Anakin set his jaw at the verbal barb, not knowing if Padmé was now saying he should break his orders and not go, or do something so ridiculously foolish as to expose their feelings to the Order for sure. The scandal that would result from their exposure would ruin them both, but the repercussions on Padmé’s side extended to more than just herself – her enemies would not only use it to remove her from office, but to revisit and undo every bit of good legislation she’d had a hand in enacting. Anakin wouldn’t stomach doing that to her.

But more than his confusion stilled his tongue, the unfair retort was insult to his already wounded feelings. She’s just broken his heart and had the audacity to fling that him? What did she want from him?

The city planet rushed, throbbed, yelled, and breathed around him, assaulting his senses and licking wind at his robes. But he paid it no mind. He slipped into meditation where he stood more to keep his mind from dwelling on what had just transpired than because it was a Jedi thing to do. There was no feeling lost in the Force, there was no thought but the Force. And he needed that right now.

He drew back from the Force when Padmé’s handmaid addressed him. He didn’t know her name; they all looked alike to him. Though that was the point.

He gave her a brief nod and a brief answer. “I am fine, thank you.”