Saga - PT Before the Saga Naboo's Queen (Padme Amidala Decathlon for the Fanfiction Summer Olympics

Title: Naboo's Queen.

Author: devilinthedetails

Timeframe: Before the Saga and Saga-PT.

Genre: A variety.

Characters: Padme Amidala and others.

Summary: A compilation of stories written for my Star Wars Decathlon focusing on Padme Amidala. An index of entries for the Decathlon is found below.

Index:

Never Looked More a Queen. Single Sentence Shotput. Padme Amidala and Boss Nass. General. Post #2.

Queen Someday. 400 Word Cross Country. Padme Amidala and OC. General. Post #8.

Four Forms of Love. 4x100 Relay. Padme Amidala; Ryoo Naberrie; Pooja Naberrie; Ruwee Naberrie; Sabe; Anakin Skywalker. General; Family; Friendship; Romance. Post #13.

Scars Everywhere. 110 Word Hurdle. Padme Amidala. General; Angst. Post #16.

What Dreams May Come. Fantastical Fencing. Padme Amidala; Anakin Skywalker. General; Angst; Drama. Post #18.

Sand, Sky, and Glass. 200 Freestyle. Padme Amidala. General; Friendship. Post #24.

Chasing Glowbugs. 100 Word Sprint. Padme Amidala; Ryoo Naberrie; Pooja Naberrie; Sola Naberrie. Family; General. Post #27.

Light and Life. 1500 Word Dash. Padme Amidala; Anakin Skywalker. Romance; Tragedy; General. Post #35.

Granted Clemency. Prime Time Coverage. Padme Amidala; Captain Tarpals; Boss Nass; Eirtae. General; Action. Post #40.

Seeking Sanctuary. AU Archery. Padme Amidala: Obi-Wan Kenobi; Luke Skywalker; Leia Organa; Bail Organa. Post #43.

 

Title: Never Looked More a Queen.

Genre: General

Characters: Padme Amidala: Boss Nass.

Event: Single Sentence Shotput.

Summary: Padme kneels before Boss Nass. Set during TPM.

Never Looked More a Queen

Padme Amidala had never looked more a queen than when she kneeled in the boggy swamp before Boss Nass, abandoning her handmaiden disguise, to beg for the the Gungan leader's help in saving her planet and her people.

 

Gorgeous! I love how heavy hitting and striking this was, in just a sentence! But it's true: Padmé was never more a queen than she was at that moment, humbling herself before an equal not only for her people, but for her entire planet. That was always one of my favorite moments of TPM and you captured it beautifully here!

This is off to a great start, and I can't wait for more!

 

@Mira_Jade Thank you so much for your kind comment! I'm so flattered that you found this piece gorgeous and that you felt it was able to be so heavy-hitting and striking in a single sentence. I always feel like with a single sentence there is a real chance to make every word pack a punch. I agree that to me Padme was never more a queen than when she humbled herself on behalf of her people and her planet and treated the Gungan leader with the respect that the Naboo people had long denied the Gungans. It was such a powerful moment for me that I couldn't resist trying to capture it in this sentence, especially since I think it really defines who Padme is as a leader. It truly is a highlight of TPM, and it was amazing to try to capture that moment in a single sentence here. I'm so happy you think this is off to a great start, and I hope you'll enjoy where the story goes next!

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha As always, thank you so much for commenting!I'm so glad that you found this to be a great beginning that really summed up Padme's motives and feelings. I hope you'll continue to enjoy where the story goes next!

@earlybird-obi-wan Thank you so much for commenting! I always felt that this moment in TPM really defined Padme as a character and a leader, so I was happy to be able to explore it in this sentence, and I'm glad that you enjoyed reading my take on this moment!

@amidalachick Thank you so much for commenting!I'm excited to be able to explore Padme more by writing stories about her for this Decathlon, and I hope you'll continue to find that I do justice to her in my writing. I'm happy to hear that you felt this truly captured who she is and that you loved this, and thank you for participating in the Fanfiction Summer Olympics! It's already been so fun

@Anedon Thank you so much for commenting! I'm glad that you found my take on this moment interesting but true, and I agree that it is at this moment that Padme shows she is a great queen because she is willing to humble herself for the sake of her world and her people. What a profound gesture on her part, and that also allows the Naboo people to finally be reconciled with the Gungans.

