Chapter Seven

The Neimoidians were back in the palace. Apparently, they had returned to their control ship which was orbiting Naboo and discovered their missing courage, deciding that they were displeased with the progress of the negotiations, and were demanding more talks.

Padmé listened to their complaints as she sat to the right hand side of Sabé who wore the disguise of a Queen.

They argued for ownership of trade lanes they had no right to, and threatened taxation of goods being shipped through those lanes, until she thought Qui-Gon was going to lose his hold on the tight grip of his serenity.

By the time third meal had been served and cleared and twilight shone through the lofty windows that surrounded them, the negotiations had come to a complete standstill and the viceroys of the Trade Federation would not participate in any more discussion until representation from the Galactic Senate had arrived, which wouldn't be for another three days.

Frustrated, Qui-Gon was the first to stand, followed by the Neimoidians, who were escorted from the palace and back to the hangar by armed security.

Filing down the corridor behind her decoy, Padmé slowly allowed herself to mingle toward the back of the line and then snuck away unnoticed down another passageway, taking the steps leading down through the sublevels of the palace two at a time. She passed the monitoring station, nodding at the attendant there, whose mouth fell open to say something.

"I'm not going in. I promise."

She didn't wait for any type of response, and soon planted herself in front of the glowing red gate, sitting crossed legged on the floor, staring at the prone body inside in wonderment.

The hope of Qui-Gon's words flared within her heart. He had sensed Obi-Wan's internal struggle. There was still a chance. Padmé didn't know what she could do, but she had to do something. She might make things worse, but honestly, she didn't think things could get much worse for the young man than they already were, and so she sat, waiting on something -- anything to happen. She had no plan, and decided she would just make one up as she went along.

Almost as if sensing her presence, the young man rolled over and stared at her.

"What am I? The main attraction of the Theed Freak Show?'

It was then that Padmé realized she hadn't lowered the hood of the orange handmaiden gown which she still wore.

Realization of who his visitor was registered on his face but he revealed no other emotional connection whatsoever.

"Oh. It's you. Come back for more, huh? Upset that we didn't get to finish what we started? Come on inside and I promise you, I'll make it worth your while. It looks like you could use a good fuck."

The large, dark eyes bore through him, passing strangely confident and undisturbed through the energy field, until her steady gaze made Obi-Wan squirm, and he sat up on the edge of the platform bed.

"How old are you?" He didn't really care, but was desperate to get her to stop staring at him like that. "Sixteen, seventeen?"

"Eighteen." She answered, her voice as soft and gentle as he remembered from before.

"So you're legal. That's good to know. At least I won't get arrested for having my way with you."

He was about to give up on getting a rise out of the girl when she began speaking, but her words rang of sympathy and he wasn't about to have any of that.

"Obi-Wan? Do you remember your childhood?"

"What in the hell do you want? It's late. Isn't it past your bedtime? Won't you be a good little Queen and run off to your room and leave me the hell alone."

She continued as if she had never heard him. "I recall playing with my sister in the streets of Theed."

"Your parents let you play in the streets? Awfully responsible of them. Too bad you didn't get run over."

"We used to play this game called Sky Ball, where we'd throw up a laser ball as far as we could and had to tag the doors of the nearby houses before it would come back down."

"Sounds exciting." Obi-Wan noted sarcastically.

"It was a lot of fun, especially when Mum and Dad joined in. Daddy would always ring the doorbells of the houses on his way and would always catch the ball. The neighbors would be so mad! Especially Mr. Krolick."

"He should've had you arrested for invasion of privacy."

"I had a wonderful childhood that's full of beautiful memories, but I remember one time when my parents took us to the market. I was three or four years old at the time. While my parents and my sister were looking at some new dresses for Mum, I wandered off to the toy selection. There was a reproduction of a royal cruiser on sale that I had been saving for and an example of it hung from the ceiling of the store. You see, I never played with dolls or anything like that when I was little. I preferred ships and air cars, books and art supplies."

"What a shock."

"I remember standing there and staring at that cruiser twirling round and round and imagining myself in the cockpit of it, flying through space. Before I knew it, I had run off from the market, determined to see the real thing for myself.

"I suppose that the hangar attendants thought I must've been part of a tour or something because they let me in the hangar and even let me see the Queen's ship. I got to climb aboard and sit in the pilot's seat. I was so excited that hours passed by and I never realized it, until the palace personnel started asking me questions about my family.

"They took me into the palace and tried to contact my parents at our home, but they had been out looking for me all afternoon. It was nighttime before they found me."

"I bet you got a beating." Obi-Wan interjected. "Sounds like you deserved it."

"My parents were so relieved. I could see the fear in their faces and I felt bad that I had caused them such worry. They didn't punish me because they were so happy to have found me. I was their child, you see, and they loved me more than anything and would've never stopped looking for me until all hope was lost and even after that, I would've never been off their minds or out of their hearts."

Obi-Wan's mild interest in Padmé's story turned to scorn as the attempted relevance of her long tale twisted it's way into his mind.

"Just who in the hell do you think you are? The palace psychiatrist?"

"I'm just….a friend."

"I don't want a friend." Obi-Wan rose from the bed and stalked toward the barred gate. "I don't need one, and if I could get my hands around your scrawny neck right now, you'd be dead."

"You won't kill me, Obi-Wan. You couldn't before, and you wouldn't again."

"All I need is one more chance. And stop calling me that. It's not my name any more."

"What is your name?"

He thought for a moment. The conversation was already too personal for his liking, and he wasn't about to give her any more leverage, so he chose to ignore the question.

"Get the hell away from me." He said instead, returning to the emerged bed and lying down on it with his back turned to the doorway. It was some time later that he heard the soft patter of her feet as they led away from his cell.