Padmé closed the gate behind her and began to lead Juliana up the path that led to the castle. Part of her wanted to run back, and not stop until she reached her house again, but she forced herself to keep going. Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right. She found herself walking exaggeratedly slow, but when she was about halfway up the path decided that what she was doing was stupid, and broke into a run, dropping her horse's reins in the process.

Padmé nearly yelped in surprise when she came to the door and it... opened? She hadn't even touched the handle, and took a step backward, unsure if she really wanted to go in. She bit her lip, and stepped over the threshold into the castle. It was dark, she noted. There were a few candles here and there, and a small window that provided a little light into a sitting room that sat off to the right.

"Hm, arrived she has." she heard a male's voice say, seeming to come from the candle light she had noticed off to the left.

"I hope this works out," another male's voice commented.

"Its worth a try, so long as Anakin doesn't screw things up." commented a female voice.

"You know how he can be sometimes..." another female's voice added.

"Who's there?" Padmé asked, as confidently as she could.

"Should we tell her about everything that's happened?" asked the first female's voice.

"Leave that up to Anakin, we shall." the first male's voice replied.

"Who's there?" Padmé repeated.

With a sigh a clock moved out of the shadows and said, "We're here."

A candelabra, shovel, and a quill followed suit.

Questions and phrases raced through Padme's mind and she finally heard herself say, "Who are you?"

"Some of this castles resident's," said the shovel in what sounded like a comforting tone, "I'm Rabe, by the way."

"Yoda I am," said the candelabra, the light seeming to dance as he said it.

"My name is Siri." the quill said, seeming to smile.

"And I'm Obi- Wan." the clock she had first seen told her.

"What's your name, miss?" Rabe asked.

"I'm Padmé." Padmé told her, as she rubbed her eyes. This was crazy. She was talking to objects? She had definitely lost it. She opened her eyes and the objects were still there, looking intently at her. More questions raced across her brain, and she said, "How can you talk?"

"Most everything here can talk." said Rabe.

"Why can you talk?"

"Not even we know that." Obi- Wan told her honestly.

"We've been this way for a long time," added Siri, stepping closer to Obi- Wan.

"Who is in charge here?" Padmé asked, and no one answered her.

"Who is in charge here?" she repeated.

"Anakin. In charge here Anakin is." Yoda, said when none of the others did anything.

"And where is this Anakin?" Padmé asked, "Why hasn't he shown himself?"

"Anakin is somewhere else right now." Obi- Wan said simply.

"Come, Padmé, I will show you where you will live from now on." Rabe said, before Padme could ask anymore questions.

~*~

Padme's room was like nothing she had ever seen before. It had deep purple walls with an intricate border of stars and moons. It was well furnished with a large bed with more pillows than she could count, and a sitting room off to the side. To her pleasure she also saw that within this sitting room there was a small book shelf. To the other side of her room was a door that she soon noticed led to a balcony that overlooked a courtyard filled with a flower she couldn't identify. She had also been surprised to see that all of her possessions had been put in respective places in her new room.

"Well I guess I don't have to unpack," Padmé said to no one in particular.

"Of course not, miss." said an amour.

Padme's head whipped to where the voice had come from. "Who said that? What's your name?"

The amour seemed to chuckle, "My name is Eritae miss, what is your name?"

"My name is Padmé."

"I had thought so. How do you like your room?" Eritae asked her.

Padmé thought for a moment, "Its beautiful." she said at last.

"I do hope you like it. Yane and I do get lonely sometimes."

"Yane?" asked Padmé.

"That would be me, Padmé." a mirror in the corner said.

"Hello," said Padmé for lack of nothing better to say.

"This place takes some getting used to, doesn't it?" Eritae asked, seeming to smile.

Padmé nodded, "This place is like no where I've been before. And no one will answer my questions. Maybe you will."

"Let me guess, you've spoken to Yoda?" Yane guessed.

Padmé nodded, "Would you answer some of my questions?"

Eritae and Yane seemed to laugh, "We will try." Eritae told her.

~*~

Padmé was startled when her door opened. "Time for dinner it is," came Yoda's voice.

"Okay." said Padmé, putting down the book she had immersed herself in. She stood up and went to the door of her room where she had heard Yoda's voice. She stepped outside and came face to face with... She didn't quite know how to describe it.

She adverted her eyes to the ground, only to see two, huge, hairy, clawed feet staring back at her. She instead brought her eyes immediately up, and though she didn't mean to she made eye contact with this... Thing. Not knowing what else to do, she held his gaze. This creature had stunning blue eyes. They almost looked as though they were human.

"Who are you?" she heard herself ask, though she wasn't conscious of doing so.

"I am Anakin, the keeper and owner of this castle." said the thing. "You're Padmé, correct?"

Padmé felt herself nod, "Yes," she said, to scared to break eye contact, "I am."

AN: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the feedback I've been getting! Just a heads up, I will generally only post new chapters on the weekends so don't expect updates in the middle of the week. I really appreciate all of your reviews! :) - Sarah