It was the sound of the blowing sand and howling wind that kept Padme awake. Her arm was firmly planted around Qui-Gon’s waist and his was a heavy weight across her shoulders. With a sigh, she shifted her arm to help her remain upright. Hungry, thirsty, bone tired and aching from sun exposure, Padme could barely keep her feet beneath her.

“It’s just a few meters more, Padme.” Qui-Gon’s voice was hoarse from days in the dry wind. His eyes squinted to see ahead of them. There was a door ahead, he could feel it, even if the blowing sand obscured his vision.

“Are you sure?” Padme’s voice croaked.

“A few steps; trust me.” Qui-Gon answered. The sand storm had come upon them as they had entered Mos Eisley. The Jedi Master would not allow it to slow them. The closer he got to the city, the more agitated he had become. He could feel time slipping through their fingertips and their destiny racing to meet them. They needed a ship and quickly.

Padme felt the solidness of the exterior wall under her fingertips. Next to her, Qui-Gon’s bulk shifted and the door chime was pressed. She was amazed that a door on a cantina had a chime, but it was necessary at times when the weather was such as it was. Even the seediest of places had to have a way of shutting out the blowing sand and howling, flesh-shredding wind.

Qui-Gon’s cloak had been garnished and the great brown mass swirled about him as he turned and pressed her against the wall. The feeling of thousands of needles sticking her skin was gone in an instant as his strength shielded her from the wind. His arms fell to either side of her and his head tilted down on top of her and she was suddenly and completely covered.

“Will they open?” Padme asked loudly to be heard over the wind.

“I should hope so, but we should have other plans if they don’t,” came Qui-Gon’s terse reply. He was as tired if not more tired than she was. During the three cycles of constant riding, he had remained mostly awake, only letting Padme take the reins twice. She could smell the dirt and grime and the accumulation of sweat on his clothes and skin. As much as she wished to make a comment, she knew that she was just as worse off as he was in the personal cleanliness sector.

“A room?” Padme laughed, as she shifted her arms around the Jedi Master’s waist.

“Preferably with a bath or sonic shower, yes.” Qui-Gon’s voice held some humor as he pressed her harder against the wall. “After all, I already have my own slave.”

Padme started to laugh but stopped, unsure as to what direction the joke was going to take. Her trust in the Jedi Master did not yet extend to trusting his humor to remain on course. Any further exchange of laughter was cut off as the door next to them slid open. Qui-Gon took no chances and launched himself and Padme, held firmly in his arms, through the door.

They went from painful brightness and flying sand to darkness in the space of a breath. The sand ceased to spin around them and they found they could think once again. Padme stood next to Qui-Gon as he shook sand out of his hair and clothes and turned to address their host. She had been in cantinas in Mos Espa; they had been bustling centers of activity….mostly drunken activity, but activity nonetheless. This one put the establishment at Mos Espa to shame in the rowdiness.

“Thank you,” she heard Qui-Gon state loudly to be heard. “We were beginning to wonder…”

The bartender grunted. “Offworlders – they never have an idea of when to get out of a storm. What will it be? Drink?”

Qui-Gon shook his head and walked forward, following the men to the bar. “A ship. Who can I see around these parts for transport?”

The man’s eyes widened and he nearly laughed until he choked. “A ship in this weather? There will be no one leaving in this storm for the next few hours…”

“Whatever the time of departure, it makes no matter to me. Now or a few hours will make no difference. But I do need to know….”

“The far tables, over there!” The bartender threw his left arm up and pointed to a far outcrop of the wall. “Most of the pilots and ship owners hang out over there. See what kind of luck you can have with them….” His eyes wandered over Padme’s rather revealed body. “Although I know what you might be able to trade for transport.”

“Only if the man wished to lose his limbs and then his life.” Qui-Gon answered, his voice barely above a growl. “She is not for sale…not even to me. Thank you.”

Padme was taken aback by the tone and meaning of the Jedi’s words. Before she could say anything, her arm was taken by Qui-Gon and she was spun around to keep pace with him across the crowded floor. Her bare feet danced alongside of his larger, also bare feet. “Qui-Gon, I think that was unnecessary.”

“It might have been. I would rather make it quite clear rather quickly, however, that you are….” He stopped talking as his blue eyes completely adjusted to the lighting of the room. He could make out several low tables in the light and he made his way over to them.

“Not for sale.” Padme finished for him. “I could have handled a drunk.”

“I’m sure you could; why do you think I told the bartender the man would lose his limbs?” Qui-Gon stopped talking and drew to a stop in front of the group of tables. Most the humans and non-humanoids there were already staring at them and their unlikely ensemble of clothes. Padme felt like she crawled , but remained next to Qui-Gon.

The Jedi stood tall and proud, even dirt smeared and sweaty as he was. With unyielding blue eyes, he glanced about the outcove and then spoke in low, precise basic: “I need a ship. Without a pilot.”

Several of the patrons shrugged and returned to their brews, or whatever it was that they were drinking, Padme thought. Patrons at one small table, inhabited by two humans dressed in orange jumpsuits and one large Yidyan, waved to them. Qui-Gon nodded and walked over, very carefully stepping over the feet placed in front of him. None of the feet were moved, and the Jedi did not move his bulk with gentleness through them. He had often sought passage in places such as the cantina they were in. One had to show force and strength or one was not respected. Although the thought of respect resting simply on the laurels of might bothered his higher personality, he had no time or energy to worry about it. He would show his might if it would get him passage.

Padme followed as best she could, her small feet having more problem clearing the men’s legs than Qui- Gon. Her outfit of pearlized material, once beautiful, hung about her frame in tatters and wrinkles. She kicked the leg of one man who tried to stop her, and was successful. Another tried to reach and snag her about the waist, but she danced out of the way, swinging her arm around to collide with the man’s arm and neck. Although it only elicited a laugh, the man let her go. She found herself in the corner of the room in no time, standing in back of a seated Qui-Gon. She laid her hands on his broad shoulders and tried to listen to the conversation as best she could.

“That’s right, just a ship. I can pilot. I need to get to Coruscant.”

The pilot that he was talking to, laughed and shook his head. “I only have a very small freighter. I have no cargo currently and nothing to take me off of the planet. I could let you have it….for a price.”

“That is what it always is, my friend. A price for everything,” Qui-Gon leaned forward, placing his arms on the table. The chalices of ale shook as he did it non-too gently. “Two thousand republic dataries, one horse. More can be gotten once I arrive at Coruscant.”

Padme leaned forward with a sigh. “How much more…our government…” She was cut off talking as Qui- Gon’s hand landed on hers in warning. The pilot they talked to raised his head to skim over Padme and he tilted his head.

“I might be able to go as well,” he said. “And I could think of things that I would accept in place of payment….”

“Ten thousand total.” Qui-Gon kept his blue eyes pinned forward, almost as if he were boring a hole into the man’s forehead with his sight. The pilot smiled and sat back with a grin.

“That can get you a ship, but I want two things before you can take it. An assurance that it will be turned over to my brother on Coruscant when you land…and a night with….”

Padme gripped Qui-Gon’s shoulder as she felt her anger grow. She felt his muscles bunch and his arms move and suddenly found herself across his lap. “Ten thousand and an assurance that your brother will receive the ship, sir. And you may only have a night with the woman here, if you don’t mind sharing it with me as well. She is mine.”

Although she was didn’t like the statement of ownership, Padme felt herself go a little limp against the Jedi Master’s chest. His warmth was bleeding into her. She felt hot and protected. Qui-Gon sighed as he still felt interest coming from the pilot toward Padme. He raised his right hand quickly. “She is not of interest to you.”

“She is not of interest to me.”

“You don’t want any trouble.”

“I don’t want any trouble.”

Qui-Gon nodded and lowered his hand back to the table. The pilot looked momentarily confused but continued to talk. “The ship is in Docking Bay 72. The Corellia Sunrise. She is ready whenever you are.”

The Jedi sat forward and drew out the dataries and put them on the table. “There is your two thousand dataries. Docking Bay 72.”

