Disclaimer:

I do not own any rights to Star Wars. This is merely fan fiction by a fan and not someone even remotely involved in any Marvel or Lucas Film property. That being said I do hope you enjoy it.

"Anakin fucking Skywalker!"

Anakin whinced when he noticed how she picked up a vase and considered hurling at him, not that she ever would. She never uses violence unless her life was on the line. Even when he killed her, if she loved him she would never hurt him.

"It all makes sense! You're age, the slave collar! FUCKING HELL! The slave collar! That was so obvious! Why the FUCK would a Jedi know so much about a slave collar!"

"Could've happened to anyone." He shrugged being sure to quite stalk his way into the furthest corner of the room away from her.

"YOU! You do not get to fucking talk. I am furious with you."

"Why?"

"Why? why?" Ouch, repeating words was never a good sign.

"Because you lied to me! How do you not see I'm mad about that?" Anakin cringed when he heard her voice crack. He'd made her cry a thousands times before and he'd make her cry thousand more times in the future. It still didn't mean he liked the sound.

"Was it funny to you? Is that why?! 'Ha ha ha she doesn't know who I really am what a big fucking idiot!' Does that FUCKING sound familiar!"

"I wouldn't say I lied," he didn't need the Force to feel the wave of hate roll over him. The Jedi council could probably feel the anger radiating off her right now. "My real identity just never came up."

"A lie by omission is still a lie!"

"That's arguable." Anakin at this point was hoping the owner of the hotel would knock on the door asking if they could more considerate of other patrons. At this point he would even gladly accept an assignation attempt, anything that could end this abruptly.

"Did you know who I was?!"

"You're Pamde Amidala." Anakin raised a confused brow at her.

"Don't you dare, don't you fucking dare. You know what I mean. In Grakkus' ship when you saw me, did you know who I was? Not fucking Padme Amidala, but the girl who you met when you were nine."

Had he been nine? He had no memory of his pre-loop life. He knew his original life, or at least what he had to know. He knew he was a slave, he knew he grew up on Tattooine, he knew Padme had met him on the desert planet. Those were just dot points that Anakin had kept in his mind, but he never remembered it.

"I did know. Well not straight away, I was pretty drunk but I figured it out after a while " He admitted, his eyes focused on a rather particularly well-stitched pillow. It was very well done and it totally wasn't because he couldn't look Padme in the eyes.

"And what? You just thought never to tell me!"

"I didn't think we would interact this much," he shrugged. Probably not the smartest response. "By the time I became your guard it we already had spent weeks together. 'Oh hey, sorry it's been so long. I'm actually your old childhood friend'."

"Who else, who else knew who you were?!"

Anakin let out a tired sigh. He could lie and say no one, but then, if she did find out then he would be killed. Not so much that she would or was even capable of killing him but rather the guilt she would make him feel would probably be enough for his tired heart.

"Dooku figured it out and so did Grakkus from Dooku. Besides them, no one knew my real identity." Well maybe the Corellian Jedi knew too but that was questionable. Cleary however the fewer people the better if Padme's hate-filled glare was any indication.

"Grakkus! Grakkus the HUTT, he knew before I did?! Don't you see how insulting that is? The person who treated you like a slave knew who you were before I did!"

"Believe me I wasn't thrilled either."

At this, she actually did throw something at him. Nothing hurtful, just a small couch pillow that didn't even have a zipper assuring that the only way he could possibly be hurt was if he was allergic to the soft material.

"You need to calm down." Anakin realised his mistake only a few seconds after the words came out of his mouth. If there was one thing you should never do it tell a person to calm down. Cause more often than not, it certainly never ever has made anyone calm down.

"Calm down? Calm down?" Not the repeated words again, that didn't bode well. "How about you don't lie to me! How about you just be honest with me! How about I don't get my trust thrown back into my face by someone who was supposed to protect me!"

Anakin did cringe at that, not just at the volume but he supposed she did make a valid reason on that last point. He had his reasons for hiding his identity and he certainly wasn't going to apologise but he would admit she did have a somewhat valid reason to be mad.

"I just don't get it! We were friends! At least, I thought we were."

"It's been a long time Padme." Anakin tiredly sighed.

"Eight years sure is a long time but… did I really mean so little to you?" Eight years? No, it been much much longer than that. When was the last time he talked to her? Not just run through the motions.

"The temple," his life rather, the life of a time looper. "It wasn't meant for friendships. I was already so old joining the Jedi. Outside communication wasn't forbidden but, I was put under a microscope. I'm special Padme. And with that comes consequence."

