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| - The next morning after meditating on the terrace, Anakin suggested to Padmé that they spar for a while. Padmé reluctantly agreed, seeing how Anakin was in earnest. They circled for about ten minutes, several times Padmé came on the attack and while Anakin could parry her blows quite well, he would not follow through properly. Even when she had him cornered near the railings he was unwilling to attack her. With a sigh she deactivated her lightsaber and started to walk away. “What?” Anakin called after her. Padmé turned. “Either fight properly or don’t fight at all,” she told him, “you’ve got as much riposte as an MD droid.” “What are you talking about?” Anakin asked innocently. Reluctantly Padmé played over their short bout over in her mind, again it confirmed her suspicions. Anakin didn’t seem inclined to attack her, he had even flinched when his lightsaber had grazed dangerously close to her at one stage. Suddenly everything became clear. “You don’t want to attack me, don’t you?” Padmé asked, smiling and walking close to him. “Uh…well…” Anakin stammered, his colour rising. “You are even afraid,” Padmé said with a wider smile, stepping closer so they were almost nose to nose, “of hurting me, aren’t you?” “Er…um…” Anakin tried to step back but the railing was in the way, finally he came clean. “Okay, I admit it, I am.” He looked at the ground. “Somehow I’ve never learned to look at you as another Jedi.” “Well why don’t you start now?” Padmé suggested with a smile. “I don’t know if I can,” he admitted. “Listen,” Padmé said in a low whisper, stepping even closer to him, “I can hurt you a lot harder as well as a lot easier than you can hurt me. Does that make us even?” “I guess so,” Anakin relented. “Now can we do this right this time?” Padmé asked him. She stepped back and ignited her lightsaber, positioning next to her left ear. Anakin moved his weapon to cross diagonally over his lower body, other than that he did not move. Looks like I’ll have to make the first move, Padmé thought dryly, turning to make an attack on Anakin’s left shoulder. He brought his lightsaber up, blocking her blow and pushing further so the blades crackled precariously near Padmé’s face. Padmé turned quickly, her lightsaber a green blur as it turned with her. She feinted left, then as Anakin brought his blade up to intercept her attack, she jabbed her lightsaber forward on his right side. The blade grazed the side of his tunic, burning the fabric. “Point,” Padmé said, smiling triumphantly. “That's a bit unorthodox,” Anakin countered. “Since when is a new move unorthodox, Anakin?” Padmé challenged. She span in a circle, her blade held vertical in front of her, it clashed against his and again there was the crackling of their blades against each other. Anakin withdrew and surprised Padmé with an attack from behind. Padmé was quick to intercept it, as well as turn around and follow through the blow. Not bad, Padmé thought, drawing back to give her room to attack again. It was a clash of styles, Anakin chose to attack first with power and precision, leaving no room for grace or finesse. Padmé, on the other hand, took everything in her stride, her turns were quick but her blows were almost effortless and she made everything—even when she was forced to yield to Anakin—look like one fluid motion. From a safe distance Senator Nalanda watched them, still in her dressing gown. She had never seen a lightsaber duel—save what she had seen of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi face the Sith ten years ago—and felt somewhat privileged to observe them. Who would win? she wondered, the smooth, graceful style or the brash but powerful method? The proverbial tables had somewhat turned, Anakin had Padmé on the defensive. He was backing her towards the railing of the terrace and she seemed to be faltering, several of her attacks were ineffectual. Anakin was pressing closer, ready to make the motion that would finish the duel when Padmé jumped up on the railing and flipped to land behind him. Before he could do anything more than raise his own lightsaber in defence, Padmé was backing him against the wall with short, sharp blows. Anakin tried to step aside, the only escape he had, Padmé was there before him, her body against his, her lightsaber trapping them both in a deadly embrace. There was a long moment as they looked at each other; Padmé could feel Anakin’s breath on her face, feel his bulk pressed up against her. They were so close… Behind them was a cough and they parted at the same moment, look at each other self-consciously and trading commonplace remarks. “That was wonderful,” Nalanda said, coming forward. “I've never seen anything like that before.” “Thank you, senator,” Padmé said in a choked voice. “I hope we didn’t wake you.” “Of course not,” she replied, then, trying to relieve the obvious tension, she added. “I guess for you it’s nothing out of the ordinary?” “All part of Jedi training,” Anakin said, he nodded to Padmé, “you might want to shut that off.” “Oh.” She looked down at her lightsaber, it was still lit and she had forgotten all about it. “So,” Anakin said as Nalanda went off to change, “was that enough?” “Sorry?” Padmé looked at him curiously. “You said I was holding back before,” Anakin pointed out, “was I holding back last time?” “How should I know?” Padmé said with a mock-serious look on her face. “I was too busy fighting you, I’ll have to look out next time.” “What do you