what am I now? what if I'm someone I don't want around?
This was very much not where she had been last. Padmé could only tip her head back to glance up at the trees as she tried to figure how she went from bring inside the metal of a ship to, well, this. The young Senator hardly waited to get her bearings before she exploring, trying to figure her way out of whatever this was. The note gave her pause, but she slipped it into the front of her travel jacket. "I'd kill for a droid right now," she muttered to herself as she investigated the primitive communication device. Was this perhaps some Trade Federation trap?
She moved to a more secure locale, a fallen tree, and began to toy with the device. She didn't have a blaster on her, but she would still be able to fight. Her various hairpins that kept the braid in place were weapons, plus she had blades hidden in her boots. It was supposed to be a relief mission where they dropped off supplies, there hadn't been a reason to have the blaster on her. Her guards, her loyal handmaidens, has the blasters.
"Karabast," she muttered as she got the device working. A vague SOS of sorts went out, but one reply had her confused. Ani? He was a child… was Obi-Wan with him? She promised to wait for the arrival of the young boy before shutting off the device. Time seemed to pass slowly and she was just clutching the carved necklace around her neck when she finally heard someone approaching. Padmé pushed herself away from her hiding place and stepped out into the open. Her eyes widened slightly. "State your name," she let her voice revert to the emotionless and controlled tone she used as a Senator. Her gaze took in everything and there was something familiar, but not-
"Do I know you?"
Anakin had gotten there as soon as he could. This place was still strange to him and he hardly knew his way around, but he was street smart and had dealt with much more complicated places. Coruscant for one. Nothing would have stopped him from reaching her.
Blue eyes scanning the location she’d given him, Ani took in his surroundings and had only just stepped forward to search further when she appeared. She was young, that much he noticed at first. Not that she didn’t always have a youthful beauty to her, but Anakin knew everything about this woman; every nuance there was to be had. And this? This wasn’t the Padmé that he’d seen most recently -- through holograms more recently, but even then he knew just what to expect.
This wasn’t it.
Her words only confused him more, and rather than reach for her like he had originally moved to do, Anakin’s arms went slack at his sides as his brow furrowed and he watched her cautiously. His connection to her through the Force was off right now, and while every fiber in his being told him that this really was his wife, it wasn’t actually. Just like some of the others here had said could happen. People from different times and places.
“It’s--” Frustration boiled inside of him. There was too much he was emotionally dealing with right now for this to be happening. If she knew what he’d done-- What had happened with Dooku-- But this wasn’t the Padmé he’d thought he’d be returning to back home. She was different.
“Anakin.” He did as she’d commanded in that tone instead; offering his name when anything else seemed foolish to do.
Anakin. The name echoed through her mind and her confusion and frustration betrayed her in the form of her brows knitting together. "That is not-" Her tone of voice slipping faintly as she tried to wrap her mind around this new situation. She reached up again to grip the necklace that her Ani had given her all those years ago in the coldness of space. The man in front of her was not Ani. No, it couldn't be. He was supposed to be a boy at the Jedi Temple…
"Anakin," she got control of her voice as she took a cautious step away from her tree. Her body was clearly tense since she was waiting for some sort of attack. Padmé was not easily knocked off her game, but this moment was proving she could still be blindsided. Any attack would be met with a fight, but a part of her was whispering that the person in front of her wasn't going to attack. A gut feeling.
"I was just on a ship, which I have misplaced it seems. Would you be so kind as to explain what in the-" She reigned the emotion back in her voice and made a show of straightening the hem of her jacket. "What exactly is going on?"
Losing her head wasn't a wise idea. She was trained better than this.
Her training had never covered being dropped in the middle of some forest. "I cannot hail my ship. Is this something the Trade Federation has devised? I didn't think anything like this was possible." She frowned as she waved a hand to the area surrounding them before she let her gaze study Anakin. He looked like he had seen a few wars and for some reason that caused a pang in her heart. If this was Ani, which meant he was from her future, then she was failing her galaxy. Had she not done enough to protect everyone?
