The Moons of Iego: The Padmé Amidala & Anakin Skywalker Website

FAN FICTION

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Quest for the Blue

by Daenarrah

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Disclaimer: I don’t own either Anakin or Dormé. They both belong to Uncle George. I’m just borrowing them and will return them when I’m done.

Author's Note: This is a response to the Anakin/Vader Roulette Challenge held at TF.N last summer. We chose a number and got a different career choice - something other than a Jedi. I got Anakin as a Personal Shopper! *giggles like crazy* So the summary is: Anakin, with the help of his assistant, Dormé, goes searching for the perfect dress for his client, Senator Amidala. Yes, it’s very AU.

The main characters here are Anakin and Dormé. However, this is NOT an Ani/Dormé fic so don’t take it as one. I really do not like that pairing and I make it very clear here where Anakin’s affections lie - with Padmé.

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“You have got to be kidding me,” Anakin exclaimed while looking over the specifications for the dress Senator Padmé Amidala wanted for the Gala Ball coming up just one standard day away. He looked over to Dormé, the woman’s handmaiden and his assistant, who was riding the turbolift down with him, and asked, “Does she really expect me to find this today?” He shook the piece of flimsiplast on the last word for emphasis.

“Yes, she does,” Dormé said, looking at him with sympathy. “Milady has always been pleased with everything you’ve bought her so far. She knows you’ll find the dress she wants.”

“If I had more than one day, yes, I could find it. I could order it or have it made. But to find it in one day? I swear Padmé does not appreciate enough all that I do for her.”

Dormé just nodded her head and hid a knowing smile.

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Once inside the first clothing store, Anakin piled dress after dress into Dormé’s arms and shuffled her into a dressing room.

“About half of these aren’t what she specified,” Dormé called out, closing the door behind her.

“I don’t care,” he grumbled. “If I can’t find the exact dress she wants then I have to find something that will be close enough, if not better.” He then sat down heavily in the chair by the viewing mirror and waited. ‘And the chances of finding the shade of blue she wants is going to be blasted near impossible: Blue like the waters of the Lake Country on Naboo. How am I supposed to know what that blue looks like. I’ve never been to Naboo’s Lake Country!’ He lolled his head back over the back of the chair; a smile came to his face as he finished his thoughts. ‘I wouldn’t mind, though, especially if it was with Padmé.’ “Like that’ll ever happen,” he mumbled sourly.

“What will ever happen?” Dormé asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

“N-Nothing,” Anakin said, instantly jerking his head up to see her standing in front of him, wearing one of the dresses he had grabbed.

Dormé was a beautiful vision in blue as Anakin took in the way the dress fit her curves. It was a good thing she was the same size as Padmé. It made buying clothes for the Senator easier, though he wished it was Padmé standing in front of him and not her handmaiden.

“What do you think?” Dormé asked, twirling around in the dress.

“I have…no idea,” Anakin said, crossing his arms over his chest. Remembering all too well Padmé’s specifications, he asked. “Is it the right shade of blue?”

This time it was Dormé to say, “I have no idea.”

“Great.” Anakin buried his head in his hands. “You’ve only lived on Naboo your entire life and have been Padmé’s handmaiden the past several years, yet you don’t know if this is the blue of the waters of the Lake Country?” He then looked up at her with a slight scowl. “Go try on another dress.”

Dormé fixed him with a deadly glare then headed back to the dressing room. “You’re going to be fun to shop with today,” she said harshly.

Anakin just sighed and shook his head.

Twenty minutes and six dresses later and Anakin still hadn’t found what he thought was the right one. There certainly were one or two he personally liked and would love to see on Padmé, privately. However, he knew the chances of that happening were slim to none. Padmé just saw him as an employee, nothing more. Oh, how he wished he could change that. Maybe if he could find the right dress…? ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

Tem more minutes and four more dresses went by and he still couldn’t find the right dress.

Not giving up - he couldn’t actually - the two of them went to another store. The dresses he found there weren’t any different. Dormé tried on twelve more and none of them seemed to be right. However, there was one that took Anakin’s breath away. The way it clung enticingly to Dormé’s curves; it looked like it was painted on and had jewels that sparkled all over it. His elbow already resting on the arm of the chair he sat in, he placed his chin in the palm of his hand and stared dreamily at the dress, a silly grin covering his mouth.

He pictured Padmé wearing it for him while they strolled together under the moonlight, holding hands and whispering words of love to each other. The jewels sparkled to match the stars twinkling in the darkened sky, and the way the moon reflected off her skin, hair and eyes gave her a heavenly glow. She was an adumbration of the angel he always believed her to be.

Looking into her eyes, he held her close while he whispered, “I love you, Padmé.”

“I love you too, Anakin,” she whispered back, then pulled his head down to hers for a kiss.

Everything was perfect, everything was right. He and Padmé were together under the moonlight, sharing their love for each other. There was only one problem…The dress was the wrong color. How did they end up with a purple dress in the selection anyway?

