“ Paddy, hey. When did you get back?” Mayla said, as Padme came off the lift.
“ Hey, Mayla, Kenley. I just got here. So, what have I missed, since I been gone?” Padme asked, as the three girls walked down the long hall towards the dining hall.
“ Not much, but last night you missed the Senator’s Ball.” Kenley said, as they bowed their heads to a couple of Jedi Knights that walked passed them.
“ Oh, man. I missed it. I really wanted to be there too.” Padme said, as they enter the dining hall.
“ You really didn’t miss much. It was really boring. The one person that creeped me out all night long, was the Chancellor.” Mayla picked up her tray and headed for the food service line.
“ I see. Well, you are not alone, in that feeling about him either. Creeps me out too. I can feel that there is something not right about him. There is like a ball of dark energy around him.” Padme said, as a cold chill went down her spine.
“ He did ask about you, and a Senator too. I did notice that there was one Senator missing and she was the one from Naboo.” Kenley said, as she put some fruit on her plate.
“ I see. So, what did he say about me and the Senator?” Padme reached out for some fruit and some kind of meat.
“ Well, he came up to us and asked where the other two Jedi were. So, he was asking about you and Anakin, and then he asked about the Senator. The only thing we said was that you and Anakin were called to do a mission at the last moment, but where you guys went to, we didn’t know.” Mayla said, grabbing some kind of meat.
“ I see. Well, it was true. We were on a mission.” Padme said, before going over to the drink station and getting her drink.
“ So, can you tell us where you were?” Kenley asked, as she grabbed her a cup.
“ No, I can’t talk about it.” Padme said, before walking towards the tables.
“ Oh, ok. Here, is a good place. Speaking of Anakin, where is he?” Mayla asked, as she noticed that Anakin wasn’t in the dining hall.
“ Oh, he had to check on something, but he should be here in a few minutes.” Padme put down her tray on the table, before sitting down.
“ Ok. You know, Alyxandra was looking for him. Every other day, she would ask us if we knew anything about his whereabouts. She even asked about you too, which we both know is odd for her.” Kenley sat down next to Mayla.
“ Really? Yes, that is very odd for her. I guess she wanted to know if we were together.” Padme looked up towards the door, when she felt a presence come into the room.
“ I guess, you can say that. I take it that you both were on the same mission, because Master Yoda thought it was good for the both of you.” Mayla said, taking a bite out of her fruit.
“ I guess you can say that.” Padme said, with a huge smile on her face, when Anakin was coming towards the table that she was sitting at.
“ Good afternoon, ladies. Is this seat taken?” Anakin said, looking down at the three girls sitting at the table.
“ Hey, Anakin. Sure, have a seat.” Mayla blushed, because she figured that he heard what they were talking about.
“ You can stop with the blushing Mayla. Anakin wasn’t near us.” Padme said, with a giggle when she saw that her friend was blushing.
“ Ok. So, welcome back to the land of boring. To let you know, you both haven’t missed anything.” Mayla turned back to her food.
“ Well, that’s good to hear. Um… have you guys seen Master Kenobi in the past couple of days?” Anakin asked, as he cut some of his meat up.
“ No, we haven’t. We just thought that he would come back here with you.” Kenley said, as she saw a worried look come across both Anakin and Padme’s faces.
“ Um… no, we went on different missions. I just hope that nothing happened to him, is all. We haven’t heard anything from him in two weeks, that’s all.” Anakin turned and looked at Padme and saw a very worried look on her face.
“ Oh. Well, I’m sure that he will be here soon. Well, I have to go. I promised Master Dan that I would meet her at the gym and work out today. See you guys later?” Kenley finished her lunch and got up from the table.
“ Ok. See you later and have fun.” The group said together.
Kenley threw away her trash, before heading out of the dining hall and up to the gym.
“ I noticed that she seems a little sad.” Anakin watched Kenley walk out of the room and could feel some sadness around her.
“ Um… yeah. She is sad for Master Dan… She seems to be a little sad, and has been for a couple of weeks now. She will not say why.” Mayla said, as she saw her Master come into the dining hall and motioned for her to come with her.
“ I see, well, I hope that she feels better soon.” Padme said, as she finished the last bit of her lunch.
“ Well, I better get going. I’ll see you guys later.” Mayla got up from the table and threw her trash away, before coming up to her Master and they both left the room together.
