Chapter 6 Meeting
"JarJar, what are you doing?" Jesse caught JarJar peeking through a door.
"Dere'sa little girlie in der. Mesa say hidoe." He stepped back for Jesse to look. Sure enough, inside one of the handmaidens was cleaning up the little astro-droid.
"Yousa comin?"
"Sure." Jesse followed the Gungan into the cabin. The girl didn't even notice them enter.
"Hidoe!"
The girl jumped.
"Sorry, nomeanen to scare yousa."
"That's alright." The girl smiled.
"I scovered oily back dare. Needen it?" JarJar held out a container.
"Thank you. This little guy is quite a mess."
Jesse stepped forward. "I'm Jesse Ryenae. This is JarJar Binks."
"I'm Padme. I attend Her Highness. This is R2. You're a Gungan, aren't you?" Padme nodded to JarJar, who nodded back. "How did you end up here with us?"
"Me no know. Mesa day starten pitty okeyday witda brisky morning munchen. Den boom! Getten berry skeered, un grabbed dat Jedi, and before mesa knowen it, POW! Mesa here!" JarJar shrugged.
"I thought it was pretty funny." Jesse added. "And if you'd had the sense to run instead of standing in the middle of the way you would've been fine."
Padme smiled. "You seem kind of young to be going on missions."
"Oh, well, I'm not exactly supposed to be here. I was looking for my friend in the hangar and I hid in this ship so I wouldn't get caught. Then it took off." Jesse explained. "But I'm not all that young. In another year I'll be going on missions. I'm almost twelve. How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
Jesse cocked his head. She seemed a lot older than him, but maybe that came from serving the queen. "What's the queen like?"
Padme hesitated. "She loves her people a lot."
"I could tell. Why are all the handmaidens alike?"
Padme jumped. "What do you mean?" Jesse wondered why her voice trembled.
"They all look alike. Why?"
"Umm, I'm not sure. I guess they think it looks better."
"You know, the queen looks like the handmaidens too. I bet she could disguise herself as a handmaiden, and one of them could be a decoy, and no one would know."
Padme turned pale. "Maybe." She said, and then changed the subject. "Do you have family?"
"I'm an orphan. I have an older brother, but I don't see him much with me being a Jedi and him a pilot. Do you?"
"I have an older sister. I don't see her much either."
"Mesa haven bunches of familio." JarJar stuck in. "But, mesa no see dem much, cuase nocombackie law say no."
Padme smiled and covered his hand with hers. "It's hard."
JarJar nodded.
"So that's Tatooine." Jesse stared at the dull golden planet. "It's a far cry from Naboo."
"It's a lot different from Naboo. It'll be dangerous." Qui-Gon said. "Which is why you'll be staying onboard with Obi-Wan."
Jesse looked at Qui-Gon to make sure he was serious. He was. He bit back his disappointment. Protesting would do no good, and Jedi didn't argue. He sighed and looked back to the window.
Obi-Wan pulled Qui-Gon aside. "You're taking JarJar," he said.
"I'm taking him to keep him out of your way while you make any repairs you can on the ship."
"Well, you need someone to keep an eye on him so he stays out of your way. And you know Master, it would be a good cover for you. I mean you need to appear harmless, and no one would think a boy would be dangerous."
"Whose side are you on?"
"And this is a learning experience."
"Alright, Obi-Wan. Enough. You've made your point." Qui-Gon looked over to the initiate. "He has been pretty well behaved." He mumbled then looked up at the ceiling. "So much for not turning this mission into a vacation."
Jesse looked up when Qui-Gon came back over.
"Do you really want to come?" the Jedi asked.
Jesse's heart leaped. "Well, if you think I should stay…"
"Actually, I think you should decide. Do you want to come or not?"
A grin lit up Jesse's face. "Yes!"
"Good. We'll be leaving in a few minutes then. I'll get a cloak for you, so you're lightsaber will be hidden."
"A cloak?" Jesse frowned. In that dessert? Well he'd wanted to go, he wasn't about to complain.