Okay, I'm back. I know it was a while, but it is shorter than your last wait. I'll try to get up another chapter in a couple of days, because I left you at that sort of cliffhanger of the kiss between Obi-Wan and Amidala. In this chapter we will catch up on what Anakin and Calleah are up to. Stuff will happen between them that will make their indefinable relationship even more confusing. Probably most chapters will be like this, one chapter of Obi-Wan and Amidala and one chapter of Anakin and Calleah, for a few more chapters until they are reunited. Hope you all enjoy this next chapter, it's a long one for making you guys wait.
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Forbidden
Chapter 24
Being a Child
After the royal council meetings Calleah's handmaidens whisked her away again to pack her things and change her into traveling clothes. Anakin waited by the front entrance and he then heard her wide confidant footsteps. He turned and saw her dressed in a simple mauve dress. It hung on her barely accentuating her curves and had a high neckline. It was tied up on each shoulder and the fabric hung on the underside of her arm then was tied again around her wrists. She stopped a few feet away from him and crossed her arms.
"Ready to go?" She asked shortly. Anakin nodded and she looked back. One of her handmaidens came forward with a large suitcase that was filled with Calleah's clothes. She put it down next to Calleah then retreated back into the palace. Calleah picked up her luggage and Anakin followed her down the steps towards the speeder that would take them to the ferry that they would take to the lake country. They put their things in the trunk of the speeder. Calleah went to sit in the back when Anakin went forward and shooed away the driver. Calleah stared at him confused. He smiled,
"I'm driving." He then sat down and Calleah went to sit next to him. She sat down and looked at him suspiciously,
"Should I be scared?" Anakin scoffed,
"I'm a great driver." Calleah felt reassured then Anakin zoomed off throwing Calleah back in her seat, dashing her reassured feeling away.
Anakin and her arrived at the dock. Calleah stumbled out of the speeder and attempted to fix her hair that was almost completely destroyed by Anakin's little joyride. Calleah glared at him,
"Remind me to never get in a vehicle in which you are driving ever again." Anakin rolled his eyes,
"Fine by me." He got out of the speeder and took out their luggage. Calleah reached out to take hers but Anakin picked it up for her. They then walked side by side onto the ferry. Calleah then said softly,
"Thank you," Anakin looked down at her a little confused. Calleah motioned to his hand, "the luggage, thank you." Anakin shrugged and Calleah rolled her eyes.
The ferry then left the dock and Calleah and Anakin went out to the deck. A huge grin appeared on her face as she ran towards the railing. The wind blew the stands of her hair that had fallen back. She shut her eyes and threw her arms behind her as she leaned back slightly. Anakin watched her, entranced, it was the first time he saw Calleah have a moment of pure childlike joy. He smiled slightly, she deserved it, she had to grow up way to quickly.
"Anakin," a voice broke him out of his trace. He saw that Calleah was waving her arm motioning him to join her. He went up next to her and put their suitcases down next to him. She went back into her original position and Anakin noticed the angelic grin that graced her face and he smiled slightly. She opened her eyes and said, "Try it. It feels like your flying." Anakin put his hands on the rail,
"No thank you, I would prefer not to make a fool of myself." Calleah straightened up and let her arms drop,
"I'm not making a fool of myself, it's nice. I just thought you'd enjoy it since you grew up on extremely dry planet where you wouldn't have many chanced to enjoy a boat ride," she shot him and angry look and put her hands on her hips, "excuse me for caring about you, you jerk." She threw her hand back and accidentally smacked another ferry patron on the arm making them spill their groceries. She turned to them and crouched down to help them pick the items up, "I'm so sorry, I should watch where I flail my arms." Calleah laughed slightly. The woman who she hit looked at her curiously and when she and Calleah stood she whispered,
"Amidala?" Calleah's eyes shot up and met the woman's,
"No, Calleah." The woman's eyes widened,
"Calleah? Little Calleah?" Calleah looked at her strangely and Anakin stood behind her ready to jump to action if it was necessary. Calleah tilted her head slightly,
"Who are you?" The woman smiled and said,
"Calleah, it's Rabe." Calleah's mouth dropped open,
"Rabe," she brought a hand up to cover her mouth, "my goodness I didn't recognize you, you must think I'm horrible." Rabe shook her head,
"No, no, I can't believe it's you, you've grown into such a beautiful young woman." Calleah blushed slightly,
"Thank you, but look at you, you look wonderful and very happy." Rabe nodded,
"I am, I'm married to a wonderful man and have two little children." Calleah's eyes widened,
"Two? Wow, congratulations. How old are they?"