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Title: Queen Someday.

Genre: General

Characters: Padme Amidala; OC.

Event: 400 Word Cross Country.

Summary: A young Padme engages in a conversation drill.

Queen Somebody

Padme, for reasons unknown to her, had been ordered to attend on Madame Leane, her strictest teacher in this school for promising students who aspired to be future leaders for Naboo and the Republic. She stepped onto the stone patio overlooking the garden to see Madame Leane fanning herself, wafting sweetblossom perfume across the patio with every flicker of fan.

“You could be queen someday.” Madame Leane’s beady eyes fixed on Padme as she came to stand beside her mentor, forcing her nose not to crinkle at the excess of perfume as she understood such an expression would be regarded as impolite and impolitic. “Do you dream of becoming queen someday?”

“I daren’t dream that far.” Padme shook her head, afraid that her ambition would cause her to overleap herself and forget core components of who she was—or who she was supposed to be.

“I think you do.” Madame Leane picked an everlily from a flower box and twirled the stem between her fingers. “What you don’t dare to do is speak your dream and visualize it, but if you’re too timid to speak or visualize your dream, it’ll never become reality.”

“Perhaps I do wish to be queen.” Padme met her teacher’s gaze boldly, trying to act unashamed of the ambition blazing inside her that she had tried to hide.

“A queen must learn how to make conversation with everyone.” Madame Leane crossed to a small flight of stairs leading down to the verdant garden, Padme walking obediently at her side. “She must be able to converse with wit, charm, and intelligence about any subject to anyone at any time. We’ll conduct a conversation drill.”

“Yes, Madame.” Padme inclined her head to conceal her irritation at being subjected to another conversation drill—this time outside standard class hours.

“As we walk, you will engage each plant we encounter in a new conversation topic.” Madame Leane’s flower waved as they reached the first plant.

“I’m going to talk to plants?” Padme wondered if she was going deaf or Madame Leane insane.

“Yes.” Madame Leane’s everlily tapped emphatically on Padme’s sleeve.

“Am I supposed to imagine they talk back?” Padme was increasingly convinced Madame Leane had indeed gone insane.

“If that helps you improve your conversational skills.” Madame Leane’s lips quirked. “We want you able to sustain a conversation with anyone—even someone with the conversational abilities of a plant.”

 

@earlybird-obi-wan Thank you so much for commenting! Glad you found it an interesting discussion, and I hope you enjoy the next piece as much

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you so much for commenting! That's Madame Leane's theory anyway: that if Padme can be witty and charming with a plant, she can be witty and charming with anyone Kind of an amusing theory to say the least, but it was a fun little story to write...

@Anedon It's definitely unusual training, but it was a fun piece to write

@amidalachick Thank you so much for commenting! I'm glad that you found this to be another great response. Naboo gardens are just so beautiful that I couldn't resist setting another story there to have an excuse to write about how gorgeous Naboo is I agree that although Madame Leane's methods are extremely unusual, she does have some wise words to offer, so perhaps there is a method to her madness after all. I could understand finding it less scary to talk to inanimate objects and animals as they do not judge nor do they argue, so in that sense it may also be more fulfilling as well. I'm so glad you loved this story and I hope you'll enjoy the next installment just as much!

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Title: Four Forms of Love

Genre: General; Friendship; Family; Romance.

Characters: Padme Amidala; Ryoo Naberrie; Pooja Naberrie; Ruwee Naberrie; Anakin Skywalker; Sabe

Event: 4x100 Relay.

Summary: Four forms of love as experienced by Padme Amidala.

Four Forms of Love

Sweet Sparklemint Affection

As she approached her parents’ house, Padme flung her arms wide to embrace her giggling nieces as they darted toward her down the stone steps.

“Did you bring any presents?” Pooja wanted to know, smiling sweetly.

“You aren’t supposed to ask that.” Ryoo hissed, and Padme could see that she had lost a front tooth since Padme’s last visit home. “It’s rude.”