"Did you even try to look for me?" Her voice was broken, soft but serrated. Ever so often he could hear her swallow down a sob no doubt afraid to look weak in from of him. She was furious at him not sad, she wasn't some weakling. Though he knew that wasn't the case and he knew all she wanted was an apology she wouldn't get and go back to sleep as if nothing happened.

"I tried Padme I really did at first. But the temple," the loops. "It's not a place where attachment can survive. After you spend a few years," Millenniums.

"You have to be cold to survive, focus only on the mission. Cause if you find yourself getting sidetracked then you fall behind." You die, over and over and over again. Why fall in love? Why have friends when your attention to them makes you lose?

Palpatine didn't go to brunch with friends, he didn't go to baby showers and the only funerals he attended was the ones he was the cause of. To Palpatine the subjugation of the Galaxy was his idea of fun, it was his hobby, his job. Something he took pleasure in, he never got bored. When you can't contribute a hundred percent to someone else who is, then you'll lose.

Padme made her way over to him, her watery eyes glossy in the artificial light of the apartment.

"You have to promise me. No more lies."

"I promise." He lied.

"Okay," she wiped the tears from her eyes. "You tell anyone I cried you are fired. Not from employment but rather I will literally light you on fire."

"I look forward to it."

The two embraced. Nothing sexual, he did feel her breasts push up against him and he felt the way she nuzzled her face into his own. But, there was a strange lack to it. A lack of plans, he didn't think of how he could use Naboo's resources for a prospective Empire or how long it would take to birth Luke and Leia. It was nice, so he hugged her just a little harder.

"I don't wanna be on this planet any longer. I miss Naboo."

"Then let's go. I think the residents have had enough of us anyway."

We held our embraces for a few moments more. And he felt relief, not from me not her strangely enough, but rather relief from just outside the apartment. Using the Force he reached over to the door, pulling it aside to see a familiar face

"Oh… hey," Anakin recognised the stubbly beard, a weak attempt to copy Qui-Gon's facial hair.

"You didn't happen to hear anything did you?" Padme blushed.

"Hear what? I only recently got here, I was just about about to knock on the door." He had heard it all. Anakin had felt his force presence show up but by the time he reached the door a few minutes ago it vanished.

Obi-Wan despite always being seen as the mature one of the duo had always been a gossipy little bitch. People had called Anakin emotional but Obi-Wan was the real Prima Donna. He liked gossip, he liked insulting people to their faces with sassy remarks, he couldn't help himself. A particularly annoying habit that during the Clone Wars lead to many unnecessary problems.

"Right." Anakin rolled his eyes.

"It's true." It wasn't.

"Why are you here Jedi?"

"My apologies Padme. It's me Obi-Wan, I don't expect you to remember but I actually accompanied you eight years ago. The Naboo Crisis with the Trade Federation."

"I remember. Thank you for making it aware who you were immediately." Padme sent a sharp glare at Anakin who rolled his eyes.

"Ah yes, well it would be rude of me otherwise." If he noticed that Anakin was flipping him off he didn't show it.

"What do you want?" Anakin scowled at his old master.

"Yes! Why I am here? Oh that's right. I'm here to check up on you. It's been too long and you completely disappeared off the face of the Galaxy." He said that last part with a bit of malice in his voice causing Anakin himself to chuckle a little. At least he wasn't the only one been going through hell these last few days.

"Oh really? And it's not because the council is afraid of me turning to the Darkside?" He smirked as he saw Obi-wan's face falter. If there was one thing the Jedi didn't deal in was absolute truths.

"No," Obi-Wan said unconvincingly. "But considering our history I would like to make it a habit of checking in on you, making sure you're doing alright."

Not a complete lie but not a complete truth. Obi-Wan did genuinely care about him but the council had definitely assigned him the mission of providing reports on Anakin's force affiliation. Anakin before his loops was a very talented Padawan, despite being so old when he joined he already outclassed the average Padawan peers even before the Loop began. It was no secret in the temple Anakin was a chosen one candidate, aka, someone that could not be allowed to fall to the Darkside.

It was ironic in the way that the Jedi were so against him joining when he was a child afraid that they would be training, what they believed, to be an at-risk Jedi. But now that they had trained him in the force they would do anything they could to keep him in the temple.

Sure a few Ex-Jedi fell to the Darkside. Ventress being a good example. But in the grand scheme of things she was no Sith, something the Jedi would only have to deal with if she came into Republic space. Rarely in the loops would she ever be more than an assassin, though sometimes when Anakin killed Dooku early she replaced him and did a surprisingly good job. Not better than Dooku but with Palpatine pulling the strings she did adequately.

