The Consequence of Romance: Part 1


The Consequence of Romance

by

Dove

May, 2000

in the time of Episode II...

This fiction is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Lucasfilm Ltd.
Access to this fiction is free and public.
All Lucasfilm Ltd. copyright materials in this fiction are employed under Fair Usage terms of copyright law.
Therefore Lucasfilm intellectual property rights are unaffected and undiminished.


PREFACE

In the Japanese movie magazine 'CUT', issue 8, an interview with George Lucas was conducted by Keiko Sekikawa. It was first posted and translated by Starwarsemail.com.

George Lucas:

Obi-Wan is a developing character with little personal history at present. In Episode 2 his relationship with Anakin and the Queen shall be brought into focus over the course of a love story. Episode 2 is basically a love story set when Anakin is 20 and Amidala is 24.

This fiction does not suppose the events of Episode 2, and is not a 'purist' endeavour, but another moment in time which could occur to show the main characters in their personal relationships from the end of Episode 1 -The Phantom Menace to some of the circumstances which must be in place before Episode 4 - A New Hope.

New characters are introduced to highlight the dynamics and motives between the main characters. This is for entertainment only. Please enjoy!

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Preface

1. Capital City

2. By starlight and by candlelight and dreamlight

3. A Palace Fit for You and Me

4. I Love the Ground Whereon She Stands

5. Machinations

6. Love, Honour and Duty

7. Taken

8. Dread Encounter

9. She Comes Not to the Soul 'til It Reposes

Sources Visit here to read the Poems and Lyrics used for this story!


and so, we begin.....

The Consequence of Romance

Author: Dove

This fiction is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Lucasfilm Ltd.
Access to this fiction is free and public.
All Lucasfilm Ltd. copyright materials in this fiction are employed under Fair Usage terms of copyright law.
Therefore Lucasfilm intellectual property rights are unaffected and undiminished.

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PART 1

"Capital City"

The sun cast its light softly onto the vast Capital as it broke above the horizon. The views in Coruscant were always so exhilarating at any time of day, but a mystic quality was evident at dawn. Lady Érmioné Jinn cast a glance through her glazed panel to view, for the first time in daylight, the awe-inspiring Jedi Temple towering above the city. "So, this was the place my brother trained...". Every child in the galaxy knew the legends of the Jedi Temple. It had given her great comfort during her lonely early years to know that her half-brother was one of the knights whose actions contributed to those legends.  Thirty five years her senior, Qui-Gon Jinn  was a mythological figure to her and now her protector was a Jedi whose reputation was going to be, perhaps, even greater.

The lineage of Lady Érmioné Jinn had not passed unnoticed to the erudite Senator Dun`enn. He had lately been considering marriage, and was delighted to receive the advice from his mentor, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. There was a beautiful young woman from an ancient and respected family who had not yet formally appeared at Coruscant who would make a beneficial alliance to a young Senator seeking greater status for his own family. Senator Dun`enn's father was the first in his family to appear at Coruscant,  where he was promoted from the financial worlds to a position of treasury authority in the former Senator Palpatine's Office. The young man had been rising through the ranks ever since, on a career path promoted by his father. Upon the senior Dun`enn's passing, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had guided the young politician's movements towards his current acclaim as one of the galaxy's youngest ever Senators. It was time for him to seal his future with a prudent marriage.
 

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Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi completed the final movements of his meditation in the courtyard of his guest quarters on Coruscant, and stood to compose himself quietly in the light of the morning rushing over him. True peace was often only available to him in the earliest morning. His sensitivities were particularly agitated by the continual machinations of the millions of minds at work and play on Coruscant, and early in the day seemed the only time when most of them were asleep. Like most Jedi, the mass energy of crowds disturbed his serenity, and he much preferred the solitude of the larger country, or the quieter capitals. He reflected on his quarters back home in Theed at this moment - where his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, was awaiting him.

Ten years previously the elected Queen of the Naboo, Queen Amidala, had kindly offered the Jedi tranquil rooms surrounded by private gardens in her Palace at Theed. The threat against her people had been turned back through the aid of his Master and himself - with the assistance of the Gunguns and the precociously talented youth, Anakin. The legend was already established, and retold often. The esteemed Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn had been fatally run through with the lightsabre of a Sith during the Battle of Naboo while his apprentice (known by the title of Padawan) had been temporarily trapped to watch, hopelessly, behind an energy shield - before being able to charge forward to eliminate the Sith. It had been a vicious life and death battle.

The young Obi-Wan had been so distraught following the loss of his Master that it was only later his mind registered the report - the incredible Skywalker boy had successfully attacked the invading army's orbiting power source. A nine year old had disabled the Trade Federation's entire ground force and helped turn the battle around.

