Chapter Two
"I wonder if she still remembers me?" Anakin mused as he and Obi-Wan rode to the Conference Complex the next day. He was bouncing his right leg nervously, and despite years of training in patience, Obi-Wan struggled to resist the urge to grab Anakin's leg and hold it still.
"I doubt she could forget you," he observed in reproof.
Anakin wiped his palms on his pants legs, a gesture which did not stop his leg from bouncing. "I don't know," he fretted. "I was just a little kid then."
Obi-Wan turned his face to the speeder's window in order to hide his smile, amused that Anakin, usually brimming with self-confidence, was so uncertain. Anakin was generally very open about his feelings, but he held some subjects, and people, close to his heart. He almost never spoke of his mother to Obi-Wan, and he certainly never talked about Amidala. But Obi-Wan long suspected he secretly carried a torch for the young Queen, or rather the "handmaiden" he had met on Tatooine. The boy's current nervousness was all the confirmation Obi-Wan could need. He only hoped Anakin would not be disappointed in the reunion.
Obi-Wan was glad Bail had arranged this gathering before the conference. Anakin was going to be bored by all the talk, but a few days with Amidala and Jar Jar would hopefully give him enough excitement to make it through the conference, as well as distract him enough to give Obi-Wan some time with Bail.
They arrived at the complex and settled the few things they had brought in their assigned rooms. They could have commuted from the Jedi Temple every day, but Anakin and even Obi-Wan relished opportunities to leave the Temple, besides the fact that they were both looking forward to the company. In their eager anticipation of the reunion, they did little more than throw their bags into the rooms before setting off for Bail's apartments.
As soon as they were admitted, Obi-Wan saw that the suite had been redecorated in typical Bail Organa fashion. The Prince hated the impersonal style of multiple-user buildings, especially bureaucratic ones like the Conference Complex, and wherever he went he always brought along a few things to make the place suitable to his tastes. He'd even finally succeeded in persuading Obi-Wan to add a tapestry and a small rug or two to his own apartment in the Jedi Temple. Raised as he had been with the austere tastes of the Jedi, Obi-Wan had nevertheless grown to appreciate Bail's creature comforts.
Hardly had the door been opened to them when Anakin burst out, "Are they here yet?"
Bail laughed. "I'm afraid you've beaten them, but they'll be here any minute." He greeted Obi-Wan with a kiss on each cheek before extending his hand to Anakin for a perfunctory shake. Anakin would never submit to the traditional Alderaani form of greeting, and Bail accepted this in good spirits. He knew Anakin didn't like him. He believed the boy was jealous of Bail's relationship with Obi-Wan, but this was only partly true. In fact, Anakin resented Bail because of the effect he had on his master. The only time Anakin ever saw Obi-Wan completely relaxed and comfortable was in Bail Organa's presence. Although padawan and master were extremely close, Anakin had to work hard to elicit a smile from Obi-Wan, so he resented the fact that his master handed them out so freely to Bail.
This resentment aside, Bail Organa was the classiest person Anakin knew, and in his effort to erase all traces of his former life as a slave, Anakin had undertaken to learn all he could about taste, art, and the finer things in life from the Prince. So as Obi-Wan relaxed in a chair, Anakin surveyed the room with a critical eye. "Malvingian tapestries," he announced, taking in the draperies, "and that vase is from Heladi Prime. Antique?"
"Yes," Bail conceded. "But not too antique. My parents would kill me if I broke it, even though they weren't the ones to pay for it. How did you know it was antique?"
"There's so much red in it," Anakin answered with authority. "It's the fashion nowadays to use blue."
"Very good. So that means it must be at least how old?"
Anakin's brow furrowed. "I don't know."
"At least 150, ever since their trade agreement with Heladi III and they were able to get their hands on Heladi III's beautiful lapis lazuli," Bail informed him. "That vase is barely an antique, really, only about 200 years old."
Anakin carefully stored this information in his brain. He could have an amazingly accurate memory for such details, though Obi-Wan could not understand why. His padawan quizzed Bail on some of the other pieces in the room while Obi-Wan struggled not to yawn in boredom.
The art lesson was interrupted by the buzzing of the door chime. Anakin jumped in anticipation but fortunately had the presence of mind not to drop the statuette he'd been holding. While Bail went to the door, Anakin struggled to decide whether he should sit, going for the casual approach, or remain standing more formally. He had just decided to sit down when Obi- Wan stood up. Anakin tottered a moment before righting himself, standing awkwardly at Obi-Wan's side.
Padme, however, accustomed as she was to diplomacy and dealing coolly with all kinds of difficult meetings, felt no discomfort in anticipation of this meeting, while Jar Jar had little interest in who Bail's mystery guests might be since his efforts to track down Anakin at the Jedi Temple had proven futile. No one at the Temple knew who "Ani" was, and Jar Jar had forgotten Anakin's full name.
"Welcome, welcome!" Bail greeted them effusively when he opened the door. He kissed Padme on both cheeks and was about to do the same to Jar Jar, except he wasn't sure where exactly the Gungan's cheeks were. "Your friends are already here and eager to see you again."
He stepped aside, and Padme recognized Obi-Wan easily enough. He had let his hair grow longer, reaching just past his ears, but other than that, he had scarcely changed since she saw him last. But the young man standing next to him, wearing a sour expression as if he suffered from acute indigestion.... Could it possibly be --?
"Ani!" Jar Jar cried jubilantly, his arms thrown wide as he leapt across the room to greet his old friend.
"Jar Jar!" Anakin returned, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the Gungan's embrace. He had almost forgotten Jar Jar was coming too, but he was nevertheless elated to see him again, and greeting him was certainly easier than facing the Queen.
