A/N: Longer note than usual as some things have changed in my personal life. This chapter concludes the first half of All's Fair, after a bit of restructuring for how the story will proceed. This chapter was initially split into two, but I adjusted and combined them into what this chapter is now. Now, as I stated previously, starting in September there would be changes to the upload schedule. That was also prior to writing the conclusion of this first half, and before I had some personal things spring up. Because of that, regular updates will resume on September 19th and will be every other week, on Mondays, thereafter. Just wanting to be as transparent as possible in advance for everyone!

With that out of the way, I'll say again how much I appreciate each and every one of you that have read and continue to read and support. Please have a great day, rest of your week, and the next few weeks until we talk again. Enjoy!

Ch. 12

Padmé blinked, struggling to clear the blurriness from her vision as she slowly woke up. The room gradually came into focus as she felt her face rising and falling, her cheek pressed against his warm skin. Anakin's arms were locked tightly around the dip of her waist, fingers splayed downwards toward her hip. She really needed to stop waking up this way with him.

It didn't seem like she had much of a way out of his grasp, the soft snoring above her proving how deep in sleep he still was in and every time she wiggled he only seemed to grip her tighter. A whine startled her before she glanced to notice Artoo sitting at the bottom of the stairs, the dog's head tilted to the side, watching her. At least they hadn't done anything last night, even if parts of her body tried their damndest to convince her that was a fine idea. It would've been rather humiliating to be stared at by the Labrador first thing in the morning if she was less than fully clothed. That was probably one of the few benefits of having not done that though because she felt awful and at least during that wouldn't have been the case.

Her head was pounding from what was nearly an eternity she spent crying last night until she collapsed, totally exhausted, in his arms. She had no clue when she fell asleep, or what time it was now, or how long he'd been holding her. Ugh. The daylight always seemed to complicate everything that seemed simple under the starry night sky. Now she had her reality to face - Bail was running for president. Vacation was over because there was so much work to be doing back in DC. Her team was probably furious with her sudden disappearance. Her mom was probably worried when she never made it back home. But worse than any of that, Anakin still understood her better than anyone else on the face of the planet, including how to comfort her and that was completely infuriating, albeit a little irrational. Why did he always have to be so perfect for her? It was that frustration coursing through her again that made her push him away, pulling his arms apart to break free.

Anakin woke with a startled gasp, grabbing her hands. "Wh-what is it? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing. I need to leave, though, and you won't—" she shrugged her arms, wriggling free from his hold. "—won't let go of me."

"Oh." He dropped her hands and slid out from under her, letting her fall face-first into the hot leather cushion beneath him. "My bad."

She slapped the couch with both hands as she propped herself back up, blowing a loose curl out of her face. "How gentlemanly of you in the end."

"Shut up, Padmé. You're the one that was pushing me. I was only getting out of your way like you wanted," he said, walking off toward the kitchen, scratching at his back.

"You know what?" She stumbled to her feet, trotting after him. "You're going to get tired of telling me to shut up. What's your problem this morning?"

He barked out a laugh while he ushered Artoo out the back door with his food bowl, unlocking the dog door for him to get back inside. "I really doubt that. And I thought you had to rush off?" Anakin spun around, leaning against his counter with his arms crossed. "Y'know, the whole reason you wouldn't let me sleep another minute?"

"I—" There was no point to this argument in the making. And he knew he was pissing her off. The smug look on his face, the curl of his lip, and the ease of his sarcastic tone said it all. "I do. But I didn't think this is how you wanted to leave things?"

"Leave things?" he said with a yawn, waving his hand. "Didn't know you had a concern about how we left things at all. Seemed like you were more than happy to leave them as you found them. Broken and alone."

Padmé would seriously pass judgment for how childish his statement was if not for the burning desire inside her to stomp her foot and take off in the other direction. She was clinging to the excuse that she wasn't a morning person, though. Anakin however… "Anakin Skywalker, what is your deal?" she said, stepping forward so close her crossed arms brushed against his.

"Padmé Naberrie." He stared down at her, raising his eyebrow. "My deal is a 5'3 woman who drives me to the brink of insanity."

