I think this is mostly everything. As one eagle-eyed reader pointed out, the fic title itself references Padme's idea of an endless summer - but that future is proceeded by this eternal spring. It's also meant to play on the idea of a wellspring of water, and that even in the desert, there is the hope of water. Of course, hope is a huge underlying part of it, and people who farm moisture somewhere that rain doesn't fall must be exceedingly hopeful people. And as Alexander Pope says "Hope springs eternal in the human breast," and in other classic poetry, Eden itself is described as a place of eternal spring.

I just LOVE PROCESS! So I apologise if this is boring, but like...these are the puzzle pieces I loved (And honestly, these poems came first!) Thanks for being besties, you besties.

The Eternal Spring: Flotsam and Jetsam

This fic turned out to be a lot more laden with symbolism than I intended, didn't it? For one thing, there's a lot of self-referential things, and cycling. Padme can't get Leia to settle in the first chapter, and Ue talks about feeling the same thing with Obi-Wan as a baby. Not only is this meant to suggest that a Force sensitive child can sometimes require more than non-Force sensitive parents can provide, but it's another way that Obi-Wan is visible in the kids. Ue tells Korkie he must be beloved by his father, and her assertion is proved when Qui-Gon tells Obi-Wan that he is beloved as Qui-Gon's child. The scent of mandrangea blossoms is associated with Obi-Wan's first love, Siri, in ruth baulding's fics, and she is the first kind memory Obi-Wan cultivates on Tatooine. That stuff was well and good. But then...

Then I was like, "Okay, okay...cool...but what if I used this basis to adapt and retell a Greek myth?" And for some reason my next thought was, "And what if, I rewrote the myth to be specific to Naboo culture. Something Padme would be familiar with, and something she'd draw on for strength, and comfort? What if this myth were diegetic to Star Wars, and specific to Naboo?"

So, the premise of the framing device was that Padme - a woman brought up, and classically educated on Naboo - would own a book of Naboo poetry. It would be one of the few things that she saved from her old life, and it would speak to the idea of her interest and learning in the art of her people. This book would contain a famous Naboo myth, and Padme's life would vaguely resemble that story.

Each stanza would represent the theme of each chapter, and identify the Impossible Task most relevant to Padme's own situation. They were as follows.

1. Sorting the seeds from sand (arpat - seed)

In the original Greek myth, Psyche is told she must sort a pile of seeds into their single strains. She manages to do this by enlisting the help of ants. Symbolically, a lot of Psyche's tasks are unclear, but here I used to suggest the idea of arranging one's priorities.

This coincides with Padme being deserted by Obi-Wan, betrayed by her husband, and stuck with two babies on an alien planet with no idea what she's going to do. In order to survive, she has to start from scratch and sort out the things she needs from the things she's just carrying around. This is her figuring out, and making a determined effort to commit to her new life, independent of anyone else.

It's made physical in the destruction of Obi-Wan's garden, and Padme sorting out the surviving seeds and beans from Tatooine's sand.

2. Retrieving the Golden Fleece (beskar'gam - armor)

Psyche is tasked by Aphrodite to gather golden fleece without being killed by the wild animals around the magic sheep. Potentially, this is meant to symbolise bravery, and I expanded that to explore the idea that bravery isn't just a violent act, but a merciful one. In The Forlorn Queen, the whale gives the queen the scale because she is merciful in letting him free of the sea grass. She does the right thing, even when it would be to her benefit to take advantage of someone else.

Boil, as a member of the 212th, wears yellow/gold armour - ie. golden scales. By refusing to kill him, Padme proves that her loss and tragedy hasn't harmed her essential spirit. She has been shown the worst of humanity, but she still chooses to be merciful, and in doing so, she demonstrates the worthiness of her spirit.

3. Gather Water from a Sacred Source (vhekad - sand; pirun - water; pitat - rain)

For her third task, Psyche must gather starlight from the water of the river Styx. Again, the original meaning here is muddied, but I based my interpretation on the idea that holy water speaks to the cleansing of the spirit and the renewal of faith.

This was a task that Padme facilitates, but does not perform for her own benefit. It is also the task which The Forlorn Queen notes as being for the direct benefit of Shiraya - the queen herself doesn't drink from the spring.

The way it is explored for Padme is complex, and affects mostly Obi-Wan, as the chapters on Mandalore, and Stewjon are all about him being confronted with the very personification of the Dark Side (Vader), his faith being tested, broken, and renewed, and coming out on the other side ready to step back into the Light. That's why you'll find a lot of water imagery in those chapters. Obi-Wan is thirsty while he's hunting, but he doesn't drink because he has lost his faith. While he pulls the palace down, the water condenses in the air - he's being wrung out. And then, they land on Stewjon in the ocean. That is a baptism. From that point on, he eats, he drinks, and in the end, Padme - who facilitated his rescue - brings the final piece of the vaporator home, and Obi-Wan arrives back on Tatooine to the miracle of rain.

4. Bring Back the Beauty of Persephone (be'chaaj'taabir - journey [sometimes into death] )

So, task four is unfair because most heroes are only tasked with three things. And this is where Psyche falters. She is sent to retrieve Persephone's beauty cream from the Underworld, but she disobeys Aphrodite and looks upon the cream - thus, she fails to complete her tasks.