While Anakin was being pounded by Jar Jar, Padme exchanged greetings with Obi-Wan, though her attention was focused as discreetly as possible on Anakin. She would never have recognized him as the curious little boy she'd met in Watto's shop. He stood almost as tall as Obi-Wan, and had clearly not reached his full height yet. Baby fat had been replaced by adolescent lankiness, but his shoulders were beginning to broaden, and she could tell that beneath his finely cut and stylish black and red tunic he was well built and toned. All that Jedi training, no doubt. His hair had darkened, no longer bleached by Tatooine's twin suns, and it was cut close as Obi- Wan's had been. His padawan braid reached well past his shoulder, a testimony to how long it had been since she had last seen him. Only when she dared to look fully into his blue eyes did she at last recognize the boy she had known.
"Hello, Ani," she said, her voice steady.
As accustomed as Padme was to making a grand appearance as Queen of Naboo, she had no idea what a devastating impact her entrance had had on Anakin. She had been almost full grown when she'd met Anakin five years ago, and she had gained barely an inch in height since then. But if Anakin was still a lanky adolescent, Padme had now grown into all the curves of womanhood, and her face glowed with youthful health. If she had first walked into Anakin's life like an angel from Iego, she now floated back into it like a goddess from Lugomer, whose footsteps caused flowers to spring forth from the desert, and whose bright eyes gave the sun its luster.
Anakin blushed deeply in the face of such loveliness. Obi-Wan cleared his throat pointedly, and Anakin at last realized he was staring. "Hello, Ami-- ," he paused, unsure how to address her. "Your --, uh..."
"You may call me Padme in private," she offered with what she thought was a gentle smile, but which struck Anakin like a thunderbolt. "It's my real name, anyway. Amidala is my royal name."
Anakin sighed dreamily. "You can call me Ani," he answered, completely unaware that she already had. He had shed that nickname when he left Tatooine.
She smiled again, and Anakin lost the ability to breathe.
Amused by his padawan's shell-shocked state, Obi-Wan shot Bail a saucy glance, then said to Padme, "It is a pleasure to see you again, Your Majesty, and we're looking forward to the conference as well."
"The pleasure is mine," Padme returned. She did not, Anakin noted with pleasure, encourage Obi-Wan to call her "Padme."
"And it's good to see you as well, Jar Jar," Obi-Wan continued. He seemed to have forgotten he had ever once called the Gungan a pathetic lifeform.
"Oh, Obi, muy muy mesa happy to see yousa!" Jar Jar effused, throwing his arms around the Jedi, who endured the embrace with dignity.
"Now we are all reaquainted," Bail beamed, feeling himself to be the author of all this happiness, "and I absolutely forbid any discussion of clones, politics, economics, or any other serious subject for the next 20 hours. Instead we will enjoy ourselves in the company of good friends. Anakin," and here he threw the boy a conspiratorially wink which normally would have irritated the young padawan, "it shall be up to you and me to ensure that these two sober people never refer to business."
For once, Anakin was happy to oblige.
*****
Ever the master of ceremonies, Bail had made all the arrangements for the day. Since Padme and Jar Jar had only been to Coruscant once, he had planned a tour of some of the major sights, choosing with care places that would be interesting, but not so distracting as to prevent conversation. Parks and monuments that the bill perfectly, requiring attention only at first, and afterwards enjoyed best in the company of friends.
Their party quickly split into two groups, with Bail and Obi-Wan in the lead, looking back occasionally to make sure the others were still with them. The younger three hung together. Initially Anakin and Padme were a little shy with each other, but Jar Jar's natural garrulousness broke the ice, and all three were soon chattering away, remembering old times and recounting exploits from the intervening years. Anakin found his attention divided between Jar Jar and Padme, which was not an easy place to be considering how different the two were, quite apart from how different Anakin's interest in each was. He had all kinds of wild stories to tell Jar Jar, but he was not sure Padme would find them equally diverting. Likewise he wanted to impress Padme with his hard won education and class, especially some of the more choice bits he had picked up from Bail -- guaranteed, he felt, to impress royalty, but of less interest to a Gungan. He walked between the two of them, feeling sometimes as if he were literally talking out of both sides of his mouth at once.
Obi-Wan was well aware of his padawan's dilemma, and after an hour or two he and Bail let the others catch up, whereupon he seamlessly snagged Jar Jar into conversation, leaving Anakin and Padme to fall behind on their own.
At first they recovered some of their initial awkwardness without Jar Jar to help things along. They were walking by a small lake in a park, and for a while they watched the people boating or playing near the water. Eventually, Padme remarked, "I didn't know Coruscant had nice places like this."
"Yeah, it's not so bad when you get to know it," Anakin agreed.
She glanced at him. "Do you ever miss Tatooine?"
"Never!" he spat with an intensity that startled her. For an instant his face contorted with anger, but he quickly recovered his composure, though it required some effort.
Padme was tempted to drop the subject entirely, but she felt again that strange bond she'd shared with Anakin when they first met, and she plucked up the courage to say, "I can't imagine how hard is for you to be apart from your mother." He said nothing, but some of the tension in his face eased, as if he were grateful she had noticed. She continued, carefully, "How is she?"
Anakin looked away, and she sensed his unease. "I don't know," he confessed. "I never hear from her."
They walked on in silence, Padme waiting patiently for him to say what he had never shared with anyone before. Eventually, he continued, "I tried several times to write to her, but I didn't know what to say. 'Hi, Mom, I'm having a ball; sorry you're still a slave'? Every time I think of her stuck there...." He balled his fists at his sides as impotent rage overcame him. He let its familiar heat wash through him, using Jedi calming techniques not to help him rise above it but to force it deep down inside him.
"I'm learning, though," he said, his voice steadier and filled with resolution. "Every day I'm learning more so that someday I'll go back and get her out."
"I know you will." They were not empty words; she believed it. "She is a very special person, and I admire her courage. I know she's very proud of you."
Anakin felt tears rising within him, but he forced them down, too, feeding them to the ravenous beast that lived in his heart and swallowed all his dark thoughts. To change the subject, he asked, "How is your family?"
Following up on his lead, Padme said, "They're fine. They don't live in Theed, but I see them often enough. You should come to Naboo sometime and visit their farm. You would like it." Padme never invited anyone to her family's farm, not even her handmaidens, but it seemed natural to invite Anakin. A thought occurred to her. "Are Jedi allowed vacations?"
