Falling
She was running, feet hitting the duracrete beneath them with a resounding thud as she feverishly took the next step. She couldn't move fast enough. She couldn't get to his side quickly enough. Padmé was afraid. Afraid that Obi-wan would slip from this life before she could get to his side and say her final goodbyes. She would be left with a gaping hole in her heart which would never be sealed without his presence in her life and the panic was tearing her apart. She ran faster. Her feet carrying her as quickly as they could manage and then she was outside the door. Laying inside on a small table, silhouetted by the light of a gauzy covered window behind, was Obi-wan, his chest rising and falling slowly as though his final breath would be the next one that he took. Calming herself as best she could, Padmé entered the room, her breath catching slightly in her throat as she saw him half draped in a sheet and nothing more. Finally she came to the side of the table and as she reached out to touch him...
Padmé jerked awake in her bed, sitting up and looking into the ever constant glow which was Coruscant at night. It cast shadows about her room, but she was alone in there. She still felt the desperation of wanting to make sure Obi-wan was safe, but as her panic ebbed, she stepped from the bed and wrapped a robe around her shoulders.
Obi-wan had been gone for almost three months without a word. The clone wars had dragged him from her life just when he had committed to being in it. She remembered how her heart broke when the cruiser had lifted from the surface of Coruscant heading to where ever the war was raging in the galaxy.
It was difficult to hide the feelings she had for him when it was all she could think about while he was gone. It consumed her and now it seemed that it was creeping into her dreams at night too. Now there was no escaping it even if she tried.
How she longed for him to come home and wrap his arms around her. She even missed the way his beard scratched against her skin, something that she would never thought would happen.
A smile crept across her face as she thought about how much Obi-wan would have liked to hear her say that because she was always telling him to shave that thing off. He was constantly reminding her that it was the sign that he was a master jedi and he couldn't go around having people think he was merely a padawan.
Padmé laughed. Just the thought of his voice was enough to bring warmth to her soul, but she still wished for him to be home and safe.
Dawn had broken uneventfully as Padmé went through the selection of gowns her handmaiden had laid out for her. Today she would be very busy, but never too busy to think of Obi-wan. He never truly left her mind.
"Anything to your liking?" Dorme asked placing a tray on the small table which faced the window out onto the lanes of air traffic. Padmé had taken her breakfast in her bedroom ever since she had been Queen of Naboo. It was the one place she felt safe and she didn't have to be who everyone else wanted her to be.
She picked up a small cup of tea from the tray and went back to looking over the selection of gowns. They all seemed too fancy. She wasn't the queen anymore and why did she have to continue this charade of wishing to be desirable to men? She already had the one man that she had never expected, but had always prized. Now she was just waiting for his return to her life and the wait meant that she would have to continue to pretend to be unattached. She hated it sometimes.
"What kind of appointments do I have today?" Padmé asked thoughtfully sipping at the tea. It could make all the difference in what she wore. If she needed to be powerful, she would go with dark colors and if she needed to be someone who made peace, she would go with light colors. It was all about playing a game.
"You have a conference with several systems regarding trade issues being affected by the war," Dorme said clicking through the information on her pad. "There is a meeting with several of the Gran leaders and then finally a meeting with Masters Yoda and Windu."
Padmé's eyes snapped towards Dorme at the mention of the jedi leaders' names and then back to the gowns now laying on her bed. It had to be something simple. She didn't want to stand out, but wanted to melt away. She feared what they might be coming to tell her.
"Is the meeting with Masters Yoda and Windu a reschedule?" Padmé asked trying to hide the tea cup shaking in her hand and she feared that she wasn't doing a very good job of it. Dorme knew her far too well.
"They scheduled yesterday, milady," Dorme said and put the pad back into the pocket of her dress. "Is there something wrong?"
"No," Padmé said, her mind far away.
Were they meeting with her to tell her that Obi-wan had been killed? Were they coming to tell her that they had found out about his relationship with her and he was being removed from the order? The thought of all the things which could happen clenched down on her heart and she felt as though she might faint.
Padmé reached out a hand and steadied herself on the bedpost.
"I'll wear the white," she finally said after a moment. She wasn't sure that she could keep up the facade of being strong, but she would have to try for Obi-wan's sake.
The day had passed quickly. Padmé was now seated at her desk in her small office, awaiting the jedi. Her hands were neatly folded on her desk, just to keep them from shaking visibly.
She had always been calm and cool, but something about this visit had her on edge. It wasn't the force speaking to her, but her women's intuition sure was buzzing. Something was off and she just wanted the jedi to show themselves so that she could get over the initial shock of the news they brought.
Padmé rose when the two Master Jedi entered her office and she graciously invited them to sit in the two comfortable chairs which were across from her desk. When they all had settled, Padmé cleared her throat nervously.
"Senator Amidala," Master Windu began in his deep voice. Padmé could feel herself clenching inside, but her face remained neutral. "We need a favor from you."
Padmé tried to hide her surprise, but she was truly surprised that the two most powerful jedi in the galaxy would need her help. What could she possibly do for them?
