The senate was buzzing with excitement. We almost had Count Dooku captured and the war would have been over, but the Jedi were captured as well, and narrowly escaped with their lives with the help of Jar Jar Binks, and Count Dooku escaped.
"How he and Anakin did not kill each other is beyond me," thought Padme Amidala to herself as she took in the scene.
Mas Amadda brought everyone to order, and Chancellor Palpatine rose from his seat.
"The escape of Count Dooku is a distressing event, but we must prevail."
Boos came from the chorus of senators, but the Chancellor held his hand up and silenced them. "We can not hold the Jedi responsible for anything the Senate itself cannot do on its own power. If the Senate would have been able to hold itself together, then we would not need a young Jedi Knight to come to our rescue. I know Anakin Skywalker personally, if he could not capture Dooku at the moment, it could not be done."
Padme positioned her platform to hover near the Chancellor. "I must say, I agree with you your highness, no one man can lose or win a war. We must remember it was not the Jedi who started this war, but our political agendas. Remember, Dooku is a coward who has done nothing but run and hide and he is running out of places to do that. The Jedi will hunt him down, for they are far more cunning than him. We must have faith in our democracy, and in our protectors of it the Jedi. I stand with General Skywalker, who stands with me?"
A chorus of cheers went up that bounced off the Senate walls and overwhelmed me. No one has lost faith in my husband, they were just scared of Dooku and his tactics. They just needed a little encouragement that is all.
I was maneuvering my platform back to the docking bay to get out of the way of people who needed to talk, when I heard a ping from the dashboard, meaning that I had a message from someone in the Senate. I looked down and saw it was from Chancellor Palpatine himself. I opened it.
"Padme:
That was a wonderful speech, my lady. Your friendship and admiration for Anakin shines through when you talk about him. I like that, and I think he would appreciate it. I have a proposition for you. I was wondering if you could meet me in my chambers, say, 1500 hours. I'll be expecting you.
Sheev"
"Of course," I said back.
When I arrived to Chancellor Palpatine's chambers I was a bit confused and very concerned about what Sheev wanted to talk to me about. He had commented on my dedication to Anakin. Maybe, I had overplayed the thankfulness to a man who had saved my life several times and people were beginning to suspect something.
"My admiration for Anakin?" I thought, walking to the Chancellor's office. "Does he suspect something? Did I just destroy us? What should I do? Stay calm. Don't become defensive. Obi-Wan has told Anakin that we have feelings for each other, my sister saw that we cared for each other when she met Ani. No. If I say I don't care, they know that's a lie. If I make a brother/sister thing or like a best friend, they will believe that."
When I arrived, Dar Wac, Palpatine's aide greeted me.
"Hello Senator Amidala," said Dar Wac, "His Excellency is expecting you. Go right in."
"Thank you, Dar."
I walked into the office to see Palpatine hunched over at his desk looking at some hologram of an unknown planet I have never seen before. It was a beautiful planet, filled with water, volcanoes, deserts, and grasslands. It looked like Kamino, Tatooine, Naboo, and Mustafar combined. I had never seen anything more thrilling or more dangerous.
I cleared my throat to indicate my presence, and Palpatine turned around to see me.
"Ah, Padme, come in, come," and he turned around and shut off the hologram.
"I didn't mean to spy. You looked deep in thought," I said.
"You are quite alright, my dear. And I was deep in thought. I will need your help if I am going to make any headway, but we can discuss that later. First, I want to finish our discussion about Anakin."
"Oh, I can explain my actions with your grace. You see I have known Anakin since he was a young child, and I felt he was receiving unfair treatment, and since he was not there to defend himself against the senate, I felt obligated."
"You do not feel obligated towards the other Jedi," said Palpatine.
"The other Jedi would not take a bullet for me. Anakin would," I said.
"Out of devotion?" he asked, eyes up.
That was a dangerous question. "Out of friendship," I clarified. "I do not have many friends. Colleagues, Political partners, but not friends. Neither does Anakin. We are kind of there for one another."
"He is a special and talented young man. You have no doubt figured that out for yourself. Although at times, I suspect that he is under-appreciated by the Jedi. He is in some ways far superior to them. If only he could amend the Jedi rules and could still play their games."
Was he talking about our marriage? Surely he wasn't, how could he? Anakin would not tell him what happened between us, would he?
"We could keep it a secret." Anakin's proposal rang so strongly in my ears. No Ani would not breathe a word, even to Palpatine, he must be getting at something else entirely.
"What do you mean?" I asked, innocently.
"Well, his mother, for example, he feels as if he cannot have an obligation to her, which is ludicrous," answered Palpatine.
I nodded. "I'm not sure if you know this, but I was with Anakin when his mother died. He had a whole spectrum of emotions, anger, guilt, grief, despair, but one of them was shame for feeling that way. I tried to explain to him that it was okay and normal to feel those feelings, but I doubt he would listen to me."
"The Jedi value the feeling of serenity at all times and that is why they do not have attachments. I have tried to tell Anakin that he is different and needs to evaluate himself, according to the circumstances, however Anakin disregards me because I am not a Jedi."
"There is nothing wrong with loving your mother, even the Jedi would say that," I said.
"Oh, never put anything past them, my lady. Aren't they the ones who outlawed love itself?"
"Anakin said that 'compassion or unconditional love is essential to a Jedi's life'."
"Ah, he is a clever one. Yes it is. But only at a certain point of view. What Master Yoda might find compassionate, you and I might find heartless."
I bit my lip thinking about such topics. Is it possible that Ani should leave the Jedi Order and we could just be happy together on Naboo?
"Now, perhaps we should stop discussing the ideals of a religion neither of us practice, and discuss politics?" said Palpatine, smiling.
"Ah, yes. You wanted to discuss something," I said.
He led me to his desk and turned on the monitor to reveal a hologram display of a strange planet. I realized it was the same strange planet that he was looking at and turned off when I entered the room.
"Our probes have found this when we were searching for Separatist spies," said Palpatine.
"A new planet?" I asked.
"We are calling it Terra until we can think of a more suitable name."
"Terra," I said, filling the name in my mouth. "Are the locals friendly?"
"There have been no locals based on what we have discovered with our probes."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Advise me. We are running a war. You are one of my most trusted allies and a good friend. What do I do? This has never happened before in my lifetime. Truthfully, we are unsure of these peoples levels of education and language. What do you do in this day and era if you find a planet?"
"Someone has to go speak for the Republic and explain to them our values and our democracy. These people could aid us and we could aid them."
"I agree, but who would go to an unknown region face unknown dangers in the name of democracy?"
"I'll do it."
"No Padme. It is too dangerous."
"I didn't say I would do it alone. I will have my security team."
"You will also bring another senator, and Jedi Knight and his company."
Another senator huh? And a Jedi? Well, obviously Anakin. And Obi-Wan and Ahsoka as a package deal. We will never be alone, unless the Senator is... "How about two Jedi Knights, a well adapted Padawan learner, a Senator, and two clone battalions?"
"That will be acceptable. Which battalions do you have in mind?"
"The 501st and 212th."
"Obi-Wan and Anakin?"
"They protected me when I was in danger before," I said.
"And they will do a superb job now. And your choice of Senator?"
"Satine Kryze."
"Interesting Choice."
"She is extremely diplomatic, as a pacifist, she will be able to de-escalate situations. Also, she is familiar with Anakin and Obi-Wan. They are all friends, and can work together as a team." And she will distract Obi-Wan from Anakin and I.
"I had no idea she and the Jedi were friends," he said. "An excellent choice. Sounds like you will have a good strike team. I will prepare the order for the Council, and have the Jedi report to you in the morning."