The Dragon in the Dying Star

𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚

Chapter XII: Varykino Villa

The great port city of Theed was in many ways akin to Coruscant, with freighters and shuttles coming down from the skies in lines. Unlike Coruscant, though, this city on Naboo was soft in appearance, with few towering, imposing skyscrapers of hard metal and shining transparisteel. The buildings here were of stone and many other materials, with rounded rooflines and delicate colors. Vines of all sorts were everywhere, crawling up the sides of the buildings, adding vibrancy and scents. Adding comfort.

Padme and her Jedi Knights lugged their bags across a familiar square, a place where they had seen battle a decade before against the droids of the Trade Federation. R2-D2 came behind them, rolling along easily, whistling a happy song, as if he were an extension of the comfortable aura of Theed.

Dejah covertly glanced at Anakin, noting the serenity on his face, the widening grin.

"If I grew up here, I don't think I'd ever leave," Anakin remarked.

Dejah grinned. "I doubt that."

"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."

Dejah's expression turned to one of curiosity and confusion. Anakin's time here had been spent, mostly, in deadly battle. Had he so obsessed about her, about Naboo, that even the bad memories paled against his warm feelings?

"The problem was," Anakin went on, "the more I thought about my mom, the worse I felt. But I would feel better if I thought about Naboo and the palace."

He didn't say it outright, but Anakin knew that what he really meant was that he felt better when he thought about her, or at least that he would include her in those pleasant thoughts. Naboo may not have been her home, but in his mind, she was equated with the other all the same.

"The way the palace shimmers in the sunlight, the way the air always smells of flowers."

"And the soft sound of the distant waterfalls," Dejah added. She could not deny the sincerity in Anakin's voice and in his words, and she found herself agreeing and embracing that truth of Naboo, despite her resolve to stay away from such feelings. "The first time I came to Naboo and saw the capital, I was quite young. It was the waterfalls that first caught my attention. I thought they were beautiful. My master had, admittedly, struggled to keep me on task," she said, reminiscing with a fond smile as she looked about.

Padme smiled at her friend. "I find that quite hard to believe," she joked. "Truthfully, I never thought that one day I'd live in the palace."

Dejah raised a playful brow. "Well, tell us, did the great Senator Amidala dream of power and politics when she was a little girl?"

Padme had to laugh aloud. "No, that was the last thing I thought of." She could feel the wistfulness creeping into her, the memories of those long-ago days before her innocence had been shattered by war, and even more so, by the constant deceptions and conniving of politics. She could hardly believe that she was opening up to the Jedi like this, despite how comfortable she always felt with Dejah.

"My dream was to work in the Refugee Relief Movement. I never thought of running for elected office. But the more history I studied, the more I realized how much good politicians could do. So when I was eight, I joined the Apprentice Legislators, which is like making a formal announcement that you're entering public service here on Naboo. From there, I went on to become a Senatorial Adviser, and attacked my duties with such a passion that before I knew it, I was elected Queen."