A/N: Updates will be made every other Monday (CST), starting on Sept. 19th!

This is the first fanfic I've ever written. I just adore Padmé as a character and wanted more content with her - so I wrote some! And I put it all in a Modern AU. I've worked to build in quite a few familiar characters, in one capacity or another, as the story goes. I tried to keep it very accessible but I am a political/legal nerd in America, so forgive me if things are a bit technical at times.

Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters/names/places in this work belong solely to Lucasfilm/Disney, only original content is mine.

It's political - it'll have Anidala - and I hope you'll find it enjoyable. Please be kind and I love reading your feedback!

Ch. 1

She was walking faster than the situation really called for, and she knew it, but that was beside the point. She needed to get away, get to her office so she could be ashamed of herself in peace.

"Senator…"

She kept moving, heels clicking loudly on the floor, her staffer lagging behind.

"Senator!" Dormé picked up the pace in an effort to keep up.

"Not now! Not. Now. I don't want to hear it."

"But…"

Padmé hurried into her office, the phones up front were ringing off the hook. Her poor secretary was busy picking up the calls and placing them on hold faster than Padmé thought humanly possible. Her brief pause allowed just enough time for Dormé to catch up before she could slip into her private chambers and shut the door in her face. Dormé slid through the door and kicked it closed. Loudly.

"Senator." Dormé said calmly, smoothing out her skirt and catching her breath. "We have to talk."

Padmé kicked her heels off and started pacing around her office.

"Dormé…"

"No. No 'Dormé'! I just chased you down the halls of the Capitol and then all the way to this office, for Christs sake. You quite literally just dropped the mic and ran off."

"I know. I know… That was probably…"

"...the stupidest thing I've ever seen!"

Padmé slumped down into her oversized leather office chair behind her massive wooden desk and put her face in her hands. "Oh god." She shook her head. He had gotten the best of her, she let him get her riled up. She let Sheev Palpatine one-up her. Just what her campaign would need, to give him extra ammo to use against her down the road.

Dormé was still talking, but to be frank, Padmé had zoned out, imagining every political ad that was about to blow up on the internet, every tv news correspondent on the steps of the Capitol, every bit of speculation, conspiracy theory, hateful social media post. It was too much; it was entirely too much. That's what led her to run out of the Chambers the moment the opportunity came, what was surely about to make her a laughingstock. She couldn't bear to think any more about anything, and now Dormé, her wonderful Chief of Staff, was in her face to lecture her about something she already knew - bad optics.

"Hello!" Dormé snapped her fingers in front of Padmé's face, breaking her daze. "Are you listening to anything I'm saying right now?"

She took a deep breath and lifted her head. "Would you like the truth?"

"I should assume I'm one of the few people you're truly honest with." Dormé stared her down, holding the folders Padmé definitely didn't want to go over close to her chest.

"I understand that you're frustrated, but let's not forget who works for who, okay?" Padmé glared back.

She knew Dormé was completely justified in her anger. While she was the 'face' of her office and it was her agenda they all worked to achieve, it certainly wasn't lost on her how far she wouldn't have come without the devotion of her entire team, but her chief of staff in particular. She owed a debt of gratitude to Dormé, sure, but she wasn't in the mood to be barked at for the umpteenth time today, that's what got her into this mess to begin with.

"I'm not going to entertain that, it's in both of our best interests that I don't." Dormé sat down on the other side of the desk and placed the folders in her lap. "Now, can you please explain to me what happened in there?"

"I…I…" Padmé shook her head before leaning back and letting out something between a groan and a scream. "He'll do anything to get me to fired up, to get a sound bite out of me! He stands there, so calm, and rips apart every word that comes out of my mouth! It's all his fault!"

Dormé sat silently, waiting for Padmé to come back to reality, then she cleared her throat and leaned forward on the desk. "Senator… I can't take that to the press. I can't do what you pay me to do with that sort of a statement. So, I need you to compose yourself and tell me how the hell your talking point turned into a gavel-banging, decorum-breaking, shouting-match with one of the highest-ranking members of the Senate!"