Padme pushed to stand only to find that she was lifted and set down as Qui-Gon rose. His hand grabbed at her hand, and pulled her close to him as he walked out of the outcove. “Qui-Gon…”

“This is beginning to become a habit that I find I do not like…men are attracted to you, Padme.”

The young woman looked up at the tall man with a half smile. “I am doing nothing to….”

“I know, dearheart…but you are naturally attractive and you current state of dress will drive men to take. Let’s find you clothes and then find this Docking Bay.”

With a sigh that rivaled the dying wind outside, Padme adjusted the pantsuit that had been procured for her by Qui-Gon. It was a burnt orange color and had seen better days, but it was serviceable. She held up her right arm to stare at the flayed material. Whatever this has been through, she thought, I don’t want know. It fit, barely…the zippered front had to hang open to accommodate her breasts, but it did cover her more than the wrap she had been using.

Before she could think more, Padme turned and picked up the wrap she had been wearing and balled it up. She was going to keep it, if nothing else, she thought, as a remembrance of the trip. The storm was dying and it was time to try and leave the planet. Qui-Gon had estimated that they were scant hours ahead of Hi- Jan and whoever else would have pursued them. The theft of a horse was a crime not forgotten quickly by men like that.

They only had to hope that the Sith was not with their pursuers.

The door slid open behind her and she jumped. Her hair, still in braids, flew in an arc about her head as she turned to see her intruder.

“Ready?”

Qui-Gon leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his broad chest. The half smile on his face let Padme know that he had meant to surprise her.

“As ready as I will ever be…” she mumbled, struggling to bring her heart back under control. “Do you think that Hi-Jan is in town?”

“He might be.” Qui-Gon pressed away from the door to stride toward her. He still wore the black pants and white shirt from the night in the water tent, a lifetime ago. His warm, large hands closed over hers to remove the wrap from her grip. He stared at it for a moment and then turned and placed it in the pile of their other supplies. “But it is not about him that I worry.”

“Sith…”

“If it was for him that they were procuring the parts for the ship, yes, you can be certain that he is here as well.” Qui-Gon sighed as he turned back toward the door, his hand falling to the small of her back to lead her. “I sense a disturbance in the Force, but it is constant, it does not fluctuate. I cannot tell direction or distance, but I can feel him. I know that he EXISTS.”

Padme nodded concisely. Her time with the Master had led her to know some of his thoughts and feeling patterns. “Is there any way that I can get a blaster?” She tilted her head back to glance at the tall man.

“A blaster will have no effect against that being that I dueled with, Padme.” Qui-Gon’s blue eyes held some humor, but much fire. Set in his tanned and golden face, those eyes were beacons of light.

“No, but they might have an effect against others…mere mortals…” she answered back as they turned a corner. The cantina door was just meters away, and Qui-Gon slowed his feet to allow Padme to press ahead of him as the numbers and density of people increased. “It would make me feel better….”

His hands and arms framed her to shelter her from the influx of persons around them. His body was pressed flushed against hers from behind and she could feel the raw power emanating from him. “Do you not trust my ability to protect you?” he asked, his deep voice rumbling over her head.

“Yes, I trust you. But it might help you if you can not worry about me that little bit don’t you think…? I can shoot, you know.” Padme’s voice was low as well. The door to the outside loomed and she reached out to touch the controls to open it. The blood red painted metal door slid back almost soundlessly. The quiet had returned to the world outside and the sand once again laid calmly against the planet’s surface. They stepped to the outside quickly.

Within the space of a heartbeat, Qui-Gon stepped around her and his hand firmly encased her own. His agitation was palapable. The young woman had a hard time keeping up with him as he plowed through the sand and the streets. The docking bay was across the main square of the city and she could tell that he did not like being out in the open.

“They might not be here…” she whispered aloud.

Qui-Gon didn’t answer, his hand tightening on hers. As they swept around a corner, she found her body almost whipped around his much larger and solid body. “If they are, Padme, you will run for the freighter. Do you pilot?”

“Not at all,” she answered.

“Then you will hide and wait for me, is that understood? I detest confrontations in close quarters.” He sighed with exasperation. “But I think it is unavoidable.”

Padme opened her mouth to answer back but he bodily pushed her into an alcove. His large bulk slammed into her and she bounced against the wall with some force. Before she could even breathe, her hands landed on his back as he pushed into her. She felt him grab at his belt and knew that he was reaching for his lightsaber.

When I move out of here, Padme, run. Run and don’t look back.

The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, ringing in her head. It was his deep bass voice, but it did not come from his body. It was in her mind. Her hands gripped the material at his back.

Don’t make me worry, dearheart. Get to the ship. Use your judgment on when to leave.

With a sigh, she leaned her head against his chest and shook it to signify no. “I won’t.” she whispered, just a shade above silence.

Won’t listen or won’t leave?

Her hand stole around his bulk to touch at his hand. “Leave. Not without you.”

One of his fingers reached out to wrap around a couple of hers. You are determined to make me worry. Very well…find cover. Nearby if you can.

“I’ll find a blaster,” she whispered against his back.

Qui-Gon released her fingers and gripped his lightsaber. Within a heartbeat, he pressed out of the alcove and into the small alley. As the flurry of his cloak in the wind died down, she saw the blazing emerald of his laser blade slicing through the air. He moved as if part of the wind. With a twist, parry and the lunge, several bolts were deflected into the cool stone surrounding them.

His hair billowed about him as he spun around, his black clad legs seemed faster than light. Padme pushed to the opening of the alcove and was immediately rocketed back as a blaster shot landed near her. The smell of burnt stone crept into her nostrils. Qui-Gon danced away from the opening of the alcove, leaving her able to see around them. With a jump and flip over the men shooting, the Jedi Master landed and brought his blade down soundly.

Suddenly, the shots stopped, but they were replaced by the sound of men screaming. Padme launched herself out of the alcove and pivoted on her feet. Just two meters from her, on the ground, lay two blasters encased in hands. She scooted forward and grabbed the two weapons from the hands.

“Not squeamish, are you?” Qui-Gon asked as he turned and grabbed her arm. “The others are around, I can feel it. We have to move.”

Padme stuck one of the blasters in her makeshift belt and palmed the other one. “Let’s go.”

He nodded and urged her to walk at his pace, flush against his side. Her legs ached as they matched his stride. Qui-Gon’s hand twitched as they neared the steps descending to the docking bay. As her feet touched the top step, the Jedi spun on his heel pressing her behind him and down the steps. She heard two lightsabers igniting and knew that their luck had run out.

No arguments, my heart: RUN!

Padme stumbled down the few steps and found herself in the dark cool interior of a hall. The sound of clashing sabers filled the air, reverbating off the walls. Instead of throwing herself down the hall, she turned to climb the steps she had just been pushed down. She could feel Qui-Gon’s presence pushing her away, but she had to go back.

AS she cleared the last step, she saw Qui-Gon advancing on the Sith. It was the same humanoid that he had met earlier: small, compact and clothed completely in black. Padme pressed herself against the wall and faced the dueling men. The air was filled with the screaming of sabers as they clashed, red on green. The Jedi Master was correct, her blaster would do nothing in that situation. But…

Qui-Gon danced backwards, his saber parrying and blocking thrusts. Padme. NOW.

She aimed the blaster and fired two shots at the Sith, watching as they were deflected. It did give Qui-Gon an advantage and he pressed it, swinging his saber over his head and pushing the Sith down and out. He turned and spun, dancing toward the steps. The Sith intercepted the last swing of the Jedi Master, and they stood, facing each other over the hot lasers. The might of the two men clashed and the beams slid on each other. One slide ended in the red beam lightly grazing Qui-Gon’s hand.

A span of a breath later, Qui-Gon reached out and slapped the Sith, sending the lesser man tumbling to the ground. He turned and ran toward the steps. As he neared, crossing over a blaster door threshold, Padme fired a shot and hit the control box for the door. It slid shut quickly and loudly.

“Padme, run!” Qui-Gon shouted. He took the steps two at a time as Padme rocketed down ahead of him. The green of his saber caused an eerie glow on the walls.

“You are injured.” She shouted back as they ran. “How…”

“I’m fine. The best fight is one that you can leave to fight another day, Padme.” Qui-Gon urged her with a Force push to her body. “If I stayed to fight, you would be in more danger.”

