Chapter Twenty-Three

I had never been so humiliated in my life! I couldn't believe she had the nerve to cause such a scene at my wedding! If she wanted to speak to me, then she should've arrived earlier and spoken to me before, not during the ceremony!

I love my mother, but she can be so hard-headed sometimes. My sister, Sola, tells me that I take after her, but where I've had the opportunity to translate that characteristic into something positive, Mother hasn't. She always wanted to go into politics but chose to stay home with her children. I appreciate the sacrifices she made for us and I'd hoped that after I moved out of the home, she make better use of her time. However, when Sola returned to work, Mother decided to watch her two young ones. All she had was her volunteer work, and it wasn't good enough to make her happy apparently. Instead, she had to keep butting into everyone else's lives.

What was worse is that the acquaintances she had made through her volunteer work were filling her head with false rumors and misleading information.

I could tell by the look on her face when I stepped out into the hallway how our so-called 'talk' was going to go. She was going to insist she was correct and that I should take her advice, while father would play mediator and insist that we stop arguing and come to some sort of understanding.

There would be no compromise. No matter what she believed about the Jedi, Obi-Wan was the love of my life and I was going to spend what time I had left in this galaxy with him.

"You haven't heard the things I have," she declared as if she was so much wiser than I am. "You claim he is looking out for what's best for you, but how can you ever be certain he really loves you or if he is only following orders?"

"He loves me. I know it," I adamantly replied while practically begging my father with my eyes to intervene and stop this madness.

"You don't know anything! You're still too young and naïve to understand what is really going on in the galaxy outside of Naboo. I've traveled to Coruscant many times and I've seen what happens in the Core. The Jedi aren't trusted. They only look out for themselves and will do whatever they think is right in their eyes, regardless of the consequences of their actions."

"Obi-Wan is no longer a Jedi," I argued, although I knew it was senseless to do so. When Mother believed she was right, there was no swaying her. Not even father could.

"But he is still associated with them, is he not? He hasn't cut ties with them. His Master showing up here proves that. He isn't to be trusted, Padmé. I think you're making a huge mistake and I cannot approve of this union."

I fought hard to hold back the angry tears that were threatening to fall. I was young when Sola married, but I do believe I remember mother saying pretty much the same things about her husband, Darred. No spouse either of us chose would ever be worthy in her eyes.

But I wasn't about to stand here and allow her to speak such slanderous things about my husband to be.

"You don't know Obi-Wan or anything about him," I told her through gritted teeth. "He has saved my life on several occasions…"

"As he should. It's his duty. But that doesn't mean you have to marry him," she interrupted me to say.

"I'm marrying him because I love him, and if you don't believe that, then it's your choice, and it's a wrong one! You're wrong, Mother!"

Her jaw clenched and I realized by standing up to her that I was risking our future relationship, but if that's what happened, then so be it. If it came down to choosing one or the other, I would choose Obi-Wan. Every time.

"Then that is something I refuse to stand by and watch. Mark my words, Padmé Naberrie, you will regret this decision some day and I hope by then it won't be too late."

She then turned to Father. "I'll be waiting at the transport station."

I watched her leave and my father wiped away the tears I'd finally allowed to fall. "You know she didn't mean it," he told me tenderly, pulling me into an embrace.

Thus was the story of my young life. My mother would go off on these tirades and then father would console me.

"If she didn't mean it, then she shouldn't have said it. I might not be able to forgive her this time," I warned him.

"You will. You always do. This one might take a little more time, that's all. Come," he insisted, holding out his arm to me. "Let's return to your ceremony."

Even though I had the suspicion that Father supported mother in everything, he didn't always voice his opinions as strongly as she did.

I was no longer a child. I had chosen Obi-Wan to be my partner in life and he was the only one I would need. If Mother decided her pride was more important than maintaining a relationship with me, then so be it.

"Proceed," I told the priest when I returned, pleased to stand side by side with the man I loved. Even after Obi-Wan questioned if I was ready, I insisted we continue. We had guests and some of them had traveled a fair distance. They came to see a wedding and a wedding is what they would see.

I did my best to ignore the tension that had built up during my argument with Mother and had every intention of speaking to Obi-Wan about it. However, there were so many who wished to shake our hands and congratulate us, I didn't have the opportunity.

And then the Chancellor stepped up and offered me the Senatorial position on Coruscant. It was too much. I knew I should've jumped at the chance, but I hadn't been expecting it. Not this soon. My four-year tenure as queen of Naboo would be ending soon, and although I had heard the rumors that the Royal Council were planning on extending my role here, the thought of being an important part of the Galactic Senate was a temptation I couldn't pass up. From such a vantage point, I could determine how much corruption indeed was in the capitol and if there was anything I could do about it.

But I needed to talk to Obi-Wan first. He had already given up so much for me and it wouldn't be fair to drag him away from the place he had come to call home to follow me to the Core. We were a team and I needed his support, especially now that I no longer had my family's.