"Ha!" Anakin snorted, some of his good humor returning. "Not often enough! We almost always go to Alderaan. The Prince has some great speeder bikes and skyhoppers. He lets me take them out and race them. Obi-Wan usually doesn't let me do that on Coruscant, but on Alderaan he doesn't mind. Sometimes he and the Prince come with me. They're both good pilots, but nowhere near as good as me." He couldn't help boasting. After all, it was true.
"Well, I don't know that Naboo is much good for racing, but you are always welcome to come. Obi-Wan, too, of course."
Anakin brightened at the invitation. "I'll tear him away from Alderaan for once. Or better yet, he can go to Alderaan by himself, and I'll come to Naboo! We don't always have to go everywhere together." He smiled. "You know, whenever we would go out on a mission undercover, people always used to think he was my father. But I'm getting tall enough they're going to think we're brothers."
In fact, now that he'd mentioned it, Padme realized he even sounded like Obi-Wan. He periodically mimicked his master's accent, but it came and went, mostly manifesting when Anakin wanted to sound important or worldly. She could see how people might think he and Obi-Wan were related, but it made her wonder about his real father. Curious, she asked, "What happened to your father?"
"I never had one," Anakin said easily. Some people might find such a statement shameful, but slaves knew well the heartache of broken families. Some didn't know where they had come from, while others had been sold into slavery by their own parents. For Anakin to have no father did not strike him as at all unusual or worthy of sympathy, and since he was so unconcerned, Padme likewise dropped the subject.
They again fell silent, and Anakin found the topic of family leading him to an issue of more immediate concern. Plucking up his courage, he asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Padme laughed. "Of course not!"
This news encouraged Anakin, and he grew bolder. "Why not? I would think thousands of guys must be in love with you."
"Maybe," she smiled coyly. "But I don't have time for that kind of thing."
"If I lived on Naboo, I'd make sure you had time," Anakin asserted.
She laughed again. This was more like the boy she knew on Tatooine! "You probably would! Too bad you're too young for me."
But Anakin was not deterred. "I won't be this young forever."
"No, you won't," she relented, but he was still too young for her to see any harm in their flirting. "Who knows what will happen in a few years?" She cocked her head at him. "But what about you? Do you have any girlfriends?"
"No way!"
"Aren't there thousands of girls in love with you?" she teased.
"Yeah," he replied matter-of-factly. "But I'm not interested in any of them."
"Why not?"
"Because I know exactly the girl for me." He gazed at her frankly, but without any expectation of reply.
Padme hesitated. He really was going too far, but he was merely stating what he felt, and she had asked the question. She tried to take the higher ground by saying magnanimously, "I wish I was as sure of myself as you are."
"You will be," Anakin assured her, "when your mind is made up."
In the face of such confidence, it was Padme who was left feeling like a child.
Suddenly Anakin glanced forward to where the others had gone ahead, his expression concerned. Padme followed his gaze and saw that a crowd had assembled around Obi-Wan, Bail, and Jar Jar. Without a word, the two of them rushed to catch up.
Several people in the crowd were arguing heatedly, pointing accusing fingers at Bail and haranguing him. Obi-Wan stood by, poised for action if the need arose.
"You of all people should know better!" one of the troublemakers accused the Prince. "I thought Alderaan stood for truth!"
"We strive to," Bail answered mildly. "But not everyone agrees on what truth is."
Another youth came forward. In fact, most of the crowd was young, not much older than Padme, and she guessed they were all university students. "Well, one thing is certain, the truth can't be manufactured. And that's what cloning is: the manufacturing of something to make it look like the truth."
"I beg to differ with you," Bail said. "The truth certainly can be manufactured, in art, poetry, music. One could argue that creativity is nothing more nor less than the manufacture of truth."
"It's not the same thing! Don't twist it around with your fancy words! Cloning must be stopped!" Those in the front of the crowd murmured in agreement.
The Prince handled their hostility with consummate skill. While it was clear Obi-Wan wanted to disperse the crowd and remove Bail to safety, the Prince sought to engage the students in discussion. "You assume that cloning can only be used for evil purposes," Bail continued. "You fear it the way some people fear ideas. But ideas are neither good nor bad in themselves until someone acts on them, either responsibly or irresponsibly. Cloning can have valuable uses, but we'll never be able to explore them if we decide at the outset that cloning is wrong."
"You are equating the suppression of an unnatural crime like cloning with censorship?" the lead student asked in disbelief.
"What would you have me call it? At least at this conference ideas are welcomed. Even the True Life Movement will be represented. I might point out that there were many who did not want the TLM to be present at all. It was I who insisted, ensuring their voice would be heard. But if you had your way, there would be no discussion at all."
"That's because there is nothing to discuss on the subject of cloning, and any TLM representatives at that conference are traitors!"
Another student warned, "If cloning is legalized, it will only come to a bad end, and the responsibility for all the evil that will follow will rest on your head, Organa!"
The students roared their agreement, letting loose a barrage of insults against the Prince. The crowd, merely curious at first, now became aroused, some siding with the students and others against them. The shouting drowned out any rational discussion. Obi-Wan stepped in front of Bail, his hand near his saber, and Anakin moved protectively closer to Padme. But Obi- Wan's advance only further antagonized the students, who now began insulting the Jedi as well, accusing them of keeping the elite in power and failing to protect the weak and helpless. Bail raised his hands, trying to calm the crowd with words, but to no end. Then from out of the mob someone hurled a piece of fruit that hit Bail square in the chest. The rage that had been building in the crowd now burst forth as they began throwing things, pushing and shoving at each other in an escalating riot.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted, and the young padawan took Padme's elbow and led her to Bail and Jar Jar, where they were flanked by the two Jedi. "Let's get them out of here," Obi-Wan instructed. "But whatever you do, do not ignite your saber unless weapons are drawn. It will only anger them further."