"Didn't you give me enough shit last night? Does it have to carry through today also?"

"You tell me. Pretty sure if you didn't have to, you would've left without waking me or saying goodbye this morning."

"That's not true, I just couldn't get up, and it was bothering me," she said, shifting her weight to one side, thrumming her fingers on her arm. Why is he like this?

"Like what?" He said, poking her in the shoulder.

Fuck, that was not supposed to come out of her mouth...

"Annoying." She batted away his hand but continued standing firm in front of him.

He caught her wrist, holding onto it tight as he backed her until the counter on the opposite side of the room pressed against her back. He leaned down toward her causing her heart rate to speed up, the hair on the back of her neck standing as he pulled her arm up around his neck. She wanted to scold herself for following his lead, wrapping her fingers around his nape while her other hand came to cup his cheek of its own volition. His eyes quickly scanned her face with that smug smile of his as she eagerly arched into his touch. Anakin lowered his head, the warmth of his breath heating her from the inside out as his lips hovered dangerously close to her neck. She wasn't sure where the hell he was going with this, or why she was letting it happen as his stubbly cheek brushed hers, his mouth trailing higher until it stopped next to her ear. Then he whispered, "You do know you're pretty fucking annoying yourself, right?"

She pulled the hair at his nape hard, making him cry out while she shoved him away. "Oh, I hate you so damn much, Anakin!" She growled through gritted teeth. Insufferable. Completely and totally insufferable. Sometimes she felt like he might just be showing off to prove he could get her that worked up at all.

"Liar." He rubbed the back of his head, failing to contain his amusement as the mischief continued to twinkle in his eyes. "Do you want breakfast before you go, or do you only want to fight some more? Because I don't want to fight with you again unless it's going to end with one of us on our backs and the other—"

"Don't even go there," she said, shoving him away again as he laughed. "I really can't stay. I meant it when I said I had to go. My vacation is… over. So I need to go pack and figure out how I'm getting back. And Dormé is probably ready to kill me since I hung up on her last night."

"Well… Then… I guess this is it?" He nodded, stepping back and adjusting the loose pants hanging low on his hips. Padmé tried to ignore, but her eyes may have flashed downwards a time or two. If this was the last time she saw him for a while, shirtless in his rather thin pajama pants wasn't a bad way to remember him. "This is where you go off and back to being the superhero senator version of you, and I go back to what my life was like before you turned up in it again?"

"It is as far as my vacation is concerned, but…"

He clicked his tongue, digging through the cabinet under the countertop for a frying pan. "Don't think you have to say something to appease me, Padmé. I'm an adult. I can handle the fact that you're leaving. You made your position pretty clear last night."

"Actually, I feel like it was anything but clear last night." She sighed, running a hand through her hair, untangling the curls as she went. "Not what I was doing, either. I was just going to say I'll be back home. In a few weeks. Not home-home, but I have a Sunday off." In her mind, she was trying to work out why exactly she was telling him this when he was acting so petty. She racked her brain, thinking of what good was going to come from what she said next. "Would you want to see me then?"

The next thing she heard was the loud thump of his head coming in contact with the counter as he tried to whip his head around toward her. "Damn it…" He rubbed a hand over the tender spot, brow furrowed. "Are you serious? Or are you just trying to cause bodily harm to me as a parting gift?"

"You're really a charmer this morning, aren't you? Forget it. Maybe I was trying to cause you harm. A knot on your head to remember me by," Padmé said, smoothing out the front of her clothes and heading back toward the living room. "Forget I brought it up."

Anakin quickly got to his feet, sliding between her and the front door as she went to open it. "I'm sorry. Just didn't… I don't know. It seemed like you really wanted this to be it. I didn't expect you to be offering me another time to see you." He ran a hand over his face and head, scratching at the back of his neck.

"And here I was thinking you knew everything about me?" Padmé gave him a small smile. "This is me trying. Okay? You said you're not coming after me, and that's… That's fine. That's fair. I don't expect you to. But—"

"So, what do you expect?" He brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. "Or are you still not going to tell me what you want because millions of Americans matter more than your own feelings?"