"Three and a newborn," Rabe replied.
"Wow, you must have your hands full," Calleah said. Rabe smiled,
"Well my husband's sister has her hands full right now, I had to run some errands in town and she offered to take care of them." Calleah smiled,
"Thanks great. So what happened to the other girls, do you know?" Rabe put a finger to her lip,
"Let me think, Sache is engaged, Eirtae just got married and is on her honeymoon, and the others I don't know. Wait, no, Sabe," Rabe shook her head laughing slightly, "that girl." Calleah started to laugh slightly at the thought of her cousin's very excitable handmaiden,
"What about Sabe?" Rabe let out a laugh,
"Well Sabe, she met this hotshot pilot shortly after your coronation and they fell in love, got married, and she went off with him to his home planet all in the space of two weeks."
"That's fast," Calleah said. Rabe shrugged,
"That's Sabe for you." The two laughed and Anakin just stood in the background half listening to the two talk. It was nice to see Calleah so at ease, which had been a rare occurrence over the past few days. The woman she was talking to Anakin slightly remembered as one of Amidala's handmaidens that he met once. Rabe put a hand on Calleah's shoulder, "What about you how are you doing," Rabe's eyes then wandered to Anakin and a smirk slowly made its way onto her face, "and who is this very handsome young man with you? Boyfriend?" Calleah grimaced and replied,
"Ew, no. He's just my bodyguard. He…"
"What do you mean 'ew, no,'" Anakin replied crossing his arms. Calleah turned back to him,
"Sorry to bruise you ego or something, but you really aren't my type."
"Oh and what is your type? Yes men who are all 'Yes Your Majesty, of course Your Majesty,'" He shot back. Calleah's eyes narrowed,
"No, just nice men who know how to properly address royalty." Anakin threw his hands up in the air,
"Oh here you go with your proper titles."
"Proper titles are very important, but I wouldn't expect an ignorant nimrod like you to understand that!" Calleah shouted back now facing him with their noses inches apart.
"Ani?" Rabe said.
"What!" Anakin shouted her still angry at Calleah. Rabe smiled,
"It is you Ani, little Anakin Skywalker," she looked him up and down, "my goodness, you certainly sprouted."
"Thank you," Anakin said. Calleah looked at her confused,
"How did you know it was him?" Rabe laughed slightly at that,
"Are you kidding? I've only seen you bicker with one person like that, and that is Anakin. But you said earlier that he is your bodyguard, what is that about?" Calleah then proceeded to tell Rabe about the assassination attempts and the plans that the Jedi Council put forth to keep her and Amidala safe. When she finished the story they had docked at both of their stops. Rabe noticed this, "Oh, well I guess it's time to say goodbye, it was wonderful to see you, both of you. You've both grow up so well, tell Amidala hello for me. They got off of the ferry and they saw a man in his late twenties standing on the shore waving. Rabe got a huge grin on her face and ran towards the man. He took the groceries from her arms and kissed her. Rabe gave one last wave to the two before she left with her husband. Anakin and Calleah both waved and walked towards the summerhouse where they would be staying. Anakin still held both suitcases and said,
"It was nice to see her again." Calleah replied sadly,
"Yes it was." Anakin looked over at her,
"What's wrong?" Calleah had a sad expression on her face and was fiddling with a couple of strands of hair with her hands,
"Nothing, it's just that I want that," she met Anakin's eyes, "I want what Rabe has. A normal happy life with a man who loves me and a wonderful family. I mean I do have a wonderful family but we are anything but normal," she looked forward, "all these proper titles that you think are so important to me, I would give up in a second if I could live a normal life like Rabe." This shocked Anakin, he thought that having royal blood was the most important thing to Calleah, but apparently he was wrong. Just when he thought he had her figured out Calleah threw him another curve ball. She got on his nerves like no other, but at least time with her was never boring. He shrugged slightly,
"You can have that, it may not be normal, but I think if it was normal you would be bored out of your skull." He gave her a sideways smirk and she gave one back. Then they both made their way into the house.
