A/N: When last we left our intrepid heroes, they were definitely not on speaking terms. We pick up the story on the following afternoon. Both Obi-Wan and Padme are feeling very tired, disheartened, hurt, and confused. Which is what tends to happen when emotions run high. Scene: Qui-Gon catches up to Obi-Wan in the palace sometime after lunch.


"There you are. I was beginning to think your presence on this trip was some trick of the Force."

Obi-Wan couldn't stop the scowl as he turned to face Qui-Gon. His former master arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms, a sure sign that he was waiting for an explanation. Well, Qui-Gon could keep waiting, Obi-Wan thought. He was far too tired and annoyed to play the padawan role right now.

"Did you need something?" he asked, not even trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. This time, both of Qui-Gon's eyebrows went up.

"Yes. I need to know what happened between you and Padme. That had to be the most uncomfortable breakfast I've ever sat through in my life. Even Anakin was subdued. When you didn't show up for lunch, it was even more uncomfortable. As miserable as she was with you there, she seemed even more so when you weren't."

Well, maybe she didn't hate him then. Tired as he was, though, Obi-Wan couldn't work up much happiness over that thought. All he could think of was Padme's stubbornness, his failure to help her and, now, the maddening presence of Qui-Gon.

"I'll fix it," he said, turning to start towards his room again. He had spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon wandering through Theed, hoping the walk would both calm his thoughts and wear his body down enough to make it sleep. It had partially succeeded regarding his first goal and he wanted to see if it would work at all regarding the second.

Qui-Gon, however, didn't seem amenable to Obi-Wan's current plans.

"How?"

"None of your business," snapped Obi-Wan before he could stop himself.

"Actually, I think it is some of my business," Qui-Gon replied, a note of irritation creeping into his voice.

Obi-Wan had reached his limit.

"You gave up your rights to know what happens in my life when you threw me over for the Chosen One. So actually, it really is none of your business."

Before he could regret what he had just said, he quickly continued towards his room. This time, Qui-Gon didn't stop him.

"I wish you would talk to me, Padme."

It was rare for Sabe to address her by her given name. So rare that Padme almost gave in to her request. But she wasn't sure she could control her emotions and she needed to keep what little dignity she had left.

"Sabe, I only have three hours before I have to meet with the council. And then we have to get ready for that banquet tonight. I really just want to try to get some sleep."

Looking defeated, Sabe just nodded her head and left the room. Watching her go, Padme felt a stab of guilt for the way she had been treating her friend. Another thing for which she needed to make amends. All she wanted was a small patch of peace before her duties as queen closed in around her once more. Before she absolutely had to be Amidala instead of Padme.

She was dreading the banquet. It was really more of an engagement party than anything else. One of the councilor's daughters had recently agreed to marry one of Naboo's foreign ambassadors. It was a political marriage and the parties involved barely knew one another. Not exactly Padme's idea of a happy occasion. She had subtly attempted to postpone it when she realized it would coincide with the visit from the Jedi, but her attempts had been in vain. So she had settled for hoping Obi-Wan would attend and laugh at everyone with her afterwards.

Now it was just something she had to get through alone. His distance at breakfast and subsequent absence at lunch had confirmed her fears. She had lost his friendship and would simply have to reconcile herself to the fact.

Somehow, this knowledge made her even wearier than she had felt before. Padme sank onto the bed, not even bothering to get under the covers. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to lie completely still. Eventually, it seemed to work. She allowed herself a small smile as she felt herself drifting into what she hoped would be a somewhat restful sleep.

***************************One hour later

Obi-Wan had tossed and turned for nearly half an hour upon returning to his room. His words to Qui-Gon played over and over in his head, making him feel even worse than he had before. They had been on their way to mending so many things between them and now he was sure he had undone all that progress with his thoughtless statement.

He had no idea how he would ever fix all of this. Meditation simply wasn't helping this time around. At least, it was only helping up to a certain point. Finding peace in the Force wasn't a cure-all and should never be treated as such. It was meant to help, not fix everything.

