Star Wars the Clone Wars - One shots

Keeping A Secret - Part 1

It was almost funny.

They tried to be discreet, but even the blind would be able to see how infatuated the Nabooian Senator and Jedi Knight were with each other.

Anakin's face fell when he saw the seating plan. Ahsoka had been placed beside the Padmé in her Master's place. Though the woman took her hand with a smile to lead her to their seats, Ahsoka noticed the slight tension in her posture as she cast Anakin a look over her shoulder.

"Wait, Senator," Ahsoka said before she really considered how she should go about this. It was a crowded room, dozens of cameras flashing pictures of the established politicians taking their places around a grand table.

Padmé looked worried for a second, "What's wrong, Ahsoka?"

"My Master should sit with you," Ahsoka blurted out, "He's your main security guard. I'll swap with him."

Before Padmé could get over her shock to reply, Ahsoka pulled her hand from her grip and made a beeline for her Master who looked just as surprised.

She tried to avoid his questioning gaze as she passed him, instead allowing his gratitude to pass along their bond seamlessly as she sat in his seat.

Both Anakin and Padmé were trying- and failing- to smother their smiles as they took their places side by side.

Ahsoka chewed her lip subconsciously. It felt like a crime to even imagine Anakin and Padmé being something other than friends, and yet she knew it was true. There were so many signs that point to them being romantically- or at least intimately- involved.

The first sign was the obvious flirting.

Across the Senate banquet table, her montrals could pick up the vibrations of Anakin's hushed words as he spoke into the Senator's ear, making her smile and nudge his arm playfully.

Anakin said something else- an eyebrow raised in question- and Padmé's cheeks flushed in response.

Whatever they were talking about, it wasn't about Banking Acts or the war.

The Togruta sighed, still ignoring the middle-aged man beside her as he rattled on about the economy on some far away planet that she had never been to.

At events like this, she and Anakin usually had a fun time laughing and joking with each other about which politician had the most ridiculous piece of headwear.

Now, it was him and Padmé quipping remarks between each other, and Ahsoka was stuck with an old man who was now looking her up and down like a piece of meat.

In her attempt to turn her body away from his gaze, her eyes met Anakin's, and a flutter of concern passed along their bond. She tightened her shields a little, smiling brightly and giving him a small wave to brush him off.

If this would be the only night of the year when Anakin got to enjoy a public meal with his lover, she wouldn't ruin it by moping about and complaining.

"I'm going to escort Senator Amidala back to her apartment." He told her after the banquet was over, cheeks reddened by his two glasses of blue wine. "Wait here for me; I won't be long."

She had agreed instantly, bidding Padmé goodnight and promising Anakin to stay inside where it was warmer. The dress the Senator had loaned her was modest, but not thick.

Nobody seemed to bat an eyelid at the Jedi Knight escorting an esteemed politician to his speeder with a gentle hand against her back.

That was another sign of their romantic involvement.

To the public eye, Padmé was single. She was an intelligent woman who earned far more than most people did on Coruscant, and would never need a man in her life, and yet she had never had any flings in the time Ahsoka had known her.