“I did bring you each a sparklemint stick.” Padme handed a long, red-and-white striped candy to each of her nieces. She laughed watching Ryoo suck the candy daintily while Pooja chomped nosily on her sparklemint stick.

Shimmersilk Intimacy

Padme had never been so intimate with anyone. Gossamer shimmersilk was all there was between her skin and Anakin’s. The heat of his flesh burned into hers, searing as the ecstasy and wild abandon she found in Anakin’s arms. Stabs of pleasure pieced through her, and she was happy beyond words. She was a butterfly bursting from a shell to soar across the sky. She wondered if this blissful, free sensation was how Anakin felt whenever he flew but was too breathless to ask him. Instead she asked it silently of the silver slivers of moonlight shining through her blinds.

Lay down One’s Life for a Friend

“There’s no greater love than to be willing to lay down one’s life for a friend,” Padme murmured in Sabe’s ear as she finished arranging the elaborate headpiece that would complete her best friend’s disguise as Queen of Naboo.

Sabe’s lips, painted blood red, quirked into a smile as Padme donned the veil that would transform her from stunning queen into simple handmaiden.

Years later, these words would echo like a battlecry in Padme’s ears as she wept over Corde who’d been such a perfect decoy that she’d been killed in Padme’s place but still died apologizing for failing her.

Each Life a Galaxy

It was her father who taught Padme about peace and charity. On their flight to evacuate the population of Shadda-Bi-Boran before their star died, he explained to her, “Each life’s a galaxy to the one who lives it, so if you save a life, it is as if you saved a galaxy, but if you take a life, it is as if you have destroyed a galaxy.”

Padme provided all the charity she could to the displaced natives of Shadda-Bi-Boran, but still they perished, and Padme felt the weight of each death as a collapsing galaxy.

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you so much for your kind comments! In my headcanon, Padme is the type of aunt who is always giving her adorable nieces treats and presents, so I couldn't resist showing that side of her that I imagine exists by having her give sweets to Ryoo and Pooja. I also couldn't resist playing with words a bit to make the sweet affection ring true on both a literal and figurative level, since I love me some wordplay.

I'm so glad that you found Shimmersilk Intimacy so sizzly and yummy because I don't normally write romance that steamy, but I wanted to show that sort of passionate, wild side to her love for Anakin that is unique from how she loves anyone else, and I'm so happy I was able to pull that off in that drabble.

The drabble about Padme's friendship with her self-sacrificing handmaidens who risk their lives to keep her safe was in some ways the most poignant of these drabbles for me to write so I'm happy to hear that poignancy came across for you as a reader.

I couldn't resist getting a bit poetic with the Each Life a Galaxy drabble so it's nice to know that the poetic nature of the drabble worked well for you and that you could truly believe that Padme would feel that way. I also agree that as you said Leia and Luke would probably feel much the same way.

@earlybird-obi-wan As always, thank you so much for commenting! I really felt that this 4x100 Relay focused on different types of love was the perfect opportunity to explore the various types of love--love for her family, love for Anakin, love for her friends, and love for the people she served--that defined her as a person and a character. So it makes me so pleased that you felt these drabbles really came together to capture who Padme was.

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Title: Scars Everywhere

Genre: General; Angst

Characters: Padme Amidala

Event: 110 Word Hurdle.

Summary: After the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo, Padme sees scars everywhere.

Scars Everywhere

After the invasion of her once placid planet, Naboo’s queen saw scars everywhere. Although the droid army of the Trade Federation had been defeated and Nute Gunray entrusted to Republic custody before his Coruscant trial, the ghost of the Trade Federation’s occupation haunted Naboo.

Among her handmaidens in the palace, she saw how Yane’s youthful beauty had been forever marred by the torture she had been subjected to in a Trade Federation camp. In Theed, the marble of the classical architecture was scoured by the burns of blaster fire. In the grasslands and swamps, flora and fauna had been trampled and would take years to recover according to biological experts.

