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

FAN FICTION : THE PHANTOM MENACE ERA

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Missing Images
Part 2/7

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A year after the previous post (Ani - 10; Ami - 15)

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Amidala stalked through the hallways of the Senate building. Bail Organa watched her uncertainly as he labored to keep up with her. Neither had spoken since leaving the conference room a few minutes ago. Amidala wasn't in the mood to talk, but they needed to come to a decision about their strategy for tomorrow.

"Amidala?" Bail sounded tentative. She didn't respond. "We simply have to remain firm on our position. Tomorrow won't be as difficult as today was. They were purposely being unreasonable; they just wanted to see if they could ring some early concessions from us -"

"- because of course the young, foolish Queen of the Naboo would back down," she finished. "Or maybe they think I'll just call another vote of no-confidence and throw the Senate into chaos again..."

"Amidala..."

She stopped walking and turned to face him. "You should be the one representing us. You are not nearly as controversial as I am. Every time someone disagrees with me, they use my age or my ‘instability' as a smoke screen. We have to get these negotiations back on track."

Organa didn't answer right away. Instead, he started walking again at a slower pace. Amidala so rarely got upset - or showed that she was upset - that he couldn't help being taken aback. It wasn't that he didn't understand; they had just gone through a full day of meetings without getting a thing accomplished. And with more than a passing criticism directed towards her.

"There's nothing more we can do tonight. It's probably best for us to get some sleep. Maybe we can try to talk to some of the delegates one-on-one before tomorrow's meetings."

Amidala's eyes shut for a moment. When she opened them she replied, "Fine. I could use the extra rest. I'll see you tomorrow." With a curt nod, she turned and walked down a different hallway towards her quarters. Her handmaidens, who had been observing from a discreet distance, followed.

She immediately felt guilty for being so short with Bail. She would have to apologize in the morning. In the morning? Amidala fought the urge to groan at the thought of another day like this one.

Amidala had arrived on Coruscant the day before. Chancellor Palpatine had requested a summit between the leaders of several of worlds; he wanted to start a dialogue about the massive militarization of previously pacifist planets like Naboo and Alderaan. The meetings were intended to stave off any needless misunderstandings and to discuss how these moves would affect the balance of power among neighboring planets and systems.

She was surprised at the vehemence with which her neighbors had reacted against the armament. She suspected that Bail was right; that everyone would settle down as the talks went on, but it was still curious. She had wondered from the outset whether Palpatine's plan to have the meetings this early was wise. It only seemed to make others edgy - to perceive their actions as a threat instead of a defensive move.

Amidala and the handmaidens exited the Senate building and stepped into a pleasant, cool night on Coruscant. She gratefully inhaled the fresh air and felt a little better. Ultimately, this wasn't anything that she and Bail couldn't handle. As the head spokespeople for the pacifist planets they had to focus on calming their neighbors' fears. His suggestion of closed meetings was a wise one.

Amidala reached her quarters and immediately started to remove her makeup and take down her hair. With the maidens' help, she was comfortably dressed and flopped facedown on her bed in a matter of minutes.

She wasn't sure how long she had been lying that way, but she felt a sudden desire to move. Maybe it was because she couldn't breathe with her face in the pillow. She lifted her head a bit and found herself staring directly at a chrono on the wall.

Now she couldn't stifle the groan. Did I really promise Ani that we could go to the festival show tonight? Maybe she could talk him out of it. He would probably understand how tired she was. They would do something tomorrow.

Moving nothing but her arm, she reached from the bed to activate the holo link. She had barely started to pull herself into a sitting position when Anakin answered.

She took one look at his hopelessly enthusiastic face and knew she was going to the show.

Amidala let Anakin lead her by the hand through a maze of streets. Saché and Rabé followed, trying not to infringe on her off-duty time. The cacophony of sights and sounds that surrounded her barely registered. She was still trying to figure out why she had decided to come But Anakin was determined to make her have some fun, and they were headed to the public park for the show.