Anakin nodded curtly, but Padme could tell he was eager to join in the fight. It wounded him to see his master insulted, and he ached to teach the students a lesson.
The crowd surged around them, and there was no way they could escape. Someone shoved Padme from behind, and she stumbled hard against Jar Jar. Over the shouting a siren began to wail.
"Security has arrived," Obi-Wan explained. Padme was not tall enough to see over the crowd, but within minutes a small skyhopper forced its way through the mass of people. The door opened, and the two Jedi shoved the others inside. "Get them to safety," Obi-Wan told the officer piloting the vehicle. "We'll stay behind and help with the crowd." Then he slammed the door shut on them, and he and Anakin were swallowed up by the mob. The speeder slowly but inexorably threaded its way out of the melee, as Padme pressed her face against the window, searching for the Jedi.
Bail laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They'll be all right," he assured her, although Padme detected a tremor in his voice. "After all, they are Jedi. It sort of gives them the right to be overprotective."
Next to Bail, Jar Jar sat wringing his hands. "Those peoples are crazy!"
Padme had to agree. "Who were they?"
"Most likely members of the True Life Movement. They believe that all forms of cloning should be abolished as going against the natural order of things."
"And they will be present at the conference?" Padme asked skeptically.
Bail frowned at her in disapproval. "As I said, all viewpoints must be heard. Not all members of the TLM are so extreme. University students on Coruscant tend to be rather passionate. They are always demonstrating and looking for a fight on principle. Then they graduate, become senators' aides, and lose all their scruples."
His cynicism struck a sour note with Padme. She was about the same age as those students, and like them she wanted to believe that principles mattered, that one could remain true to one's beliefs. But she was also a politician, and she knew that reality often demanded compromise. Still, political life on Naboo was a lot more civil. Did she really want to give that up and embroil herself in Coruscant's shadier version of civic life?
Now that they were free from the crowd, the security officer turned around and asked, "Are you all right, Senator?"
"We're fine," Bail informed her. "A little shaken up is all."
Her scorn evident, the security officer shrugged, "Another day, another demonstration. Personally, I think those kids should stick to their books."
"The free exchange of ideas is the lifeblood of democracy," Bail observed.
"If that's your idea of a friendly debate, I'm a Hutt's mother," the security officer dismissed. "So, where do you want me to take you?"
Jar Jar leaned forward. "Wesa no leavin' without da Jedi!"
Bail agreed, "He's right. If you could just take us somewhere nearby, we would prefer to wait for our friends."
The security officer nodded and took the 'hopper up to a nearby hover pad where they could wait. Almost half an hour passed before the crowd finally dispersed, the riot ending as quickly as it had begun. Padme kept losing sight of the Jedi, but as the riot dwindled, it was Jar Jar who spotted the Jedi coming toward them. "Dere dey are!" he shouted, waving frantically at Anakin, who waved back. The 'hopper took them back down to ground level, where the two Jedi squeezed into the rear-facing seats.
Trying to conceal how worried he had been, Bail leaned across the seat and gave Obi-Wan a quick kiss. "My hero!" he said archly. Obi-Wan received both the kiss and the accolade with mild annoyance, but he did not let go of the Prince's hand. Eyeing Obi-Wan's stained and rumpled tunic, Bail remarked, "Well, at least now you'll have to change clothes before we go out tonight. You two are filthy."
Anakin enthused, "Yeah, it was pretty wild, everyone throwing food and stuff around. Someone got Obi-Wan right in the face with a sandwich." Obi- Wan shot him a disapproving look, which his padawan ignored. "This one woman had hold of a Fosh, and she was pulling chunks of his feathers out. And a Lumat got so scared it started squirting out defensive pheromones. Everyone nearby started throwing up. It was really ripe!"
"Anakin!" his master rebuked. "I don't think they really want to hear about it."
Bail struggled hard to keep a straight face at Obi-Wan's ongoing battle to instill a sense of propriety in his padawan, but Padme agreed with the Jedi, and Anakin's stories only frightened Jar Jar further. "My am glad yousa safe, Ani," the Gungan fretted.
"Aw, it's no big deal," Anakin dismissed. "Nothing was going to happen to us. This one guy tried to whack me on the head with his big old textbook, but I got it away from him. It was huge! Almost as long as those history books you're always making me read." He smirked at his master.
Obi-Wan reproached him with a frown. "All the same, I think we should reconsider going out tonight. Tempers are definitely running hot on the cloning issue. There could be a repeat of the afternoon's events."
"Absolutely not," Bail protested. "I'm a politician, Ben. Everywhere I go there are always people wanting to stage a riot for my benefit. I cannot live my life in hiding. Nor should you."
Indignant at the rebuke, Obi-Wan huffed, "I'm not hiding."
"We will all have plenty of verbal sparring in the coming days of the Conference. If Anakin is lucky, the representatives of the TLM and the Trade Federation may even get into a fist fight. So we should relax and enjoy ourselves while we can. A night of dancing and entertainment is just what we need." He turned unexpectedly on Padme. "Wouldn't you agree, Your Majesty?"
Flustered at being put on the spot, Padme almost disagreed. She was still shaken by the riot. But in truth she had been looking forward to their evening plans. On Naboo she had few opportunities to have fun with friends. She noticed Anakin leaning forward, hope evident on his face. "I've never been to a nightclub before," Padme confessed.
Pleased, Bail said, "Well, Anakin, there, is a very good dancer, so you won't be disappointed. And Obi-Wan is not so bad, either, once he lets himself cut loose. And as for me, well...." He tossed Obi-Wan a wicked smirk.
"Gungans love dancen," Jar Jar piped up, his earlier fears forgotten.
With that, Obi-Wan knew he was outvoted. He might as well give up his exasperation with Bail and enjoy the ride. After all, the Prince always got his way, and the truth was Obi-Wan was glad he did. "All right," he conceded at last, "but if there is any trouble --"
"There won't be, my dear Bendu," Bail assured him, patting him on the knee. "That's why we let you come with us."
