Its halls gleamed. On every floor there were the squeaky beeps of cleaning droids, and even with the countless representatives of a thousand different species, the hospital was never short of the supplies it needed for treatment.
On any floor, one could see a wookiee getting shaved in preparation for surgery, a gran bending over to give a smell sample from his glands, or even just a regular human boy getting his temperature checked.
...
The Senatorial District Hospital was in perfect order, because of course it was. On Tatooine, his mother and other humans would have had to make do with whatever medicines could be imported from traders, often getting ripped off or scammed. There was no way Senators would put up with that. Even if the undercity was burning, or the Outer Rim was choking on plague, there was no chance that such illustrious people would tolerate anything but the best treatment and services.
No wonder people didn't believe in democracy.
"Anakin, relax." Obi-Wan murmured next to him, before the turbolift opened with a pleasant ding in front of them. He stepped inside, and Anakin followed him in. "I can hear your thoughts."
"No you can't." Anakin replied, confident.
"I can see them on your face." Obi-Wan replied.
Anakin grimaced at that, and tried to school his expression back to unaffected serenity. After a few moments of staring at his reflection in the elevator window, he gave up. "What about you, Master?"
Obi-Wan's expression didn't change at all, but there was a hint of warning in his voice. "What about me?"
"Are you okay, Master?"
"...Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"You and the Duchess have history, right?" Anakin asked, carefully. "They say you almost quit the Order for her."
"Even in the Jedi Temple, nonsense spreads fast on loose lips." Kenobi murmured, a hint of rapprochement in his voice. "You shouldn't spend so much time listening to rumors."
Anakin frowned at that, and ignored the slight sting of rejection he felt. He waited in silence as the elevator finally came to the top of the tower, and he stepped out, following after Obi-wan.
As they neared the door, Anakin spoke up again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry, just to reassure."
Obi-wan paused, looking back at his padawan. "And I'm grateful for your concern. I'd rather just not dwell on mine and Satine's… history, as you put it."
"Of course, Master."
At last Obi-wan stepped through the door, and Anakin followed in behind him to see the woman that his Master was once rumoured to be in love with. She was blonde, though her hair had been shaved off for the sake of multiple surgeries. Both her eyes were cybernetic now, glassy surfaces with small apertures at their centre, which gleamed with a blue light. If you didn't look at them too closely, or see them in the dark, you might think they were ordinary human eyes. Even as she was sitting there in a medical robe, Satine held herself with a poise that spoke of aristocracy. The hem of the medical robe was just low enough to expose the tip of a surgical scar, just at her collar bone.
"Jedi Knight, Kenobi." Satine said to him, coolly. "Are you here to apologise?"
Anakin shot Obi-wan a look at that, and his Master looked as lost as he felt. "Apologise for what, My Lady?"
Satine sniffed. "I'm the Duchess of Mandalore, now, Obi-wan. I wasn't even a Lady when I was on the run with you, I was Your Highness then, and now the correct address is 'Your Majesty'."
Already Anakin was reeling back on his heels. What was Satine so upset about? It couldn't be the title, she was upset before Kenobi even opened his mouth. Did she expect them to bow to her? Like this?
"My royal etiquette will need some brushing up, I'm afraid." Kenobi admitted. "But I don't believe I've done anything I need to apologise for."
"Other than arresting the woman who saved my life?" Satine replied.
"The Senatorial Guard arrested her." Kenobi replied. "And the Jedi Temple was quick to investigate, and clear her of all charges."
"After she was paraded through the streets in handcuffs!" Satine growled back. "As far as half of Coruscant is still concerned, Prialla was the bomber!"
"It was very unfortunate." Kenobi agreed. "And not something that I, or the Jedi Temple are responsible for, Your Majesty."
"Is that so?" Satine replied, archly. "Well, if that will be all, I'll be leaving Coruscant shortly and returning to my homeworld. I'm cleared to leave now."
