Author's note: A huge thank you to Cariel for beta reading this fic for me!

With the rising of the sun came the end of Naboo's spring celebrations. For Anakin it meant more than just an end of another fun party: it meant having to part ways with his new friend. While most had already stumbled off to bed, Anakin and a young handmaiden-to-be, named Dormé, had decided to watch the sunrise together.

Anakin wasn't exactly a morning person. Neither was his friend, as he discovered. Both had been up all night celebrating the coming summer and were still not quite ready for bed. It had been his idea, hours ago, to find a place amongst the trees, preferably somewhere a little more secluded and peaceful. Dormé agreed and soon they were wandering off hand-in-hand to find a perfect place to call their own. As luck would have it, there was one such location in the furthest reaches of the royal gardens.

Using the Force to levitate Dormé, the young Padawan, Anakin, lovingly set her onto one of the branches. The sound of her surprised gasp and outburst of giggles filled his stomach with butterflies and caused his heart to skip a beat.

Ferus often bragged about the pretty girls he had kissed in the temple gardens. Anakin never really cared; he was too young to understand how that could possibly be fun, that was until tonight. Now all he could think about was the freckles that decorated Dormé's cheeks, the way her calloused fingers felt against his own, the way her smile stole away his every thought. Even the soft scent of her hair, water flowers, tempted his heart in ways he couldn’t hope to understand.

For the first time, he wanted to taste the beautiful freckles that decorated her cheeks, to feel her lips against his own. But Anakin wasn’t experienced when it came to such matters and was torn between trying out this kissing business and attempting to figure out a way to do it properly. Desperately, he tried to recall Ferus’s advice, the tips he’d offer whether Anakin wanted to hear it or not. Now he wished he had listened all those times his friend would brag, as he didn’t know where to begin.

Now hours later and after much discussion about everything and anything, Anakin knew it was now or never. The sun was beginning to rise which meant they’d both soon have to part ways. If Dormé knew of his internal struggle or even guessed at what he desperately wanted to do, it didn’t show. In silence, he watched her watching the sunrise, humming softly to no one in particular as a hint of a smile graced her lips, her bare feet swinging freely.

The beginning rays of the sun cast a warm glow about her, a sharp contrast to the haunting shadows of the moon. If Anakin thought she was beautiful before, she was radiant now. As though sensing his thoughts, Dormé paused in mid tune as she met his gaze. Her smile turned shy as her cheeks grew rosy. Anakin felt his own burn as he did his best to give Dormé his best charming smile. In reality, the charming smile was no more than an eager, boyish grin.

Now or never, he thought to himself as with great care, he slipped his hand over her shoulder, as all proper gentleman put their arm on a girl’s shoulder, or so Ferus said. Closing his eyes, Anakin cleared his thoughts as he tried to gauge her emotions. The contentment he felt was encouraging and soon he was leaning in with the intent of gently kissing her lips. Dormé, having never been kissed before, was entirely unaware and when her amber eyes caught sight of some beautiful exotic birds taking flight, she looked away, leaving Anakin to kiss the air instead. Stunned and confused, Anakin remained frozen in mid motion with lips pursed and eyes squeezed shut.

‘Anakin, what are you doing? You look silly!’

To the sound of her laughter, Anakin’s blue eyes snapped open. It was only then that he realized his new friend had caught him in mid act. While the young Padawan thought he looked charming, to Dormé, he looked nothing more than a puckered fish.

Though his embarrassment was obvious, Anakin knew it was too late to back down now. He had worked too hard to find the courage to give up.

So with a boyish grin, he gave Dormé a tight hug and proceeded to give her the shortest, yet most affectionate kiss a twelve-year-old boy could give. This time, he made sure that he didn’t miss.