A/N: This set is both a missing scene and a vignette (character's point of view) . The vignette is the second chapter, and is meant to take place ten years after the first.
Reviews are always read & appreciated!
What Was Almost the First Kiss
By Rose-Arwen-Padmé
Stealing the Forbidden
Obi-Wan had looked at him only a few moments ago, offering support through his tired eyes. Nevertheless, he still felt a little scared-- a feeling that didn't sit well with him-- despite the act of encouragement. He couldn't find it in himself to return the smile. He easily fixed his attention on someone else, who did improve his mood, if only just by the sight of her.
What a perfect choice, Anakin Skywalker thought, as he stood in front of a group of delegates, Jedi, and dignitaries. Beside him, Artoo was on his right, and his new Jedi Master Obi-Wan was on his left. But they did not hold his attention, and they did not capture his thoughts. He looked upon Queen Amidala, or Padmé, as he liked to call her. 'Padmé' was far more dear to him than the pristine title. A regal headdress did not hide her rich brunette hair; her white gown flowing in the breeze around her. Yeah, what a perfect choice for a ceremonial outfit, Anakin thought to himself, looking over her simple yet elegant white dress. Let the galaxy see the angel that she is. Let them see the angel I always get to see.
Her eyes were bright as stars and her entire face beamed with exuberance to see her people celebrate the freedom she had fought so hard to get back. Some tossed flower petals from open windows in buildings. Ribbons, tied around street poles, were flapping furiously in the wind. Banners of red and gold covered buildings, and children were laughing as their parents held them up on their shoulders to see the view. The entire square was full of color and life. If there were any tears today, they would be tears of happiness and relief. Anakin watched as Padme's smile seemed to grow even wider, a movement that he had thought impossible a few seconds ago.
He turned his attention back to the oncoming procession down the street, and away from the glowing girl a few feet away from him. It was a difficult task. She had left the side of Sio Bibble, and had just come into his line of view again. But he couldn't keep his eyes off her. He realized quickly why she had stepped forward and broken their line of four people and a droid a few minutes ago as he looked down the street.
The Gungan ruler, Boss Nass, was approaching. The young queen took a glittering blue globe from Sio Bibble and slowly handed it to the Gungan. Anakin watched with great interest as he raised it above his head, shouting loudly, "PEACE!" Anakin watched the thunderous reaction of yells, cheers, and applause coming from the Nubians and the Gungans. He felt great pride in knowing that he had made an extreme contribution in order to secure their freedom from the Trade Federation. The back of Padmé's upper gown right behind her head, a kind of thin canvas material,
…angel's wings…
blocked Anakin's view of her, but suddenly it was moving, turning. He held his breath as the angel turned to look directly at him. He immediately flashed a confident grin, his eyes twinkling.
Padmé, not Queen Amidala, looked back at the young boy. She unveiled her real self momentarily, allowing the regal attitude slip away. "He is so young, yet so brave and steady," Padmé mused to herself. She had new respect for Ani since his heroic attacks during the final battle. She immediately responded to his cocky grin with a brilliant smile of her own. She had a feeling this boy had a crush on her, but it wasn't something that caused her much thought.
Anakin's self-assured smile vanished when she smiled so immensely at him, and it was replaced by a huge grin. Padmé took pleasure in making Ani happy. A true heroine of the people, she wanted everyone happy on this glorious day of celebration.
It was at the same time that the two felt the penetrating stare of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. To Anakin's disappointment, Padmé immediately looked away, her royal mask replacing the smile as though nothing had transpired. Anakin wasn't as natural at slipping a mask on so quickly to cover his feelings, so he instead pretended to look at the procession very, very intently. Obi-Wan looked from Anakin to Queen Amidala, and somewhere in his soul, where Ani's strongest instincts emerged from, Anakin somehow knew that this would not be the last time such a look would appear on his master's face. He had no grounds at all to base this idea on, but just one look.
The procession continued, and the tense moment was forgotten ... by Obi-Wan, at least.