Padmé sighed and leaned forward onto her elbows. "Dormé, I need this to go away. I look like a hysterical woman who breaks down when she can't get her way. I can hear the headlines typing themselves. I cannot even envision the future campaign with that looming overhead."

"I understand that, and I will make it go away, but you have to say where this went wrong." Dormé placed her hand over Padmé's that were folded on the desk. "You are among the youngest senators ever elected, you were top of your class at Harvard, twice, and I'm going to make you the youngest president elected, not to mention the first woman." She smiled. "That's what you pay me to do." Padmé hesitantly smiled back. "So, tell me what I need to know."

"This is going to sound ridiculous, but I cannot remember how it all went to shit."

And that's exactly what had happened. It all went to shit. One minute she was giving her prepared speech on a bill dealing with women's healthcare, and the next minute she was competing with Palpatine on who could make a louder point, the man that was presumed to be her competition if she decided to run. She was focused on telling a very sensitive story she had read from a constituent letter regarding a woman's privacy in making her own medical decisions when she was bombarded with interruptions from Palpatine and his most loyal cosigners. In her effort to reclaim her time and dignity, well, she failed. That's when the shouting started, which only inspired her agitators to keep going. She nearly caused a larger scene, and she was so grateful to be forced to shut up when it was decided the bill would be tabled just before summer recess by her own colleagues.

Dormé made a face like she didn't believe a word Padmé was saying but it was the truth. She had everything under control until she…didn't. And she knew how bad this was for the press. The clip of the two of them, the presumed presidential frontrunners, from C-SPAN was surely going viral already.

"Ugh. Dormé, what am I gonna do?" She looked to her most trusted advisor and closest friend pleadingly.

"Well, luckily for you, I don't think this is unsalvageable. Thankfully it seems things wrapped up before you physically attacked the man, though it looked like you were about to." She eyed Padmé who quickly ducked her head. "Nevertheless, you need to get out of DC. Now."

"Now?! Out of DC? Don't you want me to get out in front of this? Isn't that what you're always telling me?"

"Yes, except now I'm telling you to stop talking, and leave town. It's summer vacation, you have a month. I'm going to drop an insider tip to all listening ears, spin a story of how much Sheev dislikes women's causes and let that media storm run wild. You, on the other hand, are going to do nothing except fly home and be normal." She tapped a finger on the desk.

Be normal. Padmé rolled her eyes on that note. After graduating the top of Harvard Law, serving in the state legislature, being one of the youngest women elected to the Senate, now with eyes on the presidency, there hadn't been anything normal about Padmé's existence since she was a child. Not that it was normal either, her parents were quite wealthy despite their choice to live in a solidly middle-class neighborhood near Boston. Her prep school upbringing had caused her enough problems being elected as she tried to position herself as a representative for "all the people" and now she's supposed to be normal. But aside from that silly notion, the spin that Dormé was suggesting was more than plausible as a solution.

"Fine." Padmé crossed her arms against her chest, then uncrossed them and sat up straight before Dormé uttered a word about her childish behavior. "Was there anything else?"

Before her chief of staff could say, there was a knock at the door. Padmé quickly jumped up and recovered her heels, fixed her blazer and leaned against the side of her desk. "Come in."

Saché poked her head in the room. "Senator Amidala, your sister is on line 1 for you, your mother is on line 2, and Senator Organa is here to see you as well."

Dormé looked to Padmé then back at Saché then back at Padmé. Saché gave her best attempt at a smile, which settled no one's nerves. Padmé was the first to speak.

"Can you please tell my mother I will call her in an hour, my sister I will call her tonight, and tell Senator Organa to please come in."

Dormé made to stand before Padmé placed her hand on her arm. "Senator, I should really not be here for this." She protested.

