A Priceless Bounty | Anakin Skywalker

Chapter Seven | Adea

"I think I've sold it pretty well. He's convinced I'm into him." I sat down on the steps of my father's throne dais.

"Do you have any information?"

"On the Republic? No. On Skywalker? A little bit." I frowned. "He was married to that senator from Naboo. They got divorced though."

"Married and divorced? By the age of 21? What a life young Skywalker has lived already." My father chuckled.

"He's 21?" I laughed along nervously. "He's just a baby!"

I walked away before my father could question my tone of voice, opting to skip dinner and go straight to bed. My holocomm beeped as soon as I got to my room.

"Hey, I'm sending coordinates for Desi's Noodles on Coruscant."

"You're only 21?"

"Yeah, I am." He smiled. "Not into younger guys?"

"No, no. I just...I didn't realize your age. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make a big deal out of it." I shook my head.

"You think it's weird?"

"A little." I winced playfully, made a face. "I still really like you though."

"I'm happy to hear that. I'll meet you at Desi's in four days."

"I'll see you then."

The holocomm clicked off and I took a moment to myself to think. It started to sink in that things were becoming a bit more serious with Anakin. The line between lover and mission was starting to blur, but I didn't want to admit to my father that my judgment was cloudy. He would demand for me to kill him if he knew.

I wasn't sure where I wanted things with Anakin to go. I had let him into my heart by mistake, but I was unsure whether or not it was safe to keep him there. Every minute I spent with him felt freeing and fun, unlike my usual day to day life. With him, I was able to forget all the negative parts of my life. It was as if he saw past all of my flaws.

I ended up making the rash decision to continue to indulge myself in him, while still feeding trivial bits of information back to my father to keep him unaware of my ties to the Jedi.

I laid in bed, tossing. I couldn't fall asleep. I was thinking so strongly of Anakin. I felt bad. I didn't consider it leading him on, because I was still enjoying our time together, and I did truly like him as more than a friend. I just didn't know how I would continue to keep this secret the more we learned about one another.

My holocomm beeped and I crossed my fingers hoping it was Anakin. Instead it was Harga, another bounty hunter and one of the very few friends I kept from childhood.

"Does your father still have you chasing Skywalker?" He asked. Harga Skavern was the only person who knew about my current mission, despite my father wanting me to keep it hush.

"Not anymore."

"Oh, perfect. I have a bounty for you, if you want it. Just something small on Corellia. If you aren't interested, I'll pass it on."

"All I'm good for now is small bounties? I'm offended." I laughed.

"Miss One Thousand Kills wants back in the game for real? I can arrange that."

"Nah, I'll take the small jobs for now. I've got some things going on in my life right now that need to get settled. Has Skywalker been offered to anyone else?"

"No, but even if it was, nobody would take it, not even Fennec. Too risky after what happened to Jango. I almost can't believe you were doing it for free."