One month. It was one month ago that the Trade Federation were defeated. One month ago that Obi-Wan Kenobi left.
The ache he left behind had lessened, but it was still present. It was always present.
Her thoughts rarely dwelled on the young Jedi these days. She had much more pressing matters to attend to. She was the Queen for pity's sake! She couldn't be distracted by a simple crush.
But sometimes in the middle of the night, she would awaken to a tingling on her lips, a whisper of a voice speaking her name, and an ember glowing within her heart.
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"Sabé, did you say something?"
"No, Mi'Lady. What did you hear?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Probably just my imagination."
But Padmé knew it was more than that. For several days now she had been hearing her name. Once when she was walking the hallway to the main audience chamber, once when she was getting ready for bed, and just now. She was beginning to wonder if she was losing her sanity.
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Padmé flicked the vegetables around the intricate china with her gold utensil. Her appetite had eluded her once more, just as it had done for the past two days.
Perhaps it wasn't 'nothing' after all. She was losing weight, she didn't want to eat, she was hearing voices. And then there was that strange aching sensation. Perhaps it was time she consulted her physician.
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"Well? What did he say?"
Padmé stepped into her bed chamber, flinging the unused prescription into the recycling bin. "Post traumatic stress disorder."
"That does make a little sense, Mi'Lady. After all you went through during the droid battle. And then taking care of that Jedi, uhm, what's-his-name...Obi-Wan Kenobi. That was quite a bit to handle."
Padmé felt a sudden flush radiate through her body.
"Say his name again."She immediately turned to face her handmaiden.
"Huh?"
"The Jedi. Say his name again."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Once again, the warmth located somewhere deep within her flowed throughout her body. She turned to glance into a nearby mirror, convinced that her skin must be glowing.
This was no crush. She had had crushes before. Palo was a crush. This...this was something she had never experienced before. She didn't recognize it, couldn't begin to describe it, and suddenly was frightened by it.
"What is it Mi'Lady? What's the matter?" Sabé was immediately by her side.
"I'm...I'm not sure. I need to go to Coruscant...to the Jedi Temple." Her hands flew to her now flushed face. "I need to find Obi-Wan Kenobi!"
Queen Amidala's plans for a trip to Coruscant were spoiled due to a worker rebellion on one of Naboo's moons. Apparently, the spice miners there had decided their profits were unsatisfactory and had shut down production entirely.
It seemed that the short-lived peace following the Trade Federation's occupation had ended. It was now back to politics and negotiations. From the looks of things, she would not be leaving the planet any time soon.
She would have to learn to the live with the aching need that seemed to be ravaging away her soul.