Chapter Fourteen

The streets of Naboo were characteristically busy, filled with the bustle of city life. There were always vendors of some kind around, shops, and restaurants on every corner. However, this particular Nubian street was hopelessly quiet. It was as if every house on this street was deserted, much to the dismay of Anakin and Padme, who were desperately trying to keep as much distance between themselves as possible.

They were currently on their way to her parents' house after Jobal Naberrie had made a frantic call to the Lake House, requesting that Padme and her Jedi protector come immediately so she could see for herself that Padme was indeed alive. Padme reluctantly agreed, and mumbled after her mother had ended the transmission that she should just come herself. Why did everything have to be the way she wanted it to be? Telling Anakin of their new plans had proven to be a difficult feat because she had had to explain all this to a 'meditating' Jedi who was pretending not to listen. It was frustrating beyond words, but yet, she had to admit that she deserved it.

It had been only two days since their relationship had abruptly started back up and ended, but it felt like it had been at least two years. Anakin had avoided her like the plague since he had overheard her conversation with Bail and she had given up trying to at least talk to him.

She sighed at the thought of visiting her family with him. Awkward was putting it mildly and in truth, she felt horrible that Anakin would have to be subjected to the interrogation she was sure would follow the moment her mother discovered who he really was to her.

They walked up the somewhat steep steps to the Naberrie residence and Anakin took the moment of peace to survey Padme's home. It wasn't huge, but it was inviting nonetheless, surrounding by the aroma of sweet flowers that almost reminding him of the scent of Padme's hair. He winced slightly at that thought and quickly glanced at her. At that moment, her brow was furrowed pensively, and she was still the beautiful angel he had met when he was nine. But…she wasn't so angelic now.

Anakin was thrown from his thoughts as Jobal threw open the door and immediately drew her daughter into an embrace.

"Padme! I'm so glad you're here! We've been hearing the most awful things!"

"Mother, it's alright. Nothing's happened to me yet. Just a few attempts, it's really ok."

"Oh Padme, it is not ok. How could it possibly be ok…"

"It's ok, because I have my Jedi protector with me."

Jobal's eyes narrowed slightly and her gaze shifted to the expressionless Jedi. She took one more glance at Padme and watched her daughter gaze nervously up at the Jedi. And then she knew.

"Yes…well, I'm sure he's happy to help you however he can, right?"

Padme's mouth opened to speak, her eyes wide, but she couldn't find the words to reply. Anakin, however, was now narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Padme's mother, coming to the realization for the first time since he had met her that this was the woman who had not only talked Padme into breaking up with him but also into an arranged marriage.

"Mother, I think we should go in now. Dad's probably worried sick."

Once they had entered the house, Padme was immediately bombarded by her father. He took her quickly into his arms and hugged her tightly, whispering into her ear. When the exchange was finally over, Ruwee noticed Anakin and reached out to shake his hand.

Anakin took it and nodded in respect towards the man.

"Thank you, Jedi Skywalker, for everything you've done for my daughter. You've saved her life just by being here and I can't tell you how much that means to our family."

"Thank you, sir. And don't worry, I'll protect her with my life."

Ruwee nodded, trusting the young man completely. He good-naturedly led Anakin further into the house to give him a tour and Jobal took that opportunity to pounce.

"So tell me, Padme, are you and the Jedi getting along well?"

Padme swallowed nervously, knowing full well that she had be careful with her words. "Yes…"

"Don't even try to lie to me. I know who he is. You didn't even have to tell me."

Padme's mouth dropped open in shock and she couldn't do anything but gape at her mother.

"Listen, Padme, I don't know what you think you're doing, but you have to remember that you're getting married soon. You can't act like this when you're married…"

"Mother, just stop it. I didn't choose him to be my protector, the Council did. If it was up to me, I would have sent him to the furthest planet imaginable."

Jobal sat back, clearly surprised by her daughter's response. Something didn't seem right here. There was more to this than Padme was letting on.

