* ✩ ▲ act one, chapter six▲ ✩ * The Naboo Dream Team
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Padme's return is a welcome move around the Senate. From Nell's own personal relief to Palpatine's relief at having his own political apprentice back in the Senate, nearly everyone is glad to see her back where she belongs.
Palpatine isn't sure what it is specifically about Eleanora Night that he hates, but the most vile and bitter despising rises in him whenever anyone so much as mentions her. Maybe it's the way he struggles to predict her next moves or maybe it's the way the Force seems to hide her intentions and actions from his sight. Whatever it is, he is not a fan of it and he can hardly hide it most of the time.
Nell isn't sure herself where their animosity comes from, but Padme has always been the buffer. She's noticed the constant tension in her mentor's absence and she knows that other people are starting to catch on that the newest and youngest Senator does not get on with the Chancellor. The last thing that the Senate needs at this point is a scandal. The Separatist media would have a field day.
So on Padme's arrival home, both politicians agree that it's within their best interests to greet the Senator together, acting a friendly as possible so that nobody can get pictures of them arguing or looking like they're being less than pleasant to each other. Obi-Wan and Anakin are both wary of Nell's constant frustration by midday and they're also aware of the fact that everything the young Senator does seems to be going wrong.
She spilt hot coffee on herself that morning, thankfully only down her pyjama top. Then she dropped an entire bowl of cereal, the bowl smashing on impact. She wasn't sentimental about the bowl, but her patience was already fraying and the clock hadn't even struck eight in the morning. While showering, the hot water stopped working, causing her to scream and leap out of the water, slipping on the wet floor and having to squirm to grab a towel as Obi-Wan and Anakin checked that she hadn't been attacked. Then, to top off her awful morning, she got the simpering message from Palpatine. He hadn't even called, just sent her a quick message that she couldn't refuse at risk of sounding rude. She wouldn't mind sounding like an asshole any other day (she's a politician, she's used to it), but she can't find it in herself to get into an argument with Palpatine after everything that had already gone wrong.
On the platform, it's uncharacteristically windy. Coruscant isn't known for its wind and rain but the thin mist (which is arguably more annoying than heavy rain) and the gusts that send her hair flapping wildly are doing anything but soothing her irritated nerves. Scraped back from her face and slung into a ponytail, her hair is slightly messy and she has to steel herself against the sweeping winds as the familiar silver shine of Nubian Senatorial transport grows ever closer. Her excitement begins to grow as it prepares its landing gear, lowering slowly in the strong winds. The ramp lowers and Padme appears, shielding from the wind under the hood of her green cloak.
