Chapter 15
Naboo
Vader struggled not to stare at his surroundings like some starry-eyed tourist as he followed Senator Amidala through Theed, capital city of Naboo. He managed it, but it wasn't easy. It was like his first visit to the main Jedi Temple, only this time he had a job to do, and so he couldn't afford to goggle at the beautiful city.
The flight here had been totally uneventful. Two and a half days of utter boredom. If their transport had been faster, they could've made it in a day and a half, but refugee ships aren't made for speed, they're made to carry as many people as possible.
The Senator had paced their tiny shared cabin like a caged Nexu when they were alone. When their roommates, a young Human couple looking to make a fresh start on Naboo, were present, she would either chat with them or review something on her holo-reader. She only spoke to Vader when necessary, and Vader was glad for that.
He had spent his time watching the other passengers, tinkering with Artoo when the Senator wasn't looking, and even (to his secret horror) meditating. Over the two and a half day trip, he'd spied three cheating husbands, five thieving children, two fleeing petty criminals; given Artoo five modification upgrades; and meditated for a good quarter of the time he'd been awake. At the end of the voyage, he'd idly wondered if Obi-Wan would be pleased with his good behavior. He hadn't been rude to a single person on the ship and he hadn't let slip a single explicit curse.
Vader almost tripped over his own boots as he followed Senator Amidala around a corner and caught sight of the massive Nabooan Royal Palace. Every building he'd seen so far had been a work of art. The Palace was a masterpiece. If he had the time, he would've stared at it for hours. This was totally different from the type of architecture he was used to seeing on Coruscant.
He managed to recover his wits before Amidala had taken more than a few steps in front of him and lengthened his stride to catch up. Thankfully, she didn't notice his gawking. Artoo did, but said nothing about it. Vader inwardly smiled at the little droid. He'd met one just like it years ago and been most impressed with its versatility. This Artoo was just as cool.
I love droids. He mentally grinned as the Senator led him to a side entrance to the Palace. Vader stubbornly fixed his eyes on the back of Amidala's silly headdress so as not to gawk and get lost in the vast, beautiful Nabooan Palace. He could always get a nice long look at it later.
Less than an hour after landing in Theed, they were in the Royal Palace and waiting for their audience with the current ruler of Naboo. Amidala was either very powerful, very popular, or both, because it felt like they'd only waited a few minutes before a Royal Handmaiden summoned them before the Queen. Vader was slightly annoyed, he'd wanted more time to study some tapestries hanging on a nearby wall.
His first impression of the current Nabooan monarch wasn't very favorable. She looked like a freak. Her face was painted white with two red dots, one below each eye in the middle of the cheek, and she had some weird lipstick, the top lip was red and the bottom was white with a red vertical stripe down the middle. Her dark brown (or black, he couldn't really tell) hair was done up in an elaborate style, wrapped around some sort of huge headdress type thing. And her robes were multi-layered, multi-colored, and pretty in an elegant-yet-ridiculous sort of way. Basically, she looked like a fancy clown. It was difficult not to stare or laugh.
"Senator Amidala, We are most glad to see you safe." The Queen greeted in a rather flat-sounding voice.
She sounds about as dumb as she looks, Vader noted, keeping his face totally neutral.
"Thank you your Highness, it is good to see you again." Senator Amidala smiled.
Both women approached each other and gave each other that sort of distant fake hug that looked more like they were holding onto each other's arms. Then, with the greeting out of the way, they settled into chairs and got down to business. Vader moved to stand just behind and beside the Senator's chair. The Queen sat on her throne, flanked by two Handmaidens sitting on chairs on either side of her. A few Governors were already present and nodded or called brief greetings to the Senator. And then they began talking, which cued Vader to tune them out and do some meditation and scanning-for-threats instead.
Nothing happened. No explosions, laser fire, brawls, poison darts, or assassins (droid or biological). Nothing bad went down. Nothing interesting or funny was discussed. And Vader was left excessively bored and annoyed. Here he was, playing bodyguard and wasting his time while his own protector was off doing something infinitely more interesting.
Sometime later, the meeting ended. The politicians all rose and said their goodbyes to each other. It was roughly lunchtime so the Governors went out to eat at some restaurant while the Queen and her staff got ready for their own meal within the palace walls. After a final farewell between the two women, Senator Amidala gathered up her bags, droid, and Vader, and they left.