Calleah had suggested that they go to a great sightseeing place that over looked the water and the surrounding scenery. She told him that they would have to take a small boat to get there which Anakin thought would be interesting. She insisted on changing and Anakin was standing outside waiting for her. He had changed out of his refugee outfit into his normal Jedi robes.
"Okay, let's go." Anakin turned to look at her and his jaw went down slightly as he saw her outfit. It was a long flowing gown that was a rainbow of pastels going from a pink to lavender as it made it's way to the floor. It left her shoulders bare. The sleeves started on the middle of her upper arm with metal cuffs. She had her hair up in a pretty simple style compared to some of the other extravagant hairstyles he remember Amidala wearing. She looked beautiful. She patted her hair, "not to shabby for having to do my hair myself for the first time, hm?" She walked past him and he was about to respond when he got a look at the back of the outfit, or actually, the lack thereof. Her dress was backless and less than decent he thought. The upper part of her dress that was high cut plunged underneath her arms to meet at her waist. The front of her dress was quite deceiving for how actually enticing someone could look at it. The skin of her back looked so soft and smooth he just wanted to stroke it…what the hell was he thinking? Anakin caught himself. This was Calleah, the girl he can't stand and here he was wanting to practically grope her? What the heck was wrong with him? "Anakin?" She turned back to him slightly worried. Anakin met her worried eyes and nodded,
"Yeah, your hair looks very nice." Calleah gave a confused little smile,
"Thank you, well lets go." Then the duo went down to the place where they could get the boat.
The two finally got to the sightseeing place that Anakin had to admit was beautiful. Anakin got out of the boat first then helped Calleah out which she was grateful for. They made their way up the steps and walked across the main level. Calleah then began to speak,
"We used to come here for school retreats," she paused, "we would swim to that island every day." Anakin looked over at her and noticed the soft smile of remembrance of happy memories, "I love the water." Anakin smirked,
"I got a hint of that on the ferry ride here." Calleah smiled back.
"We used to lie out on the sand and let the sun dry us," she paused as they got to the stone railing and leaned their arms against it, "and try to guess the names of the birds singing." She looked out at the island that she was talking about smiling. Anakin smiled at her revealing another moment in her past of when she was merely being a child. Anakin was fiddling with pieces of sand that were on the railing,
"I don't like sand," Anakin said and Calleah looked at him confused. She thought he would like it growing up on a planet that was covered with it. He threw the pieced of sand he was fiddling with off the railing, "it's coarse and rough and irritating," Anakin they realized that Calleah was a lot like sand as he met her eyes, "and it gets everywhere." Well she was three out of four. She met his eyes and knew that he was thinking about how many of the words he used to describe sand he could use to describe her and vice versa. He looked out to the water, "Not like here." She looked out at the water as well. "Everything here is soft," he swallowed as he looked at her back and the skin he had wanted to touch so badly earlier, "and smooth." He resisted running a hand down her back and just rubbed the back of her hand with his. The mood of the moment was broken when Calleah gasped and looked at him almost disgusted,
"Are you hitting on me?" Anakin's head jerked back and exclaimed,
"No!" Calleah let out a harsh breath and looked forward,
"Good," Anakin agreed and she continued, "cause I am so out of your league." Anakin stopped,
"What?" Calleah looked at him with her stuck up prissy face,
"Well I would feel bad having to turn you down." She looked out at the water again and Anakin let out a laugh,
"Oh come on, if I kissed you right now I bet you would not fight me off." Calleah rolled her eyes,
"You wouldn't dare." There was no comeback from Anakin so Calleah turned to meet his eyes that were darker than normal and were smoldering with something that she had never seen in his eyes before. She froze and he gave her a smile that could melt the ice planet of Hoth. Her wide brown eyes stared into his and his smile dropped as he leaned in towards her. He shut his eyes and she found her shutting her own as well as he kissed her deeply. She found herself kissing back when she was snapped back to reality and turned her head away, "No," she looked out at the water, "you shouldn't have done that." She could feel his eyes on her and just looked at him out of the corner of her eye hoping he would go away.
"I'm sorry," he replied.
"You should be," she said back.