“ Well, that was very interesting. So what happened while we were gone and did we miss anything?” Anakin asked, as he took a sip of his drink.
“ Yes, we did miss one thing and it happened last night. We missed the Senator’s Ball and from what Mayla and Kenley told me, the Chancellor was asking about us, and even asked about Amidala.” Padme took a sip of her drink and was trying to figure out why Obi-Wan and Amidala wasn’t here yet.
“ I see. I wonder why he even asked about us? Amidala, I can understand why he would ask about her, but us?” Anakin too was starting to wonder why Obi-Wan wasn’t here.
“ Well, let’s see. There was to be four of us at the Ball, but only two showed up and most of the Senators were there too. So, when Amidala didn’t show up, I guess he was thinking that she was up to something.” Padme said, finishing up her drink.
“ I thought your sister was retired from the world of politics?” Anakin finished up his lunch and drink.
“ Well, we thought so too, but a day before we left on our mission, the new Queen asked Amidala to take over the Senate chair that was vacated, due to a death of the old Senator.” Padme got up from the table and Anakin followed her.
“ I see. Well, I don’t know about you, but I think am going to lay down and rest for a little bit, before going to the Archives and do a little bit of research on some things.” Anakin followed Padme to the trash bin and threw away his trash, before putting his tray in the window to the wash room.
“ Ok. I’m going to the Chapel for a while and do some meditating in there. Maybe I will try and get in contact to either Amidala or Obi-Wan.” Padme said, as they walked out of the room.
“ Ok, see you later then.” Anakin said, before turning away from her and headed down the hallway.
Padme turned in the other direction and headed down the hallway, to the lift that would take her to the level of the Chapel. Padme walked into the Chapel and went to one of the front benches and sat down. Closing her eyes, she began taking a few deep breaths, before starting her meditation. Anakin got off the lift and walked down the dim-lited hallway, to where his quarters were located. He stopped in front of the door and keyed in his code to unlock the door. The door slid open, he walked into the room, and went straight for his bed. Laying down, he closed his eyes and tried to relax some, before finally falling into a very light sleep. Two hours later, Anakin was woken up by a small beeping sound. Looking down at his left arm, he noticed that it was his com-link.
“ Anakin, here.” He answered the com-link.
“ Come to the council room, can you, Anakin?” Mace Windu said.
“ Ok. Am on my way.” Anakin said, sitting up on the bed.
“ Ok. Is Padme with you?” Mace Windu asked.
“ No, she isn’t. I think she said something about meditating, in the Chapel.” Anakin said, getting up from the bed.
“ Ok, thank you. I will call her, then. See you in a few minutes.” Mace Windu said, before cutting off the commutation link.
Anakin went into the refresher and splashed some water on his face, before running his hands through his hair. Then, he walked out of the room, headed for the Council Chambers and wondered why he was being asked to see the Council. Padme was brought out of her meditation, by a beeping sound. Opening up her eyes, she looked down at her left arm and saw that her com-link was flashing green.
“ Padme, here.” She answered her com-link.
“ Padme, could you please come to the Council Chamber?” Mace Windu said.
“ Ok, I will be there in a couple of minutes.” Padme said, getting up from the bench.
“ Ok, see you soon then. Windu out.” Mace Windu said, as he ended the commutation between him and Padme.
Padme walked out of the Chapel and headed for the lift that would take her to the High Council Chamber. Ten minutes later, Padme walked into the room ,only to see that she wasn’t the only one in the room. Standing in front of Masters Yoda and Windu, was Anakin.
“ Oh good, Padme. Glad that you could join us, at a short notice. Sorry, that we interrupted your meditation.” Windu said, as Padme came into the room and stopped next to Anakin.
“ It is ok. Um… is everything ok?” Padme asked, as she could tell that something was bothering the two Jedi Masters.
“ Everything is fine. We called here today to tell you both that we know there is something going on between you. You know the rules about relationships.” Windu said, as he looked at straight at the young couple that was standing in front of him.
“ Yes, Masters we know about the rules, but we can’t help it, if we love each other.” Anakin stared straight at the two Masters, to let them know that he wasn’t afraid of them and that he would fight for his love.
“ I see. What do you think, Padme?” Windu looked away from Anakin and over to Padme.
“ I believe that it is wrong for the Jedi not to feel and even be able to have someone to love. Have you both ever loved someone? Have you ever thought that it was the Force that brought us together?” Padme said, as she looked at both Masters, hoping that they could feel the goodness that love have brought to her.
