Title: Another Story – Chapter Four
Author: Christina
Rating: PG
Length: 1747
Summary: "You sound very concerned for the Queen, Obi-Wan. More than a Jedi should, I think."
Pairings/Characters: Obi-Wan, Padme, Qui-Gon, etc.
A/N: I wanted to explore the possibility of the two Jedi arriving on Naboo earlier than in the movie, and how that might change things, for better or for worse. Thanks to Liz for beta-ing this! Enjoy!
Chapter Four
Standing in the Queen's chambers aboard the Naboo Spacecraft, Obi-Wan retained a calm composure on the outside, but inwards he was confused. Once the tension of making it through the blockade had subsided, there had been…a shift, something changed in the atmosphere around him, and he had yet to quite pinpoint it. And watching the Queen with rapt attention, he could only determine that the shift stemmed from her.
Having your planet under the control of an enemy, their lives in danger with every second you get further and further away…I'm sorry. She was strong in the force and he hoped she could hear his thoughts in some way—but she gave no sign to any such thing, her eyes focused on the little blue droid that had wheeled in along with them.
"What is its number?"
Panaka scraped some debris off of metal plate on the droid's side before reporting to her that the droid was an R2-D2.
The Queen thanked the droid, smiling gratefully at him. A different smile, Obi-Wan noted; the trouble her people were in was really weighing on her. "Padmé!"
A young handmaiden broke away from the rest, walking forward and bowing before her Majesty. Within moments the Queen ordered her to clean up the droid, as it deserved their gratitude. The young woman nodded from beneath her warm-colored hood and moved back. As she did, oddly enough, she looked up to Obi-Wan, though very briefly, and caught his eyes. And then she was back with her fellow handmaidens.
Before he could ponder that, the continued decision brought him back to the present. Qui-Gon himself stepped forward and explained that they were heading for a remote planet called Tatooine…
-
Obi-Wan entered the main area of the spacecraft a little while later, heading to recheck the damaged hyper-drive when he realized he wasn't alone. Turning, he could see the young handmaiden from before kneeling beside the R2-D2 droid and conversing with the credulous Gungan.
"Jar Jar," Obi-Wan said as he calmly walked up to them.
"Sorry, nomeanen to…"
"He was helping me," the handmaiden spoke up, standing so that their eyes were closer to being level—even if she did still have to look up a bit.
Obi-Wan threw a deliberately unsure glance the Gungan's way. "Don't see how he'd be much help, miss."
The handmaiden looked offended and a little surprised, like she expected more from him. And she said as much, "I thought Jedi were supposed to be kind beings."
Obi-Wan cocked his eyebrow. "Are you implying they're not?"
"No, just that you may be the exception." She knelt down, back to him, and returned to cleaning the droid.
Slightly offended, Obi-Wan knelt down beside her and opened his mouth to argue the point, but when he saw her looking for something she'd misplaced, he reached onto the other side of the droid and held out an oil can. "Is this what you need?"
She almost reached out to grab it from him but stopped herself, regained her calm and nodded, "Yes, it is. May I have it?"
"Sure," he handed it to her. He took a moment, watching her apply oil to a rag and try to get the debris off the shell of the droid. Her brow furrowed in concentration and he chuckled under his breath.
"What's so funny?" she asked without breaking her concentration.
"Nothing." Looking around, Obi-Wan found another rag and grabbed it, pressing it against the case containing some of the droid's peripheral circuitry and cleaning out the crevices as best he could.
After a while, he could feel her looking over at him. When he finally reciprocated, he expected her to look away like a little girl caught staring did, but her eyes remained on him, to the point where if he didn't have years of Jedi training under his belt, he might have broken and looked away himself.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, I just…" She looked over to the entranceway to the engine room before her eyes met his again. "Don't you have better things to do?"
"The hyper-drive will still be damaged in the hour or so it takes us to finish this," Obi-Wan shrugged, before smirking. "Besides, I've got to disprove that implication of yours. I don't really need a bad reputation hanging over me."
She smiled a little at that and it was a quite beautiful one nonetheless, reminding him of the Queen. He could see why Padmé was picked as one of her handmaidens, a Queen of such warmth needs to surround herself with people of similar feelings.
They cleaned for a few quiet minutes before Obi-Wan, as smoothly as he could, decided to ask after the Queen. "Is she…alright? It must be very difficult to leave Naboo under such circumstances."
Padmé lowered her head for a moment before nodding, "It is. She cares for her people so much. This isn't how she wanted things to happen."
Obi-Wan felt a sting of sympathy at her words; he could feel the Queen's sadness even in her handmaiden's voice. "I have faith that once we get to Coruscant, things will work out as they should."