She ran full throttle into the door mechanism, her palm slapping against the button. The door flew open to show a small, compact freighter, not much larger than a long range fighter. Qui-Gon pushed Padme inside as a blaster shot hit the wall next to them. He turned and swung his saber, connecting with the door mechanism. It slid shut and he fried what remained of the circuitry. He grabbed Padme’s hand and swung her ahead of him. With a grunt and a push, the Jedi Master sent her running toward the ramp.

Padme clamored up the ramp, her feet hitting the metal with loud smacks. Qui-Gon stopped running and turned, his blue eyes squinting to watch their retreat. When he no longer heard her feet running, he turned and sprinted up the ramp behind her. Within seconds, the door slid shut and the engines roared to life.

“You have no clearance.”

Qui-Gon frowned at the disembodied voice coming from the comlink. “I am Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master and special envoy to the Supreme Chancellor. I have the queen of Naboo on board and we are being pursued. Regardless of your clearance or not, sir, I will be launching this ship.”

His hands flew over the controls and he grunted as he felt the ship leave the solidity of the planet. He saw the door ahead and aimed the small ship toward it.

“You do not have clearance.”

The Jedi Master leaned over the control panel and sighed heavily. “I will be leaving.”

With a flick of his wrist, itself, reddened and injured, he gunned the engines. The rumble was palpable through the cockpit, even shaking the seats. The ship lurched forward. With a practiced hand, he guided the ship out of the docking bay door and into the clear Tattooine sky.

“You know?”

Padme’s small voice sounded from the doorway.

“I’ve known all the time, love,” he answered, as he leaned backwards over the seat to hit two overhead controls. “Strap yourself in, it will be rough.”

Padme collapsed in the chair next to the Jedi with a sigh. How could he have known? She thought. Qui- Gon reached across the space for a short parsec, holding her hand, before the strength disappeared and his hands moved back to the control panel.

Qui-Gon pressed two more buttons and turned sideways in his seat. “Check the panel behind you, Padme. It has the timer for the navicomputer. Let me know when the count is zero.”

She turned and bent over the panel eyeing the numbers. “Now…”

The Jedi hammered a button on the panel next to him. Suddenly, Padme saw the familiar hyperdrive warped stars begin to fly by outside the window. With a sigh, Qui-Gon leaned back in the chair. “They can’t trace us in hyperspace. They know our destination, but any way they try to get there ahead of us, we will still beat them.”

In silence, Padme got up and left the cockpit. Qui-Gon turned slightly to watch her retreat, his blue eyes tired and full of feeling. He did not have long to wait, though, as the young woman reappeared with the first aid kit. She sat down in the copilot seat, and motioned for his hand. “Let me, Qui-Gon.”

He lifted the wrist to stare at it. “It’s only a flesh wound…”

“That might get infected, Jedi. Let me see it.” Her eyes remained turned down and as if transfixed by his hand.

He reached out, allowing her cool hand to hold his arm. The red and angry wound was stretched across his right wrist. Padme pulled out a can of synthaflesh . As she sprayed his arm, she sighed. “Yes, it is only a flesh wound...”

“Even now, you don’t believe me?” he joked, his left hand reaching out to tilt her head back to let him see her eyes. They met his tentatively. He was surprised by the depth and sadness in the brown orbs. “It changes nothing, Padme.”

She tilted her head to the side.

“You made the choice, Padme. The path has been yours to follow…”

“It put you and me in extra danger,” she said, rather loudly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, starting to lean back from him. “Why didn’t you tell me that you knew?”

“It would not have changed the situation; I would have acted the same.” Qui-Gon stroked at her chin. “And you would have had as much fire and energy. I would have allowed no harm to come to you whether you were a handmaiden or the queen, Padme. But what you have clarified for me is that you are Padme, and not just a ruler, or a handmaiden, but a special individual.”

She laughed a sob and pulled back from him. “Sometimes this is the only way that I can find out things, feel things, investigate things, learn things. You should have told me…” she ended, trying to change the conversation.

“As you should have told me, dearheart.”

Her head tilted back and she stared at the ceiling, listening to the silence of space. In a short period of time, she nodded. “Is this something of what I need to ask for forgiveness from you?”

“Whatever for, Padme?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“For secrets? For…”

“For being who you are? No, never.” Qui-Gon leaned forward. “Though I do believe you would not have allowed yourself to be party to those lessons in the camp if you were under the guise of the queen. Although, I would say that I would be disappointed.”

Padme smiled lightly. “Thank you. And, no, I would not have been.”

Qui-Gon nodded and rose slowly, with some difficulty from the chair. “It is two days to Coruscant, your highness. And your escort needs to clean himself.”

Her hand snuck out to grab at his. “Does it change….well….does it change the future?”

“Will you change who you are, dear?” Qui-Gon reached down to touch her braids.

“Never.”

“Then it will not change the future, love.” He leaned forward to brush a kiss to her forehead. His blue eyes searched her brown ones as he pulled back to stand aright once more. She sighed at the fire there. There was so much power in this Jedi Master.

“And this has clarified an issue for me as well” Padme whispered, turning his hand over in hers to see the angry welt on his wrist.

Qui-Gon stood and allowed her hands to stroke at his skin for a moment before asking of her: “Yes?”

“Jedi Masters, even ones as powerful as you, are still just men.” She smiled cheekily at Qui-Gon. She traced the wound with her finger.

A barked laugh was all she heard before the hand turned over and grasped hers quickly. “Yes, Padme, we are men. I am one…and you make me feel my mortal masculinity often.” His lips pressed against hers quickly and soundly, capturing her breath. She was kissed thoroughly as she sat. And then the warm, moist, vibrant lips were gone.

“A shower, Padme, and then we will discuss this revelation of yours.”

The steam poured out of the room, out of the open door and into the hall. Padme followed the billowing tendrils to find her errant Jedi Master. Qui-Gon was inside the fresher, his body immersed in the center of the steam. His hands pressed into the metal of the shower stall. His head was back, neck arched, allowing the water to massage his lower back. Gently and in small rivets, the water left his swept back hair and trickled over the shelf of his broad shoulders. The room was filled with steam and he, tall and strong, was a mountain top above it.

Padme stared from the doorway where her hands curled over the metal rim. She had wanted to stay distant from Qui-Gon for a little while. He knew about her identity and the realization that the knowledge was known was unsettling. But seeing him there…tall and strong and very, very raw with power….

Her breath hitched.

Pressing back from the wall, he ran his hands down over his hair and then down to his hips. The glass of the shower wall was low and translucent, milky. She could see his form, but not the nuances of it. Her mind happily filled in the memories of what the skin had felt like under her hands, the slightly protruding bone of his pelvis, the weight of his erection. She lowered her hands to press against her stomach as she sighed. Wanted to know what it was about him that made her want to flock to him like moth to flame. Wanted to know him…to feel what it was that made her body want to sing.

“Padme?”

His voice rumbled, much like thunder heralding an approaching storm. She could feel it in her toes, in her stomach, in her mind. He was everywhere. Padme’s head slowly righted to stare at him. Qui-Gon’s face was turned toward her, his mouth was turned up gently in a smile. “Is there something wrong, Padme? Is there something that you need me for?”

With slight, non-committal motion of her head, she took a deep inhale and tried to back away from the door. “I didn’t mean to disturb you, Qui-Gon…I was just…” She tried to quickly turn and leave the room.

“Being curious. Being inquisitive. You have a natural tendency towards that sort of thing.” Qui-Gon leaned forward and turned the fresher from the water setting to the steam setting. Instantly the sound of falling water was replaced by rolling tendrils of steam and silence. “You want to know, don’t you.”

Padme stepped fully into the room and leaned against the door jam. Her hands curled around the still cool metal for both support and for a way to anchor her. “Know…”

“Men. Me.” His voice was low and drifted out of the condensing cloud about him. “This is something that you cannot learn in your committees, is it? How to handle men…”

She stood up straighter and balanced on the balls of her feet. “Your Jedi training as a Master did not contain ‘handling women’, did it?” She shot back with some humor.

