*** Chapter 10 ***

While Padme would often be considered the last monarch to serve before the galaxy was at war, the last peace time leader, there would still be military actions while she was in office. Even with Padme's desire to serve, she was still just a 14-year girl who did not fantasize about war the way older leaders would. This is exactly why Naboo had a tradition of electing adolescent Queens.

The Life and Times of Amidala, the People's Queen, By: Softa Jiane, Oralist and Historian

When Luke exited the palace, Palak was already waiting at the edge of the protestors. Today, she was wearing a pale yellow dress adorned with green bows. The look was more ostentatious than what she had worn before, but it seemed typical dress for the protestors.

"Morning," Luke said upon seeing her.

"Good morning." She greeted back.

Luke looked at her awkwardly, trying to decide if he should bring up the death of the elder Oralist but then thought better of it. "So, are we off to talk to some isolationist?" Luke asked.

Before Palak answered, she looked Luke up and down. "We need to get some new clothes first."

"What, what's wrong with my clothes?" Luke questioned. Luke's clothes were clean, having taken advantage of the laundry in the palace, and they were civilian. A light brown tunic, a pair of black breeches and high military boots. The boots had become a popular looks across the galaxy the last few years among civilians, imperials, and alliance. Luke's light saber hung conspicuously from his waist. Luke had not often shown his Jedi identity so readily as he was often playing the part of a pilot but being on Naboo meant he was supposed to play into his Jedi identity.

"They're so drab, they instantly label you as an off worlder. No one is going to talk to you if that's how you dress." Palak stated.

"So, I get new clothes?" Luke questioned.

"Yeah, there's a shop down the way that's reasonable." Palak directed.

"Lead the way." Luke worked to keep a certain amount of sarcasm out of his voice.

A few moments later, the two entered a small shop that had clothing that was ever color of the rainbow lining the shelves and it only took Luke a moment to notice that there was nothing brown, black or beige.

Luke stood in the entrance of the shop, a little unsure of what to do. This was a bit of a foreign concept. Back on Tatooine, in Anchorhead there was one small shop that sold sundry goods such as sturdy breaches, tunics, boots, kitchen appliances, speeder parts, farm equipment and pretty much anything else a moisture farming family could need. Most of Luke's clothes had come this shop as had all the clothes of his friends and his uncle. Aunt Beru and some of the woman would order things from time to time, but only in good times and only items sturdy enough for repeated wear on a desert planet. When Luke joined the Rebellion, his clothes came from a few different sources. Any official alliance uniforms came from the Rebellion and all other clothing was procured as needed, mostly from sundry stores and markets that severed the backwater planets Luke found himself on. Luke had never actually purchased clothes from shops that specialized in clothing and he had certainly also never chosen style, prioritizing function above all else.

"Well, are you going to choose something?" Palak questioned, when Luke did not instantly move towards the loudly colored clothes hanging from racks.

"It's all so… bright." Luke noted.

"That's the point." Palak countered with a bit of a chuckle. "Look, why don't I pick a few things out and you can try them on."

"Try them on?" Luke was thoroughly confused by the concept.

"Yeah, you can try on clothes before you buy them." Palak said, as if it were obvious.

"Right, of course." Luke adlibbed, again, another new experience.

Palak then started buzzing around the store, selecting a piece, after piece while Luke stayed in his position near the entrance. After a few minutes, Palak returned and led Luke back to the dressing room.

"Give these a try," She said, pushing the clothes into his arms and shuffling him into a fitting room.

Luke pulled on the first ensemble and walked out to show Palak, "I look like a clown." He said dryly, gesturing down to the patch work cloak with so many colors Luke could not even begin to name them all, and that was just the solid colors patches. Some were stripped two or three different colors and some were polka dot

"Ok, maybe that's a little much for a first time." Palak said, with a bit of a smile.

"Wait, did you just pick this out to see my reaction?"

"Of course not." Palak said insincerely. "I Picked this so everything else would seem muted in comparison. Now try on the green tunic with the blue sleeves and the yellow breeches."