"I wonder if she still remembers me?" Anakin mused as he and Obi-Wan rode to the Conference Complex the next day. He was bouncing his right leg nervously, and despite years of training in patience, Obi-Wan struggled to resist the urge to grab Anakin's leg and hold it still.
"I doubt she could forget you," he observed in reproof.
Anakin wiped his palms on his pants legs, a gesture which did not stop his leg from bouncing. "I don't know," he fretted. "I was just a little kid then."
Obi-Wan turned his face to the speeder's window in order to hide his smile, amused that Anakin, usually brimming with self-confidence, was so uncertain. Anakin was generally very open about his feelings, but he held some subjects, and people, close to his heart. He almost never spoke of his mother to Obi-Wan, and he certainly never talked about Amidala. But Obi-Wan long suspected he secretly carried a torch for the young Queen, or rather the "handmaiden" he had met on Tatooine. The boy's current nervousness was all the confirmation Obi-Wan could need. He only hoped Anakin would not be disappointed in the reunion.
Obi-Wan was glad Bail had arranged this gathering before the conference. Anakin was going to be bored by all the talk, but a few days with Amidala and Jar Jar would hopefully give him enough excitement to make it through the conference, as well as distract him enough to give Obi-Wan some time with Bail.
They arrived at the complex and settled the few things they had brought in their assigned rooms. They could have commuted from the Jedi Temple every day, but Anakin and even Obi-Wan relished opportunities to leave the Temple, besides the fact that they were both looking forward to the company. In their eager anticipation of the reunion, they did little more than throw their bags into the rooms before setting off for Bail's apartments.
As soon as they were admitted, Obi-Wan saw that the suite had been redecorated in typical Bail Organa fashion. The Prince hated the impersonal style of multiple-user buildings, especially bureaucratic ones like the Conference Complex, and wherever he went he always brought along a few things to make the place suitable to his tastes. He'd even finally succeeded in persuading Obi-Wan to add a tapestry and a small rug or two to his own apartment in the Jedi Temple. Raised as he had been with the austere tastes of the Jedi, Obi-Wan had nevertheless grown to appreciate Bail's creature comforts.
Hardly had the door been opened to them when Anakin burst out, "Are they here yet?"
Bail laughed. "I'm afraid you've beaten them, but they'll be here any minute." He greeted Obi-Wan with a kiss on each cheek before extending his hand to Anakin for a perfunctory shake. Anakin would never submit to the traditional Alderaani form of greeting, and Bail accepted this in good spirits. He knew Anakin didn't like him. He believed the boy was jealous of Bail's relationship with Obi-Wan, but this was only partly true. In fact, Anakin resented Bail because of the effect he had on his master. The only time Anakin ever saw Obi-Wan completely relaxed and comfortable was in Bail Organa's presence. Although padawan and master were extremely close, Anakin had to work hard to elicit a smile from Obi-Wan, so he resented the fact that his master handed them out so freely to Bail.
This resentment aside, Bail Organa was the classiest person Anakin knew, and in his effort to erase all traces of his former life as a slave, Anakin had undertaken to learn all he could about taste, art, and the finer things in life from the Prince. So as Obi-Wan relaxed in a chair, Anakin surveyed the room with a critical eye. "Malvingian tapestries," he announced, taking in the draperies, "and that vase is from Heladi Prime. Antique?"
"Yes," Bail conceded. "But not too antique. My parents would kill me if I broke it, even though they weren't the ones to pay for it. How did you know it was antique?"
"There's so much red in it," Anakin answered with authority. "It's the fashion nowadays to use blue."
"Very good. So that means it must be at least how old?"
Anakin's brow furrowed. "I don't know."
"At least 150, ever since their trade agreement with Heladi III and they were able to get their hands on Heladi III's beautiful lapis lazuli," Bail informed him. "That vase is barely an antique, really, only about 200 years old."
Anakin carefully stored this information in his brain. He could have an amazingly accurate memory for such details, though Obi-Wan could not understand why. His padawan quizzed Bail on some of the other pieces in the room while Obi-Wan struggled not to yawn in boredom.
The art lesson was interrupted by the buzzing of the door chime. Anakin jumped in anticipation but fortunately had the presence of mind not to drop the statuette he'd been holding. While Bail went to the door, Anakin struggled to decide whether he should sit, going for the casual approach, or remain standing more formally. He had just decided to sit down when Obi- Wan stood up. Anakin tottered a moment before righting himself, standing awkwardly at Obi-Wan's side.
Padme, however, accustomed as she was to diplomacy and dealing coolly with all kinds of difficult meetings, felt no discomfort in anticipation of this meeting, while Jar Jar had little interest in who Bail's mystery guests might be since his efforts to track down Anakin at the Jedi Temple had proven futile. No one at the Temple knew who "Ani" was, and Jar Jar had forgotten Anakin's full name.
"Welcome, welcome!" Bail greeted them effusively when he opened the door. He kissed Padme on both cheeks and was about to do the same to Jar Jar, except he wasn't sure where exactly the Gungan's cheeks were. "Your friends are already here and eager to see you again."
He stepped aside, and Padme recognized Obi-Wan easily enough. He had let his hair grow longer, reaching just past his ears, but other than that, he had scarcely changed since she saw him last. But the young man standing next to him, wearing a sour expression as if he suffered from acute indigestion.... Could it possibly be --?
"Ani!" Jar Jar cried jubilantly, his arms thrown wide as he leapt across the room to greet his old friend.
"Jar Jar!" Anakin returned, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the Gungan's embrace. He had almost forgotten Jar Jar was coming too, but he was nevertheless elated to see him again, and greeting him was certainly easier than facing the Queen.
