to have.

Anakin gives a laugh at her attempt at small talk, "Um, alright I guess." He said, "Two of my patients died, and one is in a coma." He said with a shrug, "You?"

Padme shook her head, "One is brain dead, two in a coma, one paralyzed."

He nodded his head and let the conversation drop. Looking down at his empty class he spins the ice around a few times, "I need a hobby." He says.

"What?"

"A hobby." He repeated, "I don't really do much besides work and it's starting to get to me."

Padme furrows her brow, "And what exactly do you plan to do?"

He shrugs, "I don't know, maybe learn how to cook?"

Padme almost chokes on her wine, "Why? What possessed you to do something so… not you?" She asked.

"Well, it's a good skill to have." He starts, "And it's not like you were ever any good at it-"

"That's not fair," She argued, "I never really had a lot of time to cook when I was a resident."

Anakin rolls his eyes, "Point is it's better than what I currently do in my free time."

"Don't you normally tinker? What about your bike?" Padme remembered his motorcycle very well. When they were together it was their preferred mode of transportation just because she could be pressed right up against him.

He scratches the back of his neck, "I still have the bike… I just need something else to takes my mind off… stuff."

"You mean me, don't you?" She asks. He waves the bartender over for another scotch and orders Padme another glass of wine.

He takes a sip of his drink, "Partly," He admits, "Other part is… personal." Padme wants to ask what he means but from how tense his shoulders are, she can tell now is not the time to ask about it. "Do you think we would have still gotten together if we weren't surgeons?" He suddenly asks. The question is random and not at all what she expected. "I've asked myself that for awhile now. And I still don't know the answer. I also wonder if that were the case, would we still be together?"

Padme opens her mouth to answer and she hesitates for a moment, "I don't know," She says, "I honestly have no idea." She pauses a moment, "If you weren't a surgeon, what would you do?"

He gives a shrug, "Maybe I'd still be working at that mechanics shop across from the trailer park." He said, "But you know the reason I even went to college was to get out of that mess… What about you?"

Padme smiled, "Maybe I'd go into civil service like my parents. Working to help the less fortunate, maybe politics."

Anakin lets out a laugh, "You as a politician? I don't think so. You're too hardcore for that line of work."

She can't help but smile at his words, maybe it's the alcohol but she is enjoying this. If she were thinking more clearly, she might have remembered her sister's suggestion to avoid him and how she said her attraction might very well just be lust, but she can't help it. And when he looks at her the way he does, with his deep blue eyes staring straight into hers as if she's the only person in the world, she can't resist him. Leaning forward she presses her lips to his. He doesn't respond for several seconds as she molds her mouth to his, but when her tongue brushes against his lips, he starts to respond with eager enthusiasm. He brings his hand to cup her cheek while hers fist into the fabric of his sweater. It's the alcohol, she concludes. The kiss is sloppy and neither one of them are thinking clearly and when it breaks and they stare at one another, they know they are both lost.

"I have a date with my pillow." She says, repeating the same thing she told him after their first surgery.

Anakin gives her a smirk, "Would he mind if you brought a plus one?"

Padme grips the thick hair on the back of his head, "No." She says, pulling him into a lust filled kiss.