Padmé moved into the cramped sleeping quarters she was sharing with her handmaidens Sabé, Rabé, and Eirtaé. She crept quietly around their sleeping forms to the low couch in the corner, but inadvertently bumped into Sabé's head.
"Mi'lady?" Sabé immediately rose up on her elbows.
"I'm sorry." Padmé whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"I was awake. I was waiting to make sure Obi-Wan got you back to the ship in one piece. What were you thinking wandering around Mos Espa alone at night?"
Padmé rolled her eyes and plopped herself down onto the couch. How many times was she going to have to answer this question?
"I thought that suicide might be best under the circumstances." She deadpanned sarcastically as the cabin's glow-lights came up to half brightness, the handmaidens now all awake except for Eirtaé, who moaned and pulled the covers higher over her head.
Rabé moved over to sit next to Padmé. "What happened?"
Padmé glanced to her friend, the color once again rising in her cheeks. She grabbed a pillow from the couch.
"I kissed him!" She stated in horror as she buried her face into the small head cushion. In doing so, she missed the look of disgust on Rabé's face, as well as the sympathetic gaze of Sabé. Sabé moved closer to offer her some comfort.
"What did he do? Did he kiss you back?"
Muffled behind the pillow issued forth what sounded like laughter, and then Padmé dropped the pillow, a sorrowful smile creeping upon her face. "No. He did not. In fact, he called me a child."
"Well that wasn't very…courteous." Rabé pointed out. She never had understood Padmé's infatuation with the man. Now the apprentice -- that was another story.
"Oh no." Padmé quickly corrected her. "He was quite the gentleman. Kind, compassionate, and straightforward, without being rude. But he's definitely not interested in forming a relationship. At least not with me."
Sabé rose to retrieve a tissue to offer to Padmé as a tear had escaped down her cheek. Padmé smiled and accepted it and then wiped the tear away.
"I'm sorry, girls. It looks like we're going to be unemployed in a few months." She blew her nose quietly, trying not to disturb Eirtaé who had now placed her pillow over her head.
"I'm just glad Obi-Wan found you and you were safe." Rabé noted as she hugged the queen with one arm.
"I almost screwed that up as well." Padmé admitted. Seeing the look of concern on her friends' faces, she hurried to explain. "I sort of ran into someone in town who had had a little too much to drink."
"And? What happened?" Sabé prompted her.
"And Obi-Wan saved me. The man was totally disgusting. He would've raped me for sure."
"What did the Jedi do?" Rabé asked excitedly. "Did he run him through with his lightsaber?"
"Did he force choke the man to death?" Sabé asked in quick succession.
Padmé chuckled as she realized that those were the exact things she had said to Obi-Wan. Only now she could see how ridiculous they sounded.
"No. None of that. He simply put the man to sleep." Padme's face turned wistful as she remembered the occurrence. "And he said I was pretty."
The words were barely audible and the handmaidens leaned in to hear them. But they had heard them, and they both glanced up at one another with knowing grins.
Padmé surprised them with a forceful punch to the pillow she held in her hands.
"None of this should be happening! If we weren't stuck on this wretched planet, I would have thrown the celebration party and Obi-Wan would have probably proposed already."
"Obi-Wan?" Rabé echoed incredulously. "Don't you mean Qui-Gon?"
"Huh?" Padmé asked.
"You said Obi-Wan would have proposed." Sabé pointed out.
"No I didn't." Padmé argued back.
"Yes you did." Came a muffled reply from Eirtaé who still had her face hidden beneath her pillow.
"I did?" Padmé wondered. "You know what I meant. And besides, the point is we shouldn't even be here!" It's all Gunray's fault! That lousy, back-stabbing Neimoidian! He didn't stick to our deal!"
Padmé abruptly stood up and walked toward the exit.
"Where are you going?" Rabé asked her.
"I'm going to put a stop to this nonsense so we can all go home."
Rapid and confident steps took Queen Amidala to the ship's communication station. She activated the holoimager, but realized that she wasn't adorned in her royal dress or make-up, and so she quickly modified the settings to audio only. Within a minute, the whining voice of Nute Gunray crackled over the comm.
"Once again, it is my pleasure to speak with you, your highness."
"Don't give me any of that bantha shit, Gunray. You owe me an explanation." Padmé hissed into the communicator.
"I regret that there has been some miscommunication." Came his reply.
"Miscommunication my ass. You deliberately took advantage of me in order to gain power over Naboo!" She accused sternly.
"I assure you, I did no such thing. Why don't you come back to Naboo so that we may resolve this situation?"
Padmé sat silent for a moment, contemplating her choices. She could stay here on Tatooine for what might possibly be forever, or she could go back to Naboo and negotiate an end to this ridiculous misunderstanding. And surely that's all it was. Maybe Gunray was right. Maybe they had just had a miscommunication, and instead of establishing a blockade in orbit like she had suggested, maybe he thought a pretend ground attack would be more convincing.
Plus, if she went back to Naboo, that would be less time she had to spend with the Jedi, and be constantly reminded of what a fool she had made of herself in front of Qui-Gon.
She was about to transmit her agreement to return to Naboo when the communication was abruptly disconnected. She looked up in irritation to find Sabé with her hand over the kill switch.
"What are you doing?" The handmaiden asked.
"I'm putting an end to this conflict! It's my fault it got started, and I'm going to be the one to stop it!"
"But Obi-Wan said we weren't to send any transmissions of any kind!"
"Why not?"
"Something about the Trade Federation trying to establish a connection trace."
Padmé gulped, but then waved her hand dismissively through the air. "Gunray can't do anything to us out here. And besides, he wants to end this as much as I do. Doesn't he?"