A long time ago in a galaxy far far away. ..
STAR WARS:
The Phantom Menace
Strong and stable, the Galactic Republic is the greatest force in the galaxy, but a dark threat looms on the horizon. A number of unexplained deaths have occurred throughout the many systems which command the galactic force. These unsolved mysteries linger in the minds of the Republic people as a new celebration turns their gaze to a far off world.
The young heir to the throne of Naboo has come of age. A grand celebration has opened the planet up to representatives and guests from around the galaxy in ways it has not been since the council murders began. Secretly, this celebration is a ploy to lure the murderer to Naboo. Jedi knights have been dispatched to protect the royal family and catch the conspirators.
Naboo Palace Night:
The room was dark and cold. Padme woke to the twist in her stomach first and the sound of someone bursting through the door next. Her hand slid over the side of the bed as she feigned a heavy sleep. Slowly, her fingers tucked under the side of the wooden frame until they caught on the small hatch. The princess flipped it and the secret drawer opened against her hand. She pulled the small blaster from the dark space inside. Slipping it under the sheets, she waited for the footsteps in her sitting room to come closer.
They did, and then –strangely enough, decided to linger in the doorway. The princess waited a few moments, holding her breath, wondering why anyone would steel past her guards and break into her room just to get cold feet in the second doorway. Maybe I should just jump up and shoot first.
Then the feet began to move again. The hair on Padme's neck began to prickle when she felt him nearing her bed. He was moving in front of the window. She had to fight a shiver, seeing the intruder's shadow graced the opposite wall. His arm stretched out and he slowly reached for her, but his hand froze hovering in the air over her shoulder. She took her chance and tore off her blanket, pulling out the blaster before she'd even finished rolling around to face him.
A young man with reddish hair and eyes –that were clearly blue, even in the low light, stared back at her like she'd lit herself on fire. His hand was still hovering in the air where her shoulder had been, leaving his fingers right in front of the blaster's barrel. His hand twitched and Padme pulled the trigger without thinking twice.
The gun when off, but it also went out, out of her hand and into the wall behind her. She was left, lying in bed, in her nightgown, empty handed, with a stranger looming over top of her. Yet somehow, from the look on the young man's face, she got the feeling she was the more comfortable one in the situation.
He began pulling back his hand. She didn't wait to sit up and pull back her fist. He wasn't as quick to knock her hand away as he had been with her blaster. She socked him in the nose and tumbled out of bed before he could reach out to grab her again.
"Wait!" he shouted, but it came out muffled by the hand holding his bleeding nose. "Hang on a minute." She didn't. The princess raced around the room and forced open one of the doors. A group of men in black robes were filling the halls. Blasters –big blasters, swung from their hips. They seemed to be headed straight for the royal suites.
What is going on?! She closed the door swiftly and ducked back through the dark room then glanced over at the redhead holding his nose. Wimp, she thought.
"Are you with them?" she said, gesturing at the door. He shook his head. "Good, open that window behind you."
He started to ask questions, but she pushed past him. She should have still been leery, but there would be time for that once she'd gotten out of her dead-end room. Besides, he's much more concerned about his nose than me, she noted, watching how he struggled to open the window one handed. The princess shook her head and bent down to scoop up her discarded blaster. When she glanced back up, he was opening the window with no hands at all!
"You're a Jedi?" she asked, moving back to her bed and throwing a few pillows under the blankets to look like a body. He turned to nod at her as she crossed the room. He stepped away as she got closer, but she just stepped too and shoved him toward the window. He lifted his leg over the sill and tumbled out. She put her hands on the sill and started to lift herself over, when his hand reappeared to help.
Padme glanced back at the room one last time and took his fingers in hers.
"In that case," she whispered, hopping up onto the sill then dropped down into the garden beside him. "I'm sorry about your nose."
"I'm sorry this is happening to you," he replied in a very stoic Jedi fashion, but it was difficult to take seriously while he still had his other hand clasped around his nose.
The princess started to try and move again, but his hand tightened around hers and pulled her back into the palace wall. He shook his head and motioned up at the window. She didn't dare try to look, but the hair on the back of her neck told her that there was someone looking out of it.
"Did you close it?" she mouthed. The Jedi nodded. "Can he see us?" He shook his head. Padme slumped back against the wall and looked at him. She wasn't sure she believed him.
The moonlight illuminated them against the palace backdrop. His whole face was bathed in the night light. His hair was redder than she'd thought and there was a hint of a beard growing on his cheeks and neck. The look in his eye was soft, but the frown on his lips said he was still uncomfortable. His hand dropped from his nose when he realized she was studying him.
The tip of his nose to the bottom of his lip was covered in blood. She moved her hand and realized he was still holding onto it. Shifting slowly, she picked up her other hand and pulled down on the loose sleeve of her nightgown. She lifted the material to his mouth and tried to wipe away the blood. Red stains spread on the pale blue fabric as he stared at her. His lips pressed even tighter together.
"I think they are gone, we should try to move someplace safer," he whispered. She paused, hearing his thick Alderaan accent for the first time.
"Your majesty," he added with a small bow of his head that made his nose collide with her knuckles.
"Call me Padme," she told him, pulling her hand down. "You earned it." His carefully pursed lips twitched up.
"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, but anyone who can get in this good of a hit, gets to call me Ben."