When he put it like that, it had a way of making her feel foolish. A sort of encouragement for making her think she could just throw it all away and hide out here with him. But she couldn't, and he knew she couldn't do that either. No matter how badly either of them might want to in the quiet of his house staring at each other.

She slowly moved around him as he stepped away from the door, allowing her to open it. "I... expect... if you don't have any plans or company on the second Sunday in September, you might want to make a few and let your company be... me." She ran her hand down his arm, twining their fingers together. "This is me not thinking about anything or anyone else right now. Only selfishly telling you what I want." For once in her life, it seemed she was one step ahead of Anakin Skywalker, judging by the blank expression that had taken over his face. She'd actually stunned him into silence. "Unless you don't want to, in which case—"

"Shut your mouth." He cradled her face in his hands, causing her to rise on her tiptoes to match his height. He kissed her languidly, giving her a chance to savor the moment before it ended all too soon. "You better mark me on your calendar."

"Already had Saché put you down. Was going to be super embarrassing if you said no just now and I had to tell her to clear my day again." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, breathing him in, committing the feel of his body, his warmth, against hers to memory. "So I'm glad you said yes…"

"You know, I could never say no to you." Anakin wrapped his arms around her tighter, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around.

If only. He was plenty capable of saying no to her, walking away, breaking her heart again, and she was setting aside every last one of those fears for him now. Padmé reached behind her, unlatching the locked screen-door and swinging it open. "I guess this is goodbye, just for now. But… you can call me. I don't care what I'm doing. I will find a way to get back to you. And if you don't, I'll call you, so don't you make me seem desperate unless you want to fight me about it in a few weeks."

"You couldn't be desperate if you tried. So, you got it," he smiled, standing in the doorway with Artoo at his side as she walked backwards down the driveway. "Be safe and tell Dormé I can't wait to be a pain in her ass again."

She shook her head with a chuckle. "If you ask her, you've been a thorn in her side for nearly a month already. You be safe too and don't let my parents talk you into doing anything crazy."

"All you Naberries talk me into doing things that are crazy. Why should they be any different?"

Padmé rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Goodbye Anakin."

"Go give them old guys a run for their money, senator."

Senator. She would let it slide that today, suddenly finding herself in too good of a mood to want to kill it.

Her mom was waiting in the living room when she quietly tried to creep in the front door, leading to a long discussion about arriving back mid-morning in the clothes she'd left in last night. Admittedly, not her brightest maneuvering but she hadn't done anything so there wasn't much to tell. It didn't spare her the side eye from Jobal though while she pretended to believe everything Padmé was telling her. Instead, she followed her upstairs while Padmé packed up her life for the past month, organizing her suitcases as best she could, stuffing her toiletries back in their bags, and setting them by the door. Dormé forwarded her flight information for her return trip, and Padmé avoided answering the rest of the questions attached to the email, and the five subsequent text messages. She had a pretty good feeling they'd have time to talk soon enough, and it was hard enough to pull herself away from this place without going into detail as to why. The only thing she could focus on now was actually getting out the door, the task proving much harder with her mom not wanting to let go.

"You just got here, and it's already time for you to leave us," Jobal said, hugging her tighter.

The life might actually be getting squeezed out of Padmé in her mom's embrace, her face smashed against her chest as she swayed back and forth. "I've been home for weeks, mom. I'll come home more often. I've learned my lesson!"

Her mom sighed, patting her back before Ruwee came to pried her free. "You better."

"I will, I will," Padmé said, laughing. "I have to go, though. If you make me late to catch my flight, Dormé will not forgive me or you."

Jobal waved a hand. "I could handle Dormé if I needed to," she said. "But it's been so nice to have you here. I've forgotten what it was like to have you to ourselves rather than the rest of Boston or the state."

"Tell me about it. I have a day off next month though, or I can send you guys some of my events? Most of them are pretty public and you could sneak in. Just as long as you don't run up to hug me or anything, the press won't flag you down." She didn't even want to fathom what her announcement was going to look like after working diligently to keep her family uninvolved. Even going to the lengths of her rather pretentious decision to not use her real last name when she dedicated her life to public service. It was only one more thing that was going to go up in smoke - any semblance of privacy. "I'd love it if you came by, or we can figure out a dinner. Something! Something Sola can bring the girls to if it works out."

