CHAPTER THREE: FESTIVITY
Some parts of this job are actually pretty great. Alma mused.
Chancellor Palpatine had been asked to attend some sort of festival on Naboo, and so he had taken Anakin and Alma along for protection. It was a little unnatural for the Jedi to be inside a ship with so much room. Star cruisers and transports were bustling with admirals and clone troopers. This shuttle was a theta class, and it had enough room for a rancor to fit lying down. That is, if you removed all the equipment. Two curved seats occupied the center of the shuttle around a table. Alma sat on one, leaving an empty seat by her for the Senator they were also traveling with. At the moment she was acquainting herself with the small crew and checking the exits. Possibly out of nervous habit, Alma noted. Chancellor Palpatine was occupied with what appeared to be his speech, typed into a holo-computer.
Alma was excited to attend the festivities she had heard so much about from her Naboo friends. She didn't even try to hide her grin as she sat in the Chancellor's shuttle across from Anakin. Speaking of Anakin, he seemed in a genuinely good mood. Well, good for Anakin. The scowl on his face was a lesser one than usual.
"What's got you so happy?" he demanded.
Alma laughed. "I could ask you the same thing."
Anakin crossed his arms and glared at her, but there was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
"I've never actually been to a festival before." Alma admitted.
"Oh, you'll enjoy the Festival of Lights, my dear." The Chancellor looked up his computer to smile at her. "Everyone does. We come together to celebrate the day that Naboo joined the Republic."
Alma looked over her shoulder as she heard the approaching footsteps of the Naboo senator. Anakin stood up, and Alma quickly followed his lead. The only other senator she'd met tried to pound her into the marble floors. She racked her brain for the lessons on etiquette taught long ago by padawans who would rather be somewhere else.
"Ah, Padmé, there you are." Anakin walked towards her. A barely concerned smile on his face. Alma almost snorted. Where did the sassy, whiny Jedi Knight go?
"I was just familiarising myself with the shuttle." Padmé explained. Her eyes drifted to Alma, and her eyes flashed confusion. She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head towards Alma a little, inviting Anakin to introduce her.
Anakin didn't catch the hint, and Alma felt a twinge of second hand embarrassment. She stepped forward. "Senator, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Alma Twill."
Padmé smiled a little awkwardly. "Likewise. I wasn't aware Master Skywalker had taken on another padawan, after the las…." She chose to stop that sentence, aware perhaps that the tips of Alma's ears were turning pink. Why did everyone think she was a padawan? She didn't have the braid, and she was taller than some wookies, for crying out loud.
"I'm a Jedi Knight, senator. I'll be protecting both you and the Chancellor on this voyage." Alma silently cursed her ears. Sure, she had mastered the art of controlling her emotions, but her ears hadn't caught on. She considered wearing her hair down. But of course then it would get in her face and make fighting difficult.
"Well, thank you, Knight Twill." Padmé smiled, less awkwardly this time.
Padmé took her seat, and the four of them participated in some idle conversation. Alma was intrigued. For politicians, both the Chancellor and Senator… whatever her surname was- seemed to be fairly normal people. But then again, Alma's interaction with people had been pretty limited, since the only friends she had were all Jedi, or worked in the temple.
The shuttle arrived at Naboo in very little time at all. Alma finally learned the Senator's surname was Amidala, thanks to the Chancellor referring to her as such. She wondered how long she and Anakin had known each other. They seemed close, to be calling each other by their first names.
Alma didn't pack much for the event. Being a Jedi meant having few worldly possessions, after all. Senator Amidala, on the other hand, had several bags. Alma lent her assistance to carry them, wondering all the time how a woman could require so much for a short stay.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Alma asked. Anakin looked at her like she had sprouted an extra head. "You don't have to. It'd be better than walking alone."
The Senator and the Chancellor had an important dinner to attend. This event was sufficiently guarded, so Alma and Anakin had the night off. They had just been dismissed when Alma realised she didn't have anything to do.
Anakin frowned. "No. I'm going to be going over the plans for tomorrow."
