LITTLE RICH GIRL
Chapter Twelve
Delac came back to Bail after a
walk around the hangar.
"I found her. She’s waiting
for a transport with Skywalker and his Jedi friends."
"I’ll damn him to
hell." Bail walked off.
*****
Blasters went off, trying to calm
the crowd. Padmé was shaking in fear. Anakin had his arms around her. They were
being pushed and shoved by people. Qui-Gon took out a timer. The clock was
counting down.
"How much time?"
Obi-Wan asked.
"Less than twenty
minutes," Qui-Gon said.
The ground shook and more lightning
ripped the sky. Padmé looked up as the bolts went wild. She could feel it. They
were getting closer. Another blaster went off.
"Women and children only!
Get back, sir! Come through, madam!" a man shouted out.
Padmé looked around and saw
families, husbands, and wives being torn apart. But what killed her heart the
most was a father giving up two of his daughters. She turned around and faced
Anakin.
"I’m not going without you
Anakin," she said.
Anakin put both hands on her
face. "Yes, you are."
"No, Ani. No."
"I’ll be fine. You get
in."
"Yes, get in the transport,
Padmé." Bail came up, so Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stepped in, as well. "My
goodness. Look at you. You look a fright." Bail smiled, pulled Padmé
close, and tried to cuddle her, but she pulled back and went to Anakin. That
had Bail’s blood boiling.
"Go on. We’ll get the next
one," Anakin was saying.
"No. Not without you."
Padmé ran her hands up and down Anakin’s chest.
"I’ll be all right. I’ve
been trained to do this. Now, go. Get in."
"I have an agreement with an
officer. We all can get out of here safely." Bail smiled.
"See? Now, go," Anakin
said.
A man took Padmé and pushed her
into the transport. She turned around, held out her hand, and Anakin held on.
They were able to hold on until an officer broke them apart. Padmé was inside
when the door shut. She looked out the window as the transport gave a jolt and
slowly pulled away. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan watched Padmé leave, as well.
"You’re a good liar,"
Bail said to Anakin. He, too, was watching Padmé leave.
"Almost as good as you.
There’s no agreement, is there?" Anakin asked.
"Oh, there is. Not that
you’ll benefit from it." Bail looked at Anakin. "I always win,
Anakin. One way or another."
Anakin looked at the transport,
where Padmé was still looking out the window. Padmé was inside, tears running
down her face. She looked around at the women who were crying. She looked back
at Anakin. In the past few hours, she’d never felt more love for someone, and
no one had given her so much love in return before. She’d never felt so alive.
She looked at Anakin. He was getting farther and farther way. She looked around
the transport and found it. She couldn’t leave him. She pushed her way through
a few people, opened an emergency door, and jumped out onto the metal runway.
"Padmé!" Anakin
shouted.
She got up and saw that the
transport door was closing. She found a side door, and it led her to a hallway.
She ran as fast as she could. There was another door, and she opened it and was
back in the crowd of people. She shoved her way through looking for him. Anakin
was running like he’d never run before. It was hard for Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to
keep up. Anakin looked among the crowd, and heard something.
"Ani!" He turned his
head and saw Padmé coming towards him. He ran to her and picked her. She cried
while being held in his arms. He kissed her head.
"You’re stupid, Padmé!"
He kissed her on the lips. "You’re so stupid." He kissed her even
deeper. "Why did you do that? Why?" He had tears in his eyes, and
tears were rolling down her cheeks. She put her hand on his smooth face.
"You…you jump, I jump
right?" She smiled, and he smiled back.
"Right." They kissed
again with passion, and finally Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan caught up. Anakin and Padmé
stopped kissing and held each other close.
"Oh, Ani. I couldn’t go. I
couldn’t do it." She sobbed into his shoulder.
"We’ll think of
something." Anakin held her shaking body close. Bail, however, could not
let it go. He loved Padmé, and now someone else had her. Delac pulled Bail
away, but that didn’t work. Bail pulled away from Delac and ran to Anakin.
Anakin was caught off guard, and Bail tackled him to the ground. But Anakin
blocked his punches and threw him off. Padmé was on the ground as well. Anakin
helped her up and saw nothing wrong with her. Bail came back for another round.
But whatever had made him think he could take on a full-fledged Jedi Knight?
Bail lost. He was driven off.