"Thank you."
"Not a problem," Obi-Wan assured her before letting out a sigh. "I'm still worried for the Queen—I would hate for her to place blame on herself. I hope I get a chance to speak with her, perhaps…"
"You sound very concerned for the Queen, Obi-Wan. More than a Jedi should, I think."
She was only teasing, but Obi-Wan stiffened a little at that, realizing what she said was absolutely true. He returned his attention to R2-D2. "I shouldn't be."
"Obi-Wan, I was just—"
"No, it's alright. I really need to just…clear my mind, return to the present. I can't have my mind elsewhere in case something happens. That would only endanger the Queen and everyone on this ship."
"Hey…" Padmé actually reached out and placed her hand on his arm, and he looked to her. "Just because you're a Jedi doesn't mean you can't be concerned for a friend. I'm…sure she would love to know you're thinking of her."
Obi-Wan knew it wasn't safe to admit it to himself, but he was quite relieved at that. He smiled at Padmé, "Thank you. You're very good at being assuring, I see why you have the job that you do."
"You mean being in charge of cleaning droids?" she joked, and they both laughed. Obi-Wan's eyes drifted over her face as they did, too, and saw her smile again, bright and beautiful, like a piece of the Naboo sun fell and rested there. It reminded him quite a lot of…
His eyes widened and Padmé seemed to catch on to what he'd realized, pedaling back and looking away from him.
"You're…" Obi-Wan laughed under his breath. "Padmé, are you—?"
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon entered the room suddenly, sending the young Padawan rushing to stand up straight and address his Master with what he hoped wasn't a guilty expression.
"Yes, Master?"
"The hyper-drive, is it…?"
"I was just about to check on it, Master."
Padmé stood up as well, stepping forward. "He was helping me clean the droid. I asked him to."
Qui-Gon looked from one to the other, his expression even but his eyes giving away a hint of…perhaps suspicion, or maybe it was simply confusion at why they both jumped to give excuses. Neither would help Obi-Wan feel any less unsettled.
-
Hoisting the hyper-drive out of the floor, Obi-Wan did his best to ignore Jar Jar as he panicked over having to go with Qui-Gon to Mos Eisley.
"Qui-Gon's right, Jar Jar. You'll make things appear less obvious."
Before the Gungan could argue anymore, Qui-Gon entered the room and surveyed the hyper-drive.
Obi-Wan wiped his brow and shook his head, "It's gone. We'll need a new one."
Sighing, Qui-Gon nodded and took in the new development. Before he turned to go, he rested a hand on his Padawan's shoulder. "No transmissions, we can't risk it. I…sense a disturbance in the Force."
"I do as well, Master."
-
As Qui-Gon and Jar Jar started their trek across the desert, Obi-Wan returned to the main area of the ship, hoping to meditate and relieve himself of a muddled mind, only to have Captain Panaka walk through the room with…
"Padmé!" The Padawan called out her name before he could help himself—he'd chide himself on the impulse later, but for the moment he approached the two with a questioning look. "What's going on?"
Panaka sighed wearily, and then nodded as they continued on and exited the ship.
"Wait!" Panaka called after Qui-Gon, just as Obi-Wan called after him and Padmé. They caught up with the Jedi and Gungan and before Obi-Wan could question any of them further, the Captain finally explained. "Her Highness sees fit for you to bring her handmaiden with you. She wishes to observe the local…"
"No more of this," Qui-Gon calmly turned down the idea.
Obi-Wan kept his eyes on Padmé, trying to get her attention, but she was too focused on the discussion between Qui-Gon and Panaka and blocking the piercing light of the sun from her eyes with her hand.
She spoke up after the discussion continued for too long, "I'm trained in defense, I can take of myself."
Qui-Gon gave her a stern look before assenting. "This isn't a good idea…stay close to me."
Padmé nodded and move to follow him. Obi-Wan stopped himself from reaching out and grabbing her arm and instead called out to his Master.
Qui-Gon turned around with a sigh and seeing the distress on his Padawan's face, walked with him a little way's away. "What is it, Obi-Wan?"
"I think it would be best if I went with you."
"Why is that?"
"With the…" Obi-Wan hesitated—the Queen was disguised for a reason, and blowing her cover would not help matters. "With the handmaiden, perhaps it'd be best if I came along to provide more safety, so you don't have to be distracted."
The reason sounded inane even to Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon simply looked at his Padawan for a moment before shaking his head. "Your job is to protect the Queen. Do your duty, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan looked over Qui-Gon's shoulder to see Padmé—the Queen of Naboo—waiting to go to Mos Eisley as he stood, feeling as small as a child, unable to go with her. "Yes, Master."