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you so much for commenting! This was a hard 110 Word Hurdle to write because of all the literal and symbolic scars, but I'm happy to hear that the descriptions did indeed resonate with you. I hope you'll continue to find stuff that resonates with you in this next story.

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Title: What Dreams May Come

Genre: General; Angst; Drama

Characters: Padme Amidala; Anakin Skywalker.

Event: Fantastical Fencing

Summary: Anakin, Padme, and their prophetic dreams. An expansion of a scene from ROTS.

“To die, to sleep—to sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub for in this sleep of death, what dreams may come?”—Hamlet, William Shakespeare

What Dreams May Come

In her dream, Padme was twelve again. She was ensconced in the gauzy shimmersilk drapes of the tealeaf reader’s tent, the heady aroma of the incense the tealeaf reader burned to better commune with the supernatural teasing her nostrils until she ached with the suppressed urge to sneeze.

“Drink until only the dregs remain.” The tealef reader, who wore her old age in wrinkled lines on her cheeks, handed Padme a steaming cup of red leaf tea.

Padme lifted the porcelain cup to her lips, wondering why she had let her friends talk her into such superstitious nonsense when she was supposed to be smarter and more sophisticated than this, and sipped the crimson beverage. It stained her teeth scarlet as blood, and she knew it would take fierce brushing to restore her teeth to pure white again.

Once she emptied the cup, she returned it to the tealeaf reader. The tealeaf reader might have been near-sighted if the way she squinted her eyes and tilted her head as she studied the markings in Padme’s cup for some sign of what the future held for her dubious customer was any indication.

“You’ll be a great leader who steers your people through war and hard times with a steady hand,” the tealeaf reader declared at last, causing shivers to snake up Padme’s spine though she didn’t believe in prophecy. “You’ll marry young. You’ll be happy at first, but your happiness will transform into sorrow bitter as red leaf tea. You’ll die giving birth to light and hope.”

Padme stirred in her sleep as she felt her husband jolt into a sitting position beside her. She remained curled on her side beneath the blankets she clutched closer about her as he turned away from her, pressing his palms against his forehead in a gesture of devastating grief and crumbling stress.

A moment later, she felt the springs shift as he rose, snatching up a robe to pull over his shoulders. She rolled over in time to watch him disappear in the direction of her terrace.

Concerned about what dreams could be haunting his sleep, she followed him to the terrace with its stunning tile mosaics that glistened in the starlight. As she approached him, she admired the play of light and shadow on his features—how his skin shone bronze in the muted glow of the outdoor lamps.

“What’s bothering you?” she asked softly, dreading the answer with every bone in her body as she stroked his back soothingly. Beneath her palm, she could feel where his sweat had soaked through his robe.

“Nothing.” Anakin forced a smile of what had to be false bravado. He was lying to protect her, and that made her forehead furrow.

His tone and smile drifting into almost wistful territory, he reached for the japor snippet he had hewn for her as an eager-eyed slave boy from Tatooine—a snippet she treasured, wearing about her neck as a talisman and constant reminder of his love even while she slept. “I remember when I gave this to you.”

It was a sweet memory for both of them—her offering him comfort on his first voyage through the icy void of space and him giving her a piece of jewelry he had carved for her in return—and it always would be, but now she sensed it was also a not particularly deft attempt to distract her and change the subject. Her Anakin was many things, but not a master of subtlety.

“How long is it going to take for us to be honest with each other?” She voiced the greatest frustration and sorrow of their marriage.

Anakin stiffened and turned away from her. She thought he wouldn’t respond, but instead he replied in a flat, dispassionate manner, “It was a dream.”

“Bad?” Padme’s throat tightened as she recalled his prescient nightmares about his mother and her own strange dreams tonight that had made her sleep fitful.

“Like the ones I used to have about my mother just before she died.” Anakin’s words were a stark confirmation of Padme’s worst fears.

“And?” She knew where he was headed but had to hear him say it anyway. She had to know the truth so she could face it without flinching.

“And it was about you.” He looked at her, eyes heavy with grief, and then stared stonily forward again.

“Tell me,” she urged, continuing to stroke at the knotted tension in his back.

“It was only a dream.” Anakin stood and wandered away from her.