"Dear, I just want to make sure that you're not going to ruin your life."

Padme paused, almost losing the courage to say it, but finally decided that for once in her life, she would tell her mother how she really felt. "It's already ruined, Mother. I shouldn't tell you this, but I will anyway. I still love him, and I'm pretty sure he still loves me, even though I may have ruined that too. I know that I shouldn't, that I'm getting married, but the truth is, I don't want to marry Bail. You pushed me into it whether you'll admit it or not. I don't love him, I don't even like him. I'm not happy with this at all."

This time, it was Jobal's turn to drop her mouth in shock. She couldn't believe what Padme had just uttered. She had openly admitted her love for the Jedi and on top of that, admitted that she didn't want to marry her fiancé. She hadn't wanted to do this…but maybe it was time to tell her daughter the truth.

"Padme, the wedding date has been pushed up."

"What…I thought it wasn't for another three months."

"It's next week."

"No…mother, please…that's too soon."

"I'm sorry, but that was Bail's decision, not mine. He just informed me of that actually."

"I just spoke to him not too long ago. Why wouldn't he tell me?"

"I honestly don't know, dear. I wish I could tell you. But there's something that you need to know. I haven't spoken of this in quite awhile…but you deserve to know everything. It's important."

She paused and looked at her daughter meaningfully before continuing. "I was in love with a Jedi too once. He was brave and handsome and charming and all the things I'm sure your Jedi is too. I was about your age when we met; he was on a mission here on Naboo when I was a handmaiden for the Queen. It wasn't long before we were stealing kisses in deserted rooms and taking every spare second to see each other. But he was called away much too soon from me and we wrote to each other almost every day. Then one day, his Master found one of my letters to him and forbade him to ever write or speak to me again. He managed to write me one last letter to explain things…but I never heard from him again after that. He left me heart broken and it took me a long time to ever allow myself to love again."

"Mother…I…"

"Don't get me wrong, Padme. I love your father very much, it's just that…it was never the same with him. I suppose there will always be a part of me that will love my Jedi. I suppose I've never really gotten over him. Sometimes…I take out the only picture I have of him and wonder what my life would have been like if things had worked out the way I thought they would. But he couldn't betray the Order and he couldn't disobey his Master. He chose that life before me and that's something that I've had to live with every day. He's dead now…but I can't help but think of him every day. Maybe…in the after life, I'll see him again…"

She smiled through the tears that now flowed down her cheeks and quickly realized that maybe she had given her daughter too much information. "Do you see now why I wanted you to stay away from that Jedi? It was only a matter of time until he ended it anyways and I didn't want you to have to experience the pain that I did."

"Oh mother…I'm so sorry you had to go through all that…I wish you had told me this sooner…why have you never spoken of this before?"

"Like I told you, he's dead. After he died, a part of me died with him. I couldn't bear to think of him, but I still do. But, I thought there would be no way I could ever speak of him. But you needed to know this."

"Thank you for telling me. But there's something you need to know too. You should have told me that two years ago and let me make my own decision about Anakin. The situations might have been similar, but Anakin and I are different people than you two were. How do you know that Anakin wouldn't haven acted differently? I just wish you had given me a chance to make my own decision about it…I could have saved myself so much pain and saved Anakin from more than I could possibly imagine. He loves me, Mother, I know he does. I can't help but think that he would give up everything for me. He's never said it, but I don't think he has to."

"Padme…maybe you're right. I was just so scared that you would have to go through what I did. I didn't want you to share my fate. Forgive me. I hope I haven't ruined everything that could've been for you."

"Mother…"

"And if you want to end your engagement with Bail, I won't object. You need to make this decision for yourself. It's the most important one you could ever make and I was already in the process of doing it for you."

Padme could only smile through her tears and hugged her mother tightly. Everything seemed so simple now. She knew exactly what to do.

"Thank you, Mother. I know that was difficult for you. But I just have one question. What was your Jedi's name?"

Jobal smiled faintly before answering: "Qui-Gon Jinn."