"That'll teach you to dare me," Calleah could practically hear the cocky smirk that he was probably wearing in his voice. Calleah looked over at him and saw she was right. He let out a puff of air through his nose, "Don't get too excited about that cause it's never happening again." Calleah scoffed and turned away and mumbled an insult under her breath. Anakin heard her, "what did you call me." She met his eyes with her lips pursed and a cocky look in her eyes,
"I called you and arrogant nerfherder." She noticed the half shocked half confused look on his face. She let out a laugh, "Don't tell me you don't know what a nerfherder is?" Anakin shook his head,
"No, of course I know what one is. I'm just shocked that you know what one is." She smirked,
"You'd be surprised what insults an Alderaanean princess can learn." He let out a laugh and looked out at the water along with her. Anakin found it interesting that one minute he and Calleah could be having a pleasant conversation then a split second later with in a full out fight then back to playful teasing. His relationship with here was an interesting one and now that kiss they shared…well that didn't help any. Also he had to admit it wasn't half bad…but it wasn't half good either. He knew that when he kissed Amidala it would be perfect. He let out a sigh and Calleah studied his profile and knew what he was thinking. She gave a small smile then looked down at her hands that dangled off the railing.
A few minutes later the two left and decided to have picnic in a field where she had gone with Bail and Amidala when she and her brother would come to visit. They went back to the house to prepare the picnic and Anakin was relieved when she said that she wanted to change because the outfit she was currently wearing because it wasn't the right outfit to be sitting on the grass in. She had changed into a tanish yellow dress with small pink decorations on it. She had a matching tan shawl that she wore with it. She had changed her hair to a softer look with two buns on the side of her head that were covered in material that matched her shawl. Several curly tendrils fell down around her face and most of her hair was left down in the back. They made there way to the field and there were several large strange animals that Anakin had never seen. Calleah assured him that they were harmless and he shot back that he wasn't scared, which Calleah simply replied with a disbelieving smile. They sat down and began to eat. Somehow they got on the topic of kisses and then first kisses.
"I don't know," Calleah said. Anakin laughed,
"Sure you do. You just don't want to tell me." She tilted her head to the side with a smirk,
"You gonna use a Jedi mind trick on me?"
"They only work on the weak-minded," he said back. She looked away and fiddled with a long piece of grass.
"Alright," Calleah began. A cocky smirk made it way onto his face. He was sure that he was her first kiss. Calleah then looked at him, "I was twelve." Anakin looked down to hide his shocked face as she continued, "His name was Palo. We were both in the Legislative Youth Program," Anakin met her eyes and he nodded. She smiled at his memory, "He was a few years older than I. Very cute. Dark curly hair. Dreamy eyes." Her hand twirled around the piece of grass as her eyes got all starry and she looked up at the clouds.
"All right I get the picture," Anakin decided to break her out of her little dream world. He was still slightly bitter that he wasn't her first kiss since she was his. Of course when she asked him he made up some girl at the Academy also several others after her. Calleah studied his face. If she didn't know better she would think Anakin was jealous, but that was silly. Anakin looked at the scenery and realized that Naboo was the most beautiful planet he had ever been on, "What ever happened to him?"
"I became queen; he went on to become an artist," Calleah replied. Anakin met her eyes,
"Maybe he was the smart one." Calleah shook her head at him,
"You really don't like politicians, do you?"
"I like two or three…" he replied then playfully added, "but I'm not really sure about one of them." They stared into each other's eyes daring the other to break and laugh first. They ended up both laughing at the same time and looking at the grass. "I don't think the system works," Anakin continued. Calleah leaned back on one of her hands,
"How would you have it work?" Anakin took a breath,
"We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem agree what's in the best interest of all the people, and then do it." Calleah stared at him shocked,
"That's exactly what we do," Anakin looked at her not fully believing her so she continued, "the trouble is that people don't always agree."
"Well, then they should be made to." Even though Anakin was almost a full grown man Calleah thought he was still very naive.
"By whom?" she asked, "Who's gonna make them?" Anakin shook his head,
"I don't know? Someone."
"You?" Calleah said. Anakin shook his head,
"Of course not me."
