Chapter 6: Meeting A Monster
Nicole walked quickly beside Qui-Gon as their little group traversed the desert landscape, growing ever closer to the city that was beginning to loom in the distance. Nicole was grateful that Qui-Gon took her with her, maybe giving her a chance to really talk with the Jedi Knight, about why she was here in his Universe, why he had said that she should have been trained as a Jedi...but most importantly, why he was being so protective over her. On the other hand though, Nicole wondered if it would have been best to just stay on the ship because she knew, that by going with Qui-Gon, she would run into Maul again.
As a shiver raced up her spine, Nicole gave a slight shake, catching the attention of the Queen in disguise, Padme.
" Are you alright?" Nicole didn't really like the Queen since she was the main reason that Anakin could never fully concentrate on his Jedi training, so Nicole was quite surprised at Padme's sudden inquiry.
" F-Fine. Just wondering what I'm gonna do if we run into trouble," Nicole answered truthfully, knowing full well that trouble was Darth Maul.
" Don't worry," Qui-Gon quipped, easing himself into the conversation, " I do not sense any disturbances in the Force. We are perfectly safe for now."
' 'For now' is right Qui-Gon, but not later,' Nicole thought drearily, giving Tatooine's dusty ground a slight kick. R2-D2 gave a few whistles and tweets, making Nicole wish dearly that C-3PO were there to translate.
" We were never properly introduced earlier. I am Padme, one of the Queen's handmaidens," Padme whispered over to Nicole. Nicole, again, looked surprised at Padme's politeness and wondered why she was doing it.
" I'm Nicole," Nicole answered briskly, giving Padme a quick glance out of the corner of her eye while trying to keep track of Jar-Jar.
" How long have you known the Jedi?" Padme whispered again.
" Maybe a couple of hours before I met you. Why?" Nicole asked suspiciously.
" It's just that the three of you act as if you know each other...almost like family."
" How do you mean?" Nicole now put her full attention onto Padme, wanting to know how she, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan appeared to others.
" It's just that Qui-Gon seems like a father to both you and the other Jedi, who watches you like an older brother. You didn't notice it?" Nicole pondered the subject for a moment, idly staring at the back of Qui- Gon's head, and also wondering how much of the conversation he heard.
" I noticed that Qui-Gon was being a little protective," Nicole began, trying to choose her words carefully, " and that Obi-Wan was watching me...but I didn't know that's what it looked like."
" Are all of you ready? We'll be reaching the city in a short while." The sudden sound of Qui-Gon's voice startled both Nicole and Padme, making them both give slight jumps. They looked at each other and, Nicole surprising herself, giggled at each other like long time friends.
" Y-Yes, Qui-Gon, we're ready as we'll ever be," Nicole said through another onslaught of giggles triggered by a look from Padme.
And the little group did reach the desert city after only about ten more minutes of walking. By the time they reached the first buildings, there was a comfortable silence between everyone. Even Jar-Jar had stopped complaining, simply enjoying the feeling of safe warmth that radiated from everyone around him.
" Here there are moisture farms for the most part, but also a few indigenous tribes and scavengers. The few spaceports like this one are havens for those who do not wish to be found..."
" Like us," Padme added quietly. Jar-Jar looked suddenly startled by the bustling activity that had appeared around them as they entered the city, and was now to the point of panicking. R2, on the other hand, was whistling happily, rolling easily along with Nicole.
" Dissen berry, berry bad," Jar-Jar muttered, trying to keep up with the other's fast pace, only to step in a large pile of Bantha...mess, " Oooooohhhhhh!! Icky, icky goo!" As Jar-Jar momentarily stops to clean the Bantha poop off of his foot, Qui-Gon led Nicole, Padme, and R2 towards the junk dealer's plaza.
" We'll try one of the smaller dealers first," he explained as he headed towards the first shop that looked halfway promising. Before Nicole followed Qui-Gon inside, she took a deep breath and promised herself that she wouldn't try and kill Anakin while she was here.
" Hi chuba da naga?" came the gruff voice of Watto, the Toydarian who ran the shop in which Nicole's Fate had brought her to.