"If you want us to be there, we will," Ruwee said, picking up the larger of her suitcases. "Otherwise, you can drop in on us any time and we'll leave the politicking to Amidala."

"Maybe that's for the best," she said, throwing her purse over her shoulder and tucking her sunglasses in her hair atop her head. "Okay, mom. We really have to get going."

She grabbed her for one more hug, walking with them to the garage door. "You remember what I said about who you are in this house when you venture back into that landscape you love so dearly. And what I said about who's behind you every step of the way. You'll make the best decisions in the end, that I'm sure of, as long as you stay true to your values. But call me any time you need to hear it again. I don't want CSPAN telling me when to reach out when I see you've gone and blown something up again."

Padmé leaned in and kissed both of her mom's cheeks before she stepped down the stairs into the garage, handing the last of her luggage to her dad. "I know, I'll try to beat the networks to the punch. I appreciate everything you've put up with from me though. All the rants and raves. And I'm sorry I have to skip out on the end… Things were just starting to get fun!"

Ruwee patted her shoulder, wrapping his arm around her. "We understand, Padmé. We watch the forbidden news networks, remember? And like you told me, you're in it to get your hands dirty. So, let's get you on your way to make a few more stuffed suits put their money where their mouth is."

"Goodbye, honey. I'll see you soon, and we'll take good care of him while you're gone," Jobal said, giving a final wink to her as the door closed. She didn't have any doubts about that. It might have wrecked her heart for sure, or she probably would've been arranging transportation for him as she spoke if she thought she was leaving Anakin to be truly alone. It was one thing to do so by accident, to do it after being dealt the crushing blow that was the end of their relationship, but doing so now would've been cruel. Instead, she was leaving him how she'd found him - loved and well-fed like the member of their family he was.

She relaxed in the front seat, waving one more time to her mom through the front picture window as the car rolled out of the garage and down the drive. With her head leaned back, the classic rock music her dad played faded into the background as she got lost in her own thoughts. Padmé could hardly believe only a few weeks ago she was completely dreading coming back here, almost sick from the anticipation of seeing Anakin. Wondering if he'd turn and walk away the moment he spotted her. Questioning whether he'd yell, be angry, hate her. Instead, she got a strange mixture of all of it, plus more. Their relationship layered with the complexities of two people that loved each other so much they'd scorch the earth, weathered now by time and life experience, but still as fiery and consuming as before. And now she'd spent the night with him twice, by total accident, both too emotional to want to dwell on for long. But all the moments in between were enough to build her dreams on, even if they were some of the most irritating encounters in her life. She thought about how much she'd miss hearing the revving of his motorcycle, the sound of his voice echoing up the staircase to her guest room, his teasing, his jokes, the mischief in his eyes… It's only a few weeks, she painfully reminded herself. It was probably a given that she'd tell herself that nearly every day until it was 'only a few hours' instead.

All of the talks she'd had with her mom over morning coffee, watching movies in the den, fussing over the rose garden in the back, about who she was and who she could be played on a loop in her mind. Her conference calls with her team, reconnecting with Sabé, being around again for her sister and nieces. Reacquainting herself with her childhood, her family, her first love, her old neighborhood, and now she was putting it behind her once again to go back to the life she'd built for herself over the last half a decade. Once again, the life she'd chosen to live seemed to contradict in ways with the one she was yearning for. But maybe there was more space than she previously thought for the two of them to weave together.

It was bittersweet, lifting her suitcases from the trunk and hugging and kissing her dad goodbye. He gave her a final reminder to 'dig in' on her work, keep her lifelong commitment to mucking things up for the better, and to continue not always playing nice. And she valued his encouragement more than she could say with the tears that had clouded her vision. She climbed into her seat, reclining the chair as she slipped noise-cancelling headphones over her ears. She didn't have her every step fully mapped out anymore. In fact, she had just as much clarity as she did additional confusion. The difference, though, was that she felt okay about it, rather than crushed by the overwhelming anxiety and panic. Life had a way of throwing her for a loop anyway, even after decades of trying to hammer out the details. Some things she just had to let go of, and trust that her, her team, or the universe would take care of it in the end.