He chuckled. Padme’s toes curled into the metal floor, as if trying to reach through her shoes. Her brown hair was curling from the intense moisture in the air and the jumpsuit on her body felt tight and hot. “No, dearheart, it did not. It does not mean that I haven’t taken my education in that realm elsewhere, however. I can assure you that I am well versed in all of the necessary areas.”

She sighed and rubbed her hands against the metal. She wanted to know about men, about him in particular, but… She didn’t know what was holding her back, if indeed anything other than her own fear of consequences. Duty and honor, duty and honor, the words ran through her head. Padme groaned silently. What she wanted, what she needed to…to feel…him…his body, his needs, his wants…was contradictory…to duty. As Padme, as a handmaiden…she could have done what she wanted…for herself. But now that she was known to him as Queen Amidala… duty again came first.

Freedom was what she missed from when she was younger and living on her father’s farm. Her talents were well used in her leadership position, but only at the loss of her freedom. It had always seemed a fair trade off to her. And, at those times when the loss of her freedom bothered her, she assumed her handmaiden persona. But he knew her as the Queen…

Silence greeted her thoughts. Padme raised her eyes slowly to meet Qui-Gon’s through the gathered mists. He was gazing at her, as if seeing her very soul. “That’s right, Padme, I do know you as the Queen. I always have. I know you. You have nothing to hide from me.”

“Even…” Padme breathed, finding it hard to inhale. He did know her.

“Even the depth of what you want, Padme. I can feel that in the Force. You project quite strongly.” Qui- Gon kept her eyes pinned with his gaze. She swore she could see his very essence shining there. “I can feel your desire and your conflict.”

Padme blushed and moved along the wall away from the door. “You are reading my mind.”

“I find it a healthy trait to have in sticky situations. It helps to sidestep problems.” Qui-Gon reached up and fully faced her. His arms curled on the edge of the fresher wall and he leaned into the solid support.

“I want….but I have duty.” Padme sighed.

“I want as well, Padme. Quite acutely. And I have duty as well.” Qui-Gon’s voice fell low, rumbling on her ears.

“Then this is a stalemate.” Padme shook her head. “You are driven by your duty as rigidly as I am.”

“Do you wish me to be driven by something else, Padme? Passion, perhaps? Desire?” Qui-Gon’s voice was thick with accent. “Do you wish me to kiss you and carry you to my bed? Is that what you wish? What you want?”

“Dut-“

“Duty ends where your individuality begins, Padme. Learn that lesson well.”

She shook her head as if in confusion. The steam made her warm and tingly all over. Heady in the control that it had over her body. Padme could feel the trickle of sweat slide between her breasts in their confines. “What you are saying…duty is not what is stopping you from…from…”

“Making love to you, are the words you are looking for, Padme. And no, it is not duty that is stopping me. I want you to know that this is what you want. I want you to understand…” Qui-Gon began quietly.

Her hand swept up to stop in front of her chest. “I know that I want you, Qui-Gon. How to reconcile it with…”

“Live in the moment, Padme. Only think of the future in terms of present time misplaced. Will your being the lover of a Jedi interfere with your ability to rule?” Qui-Gon lowered his chin to rub at it with his thumb.

“Will your being the lover of a Queen interfere with your sense of duty and honor?” she answered back with almost biting intensity. His words were helping her, but made her feel young and unsure.

Silence fell between them. Brown eyes stared at blue ones, the gazes both heated and tender. Qui-Gon could feel her want. It was enough to make his head spin. Youth and desire was a powerful mix especially in one as pretty as his errant Queen. It was almost as if she wanted him to make the decision. To tell her what to do…to remove the power from her hands. It was a willing sacrifice her mind told him.

He pushed on the door of the fresher, hearing the small locks clicking open. More tendrils of steam poured out from inside. “Come here.” He stated lowly.

She opened her mouth, but saw the heat in his eyes. It was as if the embers that had been in his gaze had suddenly ignited. She wanted to argue, but found herself reaching up to unzip her jumpsuit. She opened the material and shimmied her arms out of their garment. That done, she wiggled her hips until the jumpsuit landed in an orange pile at her feet.

Without looking back at Qui-Gon, she reached up to unfasten the large bun of braids at the back of her head. She had been given a direct order. And it was one that she did not wish to fight. As she raised her head to look at Qui-Gon, whose eyes were traveling her frame, she understood that this would not affect her ability to rule. Duty be damned.

Her bare feet padded into the fresher and she felt herself pulled into a strong and sudden embrace. His arms tightened about her, lifting her even with his face. Her legs hung down, touching his knees. “No, it will not affect my sense of duty or honor, Padme.”

Padme caught her laugh before it burst from between her lips. “And…”

Further talk was cut off as Qui-Gon tilted his head close to hers, his lips a scant hair breadth from her lips. “Duty has its place, Padme. And we left our duty on Tattooine and will get it back on Coruscant. Here, there is only…”

“Us?” Padme whispered.

“Us.” Qui-Gon answered as he pressed his lips tightly against hers.

Qui-Gon’s mouth went dry as he watched steam roll across Padme’s body. The tendrils of intense heat caused her skin to glow, glisten with trickles of sweat and condensed mist. Her brown hair shone in the low light of the fresher and seemed heavy as his hand weighed the lengths. Fire from her eyes was extinguished as the lids drifted shut in excited languor. A stray drop of moisture caught on her upper lip as it trailed across her face and he lowered his mouth to her skin to save it from its fate. What fate exactly would befall a drop of water, he did not know, but it seemed the right thing to do. If his lips happened to remain on her skin and pouty lips….

His hands looped under her backside to keep her even with his mouth, her eyes even with his. “Kiss me, Padme, like you did in that tent.” His voice was soft and connected with her on a basal, molecular level.

Her arms crossed over his thick neck and rested on his broad shoulders. To ease the weight on his arms, she gingerly wrapped her legs about his tall frame, crossing them over his backside. Padme felt like she was climbing him, scaling him for heights unknown. But as his soft chest hair brushed against her breast, as his strong leg muscles tensed, as his arms hardened to absolute iron, she didn’t worry about direction or motive, only sensation. Her mouth found his chin hidden in his beard and she pressed a gentle kiss there. Soon, she followed her instincts and found her mouth sucking on his lower hidden, but infinitely tender, lip.

Texture gradients, she thought to herself as her hands combed into his hair and her tongue rubbed against his lips. Soft and hard, coarse and silk on the same man. His lips opened under her coaxing and he accepted her tongue within his mouth. She rubbed it gently along the sharp ridges of his teeth and the silk of his tongue. She felt a rumbling from his body: a stifled groan. It was only the tensing of his hands on her buttocks that betrayed his need for more.

She withdrew her tongue slowly only to find her mouth chased by his. He pressed flush against her. Qui- Gon’s torso crushed hers, his pelvis pinned hers, his chest overwhelmed her, pressing her hard against the wall. Unrelentingly, his mouth reconnected with hers completely. His lips moved slowly, yet forcefully, and it was only his hand cradling her skull that deadened the impact of the bone against the wall.

I want you, Padme, can you feel it? Feel me? The words rocketed through her brain, making her shiver with anticipation.

Yes, she thought. Her hands gripped at his hair as his mouth left hers, pulling, suckling at her lower lip until it reddened and swelled. It felt so delicious that her body pressed harder against his to maintain the hard, soft, coarse, silk contact. Around her swirled steam, swirled tendrils that held them as close as a lover’s embrace, but it was from Qui-Gon that she felt the most heat. Basal, elemental, animal heat. On her belly, she could feel the heavy weight of his protruding erection, eagerly wishing to make its presence known. Yes, I can feel you.

Qui-Gon groaned as he saw her lower lip was swollen, her eyes glazed and could feel her stuttered breath against his skin. “You have had other lessons?” he growled. Want was never an easy emotion to handle especially when it was tied to another being with affection and with need. The Jedi Master had no intention of stemming his want or his need.

“I learned to give oral…” Padme breathed as his lips descended on her neck. She arched into him as she felt his teeth nibbling at her skin, his tongue bathing it to soothe it.

To take a man in your mouth and tease him, you mean. Came the heated, yet humored response from the Jedi . You wish to explore this avenue with me as well? He grunted with pain as her hands pulled on his hair a little overly much. He quirked his hips to hold her against the wall and disentangled her hands from his hair.