Vader silently shadowed Amidala, mildly curious as to their next destination. The reason for the mild curiosity was that he was hungry and hoped wherever they were going would have some good food. If their next stop didn't, or it took a long time to get there, he would end up even more annoyed than he already was.
A good ten minutes of walking brought them to a residential area near the edge of Theed and a pretty little house. As Amidala and Artoo reached the front gate a pair of young girls exploded out of the house and raced over to greet them. The older one had straight dark hair while the younger had slightly lighter hair that was very curly. The only other thing he noted about them was that they were energetic and rather cute.
"Aunt Padmé! Aunt Padmé!" They both cheered, bouncing around the Senator.
'Aunt Padmé'? She's an aunt? Vader blinked, surprised. She doesn't look old enough to be an aunt.
"Ryoo! Pooja!" The Senator grinned. "I didn't expect to see you two here!"
"We didn't expect to see you here!" The girls giggled.
"Well then, we both got a nice surprise then," Amidala smiled. "Are your parents here too?"
"Dad is working, but Mom's here." The taller girl replied.
"Thank you Ryoo." Amidala nodded and went through the gates, up the steps, and into the house.
Vader wandered after her. Behind him he could hear the girls giggling and squealing over Artoo, who stayed outside, and seemed to be enjoying the attention immensely. Vader snorted softly at the droid's antics. Artoo is so weird…
The house, which he guessed belonged to some relatives, was small, but comfortable. While it wasn't nearly as massive or fancy as the Royal Palace, it was beautiful in its own homey sort of way. The walls were covered in family holos and flat images, the furniture was well made, and the overall atmosphere slowly leeched tension from him, allowing him to relax a bit. Nothing bad could happen in a nice little place like this.
Amidala led him into a kitchen where two women were preparing food. The younger one was older looking than the Senator and he guessed that she was Ryoo and Pooja's mother, making her either Amidala's sister, or sister-in-law. The older woman had a good amount of silver threaded in her dark hair and was plenty old enough to be the mother of both the other women in the room. The instant that they noticed their surprise guest; they stopped what they were doing and said their hellos.
"Padmé!" The younger woman cried. "What a nice surprise!"
"Yes, you're just in time for lunch!" The older woman laughed as she embraced the Senator.
"Lunch sounds great, I'm starved!" Amidala declared as she returned the embrace, and then went to hug the sister (sister-in-law?). "Hi Mom, hi Sola."
"I thought you were going to be on Coruscant for at least another month." The mother smiled, but Vader could clearly sense a good deal of underlying concern.
"Is something going on?" Sola asked, not hiding her worry as well as her mother (mother-in-law?).
"Nothing is going on," Amidala sighed, deeply annoyed. "The Chancellor and my security staff are just overreacting."
Vader looked sharply over at her. 'Overreacting'? An assassin droid dropped two super-poisonous bugs into your bedroom a few nights ago and they almost stung you!
"What happened to make them overreact?" The mother asked worriedly.
"It's nothing Mom, really. With any luck things will be cleared up soon and I can return and finish up this year's session." Amidala shrugged dismissively.
"Padmé," Sola sighed, looking very unhappy.
"I know you don't want us to worry, but please tell us the truth." The mother pleaded.
"I said that nothing's wrong, I'm perfectly fine." Amidala smiled, trying to be reassuring. "Now, what about lunch?"
Amidala's mother and her sister (sister-in-law? He really needed to ask which…) looked concerned and displeased at the lack of an answer, but they dropped the subject and picked up a new one…
"Who's this?" The mother asked, noticing Vader for the first time.
"This is a Jedi Padawan that the Chancellor insisted follow me around 'for my own good'." Amidala snorted in obvious annoyance. "He goes simply by Vader."
"A Jedi?" Sola murmured, sounding both concerned and oddly intrigued. Vader felt uneasy at the woman's curious, appraising gaze. "Has he come for lunch too?"
"I guess," Amidala shrugged. "It's always a good idea to feed one's bodyguard."
"Most definitely," Sola agreed.
"Padmé, why don't you fetch your father from the backyard?" The mother suggested. "Once everyone gets to the dining room we can eat."
Amidala smiled cheerfully and ditched her suitcase by the backdoor as she did as she was told. Vader left the bags that he was carrying there as well and waited in the door frame for her and her father to return inside, alert for any danger, however unlikely. Hurry up Milady; he grumbled to himself, I'm starved!