The public park was one of the few strips of greenery on the entire planet. The locals often came to admire its "beauty." It wasn't much compared to Naboo, but provided a nice change of pace from the endless horizon of buildings. Tonight it was packed with people wanting the best spot to see the annual laser show light up the Coruscant sky.

She had to be careful not to step on someone as they kept walking. Anakin was still leading her by the arm, but she didn't see anywhere for them to sit.

"Ani, where are we headed?"

"Over there," he said, pointing to a spot near the back of the park. It seemed just as crowded as anywhere else.

Finally, Anakin came to a stop. They were standing directly in front of a large tree. She turned to give him a blank look, but he was no longer standing next to her. He was already climbing.

"Anakin, what do you think you're doing?" She had to strain to see him; he was getting up that tree pretty fast.

"Come on! There are branches to sit on. We can see so much better from up here!"

Amidala knew her handmaidens were trying not to laugh. "I thought you weren't allowed to do that."

"No one will care tonight - there are too many people out here for them to even notice." Anakin was now entirely out of sight and had to yell in order to be heard. Some people nearby were starting to stare at her.

She shook her head, wondering what those delegates would think to see the Queen of Naboo tree-climbing in the park with some young boy. With a rueful look at Saché and Rabé, she began climbing. She wasn't as fast as Anakin, but didn't have any trouble. She found him comfortably perched on an over-sized branch. Amidala took a seat next to him and waited for the show to start.

A few moments later, the dark backdrop of the sky exploded into a rainbow of colors. Dancing streaks raced across each other, creating a dazzling array of patterns and designs. Amidala absorbed the sight; it seemed the show would live up to expectations. They didn't stop traffic in the airways of Coruscant for nothing.

Anakin was enthralled; his eyes sparkled and he laughed merrily. Every new trick bought a gasp from him - "Look at that!" "How did they do that?" "Wow!" - followed by a burst of applause. She smiled, wondering if he had seen anything like this on Tatooine.

Amidala, on the other hand, found her mind wandering after the first few minutes. She couldn't help thinking about everything that had to be done the next day. There isn't enough time to finish all of this... She wondered guiltily if Bail was in his quarters, retooling their presentations. Maybe I should talk things over with him before we get started -

"Ami?"

Anakin's voice jolted her from her thoughts. She looked at him a bit sheepishly.

"Are you bored?" he asked.

"No, Ani, I'm sorry. I just have a lot of things on my mind tonight."

Anakin nodded. "We can leave early if you want. I don't mind."

She shook her head. "Let's stay." Amidala wished she hadn't been so obvious. She knew he would leave right now without complaining if she asked him to. "There isn't much more I can do tonight anyway. At least nothing helpful."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes...I just keep thinking myself into circles," she sighed. "The important stuff has to wait until tomorrow."

"Well in that case, you should really have fun tonight," he said sincerely.

The sky suddenly glowed bright purple. The two looked up to see streams of color appear to rain down on them. The effect was breathtaking.

Anakin, of course, had already joined in the applause. "Come on, Ami!" He gave her a slight nudge.

Amidala stared at him for a moment. Then she started clapping.

All day she had been irritated with people for treating her like a naive and spoiled child. Yet here was Anakin, telling her to toss her cares aside, climb up a tree, and act like a kid for a while. Well, why not? What's wrong with that? She had been overly sensitive of criticisms today, and that wasn't a helpful trait.

Amidala smiled to herself. Anakin was still so young in many ways. She envied that, and hoped he'd be able to hold onto it for a long time. She had become a politician so early that she could scarcely remember a time she felt innocent or carefree.

After a tentative start, Amidala was oohing and aahing over every display, laughing and clapping freely with her friend. She had to admit she was sorry when the show ended.

Amidala awoke the next morning and realized she hadn't thought about the negotiations once since early the evening before. Her hand went to the japor snippet she hung about her neck. That was definitely a good thing.

-->Go to Chapter Three

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