"But someone," Calleah said. Anakin nodded,
"Someone wise." Calleah shook her head,
"Sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me." Calleah met his eyes. Anakin gave her that smile of his and answered slowly,
"Well," he paused, "if it works." Calleah looked at him shocked and slightly scared that he would suggest a dictatorship rather than the Senate for the universe or a royal council for a planet. His smile then grew and he slightly shook his head. She let out a giggle,
"You're making fun of me." Anakin was laughing with her and replied,
"No. I'd be much too frightened to tease a queen. You might throw a sandwich at me." He looked down at the sandwich he held and Calleah smiled at him. She then did what he guessed and threw her sandwich at his head. He looked over at her shocked, "Oh you are so asking for it." She laughed, got up and ran as he made a grab for her ankle. She ran quite a ways then slowed down to enjoy the scenery. Then she heard one of the creatures bellow and saw Anakin standing on one of the creature's back trying to balance as it ran forward. She stood still and watched him. He was laughing and she beamed at his attempt to impress her. Just then Anakin fell off and the creature nudged him with its head and stepped on him. Calleah's smile dropped as she watched Anakin try to get up but then fall back down. She ran towards him,
"Anakin. Anakin, are you all right?" She rolled him over and he was cracking up. She hit him in the chest and he grabbed her wrist trying to stop her from hitting him again. He pulled her closer and she giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and they began to roll in the grass both laughing. It ended up with Calleah on top holding Anakin down by his shoulders his hands on her waist. Her hair fell over her shoulders and even though the position they were in could be taken wrong by an outsider they didn't notice and just enjoyed being able to actually act their age. Sure they enjoyed the company of Amidala and Obi-Wan but they always had to act more mature around them. It was strange that of all people they would find the one person they could actually have fun with and act like a kid with would be the person they couldn't stand most of the time. In Amidala and Obi-Wan they saw a mentor and an older brother or older sister. In each other they found a best friend.
They had a light supper at a small café that was by the house where they were staying. Before they went once again Calleah had to change. Anakin was getting kind of frustrated with that, but realized that it must be force of habit considering her being a princess and a queen that having a different outfit for different times of the day and different occasions was normal. He remembered how often Amidala changed her outfits when she was queen. He was lucky though that Calleah's outfits and hairstyles weren't so complex and complicated to put on as Amidala's were. When Calleah was changing she realized that she only had one nighttime outfit that was light enough for the warm weather. She put it on and noticed how it was even more suggestive than the pastel outfit she wore earlier. It accentuated a certain part of her anatomy that all females have and that most men seem to be fascinated with. She then saw there was a little jacket she could wear over it. It was small and just covered the "accentuated" part, it was perfect. While they ate an appetizer of fruit Anakin was telling Calleah about his and Obi-Wan's many missions they went on.
"And when I got to them, we went into aggressive negotiations," he said then turned to the waitress who just put down some more fruit for them, "thank you." Calleah was intrigued,
"'Aggressive negotiations?' What's that?" Anakin looked down at his plate then back at her,
"Uh, well, negotiations with a lightsaber." She laughed,
"Oh," he laughed too and she tilted her head to the side, "Aggressive negotiations, I like that. I'll keep that in mind in case my royal council decides to be difficult." They both laughed again. Calleah then was about to cut a piece of her fruit when it floated over to Anakin. She smiled and he looked like he was a little boy who was getting away with something he wasn't supposed to do, which he actually was.
"If Master Obi-Wan caught me doing this, he'd be very grumpy." He laughed and cut a piece of her fruit. He floated it back to her and she caught it in the air with her fork. She laughed and took a bite out of it then said,
"Show off." Anakin's mouth dropped slightly with a smile showing he wasn't mad,
"Me? A show off? This coming from miss 'look at me I can float my blocks.'" She gave a little smile and took another bite of her fruit,
"I was six, I was young. You're nineteen, you have no excuse." Anakin then leaned forward on his elbows with a smirk,
"What about the incident with the paperweight." Calleah froze as she was about to take another bite. She shut her mouth and put her fork down. She then replied with a slight blush on her cheeks,
"I'm still young." Anakin smiled wider,
"So am I." Calleah's shot him a look with a smile and he returned it. Then they began to eat again.