“You were who I imagined in my mouth. Who I saw when the boy came….” Padme grunted as his teeth bit hard into her skin to silence her. Padme was jostled a little and she opened her eyes to stare at Qui-Gon as he bestowed a heated and smoldering gaze at her. His hands came up to frame her head as his leg resting between her own legs held up her body. Her sex rubbed the hard muscle there and she had very little ability to concentrate on his words as feelings flooded through her mind.

“Another man’s cock has been in your mouth, Padme?”

She went to open her mouth to answer not only the words but the ice blue heated gaze that shone back at her. His thumbs traced her lower lip. “These lips that I have been imaging on my body, on my cock, on my lips…have been on another man…”

“It was how they taught lessons, Qui-Gon.” Padme leaned her head back fully against the wall, her mind spinning. Steam and his presence were all around. She felt heavy and full, even more so as his eyes bore into hers. “They had men for that purpose…to teach women…”

“Then I shall have to have you relearn your lessons, Padme. With me.” Qui-Gon growled, brushing his thumbs along her cheekbones. Only me

He reached behind her and turned off the steam mechanism and stalked out of the fresher, her body still aloft in his arms. Padme could feel his hardness as it nudged her backside and she rubbed herself restlessly against his moving abdomen. They stalked into the cabin with Qui-Gon’s feet landing heavily against the floor. There was no thought of towels or of drying off, as two bodies one large and muscular and the other petite and soft, tumbled to the sheets.

Padme moved her hands down his body as she lay to the side of him. The water made his body slick and almost satiny to the touch. Her hands swept off of his shoulders and cupped his bulging chest muscles almost reverently. With a soft touch, she traced his midline, rubbing against the hair that tickled her hands. “So strong,” she whispered.

Qui-Gon swallowed violently as her hands drifted to his hips and across the front of his upper thighs. Padme sighed heavily, feeling the rush of air in her lungs. He was muscular everywhere. As her hands met at the juncture of his thighs, Qui-Gon rolled onto his back. The movement made the young woman’s hand brush against and curl around his erection. His moan met her sigh of wonder.

Qui-Gon’s warm hand landed on hers, cupping her to his skin. The gradient of temperature between his blood hot swollen member and his warm hand with her cool skin between made her almost swoon with delight. “Gently Padme. Even a Jedi Master has his limits of control. And I am dangerously close to the edge of mine.”

“But we have hardly done anything…” Padme whispered, kissing the center of his chest.

“Anticipation, Padme. I have wanted you since the first night in the camp.” Qui-Gon growled softly as he led her in a soft stroke of his cock.

She raised her head from running her tongue down his chest. Padme felt somewhat at ease with touching his skin and actually wanted to explore. “But you were so…serious.”

“It kept us alive and headed in the right direction, Padme. Jedi do not act on their emotions, they harness them. I had to be serious.” His hand moved hers down to cup his heavy sac. Her small fingers were tentative, but easily followed the movements. She could feel the tightness underlying the soft gentle skin there.

Qui-Gon felt her hair tumbling past his arm. It was wet from the steam and heavy, silky…it made him want to feel it trailing across his abdomen, his arms, wrap it around his fist. Her mind was timid, but she wanted to touch, wanted to know. That thought shone out of her mind: a beacon in the night. He could read that thought, and squinting his eyes, he felt…mischief in her mind.

Her eyes glittered as she met his half open, passion riddled eyes. Lowering her head slowly, she trailed her mouth down his chest and across his muscular abdomen to the top of his coarse hair nest. Padme had learned somewhat of what to do for a man, and had done so with her mind’s eye focused on Qui-Gon. With a sudden movement, she lifted her head and body and scooted between his legs. His eyes followed her. “Padme.”

“Shh,” she whispered, nuzzling his hardened cock with her cheek. “I am endeavoring to relearn my lessons, Master Jedi.” With a gentle hand, she lifted his stiff member with her hand and stroked it a couple of times. Qui-Gon raised himself up on his bent arms to watch her. She eased just the tip between her lips and raised her eyes to watch him. Her tongue bathed him as the end of his cock was locked in place in her mouth.

Padme almost gagged with the size of Qui-Gon’s penis. Andre had not been remote close to his length or width. The base was too wide to be encircled by her hand and the length was too long to be completely taken in her mouth. But Andre had been pleased with her that morning, and she was determined to please Qui-Gon. It was with him in mind that she had learned this skill. Her tongue crept down the underside of his erection until she found a vein and the texture stopped her.

Qui-Gon’s head fell back on his shoulders, weak on his neck, as he felt her tongue trace his vein. He was so sensitive with her, it was like his skin was heated and primed for her. She had learned how to tease a man properly with her lips. He flopped back to the bed with a groan as her mouth found a rhythm, rising and falling on his cock with the surety of the waves. His hand landed on the top of her head, just feeling the silky texture of her hair between his fingers. Padme, he moaned to her mind.

She drew her head back, his thick cock leaving the warmth of her mouth. She rested her lower lip against him. “Yes?” she whispered.

“I was right, you will be the death of me.” He grit out as she licked the length of his cock once again.

“This is not right?” Padme asked as she nuzzled his sac with her nose and slowly, very slowly, traced her tongue up from the base to the head of him.

“It is perfect.” He murmured, lowering his other hand to feel her cheek as she took him in her mouth once again. “Perfect.”

She worked him for a few minutes more, her hand stroking at his base as her mouth moved in counter strokes with his head. It ended abruptly as Qui-Gon suddenly reached down and pulled her face away from him. His arm looped under her arms and drug her up his body. She sighed as she felt the iron of his muscles tighten to raise her. “Qui-Gon?”

“Any more of that, Padme, and I will come.” Qui-Gon pulled her mouth down to his, kissing her with little restraint. And quickly.

“That is the purpose of the exercise, I thought.” Padme sighed as he released her lips and moved to lick her earlobe. Her back arched and her breasts were crushed against his body.

“If a woman is only there for the man’s pleasure, yes. It would be the purpose of the exercise. But I want to give you what you are giving me, dearheart.” He pulled his arms again to have her move up his body. Her hair, in its heavy braids, fell about them. His mouth followed the line of her neck to her collar bone and then dropped down in fits and starts as she continued to move up him. The strength by which he moved her was awe inspiring to her and made her squirm for further contact.

Suddenly, he flipped her over, her head landing on the flat, standard issue pillow. His mouth descended on her neck, sucking gently. His hand fell to her breast, teasing, circling, pulling at the now erect peak. Padme squirmed in the wet, cold sheets as his mouth traveled down her body to her breasts. Qui-Gon moved between her legs and held her breasts with reverence. As he lowered his mouth to encase one lonely, erect, swollen peak, Padme heard one word in her mind. Beautiful

“Am…”

You are to me, Padme. Fiesty, fiery, smart and beautiful His mouth swallowed one peak, pulling on her. Making her arch into him. His arm looped under her to raise her to him for contact.

She cried out at the feeling that coursed through her veins, from her center to the very tips of her fingers and toes. “Gods…”

Qui-Gon removed his mouth from her and she met his eyes. His lids were heavy, his lips swollen, his skin reddened. His hair was wild about him, sweeping along her skin. “This, love, is only the beginning. As you used your mouth, I can use mine.”

How much more can one woman feel? Padme asked in her mind as her body arched. Qui-Gon’s large hands slid down her sides, gripping her hips, rubbing against her outer thighs. She could feel the calluses, the roughness on his hands honed from years of battle and saber practice. Those long fingers that wrapped around his weapon, now gripped her thigh, lifting it high on his shoulder. She giggled as his fingers ran down the underside of her leg and her toes curled with the rush of feeling…the exploding along her nerves.

Qui-Gon softly moaned and lowered his mouth to brush against the soft skin. “Hot…” Padme murmured, as she gripped the bed covers. His lips were indeed like the sun, heated and hot. She squirmed languidly on the sheets as his mouth played with various areas on her thigh. So good did the caress feel that the sudden nip of his teeth against her skin startled her.

“What?” Padme asked, lifting her head from the covers.