Yet him? He was a special case and while they couldn't force him to stay in the temple, even though plenty of Jedi would want that, Yoda and Obi-Wan wouldn't allow him to become a slave to the Jedi. They would keep a vigilant eye on him though. Obi-Wan was sent by the Jedi to report his force status and more importantly to be an executioner had he ever shown signs of the Darkside.

"You are too kind Obi-Wan. A kindness he frankly doesn't deserve." Padme insulted which made him look away, this was going to be an annoying thing to deal with in the upcoming days and something she definitely wouldn't let go.

"Yeah, thanks Obi-Wan." Anakin spat making it clear he didn't believe him.

Obi-Wan looked between the two of them. No doubt his mind wondering if they were dating and drawing assumptions. Love leads to grief and grief leads to the Darkside in the eyes of the Jedi. Obi-Wan might be considerate of Anakin but if he ever had a relationship Obi-Wan would be forced to report it to the council.

If Padme were to die then Anakin had no doubt that a squadron of Jedi would appear at his front door ready to take him to their 'therapists' in order to see if he had fallen.

Yet Obi-Wan looked at the couch which had been turned into a bed and looked quite relieved. Anakin did have the excuse of just being Padme's guard but still, it's not like a senator hasn't ever hooked up with a guard or secretary before. Some an abuse of power which Padme would never do, and some a genuine relationship born out of forced proximity due to work. A HR nightmare but still common.

"No, we were just leaving anyway."

"Naboo right?"

"I thought you didn't listen in?"

"Lucky guess." Obi-Wan smirked.


"So I walk in on Anakin, hearing moaning from the bathroom. I thought he was self pleasuring himself but no he instead has bloodied nose, both eyes blackened and a several fractured ribs cause he was dared by the other younglings to try parkour down from the highest building in Coruscant all the way down to the surface. I saw the holotapes, you should of seen the way he bounced off hovercar to hovercar."

Padme laughed at Obi-Wan the two rather engrossed with there conversations. While Obi-Wan spoke about embarrassing stories that he didn't even remember Padme spoke of his time being drunk on Grakkus' ship.

"A dare? Ha! I couldn't dare him to clean a dish no less jump off a building."

"There wasn't a dare he wouldn't do. Sneak into the council chambers, steal Yoda's walking cane run through the temple naked. This one caused me a lot of trouble. At first I punished him with training but he loved that, it was only when I made his read Jedi history did he finally stop."

"My you must have been quite young." She teased but he just rolled his eyes and kept playing with the prince of steak infront of him.

"Young? That was only last year."

"Last year?!" Padme spat out her salad. "How did so much change? Now he's all grumpy."

"Maybe you shouldn't speak so candidly about him whilst he is at your table." He growled, Anakin had thought they would stop after the first few comments but as they drank more and more the stories kept coming and Anakin was forced to burry himself in his food hearing stories of his embarrassing pre-loop life.

It had been bad enough that Padme had forced him to get nice for some nice restaurant he didn't care about. To the resultant's credit, it was a nice place. The food was well made though quite expensive and the more Anakin looked around the more elitist the patrons seemed to get. Some poor girl looked around awkwardly as the man who had brought her here had clearly overestimated how much wine he could drink and now was talking more about his Dad's wealth rather than ask her questions or talk about himself.

"You aren't usually so quite Anakin. I suppose your time outside the temple has done you well, clearly Padme is quite the positive influence on you." Obi-Wan teased himself, from the look in his eye he was probably still pissed that Anakin had run off.

Padme however, blushed at his words and perhaps a much more younger Anakin would have felt jealous.

"Though I am rather curious," Obi-Wan continued. He played. "Nar Shaddaa? I thought for certain you'd would have gone straight to Tatooine, the only reason why I wasn't on a ship the moment you disappeared was because I wasn't even sure you had left Coruscant. No ship records ever had any mention of you."

Tatooine? Why would he ever go there? A desert planet that had nothing in the ways of resources or people. Sure it was Jabba's own personal planet but there were better Hutts if he wanted to build a crime syndicate.

"Wasn't difficult, even the Core has smugglers. The only difference between the Core and the Outer Rim is that the Core smugglers are better. The only hard part is that they are harder to find."

"So how did you find them?"

"Same way I made my money. Cheating at undergone casinos and betting on underground fight rings. The money is all cash, doesn't go through any system so as long as your quick enough to get off the planet before some guy comes to break your kneecaps for winning to much your all good."

