The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Party And The Stranger

 PADME AMIDALA

It was the night of the party. Padme's entire week had been spent tutoring Leia and Winter, making sure that they had the dresses they were planning to wear, deliver messages from one end of the palace to the other and working on her own outfit for the party. However, she hadn't been able to locate the mysterious passengers in the Nubian ship, and was hoping to do so tonight. 

It was to be a sophisticated occasion, and her Senator's eye for class was already kicking in. 

She put the finishing touches on her dress, which she had sewn herself, three or four hours a night, over the course of the last few days. It had resulted in her getting a little over five hours of sleep a night, but it was worth it. 

Padme walked into Leia's rooms. The girl was fairly bouncing off the walls, but her confidante was containing herself on a footstool, her posture perfectly straight, as always. But there was a gleam of excitement in her eyes as well. 

"All right, young ladies!" she called cheerfully, and they were immediately at her heels, following her towards their shared walk-in closet. "Let's try on your dresses for tonight, shall we?" 

She helped them into their outfits and did their hair. As it was a masquerade, she had them both disguised as animals: Winter as an Alderaanian mountain pigeon, its silver sequins and white plumage, not unlike the young girl's hair, adorning her knee-length gown, paired with white gauzy pants and silver shoes. Leia wore a rich purple, royal blue and red dress, also knee-length and sparkling, with a high collar framing her face. Her colors fit matched those of a murallee, a brightly patterned bird that was a native to the jungles of Onderon. Both girls had elaborately braided up-dos in their hair. 

As Padme stepped back to admire her work, she realized that she had forgotten the vital piece of their outfits. "A moment, girls – I need to get something." 

She returned with two masks, each matching one girl's animal, which Leia and Winter tried on, gushing about how pretty they both looked. So then, after planting a kiss on each of their heads, she told them to go down to see Bail Organa. 

As Leia turned to go, she asked, "But what are you going to where, Sabi? You never got ready!" 

She smiled. "Oh, you'll see, little Princess. I doubt you'll miss me." 

When the sound of the pitter-patter of little feet had faded from the hallway, Padme ran over to the closet again, a wide grin on her face. The girls' mood had apparently been contagious. Hidden behind several pieces of drab clothing was an explosion of turquoise color, dotted with silver and covered in sequins. 

She laid it out on the bed, changing from her simple governess's clothes into the fabulous creation before her. She pulled her waist-length hair from its rigid bun, reworking a third of it into a French braid, crisscrossed with other tiny braids. It pushed the remainder of her chestnut locks, with the exception of a few loose curls, to one side of her back. Next, she did her makeup, drawing turquoise and silver patterns on her eyelids and cheeks with a fine pencil, brushing black mascara onto her lashes, and applied sparkling body sugar to her face, arms and neck. 

Then, she put on the mask she had purchased from a jeweler and costume designer in Downtown Aldera. She turned around very slowly, until she was staring at the goddess-like reflection that was Padme Naberrie Amidala in the mirror.  

The dress... oh, the dress! It was a mermaid cut, strapless, with a tight corset-like top that extended to about halfway to her knees. It consisted of beautiful silver-and-blue embroidery, and enough sparkles to blind an onlooker if she was in the right lighting. Then it loosened into a skirt covered in ruffles of a gauzy turquoise material, just a shade or two lighter than the rest. She tried walking forwards and back to try out her silver-and-turquoise two-inch heels, and the skirt flounced out perfectly with each step she took. 

She felt like herself again. She felt like Senator Amidala, known for her impeccable taste in clothing and a distinguished guest to any party, after six years of leaving that life behind her. And frankly, she had missed it. 

But it was time to go. Taking a deep breath, she walked down the hallway. Everyone would be in the Ballroom by now, and any latecomers such as herself were surely going to be noticed walking down the Grand Staircase, but it was the only way to get to the Ballroom without a serious detour from there. And besides – she had always liked to be fashionably late.

As she reached the top of the Staircase, there was a collective gasp. Whispers, such as 'who is that beauty?' or 'look at that dress!' spread through the crowd like wildfire. No one seemed to recognize her, but... There was someone making their way through the crowd towards her. 

It was a young man with long golden-brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and wearing a black velvet mask with red and yellow sequins and small feathers like fire around the edges. He was dressed smartly in a suit that had the same pattern around the collar – of which a button or two was casually undone – and at the cuffs, and lining the edge of the jacket, which was longer in the back than in the front.  

He walked up the stairs towards her, extending his arm. "May I accompany you to the floor, Milady?" he asked, and Padme stifled a gasp. There was only one person alive who had ever called her 'milady' the way this person just had...  

"Anakin?" she whispered, and the man nodded. She smiled, and took his arm. 

As the glamorous couple walked slowly down the stairs, she murmured to him, "How are you here? And how don't they all recognize you?" 

"I put them under a spell, so to speak," he replied with a low laugh. "They think I have dark hair. Being Force-sensitive really comes in handy sometimes!" He smiled. "Now, Angel, let's just enjoy the night while it lasts." 

Anakin led her to the floor and bowed low. "May I have this dance?" 

"Of course, my good sir," she said. The musicians began to play, and they danced, alone on the dance floor. All eyes were on this strange couple clad in fire and water, but they didn't care. They just danced and danced and danced. 

This night, Padme thought, has just become absolutely perfect.

*Padme is on her way to having the best night of her life... But what could Bail Organa be planning for the evening? And what could the two little girls that Padme has come to love and adore do to put themselves in the spotlight? You'll find out in the next amazing chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Uh, sorry... slight chapter mixup. I accidentally labeled two chapters the same on my Word Document, and I posted the wrong one!

Ummm... HOW WAS EVERYONE'S MAY THE FOURTH YESTERDAY?!?!? HUH?!! WAS IT GOOD???

I'm going now. Bye.

Realize that your loyal soldiers have turned on you and MAY THE FOURTH be with you,

Sharron