"So then you basically... choked him out?"

My eyes widened as I heard the ending of that sentence. "MISS AMIDALA!" I yelled. "Oh my god..."

I face-palmed as I shook my head, trying my best to look less guilty than I already was.

She let out a slight chuckle. "Oh please, call me Padmé. Only other respected members of the senate call me Miss Amidala," Padmé assured. "And, for the record, that is literally what you did!" she retorted back, trying to hold back her laughter.

I stared at her as I tilted my head slightly, trying to give off an annoyed look. Instead, the laughter that I was, so desperately, trying to hold back finally broke loose. Funnily enough, she also caved in .

"Stop! We can't laugh! I literally almost killed him!" I laughed, sounding a bit more guilty.

"Okay, okay. You're right. But, come on. It's literally Justin we're talking about. He deserved it," Padmé assured.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Justin?" I queried, not knowing who this boy was.

Padmé laughed. "Yea, Justin," she spoke, annunciating his name slowly as her eyes widened. "He's a padawan training to become a Jedi. A complete jerk if you ask me. He's actually about your age."

"Huh," I huffed. Well, at least I wasn't the only one who thought that he deserved it...

"Hey," Padmé whispered, reassuringly. "Between you and me, I think that what you did kind of makes you a badass," she spoke as she grabbed my hand.

I looked at her and smiled. After escaping that whole debacle that had occurred earlier at the Jedi Temple dining hall, Padmé and I arrived back at her apartment (which was not a long walk, or should I say run, from from the temple).

I smiled for a moment more, and then suddenly, my expression dropped.

Kriff, the council...

"What's wrong?" she asked as she noticed my change in moods.

I sighed. "I literally just begged the council to let me stay here and train at the temple. If they found out about what I did to-" I paused, trying to remember the boy's name. "-Justin, I might as well kiss a good future goodbye."

Padmé looked into my eyes. I could tell that she truly felt bad for me. She was genuine, one of the only people that I've met in my life that actually were.

Suddenly, a banging on her apartment door interrupted our conversation.

Oh kriff...

"Go to my room and close the door," she whispered as she motioned for me leave.

I quickly got up from her couch and tip toed to her room.

As I made my way into her room, I shut the door behind me... kind of. My curiosity made me leave a little opening so that I could view what was going on outside of the room.

Padmé made her way to the front door. As she unlocked the lock and slowly opened it, there stood Anakin Skywalker. He looked tall and mighty, yet I noticed an anxious and stress filled expression plastered across his face.

"Padmé, have you seen y/n y/l/n? She fled the temple not too long ago, and I've been asking everyone around if maybe they'd seen-"

All of a sudden, as if he had just seen a ghost, Anakin stopped speaking. His eyes widened as he tilted his head slightly to the side. His tongue swiped against his bottom lip.

"She's here, isn't she?" he queried, staring straight into Padmé's eyes.

"Uh- what? No- uh- she isn't," Padmé quickly shot back, stuttering along the way.

Anakin's expression stayed the same as he began to speak once more. "Padmé. I can sense her here."

KRIFF!

"Uhhh- well- I..." she stuttered as she tried to come up with something to say.

Anakin cut her off before she could make up some excuse. "Listen, I'm not here to take her to the council. I just need to talk to her. I need to know that she's okay."

Padmé sighed, and I could tell that she was giving up trying to cover for me.

No, Padmé. Please don't...

"Yes," she spoke lowly. "She's here."

PADMÉ, YOU PIECE OF...

Padmé stepped aside as Anakin made his way into her apartment.

"Y/n, come out! I just need to talk to you!" Anakin yelled as he slowly made his way around her apartment.

Oh my god, what do I do?!

"I swear, y/n! You know you can trust me!"

Can I...?

Oh, kriff it.

I took a deep breath as I slowly opened the door. Walking out of Padmé's room, I shot my eyes towards her face, displaying a sense of frustration on my face. She took note of my expression and mouthed "sorry" while Anakin quickly made his way towards me.

"Y/n, thank god you're okay..." he spoke as I shot him a weak smile. "But you're sooo stupid."

Well...

"I mean, force choking a padawan in front of a whole audience? What were you thinking?!" he queried, sounding a bit annoyed.

I huffed as I turned away, walking towards the couch. "You wouldn't understand. He was provoking me, pushing me too my edge-"

Anakin cut me off with a laugh. "You think I don't understand. You don't know how many times Justin has provoked me too. And I'm a Jedi Master. He doesn't care who you are or your status," Anakin spoke. "But that still doesn't excuse your reckless behavior..."

I scoffed as I sped walked towards Padmé, completely ignoring the fact that Anakin was watching my every move.

"Why did you let him in?" I sneered, now increasingly getting annoyed.

She became nervous as she noticed my patience running lower and lower. "I- I trust him-"

"And you should trust me too, y/n," Anakin interjected.