" I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian," Qui-Gon answered back to Watto in English, easily making a solid presence within the dim interior of the shop.
" Ah yes...Nubian. We have lots of that," Watto said confidently, greed already glinting within his eyes, " Peedenkel! Naba dee unko!"
" My droid here has a readout of what I need," Qui-Gon explained as the small form of Anakin Skywalker bolted into the shop from a back door.
" Coona tee-tocky malia?" Watto demanded.
" Mel tassa cho-passa...," Anakin began to explain to Watto.
" Chut-Chut! Ganda doe wallya. Me dwana no bata," Watto snapped back before turning his attention back to Qui-Gon, " So, let me take-a thee out back. Ni you'll find what you need." As Qui-Gon led R2 out after Watto, Nicole to up a position near the front entrance of the shop, leaning against the adobe-like wall while Anakin hopped onto the counter and commenced staring at Padme.
" Are you an angel?" came Anakin's young voice, startling Padme out of her amused reverie that Jar-Jar had induced by playing with several pieces of junk around the shop.
" What?" Padme asked with a slight laugh. Nicole wanted to give a snort of disgust, but she stifled it while folding her arms over her chest and staring out at the busy street.
" An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the Universe." Nicole wanted to make a comment at this, but held her tongue since she knew she would have to spend the next night with him. " They live on the moons of Iego, I think."
" You're a funny little boy! How do you know so much?" Padme giggled slightly, shifting her eyes to Nicole for just the briefest of moments. Nicole nearly laughed herself because the look in Padme's eyes clearly asked how she was supposed to react to Anakin.
" My Mom and me were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, when I was very little. Three, I think, but she lost us to Watto betting on the Podraces."
" You're a slave?" Again Padme's eyes flickered from Anakin to Nicole, again unsure.
' Hmm, for a Queen voted in my the people, she sure doesn't really know how to act around them,' Nicole thought idly with a slight shrug of her shoulders, prepared for Anakin's little outburst that was coming.
" I'm a person and my name is Anakin!" Nicole could nearly see Padme flinch at Anakin's words and she added another reason to throttle the boy to her already long list.
" I'm sorry, I don't fully understand. This is a strange place to me." As an empty silence filled the air between Anakin and Padme, Nicole kept her eyes on Jar-Jar, who had just hit a small repair droid on the nose. The droid began to run away from Jar-Jar, who was trying his best to catch the little robot.
Jar-Jar finally caught the droid and held onto it, even as it kicked him, trying to be let down so it could continue its mindless march around the shop. Nicole, wanting to feel useful, spoke up before Anakin had the chance:
" Hit the nose!" Jar-Jar paused his struggle with the droid for just a moment before lightly tapping the droid's nose. As the droid retracted back into its original position, Padme, Anakin, and even Nicole laughed at Jar-Jar, who was now watching the droid as if it was going to jump up again.
Several more minutes passed with Padme and Anakin making small talk. At one point Anakin tried to talk to Nicole, but her neutral attitude put him off. At the moment Anakin was explaining to Padme how he survived living so long as a slave, claiming that it was his ability to fix things quickly...when Qui-Gon seemed to swoop back into the shop, followed closely by R2.
" We're leaving," was the only thing that Qui-Gon said as he headed straight for the shop's front entrance. Nicole asked no questions as she pushed herself off the wall and grabbed Jar-Jar by his vest to pull him outside before he made a mess of anything else. R2 followed closely behind and Nicole glanced back once to see if Padme was coming. She was and Anakin was looking at her with already lovesick eyes.
Nicole finally let Jar-Jar go but continued to keep close to him since she didn't want him getting into more trouble. Padme walked behind them, keeping the same pace as R2. Qui-Gon led their little troop down the city's streets a ways until he found a shaded alleyway that was deserted.
" I am going to report to the ship and let them know what is going on." Without waiting for questions or comments, Qui-Gon pulled out his comlink and contacted the ship. As she listened to Qui-Gon's one-way conversation, Nicole found herself, once again, leaning against a wall. Staring out at the busy streets of Mos Espa, Nicole let her mind wander back over all the things that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.