Anakin looked behind him cautiously. He had not been through this area of the palace before. The halls were long and hallow. He knew he had no reason to feel such trepidation. Or, maybe… he was mistaking his fear for plain nervousness. But even the butterflies in his stomach were hindered by the tendrils of sadness that tugged on his youthful heart.
Indeed, he felt immense sadness, because he had timidly traveled to the Queen's personal chambers to say good-bye. He and Obi-Wan were leaving shortly for Coruscant, but how could he possibly say farewell to Padmé? First his mother, and now the angel-- hadn't he said good-bye enough times for the week?
It made it worse that he had no idea when he would see her again. The Jedi Temple was not in the immediate vicinity of any other important building, and what reason would the Queen of Naboo ever have to visit that place? And what were the chances that if she did, he would be there at the same time?
But he couldn't think about such things now. He had arrived at Queen Amidala's main sitting room. He slowly opened the door, mindful of the announcing creaks it produced.
The young queen was sitting on a vast turquoise couch. The majority of the room's furniture was also blue, which contrasted to her silver-colored outfit. Once again he looked upon her without a headdress. Her hair was in lengthy braids that fell down her back. It was much more regal that what she'd had it like on Tatooine, but there was a resemblance to the style. The only makeup on her face was the red Scar of Remembrance on her lips, and the rest of her appearance was natural. Anakin liked it better this way, allowing him to pretend that she was as common as him, and not a magnificent queen on an unreachable height. She was presently joined by only two handmaidens— Eirtaé and Rabé. Eirtaé stood next to the left side of the couch, and Rabé was on her right. They were flipping through some papers, probably agenda's for their busy charge.
Padmé, who'd been rubbing her temples tenderly, knew he had arrived when she heard the soft creak of the door. She turned her head and smiled, overjoyed to see her young friend. "Come in, Ani." He stepped forward and shut the door behind him. "Come on, come sit with me."
Anakin resisted the urge to run up to the couch and jump on it next to her. That would appear so childish…
Instead, he strode to the couch and bowed respectively. When he was low enough to touch the floor with his nose, he heard sweet laughter echoing in his ears. He looked up, surprised.
"Ani," she smiled. "You don't have to follow royal protocols now. There's no adults or other court members around."
"But you're a queen," he protested quietly.
"But I'm not you're queen, Ani." She patted the cushioned seat beside her softly. "Come on, sit. I even wore my hair in a looser, less rigid style so you would that I am your friend, not your ruler."
Anakin's eyes lit up. "You did?" He asked, a bit taken aback. She nodded. "You knew I was coming to say good-bye?"
A shadow passed over her delicate features. "I would have been disappointed if you didn't."
Anakin didn't resist hopping onto the couch this time. He gave her a gigantic grin before a realization hit him. In all the times that he had envisioned what he was going to say to Padmé when he said good-bye, he had never imagined anyone else around. He had spent time with the handmaidens, but they were still strangers to him. He didn't feel so comfortable any more.
"Padmé? Since we are being so laid back and all, could you dismiss your handmaidens? Please?"
Padmé paused for a moment, considering it, and then said aloud, "Ladies, you may leave us."
The handmaidens immediately bowed low, obediantly answered, "My lady," and were out the door.
Anakin was surprised at how fast they were gone. "Wow, they sure did listen to you."
Padmé struggled not to smile. From time to time, she did enjoy the perks. "I am Queen, Ani."
"Yeah, I know… and now I'm a Jedi!" Anakin exclaimed happily.
"Training to be a Jedi," Padmé corrected gently, before adding, "But I knew you had potential to do great things."
Anakin beamed. "Are you saying you weren't surprised I destroyed the Federation ship?"
"Well, no. I was surprised someone so little could do something so big."
His smile faltered. "People can surprise you- even little people."
Padmé laughed, and he was smiling once again. "Yes, but I would be surprised if any one person did what you did, all on their own. That was truly something, Ani, and it makes it even more extraordinary that you are so young and did it."