They made there way back to the house. They went into the living room area and Anakin wanted to start a fire. Calleah was already hot in the outfit and that didn't help at all. She fanned herself with her hand and Anakin stared at her,
"You hot?" Calleah looked at him like he was stupid then sarcastically said,
"Excellent deduction Yoda." Anakin rolled his eyes then shrugged,
"Why don't you take off that little jacket thing?" Calleah looked down at it and realized that it would help, but if she took it off it would show the part of her body that she didn't want to show off in front of Anakin of all people. But she realized it was too hot to be modest. She turned around and took it off and put it on the couch. She turned back around and Anakin's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Calleah sighed,
"I know, I don't know why the girls packed it." Anakin tried to hide a little smile that appeared on his face,
"No, it's nice." He failed miserably. Calleah narrowed her eyes with a smile,
"Pervert." He laughed and she did as well. She sat down on the couch with him next to her. She noticed he was sitting extremely close to her, but she didn't mind. They talked about how much they missed everyone and the last person they mentioned was Amidala. When they brought her up they held each other's gaze for a while. Anakin had to look away, because her resemblance to Amidala tore at his heart. Calleah knew what he was thinking and it made her sad that she was causing Anakin pain. He then began to speak,
"From the moment I met her, all those years ago, not a day has gone by when I haven't thought about her. And now that I've seen her again… I'm in agony. And, this is going to sound horrible, but you look so much like her. The closer that I get to you the worse it gets." Calleah refused to meet his eyes and she shifted uncomfortably away from him. He kept moving closer, "The thought of not being with her, not being able to protect her when she needs me most…I can't breathe." She finally met his gaze and they held if for a while then he spoke again, "I'm haunted by the kiss we never should have shared, because it was as close as a kiss from Amidala that I've ever had." She looked away as he went on, "My heart is beating hoping that that kiss will not become a scar." He moved closer again and she moved away. When she was far enough away she met his eyes. His eyes held so much pain, "She is in my very soul, tormenting me." He paused, "What can I do to win her love? Please tell me, I will do whatever you say." He looked at the ground then back at her. She sadly looked at him and shook her head,
"I can't. We can't. People like us and Amidala can't. It's…just not possible." Anakin shifted,
"Anything is possible, Calleah. Listen to me." Calleah had enough with Anakin moaning about his love for Amidala,
"No, you listen," she said sternly as she stood, "we live in a real world. Come back to it," she walked by the fire then turned back to him, "You're studying to become a Jedi, I'm a queen, and Amidala's a Senator. If you follow your thoughts through to conclusion it will take you to a place that people like us cannot go, regardless of the way you feel about her and how she feels about you." Anakin perked up,
"Then she does feel something." Calleah continued,
"She would not let you give up your future for her." He stood up and approached her. Calleah stood her ground.
"You are asking me to be rational," he said, "that is something I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish that I could just wish away my feelings for her, but I can't." Calleah shook her head,
"I will not give into this and neither would she." Anakin then turned to walk away. Calleah let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She was grateful when he stepped away because him standing so close to her, the way he was talking, and the way the firelight danced on his features it made her feel things that she didn't want to feel towards someone she now considered to possibly be her best friend. Suddenly he stopped and turned back towards her,
"Well, you know, it…wouldn't have to be that way," he paused, "Amidala and I could keep it a secret." The fire crackled behind her,
"You'd be living a lie, one you couldn't keep even if you wanted to. I don't know what Amidala would think but if it was me," she paused, "I couldn't do that. Could you, Anakin? Could you live like that?" He simply stared at her for a few moments then said,
"No. You're right. It would destroy us." He looked down then met her eyes. Calleah nodded. Anakin then gave her a small bow, "goodnight." He then went off to his room. Calleah put out the fire then quickly made her way to her room. She had a hand resting on her stomach as she took shallow breaths to hold in her feelings until she was in the safe confines of her room. She shut the door behind her then burst into tears. She put a hand up to her face and crumpled to the floor. She had thought Anakin liked her and wanted to be her friend because he liked who she was. But with their conversation that night it showed her that he only seemed to care about her and wanted to be close to her because she resembled Amidala. Part of her wished Amidala hadn't stopped her from throwing that paperweight at him when they met again, it would have saved them all a lot of grief. Calleah didn't understand what made Amidala so appealing to everyone, Obi-Wan, Anakin, several of the palace guards. Why couldn't Anakin ever look at her or think of her that way…not that she wanted him to. But it was nice every now and then to be noticed. She hugged her knees to her chest and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was about to scold herself for acting like a silly teenager when she realized that she was a teenager and she had every right to act that way. However, she wouldn't allow herself to act like a child anymore, it only caused her pain. She put on her mask as the strong mature queen of Naboo. She then changed out of her dress and went to bed.
In the middle of the night Calleah woke up to cries coming from Anakin's room, she thought he was still moping about Amidala when she heard him say 'Mom, no.' Calleah wanted to go to him, but felt like she couldn't face him that night so she went back to bed.
