Title: Thirst

Summary: Queen Amidala's life is in danger and much to the dismay of the Naboo Council, she has called upon the mysterious and dangerous Jedi for help. The problem is, she fears them nearly as much as the one they're supposed to protect her from.

Genre: Action/Adventure/Horror/Romance

Rating: T+

Timeline: AU TPM. Padmé is 18.

Warnings: Some dark and evil imagery, gore, horror, and the usual (possible foul language and adult situations).

Thirst

Chapter One: "Meeting the Jedi"

€[—

Every single member of the Naboo Royal Council was older than her; the youngest by at least twenty years. Usually, along with age came a sense of responsibility and maturity. It was a longstanding tradition on Naboo, however, that whomever was nominated queen would be young. With youth came vitality, alertness, courage, and passion.

Padmé Amidala had done everything she could to prepare herself for the job. She'd performed charity work on her own planet, joined a galactic relief program and traveled halfway across the galaxy to join others in saving beings she didn't even know. She studied galactic politics in school and could speak of variety of languages.

Her political advisors told her that all of these things had helped her to get elected, but deep in her heart, she knew there had been only one thing that had won her the position; something called her midichlorian count. She was the only one in the running whose number was considerably higher than all other citizens of Naboo. It wasn't supposed to be that way, however.

Somehow, a little over a year ago, someone hacked into the Central Database on Coruscant and leaked a wealth of personal information. Every single being's midi count was recorded there and the list was suddenly available to the public.

Now, everyone knew the midi count of every being born up until that fateful day. During her campaign, it meant she was treated with higher regard than others, since it was believed an elevated count meant a being was more in touch with their surroundings, more alert, sensitive, intelligent, and mature. It gave her an advantage, but it had also brought Padmé to her current and most potentially dangerous situation.

There were rumors traveling throughout the galaxy that not just a single being was responsible for the information leak, but an entire collective of beings: A group who called themselves the Sith.

It had been nearly a millennia since anyone had seen a Sith even remotely close to the core systems and almost just as long since anyone had mentioned their name. Needless to say, there weren't many alive who knew much about them.

All Padmé knew was that they were a dangerous and murderous cult who searched out and drained the life out of anyone with a moderately high midi count. Literally. They were known as the midi-feeders and one had recently been spotted on Naboo. As soon as the rumors reached the palace, she called a meeting of her advisors.

Even though she was Queen, the position was elective, and therefore, she had a governing body of other elected officials surrounding her known as the Royal Council. They gave her advice, offered her information and stern warnings, but they didn't have the last word. Any important decision was hers to make and the outcome her responsibility to bear. It was why she had been sitting in the council chamber most of the morning listening to the Naboo elders squabble.

"The Jedi are the only ones qualified for this assignment!" her governor pointed out for at least the third time.

"They are just as dangerous as the Sith!" the Minister of Sciences argued. "It would be like inviting a snake to come rescue you from a scorpion."

"The Jedi are at the disposal of the entire galaxy whenever someone is in need of protection. It's their duty," Governor Bibble shot back.

Padmé listened intently to the debate. She actually knew less about the Jedi than the Sith. They were an ancient society who had the same abilities as their counterparts but were considered just as deadly. Seemingly, the biggest difference between them was that one group supposedly brought help while the other brought harm. Dealing with either of them made her nervous.

"Well, we can't just sit here and wait for it to come and attack our Queen. We must do something!" the Minister of Finance confirmed.

"We could set up an armed perimeter; an around-the-clock defense. I'll put my best soldiers to the task of protecting you, your Highness." Captain Panaka, Head of Security, told her sincerely.

She answered him directly. "It's my understanding the Sith cannot be killed by methods of modern warfare. We don't understand them or know much about them. And what we do know is based upon myth and legend. Our information may be false or misleading and it is definitely incomplete. This only complicates the matter and makes it that much more dangerous. Perhaps it's time we contact the Jedi."