"Do you have a last name, Anakin?" Skywalker.
“Skywalker,” Anakin replied without missing a beat. He could see her mind working. It was always working fast but it was clearly in overdrive, and he wanted so badly to hold her while he tried to explain all of this-- well, as much as he could explain. Anakin hadn’t been here very long himself. Regardless of that, he could see that there would be none of that physicality between them. They weren’t married in her eyes, a fact that made his heart ache. There was nothing that could be done but try and give some sort of explanation.
“It’s complicated. Very complicated, but I’ve had it briefly explained away to me.” Sighing, Anakin’s gaze was cast up toward the sky. It was easier to do this if he didn’t have to look at her. It was already difficult enough knowing she wasn’t, well, his Padmé, but having to hear the emotion gripping at her voice made it ten times worse.
“I was on a ship, too--” Stopping himself so he wouldn’t explain which ship, because it didn’t matter and wouldn’t make sense to her anyway, Anakin moved on. “I blinked and I was here instead. In this… place.” He motioned around him, his mechno-arm whirring in a way that only something droid-like would. Stopping that motion quickly, he retracted it, his gaze shifting back down to meet hers as self consciousness took over him. Not that he was embarrassed by his arm, because he’d be damned if Dooku took more than just a limb from him, but she didn’t know this version of him and that meant he was a whole boy in her mental imagery, not some scarred, war-torn version
Hearing him say his last name was Skywalker was a blow she wasn't expecting. Padmé had known on some level that this was the boy who had won a pod race on that sandy planet. Tatooine had opened her eyes to how sheltered she had been and just how cruel the galaxy could be. She was working to free as many slaves as she could, but her role as Senator tied her hands slightly. She was blessed that her handmaidens were willing to be her hands. Kriff! If she was here than she would not be able to check up on Sabé.
"Complicated? I am well acquainted with dealing with complicated things." She reached up to push a nonexistent stray hair behind her ear, a sign she was actually caught off guard. This was a new planet that didn't appear to have proper communications and Ani, little Ani, was very much not little.
"I was on a ship with Clovis. I somehow doubt he can continue the mission without insulting someone," it was rare for her to insult someone, but she was a tad overwhelmed. She glanced up at the tree branches above her, sunlight streaming through the leaves and she found her lips turning down ever so faintly in a frown. Her gaze may have been on the branches, but she was paying attention to everything else. Her brown eyes flickered towards Anakin.
"Would you explain this place to me, Anakin?" There was a faint hitch in her voice as she almost called him Ani. She wouldn't admit it, but she was wishing Sabé was here to hug her as they plotted how to get out of this new situation.
Anakin noticed the tells. Despite the fact that they had been separated so much since being married thanks to the Clone Wars, he knew everything about her body language. It was making him physically sick to just stand there, knowing she was distressed. She could handle anything, he knew that backward and forward, but that didn’t mean she should have to handle anything alone.
“Right-- I know--” Complicated was pretty much every aspect of her life as a senator. This whole thing was a giant karking mess. As complicated as she was used to, she didn’t need children and grandchildren thrown at her. The time would come for that, but he wouldn’t have it dropped like a detonator on her.
The appearance of her frown had made his heart sink further, and that hitch... It was literal turmoil to hear her seem almost unfamiliar with him. Gathering himself and trying to figure out where to start, Anakin figured that the best way to go about it was to seem like things were fine -- that they were going to be fine. Extending his right arm, the Jedi Knight gently offered his hand to her.
“Walk with me? And I’ll try to explain what I can.” A little smile appeared, one that was boyish and typically reserved just for her, and he tilted his head ever so slightly. “Ani is fine, Padmé.”
Oh, oh. Padmé was a little caught off guard by that smile for some reason. It suited him and made him seem younger, as if he hadn't seen the war she had clearly noticed. She glanced down at the offered hand before shifting her gaze to his eyes, searching for something. Maybe it was the fact he said she could call him Ani or maybe it was something else, but the young Senator reached out and placed her hand in his.
