What have I got to do to make you love me?

He nodded, noting that she had returned to sit behind her desk in her Senate office and was no longer looking in his direction. Obi-wan had been dismissed, he could tell by her body language that whatever conversation they were having, it was over.

"As you wish, Senator," he said bowing slightly in her direction and then turning to leave.

"Don't leave," he heard a female voice say and Obi-wan turned around to see that Padme had not moved from where she had been before. Was the voice merely in his head or had she spoken as soon as he had decided to leave. Had she been begging him one minute to leave and the next to stay?

"I'm sorry?" Obi-wan said in her direction. "Is there something else you wanted to say?"

Padme looked at him, lips pressed tightly together as though she was trying not to cry, and shook her head no. Her eyes suggested that she was either extremely hurt or very angry with him at the moment. You would think after their time spent together, he would know the difference, but it always proved rather difficult for him to tell the difference.

"Sorry," Obi-wan said and turned again, walking towards the door. He pulled the hood of his cloak up to cover his head, as was traditional among the jedi knights when they were appearing in public and began to run through a checklist of the things he could've done differently to soothe her feelings. He was sure that it was far too late for many of the things he could think of as he walked. She was hurt and he knew it.

"Don't leave," the voice said again and he turned around to look at Padme who was still staring at him with the same look. She hadn't moved an inch and he was sure now that it was her subconscious calling out to him through the force. She didn't even know that she wanted him to stay, but her heart really did want him there.

Obi-wan lowered the hood of his cloak and approached the desk where she sat. He leaned his hands on the smooth top and looked at her more directly. There in the corner of her eye, he saw a gleam of an unshed tear that was threatening to spill over the rim of her eye.

He had upset her almost to the point of tears.

"I'm not leaving," Obi-wan said shedding his cloak and throwing it over one of the chairs which faced her desk. "You don't want me to leave."

"I want you to go," Padme said, her voice thick with emotion, but she had been a queen and she was now showing the restraint that often came with that type of position. Never let them see you sweat, Obi-wan believed she had said before when referring to one negotiation or another. The problem was, he wasn't that bad of a negotiator either and he would stay until she told him what was bothering her so much about what they had been talking about. Anakin always seemed to drive a wedge between them.

"Not until you tell me," he said leaning further over the desk and towards her. She sat there without moving, but he could feel that she wanted to flee. He wasn't going to give her a chance.

"I can't," she said and sighed. "I just can't."

"It's him, isn't it?" Obi-wan said looking more directly at her. He was trying to read her, but since she was so well versed at keeping her emotions in check, much like he was, it was rather difficult to even sense what she was feeling.

"Anakin has done nothing," Padme said defending Obi-wan's former padawan. She always seemed to come the boys' defense, but that was her nature. She wanted to the underdog to win.

"Ah, but that might be what is bothering you so much," the older jedi said and a smile cracked his face. She grimaced at him, but he continued to smile. "Maybe it's the fact that he has not reacted towards you at all. I think that you wanted him to chase after you."

"What?" Padme asked her eyes getting wide at what he had suggested. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed just a bit, but he knew that he was getting through to him.

"You would feel far more desirable, if someone, anyone, would take notice of you," he said and turned to sit on the edge of her desk. "You want to be quested after and you know that I'm not the type and my position doesn't allow for such outright displays of emotion. How I wished it did, but we both knew it wouldn't be like that when we decided that we would have a relationship."

"You and your damned emotion," Padme said rising from her chair to come and face him. "I'm telling you that if you just acknowledged that I existed sometimes, that would be enough. I have never asked for more then a knowing glance when we are in public."

Obi-wan nodded his head and took her hands in his. He found his fingers tracing the outlines of her knuckles gently. Her skin was so much softer then his. Yes, she had seen war and pain, but she had not seen it as much as he had in the past few months.

"Do I have to acknowledge that you exist for what we have to be real?" he asked softly leaning towards her and letting his lips brush against her cheek. "Is that what it takes for a relationship to be considered real? This is real."

She giggled as his lips whispered against her skin. He moved across her cheek and then kissed her lips softly before kissing the tip of her nose.

"No," she said firmly. "I just want that expression of love. I can't help it if I'm human."

"You don't need it," he said letting a smile part his lips as he rested his forehead against hers. "You have me and that should be all that you need."

"It should be," Padme whispered.

He had been gone for months, but the strain on their relationship was constant even when he returned from battle and was safely in her arms. She wanted him to be more then what he could be and he wanted her to be happy with what they had. They were opposites in almost everything, but their unending love for each other.

"What have I got to do to make you love me?" Padme asked quietly, turning her eyes to look into his. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Nothing," he said. "I already do."