What does beauty cream symbolise? Who knows. I took it to mean the desire to cheat death, and the efforts to gain immortality, to stay forever young and beautiful. But the goal was not to crave it for yourself. This, again, is a task that proves more difficult for Obi-Wan because it has to do with balance, ghosts, and death.

He has been spending all his time trying to atone for the past, and assure the future, but really - he needed to find balance and peace in himself. Padme tells him as much. But she can't do this task alone...Korkie helps. And ultimately, just as the gods take pity on Psyche and return Eros to her regardless of her failure, the Force comes to Obi-Wan, and speaks to him as Padme cannot. Obi-Wan cannot see Qui-Gon until he's ready - until he's balanced. To walk the line between life and death requires a mastery of the Force, and perfect balance. It's not until he puts his faith in the Force, puts his legacy in his children (eternal youth of future generations), and consorts with the dead that he manages that peace, completes that task, and is reconciled with his master.

In the original myth, Psyche and Eros get back together, but in The Forlorn Queen, the young knight is gone. The queen is saved by a fisherman, and though they're both scarred by loss, they choose to rely on one another.

*Chapter 1: gehat'ik - story

Now. Some baby Easter eggs.

First, the poetry. Padme is first to quote an ancient Naboo poem written in Ancient Naboo.

"Ten Ileos, ulas lucas." - "From mercy, into light." Now, fialleril has said that she deliberately did not want Lukka to mean light in Amatakka because she disliked applying non-diegetic meaning to in-world words. So her root word means freedom. And I loved that.

But...I wanted to give Padme something, too, and I really like that Luke means light, because that is his role in the OT - he IS the Light Side.

So, I made "lucas" an Ancient Naboo word meaning light, and for extra fun, it also shares a spot in the name of SW's poetry master himself, George Lucas. Beause, as the creator of this universe, he illuminated the dark, and said, "Let there be light."

Though this is not the original poem which contained the proverb, it was a common enough saying that later Naboo poets continued to reference it, much as Shakespeare referenced the Greek philosophers and common idioms in his work.

I come to you as I have come before,
As babes newborn come bleating into life,
The pink of rosy dawn in flesh adored,
A stranger to the lash of scourge and strife.
To plead once more my case for clemency
And beg you grant the cure for guilt most sweet
Which flows from you as water to the sea,
And races 'neath the swift guarlana's feet.
For though my great offense I apprehend
I trust your grace is greater than my sins,
To offer up your hand unto a friend,
That we might now forget, and now begin,
To heed the wisdom of that ancient bliss
That says Ten Ileos, ulas lucas.

Here are a couple more sonnets from Padme's chapbook:

Once more, once more, I take my leave of you,
That soul so dear to me as ever thus,
And though our love be more than passing true,
This parting yet more certain ever was,
For being so above me as thou art,
And being so devoted as I am,
I bestow unto you my very heart,
To taste the sempiternal death of man.
The dewy press of pom seed on my lips,
The sacred rush of pom juice on my tongue,
So yielding to Veruna's icy grip,
As loving her and for you loving none.
For rather would I drink that liquid vile,
Than slake my thirst with shadows of your smile.

Perhaps in days to come you'll find yourself
Pause, standing on the precipice of thought,
And reach, as for a volume on the shelf,
And by these holo ghosts you'll stand there, caught.
If in these present circumstances I
Should happen to remind you of some grief
Then better you forget the times gone by
And let my absence bring to you relief.
My love is such that strengthens with its death,
That if it were to fade upon your tongue,
Or find itself extinguished on your breath,
Then worthier would it be left unsung,
So you might break away and carry on,
The happier for all that I am gone.

Sonnets are what Naboo is famous for, but there are other forms of poetry to be found in its history. One such example is this, in Old Naboo, alongside its Basic translation. It was initially meant to be in the last chapter as something Padme thinks of when Korkie receives Qui-Gon's lightsaber. The colours referenced in the poem are all the traditional saber colours which lends further credence to the idea that there was more exchange between the proto-Jedi Order and Naboo than the Jedi Archives suggest. But...

The Hunter's Lust

Original:

Hava est enim hara
Mava lumata e'misla
Est heren i'mevin akmat
Ud'ok mabilitus t'hayat

Translation:

Green is the hunter in springtime,
Blue is his thirsty eye,
Red are the rivers and streamlets with blood
When his bolt indifferently flies.

Of course, Naboo is not the only planet that we visit, and neither is it the one that uses poetry as a form of cultural expression.

Stewjon's rhymes are more perfect, it's forms more stark, sitting somewhat reminiscent of haiku, and generally less focused on romantic love. This, however, is a bit of an outlier, especially in that it doesn't reference nature, but is one of Ue's favorites.

The bonds between mother and child are of great cultural significance on Stewjon, and this brief, traditional prayer, is just one example of how it's explored art.

The Mother's Prayer

Original:

Da-rika i'tolu aija
Da-kalu i'yasho aija
Da-hana i'baibai aija
Da-aija wansi issho naui
Da-ii har'wansi kosh saru

Translation:

May my arms hold you,
May my hands soothe you,
May my lips sing your praises.
Take all my love when you go.
Leave all your heartache with me.

And finally, have an old Iktochi limerick. Just for fun.

1. There once was a crooked Iktochi,
Who bought a companion most foxy,
Was rather annoyed
To find she was a droid
And only talked dirty in bocce.