mean?” Anakin was puzzled. “Everyone knows you can’t use the same trick twice,” Padmé told him, she then replaced her lightsaber on her belt and went inside. Later on they were walking through crossing the sandbar at low tide, the ankle-deep water was still cool on Anakin’s bare feet but the sand underneath was familiar, if someone irritating. He had never liked the fact that sand usually got between his toes and inside his shoes days afterwards. Nalanda walked ahead, her hair in long curls down her back and secured with a band made of coral. The dress she wore left her arms and some of her legs bare. For a moment, Anakin imagined Padmé wearing it. “We can’t stay long,” Nalanda stopped at the edge of the sand where the channel began, “if the tide beats us we can’t get across at all.” “What about a boat?” Anakin asked. “Too shallow,” Padmé said, shaking her head. “Come on!” She dived into the water, letting the coolness enter her hair. Touching the sand on the bottom she propelled herself along by arching her back and her knees, finally coming to the surface when the shore neared. Anakin was making the trip across somewhat tentatively, taking each step with measured precision and care until Padmé swam up to him and pulled him forward. Nalanda laughed as he floundered, trying to find the bottom. “That wasn’t funny,” Anakin complained once he found his feet. “Neither is this,” Padmé said, splashing saltwater in his face. “Not again!” Anakin chased her up the beach, laughing and stumbling over the sand. He grabbed her leg and she came down in front of him. Nalanda shook the water from her hair, a reminder to both Jedi that she was there at all. Anakin and Padmé did their best to solemnly get to their feet and regard each other formally, which was hard as they were both wet and covered in sand. The island was rocky and ascended high away from the sand bar, Anakin and Padmé followed Nalanda up the steep, narrow path to a small house that was at the top. The house stood on the edge of a cliff next to a creek that fell off the edge. They crossed the water and Nalanda went into the house, she needed to get some records that were stored there. Anakin and Padmé waded in the warm water towards the edge. It was a sheer drop of about ten metres down into the sea, after taking a look Anakin stepped back. He had a good head for heights but there was something unnerving about this. “What’s the matter?” Padmé teased. “Nothing,” Anakin replied unconvincingly. Nalanda emerged from the house carrying several datacards. “I've made the jump several times myself,” she told them. “The water’s quite deep, and there’s a path that comes right up here.” She dropped one of the datacards. “Oh!” She bent down and tried to retrieve it but the water carried it away, Anakin and Padmé fumbled to help but it escaped their grasp and went over the edge. They stood there, watching the water flow away from them. Anakin turned to the senator. “You said it was deep?” he asked her. Nalanda nodded. “Fairly, but you don’t have to—” Anakin started to run to the edge. “Anakin!” Padmé tried to catch his arm but he was beyond her reach, and getting further away. He fell with surprising ease, diving into the water smoothly with a slight splash that subsided quickly. Anxiously, Padmé and Nalanda stood on the edge, waiting for him to surface. “He’s taking his time,” Nalanda noticed. “Are you sure he can swim?” “No, I’m not sure,” Padmé replied breathlessly, scanning the water. “It’s just like him to scare us like this.” Slowly, something floated to the surface, it was Anakin and he was floating face down. Padmé gave a small cry. “I thought he could swim,” she stammered, her hands shaking. “He comes from a desert planet…” Quickly she stepped over the edge, it took her forever to fall and the water met her with hardness of terracrete, invading her clothes and going up her nose. It took Padmé several minutes to recover after she surfaced, coughing and blinking saltwater out of her eyes. She spotted Anakin and swam over to him, taking his arm and turning him over. Anakin opened his eyes and squirted water in her face. “Why…you!” Padmé swam after the laughing Anakin, forgetting all pretence and launching herself on him, forcing him underwater. She felt Anakin grip her wrist, pulling her beneath the depths. Underwater, Padmé opened her eyes, surprised at their relative closeness but not alarmed. She could feel the soft bubbles of Anakin’s breath against her face, feel his hair brushing against her forehead…Their lips met and Padmé did not resist, she cherished Anakin's touch, enjoying the sensation of his hand against the back of her neck. Yet there was something else there that added to the moment, she could feel Anakin through the Force with such close proximity that his presence seemed to join her own. The two life-forces joining with the desire and the sensation of it all. Padmé had always suspected that Anakin had felt something more for her, now she not only saw it for what it was but recognised it in herself. Eventually, they had to surface, and once they returned to the fresh air Padmé realised what had happened. She had opened herself up to Anakin as she had feared and what Kuan Yin had said she might. Would this change things? Would this come between them? As they swam to the shore Padmé avoided Anakin’s gaze, she swam ahead so she wouldn’t have to talk to him and was climbing back up to the house when Anakin emerged from the water.
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