Luke returned to the dressing room and tried on the outfit Palak had dictated. He took look in the mirror, it was better than the coat of many colors, but it was still a lot of color.

"Come on, let me see." Palak called through the curtain of the dressing room.

Luke again come out of the dressing room. His shoulders slumped as if attempting to draw less attention.

"Oh, that looks very nice, I think you should get this." Palak said as she gestured the shop droid over to complete the purchase process.

Luke grimaced a little at the price, unsure if it was actually fair but he had the funds, having actually started to accrue a salary the last year. The New Republic now had the money to pay its soldiers.

Luke walked out of the shop looking a bit more like a youthful Nabooan rather than the slightly shabby Jedi he had entered as. He quickly realized that as bright as the clothes were, they were soft and comfortable and allowed for movement. Luke would have easily purchased another version of the outfit in the bland tones he so preferred.

"You really look like you belong." Palak looked him up and down as they walked towards the protestors.

"I think I look like a stodgy pilot who dressed up like a song bird." Luke replied in mock anger, mostly to hide that he felt extremely exposed in the outfit.

"No, I really think you look like a real Nabooan, it's kind of uncanny really." Palak argued back, but there was a certain sincerity that Luke liked, as if he could really belong a planet like Naboo. As if anyone would ever believe he could come from somewhere so refined rather than an outer rim outpost.

"Look, all joking aside, I am not exactly an unknown face, do you think I'll be recognized?" Luke questioned. He didn't like using the word New Republic and Propaganda in the same sentence, but he had become a bit of a poster boy in certain sectors.

"No, you see the Isolationist don't watch any holonews or media not about or made in Naboo. They are very much considerate if that fact it would hypocritical to do otherwise. They won't recognize your face, but I'd hide the lightsaber." Palak mentioned down toward the weapon hanging on his belt.

"But I thought all of Naboo loved the story of the Queen and the Jedi?" Luke insisted, confused by the conflicting information.

"They love Queen Amidala and there is a rumor that the father of her unborn child was a Jedi, but they don't care one way or another about Jedi and that thing is just going to mark you as an off worlder. Put it away." Palak said and Luke tucked his lightsaber up into his tunic, so it was not visible but still accessible if needed.

They again approached the entrance to the palace where about 100 protestors were still camped out. Luke observed that their dedication to the cause seemed legitimate, though Luke had just spent four years of his life fighting for the rebellion, so he understood truly and fully believing in such a cause.

"How do we do this?" Luke asked from the periphery

"We join in, we start listening to stories." Palak replied as she left the sidelines and headed into the crowd.

Luke followed, noticing that she did not seem to have any meaningful conversation at first, just greeting people sincerely with light touches on the shoulders and quick hugs. At each encounter Luke could feel the warmth through the force, almost like a little hug. Palak genially cared about the protestors. She had become part of their community.

The logical part of Luke, the part that had been fighting a war knew he should probably be alarmed that Palak was so familiar with the protestors, but the other part of Luke, the part his master's has instructed him to listen to was telling Luke to trust Palak. There was probably a third part of Luke as well, the part of Luke that liked spending a time with a pretty, smart, girl who he was not related to and did not report to him his normal duty commanding his squadron.

Finally, when Palak reached a woman, well passed middle age with braids of steely gray hair, she asked, "Mvaey, How's your husband?"

Mvaey gave a small smile and said, "he's got his good days, but the bad ones are starting to outnumber the good."

"I'm sorry to hear that Mvaey." Palak returned.

"It's what makes life so special, if it went on forever, we would not cherish it." Mvaey words were strong, but her voice quivered.

"So, it is." Palak agreed and then turned toward Luke and said, "Mvaey, this is my friend Luke, he's helping do some of my research at the Center." Palak explained.

"Luke, what a strong Nabooan name. It was the name of my father, in fact. It's very nice to meet you." Mvaey stuck out her hand and Luke met her palm for a shake.

"It's nice to meet you as well." Luke replied, a bit taken aback. Luke was a rather uncommon name on Tatooine, but he had never stopped to consider its origin.

Palak picked up the conversation. "Mvaey, when we last met you were telling me about your son's service in the imperial navy."

