* ✩ ▲ act one, chapter one ▲ ✩ * The Darkness of Coruscant
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As the green of Naboo fades and the chill of space encroaches on Nell, she shrugs on a large and warm knitted jumper over her almond coloured silk shirt. She slumps back into the seat beside Padme, not happy to be seeing Palpatine again. Padme senses both her apprehension about seeing the Chancellor and her nerves about making her Senate debut.
"It's okay to be nervous," she assures the younger woman as she snuggles further into her jumper.
"I know," she replies simply, her fingers finding the small gold symbol of the Goddess of Safety hanging around her neck. "I'm just not sure if the Republic is the right place for me... I fear Palpatine's personal dislike of me will bleed into the Senate's perception of me."
"Chancellor Palpatine is a fair man," Padme says. Her slight exasperated tone of voice reminds Nell that they've had this conversation numerous times.
"To you," she repeats. "He likes you! Doesn't he call you the daughter of Naboo? I'm ninety percent sure I once heard him call me the scum of Naboo. I think his perceptions of us are slightly different... and by slightly different I mean complete opposites."
Padme laughs slightly at her pessimism. "He's professional, he won't let that come between the prosperity of Naboo." Nell sighs, unconvinced, but drops the subject, watching Naboo grow further and further away until they jump into Hyperspace.
She drifts off a couple of times, her nerves jolting her awake every so often as she thinks she's forgotten something important (she hasn't, she quadruple checked her bags before she left and then made Padme check it one more time after that). But soon they're pulling out of Hyperspace, the towering buildings of Coruscant drawing upwards towards the atmosphere.
The first thing that strikes Nell is the darkness. Despite the artificial light blaring out from every angle, something about the buildings, something about the whole planet, screams darkness. She can't help but shiver, especially after she sheds the protective layer of warmth. Standing beside Padme as they prepare to disembark reminds Nell of exactly why the Senate will probably hate her. While Padme is dressed elaborately, in the way the Senate expects from a Naboo representative, Nell is dressed less so with a silk shirt tucked into a pair of black trousers. She takes a deep breath as the hold opens and Padme leads the way.
Chancellor Palpatine is waiting on the landing bay, a few Jedi and some other guards surrounding him. Both of them bow politely, Padme greeting him with more fondness than Nell.
"Chancellor, it's wonderful to see you again," Padme smiles. "You remember Eleanora Night, right?"
"Yes, yes, I do," he nods. He has some thinly veiled distaste as he looks down at her. He forces a smile and she sends a strained one back.
