Loving Perfection (Anakin × oc)

Chapter 5

              We finally land at Theed, Naboo's capital.  Along with the other travelers, we walk out of the Starfreightor to the docking area.  We take a speeder bus to the Naboo Palace where Queen Jamillia was currently waiting for us.  We stepped out of the speeder, grabbed our bags and walked into a large courtyard covered in beautiful plants.  Rose-colored dunes are visible on the far side, we walk across the courtyard while we talked.

"If I grew up here, I don't think I'd ever leave." Anakin said, admiring the gorgeous scenery around us. 

 "I doubt that." Padme said laughing, Annie's face grew serious. 

 "No, really. When I started my training, I was very homesick and very lonely. This city and my Mom were the only pleasant things I had to think about... The problem was, the more I thought about my Mom, the worse I felt. But I would feel better if I thought about the palace - the way it shimmers in the sunlight - the way the air always smells of flowers" Anakin said dreamily. 

 "...and the soft sound of the distant waterfalls. The first time I saw the Capital, I was very young... I'd never seen a waterfall before. I thought they were so beautiful..." I finished for him. He looked at me in surprise. Even though I spent most of my young life on Mandalore, Satine always insisted we spend time on Naboo. It was "A good chance to learn new languages, cultures, try new foods and fashions!" I totally agreed with her there, that's how I met Padme and other people very dear to me.

 "I never dreamed one day I'd live in the palace." Padme sighed. Anakin looked again surprised.

 "Well, tell me, did you dream of power and politics when you were a little girl?" He asked. Padme shook her head and laughed. 

 "No! That was the last thing I thought of, but the more history I studied, the more I realized how much good politicians could do. After school, I became a Senatorial advisor with such a passion that, before I knew it, I was elected Queen. For the most part it was because of my conviction that reform was possible. I wasn't the youngest Queen ever elected, but now that I think back on it, I'm not sure I was old enough. I'm not sure I was ready." Padme said as we walk up some stairs.

"Padme, there are many people that would disagree with that statement, I heard that they tried to amend the Constitution so you could stay in office." I say gently hugging her from the side.

"What about you Zaniyah? Did you very dream of becoming the best Jedi in the Order when you were younger?" Anakin asked me.

"Force no. My future was already planned out for me when I was younger. I was third in-line for the throne with my other older sister ahead of me. Both Satine and my parents were very strong pacifists, but my other sister wasn't. Because of our heritage on Mandalore, she became a Mandalorian. I fell in love with the Mandalorian code, and decided that was my future. Both my sister had different opinions. Satine disliked the idea very much because she wanted me to get into politics. Both my sisters decided to educate me after my parents died when I was very young. Satine taught me different languages, cultures, fashion, rules of politics, poise, manners, and so on. My other sister trained me in weapon usage and hand-to-hand combat. She is probably proud of the Jedi I've become. Both of them are." Tears well into my eyes at the thought of my sisters. They were the only family I had and very special to me, but because of the code, I'm not allowed to contact them. We remain in silence for a few moments as we walked down a hallway. Padme changed the painful subject, I was so thankful for her.

"Truthfully, I was relieved when my two terms were up. So were my parents. They worried about me during the blockade and couldn't wait for it all to be over. Actually, I was hoping to have a family by now... My sisters have the most amazing, wonderful kids... So when the Queen asked me to serve as Senator, I couldn't refuse her." Padme said. I smiled at the thought of Padme's two nieces, Ryoo and Pooja.