Memento Box
Padmé made a sound of delight when she found the memento box she'd been searching for. There it was beneath bed linens in a bureau drawer, a beautiful carved wooden box given to her as a gift when she stepped down from Naboo's throne.
She'd returned to Naboo for a visit with her family and she had remembered that she'd never taken the memento box with her to Coruscant. In fact, she brought few things from home with her. Once she told Anakin that official residences had little warmth, but she later realized why. There was nothing around her that was hers. The royal palace was filled with Naboo's finest art and treasures. But they weren't personal to her. They were there to be admired, not cherished. Her apartment on Coruscant was in the exclusive 500 Republica skyscraper with a view most Coruscanti would never have. It was beautifully-appointed, modern yet with a Naboo touch. Yet she kept the space clear of personal reminders. Until recently, she didn't even display pictures of her family.
It wasn't because she didn't love her parents, her sister and brother-in-law, or her nieces. It was because when she was in the palace and the apartment on Coruscant, she focused on her duties. She also didn't want too much of her personality, her heart, on display to those who might use them against her.
But ever since she'd fallen in love with and married Anakin, she recognized the need to have things dear to her in her environment. She only displayed her family holos at times when there was no official business in her apartment and she certainly never displayed any holos of her secret husband. Yet already she recognized the benefits of having them with her.
She took the box and sat up on the bed, cross-legged. Holding the box in her lap, she opened the lid. Inside was a potpourri of eclectic paraphenalia. Dried flowers from the Naberrie's home mountain village, the polished stone amulet given to her years ago by her father, letters on old-fashioned paper from her beloved late grandmother...and a small velvet bag.
Padmé's breath caught in her throat. Was that what she thought it was? She took the velvet bag into her palm and opened it. She reached inside the bag and pulled out a jerba leather string, at the end of which was a charm that brought back a rush of memories.
It was the carved piece of japor ivory wood Anakin had made and given to her years ago as a young boy. A simple gift from a child's heart. Tears filled her eyes as she recognized that even back then, he had loved her. It was pure, sweet, and innocent, but it was love nonetheless.
That love had matured and grown and taken on new meaning, just as that charm now held new meaning for Padmé. Here was a way to keep something of Anakin with her while they were apart. Due to their circumstances, they could not use rings, bracelets, tattoos, other indicia of their marriage. But she could keep this.
She slipped the cord around her neck, lifted the charm up to her lips, and kissed it. "I miss you, Ani," she whispered.
Then she heard her mother calling her name. Padmé quickly tucked the necklace beneath her clothes before leaving her room.
The End