Her free hand went up to the necklace around her neck before she realized what she was doing. She quickly changed the action to one of brushing some invisible dust off her jacket, no need to draw attention to the hand carved charm she always wore. "Ani," she said softly. "How is this possible? It is one matter to be transported suddenly, but it is entirely another to find someone I know is rather a different age now." The cold tone was long gone from her voice now as she tried to sort things out.
Why did she trust him? Why, when she looked in his eyes, did she see someone she knew? Ani was a child at the Temple-
"Is Master Kenobi here," she questioned. "I would think he would not be far from you since he is your Master- no, you are hardly Padawan age now, from what I can tell." She was solving the problem out loud, something she only did around people she trusted.
It wasn’t lost on him what she was wearing around her neck. He knew she wore it-- future him, to her, knew that she wore it. Besides, she seemed less than interested with him noticing, so he just pretended like he didn’t instead. Giving a little squeeze to the hand in his, careful as always not to squeeze too hard with the mechno-limb, Anakin couldn’t help but let his smile widen as she carried on, not letting him answer anything just yet as she figured things out outloud.
Four years ago he would’ve been slightly annoyed that someone expected him to have to be with Obi-wan, but his relationship with his Master had grown so much in those years that it didn’t bother Anakin now. If anything, he wished that the Jedi Master were there.
“Obi-wan isn’t here, no. Unless he’s hiding out and just watching me suffer for the fun of it.” He laughed softly, his eyes sparkling with amusement. It would have irritated him if Obi-wan were there and hadn’t shown himself yet, but he could still see the other Jedi doing it just to test him.
“I’m--” He lowered his arm, taking her hand with it, and pulled gently to lead her out away from the tree she’d been taking cover under. “It’s complicated because it’s--” Anakin sighed and took a breath before starting again as he looked to make sure their path was clear before looking back over at his wi-- no, Padmé. “Some people are calling this place a pocket dimension. I’ve only been here about a week, so I’m no expert, but basically it seems like people are being pulled to this place by some unknown power from various points in time and space. There are people from different… well, dimensions.”
Casting a little apologetic look in her direction, he shrugged a shoulder. “And no, I’m not a padawan anymore. Haven’t been for over four years now.”
If Ani could be here older than was it possible that Qui-Gon could also be here? Wherever here was. Padmé felt that dull ache in her chest as she thought about the dear Jedi Master that she had grown fond of before a Sith cut him down. He had looked right through her disguise and guided her anyway. She raised an eyebrow and cast a look at the Jedi next to her. "Does Master Obi-Wan often like to see you suffer? My views on the Jedi must be very off," there was a faint teasing tone to her voice that was mixed with sadness.
Pocket dimension? Padmé felt her brows knitting together again and was very glad she wasn't wearing face paint or the like. The creases would have been awful. She stopped walking, pulling on their connected hands as she glanced up at him.
"Four years?" She sounded offended. "I can accept a lot of things, Ani, but four years? You're a Jedi Knight. I'm happy for you, honest, but I-" She was confused. That was the easiest way to describe what she was feeling. "Do we stop the Trade Federation? Do I end up helping people? I can't be here. I have work to do at the Senate-" Her words sounded distant to her own ears and Padmé suddenly felt like everything was pushing down on her. She squared her shoulders and did what she did best, she pushed back.
"I demand to talk to whoever is in charge so I can get us home, Ani. I will not stand idly by while we are trapped here."
It was easy to spot every nuance; every inflection in her voice and every miniscule change in her body language. He knew no one better than the former queen of Naboo, save for maybe Obi-wan, and a younger version of her was hardly any different.
“No, he doesn’t like to see me suffer-- Hey, hey, shh.” She was starting to sound a little frantic and that was the last thing he wanted. This place took some getting used to -- in fact he was still doing just that -- but he was going to help her along in any way that he could.