The thought caused a frown to creep slowly across Obi-Wan's face. Had he managed to convey that fact to Padme? Was she pinning all her hopes on the meditation techniques he was teaching her and then just giving up completely when things didn't go well? Obi-Wan groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. He had been so preoccupied with helping her to begin with that he couldn't remember if he'd actually taken the time to explain everything in a manner she could truly understand.

Padme had spent most of her life in politics. She had no knowledge of the Jedi other than what little he had communicated to her over the last year. Instead of just having her jump right into learning how to release her anxieties into the Force, he should've taken the time to give her more background. They should've talked more in depth about reasons and limitations.

But he'd been so worried when he saw her upon his arrival that all he could think about was the fact that his friend was suffering and he could help. He'd let his own emotions cloud his judgment. He had acted impulsively and now…now they were both paying the price. More than ever, Obi-Wan was certain he didn't need a padawan anytime soon. Clearly, he still had much more to learn before he took that particular step.

He did feel, however, that this could be fixed. Assuming Padme would let him help now, he would start the whole process over. They would talk more before he even tried helping her with Force meditation again. And he would apologize for not explaining things more in the first place.

Although his guilt and worry about everything still nagged at him, Obi-Wan felt as though at least a small weight had been lifted from him. He understood a little more now and was more than willing to set things to rights. After he got some rest.

Just as the blissful arms of sleep closed around him, Obi-Wan heard the scream from the next room.

It was stiflingly hot. The heat was everywhere and Padme felt that the intensity of it should give off some sort of light. But she was surrounded by darkness, which made the heat even more oppressive and the sounds in the distance more terrifying. Although the sound was muffled, Padme felt as though she had heard it before. Faint buzzing interwoven with…crackling? Almost like lightning, but not quite.

No matter how much she strained, the noise didn't become any clearer. She tried to walk towards it, but the heat flared up around her every time she attempted a step in any direction. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was in trouble. And she had to help. Somehow, she had to help.

Then there was another sound. One which rang with perfect clarity in her ears, as if it was right next to her. A scream of anguish and pain that seemed to rip through her very soul. She suddenly felt someone…or something…pressing up against her and the feeling was even more oppressive than the heat. A strong hand grabbed her arm as a distorted voice spoke through the darkness.

"You belong to me."

The hand began to drag her through the heat and Padme screamed as she tried to fight her way out of the stranger's grip. Just as she thought she might be succeeding, the stranger suddenly turned and his hands grabbed her upper arms, shaking her slightly.

"Padme," the figure spoke her name as she struggled anew, still screaming for all she was worth.

"Padme. Padme, it's me!"

Who was 'me'? And why wouldn't they just let her go?

"It's me! It's Obi-Wan! Open your eyes, Padme!"

With a start, Padme opened her eyes, jerking her head to the side as she did so. The first thing she saw was an alarmed Panaka, blaster in hand, with three palace guards right behind him. Sabe and Yane stood just a little to the side, both of them armed as well. For a brief moment, Padme wondered if all of them had just been wandering around in front of her door since she went to bed. Then the grip on her arms tightened slightly and she finally turned to look at Obi-Wan.

He was sitting on the side of her bed and had quite literally pulled her up into a sitting position and held her there. Frantically, she searched for any sign of anger or even contempt in his expression. He met her gaze steadily and, upon finding only concern and even perhaps some fear, Padme promptly collapsed against his shoulder.

Tears she had denied for far too long finally surfaced and it wasn't long before she was openly sobbing. Not crying like she did on the day of his arrival, but sobs that made her feel like she was all twisted up inside. Dimly, she heard Obi-Wan telling everyone to leave the room, Sabe convincing Panaka everything would be alright. She felt Obi-Wan shift until he was sitting next to her instead of almost facing her. Padme thought fleetingly that she should be ashamed of the way she was clinging to him like a child, her head resting on his chest and her left hand holding his tunic in an iron grip. But she was past caring and Obi-Wan didn't seem to mind.