Dutifully waiting for her when she touched down, his hands neatly folded in front of him with a wide smile on his face was one of her favorite familiar faces. She ran straight up to Panaka, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug. "God, it's so good to see you again!"

"Well, Senator! It's good to see you too, still in one piece, but I assume causing less trouble than when I dropped you off a few weeks ago?" He raised an eyebrow, breaking away to retrieve her luggage and load it into the car.

"I've tried so hard to not get into any more trouble. No more alternative exit strategies for me. Last time was enough to last me a lifetime." Padmé climbed in the back of the car, strapping herself in and adjusting her sundress over her knees. Being back 'home,' it was a little strange to be driven around in something less than her pantsuit, or at least her heels!

He looked back at her in the rearview mirror. "Somehow I have some difficulty believing that," he added with a grin. "But where to, Ms. Amidala? Home?"

"Definitely home."

"You got it," he said, putting the car in drive. "So, how was Boston? Everyone getting along well?"

"Well…" Padmé stretched her legs out, letting the conversation flow for the first time with someone who hadn't been getting play-by-play updates along the way.

The sight of the Washington Monument coming into view as the car passed over the Potomac gave her the dose of reality she'd been craving, the breath of fresh air she was hoping would revitalize the purpose in her work. Panaka's reactions to the news of Anakin were better than she could've thought up, making their drive breeze by with stories of his own about a much younger Ani that she'd somehow never heard. It seemed only a few minutes had past before he was pulling the car to a halt in front of her house. Her house! The underrated joy of being back in her own space nearly overwhelmed her as she stepped out, dragging her bags up onto the stoop.

"Is this where I tell you to have a great rest of your day and thank you again for everything?" Padmé said as he rolled down the window.

"Actually, I think it isn't. Dormé has instructed me to tell you about a certain dinner reservation waiting for your arrival at Circa."

Padmé shook her head and grinned. Leave it to her team to come prepared for a homecoming party. Maybe she should take vacations a little more often. "Of course you have, so I suppose I'll see you a bit later?" She reached around, grabbing hold of her doorknob, when the door swung open out of her grasp.

"I thought I heard somebody out here!" Dormé squealed.

"Dormé!" she shouted, turning around and grabbing her like they'd been separated for the better part of a decade. That's how it felt, anyway. She swore the trip aged her at least a year or more.

Panaka called out their names, breaking them from their reintroduction. "I'll be seeing you both later. Until then, you two stay out of trouble!"

In sync, they both agreed to his terms, cackling as he playfully rolled his eyes and drove off.

Dormé yanked her by the arm, grabbing her larger bag and heaving it into the house with a strained grunt. "Get in here, get in here! You have some shit to explain to me!"

With the door closing behind her, she dropped her bags and ran up behind her friend, hugging her. "It is so good to be home!"

Dormé shrugged her off, turning with a huff of laughter. "Who you are and what have you done with my best friend—" Padmé grabbed her again, clinging to her. "You haven't hugged me this much since I got you that meeting with the former President when we were campaigning out of that hole in the wall in Boston!"

Dormé wasn't the most overtly affectionate person on the planet, but she'd capitalize on her friend becoming one for the time being. "I'm just so damn happy right now," she said, her soft voice muffled with her face buried against Dormé's shoulder.

Her friend grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. "It is fantastic to see your face in-person again instead of through a camera lens. However, you hung up on me last night! And then, you didn't even bother to tell me you landed!"

"Oh, shit…" Padmé rushed back to her purse, digging through it for her phone. "I don't think I even turned my phone back on when we came down. And I can't even think of where to begin with last night except an apology."

Dormé grabbed her stack of papers she was clearly looking at prior to Padmé's arrival and plopped back down on the couch. "Apology accepted. And, lucky for you, you're stuck with me all night and every day for the entirety of your career and the rest of your life. So we have all the time in the world for you to figure out where to begin."

"That we do." Padmé kicked off her sandals and walked back to her bedroom. "Have you stayed here the whole time? You didn't bring that guy into my house, did you?"

