He was tired.

It was a side effect, he supposed, of being awake for the past three days straight. He had never had trouble sleeping before, but having her near… it drove him to the end of his senses. Even from the other end of the palace, he could feel her presence as if she was in the bed next to him. And the very idea of it drove him mad.

Of course, he had found it necessary to journey and see how Obi-Wan was progressing every day. Not as if he was of any use; the nuances of the medical field were far above his reach, and if he were honest, so was the basic procedures. Ahsoka, though, had a rudimentary knowledge from the medical journals he had stocked in the library, and she had been performing her role as a nurse excellently.

He had been home every evening, of course. Though he may find it difficult to be around her, Padmé was the lifeblood of his soul. Now that she was here, it was impossible to tear himself away completely, and he privately watched her from the shadow of his hood at dinner. Against his better judgement, he found himself repeatedly asking her if she needed anything, and he could sense the Duchess's curious looks.

Ah, the Duchess.

She was too curious for her own good. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why he liked her. She was smart, distrustful, and much too perceptive. Though it had been sufficiently easy to further haze Padmé's already buried memory of him, the Duchess Kryze had proven too strong minded for him. She'd asked about the wreck, as if she knew that something was amiss with it, and he'd been forced to give her evasive promises of visits and retribution, an impossible task as it were.

He reached for his hood, then paused. They had smuggled Obi-Wan in the night before, so he had nowhere to go. She was still asleep, but he could sense the Duchess in her usual morning haunt.

Huh. Maybe it was time he paid her another visit. And she'd never seen him, right? So it wasn't like she'd recognize him.

It was strange, he found, to not wear his hood. For three years, he'd never ventured past the sanctuary of his bedroom and his and Ahsoka's shared sparring room without it. He felt strangely naked, just as he had when he had first stopped carrying his lightsaber.

The Room of a Dozen Fountains was right down the hall from his room, and he felt himself begin to relax as soon as the sound of trickling water met his ears. Even on his worst days, the water could soothe his nerves, just as it had at the temple. He had at first forgone the luxury, insisting that it was a frivolous waste that could have provided water for whole families on Tatooine. But after a week of failed meditation, he had gone and hauled the stones himself.

As usual, the Duchess was seated by the waterfall, dressed in a simple shift that was at least six inches too short on her tall, slender frame. It had likely been hastily borrowed from one of the maids, if the too-short sleeves were any indication. Her feet were in the water, a wistful look on her face as she stared at the transparent liquid.

"Here for your morning soak, I presume?"

She didn't even start, which hardly surprised him. She had proven to be almost entirely unflappable; only the slightest acceleration of her heartrate hinted of her surprise.

The Duchess didn't even look up as she spoke. "I still don't know your name."

Had he mentioned that she was persistent? "My name is of no importance to you," Anakin replied softly, amused. Rolling up his pant legs, he sat down on the bank and plunged his legs into the cool water, releasing a silent sigh of relief.

Finally, she looked up, and this time the surprise registered on her face. Her eyes widened slightly, the blue orbs blinking as her lips parted. "Wha…"

He couldn't hold back his amusement. He had flapped the unflappable! "What, are you surprised?"

That, she most definitely was, though she managed to hide it well. "I… I expected you to be wearing your hood," she explained slowly as her eyes conducted a thorough examination of his face. They landed on his right eye and she grimaced. "How did you get those?"

Of course. What woman wouldn't immediately note the flaws? "A fight, few months back," he lied, trying to guage her reaction. From the way her lips turned down, it wasn't good. "Do they look that bad?"

She hesitated, causing what little ego that remained to plummet further. Then, she shook her head. "Actually, they don't. Painful, perhaps, but not in a grotesque way."

Painful? Grotesque?

I like pretty things. Padmé's words rang in his mind, loud and clear. That was how she had seen him, as a pretty toy to play with. But now…

He groaned, burying his face in his hands as he tried to shut out the look on her face when she had said it. She liked pretty, perfect things. He had known it. She'd never accept him now. He was worthless. He should have known…

"Who?"

Anakin froze, suddenly snapping back to consciousness. Had he spoken aloud? One look into her questioning eyes and he knew he had. Shavit.

Forcing a smile, he laughed, trying to find a convenient lie. Those were becoming all too common. "I was talking about a lady who wanted to hire me as an actor in her theatre awhile back." Even to his ears, the excuse sounded lamer than an old man with one leg, but he persisted on. "She said my 'flawless' face would have people coming from miles around." At least that part was true, though he had only been twelve at the time. "I don't think she'd feel the same now."