"Oh, Yes, I can continue. As you already know, Palak, Schohn was such a good boy. And he was very lucky. The schools Queen Amidala had built had just started to really take off and Schohn took to the lessons like a fish in water. He was a very smart boy and his teachers told us constantly that he would have a bounty of opportunity." Mvaey paused and allowed the sweet memory to linger before she continued.

"He was just 15 when the imperials arrived, recruiting students for their new academy on Coruscant. His father and I were very proud, but we were hesitant to let him go. You see, we're just simple people. The first time I even left Naboo was to visit Schohn at school and my husband has never been off world. I think this is where we left off last time, right?" Mvaey directing her question towards Palak.

"I think so." Palak agreed.

"Well, as expected Schohn did well at the Academy. He started as part of the command crew on a Star Destroyer, working he way up little by little. He was not able to come back often, but he was very diligent on sending credits home, especially after his father first got sick. Then, nearly a decade after he finished school, he messaged to tell us he had been assigned to New Space station, it was a big assignment but once he finished this assignment he was going to retire from the Imperial navy." Mvaey paused as her voice caught in her chest.

"It's okay, you don't have to continue." Palak soothed.

"I want too, I want Schohn's story documented with the Oralists. I want all of Naboo to know what happens to our children when mess with intergalactic politics."

"Ok, I am remembering." Palak confirmed.

"The spaceship Schohn was assigned to was the Death Star and within just a few months of Schohn taking his new assignment, the entire station was destroyed. You can argue all you want about who actually killed him, it may be the kid who actually destroyed the thing, or it could be the entire the rebellion, or the Empire that took my son to begin with. I've heard them all, you know. Everyone wants to defend one side or another, but what I do know is that my son is dead because he left Naboo. My son never had a family, never got to be a father. Had he stayed on Naboo, had Naboo stayed out of all this intergalactic nonsense, my son would still be here. But instead, his body rests in the cold expanse of space, we did not even get to bring him home to rest on the plant for which he belongs." Mvaey finished, her tears turning to anger.

The color in Luke's face had drained as Mvaey finished the story and he could feel his heart beating so intensely in his chest it felt as if it were going to fly out and land on the ground in front of him. He could feel Mavy's grief, still fresh after all this time. Luke had of course considered the lives that had been lost in the destruction of the death star, but it had always been in the abstract. The discussion had also concluded with the qualifier that war ended in death. That every imperials life lost, saved an exponential number of innocents that suffered under imperial rule. Luke has never been confronted with a personnel account of the lives he had personally destroyed. How could he claim to be a Jedi, the ultimate source of good, with so much blood on his hands.

"Thank you for sharing Mvaey." Palak replied, as if the story meant nothing.

"Your friend looks a little sick." Mvaey motioned toward Luke.

Palak looked over at Luke and noticed his ghost like complexion. "Oh, I think he may have skipped breakfast. Luke, come on let's get you something to eat." Palak said, pulling the near comatose Jedi away from the protestors and setting him on bench just of rang of the demonstration.

"Luke, I did not know Mvaey's story. I just knew her son had died, but I didn't know how." Palak tried to keep the panic out of her voice, things were not going as expected.

Luke regained some of his composure. "It's okay, I just wasn't prepared to hear…"

"These stories are tough, not all of them are going to have the very personnel connection, but plenty of people have similar experiences."

"I killed her son." Luke responded, working to keep his voice sounding even, though he failed and instead reverted back to whiney tone of the emotional farm boy he was sure he had left behind.

"You did your job as a solider." Palak replied "and her son was doing his job. While I was not at the battle, I have read both the New Republic and Imperial accounts. It was a zero-sum game, either all of the rebels or all the Imperials were going to die that day. None of the Isolationist blame you, they just don't see why Naboo needs to be part of conflicts that only seem to result in a net negative."

Luke nodded in understanding. He took in a deep breath, letting the force fill him up. Letting it remind him of the balance that he and the rest of the universe existed in. "We should probably hear more stories."

"Well come then, what are you waiting for?" Palak kept her voice light and cheerful, they moved on to pretending everything was okay.