"All right, start from the beginning,"
Obi-Wan encouraged smoothly, giving her a smile.
Padme had never felt so intimidated.
She was now being interrogated by the Jedi Council, Master Windu's eyes
locked on her, Master Yoda's. Each one of these Jedi were the creme
de la creme, and they could sense if she told even one lie.
"Worry not, Senator! Judge you
we shall not! Much love I sense from you. Much confusion!"
His wide smile seemed to meet the
points of his green ears, and that comforted her. He moved his hand,
motioning for her to sit in a nearby seat. She realized she must
look a mess. When Obi-Wan found her in the room, her hair was a mess,
all about her shoulders, her lipstick smeared, the back of her dress not
even done up. Her feet were cold, and she only realized now that
she had left her shoes back in Anakin's room. Cinderella gone wrong,
she thought idly.
"It started six months ago, after
the start of the clone war," she blushed, "You see, after the Geonosian
arena, I realized my feelings. We were married on Naboo shortly thereafter."
There was a collective gasp from the
council, save Obi-Wan's dour glare. Her jaw dropped as she realized
that he must have known. Why hadn't he reported it? Possession
is forbidden. Anakin possessed her, and the unbending Obi-Wan
had said nothing.
"Much emotion young Skywalker feels,"
Yoda noted, gripping his gimer stick more tightly than usual. "Much
anger I sense."
"I haven't heard from him since then.
Chancellor Valorum called me back to Coruscant, along with Bail Organa.
The two of us disagreed with his latest military plans. We didn't
think...we thought that it wouldn't matter. The two of us never thought
that he would try to eliminate us. I found Bail on the floor of his
quarters in the Senate. He had been hit by a passing speeder.
My handmaiden - my decoy, Dorme, I left her in my apartment while I visited
Viceroy Organa. When I returned, she had vanished. I fear for
her safety. I hailed a speeder..."
She remembered pointing the gun at
the Bothan's head, forcing him to stop, and it brought an ironic smile
to her lips. She could have sworn she heard a snort from the placid
Obi-Wan.
"Anyhow, I hailed a speeder, and dragged
Bail into it. That's when we got to the Jedi Temple. I was
shown to my room, and Anakin showed up there, saying he was supposed to
interrogate me. You have to understand, I hadn't seen my husband
in a half a year, and there were guards at the door - so Anakin and I left
the Temple to spend some time together..."
She could feel her face blushing,
and Master Yoda had that impish grin still on his face. This was
getting more embarrassing by the moment. But she was once Queen of
Naboo, and if she could humble herself in front of Boss Nass, and take
on the Trade Federation, she could retain her poise in front of the Jedi
Council even after admittedly acting like a fool.
"We were in his room, well, you know...and
I was asleep, and he woke me up while he dressed. I...he told me
that his room was provided by Chancellor Palpatine. We got into an
argument, and I mentioned his mother...he began shaking me. Then
I...it was just for a moment, I thought of Obi-Wan..."
She faltered, staring at the patterned
floor of the room, willing herself to be somewhere else, to wake up from
this revolting nightmare.
"He threw her against a wall, Master
Yoda, and tricked me into letting down my guard so he could take my lightsaber.
I admit, I was foolish..."
"A Padawan must be trusted if he is
to grow, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Wrong you were not! Much change I
have sensed in Skywalker."
"He must be removed from the order,"
Ki Ad Mundi declared.
"With all his training?" another argued,
"He'd be even more dangerous as a rogue Jedi. At least in the order
we can keep track of him..."
"There are so few of us left, it may
be unwise to allow him to go..."
"Compassion has left Skywalker.
No longer does he follow the Jedi code of honour."
Padme closed her eyes, trying to ignore
the argument that Anakin had started here, too. Conflict had a way
of following him. He created it. I killed them, I killed
them all...she shivered, though it was warm in the room.
"Master Yoda, with your permission
I will take the Senator to her quarters and guard her. Nobody can
sense Anakin's presence the way I do."
"True, true. Between Padawan
and Master, strong is the bond," Yoda murmured, waving his tiny clawed
hands at the two of them.
Glancing gratefully at Obi-Wan, she
followed him out the door. The Council's arguments could be heard
even through the closed door.
()()()