The next morning Anakin was standing on the porch that separated his and Calleah's rooms. He was trying to meditate and he stood with his hands clasped behind his back and his feet slightly apart. Calleah came out of her room wearing her nightgown and a navy blue robe over it. She watched him for a moment then approached him. He didn't respond and Calleah realized he was meditating. She decided to leave him to his thoughts.
"Don't go," she heard him say. She wanted to keep going, but he said it in a way that made him sound like a scared little boy and she would have to be heartless to refuse him. She turned back to face him,
"I don't want to disturb you." He took a deep breath in through his nose,
"Your presence is soothing." She pushed away her anger and pain from last night and said,
"You had another nightmare last night, you've been having the same one for a while, right?" Anakin replied,
"Jedi don't have nightmares." Calleah said,
"Good try, but you can't lie to me. I'm a Jedi too. Also I heard you." Silence hung in the air before Anakin spoke,
"I saw my mother," Calleah moved closer to him. He turned to meet her gaze, "She's in pain Calle. I saw her as clearly as I see you now." He turned away and put his hands on his hips. He let out a deep sigh then said, "She's in pain." He turned back to face her, "I know I'm disobeying my mandate to protect you, Calleah, but I have to go." He stepped closer to her, "I have to help her."
"I'll go with you," Calleah replied. Anakin shrugged and shook his head,
"I'm sorry. I don't have a choice." Calleah nodded,
"I know, go pack." Anakin nodded,
"Thank you Calle." He turned and went to go pack as Calleah did. Before he got to his room he heard Calleah say his name,
"Anakin," he turned to face her. She was looking at him from the corner of her eye.
"Yes?" She let out a breath through her nose,
"I think it would be best if you referred to me as Your Highness or Queen Calleah from now on." She then walked to her room with her regal walk. Anakin stared after her confused at why she would say that. He had thought they had become close over the time they spent together. He had begun to think of her as his best friend, he poured his heart out to her last night. Now here she was telling him to not speak to her casually. Was this about last night? Of course it was, he said he was comparing her to Amidala and was sort of selfishly using her to live out what he wished he could do with Amidala. At least that's what it sounded like he was doing. However, it wasn't true. Around Calleah he felt like he could truly be himself. Obi-Wan expected him to act more mature, in other words, act more like him. Around Amidala he was constantly tripping over his words and trying to make her see that he wasn't the little boy she met on Tatooine anymore. He must have hurt Calleah deeply last night. He then rushed into her room without knocking. Luckily she wasn't changing or anything. "Anakin?" Calleah said confused.
"I'm sorry about last night," Anakin said. Calleah tilted her head to the side and Anakin continued, "I said some things I shouldn't have said and I'm sorry." Calleah turned back to her suitcase and continued packing,
"You mean about how I caused you pain because I looked like Amidala and how when you kissed me yesterday all you thought about was Amidala. How basically I am your Amidala substitute." She turned back to him, all of her anger from last night coming out now. Anakin shook his head,
"I didn't mean it, it's not true, I swear. I have fun with you. I care about you Calleah." Calleah had heard those five words too many times and put another dress in the suitcase angrily. Anakin then spun her around to face him and pulled her into a crushing embrace, "I won't lose you over this." Calleah's breath caught in her throat. Anakin nuzzled into her hair, "You're my best friend Calleah. Your friendship means the world to me." Calleah then patted his back,
"Don't worry, you won't lose me or my friendship." Anakin pulled away from her and smiled. She then made a nodding motion, "now go pack." Anakin nodded then left. The curtains swayed still from his movements. Calleah put a hand over her heart and let out a breath. It was true Anakin would never lose her, not now, not ever. Just like she hoped that she would never lose him.
Alrighty next stop for our young heroes, Tatooine. That was a long chapter. Twice as long as my other chapters, but I had to go though as many tracks as I did last time. The next chapter we'll be back to the Obidalaness and the aftermath of the fiery kiss in the rain. This chapter was really interesting a lot of stuff happened. Also Anakin and Calleah's relationship hit so many levels it was crazy. There was the light fun banter, the heart wrenching heart-to-heart in which Anakin was stupid, and also the kiss, which was kind of a combination of both. I also hoped you liked at how I brought in Rabe to kind of fill you all in on what happened to our fun handmaidens. Another one might come in and visit later (hint hint). You just have to wait and see. Well see you soon. Please R&R!
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