While Anakin was being pounded by Jar Jar, Padme exchanged greetings with Obi-Wan, though her attention was focused as discreetly as possible on Anakin. She would never have recognized him as the curious little boy she'd met in Watto's shop. He stood almost as tall as Obi-Wan, and had clearly not reached his full height yet. Baby fat had been replaced by adolescent lankiness, but his shoulders were beginning to broaden, and she could tell that beneath his finely cut and stylish black and red tunic he was well built and toned. All that Jedi training, no doubt. His hair had darkened, no longer bleached by Tatooine's twin suns, and it was cut close as Obi- Wan's had been. His padawan braid reached well past his shoulder, a testimony to how long it had been since she had last seen him. Only when she dared to look fully into his blue eyes did she at last recognize the boy she had known.
"Hello, Ani," she said, her voice steady.
As accustomed as Padme was to making a grand appearance as Queen of Naboo, she had no idea what a devastating impact her entrance had had on Anakin. She had been almost full grown when she'd met Anakin five years ago, and she had gained barely an inch in height since then. But if Anakin was still a lanky adolescent, Padme had now grown into all the curves of womanhood, and her face glowed with youthful health. If she had first walked into Anakin's life like an angel from Iego, she now floated back into it like a goddess from Lugomer, whose footsteps caused flowers to spring forth from the desert, and whose bright eyes gave the sun its luster.
Anakin blushed deeply in the face of such loveliness. Obi-Wan cleared his throat pointedly, and Anakin at last realized he was staring. "Hello, Ami-- ," he paused, unsure how to address her. "Your --, uh..."
"You may call me Padme in private," she offered with what she thought was a gentle smile, but which struck Anakin like a thunderbolt. "It's my real name, anyway. Amidala is my royal name."
Anakin sighed dreamily. "You can call me Ani," he answered, completely unaware that she already had. He had shed that nickname when he left Tatooine.
She smiled again, and Anakin lost the ability to breathe.
Amused by his padawan's shell-shocked state, Obi-Wan shot Bail a saucy glance, then said to Padme, "It is a pleasure to see you again, Your Majesty, and we're looking forward to the conference as well."
"The pleasure is mine," Padme returned. She did not, Anakin noted with pleasure, encourage Obi-Wan to call her "Padme."
"And it's good to see you as well, Jar Jar," Obi-Wan continued. He seemed to have forgotten he had ever once called the Gungan a pathetic lifeform.
"Oh, Obi, muy muy mesa happy to see yousa!" Jar Jar effused, throwing his arms around the Jedi, who endured the embrace with dignity.
"Now we are all reaquainted," Bail beamed, feeling himself to be the author of all this happiness, "and I absolutely forbid any discussion of clones, politics, economics, or any other serious subject for the next 20 hours. Instead we will enjoy ourselves in the company of good friends. Anakin," and here he threw the boy a conspiratorially wink which normally would have irritated the young padawan, "it shall be up to you and me to ensure that these two sober people never refer to business."
For once, Anakin was happy to oblige.
*****
Ever the master of ceremonies, Bail had made all the arrangements for the day. Since Padme and Jar Jar had only been to Coruscant once, he had planned a tour of some of the major sights, choosing with care places that would be interesting, but not so distracting as to prevent conversation. Parks and monuments that the bill perfectly, requiring attention only at first, and afterwards enjoyed best in the company of friends.
Their party quickly split into two groups, with Bail and Obi-Wan in the lead, looking back occasionally to make sure the others were still with them. The younger three hung together. Initially Anakin and Padme were a little shy with each other, but Jar Jar's natural garrulousness broke the ice, and all three were soon chattering away, remembering old times and recounting exploits from the intervening years. Anakin found his attention divided between Jar Jar and Padme, which was not an easy place to be considering how different the two were, quite apart from how different Anakin's interest in each was. He had all kinds of wild stories to tell Jar Jar, but he was not sure Padme would find them equally diverting. Likewise he wanted to impress Padme with his hard won education and class, especially some of the more choice bits he had picked up from Bail -- guaranteed, he felt, to impress royalty, but of less interest to a Gungan. He walked between the two of them, feeling sometimes as if he were literally talking out of both sides of his mouth at once.
Obi-Wan was well aware of his padawan's dilemma, and after an hour or two he and Bail let the others catch up, whereupon he seamlessly snagged Jar Jar into conversation, leaving Anakin and Padme to fall behind on their own.
At first they recovered some of their initial awkwardness without Jar Jar to help things along. They were walking by a small lake in a park, and for a while they watched the people boating or playing near the water. Eventually, Padme remarked, "I didn't know Coruscant had nice places like this."
"Yeah, it's not so bad when you get to know it," Anakin agreed.
She glanced at him. "Do you ever miss Tatooine?"
"Never!" he spat with an intensity that startled her. For an instant his face contorted with anger, but he quickly recovered his composure, though it required some effort.
Padme was tempted to drop the subject entirely, but she felt again that strange bond she'd shared with Anakin when they first met, and she plucked up the courage to say, "I can't imagine how hard is for you to be apart from your mother." He said nothing, but some of the tension in his face eased, as if he were grateful she had noticed. She continued, carefully, "How is she?"
Anakin looked away, and she sensed his unease. "I don't know," he confessed. "I never hear from her."
They walked on in silence, Padme waiting patiently for him to say what he had never shared with anyone before. Eventually, he continued, "I tried several times to write to her, but I didn't know what to say. 'Hi, Mom, I'm having a ball; sorry you're still a slave'? Every time I think of her stuck there...." He balled his fists at his sides as impotent rage overcame him. He let its familiar heat wash through him, using Jedi calming techniques not to help him rise above it but to force it deep down inside him.
"I'm learning, though," he said, his voice steadier and filled with resolution. "Every day I'm learning more so that someday I'll go back and get her out."
"I know you will." They were not empty words; she believed it. "She is a very special person, and I admire her courage. I know she's very proud of you."
Anakin felt tears rising within him, but he forced them down, too, feeding them to the ravenous beast that lived in his heart and swallowed all his dark thoughts. To change the subject, he asked, "How is your family?"
Following up on his lead, Padme said, "They're fine. They don't live in Theed, but I see them often enough. You should come to Naboo sometime and visit their farm. You would like it." Padme never invited anyone to her family's farm, not even her handmaidens, but it seemed natural to invite Anakin. A thought occurred to her. "Are Jedi allowed vacations?"