"Not the whole time, just most of it. And no, I didn't have sex in your house. Thanks for asking!"

"Hey, I just have to check. You're a wild card most of the time, and I wanted to make sure you preserved the sanctity of my couch. It would be a shame to have to burn it!" Padmé called down the hallway before dipping back into her room. She stepped into her closet and let out a long sigh, running her fingers along the fabric of her dresses as she flipped through them, thinking about tonight. "Which Circa is the reservation for?"

"The sanctity… Who said I'd be having sex on the couch? There's a whole variety of flat surfaces in this place, you know. Creativity is key!"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear a word you just said," Padmé said, walking back down the hall with three dresses flung over her shoulder. "Circa. Which one? Or, just tell me which dress?" She held a ruffled, butterfly sleeve, dark blue wrap dress with a belted waist up first, at which Dormé shook her head. Padmé threw it on the back of the couch with a click of her tongue, moving on to a floral lace, red cocktail dress with a deep-v neckline.

"Better… But no," Dormé said, shrugging a shoulder as she evaluated. "Just make it a LBD night. That's what I'm wearing. Your one with the sweetheart neck?"

"That works, I guess." Padmé grabbed the clothes, shuffling back to her bedroom to pull the tight black dress from her closet to hang on her door. "How have things been going here?"

"Don't think I'm not noticing how much you're stalling right now on telling me about last night. You don't give a damn about my opinions on your clothes, or how things have been playing out here."

She walked back into the other room to join Dormé on the couch, crossing her legs beneath her as she sat. "What do you want to know so badly?"

"Um… Every single detail? Did you sleep with him finally? Like a going away present?"

"Now, why do you even assume I was with Anakin?" The mere mention his name made her feel a sudden pang of sadness. Some impossible ache in her chest from remembering he was no longer a few footsteps away. How was it possible that she missed him already?

"Judging by the mopey look on your face, I was right to assume. So, did you?"

Padmé threw the box of tissues behind her at Dormé. "No! I didn't. But…"

Dormé ducked out of the way of the flying box before closing the folder sitting in her lap and straightening the papers within it. "There's a 'but' this time? Now we're getting somewhere!"

"I may have… kissed him… a little?" She said, her words trailing off into a whisper as her friend cracked up over her remark.

"Padmé! Oh, god I can't wait for you to tell Saché… She owes me money!"

Her eyes widened, her jaw going slack. "You did not have a bet going about me and Anakin!"

Dormé kicked her feet, holding her stomach as she erupted in a fit of laughter. "Of course we did! And it goes to show why you made me your chief of staff because Saché thought you could hold out completely, and Sabé thought you'd let him fold you like a lawn chair—" Padmé thought the room was spinning at the audacity of her friends… Then she was blushing at the notion of Anakin doing any such thing to her. "But I, my friend, thought you wouldn't escape Boston without one kiss, but slick as Anakin is you and your damn pride would hold you back. And I was right."

"You're… unbelievable." She rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smile. "All of you."

"And that—" Dormé pointed at her. "—is why you pay me the big bucks. Okay, so you kissed him, no sex, now what?"

"Now…" Where did she even begin? "We got into a not-so-good argument last night about…"

"About?" Dormé stuffed the folder into her bag beside the couch and scooted herself forward on the couch. "And before or after?"

"My feelings for him and my feelings about the campaign," she said with a sigh. "And maybe a little of both?"

"The campaign? How does he even—"

"I don't know! Because he's Anakin, I guess. The damn man might as well be a mind reader with me. Either way! He got on my ass over me not knowing what I want to do with my life. But the thing is… I do know. I don't have any idea how to have it all work out if I start to list off everything I want."

"Well, let's try. Things to work out: your senate career, your family life, evidently Anakin Skywalker, and…" Dormé listed them off, counting one-by-one on her fingers. She waved her pinky finger, waiting for the next order of business.

Padmé took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts and letting the air out slow. "And the campaign because we're going to do this. I'm ready to go."

That time, it was Dormé throwing herself forward instead of the other way around. Padmé found herself smashed against the cushion of her couch after her best friend tackled her into a hug, rolling from side to side. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! White House, here we come!"