“That was for disobeying me and not running when I told you to do so, Padme,” Qui-Gon whispered, his voice low. His smile eased the pain from the nip and she shook her head.

“I couldn’t leave you,” she answered back quietly. Gently she leaned back to lay on the sheets as his hand pressed against her stomach. She could feel him shift, his legs moving off the bed so that he knelt on the floor. Her hips were lifted and pulled so that her buttocks were close to the edge of mattress. “I…”

Dearheart, I only wanted you safe. It was for your safety and my sanity. His mouth worried at the skin of her lower stomach. She squirmed as his tongue pushed between his lips and rubbed against her. His warm hands eased under her body and tilted her pelvis up to his mouth. Qui-Gon took a deep breath, rubbing his nose gently into her curls.

Padme gulped air and tensed. The feelings were both strange and wonderful. But she felt vulnerable…open and not completely in her own control. Her hands pulled at the coverlet, bunching it up around her and her feet moved restlessly against the bed.

“Peace, love, it won’t hurt. It will make you feel wonderful.” He sighed into her skin as his bearded chin rubbed her center.

“But…”

“Trust me, Padme. I have protected your life, I can tell you I will not hurt you now.” Qui-Gon’s voice was filled with humor as well as lust. I want to taste you, Padme. And it will help with further actions

With a nod, the queen eased back to the covers and closed her eyes and waited for him to act. The feelings that coursed through her veins at hearing his plainitive plea to taste her had her quivering. The Jedi Master’s want for her had grown and it wafted off of him in waves. Her breathing deepened as she lay.

Only to have her eyes jump open to stare at the ceiling as his tongue began to trace her folds.

Qui-Gon eased his hips into the side of the bed. His body was reacting to the aroma of sex that had begun to rise around them; his already aroused member filled even more painfully. Through his squinted eyes, he could see her: chestnut hair spread around her on the sheets, small hands gripping the bedcovers, slim, muscled body ungulating under his minstrations, her firm legs moving against the mattress or him, whichever they encountered. She was beautiful. Enticing. Irresistible.

And her taste…

His hand cupped her to his mouth, holding her up to him, like a cup offered in a religious ceremony. His tongue found all the areas that made her squirm and moan. Made him squirm and moan as well. With small movements, he rubbed his hips into the side of the mattress to stem his lust. Everything in him cried out to be done with what he was doing and to mount her and plunge into her. He didn’t want to do that, however. He wanted it slow and long, memorable.

Padme began to twist and moan under his mouth. His eyes crept up her body to center on her face. In the low light of the cabin, her skin seemed like cream, her eyes like melted Corellian chocolate. With her lips slack and swollen from his kisses, her breasts quivering and moist from his saliva, she was the very picture of erotic delight.

“Qui-Gon…” Padme stuttered.

He lifted a hand and pressed a finger within her, spearing her. Padme’s breath stopped as she mewed, surprised at the change in sensations. She tensed, and her muscles squeezed his thick digit. He lowered his eyes and allowed the lids to drift closed over them. Easy, dearheart. You will be receiving larger things very soon. This is only to prepare you. His tongue continued to bathe her, circling and skimming her folds as his finger slowly circled and withdrew.

Her hand drifted down to wrap around his wrist under his chin. He pulled his mouth away to give her the room to do so and to watch the play of emotions across her face. Wonder, fear, pain and pleasure washed over her eyes. Qui-Gon’s fiery blue eyes swept down from her eyes to the juncture of her thighs.

A light skin hand wrapped around the skin of his larger, tanned hand. He watched as his finger circled and entered her again. He followed with a series of short thrusts. As erotic as if felt to have his finger in her, to feel her molten interior, it was even more so to feel the wetness flowing out of her, coating his skin.

With a groan, he pressed another finger into her tight sheath. So hot, she was so responsive. Padme He moaned in her head. Gods, Padme He could feel the need bubbling in his veins. He could feel it bubbling in hers as well. A lost, needy feeling, but it was jumping out of her.

He wrenched his hand away from her body. “You are wet, Padme. Ready and so wet. You want me inside of you, don’t you?” He muttered, struggling to stand. As he gained his full height at the foot of the bunk, his knees felt weak. It had been too long. With a sure hand, he reached down to stroke at his length. Padme raised herself on her elbows to stare at him.

Although she had seen men naked in the last week, and had felt Qui-Gon hard and ready against her on more than one occasion, nothing could prepare her for the site of him staring at the juncture of her thighs and stroking himself almost harshly. Tanned and strong, radiating pure animal aura and incredible control, the Jedi Master stood with his legs braced and spread, one hand on his hip and the other stroking himself. His head was bent back, his lips slack, but his eyes intent on her. When she found she could concentrate, she even saw her juices shining on his beard. He was, Qui-Gon was, to her, perfection.

Her body was singing, sighing, reaching for the sky…she could feel pleasure bordering on pain in her limbs, and an incredible heaviness in her center. The sheets below her felt wet and close. There was no strength to even move her hands. There was no strength to do anything but watch Qui-Gon prepare himself for her.

His hand was wet with her liquid want and he spread it sparingly along his length as he grit his teeth. His sac was tight and ready. “My heart, are you ready?” he asked, struggling to keep his voice normal. “You feel ready to me…”

Padme reached down between her legs, feeling with almost awe the change in her body that was evident. “Gods, Qui-Gon….”

“A simple yes would suffice, Padme.” He grunted as he leaned forward, crawling up the bed. His lips rubbed against her body at different intervals. Soon he was suspended above her, his arms locked and tight, holding him aloft. His legs were in between hers, but she could feel the blunt edge of his cock bumping her.

“Yes, Master.” She smiled as he came to rest , his head even with hers. He kissed her lips, and she could feel, smell her essence on his beard, his lips.

“Hush,” he muttered, his lips closing on hers. As he licked at the soft skin, his hand crept down to rub her clit gently. Always Qui-Gon to you. His voice whispered to her mind. One finger curled into her to make sure that her state of readiness had not changed. “Love…”

“I know,” Padme whispered in return, raising her hand to brush down his cheek. “I know.”

“I can’t take that pain away…” he stated, kissing her finger as it lingered on the corner of his mouth.

“No pain…no gain…” she joked back. As his intense blue eyes bore into hers, she nodded and added solemnly. “I want you. I need you. Nothing else matters right now. Make love to me….show me this.”

He quickly kissed her on the mouth and moved his body up so that her face was buried in his chest. Her small hands looped around his body to hold him. There was some jostling for a moment and then she felt his hot, thick cock pressing into her willing body. He grunted above her, and laid his hand on the top of her head. Oh sweet Gods

Padme moaned loudly and tried to relax her muscles. The Jedi above her was large, like a bull waiting to mate. His hips slowly pressed against her, his cock slowly slid into her hot, wet interior. She gripped at his back trying to stem the pain.

It will pass Qui-Gon raised his head to arch his back. Everything in him, all of the want and desire from the last week screamed for him to plunge into her, to thrust until both of them were satisfied and sated. Gods, it has to pass

Padme squirmed, sighing and moaning, until his hips were flush against hers. She could feel his length pulsing within her, felt him spreading her, stretching her. It hurt, but it felt incredibly right. His arms stretched above her as his hands looped over the headboard. She heard the creak as his muscles tightened.

Qui-Gon grabbed the headboard as a way of stemming his lust, his need. Something solid on which to concentrate. Lead me, Padme. Show me what does not hurt, let me know…

She squirmed her buttocks into the sheets, moving her legs restlessly. His weight was not overwhelming, but like a security blanket. After several deep breaths, the pain began to ebb away. Slowly, but the pain began to lessen. Padme curled her hands into his buttocks and pulled him to her. “Move.”

“The pain…” Qui-Gon gasped. This was indeed taking all of his control.

“Move, Qui-Gon…show me what else is involved here.” She moaned as his hips quirked. “Please, love.” She added.

The pet name she added to the end of her plea made him moan and he surged into her and drew back almost immediately. His arms pulled and pushed on the headboard of the bed, making it creak and bang against the bulkhead. Metal on metal. Padme groaned and laid on hand on the bed to grip at the sheets as the other held his buttock. It was incredible. Pain and pleasure in one package, she thought.