Such astonishing raw instinct convinced Obi-Wan of his Master's opinion that the boy had great potential, and he settled in to the years of training which reached ahead to prepare Anakin as a Jedi Knight. His Master's dying wish would be upheld reverently by Obi-Wan, and no desires for himself would be allowed to distract him from it. The task was a formidable challenge to the Jedi who had only just completed his own apprenticeship, and did not entirely trust the premonitions he felt around the new young Padawan. Matters were further complicated by the child's mature age. He should have been brought to the Jedi Temple many years before. His instincts had been allowed to form in an atmosphere where survival was the main agenda - in the wild port of Mos Espa on Tatooine.

Obi-Wan had struggled long over the best way to approach the apprentice whose opinions were so freely declared, and whose independent ways could lead to rebelliousness if not kept in check. These characteristics were formed as a survival measure during his life as a child-slave, but the now young adult's sometime resentment of this upbringing and the surrender of his mother to the same life disturbed the Master greatly. There were so many ways that the Force could be corrupted in him, by the right encouragement of Anakin's vulnerabilities from any number of Dark advocates. If Anakin was the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force as his Master Qui-Gon firmly believed, keeping the wrong influences away from the youth until he was truly strong in the Force would consume his entire life as his most sacred responsibility.

Thus one death had in fact conceived another personal death, and a new destiny for the young surviving Jedi.
 

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Such thoughts led Obi-Wan to consider events which had recently distressed him in Theed. Anakin had started, more and more, to want to keep company with the young Queen - until Obi-Wan himself had thought it necessary to intervene. The most kind-hearted attempts by Amidala to befriend the lonely boy would expose him to reliance on her, and to seeking her protection when it suited him to be annoyed with his Master. This was just the sort of situation he had dreaded since the day of the victory parade in Theed years before when he had caught the intimate exchange of smiles between the young Queen and the child, signifying the friendship they had already formed. He could not allow Anakin to become more reliant on anyone than he - it would open him up to ideas which could endanger the susceptible Padawan's correct thinking. Only the Jedi knew the correct method and timing of instilling values and spiritual strength to their trainees.

It was for this reason that Obi-Wan had kept Anakin isolated from the Palace as much as possible. He knew, however, that it was necessary for the boy to fully understand the way the world worked, and he could not be withdrawn too much from society. "Better here than Coruscant," he had decided in the early days of Anakin's training, "where I know I can trust the Queen, and I can closely monitor the society in which he mixes." Anakin's free will had established its roots, and Obi-Wan simply had to find the best way to guard this tendency. "This would not be of concern had I only raised him from an infant," he had contemplated.

He drew a deep breath and gathered his thoughts for his audience with the Jedi Council where he was due shortly to pay his respects. They would, naturally, expect a report on Anakin's progress. He knew one incident in particular would cause disquiet in the Council - a particular argument with Anakin just before his mission to escort Érmioné to Coruscant. It had only been a regular training session in sparring  but had started to turn into something too aggressive on Anakin's part. The Jedi had admonished him severely, concerned that the apprentice was acting out as he was becoming more and more frustrated with his instructor's regulating influence. Anakin had declared that he was mature enough to make his own decisions and that he would, indeed, meet with the Queen if they so wished. "He loves her, he says!!" The thought was quite ridiculous to Obi-Wan. What could this teenage boy know of love?

His meditation was by now thoroughly broken. At least, he considered, the evening would be more pleasant. Lady Érmioné would be here to join him later for supper, after a day spent with preparations for her forthcoming wedding.
 

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Lady Érmioné had always expected to marry within the traditional circles. She trusted Obi-Wan to be loyal to the family and ensure a worthy partner in life for her. Arranged marriages were quite the norm amongst the aristocracy of Coruscant and indeed Lady Érmioné had arrived at the Capital later in life than she expected, in her early twenties. It was only days until her wedding to the Senator Dun`enn -  who, she understood, had been recommended for her by the Supreme Chancellor himself.

As the youngest in the family her marriage had, in reality, not been a priority. With the death of his Master, Obi-Wan had assumed responsibility for being the head of his family and thus would be representing Érmioné at her wedding as well as making sure she reached the ceremony safely from her home in the farming worlds. Qui-Gon Jinn had long ago established his remaining family there on peaceful land. Érmioné's mother, being of an old yet not high profile aristocratic family, had married the father of Qui-Gon after the Jedi's mother had passed away. Though Érmioné was not strong in the Force, her family did share an uncommon gift for bearing it in a concentration greater than average.
 

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