"Yes, of course." Kenobi answered. "We won't try to keep you here, but the Council has assigned us to investigate this attack, and we've wanted to speak to you for days now."
"Well I suppose that explains why you couldn't wait until I was ready to receive you." Satine replied. "So until I am ready to receive you, I won't be answering any questions. Now if you'll excuse me, Master Jedi, I believe my new bodyguard will be arriving soon."
They would be arriving soon; Anakin could feel the mind of a trained Force User rising up the elevator towards him. He could feel the mind probing at him as well, though whoever it was was doing a good job keeping their own thoughts shielded.
Kenobi regarded the Duchess with irritation poorly hidden behind his mask of serenity. "Your help will be invaluable in catching the one responsible for this attack. You might have crucial information for us, and delaying to provide it could give the attacker time to escape."
"I highly doubt that the Viceroy of the Trade Federation is going to run away anytime soon." Satine replied.
Annakin and Obi-wan exchanged a look. "You believe Grib Siv to be responsible?"
"Of course he is." Satine replied. "Let's not fool ourselves. The Trade Federation has funded the Black Sun syndicate, and already sent a Sith Assassin after the Outer Rim Reform Alliance before. These brazen attacks will continue until he is dealt with, though in the meantime I'm sure you'll do an excellent job tracking down his new proxy, whoever that might be." From the hallways behind the two jedi, there was the sound of a distant ding as the elevator opened. "Ah, now I can finally get out of these blasted hospital sheets and into something more comfortable. Will that be all, Master Jedi?"
Kenobi regarded her for a few moments, before finally nodding. "We'll speak again later, when you're ready to receive us."
Another woman with a lightsaber on her hip entered the room and stepped past the two of them, carrying a bag of clothes. The Jedi Knight gave the two of them a little shooing gesture, and Anakin and Kenobi left the room while she lowered the curtains and closed the door so the Duchess could get dressed in privacy.
The two Jedi rode the turbolift back down to the lobby in silence, only broken when Anakin asked, "So… her, huh?"
Kenobi only gave his padawan a glare, and Anakin had to fight back a smile.
Finally the elevator let them back out into the hospital lobby, and the two of them went to leave, only for Anakin to pause in shock at the sight of Padme Amidala, waiting just inside the lobby for her friend. The face that had been in his dreams for years leapt at Anakin, like a slap to his cheek, and he felt a strange tightness in his chest just seeing her again.
"Anakin?" Kenobi asked.
He blinked, looking away from her, where she was regarding him with a confused expression. He had been staring, he realised.
"Uh, what?"
Kenobi arched an eyebrow at him, before turning to regard the Senator. "Your Majesty, it's good to see you again."
"I've given up my royal title." She smiled patiently as she answered, as though she'd had to explain this many times before. "But it's good to see you too, Knight Kenobi." Anakin felt a surprising burn of jealousy, before she then turned to him. "And Anakin, you've grown up so much!"
Anakin felt a bizarre mix of emotions, happy that she remembered him, grateful that she smiled at him, but frustrated that she still remembered him as a child first. "Yes, Your Majesty. You too."
She blinked at the awkward, automatic reply, and now Anakin wanted to run away.
"Senator Padme, would you be able to arrange a time for us to interview you?" Kenobi interrupted, and Anakin felt a flash of gratitude. "We're investigating the attack."
"Of course, call at any time and we'll make a space in our schedule." Padme agreed, and took out her holocom. With just a few presses, Kenobi's device chimed with her number.
Now Anakin wanted a holocom of his own just so he could have her number on it.
"Thank you, Senator. We'll be seeing you." Obi-wan said.
"Of course. And good luck with your investigation, Anakin."
Anakin blinked. "Yes. Thank you, Padme. Good luck to you too."
The two Jedi stepped out onto the street, and began to walk away together. They were only a few paces away, when Kenobi looked at his Padawan, laughter glimmering in his eyes, "So. Her?"