“Breathe, m’lady.” His eyes softened again and that little smile returned, not because she was confused and concerned, but because no matter where she was in the galaxy -- universes? -- she was still just the same. Strong willed and ready to take on anything. Anakin struggled to fight the urge not to reach up with his free hand and delicately touch her jaw, but he managed to constrain himself from doing so. “I don’t know everything about this place, alright? But I know people have tried and are trying to figure out a way to get back to their homes.” Searching her eyes, begging her to trust him, Anakin took a brief moment to pause before going on. There was so much he couldn’t tell her. Not yet.
“The commonly agreed upon hypothesis is that we’re still back home-- just, a copy of us was brought here. How else would it make sense? Where I’m from, you’re still a senator. You are helping the people. You didn’t disappear from the galaxy and never come back.” Another gentle squeeze to her hand came. “And no one knows who’s in charge of this place. It’s just some faceless entity that no one completely understands.”
Being soothed was something she wasn't exactly expecting and it actually caught her off guard enough that she paused. Padmé gave him a very unimpressed look as she took a deep breath to calm her mind. Focus. She could focus. A few breaths later she found herself pursing her lips together, about to unleash a speech on Ani when she just sort of deflated. No. That wasn't the right term. Padmé settled for not rushing off to go throttle the Entity that was toying with their lives.
"I'm still a senator," she breathed out. "Fine. This hypothesis holds some merit in the fact that I would think even a minor absence of mine would make those kriffing tabloid blasts. They'd love it. Young Senator Amidala has run away, proving she isn't capable like we all knew." Her voice mimicked the annoying reporter who enjoyed trying to destroy her good standing. She realized a second later what she had done and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"Oh, Ani, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. That was extremely improper of me. You're a Jedi and deserve respect and manners from me. It won't happen again." She didn't move to her hand free since she needed that anchor. Why was she comfortable around an older Ani? It had to be because of the fact they shared history. He would always hold a special place in her heart for everything he had done for Naboo.
"So what exactly am I supposed to do if I cannot use diplomatic or aggressive negotiations to get us out of here?"
Despite everything that they were going through -- this whole place, being brought here out of time -- everything, Anakin couldn’t help it when his smile grew and before he could suppress it, a laugh slipped out. She was just so… it was so refreshing to have her here -- not that he wanted her to be in this situation, but it was nice to have someone that knew him… even if she didn’t fully know him yet.
Those kriffing tabloids was right. They’d had too much experience dodging any sign of affection in public, and Anakin was painfully aware of what would happen should they be caught. Her reputation… both of theirs. Not to say that they weren’t both of reputable character, and that it would be some disgrace to be seeing the other, but with him being a Jedi… It was all so complicated. And, aside from all of that, he knew how much she dealt with the public eye scrutinizing her every move. She’d lived with it for practically her entire life.
“I’m sorry,” he said, the laugh not gone from his voice. “I’m not laughing at you--” Anakin shook his head, fighting his smile as hard as he could. “I just mis-- It’s just good to see you’re as resilient as ever. And always ready for aggressive negotiations.” She wouldn’t get it, why it was amusing to him that she’d said that, but that was alright.
“And you don’t need to apologize to me.” It was bizarre to him to think of her feeling as though she had to respect him so much because he was a Jedi. They had respect for each other because of so many reasons, but he’d never felt like that was an important one. Not when there was so much else between them. He just had to remember that that wasn’t between them right now.
“I’m just Ani, Jedi or not, and we’ll figure this out together, alright?” His smile had disappeared, but his expression was still pleasant -- still showing that concern but also trying to provide encouragement to believe him. “We’ll just have to see what we learn as we go along.”
Always ready? Padmé wasn’t sure she was always ready for aggressive negotiations, but she was extremely frustrated at the whole situation. The fact he had laughed didn’t irritate her as much as she thought, more so since he explained it wasn’t at her. His smile was almost infectious, but somehow she refrained from smiling along.
Her head hurt.