' Let's see...First I wake up in a Naboo swamp, then I run into Jar- Jar, who literally runs into Qui-Gon Jin. We then meet up with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was being chased by flying battle droids. Following that we had that /wonderful/ swim down the Gunga City and not to mention that even more /thrilling/ bongo trip through the core of Naboo. I still can't think of a way to explain my mental run in with Darth Maul to Qui-Gon and the other Jedi. We then proceeded to sneak into a heavily guarded palace, kidnap a Queen who likes playing peasant, steal a Nubian cruiser, nearly get blasted out of space, and, to top it all off, we end up in the Universe's biggest litter box!' Nicole found herself scowling at empty air as she heard Qui- Gon click off his comlink.
As Qui-Gon moves past Nicole to Mos Espa's streets, giving her a slight /look/ as he did, Jar-Jar grabs his arm and turns him slightly around.
" Noah gain! Noah gain! Da beings hereabouts /cawazy/! Wesa be robbed un crunched!" Qui-Gon easily pulled his arm from Jar-Jar's grip and replied nonchalantly:
" Not likely, we have nothing of value. That's our problem." Nicole and the others moved back onto the desert streets and they all followed Qui- Gon, who seemed to be the only one who knew where he was going.
Nicole once again became lost in her thoughts as they walked down the street, knowing from the many times she had watched Star Wars I, what was going to happen soon. Though it irked her to no end that she would end up staying at Anakin's home, Nicole moved away from Jar-Jar to stand more by Qui-Gon, effectively giving the Gungan a chance to run into Sebulba.
Keeping her ears trained behind her, Nicole raised a hand to rub her shoulder, a seemingly innocent move had no one knew of the scar that rested under her collar. While her mind was occupied listening for the sounds of Jar-Jar getting picked on, and rubbing her slightly sore scar, Nicole didn't notice Qui-Gon watching her from the corner of his eye, giving the bored Padme another piece of evidence to prove that Qui-Gon was being fatherly.
Nicole stopped rubbing her shoulder as she heard the sound of a small mass leaping from a wooden table. Nicole glanced back and saw a small ring of people already forming around Jar-Jar and Sebulba. She tapped Qui-Gon once on the arm, who was already turning back to look at the little scene. Padme and R2 also turned, Padme giving a barely audible sound of exasperation.
Qui-Gon led the way as they moved went to Jar-Jar's rescue too late, seeing as how Anakin had already stopped Sebulba from pounding Jar-Jar into the dry and dusty ground.
Just as Nicole and the others pushed their way past the crowd, Sebulba was stalking off to his table and Jar-Jar was pulling himself off the ground. Anakin looked up at Qui-Gon with a look of childlike innocence that made Nicole want to gag.
" Hi. Your buddy here was about to be turned into orange goo. He picked a fight with a Dug. An especially dangerous Dug called Sebulba."
" Nosir, norsir! Mesa hate crunchen. Dat's da last ting mesa want!" Jar-Jar exclaimed in his defense.
" Nevertheless, the boy is right...you were heading into trouble," Qui-Gon paused for a moment to look down at Anakin, who was gazing at him in expectation, " Thank you, my young friend."
Padme gave the briefest of 'thank-you' smiles to Anakin and Nicole nodded slightly, before they all turned and began down the street again.
" B-But, mesa doin' nutten!" Nicole nearly sneered as Anakin caught up with them and started to talk lightly with Qui-Gon, pointing a way down the street to a small food vender. Nicole followed Qui-Gon helplessly, sliding back to where she was standing by Padme again. Out of curiosity to Padme's /real/ feelings for Anakin, Nicole tilted her head slightly and whispered to Padme:
" So, what do you think of the kid?" Nicole watched Padme from the corner of her eye as she studied Anakin for a moment.
" He's kinda nice. Reminds me of the little brother I never had," Padme whispered back, keeping her voice low enough that neither Qui-Gon nor Anakin could hear her.
" Yeah, but I notice that he doesn't look at you the same way."
" Hmm...in a strange way, that's kind of flattering, but he's too young for me." Nicole nearly sobbed in relief at what Padme had just said. Her insides were doing flip-flops at the sudden change in destiny that she might have caused by her mere presence.