She gazed at him with naked worry on her face, and perhaps he could sense it for he spun around to face her again with the appearance and attitude of a broken man. Grimly, he pronounced the fate he had seen for her: “You die in childbirth.”

“And the baby?” Padme’s hands wrapped around the bulge of her pregnancy as if that would ward off any threat to the life growing inside her womb.

“I don’t know,” Anakin admitted, taut as a strained wire.

Deciding that she had to be brave for both of them, she stepped toward him to provide what consolation she could. Her words ringing hollow in her own ears, she said, “It was only a dream.”

“I won’t let this one become real.” Anakin was every centimeter the defiant determination that had made her fall in love with him.

“This baby will change our lives.” Padme’s eyes were wide and serious with all the fears she’d had months to create in her mind. Reflecting on everything she had given up for him and he for her, she went on, “I doubt the Queen will continue to allow me to serve in the Senate, and if the Council discovers you’re the father, you’ll be expelled…”

“I know…I know…” Anakin’s fingers rose to forestall the truth he couldn’t bear to hear.

Daring to voice the hope that she had held tight as a secret to her heart in the long months he had been absent from Coruscant, she had been pregnant, and she had fretted about his future as a Jedi, she suggested tentatively, “Do you think Obi-Wan might be able to help us?”

Obi-Wan was on the Council, and he was Anakin’s best friend—the man Anakin had claimed on more than one occasion was like a father to him. If any Jedi could help them, it would be Obi-Wan, Padme was certain of that, but Anakin was not.

His expression hardened as if they weren’t speaking of the man who was his best friend and mentor since he was nine but some enemy. “We don’t need his help.”

He didn’t realize how much Obi-Wan loved him, Padme realized, her spine cold as ice. Perhaps it was something only a future mother could see.

She wished that she could find the words to convince him of Obi-Wan’s love—to persuade him to trust Obi-Wan with their secret as terrible as it was wonderful—but he spoke first as if it was he who had to convince her that they needed help from no one, “Our baby is a blessing.”

She couldn’t argue with that sentiment and admired how strong he was trying to be, for her and for them both, so she leaned against him, letting her fears and uncertainties melt into the warmth of his body.

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha As always, thank you so much for your kind comments I'm so happy that you found this latest story to be exquisite from Padme's point of view. Last time I was watching ROTS, I noticed that Padme was sort of stirring alongside Anakin when he had his nightmare, so I decided that it might be interesting to give Padme her own troubling dream of foreboding and add to that element of her and Anakin each trying to assure the other that their dreams are nothing but not quite succeeding with that. Characterization was at the core of this story ultimately, so it makes me so pleased that you felt the characterization was superb. I really did want to show both how comforting Padme tries to be to her husband and how mystified she is by his refusal to seek Obi-Wan's help when she suggests it.

@Anedon Thank you so much for commenting I'm glad that you found it an interesting parallel to give Padme some of her own foresight since that was an element that made this story a fascinating one for me to write as well.

@amidalachick Thank you so much for your sweet comment I really enjoyed writing the 4x100 Relay because I felt that I could explore many of the different types of love that Padme felt and give a glimpse into the complex relationships she had with a variety of people throughout her life. Writing her giving sweets to her adorable nieces warmed my heart, so I'm so happy you found that part cute, and Padme's intimacy with Anakin was quite steamy to write so I'm flattered that you found it to be gorgeous The last two were the most heartbreaking ones to write since they were tributes to loss and death as well as friendship and charity in a way, but what is love except something that tugs on the heartstrings, after all?

The 110 Word Hurdle was such a difficult piece for me to write, since every word was an exploration of Padme's pain at the damage the Trade Federation has inflicted on her homeworld and its citizens. I really wanted to show the painful aftermath of war because I definitely think that Padme would see and feel the scars of the Trade Federation's invasion for a long time.

I'm so glad that you loved the story I wrote for the Fantastical Fencing event. I really enjoyed being able to expand the scene from ROTS to include Padme's own dream and memory, so it makes me so happy that was a highlight for you as well. I agree that it must have been so hard for Padme to be brave when she must have been so frightened since Anakin's dreams had already proved to be prophetic in the past. I also found her perspective on Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship, so it really pleases me that you found them similarly poignant.