"Ha!" Anakin snorted, some of his good humor returning. "Not often enough! We almost always go to Alderaan. The Prince has some great speeder bikes and skyhoppers. He lets me take them out and race them. Obi-Wan usually doesn't let me do that on Coruscant, but on Alderaan he doesn't mind. Sometimes he and the Prince come with me. They're both good pilots, but nowhere near as good as me." He couldn't help boasting. After all, it was true.
"Well, I don't know that Naboo is much good for racing, but you are always welcome to come. Obi-Wan, too, of course."
Anakin brightened at the invitation. "I'll tear him away from Alderaan for once. Or better yet, he can go to Alderaan by himself, and I'll come to Naboo! We don't always have to go everywhere together." He smiled. "You know, whenever we would go out on a mission undercover, people always used to think he was my father. But I'm getting tall enough they're going to think we're brothers."
In fact, now that he'd mentioned it, Padme realized he even sounded like Obi-Wan. He periodically mimicked his master's accent, but it came and went, mostly manifesting when Anakin wanted to sound important or worldly. She could see how people might think he and Obi-Wan were related, but it made her wonder about his real father. Curious, she asked, "What happened to your father?"
"I never had one," Anakin said easily. Some people might find such a statement shameful, but slaves knew well the heartache of broken families. Some didn't know where they had come from, while others had been sold into slavery by their own parents. For Anakin to have no father did not strike him as at all unusual or worthy of sympathy, and since he was so unconcerned, Padme likewise dropped the subject.
They again fell silent, and Anakin found the topic of family leading him to an issue of more immediate concern. Plucking up his courage, he asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Padme laughed. "Of course not!"
This news encouraged Anakin, and he grew bolder. "Why not? I would think thousands of guys must be in love with you."
"Maybe," she smiled coyly. "But I don't have time for that kind of thing."
"If I lived on Naboo, I'd make sure you had time," Anakin asserted.
She laughed again. This was more like the boy she knew on Tatooine! "You probably would! Too bad you're too young for me."
But Anakin was not deterred. "I won't be this young forever."
"No, you won't," she relented, but he was still too young for her to see any harm in their flirting. "Who knows what will happen in a few years?" She cocked her head at him. "But what about you? Do you have any girlfriends?"
"No way!"
"Aren't there thousands of girls in love with you?" she teased.
"Yeah," he replied matter-of-factly. "But I'm not interested in any of them."
"Why not?"
"Because I know exactly the girl for me." He gazed at her frankly, but without any expectation of reply.
Padme hesitated. He really was going too far, but he was merely stating what he felt, and she had asked the question. She tried to take the higher ground by saying magnanimously, "I wish I was as sure of myself as you are."
"You will be," Anakin assured her, "when your mind is made up."
In the face of such confidence, it was Padme who was left feeling like a child.
Suddenly Anakin glanced forward to where the others had gone ahead, his expression concerned. Padme followed his gaze and saw that a crowd had assembled around Obi-Wan, Bail, and Jar Jar. Without a word, the two of them rushed to catch up.
Several people in the crowd were arguing heatedly, pointing accusing fingers at Bail and haranguing him. Obi-Wan stood by, poised for action if the need arose.
"You of all people should know better!" one of the troublemakers accused the Prince. "I thought Alderaan stood for truth!"
"We strive to," Bail answered mildly. "But not everyone agrees on what truth is."
Another youth came forward. In fact, most of the crowd was young, not much older than Padme, and she guessed they were all university students. "Well, one thing is certain, the truth can't be manufactured. And that's what cloning is: the manufacturing of something to make it look like the truth."
"I beg to differ with you," Bail said. "The truth certainly can be manufactured, in art, poetry, music. One could argue that creativity is nothing more nor less than the manufacture of truth."
"It's not the same thing! Don't twist it around with your fancy words! Cloning must be stopped!" Those in the front of the crowd murmured in agreement.
The Prince handled their hostility with consummate skill. While it was clear Obi-Wan wanted to disperse the crowd and remove Bail to safety, the Prince sought to engage the students in discussion. "You assume that cloning can only be used for evil purposes," Bail continued. "You fear it the way some people fear ideas. But ideas are neither good nor bad in themselves until someone acts on them, either responsibly or irresponsibly. Cloning can have valuable uses, but we'll never be able to explore them if we decide at the outset that cloning is wrong."
"You are equating the suppression of an unnatural crime like cloning with censorship?" the lead student asked in disbelief.
"What would you have me call it? At least at this conference ideas are welcomed. Even the True Life Movement will be represented. I might point out that there were many who did not want the TLM to be present at all. It was I who insisted, ensuring their voice would be heard. But if you had your way, there would be no discussion at all."
"That's because there is nothing to discuss on the subject of cloning, and any TLM representatives at that conference are traitors!"
Another student warned, "If cloning is legalized, it will only come to a bad end, and the responsibility for all the evil that will follow will rest on your head, Organa!"
The students roared their agreement, letting loose a barrage of insults against the Prince. The crowd, merely curious at first, now became aroused, some siding with the students and others against them. The shouting drowned out any rational discussion. Obi-Wan stepped in front of Bail, his hand near his saber, and Anakin moved protectively closer to Padme. But Obi- Wan's advance only further antagonized the students, who now began insulting the Jedi as well, accusing them of keeping the elite in power and failing to protect the weak and helpless. Bail raised his hands, trying to calm the crowd with words, but to no end. Then from out of the mob someone hurled a piece of fruit that hit Bail square in the chest. The rage that had been building in the crowd now burst forth as they began throwing things, pushing and shoving at each other in an escalating riot.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted, and the young padawan took Padme's elbow and led her to Bail and Jar Jar, where they were flanked by the two Jedi. "Let's get them out of here," Obi-Wan instructed. "But whatever you do, do not ignite your saber unless weapons are drawn. It will only anger them further."