Anakin smiled. He loved hearing praises from Padmé. He loved talking to her. But… he was leaving. He wouldn't talk to her for a long, long time…
As if she had read his thoughts, Padmé replied solemnly, "It is moments like these that I will treasure, Ani."
Ani sighed heavily. "I just wish I had some going-away present to give you."
"But Anakin…" Padmé laid a hand above her chest, and Anakin watched as she revealed a necklace. It had been hidden under her clothes, but Anakin now saw that it was a thin silver chain. She hid whatever was on it tightly in her right palm. "Ani, you already gave me a gift to remember you by, remember?" Anakin thought for a moment, and then when Padmé saw him register in his mind what she was talking about, she opened her palm. It was the small wooden pendant that he had carved for her out of a japor snippet.
"Oh, yeah," Anakin exclaimed, having forgot his small gift. "But that's just a pendant. A piece of carved wood. I wanted to give you something special." His voice was low and depressed, reflecting the state of his spirit.
Padmé took her fingers and lifted his chin lightly before she placed her hands in her lap, letting the necklace dangle from her neck. "Ani, this 'piece of carved wood' is special to me. All my life, besides from the ones from my family, the only presents I have ever received were big, elaborate, and made more for showing off than for meaning. This really is precious to me. I'll never lose it, I promise." Now it was her turn to sigh. "I am the one who should be sorry not to have a gift to give you. I could have, I just… couldn't find something. I don't know what you would like."
"Forget it, Padmé. I don't need a gift." He meant it. Though he would treasure anything she would give him, he didn't need a material item from her. The gift of her friendship was the best thing she could have ever given him, and he had already received it.
Padmé offered a smile and attempted to change the subject. "I'm sorry they don't have any pod racing on Coruscant. That would be interesting."
"Yeah," Anakin agreed. "But even if there were, I wouldn't be able to participate. I mean, Jedi aren't allowed to possess things. It's somewhere in the rule book."
Padmé bit her tongue despite his pun. "I'm sorry, Anakin. I can't believe I forgot."
Anakin smiled at her caring, even though she didn't know she was displaying it. He would miss her. "It's okay. Besides, it won't be much of a change anyways. Watto may have been a better-than-average master, but he wouldn't let me and my mom have much stuff either. Remember, I had to secretly build my pod racer, or else he would have taken it."
"You can let go of those things, Ani," she replied, wrapping a comforting arm around him. "Remember the good things, like your mother, but try not to dwell on the not-good things, like Watto and your slavery."
"How?" Anakin pouted. "One comes with the other."
Padmé answered thoughtfully, "Well, it's like how I'm trying to deal with what's going on. Already the invasion of the Trade Federation is becoming the past, becoming a part of Naboo's history, even if it is a dark part. The main celebrations have already taken place too, but they're in the past. Now we are heading towards the future, a brighter and clearer one. But I will always remember the other day when we had the celebration in the square. My people were full of life and happiness, and that was the day the Nubians and the Gungans celebrated their friendship, and their freedom. But I can't remember the celebration and the joy without the struggle and the pain to obtain it. You're right, Anakin, one does come with the other, but that doesn't mean we have to spend as much time remembering the bad as we can the good." She laughed suddenly. "Am I making any sense?"
"Kind of… yeah, I see what you mean." Anakin did know what she meant, and took solace in her comforting words. "It's just… first I said good-bye to my mom, I never really got a chance to thank and say good-bye to Master Qui-Gon, and now I have to say good-bye to you." He closed his eyes, and pouted, "It's not fair!"
Padmé smiled and leaned back on the couch. "Come now, we will see each other again, so it's not really good-bye. And I'm sure you'll see your mom again, so that's not good-bye either. And I know Master Jinn, wherever he is, knows that you're grateful for this chance to be a Jedi."
Anakin lifted his shoulder. "You always know what to say, Padmé. You always know just what to say to make me feel better, to, uh, inspire me. You sound like my mom."
