'We will do as the Council has instructed,' Obi-Wan countered. 'And you will learn your place, young one.'
'Perhaps with merely your presence about me, the mysteries surrounding this threat will be revealed,' offered Padme, ever the diplomat. She smiled alternately at Anakin and at Obi-Wan, an invitation for civility, and when both leaned back, shoulders visibly relaxing, she added, 'Now, if you will excuse me, I will retire.'
They all bowed as Padme and Dorme exited the room, and then Obi-Wan stared hard at his young Padawan again, neither seeming overly pleased with the other.
'Well, I know that I'm glad to have you here,' Captain Typho offered, moving closer to the pair. 'I don't know what's going on here, but the Senator can't have too much security right now. Your friends on the Jedi Council seem to think that miners have something to do with this, but I can't really agree with that.'
'What have you learned?' Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan threw him a look of warning.
'We'll be better prepared to protect the Senator if we have some idea of what we're up against,' Anakin explained to his Master, logic he knew that Obi-Wan had to accept as reasonable.
'Not much,' Typho admitted. 'Senator Amidala leads the opposition to the creation of a Republic army. She's very determined to deal with the separatists through negotiation and not force, but the attempts on her life, even though they've failed, have only strengthened the opposition to her viewpoint in the Senate.'
'And since the separatists would not logically wish to see a Republic army formed…' Obi-Wan reasoned.
'We're left without a clue,' Typho said. 'In any such incident, the first questioning eyes turn toward Count Dooku and the separatists.' A frown crossed Obi-Wan's face, and Typho quickly added, 'Or to some of those loyal to his movement, at least. But why they'd go after Senator Amidala is anyone's guess.'
'And we are not here to guess, but merely to protect,' Obi-Wan said, in tones that showed he was finished with this particular line of discussion. Typho bowed, hearing him clearly. 'I'll have an officer on every floor, and I'll be at the command center downstairs.'
Typho left, then, and Obi-Wan began a search of the room and adjoining chambers, trying to get a feel for the place. Anakin started to do likewise, but he stopped when he walked by Jar Jar Binks.
'Mesa bustin wit happiness seein yousa again, Annie.'
'She didn't even recognize me,' Anakin said, staring at the door through which Padme had departed. He shook his head despondently and turned to the Gungan. 'I've thought about her every day since we parted, and she's forgotten me completely.'
'Why yousa sayen that?' Jar Jar asked.
'You saw her,' Anakin replied.
'Shesa happy,' the Gungan assured him. 'Happier than mesa see'en her in a longo time. These are bad times, Annie. Bombad times!'
Anakin shook his head and started to repeat his distress, but he noted Obi- Wan moving toward him and wisely held his tongue.
Except that his observant Master had already discerned the conversation. 'You're focusing on the negative again,' he said to Anakin. 'Be mindful of your thoughts. She was pleased to see us-leave it at that. Now, let's check the security here. We have much to do.'
Anakin bowed. 'Yes, Master.'
He could say the compliant words because he had to, but the young Padawan could not dismiss that which was in his heart and in his thoughts.
Padme sat at her vanity, brushing her thick brown hair, staring into the mirror but not really seeing anything there. Her thoughts were replaying again and again the image of Anakin, the look he had given her. She heard his words again,
'… grown more beautiful,' and though Padme was undeniably that, those were not words she was used to hearing. Since she had been a young girl, Padme had been involved in politics, quickly rising to powerful and influential positions. Most of the men she had come into contact with had been more concerned with what she could bring to them in practical terms than with her beauty, or, for that matter, with any true personal feelings for her. As Queen of Naboo and now as Senator, Padme was well aware that she was attractive to men in ways deeper than physical attraction, in ways deeper than any emotional bond.
Or perhaps not deeper than the latter, she told herself, for she could not deny the intensity in Anakin's eyes as he had looked at her.
But what did it mean?
She saw him again, in her thoughts. And clearly. Her mental eye roamed over his lean and strong frame, over his face, tight with the intensity that she had always admired, and yet with eyes sparkling with joy, with mischief, with. .
With longing?
That thought stopped the Senator. Her hands slipped down to her sides, and she sat there, staring at herself, judging her own appearance as Anakin might.
After a few long moments, Padme shook her head, telling herself that it was crazy. Anakin was a Jedi now. That was their dedication and their oath, and those things, above all else, were things Padme Amidala admired.
How could he even look at her in such a manner?
So it was all her imagination.
Or was it her fantasy?