She didn't believe him, of that he was sure. But she said nothing, instead just watching him calculatingly.

Desparate to pull her thoughts away from the subject, he tried another tack. "Do you think they will heal?"

Some of the suspicion melted from her eyes. "How long have you had them?"

"Five years, maybe? Since I first came here." There, a subtle hint to how long he had been there. Of course, it wasn't technically a lie, as the Ehren year was substantially shorter than the Galactic Standard.

Wait, hadn't he said he had gotten them in a fight a few months ago? He swore mentally. Keeping track of his lies was becoming harder and harder.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice, instead laughing. "Then no, I don't think they will be going anywhere anytime soon."

Something about her amusement at the situation made him smile, then laugh as well.

I like pretty things.

Slowly, he felt the humor fade away, but he couldn't risk any more suspicion on the Duchess's part. So, with a wink, he said, "I suppose I must continue to wear my hood, then. I don't think the rest of the world is ready to see my face yet."

A flicker of understanding. "Ah, so that's why you wear it. I wondered." She cocked her head to the side, studying him again. "They're no that bad, though. You're still rather handsome, regardless."

I like pretty things.

"That's because you're different from the others." And she was. "You've learned not to judge by appearances, because they don't dictate who the person is."

She smiled, and it spoke of betrayal and sorrow. "All too true, though it would be much easier if they were."

He forced a laugh, trying to dig them out of what was fast looking to be a pit of misery. Looking to change the subject, he stood. "Are you going in?"

"The water?" Her eyes rounded slightly. "No."

"Why not? I know you want to."

Longing filled her eyes as she looked down at the cool liquid. "You're right, I do. It's been awhile since I've gone swimming. At least since the last time we were on Naboo, and that was, what, eight months?"

Had she included Padmé in that we? "Go ahead then."

She shook her head, her eyes flicking to the shift. "No, I'm not dressed for it…"

He ignored her, wanting for once to forget everything in the safe confines of the water. As he resurfaced, he grinned when he saw her sitting in the same place, effectively soaked to the skin. "Well, you might as well get in now. You're already wet, anyway."

She shot him a glare even as she slipped into the water. "For one minute."

He felt his grin widen as he rolled onto his back, looking for another subject to start on that wasn't about him. "So, Padmé doesn't know about you and Obi-Wan's little love affair?" Good, he hadn't stumbled over his name this time. Definitely an improvement.

Satine groaned. "How much did you hear that night?"

Too much, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "You didn't answer my question."

A look of mild exasperation crossed her face. "No, she didn't. Obi-Wan never brought up the past, so neither did I." She closed her eyes, sinking deeper into the water. "Even if he had, I wouldn't have told her. It was already too late for us, and she was still grieving over Anakin. Still is, in some ways, if we're being honest."

He should leave the subject alone, but yet… "Why? I know that he died, about a year after I came here…" the lie tasted bitter on his tongue, but it was for a good cause, right? "...but why would she be grieving over him?"

"Before his death, Anakin was assigned as Padmé's bodyguard. According to my knowledge, they grew close, but he disappeared. Why, we don't know. Two weeks later, as you probably know, he was killed."

Something about the way she said it didn't sit right with him. "You have no idea of his motives for disappearing?"

She shrugged. "According to Obi-Wan, none. He and Padmé were having dinner one night, and they went their separate ways to go to bed. The next morning, he was gone."

She didn't know. And if she didn't know, it was likely Obi-Wan didn't either.

Padmé had lied to them.

Something akin to anger bubbled up in him, and he held back the urge to tell her the truth, right then and there. "How… peculiar," he murmured through clenched teeth. "And she still grieves?"

"Yes. Though it is not nearly as bad as it was before." Before he could voice one of the hundreds of questions lingering in his mind, she stretched and smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go change into dry clothes if I have any intention on getting to breakfast on time."

Panic rushed through him as the a thought occured to him. "Duchess?"

She paused, wringing out her hair. "Yes?"

He swallowed, trying to find the least conspicuous way to voice his wishes. "If you would refrain from informing anyone of my… revealing… I would be grateful. I have my reasons for being here, away from proper society. I readily admit that something happened that caused me to be considered an outcast before I left, and that quite a few people may not have let go of the past yet. I fear the Senator may be one of them, and though the story was distorted, she may not yet be ready to forgive me."

She stared at him for the longest time, and he had to hold back the urge to squirm under her calculating gaze. Finally, she nodded slowly. "I understand. I will leave it up to your discretion to choose if and when you will reveal yourself to her. Though, if I may offer a suggestion, I would not dally with her affections without the thought of an eventual reveal in mind. Her immunity to masculine charms is very low right now, and I would not want to see her heartbroken again."