' In the movie, anyone could clearly see that Padme was equally in love with Anakin while they were here. So if she thinks of him as a friend now with me here, maybe she can put him off her so he can concentrate on his Jedi studies instead of obsessing over her!' With those thoughts in mind, Nicole had a slight quirk on her lips and she was nearly skipping when the reached the small food vender Anakin had led them to.
At the vender, Nicole felt a very /slight/ pang of guilt as Anakin handed her one of the pallies that he bought. But then she remembered that he would be winning the podrace so the pang went away quickly, allowing her to notice Anakin noticing Qui-Gon's lightsaber as he tucked his pallie into his belt.
Nicole munched on the small, but pleasantly sweet pallie as the vender owner foretold of a storm coming, which was easily noticeable since the wind had begun to pick up slightly and there were small dust devils dancing in the street.
" Do you have shelter?" Qui-Gon had begun to move their group once again as Anakin spoke up.
" We'll head back to our ship," Qui-Gon informed.
" Is it far?" Nicole missed Padme replying to Anakin that their ship was on the outskirts since she had to pick up Jar-Jar's pallie, which he had dropped on the ground.
" But you'll never reach the outskirts in time! Sandstorms can be very, very dangerous. Come with me. Hurry!" Nicole rolled her eyes as she and the others jogged after the sprinting Anakin, who was quickly leading them to his home.
Nicole had to squint, and then shield her face with her sleeve as the wind kicked sand at her mouth, nose, and eyes.
' I'm really beginning to hate this planet,' Nicole thought to herself, ' But at least the view isn't bad.' Nicole added the last bit since she was jogging behind Qui-Gon and the wind was causing his hair to fly back pleasantly.
' I sure hope that my mind will behave itself when we get to Anakin's place.' Nicole couldn't help but grin as her teenage mind run amok, ' I don't need Qui-Gon catching me thinking about /him/! It was embarrassing enough when he caught me thinking about Obi-Won. Allwell, if it happens, it happens.'
~End of Chapter 6~
Nicole walked quickly beside Qui-Gon as their little group traversed the desert landscape, growing ever closer to the city that was beginning to loom in the distance. Nicole was grateful that Qui-Gon took her with her, maybe giving her a chance to really talk with the Jedi Knight, about why she was here in his Universe, why he had said that she should have been trained as a Jedi...but most importantly, why he was being so protective over her. On the other hand though, Nicole wondered if it would have been best to just stay on the ship because she knew, that by going with Qui-Gon, she would run into Maul again.
As a shiver raced up her spine, Nicole gave a slight shake, catching the attention of the Queen in disguise, Padme.
" Are you alright?" Nicole didn't really like the Queen since she was the main reason that Anakin could never fully concentrate on his Jedi training, so Nicole was quite surprised at Padme's sudden inquiry.
" F-Fine. Just wondering what I'm gonna do if we run into trouble," Nicole answered truthfully, knowing full well that trouble was Darth Maul.
" Don't worry," Qui-Gon quipped, easing himself into the conversation, " I do not sense any disturbances in the Force. We are perfectly safe for now."
' 'For now' is right Qui-Gon, but not later,' Nicole thought drearily, giving Tatooine's dusty ground a slight kick. R2-D2 gave a few whistles and tweets, making Nicole wish dearly that C-3PO were there to translate.
" We were never properly introduced earlier. I am Padme, one of the Queen's handmaidens," Padme whispered over to Nicole. Nicole, again, looked surprised at Padme's politeness and wondered why she was doing it.
" I'm Nicole," Nicole answered briskly, giving Padme a quick glance out of the corner of her eye while trying to keep track of Jar-Jar.
" How long have you known the Jedi?" Padme whispered again.
" Maybe a couple of hours before I met you. Why?" Nicole asked suspiciously.
" It's just that the three of you act as if you know each other...almost like family."
" How do you mean?" Nicole now put her full attention onto Padme, wanting to know how she, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan appeared to others.
