"Ani, huh?" Ahsoka smirked. She had caught onto Padme's nickname for Anakin and, because she was fourteen year old girl with a perchance for making fun of him, was now throwing it about carelessly, simply for the thrill.
"I've been calling him that for years," Padme explained with a smile.
"So, you're sleeping together?" She got straight to the point, there was no beating around the bush with Ahsoka. Padme was horrified by the sudden accusation from a girl so young. It dawned on her that Anakin must have had several sexual partners with Ahsoka around, so it was just seen as normal. It was concerning.
"No." Padme shut down that avenue completely, almost aggressively so. It had been happening more often lately; people mistaking them for being together in that sense. She had grown tired of having to defend and protest – in some ways, it made her look a liar.
Ahsoka looked surprised, "Well, that's new," and scuffed her shoes along the ground.
As curious as she was to find out more about Anakin's history, Padme was just as curious to know more about this girl – she was strange and somehow both childish and mature at the same time. Did she have a home? Why did she hang out with Anakin and Obi-wan at the workshop? All these burning questions were in the front of her mind, but she didn't know how to raise them without frightening her or prying too deeply. Teenage girls were sensitive creatures, prone to having secrets, and Padme was ill-equipped for dealing with them. Adults and young children were no problem, but teenagers? They were a completely different species of difficult.
"So, why do you hang around then?" Ahsoka asked, words bitter with venom. My, Padme thought, she really reminds me of Ani when he was a kid.
"We were close as children," Padme began. "He lived next door to me. We lost… contact."
The young girl frowned. "So, you just abandoned him, is that it?" The sharpness of her tone surprised Padme and she bit her bottom lip. Where had that come from? Ahsoka was obviously very, very protective of Anakin, more so than any friend ought to be. Interest in their relationship grew. How did they know each other?
"My dad forced me to attend boarding school in the mid-west. I had to leave."
Ahsoka wasn't satisfied. "Why are you back now?"
It was an interesting question. Why, after so many years, had she decided to return to her mother instead of her father? She couldn't quite explain it; it was almost an unconscious decision. The reasoning behind it was difficult to pinpoint. So, Padme opted for the simpler, shorter version. "It's summer break. I wanted to come home."
Silence. It was deafening. She suddenly reconsidered her offer to spend time with Ahsoka; the girl seemed fixated on blaming her for… something. What that something was, she had no idea, but she was determined to find out.
"He talks about you a lot," Ahsoka said after a few minutes, still bitter. "Says you're, like, really smart. A politician or something."
Padme couldn't help but laugh. "Hardly a politician. I'm studying political science and communications at Harvard."
That seemed to impress the girl, for her eyes widened and her mouth parted a little. "Wow. You really must be smart."
"Intelligence is subjective."
Padme was under the distinct impression that Ahsoka was trying to size Padme up, intimidate her, test her, to see if she was worthy of being Anakin's friend. It was sort of adorable and Padme couldn't begrudge her that.
A burger joint came into vision less than two blocks up ahead. She didn't even realise she was hungry until she saw it, and automatically, her stomach made itself known. She ordered a mini cheeseburger and small fries, Ahsoka a shake, fries and a burger, and they sat down at a table in silence. Ahsoka was especially excited at the sight of food, and wolfed hers down so quickly, she was done before Padme had even finished her cheeseburger.