"I wholeheartedly disagree, now sit." Padmé directed with a stern look that Dormé didn't dare to not comply with.

Senator Bail Organa appeared in the doorway. "Senator. Ma'am." He nodded to Dormé before taking Padmé's offered hand to shake.

"Dormé is fine." Dormé smiled and settled back into her seat, though she had a million places she needed (and wanted) to be aside from Padmé's office. Being there only forced her to speculate about how many reporters she would need to call back, how many of her own staffers were at their wits end, and she had yet to give them their own story to start telling. She suppressed a groan and hoped this wouldn't take long.

"Of course." Bail answered with a polite smile. "Senator, I just came by to see how you were doing since…well…"

Padmé chuckled nervously before nodding. "Yes, thank you. I'm fine. Really. Though I am extremely grateful you were able to come to my aid, and that it's time for recess now."

Bail was one of Padmé's few close friends, without his support or the support of Senator Mon Mothma, she was certain she would be dead in the water. By comparison, they were much longer serving established politicians, with an extensive track record of getting things done to back them up. They were willing to risk serious political capital by helping Padmé along the way, showing her the ropes. Arriving in the Senate was something no amount of preparation could truly prepare a person for. It was a world all its own, different from her days as an intern for a House member, her days in law school, or even her time in the state house. This was its own beast, and she had no idea how to tame it.

"Yes. About that, it was really no problem, Palpatine was out of line but naturally the President of the Senate was reluctant to notice, or act. But fear not, we won't let you fail that easily." He winked at her. "I don't want to take up too much of your time, I overheard your secretary, and it sounds like you're a wanted lady. I just wanted to make sure you were still in good spirits. I do hope you'll take some much-needed time for yourself in these next few weeks. We'll need you back full force in September, and you have a campaign to be considering." He pulled her in for a brief hug, which she welcomed.

"Thank you, Bail. Truly." He gave a final wave to both women as he left. Dormé smiled at him before turning her attention back to the senator she served.

Padmé took a deep breath. "Well, now the real work starts?" She looked at Dormé who clicked her tongue.

"Didn't I just tell you that your only 'move' here is to go home?" Dormé stood, collecting her things.

"Yes, and I will take your advice, but I meant calling my mother." Both women laughed at the accuracy of that notion.

Jobal was consistently supportive of every decision Padmé ever made, even the really, really bad ones. But she never spared her a tongue-lashing when she made a particularly stupid mistake, not unlike her decisions in chambers earlier. Her only hope is that if she led with the news that she was coming home, her mom would be too happy to be critical.

"I'll email you these files and notes from the bills on the docket, since we didn't get a chance to go over them, and I'll get you all the pertinent details you need moving forward." Dormé opened the door to the main office to leave. "Oh! And I'll let you know how everything…spins…out. Good luck with your mother, give her and Sola my best, and tell them how grateful you are to have me!" She flashed Padmé a final grin and closed the door behind her. Padmé shook her head before taking her seat again and reaching for her work phone.

"Hey mom!"

Padmé had been wrong that the news would spare her Jobal's concern, but she liked to think the blow was lessened with the news of her coming 'home' for a while. She rarely had enough time to really go home, there was always somewhere to be, someone to meet, or something to strategize. She wondered what she would actually do with her free time, or if she would be able to maintain any semblance of privacy needed to have free time. The media was an absolute circus, and it was all her fault. She hoped Dormé would be able to sort the whole thing out before it got too out of hand, but she would be foolish to not be at least a little concerned that was impossible. Padmé picked up the remaining files in her office necessary, even for her recess, stuffed her laptop in her bag, and took out her phone. She groaned loudly at the sight of just how many messages, posts, tweets, emails, calls flooded her personal cell after her "outburst," as some of the media was so delicately calling it. This included at least 10 messages from Sola, her sister, alone. She would have to call her back later.