All eyes of the council glanced about the grand oval table for confirmation. Governor Bibble sighed heavily and stood up from his appointed seat.

"The Royal Council concurs with the Queen. We shall contact the Jedi immediately and request their help."

Captain Panaka had been forced to research the method of getting in touch with the secretive society. He'd discovered the contact information deep within the security archives of Theed. There was no telling when they'd been used last. He entered the relatively simple code and transmitted the message. The relays sent it deep into the Unknown Regions to a planet by the name of Ahch-To.

Remarkably, within the hour a reply had been received. They were intrigued and two Jedi were on their way to Naboo; a Master and his student. They would arrive on Naboo in three days.

During that time, all palace security was on high alert, but the reported body count was rising. The Sith had last been seen near Lake Paonga and apparently had no particulars when it came to its refreshment A few Gungans as well as humans had become its victims, their bodies discovered lifeless, pale and completely depleted of blood.

Padmé hated to admit it, but she hoped the Jedi would be arriving soon. If this Sith creature ventured into the capital city of Theed, there was no telling what panic and chaos it would create.

Just as they'd promised, the Jedi arrived on the morning of day three, and just as she'd figured, they were aloof and mysterious, robed with their faces shadowed behind hoods. They kept their hands hidden within long, dark sleeves, and stepped in tandem upon booted feet before her throne.

"Queen Amidala of Naboo," the taller one spoke, stepping forward slightly. "I am Master Qui-Gon Jinn of the Ahch-To Temple."

The deep-voiced Jedi pushed the hood off his head to reveal a mass of long brown hair touched with silver, along with a matching beard. His eyes were deeply set and blue. He wasn't exactly what she'd been expecting.

"This is my student, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

The man motioned to the shorter Jedi on his left, at which point he removed his hood as well and nodded his head curtly. He was much younger than the Master, Padmé noted, with shorter, ruddy hair and green eyes. Both of them had serious countenances and cool stares, which they were both directing at her. Not her disguised decoy, but her.

Despite the complaints she would receive from the council later for this, Padmé stepped forward, touching her seated bodyguard, Sabe, on the shoulder.

"I am Queen Amidala," she spoke holding her chin up proudly, despite the missing wardrobe of her office and the authority it proclaimed. "Excuse my deceit, but in these times it pays to be careful."

"Understandable, Your Highness," the one called Qui-Gon spoke softly. "Though you should know, this type of chicanery will do you little good."

She and her First Handmaiden shared a variety of physical traits and had fooled many in the past. Why would he say such a thing? Was clairvoyance one of the Sith's powers?

Apparently, the younger Jedi could read the confusion on her face and kindly offered his explanation, but in doing so, she could see the tips of his bloodthirsty fangs, which forced her to remember who and exactly what he was.

"He can hear the midis in your blood. Your count is much higher than those surrounding you. More than anyone on this planet," he informed her.

She knew that much, but what was that first thing he'd said?

"He can hear them?" she asked incredulously. "How so?"

"They reside in the cells within your blood and have a distinctive voice," the Master explained. "This Sith can hear them and they are calling him to you. He will come and will answer that call. He thinks he doesnt have a choice."

"And you?" she asked. She had so many questions but so little time. "Can you hear them as well?"

"Yes," the one named Obi-Wan replied. "But as Jedi, we've learned to ignore their voices and cast them into the galaxy's ongoing orchestration."

Interesting. "What's your plan?"

The younger Jedi deferred answering, allowing his Master to explain. This revealed to her that there was an obvious level of respect between the two.

"One of us will be accompanying you at all times in the hopes of drawing the Sith out into the open. At that time, we'll take control and will not require the assistance of any of your security personnel."

His piercing blue gaze moved to Captain Panaka, who regarded the Jedi quite skeptically.

"Just stay out of our way and let us do our jobs," he demanded.

They were confident, a bit haughty, and definitely had a lot of attitude. So far, she liked them.

"So be it," the Queen confirmed.