Her sobs didn't seem as though they were going to fade anytime soon. She couldn't remember what had scared her so badly. Although some part of her mind tried to hold onto it, tried to remember so she could tell Obi-Wan what had happened, the nightmare she had apparently experienced was just out of her memory's reach. Whatever it was, it had clearly broken the dam of all the emotions she had been trying so hard to control since the Battle of Naboo.

For the first time, she truly let herself mourn all who had been lost on that day. Not as a queen, presiding over memorial services as a source of strength for those who had survived. Not as a citizen of Naboo, keeping up a brave face for the sake of everyone she loved. But as a young girl who was faced with the reality of death for the first time and, in addition, felt the full weight of responsibility for the loss of life which had taken place on her orders. It didn't matter that they had gone to battle with full knowledge that they might not survive. It didn't matter that, in the end, she had been left with no choice but to take her planet back through force. All that mattered was the fact that lives had been lost and, swept up in remaining strong for her people, she had never allowed herself the moments of actual emotional grief she needed.

So it all came out at once, a torrent of tears soaking through Obi-Wan's tunic. Another thing she would be ashamed to remember later. Now, though, she continued to cling to him like a lifeboat. He held her around the shoulders with one arm while the other hand pressed her head against him. He talked to her, although she would never be able to recall exactly what he said. In the end, it didn't really matter what he said. Just the sound of his voice was soothing and Padme held onto it as she rode out the storm of her emotions.

It took the better part of an hour, Obi-Wan figured, for Padme to begin to calm down. Once she did, she didn't seem too inclined to let go of him. Truthfully, he wasn't all that inclined to let go of her. Whatever the nightmare had been, it had clearly terrified her and he was in full protective mode at the moment. He knew, of course, that he couldn't protect her from a nightmare but he felt more assured being right next to her.

Her outburst of tears, while surprising at first, didn't exactly shock him. Obi-Wan had expected that something of the sort might happen, just not all at once. Padme was so controlled, which was part of the problem in this case, that he had expected any outbursts to come in bits and pieces.

Perhaps it was better this way, though. His mouth quirked a bit in disapproval as he wondered if he should've tried to get her to release her grief in a more physical way before attempting to teach her how to release it into the Force. Now that he thought about it, the idea made sense. Well, there was nothing for it now. Once again he came to the conclusion that they'd just need to start over. If she was willing, of course.

Obi-Wan smiled a bit as he heard Padme's breathing start to even out. She had fallen asleep. He couldn't help but be happy over that fact, although it put him at a bit of disadvantage since she still clung to him so tightly. Reluctant to risk waking her, he remained where he was. He would wait a few minutes and give her a chance to fall into a deeper sleep before he returned to his own room.


Her pillow was moving. That was Padme's first thought as she began to float towards consciousness. Up, down, up, down. Why was it rising and falling? Pillows should be stationary at all times. Forcing herself to open her eyes, it took a moment to realize just exactly why her pillow was not behaving as a pillow should.

Her pillow was the chest of a sleeping Jedi. A sleeping Jedi whose own head was propped up against the headboard of the bed. Padme winced at the sight of the position, certain that Obi-Wan would have a horrible crick in his neck when he woke up. Slowly, not wanting to startle him awake, she climbed off the bed and went around to the side he was sleeping on.

As everything came rushing back to her, she couldn't quite remember the last time she had been this embarrassed. The last thing she wanted to do was face Obi-Wan right now. She realized, however, that the last thing she wanted to do was the exact thing she should do. They needed to talk. More accurately, she needed to apologize. For quite a lot of things. The thought of looking nice ever present in the back of her mind, Padme subconsciously smoothed her hair and straightened her clothes as she attempted to wake up Obi-Wan.

"Obi-Wan," it came out as a whisper and she rolled her eyes. Clearing her throat, she spoke again. "Obi-Wan, wake up. It's…"

Her voice trailed off as she realized she had no idea what time it was. The meeting with the council. The banquet! Where was Sabe? Momentarily forgetting about her attempt to not startle Obi-Wan awake, Padme yanked the door open and came face to face with one of the palace guards. He snapped to attention quickly, looking almost frightened in the process. Too panicked to bother with niceties, she didn't leave him in suspense as to what she wanted.