He brushed past her, and Alma mentally sighed. He was so touchy. "Come on, Skywalker. I haven't gotten to know you. How on earth am I supposed to tell if some assassin droid tries to imitate you someday?" Anakin glared at her. Was that a sore spot? Assassin droids? Alma made a note to never bring that up again.
And so Anakin never really agreed to come, he just sort of did. They entered the street, where vendors and street performers were setting up for the next day's festivities.
"So have you ever been to the festival before?" Alma asked as they passed a Marching band made up of exhausted Naboo students. Some of them turned to look at the Jedi passing. A lanky gungan elbowed his neighbor, who stared slack-jawed at the lightsabers hanging at their belts. Alma waved, smiling, at the two students snapped back to attention.
"Once. I was a kid." Anakin answered, either ignoring or not noticing the band kids staring.
Alma wrinkled her nose. "Did you grow up here, then?"
"No."
"Where are you from?" Alma was idly curious. Anakin was only a few years older than her, yet she only remembered seeing him as a padawan. Maybe he was from the outer rim too. Occasionally force sensitive children were missed in those sorts of planets.
"Nowhere important. You?" Anakin finally answered.
Alma realised than during her whole internal speculation, they'd been walking in silence.
"Oh, Taksgar. It's a little planet, just off the outer rim." Alma explained about the quaint orbit of the planet. "As far as I know, I'm the only Jedi from Taksgar. I was only found because some crazy criminal tried to hide out on the planet. Unfortunately everyone on Taksgar knows each other. When the Jedi showed up, we'd already figured him out." She laughed. "I was just a baby then. That's when I met Joclad Danva. He saw something in me. He was just a padawan then. He came back five years later a knight and took me to the temple."
"Danva?" Anakin seemed actually interested. He was searching for that name. "The martial artist."
"He practiced Teräs Käsi, yeah. It's what inspired me to learn unarmed combat." Alma admitted. "It was helpful with that Besalisk senator."
"I'll stick with my lightsaber." Anakin replied. "How'd Danva manage both?"
"He learned Niman. He was a master of Teräs Käsi, he didn't really use his lightsaber more than he had to." Alma admitted. Niman was one of the simplest forms of lightsaber fighting. It was a jack-of-all-trades. It didn't have any advantages or weakness.
"Isn't he one of the Masters teaching the clones?" Anakin asked. Clone assassins did use Teräs Käsi, after all.
"He was part of the Geonosian strike team." Alma said quietly. No further explanation was needed. Only a handful of Niman-practicing Jedi walked out of Geonosis alive.
She silently chastised herself. He probably felt guilty. After all, part of that mission was rescuing him.
"So how long have you known Senator Amidala?" She quickly changed the subject.
Anakin answered just as vaguely as before. "A while. Who was your Master?" He changed the subject back, either ignoring or unaware of Alma's efforts.
"Samwin Unarin." Alma stepped around a merchant setting up a sign advertising some sort of sweets. "I was her second padawan, so she sort of knew what she was doing."
Anakin laughed a little. He laughed.
Alma was a little startled, then kind of pleased. "I think she's planning a third. She'll be as old as Master Yoda one day and will still be toting along some kid."
"She's like a mother, isn't she?" Anakin said casually.
A mother. Alma stopped.
"We should head back, the dinner's almost over."
The group met up outside the banquet hall. Dinner had gone on nicely, from what Padmé chattered to Anakin about. The Chancellor seemed as refined as usual, nodding his head occasionally. When Padmé stopped for breath, the Chancellor spoke. "If I may, I'll send Alma to watch over Ms. Amidala's room, and keep young Skywalker with me." Alma nodded. She expected as much. Other female senators arriving for the festival would also be staying in the spacious suite. Having Anakin there would probably frighten them much more than any actual threat. He just had that effect.
"I'll show you the way, Alma." Padmé offered, removing a room key from the pocket of her gown. Alma followed her quietly. Her mind was still reeling over what Anakin had said about Samwin.
She's like a mother, isn't she?
Author's note: Whoo long chapter! I had fun writing this one. Ani you moody thing.
Anyhow, thank you for the follows and the favorites. Those email alerts make my day. Hit me up with any errors I may have made in this chapter, or anything you particularly liked.
-MTFBWY
MontyBeth