After The War (And During, and Before)

New Friends

There were many things on Naboo that were brand new to Lionel. The fresh air, the wilderness, the architecture of the cities, but one thing that seemingly stood out to them more than anything else was the animals.
Their first encounter with meeting an animal was while Padmé and Anakin were giving them a tour of the Naberrie Home, Padmé softly explaining the pictures on the wall and the people in them as Anakin gazed at her fondly. He was snapped out of the moment when Lionel drew in a sharp breath and suddenly grabbed Padmé's arm - not in a way that would hurt her, but in a way that indicated they were shocked and slightly anxious.
"Guys," they said slowly, staring across the room, "what. Is. That?"
They pointed, and both Anakin and Padmé turned to follow their gaze.
When they saw what it was that had startled Lionel, the couple laughed.
"That's my sister's Tooka Cat," Padmé murmured sweetly, "Moop. It's okay, he won't hurt you."
Moop let out a chirp and stuck his fluffy tail up in the air, as if he was confirming Padmé's words.
"He's so... tiny," Lionel murmured, fascinated, their hands coming up to touch their face, "and so fluffy and so... cute!"
"You wanna go pet him?" Padmé asked encouragingly, as if she were talking to a child.
"What?!" Lionel demanded, looking started again, "no! Does he bite?!"
"Of course not," Padmé said, gently leading them across the room, "he really likes it when you scratch behind his ears."
Lionel made a nervous sound in their throat, and Padmé gingerly took their wrist and moved their hand onto Moop's little head. Lionel screwed their eyes shut as they cautiously moved their fingers through the little creature's soft fur.
When Moop let out a soft mrrow and began to purr, Lionel opened their eyes, the expression of pure wonder having returned to their face. They got closer to Moop, petting him more confidently as he responded by purring louder.
Lionel's eyes were shining.
"This is the best day of my entire life." They said seriously, now ruffling the fur behind Moop's ears.
Anakin chuckled quietly, and Padmé raised an eyebrow at him in amusement.
"Don't laugh," she said quietly, "you were the same way with him the first time you were here."
"What?" Anakin demanded, "no I wasn't!"
He and Padmé stared at each other for a moment longer before Anakin gave in.
"Okay," he admitted, "maybe a little bit - I'd never seen a Tooka Cat before, okay?"
"It was cute!" Padmé giggled.
Anakin grinned, stepping across the room to capture her in a kiss.
"Where do you get Tooka Cats from??" Lionel demanded, breaking the moment and turning to the couple with Moop now curled in their arms, still purring and rubbing his head against Lionel's chin, "I want fifty!"
"I'm sure we can arrange time to go pick one out for you soon," Padmé said with a sweet smile, "after they baby's born and we get everything on Coruscant looked after."
"Can I steal Moop in the meantime?" Lionel asked, only half joking.
"You can visit him." Padmé murmured, amused.
Lionel shrugged.
"Okay. I'll take that."