"I'll do what I can, Master Jedi," she said after finding her voice again.
"The jedi are returning to Coruscant in the next week under the guise of a lightsaber tournament," the jedi master said. "We need you to 'host' the tournament so that there will be no suspicion as to why the jedi have returned."
Padmé sighed, a sigh of relief that things were not what she had thought they were. Silently she nodded her head in agreement to what they needed. The jedi had always been very favorable to Naboo and she would do anything should could to return their generosity.
"Trust you, we do," Yoda spoke finally, his gravely voice very grave. "In danger, we all are."
"Then I will begin to make preparations for the tournament," Padmé said pulling her pad towards her and tapping a few buttons. There would be so many things to think of in the next few days that she would need to clear her schedule first thing.
"Tell no one, you must," Yoda said pointing his walking stick towards Padmé, punctuating the point.
"I won't breath a word of it to anyone," Padmé said smiling at the Grand Master. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will need to get started on plans."
Padmé stood on the dais at the front of the large of arena. She had dressed in her most beautiful gown of red for the evening's event. It was the finals of the lightsaber tournament that she had named Champions of the Republic.
The event had gone off with very few hitches. There had been some miscommunication between several of her staff members, but it had been remedied rather easily and the tournament had continued. The finals would soon be over and Padmé knew that she would be able to spend some time with Obi-wan before he went back to the war.
Obi-wan and several other jedi masters had been taken out in the third round of the tournament, but Obi-wan had performed beautifully and watching him made Padmé remember just how much she had missed him. He was so close to her, but so far from her in the same moment.
Quietly Padmé stood watching the final match of the tournament. In the back of her mind, she wondered just what she had been a part of with planning this tournament and helping all the jedi return to Coruscant. She was sure it was something she would have to ask Obi-wan about at a later time, if he was even able to tell her.
As the final blows were struck in the finals and the winner was named, Padmé took the medal from the pillow which was offered to her and placed it around the winner's neck. She knew his name was Joll Dain, but she was sure that she hadn't seen him before, but there were so many jedi.
Quickly, Padmé thanked members of her staff as she headed towards the rear of the building, hoping to catch a glimpse of Obi-wan before she was forced to leave or he had to get back to the temple. As she looked around, her heart sank as she realized that most of the jedi were not still there and as their rounds had concluded, they had returned to the temple.
Sadly, Padmé entered her private air car and returned to her home, once again to be alone.
The knock on the door disturbed Padmé from her self pity as she sat alone in her bedroom wrapped in her robe. Whoever it was, she didn't really care to receive company. She wanted to be alone and feel sorry for herself.
"Padmé," Dorme said breathlessly entering the room like a dust storm on Tatooine. "Get dressed, we have to go."
"What?' Padmé managed as she caught several items of clothes Dorme threw towards her and missed several more that she bent to pick up. It had been a very long time since Dorme had been in such a tizzy.
"Hurry, HURRY!" Dorme said running out of the room and into the main living area of the apartment. Padmé threw on her clothes quickly and pinned her hair up as she was bolting through the door towards the turbolift.
"Now tell me what it is," Padmé said and from the ashen look on Dorme's face, she knew it wasn't good.
She was running, feet hitting the duracrete beneath them with a resounding thud as she feverishly took the next step. She couldn't move fast enough. She couldn't get to his side quickly enough.
Padmé was afraid. Afraid that Obi-wan would slip from this life before she could get to his side and say her final goodbyes. She would be left with a gaping hole in her heart which would never be sealed without his presence in her life and the panic was tearing her apart.
She ran faster. Her feet carrying her as quickly as they could manage and then she was outside the door. Laying inside on a small table, silhouetted by the light of a gauzy covered window behind, was Obi-wan, his chest rising and falling slowly as though his final breath would be the next one that he took.
Calming herself as best she could, Padmé entered the room, her breath catching slightly in her throat as she saw him half draped in a sheet and nothing more.
Finally she came to the side of the table and as she reached out to touch him, Obi-wan's eyes opened slowly. He had such a gentle look on his face, but Padmé knew that he was hurting. She touched his hand softly.
"You made it," he said and blinked at her, his blue eyes smiling gently. He didn't move, and just laid very still.
"You wanna tell me what this is about?" she asked leaning close to him and trying to whisper as much as possible. It wouldn't seem proper if she was carrying on with him in the med ward of the Temple.
"Well," Obi-wan started and then coughed a bit. "It seems that your mentor was the sith we have been looking for and it seems that he is rather gifted with a lightsaber."
"What?" Padmé asked stunned. She couldn't believe that Chancellor Palpatine was behind all of this and she had blindly followed his suggestions.
"It's okay now," Obi-wan said smiling at her. "He's been captured and I've just got a little recuperating to do."
Whatever his wounds were, Padmé was sure the jedi healers were taking excellent care of Obi-wan, but something inside of her wanted to be the one who took are of him and comforted him. She knew it wasn't possible.
"I feel like I'm falling," Padmé finally said and touched his hand once again.
"Don't worry," Obi-wan said. "I'm still here to catch you."