“Just Ani,” she finally said before she glanced down at their joined hands. “I don’t know what it is, but I believe you. It is strange to have our roles reversed. Not that long ago,” it was a time ago really, “I helped comfort you in the cold of space. I suppose you are returning the favor.” This was a whole new adventure, one where she didn’t have her closest allies and friends. Padmé wasn’t used to being so alone- no, that wasn’t right, was it? She had Ani here, even if he was older than her now. A startled look danced across her face as her head whipped up to look at him.
“You are older than me! As if this place wasn’t confusing enough!” A few rather improper swear words escaped her in Huttese that would have made her mother blush. “You said I am a senator in your time, do we keep in touch? Please tell me I did not forsake you.” She had been meaning to visit him at the Temple, but the senate had kept her busy- sometimes trying to keep herself alive actually- and now she felt a faint sense of guilt. Had she let the senate consume her life?
Anakin’s smile returned when it seemed to truly hit her that he was older than her. He was certain it must’ve been strange for her but he still hadn’t expected the Huttese to slip out. It took something pretty specific to get her to talk like that, but it wasn’t as if Anakin had never heard it before, and it wasn’t as if he never did it himself -- well, older him, that she didn’t know yet.
It was endearing that she was so concerned that she hadn’t kept up with him over the years. It had been awhile, it was true, for a while there. Both of them had been so busy. Her being a senator and putting in so much effort to change the galaxy, and him going around with Obi-wan on peacekeeping missions that almost always ended up turning into something grander. He couldn’t blame her and they were able to see each other in his dreams.
“I know, it’s…” Anakin didn’t have the right word for it. Odd? It could’ve been stranger. She could have still been Queen and ended up here. That would’ve thrown him for a loop. “Of course we do.” He and Obi-wan had been off-world so often, and Padmé with all of her senatorial duties, that it really wasn’t until he was older that he’d actually been able to see her. She wouldn’t know that yet, not for another several years.
“As if you’d ever forsake me.” Without really thinking he reached up with his free hand and gently traced his finger over the face of the carved piece he’d given her so long ago. His Padmé, back home, flooded his mind and for a brief moment he seemed to go somewhere else.
It was a faint ease to her confusion and frustration to know that she just ignored Ani in the future. Padmé knew she could get wrapped up in her work and it would have been cruel of her to have helped him escape a sandy plant to only abandon him completely. The Jedi were a bit secretive of what happened behind the Temple walls, but she was sure they had given little Ani a good life. She was about to ask another question when something strange happened. Her breath caught in her throat for a second as he touched the necklace she wore. She tried to search his face for some sort of sign of what he was thinking, but it was rather like he was on another planet now.
A heartbeat and then a few more passed before she reached up to gently grab his hand with her free one. Slim flingers encircled his hand as she looked up at him. “Ani,” she said softly. “Are you alright? I seem to have lost you. If you could come back to me I have some more questions. There was a piece of paper that I was hoping you had some insight about, the one regarding the Villa. Is it all true?”
She hadn’t spent long with the voice message since she had known Anakin was seeking her out. At the time of the message she hadn’t thought that the Anakin finding her was going to be the man in front of her. A grown up Ani that she wanted to protect for some reason. After the invasion of Naboo she had seen how some of her people looked war worn, hardened. He had that air about him and that made her heart ache.
What went wrong in the galaxy? What did she fail to prevent?
The carving was from a different time -- a different place. Not just literally, but in both of their lives. He’d say things got better, because it did, but at the same time… His life since living as a slave with his mother hadn’t been easy. He’d never expected it to. The life of a Jedi wasn’t supposed to be easy, but emotionally he’d been haunted.
She didn’t know about his mother, about them going to Tatooine and her dying in his arms. This Padmé didn’t know how he’d slaughtered people -- whole families. She didn’t know about his dreams. Not the prophetic dreams he’d had as a child; fairytales almost about Jedi and leaving that sandy planet, but the nightmares he had through his teenage years. The fear and anger from his childhood had never left him, and the Council seeing that and not wanting it had haunted him as well. Padmé had been the greatest comfort Anakin had ever experienced. She’d listened and offered a soft place to go. But this wasn’t his Padmé.
