Padm茅 Naberrie looked up at the glasses and the brightly-colored drinks in them, sighed a little, and then turned up her nose. Some of the babies were still trying to grab them. She was all of four years old, and knew that the grown-ups liked drinks that smelled nasty no matter how pretty they were. She'd stolen a sip of one once (she hadn't even spilled!) and spit it right back out when it tried to suck all the spit out of her mouth.
But there were lots of other good things at a party. The yucky drinks were kept up high, but if she climbed up on the edge of the right fountains, she could get to the good stuff. All sorts of interesting tastes, fist-sized because even grown-ups ate finger food sometimes. The nice thing about these parties was that she had so much family here, everybody thought someone else had her.
She crawled under a table and climbed up carefully onto the edge of the nearest fountain, balancing carefully. It was rough, which was easier than the slippery ones, but scraping her knees or tearing her dress would get her in almost as much trouble as falling down and making her tongue bleed.
Ooh. Everything on the table looked good. But the most interesting was this enormous pile of purple sugary fluff.
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Padm茅 had been very careful. She had eaten very neatly, without getting much purple on her face, and she had licked her hands very clean, and then wiped her face with them to be sure and done it again. But the party was staring to feel awfully noisy now, clashing and battering and everyone talking loudly. She felt jittery and tired and her head hurt. Maybe if she went and found Momma she would feel better.
Momma must be around somewhere. She stopped in the middle of the floor and closed her eyes to listen. Something bumped into her, and she fell down, but shut her mouth tight so as not to cry. That would be rude. After all, they hadn't done it on purpose. She opened her eyes to see that it had been a long, stiff skirt -- the lady wearing it probably hadn't even been able to tell.
She went over to a wall and tried again. There! She could hear her mother. She hurried off, trying not to trip or bump into people.
Momma was talking to a man in nice clothes. Padm茅 stopped short and curtsied deeply, but they didn't look at her. She sighed, fighting the temptation to sigh loudly. Grown-ups didn't look down enough. You'd think they would have to, being so high up. It was good when she didn't want to be noticed, but now she wanted Momma and she wasn't supposed to interrupt.
"I'm surprised you would be pursuing a political career at this stage in life, Senator Palpatine," Momma was saying. "I would expect a man your age to be looking for marriage and family."
"Oh, Madam Naberrie, I consider myself married to my career. Naboo is my family." He beamed at her. "I hope to have your support."
Momma lowered her head a little, smiling, and Padm茅 was pretty sure she was going to say yes. But then Momma saw her. "Padm茅! Have you wandered off from your aunt?"
Padm茅 ducked her head a bit. "I wanted to see you," she said sweetly, and held up her arms. But to her surprise, it wasn't Momma who came to her.
Senator Palpatine stooped down to pick her up, chuckling. "Born diplomat, this one," he said, lifting her into the air and jouncing her a little as he drew her close.
That was too much. The lurch and swoop made her feel very peculiar indeed, and the jounce at the end made a funny bubbly feeling swell up in her stomach. She opened her mouth, and something squeezed, and the bubble popped.
Senator Palpatine's smile grew rather fixed as he was showered with wet purple slop.
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"Sola!" Padm茅's voice rose nearly to a shriek.
Sola looked up, unrepentant. "What?"
"I cannot believe you showed -- that recording -- to Anakin!"
Anakin had a hand clapped over his mouth, and his shoulders were shaking. Blue eyes sparkled as he looked up at Padm茅's exasperated face. "Don't--" He was interrupted by a snort of laughter, and stopped to clear his throat. "Don't look so upset," he said. "It is funny. I guess it wasn't at the time, but come on. You were four." He grinned. "Never thought of that as an important lesson in politics. Don't bounce little kids who've been around sugar."
Padm茅 sighed and plopped down beside them. "Well, he did take me under his fin a little when I was old enough to get involved in politics. We do have our points of disagreement, but the current ones don't have anything to do with digestion!" A little humor had come into her voice over the fading irritation, and she finally gave in and grinned. "So I guess he forgave me."
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