Anakin was suddenly brought back to the here and now when he heard a crude comment come from the left of him. “Lady, you look so good I could throw you on a cracker and eat you up!”

Dormé gasped in disgust and Anakin whipped his head around to see who had said the repulsive remark. He saw a male Twi’lek standing there leering at Dormé and it instantly put him on the defense. “Why you,” he started, getting up and glaring menacingly at the Twi’lek. He began walking towards him, his eyes dark and smoldering with rage. How dare this, this scum talk to her like that. And most important, how dare he disturb him and ruin his fantasy about Padmé! They were just about to kiss!

The Twi’lek noticed the look in Anakin’s eyes and began to shake as he watched a tall and clearly muscular human stalk towards him. He realized he had crossed the wrong person, as his mother had told him so many times before, and he was going to get his butt kicked. Well, he had decided today was not going to be the day for that so he turned and bolted for the exit. He’d have to get his mother a Life Day gift somewhere else.

“Thank you, Anakin,” Dormé said, smiling at him. She was pretty sure he mumbled something that resembled a “You’re welcome,” as he stomped back to the chair and sat down. He leaned back into the seat and scowled. The smile on Dormé’s face quickly turned into a smirk, one she was trying hide. By his behavior she had a strong suspicion he had been thinking about Padmé before they were so rudely interrupted. The goofy, far way look he had had in his eyes spoke volumes, not to mention the strong way he reacted to what was said.

“Great dress, wrong color,” Anakin muttered flatly. He then waved to Dormé to go change out of it. “We have other stores to go to.”

And go to other stores they did. Eight more to be exact. Anakin had Dormé try on almost every blue dress they could find, and some were quite interesting. One was made entirely from feathers, which made Dormé look like a bird! Anakin covered his eyes at the sight and groaned. Another was so sheer that, when Dormé stepped out of the dressing room and the light hit it, Anakin blushed every shade of red, and even a few that weren’t known to exist. He knew Dormé had a nice figure; he just didn’t need to know it was that nice. She might as well have been wearing nothing at all. Now if it had been Padmé standing in front of him wearing that dress...He decided he had better finish that thought later. Rather, he focused on the fact that none so far seemed to be the right shade of blue, whatever that was. He still had no idea.

Another dress they found, while beautiful and Dormé believed to be the right shade, had such a high collar that came around to the front that her face was lost behind all the fabric. She quite literally couldn’t be seen at all. There was one dress the sales lady said came with a boa, which they kept in the back. Expecting something to be brought back to her that was long and feathery, Dormé screamed and ran out of the dressing room in a panic, crashing into Anakin and almost knocking him over. She found out the boa was actually a live snake! Who in their right mind would wear a snake as a fashion accessory!

“Oh, it’s all the rage this year,” the sales lady replied with a smile that made both Anakin and Dormé want to smack it off of her. “Every woman of Coruscanti high society is wearing them.”

Well, that may be all good for high society but Padmé was a Senator and she needed something with more class and sophistication. Besides, she wouldn’t be caught dead with a snake draped over her shoulders.

Anakin shook his head and decided they were done with that store.

Entering the last clothing shop on their mental list of places to go, Anakin didn’t know if he could go on anymore. They had been to nine stores, ten now counting this one, and they hadn’t found the dress Padmé desired for the Gala Ball. For the first time in the long year he had worked for Padmé he felt like a failure. He couldn’t believe he couldn’t find the dress.

At that moment he heard Dormé gasp. Looking to see what she was reacting to, that was when he saw it. There, displayed before him, was the dress he had been looking all over Coruscant for. He didn’t have to look at the specifications Padmé requested to know it was the right one. It had an elegance and touch of sophistication he hadn’t seen anywhere else, and it flowed beautifully on the display model. It also, he somehow knew, was the right shade of blue.

Quickly, both were scouring the display rack to find one in Padmé’s size. When they did, Dormé was quick to try it on and model it for Anakin. Immediately, the vote was unanimous, this was the dress for Padmé. Both knew she’d love it.

‘Figures we’d find it in the last store,’ Anakin thought. At that moment he didn’t care, though.

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Happy and satisfied that he had fulfilled the task Padmé had given to him, he rode up in the turbolift with Dormé, eagerly awaiting to see Padmé’s reaction to the dress. Maybe, with any luck, she’d look upon him with complete adoration knowing how hard he had searched to find the very garment she wanted, knowing he did it out of his love for her.

‘Yes, and maybe she’s going to want to wear the boa dress instead,’ he chided to himself. He could always dream, couldn’t he?

Beside him, Dormé worked hard to suppress another smile. She had to be straight-faced and not give out any kind of clue that might betray the little secret she knew. Anakin would know it soon enough too. Looking at the dress that was draped carefully over his arm she wondered, ‘How is he going to react when Padmé asks him to be her escort to the ball?’

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