Author's Note: I would like to thank all the new reviewers. You don't know how important it is to get some feedback on your work - even if it is just a word or two. I really appreciate it! Onto chapter four...
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"Tried that. Let's see. Nope. That didn't work either."
Padme looked up from her paperwork to see Dorme sitting at the dining table with a holozine in her hand. "Dorme? What are you doing?"
"Reading."
"I see that. What are you reading?"
"A holozine article."
Padme couldn't resist taking a peek and rose from her seat to look over Dorme's shoulder. "The Coruscant Observer! Dorme! That's a trashy tabloid! I didn't know you read that!"
"Oh, I'm a regular subscriber." Dorme continued reading without looking up.
Padme read the title of the article out loud. " 'Ten Ways To Secure A Lover'. You've got to be kidding!"
Dorme fully expected to be ridiculed for her choice of reading material and to be forced to listen to a pious speech about the detriment of such literary publications on society, but to her surprised amusement, Padme simply and quietly seated herself next to her.
"Well? What does it say?"
Dorme could not hide her smile. "We're on the right track. We've just had some bad luck, that's all. We're down to number six on this list which says to...find the opportunity for quality time alone together. Simple." Dorme switched off the holoimager. "We just need to get you two alone for an extended period of time."
"Yeah, right! And how is that supposed to happen?"
"You just leave that up to me, Mi'Lady."
A couple of weeks passed by and Padme had fallen into her usual daily routine of Senate meetings and long hours in her office, as well as meetings with the Supreme Chancellor. Her thoughts occasionally flew to Obi-Wan and she assumed he was somewhere far away, saving the galaxy.
She was thinking on these things when Chancellor Palpatine addressed her directly. "Senator Amidala. Queen Jamilla has requested the honor of your presence on Naboo for the retirement party of Governor Bibble. I have taken the liberty of asking Jar-Jar Binks to take your place in the Senate if you wish to attend."
"Why, yes, of course. Thank you, Chancellor."
"You are granted a three-day leave. And by the way, Jedi Master Kenobi will be accompanying you, for security reasons. Is this satisfactory?
"Yes." Her voice suddenly sounded shaky. "Yes, that's fine Chancellor."
"Meeting adjourned." Mas Amedda announced.
Padme rose along with the other Senate leaders and quickly filed from the large oval office, with a bit of a bounce in her step.
Dorme watched Padme pack later that afternoon and felt the need to comment on her lady's choice of clothing. "I thought you said no tricks?"
Padme stroked the silky red gown before she closed her travel bag. "Well, maybe just a few."
Dorme walked with her to the shuttle platform and glanced beyond to see the handsome Jedi waiting for her at the shuttle entrance. "There he is...all primed and ready Mi'Lady."
"Stop that!" She smiled and gave Dorme a quick hug. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"You know." Padme's eyebrows raised and she grinned in an assuming gesture.
"You think...me? I had nothing to do with this Mi'Lady!"
"Mm...hmm. I'll see you later."
As Padme approached the shuttle where she was greeted by a bowing Master Kenobi, Dorme whispered into the Coruscant sunset, "Well, not the party anyway."
- - - - - - - -
Padme sat on the hard plastisteel seat of the Naboo Cruiser, occasionally glancing at a silent Obi-Wan who sat in the pilot seat next to her. He had hardly spoken a word since they left. It took three hours by hyperdrive to reach Naboo from Coruscant, and she was beginning to become nervous at the thought of their silence possibly lasting the duration of the trip.
She mentally checked her bags to ensure all her womanly wiles were packed; laces, satins, perfumes -- just a few of the tricks she had promised she wasn't going to use, but packed anyway, just in case. Her traveling outfit she wore now was plain and white, but it fit snugly to her small body and showed off her figure nicely. She was secure in her appearance, but could not understand his silence.
That silence was suddenly broken by a blaring of a warning signal on the ship's instrument panel.
"Blast!" Obi-Wan punched up a digital display of the warning statistics. "Someone has sabotaged the hyperdrive and it has short-circuited the navigational system. "
"What?" She was not sure she heard him correctly.
"We can't make it to Naboo. I'm not even sure we can make it back to Coruscant."
Panic gripped Padme until she realized that she could not be in better hands. Jedi were known to be excellent pilots.
"Blast!" Obi-Wan stated again. "This is why I hate flying!"
The ship took a sudden dive and Padme reached out to the grab ahold of a side panel.
"Well...maybe not this one." She noted to herself with a bit of trepidation.
Padme punched up the system monitor and located a planet nearby. They would have to make an emergency landing and contact the Council from there. She performed a quick life scan of the planet and could detect massive life readings, though none of them human. She silently hoped it was just vegetation and not something large with teeth.
The ship jolted as it entered the planet's atmosphere and upon Obi-Wan's suggestion, she braced herself for impact. The ship slapped through numerous vines and tree limbs before finally slamming and skidding to a stop.
"Are you alright Padme?" It was the first time he had addressed her using her first name.
"Yes, I think so."
Just then, they both noticed the thick mud oozing up and over the ship's view ports.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here."
He grasped her hand firmly and pulled her to the ship's emergency exit. Padme gasped as they exited the ship. The entire planet appeared to be one big swamp. Everywhere she looked, she saw nothing but mud, moss, trees, and water.
"I don't suppose you could have found a better place to land?"
"This was it."
Obi-wan still held onto her hand. The ship lurched suddenly, a large muddy bubble exploding next to them, spattering Padme's outfit. She hastily looked around for a way for them to escape the sinking ship and saw that Obi-Wan was using the Force to drag a large log to their location. He quickly helped her onto it, just as the ship submerged itself into the murky depths of the swamp.
They both sat on the wide nubby wood that was lodged into the thick muddy surface of the swamp, still not talking. It would be at least another two to three hours before anyone wondered where they were, and possibly another hour to confirm that they were not on Coruscant either. Then, it would take at least three more hours to find their hyperdrive signature and locate them on this mudhole of a planet. She had at least six hours to be alone with him. Six hours...alone. Alone. The word kept playing over in her mind.
"Dorme!" She hissed outloud.
"Pardon me?"
"Nothing." Surely Dorme would not resort to sabotaging her ship so that she would be forced to be alone with Obi-Wan! But then Dorme was resourceful, as she had already proven, and she was loyal. She always had ensured that Padme had everything she needed, and Dorme was convinced that what Padme needed most was Master Kenobi.
"Are you hungry?" Obi-Wan's accented voice was a rich and welcome distraction to the sound of the croaks and buzzes of the insect and amphibious life surrounding them.
"Not really." She grinned slightly at the vision of Obi-Wan jumping into the swamp and wrestling an amphibous creature just to provide them with some food.
"I have some meal tablets in my utility belt. Not very tasty, but nutritious."
Padme smiled at him, somewhat disheartened. This was not the way that she had envisioned her time with him would be. She was splattered with mud from head to toe and she could feel her hair beginning to fall from its upsweep. She must look a complete mess.
Obi-Wan glanced to her and returned her smile. His chest heaved a silent sigh as he discovered she had never looked more beautiful to him than she did right now.