"Where's Sabe?" she inquired.

"At breakfast, your majesty," he informed her.

Breakfast! But the meeting and the banquet…what about the meeting and the banquet?

"I don't know, your majesty," the guard said, making her realize she had asked the question out loud.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. So she stood there for a moment, dumbfounded.

"Shall I let her know you need her, your majesty?"

The question brought her out of her stupor, but she still didn't trust herself to speak. She finally just gave a shake of her head and closed the door. Sabe would come here of her own accord after breakfast. She might've let Padme sleep through the meeting and the banquet, but she wouldn't risk much more than that.

Obi-Wan was awake, sitting on the side of the bed and frowning as he rubbed his neck.

"Ow," was his eloquent verbal greeting.

She sighed and sank into a chair facing him. What a mess all of this was and all because she couldn't control her own emotions. Groaning, she let her head fall into her hands.

"Oh, such a mess. I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan," she

"That's not a proper conversation starter," her guest mused.

Was he joking? Now? Padme looked over at Obi-Wan, stunned to see a wry smile on his face.

"Do you have any idea how long we've been in here?" she asked, unable to keep a slight note of annoyance out of her voice. "All night long, Obi-Wan. Long enough to damage your reputation and mine."

To her astonishment, Obi-Wan's smile widened exponentially.

"THAT'S what you're worried about? That people will say we slept together?" he threw his head back and laughed. "Padme, you've got to be kidding. If anyone knows we were in here together, it's probably Sabe and Panaka. I doubt they're going to be spreading rumors. And you're way too young for people to even be thinking things like that about you, anyway."

Padme scowled as Obi-Wan laughed again.

"I'm not a child, Obi-Wan," she glared at him.

His laughter trailed off as he realized his statement had hurt her. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he regarded her thoughtfully for a few moments. Padme looked down at the floor, a rare feeling of embarrassment sweeping over her.

"No. No, you're not a child. I apologize for implying that you are. It wasn't my intention to do so."

Of course it wasn't. She was being oversensitive and, ironically, also acting like a child. He was right, after all. The chances of anyone knowing about this aside from Sabe and possibly Panaka were ridiculously slim. Padme was still very curious as to how Sabe had managed to make sure she was undisturbed for this long, but that was a question for later. She was suddenly uncomfortably aware of what she had to do. Fiddling with a strand of hair, she began to stammer out an apology.

"Obi-Wan, I…I wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

"Wait. Padme, I need to-."

"No," she cut him off. "No, I need to say this now or I may never get the courage to say it again. I'm not very good at apologizing. Part of my stubborn nature, I'm afraid. My behavior towards you was inexcusable and…" she paused, remembering the flash of hurt in Obi-Wan's eyes when she had told him she wanted him to leave Naboo. The image brought tiny pinpricks to the backs of her own eyes and she rushed ahead. "I'm so sorry I hurt you. I can't…I can't believe I hurt you. It's the last thing I would ever want to do."

She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry. Surely Obi-Wan had seen enough of that. When she managed to get her emotions under her control again, she opened her eyes to find Obi-Wan still sitting on the side of the bed, a somewhat pained look on his face. For a moment, she thought that perhaps her apology wasn't enough after all.

"I should apologize to you, Padme."

Well, now she was confused. He continued before she could say anything.

"First off, my own behavior last night or…well, night before last I suppose? Ah, I suppose it doesn't matter. What does matter is that my own behavior wasn't what it should be. I let my anger get the better of me and that is something I should have better control over. More importantly than that, however, is the fact that I believe I've gone about helping you in the wrong way."

"How so?" Padme inquired, genuinely curious as to what Obi-Wan was thinking.

"I still think that the meditation techniques I've shown you will help you. But I overlooked two things. To begin with, I believe I have given you the wrong impression about Force meditation. I think you pinned all your hopes on it helping you and I'm to blame for that. I've only ever tried to assist Anakin with his meditation and his basic knowledge had already been given to him by Qui-Gon. If you're willing, I want to try to explain it a little more in depth to you."