Blinking very suddenly a few times when her fingers wrapped around his hand. Not even her voice had pulled him out, but the touch was enough. Inhaling softly, his gaze flickered up from the necklace to meet hers. “I’m sorry-- I--” There was no explaining where he’d gone. Not to this younger version of his wife.
“The paper? Oh. The paper.” His brow furrowed and his mouth formed into a firm, straight line. Giving her a little nod, he confirmed that it was all true. “Everyone that’s brought here lives there. I suppose they don’t have to, but they do as far as I know.” Anakin wanted to explain more of what he knew about everything, but most of what he knew were things that he couldn’t drop on her. Not now -- not yet. The sadness remained in his eyes; tired eyes.
They were back on track to explaining things, but she still felt that urge to protect him. Padmé barely knew the man standing in front of her and it left her feeling off balanced. She still pictured him as that small boy on Tatooine who had called her an angel. When she looked at the person in front of her she saw some similarities. She squeezed his hand slightly before letting go to reach into her jacket pocket to pull the paper free.
“I thought it was a joke, a cruel joke actually.” Her other hand pulled free so she could use both hands to open the paper. “According to this I am to live in… 5 B?” The corners of her mouth turned down ever so slightly as she reread the note. Jubilant? More like chaotic. Her grip on the letter tightened a bit, wrinkling the edges of the paper. She was stuck in some place she didn’t want to be with someone she knew and didn’t know at the same time. A sad laugh escaped her as she finally ripped her gaze away from the words.
“I have to be able to fix this, Ani,” there was a faint plea in her voice. The young senator hated not being in control. There was always a way to find a solution. Qui-Gon had taught her patience in the short time they had been together and now she was finding herself falling internally. Patience was replaced by a growing panic. Fear was something not to give into, something to fight, and yet she stood with the faintest tremble in her fingers.
She spoke one more time as she stared at him and made a promise, fire in her voice. “I am going to fix this. I did not just become a senator for nothing. We have a galaxy to protect.”
Of course he wanted to get out of here, too, and he wasn’t willing to trust that the people who had come before him had tried everything. He may have been willing to play along enough to look for a job so that he could survive, but Anakin didn’t believe that they were trapped. There had to be a way out.
Still, it wasn’t time to panic. There were others here that he was growing to trust, even if it would be slowly, and now he and Padmé had each other. He knew that they could fix this together, but she needed to understand that the galaxy would be protected, even if it meant that this… version of themselves weren’t the ones to do it.
Reaching out to her through the Force, Anakin did his best to bring some peace to her frantic heart. Like a blanket that was wrapping around you in the most comforting of hugs. Anakin may not have been able to hold her like he wanted, but he could do it the best way he knew how to otherwise.
“We’re still back there, Padmé. We’re still fighting the war-- we’re still protecting the galaxy.” He recognized that he’d just mentioned a war and had steered away from it quickly, curling his fingers in tighter against hers with the hands that were entwined. “You’re going to have to trust me.” He was pleading with her, but doing it so peacefully and in a way that he could most often only accomplish with her. No matter where in time she was from, he could still share a bond with her through the Force.
The once queen wanted to run and find whatever was causing all of this. She wanted to plead her case, get her way, put an end to all of this. When words didn’t work she knew how to fight. Fighting was normally a last resort, but she felt an urge to punch the Entity for stealing her from her work. Her mood started to shift and Padmé’s eyes widened a fraction, pupils dilating as she felt peace settling about her like a shroud. The fast rhythm her heart had been trying to beat out settled into a normal pattern.
War.
Her thoughts were trying to sink claws into that word as she felt herself being yanked in a different direction. Calm. Peace. Her fingers stopped trembling as she gave a jerky nod. Yes, she could trust him. No, that was wrong. She did trust him for some unknown reason. Her eyes fluttered shut for a second as she breathed out through her nose, calming herself.