“ Understand your feelings, I do.” Yoda said, rubbing his chin.
“ You just can’t tell us to stop feeling the way we do. If you make us break up, we will just leave here, even the order, so that way, we can be together.There is nothing you can do about that.” Anakin said, taking Padme’s hand, before looking over to her and saw her smile at him, giving his hand a slight squeeze, to let him know that she is with him.
“ See how you feel I do. Go now. I must to meditate on what you have told me, I must. Let you know about your fate soon.” Yoda said, as he got off his chair, came up to the couple, reached out and put his hand on top of the couple’s hands.
The three of them felt a small shock and Yoda looked up at the two. He nodded his head and gave them a small smile, before turning away from them and headed for the door that leads to the offices of the Council Members.
“ You two are dismissed for now. You are to stay here and wait your fate.
We will let you know what we have decided and what will happen to you both.” Windu said, as he got up and nodded for the two Padawans to leave the Chambers.
Both Padme and Anakin bowed their heads and left the room.
“ You know, you shouldn’t be so rash, in telling them off like that, Anakin.” Padme said, as they started walking down the hallway.
“ Sorry about that. You are right about that, but I just had to get all that off my chest, is all. I get tired of them telling me what I can and can’t do.” Anakin said, as they came up to the lift.
“ I know. Well, it’s dinner time. So, do you want to get something to eat?.” Padme gave him a smile.
“ Sure, that sounds great. Afterwards, would you like to go to the gym and work it all off, before evening Meditation?” Anakin said, as the lift doors opened up and they stepped into the lift.
“ That sounds good to me.” Padme said,as she hit the button that the level that the dining hall is on.
They got off the lift, once it stopped on the level that they needed. Walking into the dining hall, they looked around to see if Obi-Wan was there. They didn’t see him, but they did see Mayla, Kenley and Master Dan sitting at a table. When they saw Anakin and Padme come into the room, they motioned for them to join them. After getting their food, they went over to their friends and sat down at the table.
“ Hello, Paddy, Anakin. It’s good to see you both safely back here on Coruscant.” Master Dan said, as she watched the young couple sit down in front of her.
“ Hello, Master. It’s good to see you too, and it’s good to be home.” Anakin said, as he started eating his dinner.
“ So, have you heard from Master Kenobi?” Master Dan asked.
“ Um… no, Master. We haven’t heard a thing from him. I just hope that he didn’t get into any kind of trouble. I really hate to go rescue him, as always.” Anakin said, as he took a bite of his Dewback burger.
“ He does seem to do that a lot. Well, I hate to say this, but I have few things to do. See you later, Kenley.” Master Dan said, as she got up from the table.
“ Yes, Master. I will see you in a little bit. You guys still haven’t heard from him? We all know that this isn’t like him, not make contact with you, Anakin.” Kenley said, with a small laugh.
“ True. He is always calling on me to make sure that am not doing something bad.” Anakin said, before taking a sip of his drink.
They sat there, ate their dinners and made small talk about couple of classes that they were in. They compared notes on some of the things that they had to do research on for the Planetary class.
“ Well, it’s time to go. Are you ready to go work this food off, Paddy?” Anakin asked ,as he finished up the last bit of his dinner.
“ Yes. We will see you tomorrow morning at breakfast.” Padme said, getting up from the table.
“ Ok. See you tomorrow. Have a great night.” Both Mayla and Kenley said, as they too got up from the table.
The small group left the dining hall and went their separate ways. Anakin and Padme went down to the level, where the gym was located. When the lift the stopped, they got off the lift and headed for the gym. Walking into the gym, they started their workout, and two hours later, they headed for their quarters.
“ Well, I don’t know about you, but am dead tired.” Anakin said, as he started taking off his clothes.
“ I know what you mean.” Padme said, as she followed Anakin, by taking off her clothes too.
Padme grabbed the night gown that was laying on her bed and put it on, while Anakin grabbed his sleeping pants and slipped them on.
“ Night, Padme. I love you.” Anakin said, pulling Padme into his arms.
“ Night, Anakin. I love you too.” Padme wrapped her arms around Anakin, just as he leaned his head down and began kissing her goodnight.
They pulled apart, went to their beds and climbed into bed. Then, they pulled the covers over themselves, before falling sound asleep.