Padmé laughed again. "Oh, no, I'm not getting old then, am I?"
Anakin looked at her with a mocking serious stare. "Old woman, you are not, Queen Amidala. In youth, you do remain."
"Anakin!" Padmé was shocked, and giggled, at this little imitation. "Master Yoda would be awfully grumpy if he heard you say that."
Anakin laughed. "You thought it was funny too!" Then he sighed, realizing the time. "Speaking of Jedi, I have to get back to
Master Obi-Wan. I, uh, I really do have to say good-bye now. But like I said, you know I don't want to."
Padmé sighed, not wanting to part from her dear friend either.
"Unfortunately, we don't always get what we want. Stay safe, Ani. Don't get into trouble on some far off planet. I do not want to hear of anything bad happening to you. I only want to hear good things."
"I swear, Mother, I'll be good." His lame joke didn't even make him smile. However, each passing second meant a grumpier look on Obi-Wan's face when he showed up late to the hangar. Anakin spoke sadly and dispiritedly. "I'm going to miss you very, very much, Padmé."
"And I you, Anakin." Padmé dropped her eyes. She hated good-byes. "I will miss you too."
"You really are an angel You know that, don't you?"
"Sure, Ani, whatever you say."
"I mean it."
"One last hug?" Padmé asked, slightly opening her arms.
As if he would ever say no? Anakin dived into them, wrapping his arms around her back. He was leaving this angel. His angel.
"Take care of Naboo for me," he murmured into her shoulder. "I mean that too."
"I will, I promise."
He slowly pulled away, only the fear of Obi-Wan's lecture and disapproval making him move. He looked at Padmé, who had her eyes closed, sad beyond words that her little companion was leaving. But he thought of her as more than a companion. Of course, she knew that, right?
Then the idea struck him.
It was daring. It was foolish. It was stupid. It was beyond protocol. It was something that should not be done.
But he was Anakin Skywalker, and who was he to ever follow the rules?
Padm's eyes were still closed, and he prayed they would stay that way. He had never been kissed, though plenty of mushy girls back on Tatooine had tried to corner him… before they found out he was a slave. None had succeeded in lip-locking with him. But it wouldn't be lip-locking with Padmé. It would be a sweet, perfect first kiss. Did he dare?
He did. And her eyes were still closed.
Slowly Anakin pushed in. Seven inches... Five inches... Three inches… One inch…
KNOCK! KNOCK!! KNOCK!!!
Anakin was almost there when the loud sound came from the door he had entered. In shock and surprise he actually fell off the couch and onto the floor, landing in an uncomfortable heap of his own arms and legs. Where he landed, his leg was turned painfully in an awkward position and his left wrist was twisted under his back. Padmé gave him a strange look, almost a frown.
Anakin gulped in fear. Did she know what he had tried to do? What he had almost accomplished? Would she be angry?
Ani stared back at her, trying to read every detail in her eyes to figure out what she had figured out on her own.
Her strange look suddenly turned into concern. "Oh, you're not joking! Ani, are you alright? I thought you were just goofing around when you fell off the couch like that! I guess you didn't. Are you alright?"
Another series of knocks, louder this time, came from the door. Padmé ignored them.
"Are you alright, Anakin?"
"Um."
More persistent knocks. Someone wanted to hear the words "come in" very badly.
Padmé ignored them again. "Ani, are you alright?"
"Y-y-yes," Anakin stuttered, feeling like a fool. "I'm fine, only just as surprised as you are."
After Padmé looked him over again and, after she was sure for himself that he was okay, she helped him up and prepared herself on the couch for more company.
"You may enter."
A short, untidy young man opened the door immediately. He had brown curls and dashing hazel eyes. Random paint spots were splashed across his shirt. "Your highness," he said as he bowed low. "Eola needs you for a very important painting he's redoing of you. As his apprentice he sent me to ask for your presence." He added gruffly, "I am sorry for the intrusion."