I grazed my tongue on the inside of my cheek. You're pushing my buttons, Skywalker...

"After all, I covered for you when the council was demanding answers."

My expression dropped. I quickly shot around, confused about what I had just heard.

"You covered for me? Yea-" I laughed. "That's believable."

Anakin stared straight into my eyes, which intimidated me a bit. He didn't mimic my laughter.

"I'm not lying to you. Like I said, I would never lie to you," he asserted slowly.

I stared at Anakin for a few moments as silence filled the air.

Do I trust him...?

"Fine. If that's the truth, then-" I paused for a moment. "Then thank you."

The three of us all sat in silence for a few moments more as the tension slowly withered. I was the first to break the quietness.

"Why?"

Anakin grew confused. "Why what?"

"Why would you cover for me?" I spoke again, genuinely curious.

He thought for a moment before answering. "Well, would you have liked to be banished from the temple for good? If it weren't for me, you'd probably be on the streets of Coruscant right about now."

I stayed silent as I began to feel guilty once again.

"Listen, y/n," Anakin spoke as he now walked towards me. "I know all of this is hard, trust me, but you can't let your anger take over and control your actions."

I sighed as I shot Anakin a weak smile. "I guess we'll work on that when I start training again..."

Anakin's eyes widened. "Again?" he spoke, clearly surprised.

A smile grew on my face. "Yea, again. The council granted me permission to train once more under your supervision. Did they not tell you?" I sarcastically spoke with a smirk on my face.

Anakin grew a smile as his expression widened. Without a second thought, he wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me up and spinning me around.

I was caught off guard at first, surprised by his sudden act of affection. But that all slowly withered away as I began to mirror Anakin's expressions.

I mean, at first, I thought that I didn't want this to be a big deal, but then I realized that it should be.

I wanted someone, anyone, to know that I was trying to change. I wanted them to know that I knew that I had made mistakes, and that I was trying to become a better person. So, yes, call me weird for feeling this way, but I was all for Anakin's affection. It felt different. It felt... good.

After these last few days, I realized that Anakin was the only one who ever had faith in me, and he was the one routing for me the most at the temple. He showed me that he cared about me, and that, along with what my father had wanted for me, was enough to make me suck it up and let go of my ego for once.

If Anakin saw some good in me, then I might as well give this whole thing a try, right?

Anakin finally let me down as his smile still remained as wide as ever. He stared into my eyes for a few seconds as we both took in this moment of happinesses. Though, of course, our moment was interrupted as I quickly noticed that Padmé was still with us. She stared at me with a sly look as she crossed her arms.

I looked at her, and then back at Anakin. I took a deep breath as I stepped back a few steps, distancing myself from Anakin.

"Well, uh- that was- exciting..." I stuttered nervously.

Oh my god, could you be more awkward?

"Yup..." Anakin spoke as he diverted his eye contact from me, running his right hand through his wavy hair.

I guess Padmé had sensed the awkward tension in the room because she immediately walked up to both of us and spoke.

"Well!" she clapped her hands together. "This was fun, but I think you have some Jedi business to get too," Padmé spoke, really empathizing the Jedi part.

She then grabbed Anakin shoulders and started ushering him towards the door.

"Oh, uh- yea..." Anakin spoke, finally coming back to reality.

"It was nice seeing you again, we'll keep in touch," she cheered with a smile.

"Yea, thanks-"

Padmé shut the door, completely cutting Anakin off. She took a deep breath as she laid her back against the door.

"What. Was. That!?" she whisper yelled, still laying against the door.

I was still standing in the same spot as before, trying to process what had happened along with her.

"I don't know," I answered, also very confused and a bit shocked, yet still happy.

She laughed. "There was some real tension between you two..." she announced, now walking towards her refrigerator.

I rolled my eyes. "No, there was no tension at all," I spoke sternly.

She laughed again as she grabbed a glass from a nearby cabinet. "Whatever you say, future Jedi."

I smiled. "Future Jedi". That sounded nice.

I began to walk towards Padmé as I thought of something. "Hey, random question."

"What's up?" she asked, pouring some type of light purple liquid into her glass.

I looked at her as I sat down on one of the stools that surrounded her kitchen island.

"How did you know my name? Back at the temple when we first met?" I queried.

She let out a chuckle as she sat down across from me, drink still in hand.

"It's because hopeless romantic Skywalker wouldn't stop talking about you," she uttered. "He kept blabbing on and on about you when you two first met."

I grew surprised by her words. Anakin talking about me? To Padmé? A literal senator who's gorgeous and a goody two shoes?

She noticed my surprised expression. "Seems to me that Skywalker might have a little crush on you..."

I rolled my eyes and smiled, blushing a little. Crush on me, oh please. Padmé was obviously crazy.

A Jedi Master like Anakin would never have a crush on me.

Never.