" It's just that Qui-Gon seems like a father to both you and the other Jedi, who watches you like an older brother. You didn't notice it?" Nicole pondered the subject for a moment, idly staring at the back of Qui- Gon's head, and also wondering how much of the conversation he heard.
" I noticed that Qui-Gon was being a little protective," Nicole began, trying to choose her words carefully, " and that Obi-Wan was watching me...but I didn't know that's what it looked like."
" Are all of you ready? We'll be reaching the city in a short while." The sudden sound of Qui-Gon's voice startled both Nicole and Padme, making them both give slight jumps. They looked at each other and, Nicole surprising herself, giggled at each other like long time friends.
" Y-Yes, Qui-Gon, we're ready as we'll ever be," Nicole said through another onslaught of giggles triggered by a look from Padme.
And the little group did reach the desert city after only about ten more minutes of walking. By the time they reached the first buildings, there was a comfortable silence between everyone. Even Jar-Jar had stopped complaining, simply enjoying the feeling of safe warmth that radiated from everyone around him.
" Here there are moisture farms for the most part, but also a few indigenous tribes and scavengers. The few spaceports like this one are havens for those who do not wish to be found..."
" Like us," Padme added quietly. Jar-Jar looked suddenly startled by the bustling activity that had appeared around them as they entered the city, and was now to the point of panicking. R2, on the other hand, was whistling happily, rolling easily along with Nicole.
" Dissen berry, berry bad," Jar-Jar muttered, trying to keep up with the other's fast pace, only to step in a large pile of Bantha...mess, " Oooooohhhhhh!! Icky, icky goo!" As Jar-Jar momentarily stops to clean the Bantha poop off of his foot, Qui-Gon led Nicole, Padme, and R2 towards the junk dealer's plaza.
" We'll try one of the smaller dealers first," he explained as he headed towards the first shop that looked halfway promising. Before Nicole followed Qui-Gon inside, she took a deep breath and promised herself that she wouldn't try and kill Anakin while she was here.
" Hi chuba da naga?" came the gruff voice of Watto, the Toydarian who ran the shop in which Nicole's Fate had brought her to.
" I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian," Qui-Gon answered back to Watto in English, easily making a solid presence within the dim interior of the shop.
" Ah yes...Nubian. We have lots of that," Watto said confidently, greed already glinting within his eyes, " Peedenkel! Naba dee unko!"
" My droid here has a readout of what I need," Qui-Gon explained as the small form of Anakin Skywalker bolted into the shop from a back door.
" Coona tee-tocky malia?" Watto demanded.
" Mel tassa cho-passa...," Anakin began to explain to Watto.
" Chut-Chut! Ganda doe wallya. Me dwana no bata," Watto snapped back before turning his attention back to Qui-Gon, " So, let me take-a thee out back. Ni you'll find what you need." As Qui-Gon led R2 out after Watto, Nicole to up a position near the front entrance of the shop, leaning against the adobe-like wall while Anakin hopped onto the counter and commenced staring at Padme.
" Are you an angel?" came Anakin's young voice, startling Padme out of her amused reverie that Jar-Jar had induced by playing with several pieces of junk around the shop.
" What?" Padme asked with a slight laugh. Nicole wanted to give a snort of disgust, but she stifled it while folding her arms over her chest and staring out at the busy street.
" An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the Universe." Nicole wanted to make a comment at this, but held her tongue since she knew she would have to spend the next night with him. " They live on the moons of Iego, I think."
" You're a funny little boy! How do you know so much?" Padme giggled slightly, shifting her eyes to Nicole for just the briefest of moments. Nicole nearly laughed herself because the look in Padme's eyes clearly asked how she was supposed to react to Anakin.
" My Mom and me were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, when I was very little. Three, I think, but she lost us to Watto betting on the Podraces."
" You're a slave?" Again Padme's eyes flickered from Anakin to Nicole, again unsure.
' Hmm, for a Queen voted in my the people, she sure doesn't really know how to act around them,' Nicole thought idly with a slight shrug of her shoulders, prepared for Anakin's little outburst that was coming.
" I'm a person and my name is Anakin!" Nicole could nearly see Padme flinch at Anakin's words and she added another reason to throttle the boy to her already long list.