"Wait one moment," Padmé answered firmly, and Anakin noticed that she seemed to stiffen at this new presence. Automatically he didn't trust the stranger. Padm's opinion was good enough for him. Her entire body softened as she turned back to her friend. "Anakin, my presence," she shot a rude look at the young man by the door, who seemed to shrink back, "is needed. I can only be Padmé briefly before Amidala is requested again. You understand, of course?" Before he replied, she shot the hurried words over her shoulder to the young man, "Wait outside the door."
He complied immediately.
Once the door was closed, Anakin reluctantly turned to her and murmured, "I'm sorry, but Master Obi-Wan is expecting me, too." He looked to her for reassurance. "I will see you again, right?"
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Of course. The future cannot always be predicted, but I'm sure this isn't the last I've seen of Anakin Skywalker." She offered a warm smile.
The words flashed in Anakin's mind like lightning, but he just barely managed to catch them.
—Padmé Skywalker—
Anakin swore the wind was knocked out of him with these two words that had suddenly appeared in his mind's eyes without warning. How he managed to keep a straight face he never knew.
Confidently, he replied, "Maybe the future can be predicted, Padmé."
—A beautiful sunset on Naboo—
—Water—
…Padmé Skywalker…
Now they were images that flashed before him, and though they were clear as day, they were gone as soon as they came.
"Maybe it can."
They shared another hug, a few more words of farewell, and before he knew it Anakin found himself holding the bronze doorhandle. Padmé was standing by the couch, preparing to call her handmaidens back in.
These were the last seconds he would ever see of her for a long time, and he cherished them like a creature from Tatooine treasures water. They were revered, sacred, and holy.
Padmé caught his sad gaze, and decided to do something to cheer him up. She knew it might be wrong, considering how the boy obviously felt something deeper than friendship for her, but if it would make him smile…
She raised her right hand to her lips and blew him a kiss.
Overjoyed, Anakin pretended to catch it, and then carefully tuck it into his pocket. He smiled gratefully, and then slowly opened the door, never taking his off the young girl. He left it open, but walked slowly, hesitantly down the hall. With each step she disappeared more and more, until…
His angel was gone.
A rough hand slapped him on the back, shattering the solemn aura around Anakin.
"So, you know Queen Amidala, eh? Or should I say Padmé?" It was the young man who had interrupted them. "Brutal, isn't she?" He suppressed a smile. "Or maybe I shouldn't speak that way about the ruling monarch, hum?"
Anakin had to clench his fists together to remind him not to raise them in fury. "She's not brutal. She's an angel."
The young man looked at him, puzzled. "An angel? What is that-- some child's jibberish?"
Anakin pointedly looked him up and down. "Like you would know? I guess only esteemed pilots would be familiar with them," Anakin replied, and then marched away proudly.
"Whatever, short stuff." Anakin ignored that. It was a lousy comeback, not worth taking the time to answer.
Although he was obviously pleased with himself as he stomped away, Anakin could feel the confused eyes of the young man on his back. "Arrogant little fellow," a male voice behind him mused. Anakin looked back in time to see the stranger disappear inside the room where the queen was waiting.
A usually angelic voice, which was presently boiling with barely suppressed frustration, drifted to his ears as it echoed through the open door and into the hallway. Even as Anakin was already several yards from the Queen's chambers, the stone floor and walls insured that the female's voice traveled to his ears.
"Palo, you really couldn't have interrupted at a worse time. Now, where.."
Anakin prepared himself for another long lecture about being on time. He'd already received his first lecture from his master when he was late to the celebration parade. But that wasn't my fault! The Padawan haircut had taken too long! That was the hairdresser's fault! He sighed as he heard the immense clock tower, which was located in the heart of Theed, ring the time with its gigantic bells. I'm really late! Not again... Obi-Wan's gonna kill me. The young Jedi apprentice proceeded down the long hallways that would lead him to the hangar as quickly as his little legs would carry him.