He thrust into her and crushed her hips to the bed. With a slight circle, he moved his hips and she groaned and sighed. Soon the bed was bouncing as his strokes became long and strong. The headboard banging the wall was louder than their combined moans.

I can’t hold back he groaned in her head.

“Don’t” she groaned.

The bed began to sway and hitch as his hips almost resorted to bouncing on hers. Growls were falling from his lips. His need was overwhelming the both of them.

Padme arched as she felt him rub against a place that sent fireworks flashing behind her eyes. He was so large that he felt like he was everywhere, but it was that one special place. To feel it again, she shifted her legs to wrap around his upper thighs. It did the trick and she nearly yelled with the sensation. Four more strokes and she felt her insides igniting, firing, as if all the nerves arced at once. Climbing, scaling…

I’m going to come.

The sound of his voice in her head bordered on a growl. She was unable to answer him. Her own body was overwhelming her ability to talk . “Please…”

He lowered one of his arms, bringing his knees closer to her body and grabbed her one of her thighs, moving it higher on his body. Padme arched and allowed the move, her lips falling open to lightly scream as his cock made contact with that sweet place every time he thrust into her. She began to toss her head as she realized that his member was swelling even more. With hitching breaths, she began to mew and moan.

Qui-Gon grunted with every stroke, holding her leg up as his other arm continued to hold the headboard. Suddenly he felt her tighten and release his cock quickly.

“Qui-Gon!”

He shouted, his head rearing back sharply. Brown hair, like silk rain, landed against his back, and his hips pistoned for two more times before he tensed. His buttocks and thighs were rock hard, as was the sac laying against her buttocks.

The feeling like sunshine bathed her insides as Qui-Gon came hard, thrusting continuously into her. The Jedi continued his movements, slowing as his strength left him. With a final thrust, he suddenly rose and pulled out of her, collapsing to the side.

Padme was drenched in sweat, her eyes wide and black with passion. Qui-Gon’s chest glistened with his own sweat as he lay partially on his side. With a gentle hand, shaking in his spent passion, he reached to brush hair off her face. His breathing was uneven and would be, he decided, for a very long time.

Her eyes turned to look at him with a sigh. “That…”

“Was making love, your highness.” He answered and reached to pull her into an embrace.

Padme awoke with her face pressed tight against Qui-Gon’s breast bone. Opening one eye, she could look over his massive chest toward the cabin door. The door appeared to move as her head was displaced up and down by the Jedi’s steady breathing. Under the covers, her and his legs were entwined, and the heat from him warmed her almost like lying in the Naboo summer sun. Her nose itched from his chest hair and she shook as she suppressed a sneeze.

“And here I thought that I was keeping you warm,” Qui-Gon commented. His voice was like molten honey as it flowed over her. Without another word, the Jedi rolled on his side and covered the remainder of her body with his leg and arm. Her hands came up to bury themselves in his chest.

“Good morning to you, too.” She yawned. Her legs stretched and her toes curled into the flesh of his legs.

Qui-Gon’s chest rumbled as he chuckled. “You are not a morning person, I gather.” His hand lowered to cup her buttock and brought her into full contact with his body.

Padme kissed his chest playfully and sighed. “I’m just not used to waking up with someone in bed with me. Particularly a large Jedi Master who is…” she moved her upper thighs against his evident morning arousal. “…definitely not meditating.”

Qui-Gon pulled on one of her braids and tilted her head back suddenly. His hot lips descended on hers with almost no restraint. She leaned into the kiss, sighing into his mouth, taking what strength he had to offer. Like a supernova, his mouth burned intensely.

As the kiss ended, he nipped her lips possessively and then smiled. “One does not need to kneel to meditate, Padme. I was awake a good hour before you were. I used the time wisely. Meditation, introspection and watching you sleep.”

A bright smile warmed her features and he appreciated the sight. She had bed tossed hair. Her lips were slack from sleep and rosy from his ‘abuse’ of them the previous night; her upper chest was marked only occasionally with small red possession marks from his mouth. Padme was not a ruler this morning, she was a woman who had been well-bedded by him; the evidence was clear.

“We slept for nearly 24 hours, dearheart.” He continued, tilting his head back to gaze at her amber eyes.

Her mouth widened and her eyes became like small moons in the planes of her face. “A day?”

Qui-Gon raised his hand to push an errant braid out of her face. “And we are within 12 hours of Coruscant.”

Padme pushed against his chest, levying herself away from his strength. He looked confused and lightly gripped at her forearms to keep her close. She shook her head and pushed harder when it seemed that he did not want to let her go. “I must contact Sabe.” She said quietly. His hands slowly eased in pressure and there was absolute stillness, silence.

“I know, Padme.” Came the deep, hoarse reply.

The woman stopped her struggling and tilted her head to gaze into Qui-Gon’s sky blue eyes. His tanned, bronzed skin of his face was crafted like a statue, honed by the elements and years. His beard was more blond, making him seem younger and more like a sun-god. Lips, tawny-pink, peeked out from under that glorious soft, coarse beard. He was calm. The unlined existence of his face attested to that fact. He looked as he had always been—except for his eyes.

Stormy. The azure depths looked like a sky threatening tempest.

Suddenly, she didn’t want to move at all.

Her hands slowly curled, scratching lightly at his nipples. She could feel the steady beat of his heart under her palms. “Damn.”

Qui-Gon rolled onto his back, pulling her small, willing body with him. “I feel the same, Padme, although I would choose other language to express my discontent.”

She smiled, both from his comment and from the feeling of his arms wrapping around her. “The great Qui- Gon Jinn sounds as if he regrets having duties…” His hands reached down to grasp at her hips, holding her soundly against his firm chest.

He silenced her with a soft, wistful kiss to her lips. She swallowed her words before they could pass out and be heard. With a light sigh, he lifted his hands from her hips to brush back her hair with both hands and held the braids gently. He ended the kiss with a light nip and smiled at her befuddled expression. “The first thing I thought of when I woke, Padme, was my duties. Contacting Obi-Wan, performing my morning katas, my morning meditations…the last thing I thought of was…”

“Me…and I of you.” Padme whispered back. “But I don’t want it to be that way.” She nodded, feeling his hands moving with her head.

Qui-Gon stared, squinting, into her eyes. He could see confusion in her mind as well as the swirling brown heat in her eyes. “Neither do I, neither do I. I’m tired of being a creature of habit and duty, but it is all that we know, you and I. It is all that we are capable of doing.”

Her hands curled into his chest as she remained above him. Her legs fell on either side of his thighs. His arousal was still strong and proud, pushing up into her abdomen. “It is, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

“Our lesson…”Qui-Gon sighed and held her hips against his crotch.

“Just because you are a Jedi Master, does not mean that you are defined by that. Just because I am the Queen of Naboo, does not mean that I am defined by that title either. We need to learn that, Qui-Gon. We have to have other things to think about than about our own misguided self-importance.” Padme nearly shouted, her voice showing the strain as she held back the full force. Her eyes closed. “I care about you…as a friend, as a…”

“Lover….” Qui-Gon offered lowly.

“And you should mean more to me than…than…”

“A diversion?”

Padme lightly slapped his chest. “That was not the word I was looking for…but,” she shyly looked at him through her lashes. “I guess it will have to do….you do mean more to me…”

“Yes. As you mean more to me than a ‘simple diversion’.” His hand raised and brushed down her cheek. “And I agree, we should not be defined by our titles, but it remains that they are a part of who were are. You are thinking too much about this….”

“It worries me….I want to be with you. Not to worry about what else I have to do. I wanted it to be like before,…before I trained to be Queen, before I was chosen.” She shook her head and pushed against his chest to sit. With a sigh, she climbed off of him and padded across the floor to his shirt. It was the nearest article of clothing and covered her well enough, she supposed. The mood was broken for her; her mind was running on high.

Qui-Gon rolled over to face her, watching her moves with an aura of calm. He raised himself on a bent elbow. She continued, pacing, not really looking at him. “Back on the farm…with my family, before I was taken to Theed. When I had time to love, even if it was as a child…”

He nodded, “I have the future to reflect upon where you have the past. I want to leave the Order…someday…when my time and purpose there is at an end. Find a place…a time…to be a man separate from the Jedi. Have a family… I know how you feel.”