“I suppose,” she said slowly as she opened her eyes to give him a somewhat melancholy smile. “I can hold off attempting to take on whoever is in charge here for a bit, Ani. I will follow your lead for now. I will trust you.” She would corner him about the war another time. Padmé knew her limits and right now she just wanted to get somewhere safe and sort out her current thoughts before she introduced whatever war he spoke of.
“I should warn you I can only hold off so long. I don’t do well sitting idle.”
“I know that very well, m’lady,” he assured her, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. It may not have been his wife that showed up, but in so many ways it was. She was just a bit younger and had no idea what kind of bond he had with her back home. In her future.
“Let me take you to the villa and we can find your—“ Anakin’s heart skipped a beat and for a split second the hold he had on the calming blanket shuddered — but only for a second. “5B? You’re—“ Lips parting, the Jedi Knight stepped away from the melancholy mood that the necklace had put him in and he silently sent up a curse to this “jubilant” one. They — whoever they were — would send her here, unaware of what her future held, and then have them live together!? Anakin had to take a beat to bring himself back down and drop the Force security blanket back over them both, finding comfort in it himself this time.
“Let’s just get there and I’ll show you.”
Her lips quirked at his remark. It seemed as she got older she didn't change. The poor senate probably had no idea what to do with her. Thinking about the future wasn't going to help her at the moment. She needed to sort out this present.
Then came Anakin's reaction to her living quarters.
What was so wrong with 5B? Padmé was positive she was about to find out soon and it didn't send her into the overthinking she thought it would.
"Alright, lead the way." She gave him a reassuring smile. It was good to have a Jedi by her side, more so one she knew. Her mind was adapting to the fact little Ani was grown and that meant she had to resist the urge to hug him like she would have hugged the scared boy in space.
"I'm half surprised not to see Artoo with you," she remarked as she inclined her head in a silent order to get moving. She wanted out of this forest.
Focusing on getting back to the villa, Anakin’s gaze shifted away from her as he started to lead them back out the direction he had come in. It just would be his luck that he’d get here and but a week later she would show up -- not that that was the bad part -- but that she wouldn’t even remember seeing him grown up before. He assumed this happened often here, but he honestly had been so focused on finding out about Jaina, figuring this place out, and keeping an eye out for a way out of there… Anakin just hadn’t seen it coming for him. Her comment about Artoo made him snap back, and he forced himself to focus and be in the present.
“He wasn’t with me when I was....” He waved his free hand around in a gesture, “taken.” Padmé really had no idea just how frequently he and the droid were together. As Obi-wan was always reminding him, droids weren’t sentient beings and he shouldn’t be so attached. Anakin felt a connection to them, though. Perhaps from building so many things growing up, or because he believed that everyone -- which included droids to him -- should be treated well. Not like slaves.
And maybe that connection had only been increased when he’d lost his arm and had a mechno one put in to replace it. Some of the Council members had been concerned that it might sever part of his connection to the Force, but nothing of the sort had happened. If anything it helped him, only strengthening his ability with mechanics and the like. Artoo was a friend, no matter what Obi-wan thought.
“I wasn’t…” Well, that wasn’t true. He had been with the Chancellor, but maybe he hadn’t been close enough or this whole thing just didn’t work like that. He literally had on him what he’d been touching in the moment. Artoo had been waiting for him and Obi-wan to rescue the Chancellor and to get off the ship that was quickly crumbling to pieces. “I wish I had him with me.”
Padmé realized she had struck some sort of nerve. The little boy she knew had treated droids as friends and it seemed the man leading her out of the forest had the same feelings. The creations were mechanical, but she knew they had personalities. She knew they were really more then the gears and wires that made them up.
"I'm sorry, Ani," she really was. "If I arrived maybe he will as well?" Honestly, she had no idea if the Jubilant Entity brought droids here. Was it only collecting people? There were so many questions bubbling up in her mind that wanted to pop free. Now wasn't the time, no, she would wait until she was a little more settled to ask all her questions.