" I'm sorry, I don't fully understand. This is a strange place to me." As an empty silence filled the air between Anakin and Padme, Nicole kept her eyes on Jar-Jar, who had just hit a small repair droid on the nose. The droid began to run away from Jar-Jar, who was trying his best to catch the little robot.
Jar-Jar finally caught the droid and held onto it, even as it kicked him, trying to be let down so it could continue its mindless march around the shop. Nicole, wanting to feel useful, spoke up before Anakin had the chance:
" Hit the nose!" Jar-Jar paused his struggle with the droid for just a moment before lightly tapping the droid's nose. As the droid retracted back into its original position, Padme, Anakin, and even Nicole laughed at Jar-Jar, who was now watching the droid as if it was going to jump up again.
Several more minutes passed with Padme and Anakin making small talk. At one point Anakin tried to talk to Nicole, but her neutral attitude put him off. At the moment Anakin was explaining to Padme how he survived living so long as a slave, claiming that it was his ability to fix things quickly...when Qui-Gon seemed to swoop back into the shop, followed closely by R2.
" We're leaving," was the only thing that Qui-Gon said as he headed straight for the shop's front entrance. Nicole asked no questions as she pushed herself off the wall and grabbed Jar-Jar by his vest to pull him outside before he made a mess of anything else. R2 followed closely behind and Nicole glanced back once to see if Padme was coming. She was and Anakin was looking at her with already lovesick eyes.
Nicole finally let Jar-Jar go but continued to keep close to him since she didn't want him getting into more trouble. Padme walked behind them, keeping the same pace as R2. Qui-Gon led their little troop down the city's streets a ways until he found a shaded alleyway that was deserted.
" I am going to report to the ship and let them know what is going on." Without waiting for questions or comments, Qui-Gon pulled out his comlink and contacted the ship. As she listened to Qui-Gon's one-way conversation, Nicole found herself, once again, leaning against a wall. Staring out at the busy streets of Mos Espa, Nicole let her mind wander back over all the things that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.
' Let's see...First I wake up in a Naboo swamp, then I run into Jar- Jar, who literally runs into Qui-Gon Jin. We then meet up with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was being chased by flying battle droids. Following that we had that /wonderful/ swim down the Gunga City and not to mention that even more /thrilling/ bongo trip through the core of Naboo. I still can't think of a way to explain my mental run in with Darth Maul to Qui-Gon and the other Jedi. We then proceeded to sneak into a heavily guarded palace, kidnap a Queen who likes playing peasant, steal a Nubian cruiser, nearly get blasted out of space, and, to top it all off, we end up in the Universe's biggest litter box!' Nicole found herself scowling at empty air as she heard Qui- Gon click off his comlink.
As Qui-Gon moves past Nicole to Mos Espa's streets, giving her a slight /look/ as he did, Jar-Jar grabs his arm and turns him slightly around.
" Noah gain! Noah gain! Da beings hereabouts /cawazy/! Wesa be robbed un crunched!" Qui-Gon easily pulled his arm from Jar-Jar's grip and replied nonchalantly:
" Not likely, we have nothing of value. That's our problem." Nicole and the others moved back onto the desert streets and they all followed Qui- Gon, who seemed to be the only one who knew where he was going.
Nicole once again became lost in her thoughts as they walked down the street, knowing from the many times she had watched Star Wars I, what was going to happen soon. Though it irked her to no end that she would end up staying at Anakin's home, Nicole moved away from Jar-Jar to stand more by Qui-Gon, effectively giving the Gungan a chance to run into Sebulba.
Keeping her ears trained behind her, Nicole raised a hand to rub her shoulder, a seemingly innocent move had no one knew of the scar that rested under her collar. While her mind was occupied listening for the sounds of Jar-Jar getting picked on, and rubbing her slightly sore scar, Nicole didn't notice Qui-Gon watching her from the corner of his eye, giving the bored Padme another piece of evidence to prove that Qui-Gon was being fatherly.
