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The platform is deserted when Padme and Eleanora arrive. Nell is melancholy, to say the least, the woman who has been her mentor, her tutor, her guide, for so long isn't able to stay and watch her take her first steps into the Senate as a Senatorial Representative. Not only that, her one line of defense between her and Palpatine is about to disappear back home while she's stuck on the hunk of metallic rock that is Coruscant. She already craves the soft hills and gentle breeze of the Lake Country.
But she keeps a blank face, only allowing those closest to her to see her true emotions.
"Stop worrying," Padme tells her as they step onto the platform from the transport. "Everything will be fine. The Senate will have to listen to you eloquently explain Naboo's position on the Military Creation Act, you'll be perfect."
"I hope so," she replies quietly. "I really will miss you, though, Padme."
"It's a shame that your first time in the Senate coincides with the renewal of the Naboo-Gungan agreement, but I have to be there."
"I know. Duty before everything," Eleanora nods, rolling her eyes slightly. "But I've just turned seventeen... doesn't it feel like I'm a bit young sometimes?"
"In some ways, you will always be too young," Padme replies contemplatively. "But you are the youngest Minister we've had... well, forever, and now you're entering the Senate as a Representative alongside your advisory position to the monarch of Naboo. You're pioneering young people in the Senate, Nellie. It's a massive step, but we trust you to make it."
Nell feels some heat rise in her cheeks at the unwavering faith. "Thank you, Padme. Have fun with the Gungans."
"I will," she replies with a smile. "Queen Jamillia will be there. I'll tell her you say hi."
"Please," she nods. "I'll see you soon, yeah?"
"Of course. We can never stay apart for too long."
Padme sends her another smile and proceeds to board the ship. Nell takes a few steps back and watches the sleek Nubian plane take off swiftly, soon disappearing into the sky and leaving Nell alone in a place she doesn't quite fit into.
When she tries to get back to her room, she finds herself getting lost. When she was shown the way the previous night by Master Kenobi, she was busy bickering with Padme over her frosty exterior to Palpatine and when she was on her way down to see her off, she was consumed by her own worry. Now, as she wanders the corridors fruitlessly, she wonders if perhaps she really is smart enough for the job.
