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THE GREAT, GLOOMY HOLD IS CROWDED WITH EMIGRANTS AND THEIR BELONGINGS. To one side, Artoo is coming to the head of a food line holding two bowls. With one of his little claw arms, he grabs a chunk of something that looks like bread.
Artoo slips a tube into a tub of mush and sucks up a large quantity. The server sees him, scolding him, "hey! No droids!"
Artoo takes one last big suck and heads away from the food line. The server shouts after him angrily. The little droid moves past groups of eating or sleeping emigrants and comes to Anakin and Astrid's table–Padme had made a friend and insisted on sitting with them–where Anakin is sound asleep. The young Jedi seems to be having a nightmare. He squirms and turns restlessly.
"No, no, Mom, no," the boy whispers, sweating. Astrid leans over resting her hand on his arm. He wakes up with a start, then realizes where he is. Astrid looks at him, worry pouring into her green eyes.
He stares back, somewhat confused, "what?"
"You were having a nightmare," Astrid informs the boy. Anakin looks at Astrid a little more closely, trying to see if he has revealed anything about his nightmares. The girl hands him a bowl of mush and bread. "Hungry?"
"Yeah," Anakin simply said, pushing himself upright. Astrid takes the food from Artoo, patting him on his dome head as a thanks. She places the bowl in front of him. "Thanks."
Astrid simply nods, fiddling with the spoon. She wasn't hungry, but Artoo had made a fuss about her not eating–beeping and all–so to avoid the annoyed stares of the immigrants, she gave in to the droid's demands.
"I look forward to seeing Naboo again. I've thought about it every day since I left. It's by far the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Maybe one day I will get to see Apollo," Anakin smiles, taking a spoon of the mush into his mouth.
The intensity of his stare sent chills down Astrid's spine, she wasn't used to such intense eye contact. With a small hint of a smile, the Apollonian girl rested her chin on her palm, "Naboo and Apollo are quite similar–if you don't look at the different cultures and customs of both planets."
"I've noticed that," Anakin says, his gaze not faltering, "it's cool that despite the differences between both planets, you guys all get along and love each other."
A heavy silence fills the space between them.
Astrid's cheeks warm up at the boy's constant gazing, it wasn't that she was uncomfortable, nervous would be the correct term. Quickly, the black-haired girl fills the silence, "I have a question that I've been dying to ask...It's kind of embarrassing, to be honest."
"What is it?" An eyebrow raises on the Jedi's face.
"Are you allowed to love? My father told me that it was forbidden for a Jedi to fall in love," Astrid whispers, feeling slightly embarrassed about asking. She was quick to add, "you don't have to tell me, of course."
"Attachment is forbidden, yes, so is possession. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life, so you might say we're encouraged to love," Anakin replies quite philosophically, but then a sly smirk slithers onto his perfect face, "why? Fell for me already?"
"Am I that transparent? I guess there is no point in denying it now. Anakin Skywalker, I'm so in love with you," Astrid gasps with a playful grin, sarcasm dripping from her lips like sweet honey. Although Anakin knew what she was saying was a joke, he quite liked how the words fell from her lips. One day he'd get her to mean that.
"My name is so pretty on your lips," Anakin grins with a wink. A chuckle escapes his throat when he hears Astrid's little giggle.
"If you stay this smooth, I might just fall for you, Skywalker," the Apollonian snorts, taking a sip of her mush.
"That's the goal, Pagonia."
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THE STARFREIGHTER LANDS IN THE GIANT PORT CITY OF THEED. The trio and Artoo are among the emigrants streaming from the Starfreighter and into the vast docking area. They all exit onto the main plaza and find their way to a speeder bus.
The speeder bus pulls up to their destination and drops them off. Astrid could fight the smile crawling onto her face at the great courtyard that stretched before them and the rose-colored domes of the palace on the far side. Artoo whistles, almost in awe. Anakin picks up all of their luggage, even though he got protests from the two other girls saying that they could help.
"If I grew up here, I don't think I'd ever leave," Anakin states, in awe of the beautiful planet around him. Astrid could help but to admire the boy in this state–the way his curious eyes traveled from one place to another desperate to absorb everything.
Padme laughs, partially from Astrid's admiring gaze towards the Jedi and Anakin's comment, "I doubt that."
"No, really," Anakin says seriously, "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..."
"And the soft sounds of the distant waterfalls," Astrid adds, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "I had the same reaction when my parents brought me to the Capital–I was about four or five." A teasing glint shone in her eyes, "it was actually Queen Amidala that showed me my first waterfall."
"Don't call me that," Padme playfully scoffs, "but you can't lie, it was beautiful... I never dreamed one day I'd live in the palace."
"I'm curious, did you two dream of power and politics when you were little girls?" Anakin asks.
"No! Well, not me, at least," Padme shook her head, "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."
"The people you served thought you did a good job. I heard they tried to amend the Constitution so you could stay in office."
"Popular rule is not democracy, Ani. It gives the people what they want, not what they need. And, 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."
"I agree," Anakin nods softly, before turning to Astrid, "what about you?"
"I was born into royalty, so I guess the idea of power and politics was always present in my upbringing. I've been told ever since I was a child that I'm next in line for the throne and all that fun stuff. However, I wouldn't say I dreamt of it... I might even call it a nightmare if I'm being honest."
"Born into royalty?" Anakin raises his eyebrow.
Astrid nods, "Apollo has two powerhouses, one is the Crown and the other is the Democratic Republic of Apollo. The Crown is what controls all the foreign stuff, like war and risky politics. The Democratic Republic is more domestic, political, and economical. The people elect the Prime Minister and his cabinet, while the royal family is born into the Crown. The Democratic Republic has more power, rightfully so."
"Well, I think the Republic needs you both. I feel things are going to happen in our generation that will change the galaxy in profound ways."
"Hopefully it's a good change," Astrid adds to Anakin's sentence, earning a small nudge from him for her pessimism.
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𝐢 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐜𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬. 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐨, 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫!
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