Maybe Dormé was right. Since arriving in the senate, Padmé prided herself on the hours she put in, the constituent calls she personally took, the letters she wrote back rather than passing the duty to a staffer, the in-office lunches, the numerous outings, dinners, fundraisers, committees she worked tirelessly for. And what was that getting her? Ruthlessly attacked as the "emotional woman" by every news station on air, including the ones that were usually more favorable, and the women anchors for the programs. This vacation was starting to sound better and better.

She threw her bag over her shoulder and with her security escort in tow, she planned to make her way to the Metro, the most efficient public transport she had ever been on. Well, she would be on her way, until she saw the media frenzy was still as loud as they were hours ago surrounding the Capitol and senate building. She wondered if they surely didn't have something better to do, to report on. There were plenty of real issues happening every moment in America and yet, this was the news of the day. Or the week. Definitely the week, but hopefully not the month. Getting out of this building, let alone out of this city, was proving more difficult than she thought.

She grabbed her wireless earbuds from her purse and called the only person she knew could get her out of here. "Dormé. I need your help again."

"Sorry, she's not here, she's too busy cleaning up all the other messes she doesn't get paid enough for." Dormé answered, adding a short laugh at the end.

"I personally make sure that isn't true. But never mind that for a minute. I can't leave the complex. There are too many reporters, the last thing I need is one of them following me onto the Metro. Or worse, to my house." Padmé slowly eased her way back into the Senate building. The security guard that had just walked her out gave her a curious look, but when she awkwardly waved her apologies, he just shook his head before walking away. If she weren't trying so desperately to heed Dormé's orders, she would have just walked out the door as she planned to. That wasn't exactly going to quiet the reporters, despite how badly she wanted to do it anyway, so she was leaning once again on her righthand woman.

"Oh. Psht."

Padmé could imagine the wave of a hand Dormé had motioned with the noise she just made, she huffed impatiently in response.

"I'm serious! They're everywhere."

"That's all you wanted? I'll call you a driver. Have security walk you to a different door, text me which, and wait. And you can thank me later because I have to go!"

The call beeped before Padmé could even respond. She wondered what Dormé had to rush off the phone for, and then decided she probably didn't really want to know. She did what was asked of her, after flagging down that same security guard who was surely sick of seeing her tonight.

"I'm really sorry about this…" Padmé drug out her last word searching for the man's name tag. "…Officer Bradford."

"It's no problem, Senator. It is what I'm here for." She wondered if his calculated kindness was at all genuine but tried to not dwell on the likelihood that it wasn't. He escorted her to the alternative door she told Dormé to send the driver to in silence. Officer Bradford nodded in a polite goodbye as Padmé said goodnight and headed down the stairs, straight into the opened car door waiting for her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She breathed in relief, settling her bag and purse at her feet. There was no reply at first, but the car was also not moving yet. "Oh! Here, I suppose Dormé didn't give you my…" She finally looked up to see a familiar face staring back at her. "Panaka?"

"The one and only. Who else would Dormé call to rescue you yet again from something I'm sure you caused?" They both laughed, Padmé's more out of nervousness than anything else. "Regardless how hard I tried, protecting you was one of the hardest things I've ever been assigned, and that's counting the assignments from the U.S. Military itself. Harder yet when you were being enabled by Dormé, Sabé, and…"

"…Saché." Padmé finished for him with a smile.

"Right, Saché. So, Dormé is still by your side, how about the rest of your pals? And don't worry, I know where I'm going, Dormé takes care of everything for you, y'know." Quarsh Panaka put the car in gear and slowly made his way away from the media storm. Padmé hoped none of the flashing cameras were catching her right now making a secretive getaway like some disgraced politician. Even if that is how she felt.