"Well that's charming…"

"Well I would like to go back to Naboo. Now that the Jedi have openly supported the MCA there is going to be a huge wave of support in the coming days." Padme glared at Obi-Wan who did the have curtesy to look a bit embarrassed.

"The Act won't pass so soon, the vote had already been cast and didn't reach the approval rating. We are already close to the limit approval, now it's almost impossible to win the next time it comes up. No point in staying here unfortunately." Padme continued but he did notice that Obi-Wan still looked rather flustered.

"I do offer my apologies. Though, I stand by Master Jedi, the Sith are a growing issue and the Jedi must be prepared."

Obi-Wan's apology didn't really mean much. He had exposed the clones several times early and it didn't really lead to much in the grand scheme of things.

the clones would be made public and there would be such public outrage that this was being kept a government secret and jobs that would have gone to the people would go to clones. This would result in the MCA still going through but now instead of clones the people actually made up the Republic military. Ultimately a worse army but with Palpatine pulling the strings there was no real change

The clones would go through anyway and while there would be protests it didn't matter.

Either way nothing matters as usual. Yet when he saw the sad face on Padme he felt something unpleasant he couldn't quite put a name on. It was his presence after all the accelerated the MCA and at the rate things was going the clones would be public knowledge before the battle of Geonosia.

"I don't why they are even doing this vote, why vote on an army they are already making? Seems like a waste if it doesn't pass." Why, why, why? Why was he talking? Shut up, shut up.

"What?"

"The army on Kamino? During my outer Rim exploration I came across the planet that was building an army for the Republic. Didn't you guys know?" He faked his confusion.

"Some planets could be improving their military but I've heard nothing about Kamino." Padme hummed. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes," Anakin rolled his eyes. "'Blah, blah, blah army for the Republic, blah, blah, blah. Right Obi-Wan?"

"What?" Obi-Wan, asked ignoring the little bits of food he had in his beard.

Anakin gave him a fake tilt of his head as if he was surprised. This was natural to him, he had done it over and over again. Playing dumb to reveal knowledge he shouldn't was quite simple but often affected. Sometimes the best answer to 'Why do you know that?' Is to pretend you're stupid. You can't debate stupidity.

"They said it was commissioned by both the Jedi and the Republic. I thought you would know, being a Jedi and all? Didn't you?"

"No!" Obi-Wan shrieked earning him glares from the other patrons. "The Jedi may want an army to fight against the Sith but we haven't taken any open steps to actually do it. Today was the only mention of a Galactic wide military and we only went cause we heard about you.

"Maybe you aren't high enough." Padme winced trying to be considerate of Obi-Wan's feelings.

"Not even Yoda knew about the MCA. It's not like the council to make an army without making the rest of the Order aware. My master believed the Jedi were incapable of change, something like this? An army? They would never make one in secret."

"Yet you're positive it's Republic?" Padme turned her attention onto him. If she was expecting him to break out in a nervous sweat at lying or show any kind of tell she was in for a surprise as he lied effortlessly.

"Positive, the only reason why I wasn't shot out of space was because I was a Jedi. They work for them, it's commissioned by the Republic and Jedi according to them."

"They think they work for the Jedi," Obi-Wan corrected still skeptical. "It's not difficult to impersonate a Jedi so long as you have the Force." Obi-Wan stressed.

"With a class 1 hyperdrive it'll take 3 days of travel."

"I have nowhere to be in person, a few meetings but those can be done over holo." Padme shrugged.

"The idea that a Jedi is creating an army is quite concerning. If you don't mind-"

"We do." Anakin scowled earning his a sharp kick under the table from Padme.

"We don't." Padme glared. "We would gladly let you join us."

Would this be annoying? Absolutely, but compared to he would be training his arse off right now this would be comparably relaxing. Besides is not like he'd be involved. He would just protect Padme while she explored the Galaxy.

Somehow, he was rather okay with this. It was nice not to be the driving force in the Galaxy pushing for good. He'd follow Padme around taking full advantage at her rather generous paycheck till Palpatine ended the Jedi order and killed her. Hell, without Anakin maybe she would live to see the Empire.

When she dies he'll retire with his wealth somewhere Palpatine's empire won't find him till he's lived out most of his life and then let himself be executed by his inquisitors or kill himself first. He wouldn't be an active player in the Galaxy this time.

It was time to be a watch the travesty that is the Galaxy play out from the eyes of the audience.

Shorter chapter but it served its job to progress the story.

Sorry it's a day or two late I try at least 1 chapter a week. Almost done with next chapter it's almost 5000 words at this moment. Will be better timed.