His eyes searched her own, clearly waiting for her to respond in some way. Padme nodded her head slightly in agreement. She didn't understand exactly how what he was proposing would help her, but she still trusted him. A look of relief passed over his face before he went on.

"As a Jedi, I sometimes tend to forget the importance of releasing emotions physically as well as mentally. Years of training have enabled me to use the Force almost exclusively for that, but there are occasions when I need a good round of sparring with someone or a long talk with a friend. You haven't received the training I have and I believe that's something I should've taken into account. Padme, you've carried so much grief and guilt with you for the past year. You've pinned it all up inside and I only managed to provoke you into letting a little of it out on my first day here. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She gave him a slight smile as she sat down next to him.

"You want me to spar with you?"

Obi-Wan chuckled softly and draped his arm around Padme. Feeling that familiar wave of warmth again, she sighed in contentment and let her head drop to rest on his shoulder.

"I'll spar with you if you want me to, your majesty," he informed her, his voice adopting a hint of teasing before he returned to a more serious tone. "But I think if I had provoked more of an emotional reaction from you upon my arrival, you wouldn't have had to deal with your outburst last night. Whatever your nightmare was last night, I think it pushed everything over the edge. Do you…do you remember anything about it?"

His hesitation indicated that he didn't want to ask her if it was going to cause her any pain. But Padme truly couldn't recall anything from her dream. All she remembered was feeling utterly terrified and then having everything come crashing down around her as she collapsed against Obi-Wan.

"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I really don't."

"Don't apologize. It may be for the best that you don't remember. In the meantime, though-."

A knock on the door interrupted Obi-Wan and Padme went over to answer it. Cracking it open slightly, she gave a sigh of relief and opened it fully to allow Sabe in. Her handmaiden looked her over and smiled mischievously.

"Do I even want to know how you managed to pull off both the banquet and the council meeting without me?" Padme asked, feigning irritation. Sabe's grin remained.

"The council meeting was rescheduled for this afternoon. As for the banquet, you should thank me. It was everything we thought it would be. The bride to be looked both beautiful and forlorn while the groom cut a dashing figure and made no effort to hide how bored he was with everything around him."

Padme groaned. How she hated political marriages. But she couldn't exactly enact a ban on them. People, especially the kind of people who arranged such marriages in the first place, would always find a way.

"Both of them in love with someone else?" she was unable to keep herself from asking.

"I think she might be. He seems happy enough with himself, to be honest."

Obi-Wan snickered and the sound triggered a laugh from Padme. There wasn't much time for fun, however. Padme knew Sabe had come because she simply couldn't go on pretending to be the queen indefinitely. She was surprised to realize that, although she didn't relish the thought of returning to her duties, she didn't want to completely turn away from them, either.

"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I'm afraid that royal duty calls," she told him as Sabe began to bring out a fresh dress for Padme to change into.

"No need to apologize. I have a few things that I need to do as well," he informed her, a small grimace crossing his face. "I'm afraid you're not the only one I need to apologize to."

She wasn't sure how, but Padme knew instinctively that Obi-Wan was referring to Qui-Gon. Clearly, something had happened between the two Jedi. The urge to ask him about it was strong, but she fought it away. If he wanted to tell her about it, he would. There was no sense in pressuring him.

"Fair enough," she replied. "Can you come to dinner tonight? I thought maybe the four of us could try eating a meal without any awkward silence."

Obi-Wan grinned at that, although she still saw a hint of nervousness in his eyes.

"I'll be there," he promised.

With a quick goodbye to Sabe, Obi-Wan left. Padme took a deep breath of her own, realizing that Obi-Wan wasn't the only one who had more apologizing to do.

"Sabe, I believe I owe you an apology," she began.


A/N: So...I believe I will skip the details of the Padme and Sabe conversation. I plan to skip out on the conversation between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as well, although there will be references to it. It is, in my opinion, more important than the relationship between Padme and Sabe. If anyone particularly wants to see a conversation between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, let me know. The next chapter will be a return to more light-hearted moments during the Jedi visit to Naboo.