He swallowed, and this time the truth tasted worse than the lie. "I will tell her," he promised. "Eventually."

"You did what?!"

Ahsoka, Colier, and Matri cowered beneath his glare. "We thought… you would… want it?" his padawan finished the sentence in a question, obviously regretting her earlier actions.

"Which one of you kriffing sons of a sith thought it would be a good karking idea to hold a blasted party?" He growled as calmly as he could.

Immediately, four accusatory fingers pointed at Colier, who looked miserable. "I… it was…" He gulped, cringing. "Well, we were talking down in the kitchen, about Ami, and Chantay said that she had told her cousin, and that everyone wanted to meet her- Ami, I mean- and I said that you would probably be hosting a big party for her, and Ahsoka said that you had said something about her becoming queen, and what's a queen without a coronation? And Matri said he had overheard you saying you had something special planned for tonight, and thought he should tell everyone in advance just in case you forgot. And now… uh, we're having a party?"

Anakin forced himself to breathe. "And how is it that I'm just now hearing about this?" What was worse than the fact that they had invited everyone without his knowing was the fact that he'd only just heard about it from Chantay when she asked him to finalize the menu for the feast.

This time, Colier scowled at Matri. "I thought you had told him already?"

The younger brother avoided eye contact, looking very much like he wanted to die. "I… you said he was already planning it, so why would I have to tell him?"

"It was your job, shaakhead!"

"But it was your idea, nerfherder!"

The siblings continued to squabble heartily, reverting back to their native language seamlessly. Anakin shook his head, wondering what crime he had commited to be so punished.

He had just sat down when the door opened and Padmé and the Duchess strode in. He recognized the dress she wore to be one of the originals he had chosen for her, and fought the urge to shift as he saw how it fit her. The halter top exposed much too much skin, and he forced his eyes away from where a few loose tendrils of hair brushed the side of her neck, tempting him.

She sat at his right hand, and he could sense her chilliness towards him. "You have decided to join us today, I see."

He smiled, trying to dispel the ire she was failing to hide. "Yes. My business elsewhere has been completed, for now." She said nothing, and he beckoned to the servants, trying desperately to find something to fill the silence. "I hope you can forgive me for my absence, my pet."

The nod she offered him told him that she did not forgive him, and was in fact very offended with him. "Of course. You have been most kind in providing me and my friend with everything we need for the duration of our stay, and we can certainly allow you the time to look after what pressing matters I'm sure must await you."

Silence descended over the table, and he shifted awkwardly, trying to find his footing again. "Speaking of pressing matters, I'm sure Acca has informed you of the dinner tonight?" Maybe that would make her happy.

"Yes, she has."

Or not.

He tried another tack. "Most of the noble leaders of various tribes will be here. There have been a few conflicts among them, and I am no diplomat." He tried for his best encouraging smile, but had a feeling that she didn't even see it. Blast it, being ignored by her was ten times worse than the torment of her seductive efforts. "However, the know you have been a kind and just leader to your people, and will listen to you. They have developed much in the past five years, but there is still a ways to go, and I have little experience in what it takes to run a planet." At least he was telling the truth in that.

Finally, a hint of excitement. "What is needed?" she asked eagerly.

He nearly sighed in relief at the change. "You will have to ask the people. They will tell you how things stand, and you may feel free to make whatever adjustments needed."

"How will she know who to speak to?" Satine asked, her own eyes sparkling. "How are matters taken care of now?"

Truly, he had hit on their passion, though he doubted the Duchess would get much exercise. "I see that you are also eager to do something productive, Duchess. You may help Padmé in her efforts. Tonight, I will introduce you to the leaders. They will explain to you in detail how things are taken care of now." Truly a short discussion, as everyone did as they pleased. "As I said, they are not all in agreement, so they will look to you on the best actions to take in the future."

The look of pure excitement that came over Padmé's face nearly did him in. The flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes, broad smile…

Yes, he liked this Padmé.

Well, this took longer than expected…

Anyway, thank you so all so much for supporting me and my story! This is my first (and likely only) primarily Anidala fic, and I'm grateful for the extensive support it's received. As always, feedback is welcome and an important source of inspiration for me, so the more reviews, the faster the update!

Once again, thank you to all of the new followers and favorites, I know you're out there even though I may not mention you by name. Same goes for all of you who left a review!

Well, until next time!