By the time Obi-Wan arrived to the small planet of Naboo, the celebration had already begun. The space sport was teeming with humans, and much to his dismay, Gungans as well. The young man looked upon the creatures with obvious disgust. If they weren't tripping over themselves, they were bumping into him and he hastily walked the short distance to the Theed palace.
The actual Treaty signing would take place the next day following the Unity Day Parade, a grand finale of the two-day celebration, and Obi-Wan decided that it couldn't end soon enough.
Blaring music filled the streets and several times the young knight would find himself dodging a set of long, swinging Gungan's ears as their bodies gyrated to the strange percussive music. Obi-Wan was proud of himself that he had finally made it to the palace with only one slight misuse of the Force. If he hadn't shoved the creature back, he would've been trampled!
All Obi-Wan wanted to do was to pay his respects to the Queen and then retire to whatever storage closet they had assigned him to sleep in for the night. In the morning he would paste a smile on his face, supervise the treaty and hopefully, get the hell off Naboo as soon as possible.
"I'm just paying my dues." He repeated to himself as he entered the palace. Apparently all new knights had to, before they were assigned the more important missions -- the ones where they actually get to use their lightsabers, he continued to grumble.
Just smile and get this over with, he added as he forced a grin to appear on his face, noting the entourage of elegantly dressed females approaching him.
One in particular stepped forward from the group to address him, her dark brown eyes looking at him speculatively.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" She asked with a soft voice.
"Greetings from the Jedi Council." The knight bowed. Highly improper. He expected to at least be meeting the queen, not one of her bodyguards.
"If you will follow me." The young woman motioned down a long hallway, and the crowd dispersed some to allow the knight to walk next to the lady obviously leading the group.
He followed along quietly for a few steps, all the while wondering how he could ask where they were taking him. The young woman hadn't said. Maybe they were taking him to his assigned quarters. That would be fine. In fact, he would prefer it. Not that being in the company of these ladies was uncomfortable. They weren't that bad looking, especially the one who had spoken to him. Although with the ridiculously hideous orange gown she was wearing, it was hard to tell what she looked like. The material covered nearly every inch of her body, besides the fact that he hated the color orange.
"I do hope that you enjoy your stay. The Gungans can get a little rowdy during the festival, especially during the evening hours."
"That doesn't surprise me." Obi-Wan murmured as they continued walking before taking a sharp turn to the left.
The young woman's eyes shot sideways up at the young man as he spoke, obviously catching the suprising sarcasm in the knight's comment.
"The Gungans are an important part of our lives." She explained. "During the early settlement period, Kwilaan made first made contact with the Gungans. If it hadn't been for Boss Gallo's assistance, the settlers would not have survived."
Yeah, yeah, Obi-Wan said to himself. He had read the specs of the mission, knew all about Naboo's history. All he wanted right now was a hot bath.
"I'm sorry…miss," he said with slight exasperation. "Is there some place I can lie down and rest? It was a long journey here."
The young woman stopped, followed by the immediate halting of the group of women following them, and she turned to gaze intently at the Jedi Knight standing before her.
"These are your quarters." She motioned to the door in which that were standing in front of, slightly shocked as the young man immediately palmed open the door and stepped inside.
"Would you…" the young woman took a deep breath. "Care to join us for evening meal?"
Obi-Wan considered the invitation for a moment. It was probably going to be some kind of grand banquet with a variety of food and far too much of it, and a variety of guests that would more than likely include the Gungans.
He smiled at the woman, noting but not actually caring that she wasn't smiling back. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm actually quite tired. I think I'm just going to stay in my room. I'll be seeing you for first meal in the morning. Good night."
The young lady was still not smiling as the door in front of her resolutely slid shut.
"Mi'Lady?" Another one of the orange-clad woman asked her from behind.
"Of all the nerve!" She hissed before spinning on her heel and quickly walked down the corridor they had come, the group of bodyguards following closely behind.
The bodyguard who had spoken before, caught up with her. "Maybe you should have introduced yourself as the Queen."
"That would have ruined the whole point, Sabé. I wanted to see who we were dealing with." The young queen strolled through the palace hallways at a fast pace.
"At least he's good looking." Another handmaiden named Eirtaé commented. "The one they sent last year…." The girl visibly shivered in remembrance of the tall Ithorian Knight the Council had sent to supervise the Treaty.
"What about the year before?" Rabé, another handmaiden noted. "That one had the personality of a wamp rat."
"At least he had manners." Queen Amidala countered before reaching the dining hall. As she moved to the head table to partake in the evening meal, she began to wonder about the process and the possibility of filing a complaint with the Jedi Council.