"I don't know." Padmé replied.
"Oh sure you do, you just don't want to tell me."
"Well, it was years ago, his name was Palo. He was, and still is, a stuck up jerk. We only dated for a year or so, and we were only twelve years old then. He's never gotten over the fact that I don't like him."
"You don't?" he asked, surprised.
"Of course not!" said Padmé wrinkling up her nose.
Anakin laughed, which was disturbing due to how deep his voice was.
"You're making fun of me!" Padmé exclaimed.
"I'd be much to frightened to tease you!" Anakin replied laughing.
"Frightened? Of me?" Padmé asked, grinning, "Why would anyone ever be frightened of me?"
~*~
Siri and Obi- Wan stood watching this scene with great liking.
"She's acting... Natural around him!" Siri whispered, happiness evident in her voice.
"We may be humans yet!" Obi- Wan whispered back.
"But what's changed?" Siri wondered.
"They became friends I suppose. I think Anakin's finally learning the lesson he was meant to!" Obi- Wan replied.
~*~
"Why wouldn't people be frightened of you? You're so confident about yourself." Anakin replied.
"That's no reason to be frightened of me though." Padmé insisted. "And back- back before I came here, I was always trampled and made fun of for one reason or another."
"Why were you made fun of?"
Padmé laughed, "Simply because I tend to be different than the norm. I read to much to be content talking about clothes and such. I'd much rather talk about books, or magic, or something interesting like that."
"That seems foolish, showing dislike to intellect?"
"People always seem to be foolish about one thing or another." Padmé replied.
"I suppose I'm a testament to that."
"What were you foolish about?" Padmé asked him.
"Its.. Nothing, really." Anakin replied, not quite meeting her eyes.
"Anakin..."
He looked up, blue eyes captivating her for a moment, "Ask me again sometime." he told her.
Padmé nodded, slightly puzzled.
~*~
Days in the palace grew dull, sewing themselves together, blurred into one piece. During these days, Padmé grew into the habit of taking long rides around the castle. Sometimes Anakin would come with her, talking and laughing. The winter season had changed to spring, for which Padmé was very thankful for.
On one particular day, Padmé saddled her horse as usual, for once unaccompanied by Anakin. She set off, enjoying looking at all the flowers and such, but was startled when she was approached out of no where by a wood nymph wearing a tiara of flower petals and vines.
"Would you be Miss Padmé?" The creature inquired, staring up at her with wide eyes.
"Why, yes, yes I am." Padmé replied, bending down to have eye contact with the nymph.
"I have something to give you from Master Obi-Wan," said the nymph, matter-of-factly.
"Master Obi-Wan? Oh! The clock! All right!"
The nymph held up a small, white, silky box, rectangular in shape. It looked almost too delicate to touch.
Great, Padmé thought, now a clock is sending me gifts.
Keeping her face calm, she thanked the woodland creature, who bowed curtly and scampered away into the thick forest surrounding the palace.
"That was... odd." she said to Juliana once the nymph had departed. "I wonder what's in the box."
Juliana snorted. If she hadn't been a horse, Padmé would have described the noise as derisive. "Well, honestly, it's not as though you've the ability to see through things, is it?"
The mare snorted again. "It's
not my fault I'm human and thick," protested Padmé.
Juliana looked at her with big, soulful hazel eyes, but did not
exercise her opinion. Padmé would have to figure this one out herself.
~*~
Alone in her room that night, Padmé might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but odd visions kept crossing her mind:
Her father- writhing on the ground- a short cloaked figure, standing over him, laughing maniacally- and then-
A circular, white-walled room- Sola, sitting in the corner, wiping her eyes on her sleeve while holding a baby to her- it changed-
A grey cloud- circling over her home-
Sola's husband, Darred- grieving-
A silky white box- a curling piece of yellowed parchment-
More maniacal laughter- and then-
Nothing. Black. Darkness, all around her. Falling, she was falling, and there was nothing, not a sharp cliff, not a fathoms-deep ocean, to break her fall-
'Anakin!' the dream-Padmé cried. Anakin? Why would she call for him?
And she awoke. Shaking herself mentally, she attempted to disentangle herself from her bedclothes. A snippet from the dream flashed in her mind's eye once more: a silky, white, rectangular box. She had seen that box somewhere before. Then she remembered: Obi-Wan's box....
She got out of bed and lit the candle she always kept on her nightstand. Where had she put that box? Ripping open drawer after drawer of her writing desk, she finally found it on her vanity, in plain view. Mentally smacking herself, she set the still-lit candle back on her nightstand and sat on her bed.
The box seemed radiant, too radiant to be subjected to opening. Padmé opened it anyway. A white rose the exact color of the box tumbled out onto her bed. So did a piece of yellow parchment.
Just like in her dream....
Ignoring the nagging impulse that something was wrong, she held the parchment up to the light of the candle and read:
A curse is placed
upon this house
Diminishing in spirit
Break it, young one, and take your plunder
Before another hears it
Blue is for serenity
Gold for a friend
Crimson is for your true love
If you choose to take this in
I give up all the clues I can
The rest is up to you
But do beware
A black-eyed stare
That will kill all –
Padmé never got to read the last word. She noticed too late that she was holding the poem- riddle? It certainly sounded like a riddle; she couldn't make heads or tails of it- very close to the candle. It caught light, and, within seconds, was gone.
She picked up the rose, and the petals glowed a pale blue. Blue is for- what? Serenity? Then, a terrible realization was forced upon her....
If that vision was true... Padmé remembered her other dreams: her father, being tortured; Sola locked up, away from her husband- she had to leave, and fast.
She knew it was Anakin's decree that she stay in the castle; if she didn't, her family would be killed. But it looked like they were about to be killed anyway, so it was her only choice. Besides, Anakin would surely understand.
Packing up her belongings quickly, she fled the castle, taking the rose with her.
~*~
Juliana was a fast horse. By the time the first hints of
daylight were beginning to overtake the eastern sky, Padmé had reached her
home. It was just as she had feared: cloaked men surrounded a mound of black
ashes... Padme's house.
A limp figure in a red tunic, who was assumedly her father, was lying on the ground a few feet away from her. Padmé jumped from the horse's back, and rushed to his side.
"Father- Father!" Padmé cried, shaking him by the shoulders. No sound, no hint of breath. But a pulse. He was alive.
Picking up one's father is a great difficulty, but somehow Padmé managed to get him on Juliana's back without being seen by the cloaked men. It was as though she were invisible to them. They galloped off back the way she had come, towards Anakin's castle.
"Please be okay, Father." She murmured.
They were barely half a league away
from Padme's house when the same wood nymph that had delivered Obi-Wan's rose
jumped in front of Juliana.
_*_
AN: Sorry about the long wait, I had the worst writers block I think I've ever had. However, thanks to my best friend, Padawan, and sister, I finally got this chapter written by co-writing it with me, so if you liked this chapter, check out her stories! Thanks a ton Juli! Her user name is PadfootHoshi, she writes Harry Potter fanfics, but be on the lookout for some Star Wars ones soon! Please R&R, and I will try my best to get some more chapters out soon!