She spun on her feet to stare at the Jedi Master who was curled on the bed, the lower half of his body covered with the simple white sheet. “Then what can I…we…do about it….I…I don’t even know what we are talking about anymore.”

“Peace.”

“Is that what we are talking about?” Padme crossed her arms over her chest, the shirt rode up her thighs to uncover her upper thighs.

Qui-Gon pulled the sheet out of the way and stood on his feet. Padme glanced at his feet and allowed her eyes to follow the plains of his body. He was even more glorious in the morning after knowing his body intimately the night before. His feet made little sound as he trekked across the room to her. She sighed as she felt his heavy warm hands fall on her shoulders. One hand left her shoulder to cup her cheek.

“Peace. Padme, we are friends. We are lovers. Duty has its place, just as we had ours…”

“But if there is a chance…” Padme leaned back to look into the eyes of the Jedi who had become a friend, a lover and a confident in the space of such a short time.

“We will have time again. I will not forget you, I couldn’t. Your personality and mine, your mind and my own are very close together. I will want to see you again, even after we land on Coruscant. You need have no doubts of that. But duty does call.”

Padme leaned her cheek into his palm and gazed at him for several minutes. “I know that it cannot be any other way, and I know wishing it different does no good, but…” She searched his eyes. “We will have another time…”

“And in a different situation, Padme. I don’t take these ‘diversions’ lightly. I will see you again. We will spend time together when this situation has completed itself.” Qui-Gon cupped her chin and lowered his head to kiss her. She leaned into the kiss, allowing his lips to possess hers, for his tongue to gently trace hers. She ended the kiss with a slight laugh as her hands wound their way around his slim waist.

“What is it, dearheart?” Qui-Gon asked, nipping at her lips.

“You. Lecturing me without a stitch of clothing on…” Padme grinned wickedly and let one of her hands wrap around his firm erection in the front of him.

He joined her smile and bent her back over his arm to continue to kiss her. Duty was calling them, but five minutes either way would not a planetary situation make, the Jedi Master thought and set about thoroughly kissing his lithe queen.

The streamlined exterior of the freighter pierced the atmosphere of Coruscant and aimed for the landing port that was suspended mid-air between the Senate and the Jedi Temple. It appeared to be piloted in an expert way - there was no hesitation in the movements of the ship. With the majesty of a honed, hunting bird, it aimed for the landing pad.

Inside, Padme leaned over Qui-Gon’s shoulder as he set the last of the controls to bring the ship to ground. She squinted at the landing platform and smiled, tucking her face into the back of his neck. He murmured, a “that feels nice” and leaned back to flip two more buttons.

Padme sighed as he righted himself and slid her hands down his chest. She could feel the bunching and unfurling of the muscles as he moved. The two days were at an end. When she walked off this ship, she would become the Queen once more. Back to her costumes, back to her responsibilities. It was not a thing that she was not looking forward to, she had been practically pacing the ship since she had contacted Sabe. Her people needed her. They needed her to beg the Senate for help. And she could not let them down any more than she could not draw her next breath. Qui-Gon had said as much just a few hours previous.

His hands covered hers on his chest as they watched the ground rushing up to meet the feet of the ship. “We are home, love.”

“Your home, Jedi, not mine.”

His eyebrows lifted and he nodded slowly. “An end of a journey, then. A friendly place. The Senate and the Jedi Temple will welcome both of us with open arms.”

She smiled and hugged him. Her lips grazed the side of his neck just below his ears. “I will always welcome you with open arms, Qui-Gon.”

His chuckle was low and she could feel it through his chest. “And I, you, Padme. I value your friendship and treasure you as a lover. There will be other times. I assure you of that fact. I have just begun to know you, I want to continue on that knowledge path.”

“Always the scholar and gentleman, aren’t you?” she joked, but she felt her throat tighten at the thought of losing a friend that had rapidly become so dear to her.

She found herself suddenly pulled and across Qui-Gon’s lap. “Amongst other things, dearheart.” His head tilted down and she felt his hair fall about her face. His lips opened and his mouth descended on hers with ferocity that betrayed the distance from her that he felt rapidly approaching. She arched up into his chest, feeling his arms curling to hold her there.

“Amongst other things,” he whispered again as they drew apart. “And don’t be sad, love. An end is simply a beginning. We have had our passage through this section of life, it is only that we are waiting to embark on the next. And I know in my heart, that you and I will be embarking together in the future.”

Padme felt a tear pricking the corner of her eye, but did not wipe it away. “I sincerely hope so.” She answered back, her voice shaking.

His blue eyes were shrouded in the dark interior of the cabin, but she could still see the shine in their depths. Her hand shook as she raised her hand to trace his bearded chin. Qui-Gon closed his eyes as her finger touched his lips. They could both feel the ship as it touched the landing pad with a dull thud.

“I know so.” He answered, brushing hair out of her face.

She smiled lightly and traced his lips one more time. “Then I will rely on your confidence.”

With a sad smile, he nodded. “As will I.”

Qui-Gon paced the landing platform, his hands held firmly behind his back. He had just sent Obi-Wan back on board the ship with a coarse reply and he could feel and knew he would have to deal with Anakin’s questions. He was perturbed by the lack of vision on the Council’s part as to the training of the boy, but was trying to make do as best he could. He knelt with Anakin and answered his questions patiently. But his mind was elsewhere.

A transport slowly docked along side the landing dock. With a whoosh, the door opened and several persons exited, walking in formation. He nodded to those walking by him and bent at his waist to address a diminutive person in a purple gown with her hair arranged under a flimsy wrap.

“Your highness, it is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you.” He stated, his voice formal and low. His hand extended out to the side to show the Queen to the ship.

“They mean to destroy me.” She said lowly, not meeting the Jedi’s eyes.

“I can assure you , I will not allow that to happen.” The Jedi Master growled back, ducking his head to climb aboard the ship.

She nodded and climbed aboard, her handmaidens trailing behind. With a sigh, she turned at the head of the ramp and waved her helpers on ahead. They stalked on, only giving her a curious glance. Panaka was the last to leave, not entirely sure that he wished to leave her alone with the Jedi.

Qui-Gon stood tall until the security chief walked off. He then turned and bent at his waist to take Padme’s lips firmly with his own. “Padme.,..”

“Obi-Wan tried to fly back to Tattooine,” she stated, when the Jedi pulled away. “He knew. Sabe told him.”

“Yes,” Qui-Gon sighed. “The Council would not let him. It would have interfered with our destinies. He did try, however.”

“And Anakin is not to be trained?” Padme eyed Qui-Gon warily.

“No. But I will keep him with me.”

“Meaning you will train him against orders,” Padme held up her hand and cut off any further talk from him. “I know you.”

His arms closed around her and he pulled her against him. “Yes, you do, love. And well.”

She pulled his head down and kissed him soundly and then pushed on his chest to levy him away from her. “We have a mission to do, Master Jedi.”

His hand grabbed her buttocks and kept her against him. “Yes, we do. Don’t do anything foolish, Padme. And, please, dearheart, take off the makeup. Beauty like yours should not be hidden.”

Her face split in a grin fueled by a bubbling laugh. “I don’t know whether to be angry or laugh.”

“I have that affect on you often.” His low voice rumbled.

She nodded and moved away from him. “Let’s convene and talk, Qui-Gon. I have several things I would like to discuss.”

Qui-Gon sighed and pulled himself up to his full height. He felt different around this woman; he only hoped that he would have time to investigate the feelings further. The woman was intriguing and engaging. And he felt his destiny rushing to meet him. With a hand at her back, a thumb moving restlessly against her dress, he led her out of the cargo bay and into the main hallway. Time would tell, he supposed.

Padme smiled at the possessive and protective gesture on the Jedi’s part. She had missed his warmth and strength these last two days. When she needed it most, when she felt alone and estranged. But they were together now, and there was nothing to fear. They were invincible together, weren’t they?

The two walked down the hall serious and straight, their thoughts their own. Their passage was over, but their journey was just beginning.