Anakin nodded curtly, but Padme could tell he was eager to join in the fight. It wounded him to see his master insulted, and he ached to teach the students a lesson.
The crowd surged around them, and there was no way they could escape. Someone shoved Padme from behind, and she stumbled hard against Jar Jar. Over the shouting a siren began to wail.
"Security has arrived," Obi-Wan explained. Padme was not tall enough to see over the crowd, but within minutes a small skyhopper forced its way through the mass of people. The door opened, and the two Jedi shoved the others inside. "Get them to safety," Obi-Wan told the officer piloting the vehicle. "We'll stay behind and help with the crowd." Then he slammed the door shut on them, and he and Anakin were swallowed up by the mob. The speeder slowly but inexorably threaded its way out of the melee, as Padme pressed her face against the window, searching for the Jedi.
Bail laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They'll be all right," he assured her, although Padme detected a tremor in his voice. "After all, they are Jedi. It sort of gives them the right to be overprotective."
Next to Bail, Jar Jar sat wringing his hands. "Those peoples are crazy!"
Padme had to agree. "Who were they?"
"Most likely members of the True Life Movement. They believe that all forms of cloning should be abolished as going against the natural order of things."
"And they will be present at the conference?" Padme asked skeptically.
Bail frowned at her in disapproval. "As I said, all viewpoints must be heard. Not all members of the TLM are so extreme. University students on Coruscant tend to be rather passionate. They are always demonstrating and looking for a fight on principle. Then they graduate, become senators' aides, and lose all their scruples."
His cynicism struck a sour note with Padme. She was about the same age as those students, and like them she wanted to believe that principles mattered, that one could remain true to one's beliefs. But she was also a politician, and she knew that reality often demanded compromise. Still, political life on Naboo was a lot more civil. Did she really want to give that up and embroil herself in Coruscant's shadier version of civic life?
Now that they were free from the crowd, the security officer turned around and asked, "Are you all right, Senator?"
"We're fine," Bail informed her. "A little shaken up is all."
Her scorn evident, the security officer shrugged, "Another day, another demonstration. Personally, I think those kids should stick to their books."
"The free exchange of ideas is the lifeblood of democracy," Bail observed.
"If that's your idea of a friendly debate, I'm a Hutt's mother," the security officer dismissed. "So, where do you want me to take you?"
Jar Jar leaned forward. "Wesa no leavin' without da Jedi!"
Bail agreed, "He's right. If you could just take us somewhere nearby, we would prefer to wait for our friends."
The security officer nodded and took the 'hopper up to a nearby hover pad where they could wait. Almost half an hour passed before the crowd finally dispersed, the riot ending as quickly as it had begun. Padme kept losing sight of the Jedi, but as the riot dwindled, it was Jar Jar who spotted the Jedi coming toward them. "Dere dey are!" he shouted, waving frantically at Anakin, who waved back. The 'hopper took them back down to ground level, where the two Jedi squeezed into the rear-facing seats.
Trying to conceal how worried he had been, Bail leaned across the seat and gave Obi-Wan a quick kiss. "My hero!" he said archly. Obi-Wan received both the kiss and the accolade with mild annoyance, but he did not let go of the Prince's hand. Eyeing Obi-Wan's stained and rumpled tunic, Bail remarked, "Well, at least now you'll have to change clothes before we go out tonight. You two are filthy."
Anakin enthused, "Yeah, it was pretty wild, everyone throwing food and stuff around. Someone got Obi-Wan right in the face with a sandwich." Obi- Wan shot him a disapproving look, which his padawan ignored. "This one woman had hold of a Fosh, and she was pulling chunks of his feathers out. And a Lumat got so scared it started squirting out defensive pheromones. Everyone nearby started throwing up. It was really ripe!"
"Anakin!" his master rebuked. "I don't think they really want to hear about it."
Bail struggled hard to keep a straight face at Obi-Wan's ongoing battle to instill a sense of propriety in his padawan, but Padme agreed with the Jedi, and Anakin's stories only frightened Jar Jar further. "My am glad yousa safe, Ani," the Gungan fretted.
"Aw, it's no big deal," Anakin dismissed. "Nothing was going to happen to us. This one guy tried to whack me on the head with his big old textbook, but I got it away from him. It was huge! Almost as long as those history books you're always making me read." He smirked at his master.
Obi-Wan reproached him with a frown. "All the same, I think we should reconsider going out tonight. Tempers are definitely running hot on the cloning issue. There could be a repeat of the afternoon's events."
"Absolutely not," Bail protested. "I'm a politician, Ben. Everywhere I go there are always people wanting to stage a riot for my benefit. I cannot live my life in hiding. Nor should you."
Indignant at the rebuke, Obi-Wan huffed, "I'm not hiding."
"We will all have plenty of verbal sparring in the coming days of the Conference. If Anakin is lucky, the representatives of the TLM and the Trade Federation may even get into a fist fight. So we should relax and enjoy ourselves while we can. A night of dancing and entertainment is just what we need." He turned unexpectedly on Padme. "Wouldn't you agree, Your Majesty?"
Flustered at being put on the spot, Padme almost disagreed. She was still shaken by the riot. But in truth she had been looking forward to their evening plans. On Naboo she had few opportunities to have fun with friends. She noticed Anakin leaning forward, hope evident on his face. "I've never been to a nightclub before," Padme confessed.
Pleased, Bail said, "Well, Anakin, there, is a very good dancer, so you won't be disappointed. And Obi-Wan is not so bad, either, once he lets himself cut loose. And as for me, well...." He tossed Obi-Wan a wicked smirk.
"Gungans love dancen," Jar Jar piped up, his earlier fears forgotten.
With that, Obi-Wan knew he was outvoted. He might as well give up his exasperation with Bail and enjoy the ride. After all, the Prince always got his way, and the truth was Obi-Wan was glad he did. "All right," he conceded at last, "but if there is any trouble --"
"There won't be, my dear Bendu," Bail assured him, patting him on the knee. "That's why we let you come with us."