"I swear, Dormé. When we get back to Coruscant, I'm having you committed." Padmé responded with a glare from where she sat on the end of the bed, watching as Sola and Dormé brought in what appeared to be a meal and some strange silver object.
"And I can't believe you went along with this." The senator directed toward her sister.
"There's a perfect explanation, Padmé." Sola tried to calm her sibling.
"Oh?" The young woman on the bed crossed her arms in aggravation. "I'd like to hear it."
Dormé casually set the tray with the soup down onto a dark wooden dresser and turned to smile at her employer. "Let's just say that lately you haven't been making the wisest of decisions."
A look of utter confusion appeared on Padmé's face. "What are you talking about?"
"When it comes to men, Padmé, you have to admit that you don't make the best choices."
"What does Palo have to do with anything?" Padmé said, rubbing her forehead. "That was a long time ago. I was young. And if you haven't noticed, I'm grown up now. I can make up my own mind." She finished through clenched teeth.
"About some things, yes." The bodyguard agreed and Sola watched in disbelief at the banter between the two women. If she didn't know them, she would think that the employment situation was the other way around.
"But once again, the situation calls for my intervention. It is my duty to protect you, ya' know."
"Protect me? From what!?"
Just then the sputter of an approaching power boat reached Dormé's hearing and she smiled at Padmé. "Speaking of which, we have company."
She then turned to Sola as she made her way to the door. "If you wouldn't mind turning on the shower for a while. Don't let her out of the room, and you might want to explain what that's for." Dormé added, pointing to the durasteel container she had tossed onto the bed.
Obi-Wan and Anakin approached the relatively small silver-domed structure along steps made of flagstone which matched the typical terra cotta color of most of the houses in the Lake Country. They approached the arched carved wooden door and stopped.
"What do we do now, Master?" The apprentice questioned, his hand hovering over the hilt of his lightsaber hanging from his utility belt, preparing to force his way into the house.
"Knock." Obi-Wan answered simply as his hand reached out to rap firmly on the door.
Surprisingly, the door swung wide immediately following the second knock, leaving his hand hanging in mid air and a smiling Dormé greeted them.
"Why Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. What a surprise seeing you here! What brings you to Naboo?"
Anakin looked confusedly toward his Master, but Obi-Wan peered calmly at the young woman. "I need to speak with Senator Amidala, please. Is she here?"
"Of course she is." Dormé replied, moving out of their way. "Please come in."
The two Jedi entered the dwelling, the apprentice much more cautiously than the Master. Ever since Dormé had thrown him out of Padmé's apartment and called him a bantha's ass, he just didn't quite trust her.
"Have a seat." Dormé offered as she waved her hand to a comfortable-appearing blue sofa that was placed in front of a tall gray stone fireplace.
"No thank you." Obi-Wan responded. "I'd like to speak with the senator now."
"I'm afraid she's in the shower."
Obi-Wan turned his attention from the common room down the short hall to his left and indeed could hear the sound of running water.
"Then I'd like to speak with her sister. Is she available?"
"She should be in her momentarily." Dormé countered with a smile. "How about something to eat? I made some soup earlier. Padmé's favorite. I could warm up some for you."
Obi-Wan noticed his apprentice's head leaning in order to get a glance into the kitchen around the corner, and he quickly interrupted his padawan's train of thought. All the boy ever thought about was food.
"We wouldn't want to trouble you." Obi-Wan replied.
"No trouble at all." Dormé waved off their concern with a wave of her hand and exited the room, heading toward the kitchen, with his eager apprentice at her heels. The Jedi rolled his eyes and followed.
Soon, they were seated around a rectangular wooden table on cushioned chairs and Dormé was ladling some type of vegetable-based broth into yellow ceramic bowls.
"This is a family recipe. I usually make it at least once a week."
Anakin breathed the fragrance of the soup before eagerly picking up his spoon and dipping it into the thick liquid. However, a slight touch on his arm from his Master stilled his movements.
"Perhaps you should explain why you felt the need to drug the senator and drag her all the way out here to the Naboo Lake Country." Obi-Wan attempted to get straight to the point, but by the look on Dormé's face, knew that he hadn't succeeded.
The young woman grinned at him and cocked her head. "Information such as that shouldn't be discussed over an empty stomach. Now eat up!"
The Jedi Master sighed and picked up his spoon, giving his apprentice the signal it was okay to proceed. Anakin gulped the broth with relish, proclaiming the soup to be quite tasty.
Obi-Wan eyed the bowl suspiciously, but eventually picked up a spoonful and placed it into his mouth. His padawan was right. It was quite good. He proceeded to eat, although with not quite so much enthusiasm as the young man sitting next to him.
Sola then entered the room and Obi-Wan could sense the older woman's hesitation as she approached the kitchen. Lacking Dormé's confidence and courage, Sola eyed the Jedi warily and her smile was a bit shaky.
Her actions told the Jedi that there was indeed something going on and he promptly placed his spoon back on the table, just as Anakin picked up his bowl and slurped down the remnants of his meal.
"Good evening, gentleman." Sola said with a smile as she took a seat next to Dormé.
Obi-Wan responded with a nod, eyeing the woman carefully. She smiled again and reached for the ladle in the soup server.
"I'm starved." Sola said, but her actions were halted by Dormé, who placed a firm grip on her arm.
"We'll fix you something else." Dormé said to her, eyes wide.
"I don't want something else." Sola argued, eyeing the steaming broth in front of her. "This looks and smells so good."
"We'll fix you something else." Dormé repeated through clenched teeth.
Her statement and posture warned the Jedi of the danger that he was obviously too late to notice, as he watched his apprentice's head fall forward onto the table with a thud.
He looked up at Dormé, noticing her image becoming more blurry by each passing second.
"Wha…." Obi-Wan attempted to say, but his tongue was suddenly too thick to form the words.
As his strength began to fade and he gave in to the anesthetic effects of whatever Dormé had put into the soup, he wondered why the Force hadn't warned him, and also when he had become so gullible as to fall into the trap of a conniving little bodyguard.
He was smarter than this….
