A Duet of Fates

Falling Stars

The cool night air greeted them as they exited the bar. Anakin staggered a bit, the effects of her punishment lingering. Padmé steadied her by holding her hand. In his other, he reached into his pocket and pressed the trigger to the autovalet on his landspeeder. As he waited, Anakin began to kiss his neck. The sweet odor of Akirivan liquor smelled thick on her breath, nearly as intoxicating for him as it was for her. She giggled as he continued to wait.

"I can't wait to..." she hiccuped "get you home and feel you deep inside of me again."

He grinned and kissed her. He too longed to have her once more. His patience; however, was running thin. The autovalet should have guided the speeder back to them by now. Something was wrong.

"Let's walk back." He said over his shoulder as he calculated a route to the speeder. His memory of these streets hadn't failed during his time away on Coruscant. "It's not far, Ani. Is that okay?"

She grinned heartily at him, desire flowing from her eyes.

"What a gentleman! It will be an adventure," she laughed, hooked his arm, and gestured for him to lead the way. She gazed at him dreamily, as they started off into the neon-drenched streets.

Anakin felt the rolling waves of pavement beneath her feet and Padmé's hand guiding them through the swirling surroundings. The Force did not take pity on her state of mind; instead it was oddly tranquil despite the sensory overload she was enduring.

He turned down a seemingly familiar alley only to be greeted with an unfamiliar sight of a binary load lifter.

Industrial sector? He thought.

I must've taken a wrong turn.

He stopped to think, his own head swimming through a haze of alcohol to arrive at the logical conclusion that he had gotten them lost.

Anakin leaned against the cool concrete wall as she watched Padmé as he paced back and forth. He began to anxiously run his hands through his hair. She began to sink into a daydream of playing with his luscious hair and twirling it in her fingers. She twisted loose strands around her finger as her skin began to prickle. The Force was sending her a warning. Something was circling them. Beyond sight but with clear intent.

Danger.

Predators.

Run.

Padmé winced as Anakin grabbed his hand hard, very hard. She was tense and spun dizzily looking around them. He attempted to look for whatever made her defensive, but was only greeted with the startling sound of devious laughter.

Clenching a fistful of her skirts in one hand and Padmé's hand in the other, she pulled them into a sprint deeper into the alleyway. She could hear their pursuers closing in behind them. Sweat began to drip down her back and they dodged around rusted metal fences and hot steam vents. She didn't need to look back to sense the trap closing in around them. Padmé followed his drunken guardian, without a doubt, through the unfamiliar alleys.

Without warning their bodies collided.

"Ani, what's wrong? Those were just some kids trying to spook us. Let me just figure this out," Padmé pondered as he paced.

The world continued to spin as Anakin tried to focus on the living Force to guide her, but it retreated from her mental grasp. She attempted to adopt a fighting stance. Instead, she felt overcome by dizziness and fell onto her hands and knees. This caused an uproar of laughter from the approaching thugs.

Padmé tried to help Anakin to her feet, but froze as the reality of the situation dawned on him. Without mercy, the first punch hit him on the side. The second was his own into the nose of his attacker. But another ruffian replaced the first and after a solid kick to Padmé's stomach and a blow to his cheek, he could taste his blood welling in his mouth.