Nicole stopped rubbing her shoulder as she heard the sound of a small mass leaping from a wooden table. Nicole glanced back and saw a small ring of people already forming around Jar-Jar and Sebulba. She tapped Qui-Gon once on the arm, who was already turning back to look at the little scene. Padme and R2 also turned, Padme giving a barely audible sound of exasperation.
Qui-Gon led the way as they moved went to Jar-Jar's rescue too late, seeing as how Anakin had already stopped Sebulba from pounding Jar-Jar into the dry and dusty ground.
Just as Nicole and the others pushed their way past the crowd, Sebulba was stalking off to his table and Jar-Jar was pulling himself off the ground. Anakin looked up at Qui-Gon with a look of childlike innocence that made Nicole want to gag.
" Hi. Your buddy here was about to be turned into orange goo. He picked a fight with a Dug. An especially dangerous Dug called Sebulba."
" Nosir, norsir! Mesa hate crunchen. Dat's da last ting mesa want!" Jar-Jar exclaimed in his defense.
" Nevertheless, the boy is right...you were heading into trouble," Qui-Gon paused for a moment to look down at Anakin, who was gazing at him in expectation, " Thank you, my young friend."
Padme gave the briefest of 'thank-you' smiles to Anakin and Nicole nodded slightly, before they all turned and began down the street again.
" B-But, mesa doin' nutten!" Nicole nearly sneered as Anakin caught up with them and started to talk lightly with Qui-Gon, pointing a way down the street to a small food vender. Nicole followed Qui-Gon helplessly, sliding back to where she was standing by Padme again. Out of curiosity to Padme's /real/ feelings for Anakin, Nicole tilted her head slightly and whispered to Padme:
" So, what do you think of the kid?" Nicole watched Padme from the corner of her eye as she studied Anakin for a moment.
" He's kinda nice. Reminds me of the little brother I never had," Padme whispered back, keeping her voice low enough that neither Qui-Gon nor Anakin could hear her.
" Yeah, but I notice that he doesn't look at you the same way."
" Hmm...in a strange way, that's kind of flattering, but he's too young for me." Nicole nearly sobbed in relief at what Padme had just said. Her insides were doing flip-flops at the sudden change in destiny that she might have caused by her mere presence.
' In the movie, anyone could clearly see that Padme was equally in love with Anakin while they were here. So if she thinks of him as a friend now with me here, maybe she can put him off her so he can concentrate on his Jedi studies instead of obsessing over her!' With those thoughts in mind, Nicole had a slight quirk on her lips and she was nearly skipping when the reached the small food vender Anakin had led them to.
At the vender, Nicole felt a very /slight/ pang of guilt as Anakin handed her one of the pallies that he bought. But then she remembered that he would be winning the podrace so the pang went away quickly, allowing her to notice Anakin noticing Qui-Gon's lightsaber as he tucked his pallie into his belt.
Nicole munched on the small, but pleasantly sweet pallie as the vender owner foretold of a storm coming, which was easily noticeable since the wind had begun to pick up slightly and there were small dust devils dancing in the street.
" Do you have shelter?" Qui-Gon had begun to move their group once again as Anakin spoke up.
" We'll head back to our ship," Qui-Gon informed.
" Is it far?" Nicole missed Padme replying to Anakin that their ship was on the outskirts since she had to pick up Jar-Jar's pallie, which he had dropped on the ground.
" But you'll never reach the outskirts in time! Sandstorms can be very, very dangerous. Come with me. Hurry!" Nicole rolled her eyes as she and the others jogged after the sprinting Anakin, who was quickly leading them to his home.
Nicole had to squint, and then shield her face with her sleeve as the wind kicked sand at her mouth, nose, and eyes.
' I'm really beginning to hate this planet,' Nicole thought to herself, ' But at least the view isn't bad.' Nicole added the last bit since she was jogging behind Qui-Gon and the wind was causing his hair to fly back pleasantly.
' I sure hope that my mind will behave itself when we get to Anakin's place.' Nicole couldn't help but grin as her teenage mind run amok, ' I don't need Qui-Gon catching me thinking about /him/! It was embarrassing enough when he caught me thinking about Obi-Won. Allwell, if it happens, it happens.'
~End of Chapter 6~