This scene in the movie is definitely a powerful one, and I think it along with many others does create that tragic sense of maybe things going entirely differently if slightly different choices had been made. ROTS is so heart-breaking and beautiful in that way for me. It's wonderful to hear you felt I could capture that sense of tragedy in this piece and could add some details to make it even richer.

I hope you'll enjoy this next story as well! I

@AzureAngel2 Thank you so much for commenting Writing stories for the Fanfiction Olympics has encouraged me to really focus on characters and explore the range of roles that one person can play, so I'm so happy that is coming through in the stories I'm writing. Padme does indeed have so many roles: queen, aunt, daughter, wife, and friend, so hopefully I'll be able to continue to shine a light on those different roles as this Decathlon continues, and hopefully you'll continue to find my work beautiful!

@divapilot Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful comment Writing Padme has been a pleasure for this Decathlon, because, as you say, she is a fascinating character.

It makes me so happy that you found "Never Looked More a Queen" to be so on point because there was so much I wanted to convey about Padme in that one short sentence. I really wanted to show exactly what you described: that she will lead her people by example and that she will do whatever she has to in order to save her people. And that is what truly defines her as a leader and a queen.

"Queen Someday" was definitely an interesting piece. I do think that Madame Leane was testing Padme and basically doing everything as a challenge to Padme. Her tests and teaching was unconventional there, but perhaps still has some valuable instruction and meaning to impart. A sort of method beneath the madness maybe. Padme was 14 when she became Queen of Naboo, I believe, so in my head I was picturing her about 11 or 12 in that story, so, yes, she would've displayed remarkable poise and grace in that story with the bizarre Madame Leane.

Corde's dying words always struck me hard in AOTC. She is selflessly devoted to Padme as all the handmaidens seem to have to be if they're willing to die for her, but it always seemed sad to me that she defined herself as a failure when she had actually fulfilled her duty in the ultimate sense of laying down her life for Padme. That always felt very tragic to me. So I had to include a reference to it.

"What Dreams May Come" was an intriguing piece for me to write because of that blend of my own invention with Padme's dream and her past visit to a tea leaf reader that had foresaw her death in childbirth. I definitely think that Padme's tendency to put others above herself was so clear in her resting her hand protectively over her unborn child even when she hears that Anakin has dreamed of her own death. She is more worried about her baby and her husband than about herself, essentially.

I definitely think being pregnant has made Padme take a step back and see relationships the way a parent would, and that's why she can perhaps see the love Obi-Wan has for Anakin more clearly than Anakin can, especially since Anakin is responding to his nightmare by closing up from others rather than reaching out to embrace them as Padme does.

I'm so glad that you thought the stories were well done so far, and I hope you'll enjoy this next one as well!

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Title: Sand, Sky, and Glass

Genre: General; Friendship

Characters: Padme Amidala

Event: 200 Freestyle

Summary: Padme swims with her classmates in the Naboo Lake Country.

Sand, Sky, and Glass

Exams over and instruction concluded for the summer, Padme’s school took a retreat to the Lake Country. With her classmates, she swam across the blue bowl of the lake, which reflected the fluffy white clouds so it was impossible to discern where azurite lake ended and sapphire sky began, until they reached the sandy shore of an island in its center. They lounged in the sand, baking in the sun, shutting their eyes to better hear and guess the birds singing in the trees.

Eventually, tired of sprawling on the beach, they stood. Grainy sand, eroded remnants of rock and shell, trickled through Padme’s toes as she and her classmates approached the workshop of an elderly glassmaker. Wide-eyed, they admired his wares: droplet earrings of jade glass, streaming necklaces of purple glass, curved vases of aquamarine glass.

They gasped and applauded until their palms were sore and tinged scarlet as sunburn as he blew more glass before his awed, appreciative audience. Between blowing, he spoke to them about how glass came from sand. Listening to his words that fell like waves on her ears, Padme marveled at how something as rough as sand could be spun smooth as glass.