"Yes, so I've been told." Panaka chuckled at Padmé's inflection. "Dormé followed me here from Massachusetts to be my chief of staff, Saché wanted to work on The Hill after she graduated at Georgetown, so I offered her a position in my office if she wanted it, and Sabé… She went corporate, living it up in New York, I think. She was up for partner at her firm the last I heard but it's been a while since our schedules worked out for us to really talk."

He offered comments of praise on all the successes of 'his girls.' He was a great friend to Ruwee, her dad, and he became the family's driver and security after he returned home from the military. By extension of his duties, he was always keeping a close eye on Padmé and her friends growing up, and frequently saved them from trouble in college and again in law school. His nephew, Typho, had followed her into the state house when she was elected but declined her invitation to join her in DC. Catching up with Panaka made the trip to Padmé's townhouse breeze by, but when the car came to a halt, reality started sinking back in.

"Well, this is where I leave you. I got you here in one piece, please keep it that way after you leave this car."

She smiled at him. "As always, I will do my best. Am I to expect you'll pick me up tomorrow to take me to catch my flight?"

"Do you think Dormé gave me any other choice?" He tipped his hat to her as she gathered her stuff and headed toward her front door.

"Then I will see you in the morning!"

Closing the door behind her, she dropped her bags with a hard thud. She pulled her phone out of her jacket and returned Sola's missed call, it was only number 15 by this point.

"Padmé! If you hadn't called mom earlier and confirmed you were alright, I was going to get on the next flight down there to find out for myself, and maybe kick a reporter or two."

Padmé laughed, grabbing a chilled bottle of wine from her fridge, and pouring herself a generous glass. "You were not. But that would've been funny if you did, except for the extra attention it would've brought our entire family."

"Well, at least you wouldn't have been alone in disgracing us."

"Very funny." Padmé stripped out of her work clothes into loungewear and settled in on the sofa with her wine. "I was ordered to take a vacation. Can you believe it?"

"Can I believe you were ordered to, or that you're going to take it?" Sola quipped before saying something in the background which sounded like a goodnight order for Padmé's nieces, Ryoo and Pooja.

"Tell my nieces I will see them very soon, because I'm taking the mandated vacation starting tomorrow."

"You must really be causing trouble in DC that you're actually skipping town. Way to go, sis, you made it to the real world of politics."

"Would it kill you to not make jokes about a very serious issue I'm having?"

"It really might. But c'mon Padmé, it's only a serious issue in your insular world in DC, for the rest of us there's always a bigger fish."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Padmé was so tired of hearing that stupid phrase. "But this is serious business, I have things I want to accomplish and being caught in this storm isn't the way to do it. A part of me is very happy to be coming home, though."

"We're glad you're coming home. Mom called as soon as the two of you hung up."

"Of course she did." Padmé finished the last of her wine and set the glass on the coffee table before grabbing her throw blanket and laying back against the cushions. "I'll be in tomorrow, but don't plan anything. I don't know how the media is going to be yet. I don't even know how I'm sneaking out of here."

"Sounds good, I'll leave the planning to you. I'm sure Dormé will get your plan settled before your plane takes off." There was a pause before she continued. "There is something I want to prepare you for though, something you may be interested to hear."

The hesitation from her sister made her nervous and she couldn't take any more of that in one day. "Spit it out, Sola."

"Anakin's back..."

If Padmé had still been drinking her wine, she surely would have spilled it or spit it out. And had she been holding the glass at all, she's certain she would have broken it.

"…and he bought the house across the street."

Padmé swore the room started spinning, this day was entirely too much and all over again she was spiraling. "Ani?"

"Yes…that would be the one…"

"Sola, I have to go. I…love you, bye!" Padmé hung up and sat in her stunned silence for what seemed like an eternity before once again the reality started setting in. Her ears were ringing, and it felt like the world might really be turning upside down. Tomorrow, on her mandated vacation – something she was beginning to think could be relaxing – she would probably be coming face-to-face again with the man she missed every day since they broke each other's hearts. The only man she ever really loved.

Anakin Skywalker.