She glanced up at him and debated pressing a hand to his arm in comfort when the toe of her boot caught a root. The normally graceful senator found herself latching onto Ani for a moment to stop herself from toppling to the ground in a most undignified manner. She winced ever so softly before moving to right herself, acting as if she hadn't just used Ani as a support. This was beyond embarrassing. Her body betrayed her as well as her cheeks flushed as an announcement that she was not proud he had witnessed her lack of coordination for a mere moment.
Damn root, damn forest.
"How far is this villa?" A bad attempt at topic change, but she was sticking with her decision. There was no need to talk about the fact she had nearly eaten dirt. Padmé was tired now that she felt more at peace. She wanted to curl up somewhere, with a data pad, and just relax for a few moments.
"I fear I need a drink," she muttered.
His reaction to her sudden stumble was immediate. He’d sensed something seconds before, had enough time to scowl and brace himself, and then the root happened. Catching her by more tightly holding onto the one hand and sweeping his other arm underneath her, Anakin looked less surprised and more concerned, but her clear embarrassment pressed him not to comment or even display too much worry.
When she seemed alright, just flustered, it dawned on him that he’d caught her with the other arm, which not only meant it couldn’t have been a comfortable land but he’d been hoping to keep his missing appendage from her knowledge. At least for now. He hoped she didn’t notice and brought her up steadily, holding onto her for a few seconds longer than necessary before realizing what he was doing and letting her go now that she was settled.
“It’s not far,” Anakin assured her, offering a small smirk. “Lucky for us you didn’t appear across the city.” He wasn’t going to mention the fall. She seemed to be fine and as far as he could tell she hadn’t sprained an ankle or anything. No point in embarrassing her. Waiting a moment to see if she was certainly ready to go, he offered his left arm to her again, so that she didn’t necessarily have to hold his hand if she didn’t want to.
“We’ll figure out a drink when we get there.”
There was this annoying skip in her heart when he caught her. Padmé wasn't blind, she saw Anakin looked now, but she fully planned on ignoring chasing that feeling further. She had merely reacted because she was overwhelmed, that was it… honest. The fact he held her for a brief few seconds had nothing to do with her cheeks being flushed. Nothing whatsoever. There were more important things to think about. The young senator squared her shoulders, knocked her braid back over a shoulder and raised her chin.
"How lucky," she remarked before she took off walking without taking his arm. Faint mutterings of Outer Rim swear words escaped her as she did her best not to stomp off like a spoiled child. This was beyond confusing now. Padmé's pride was clearly smarting and she didn't trust her feelings at the moment. She knew she was walking faster than she needed to since she could feel her long braid hitting her back with each step, a reminder she was not being diplomatic at all, but rather allowing her annoyance at the entire situation seep through.
Her steps only picked up when she noticed a change through the trees. Soon enough she burst free of the forest and found herself stumbling to a halt as her eyes widened. Boots scuffed against sidewalk at the abrupt stop as she tipped her head back to look upward. Not a single ship in sight… "This can't be right-" Where were the droids, the ships? Some sign of the Republic?
"I think," she finally said as if admitting she had to do as he said now. "It is time I let you sort out that drink."
Giving the back of her head a little look, Anakin hurried after her, having no trouble at all keeping up with his longer strides. He was doing his best to keep himself completely in check, but the little moment back there had reminded him so much of home and her back home, and just…
He knew the shock she was feeling. Everything that was missing from their environment. Anakin had experienced himself upon arriving and had only been distracted from it by disassembling and reassembling his phone to see how it worked. That and sending out his message on the network. He was just glad he’d even been paying attention to his phone when Padmé had shown up, otherwise… who knew what anyone might have told her.
“Like I said, let’s get to the villa.” He wasn’t irritated, but he also wasn’t used to this behavior. Without offering his arm again he moved past her, at least thoughtful enough to not march off like she had, but with much longer legs.