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

@Mira_Jade As always, thank you so much for your kind comments!I'm so flattered that you found this to be a gorgeous collection of stories and a fabulous character study of Padme and all her different facets because I really enjoyed all the different sides of Padme and her relationships with her family, handmaidens, and Anakin.

I really did love that butterfly imagery you quoted, so it makes me so happy you found it so evocative for capturing that wild, all-encompassing nature of Anakin and Padme's love. There is such a passion, liberation, and sort of wild abandon to these two as lovers that I hoped to be able to describe with that image.

Yeah, I was always a bit like, "No, Corde, you didn't fail; you did your duty to the last final measure" when she apologizes for failing Padme and the grief on Padme's face was always moving to me, so it was powerful to be able to explore that a bit more in this collection as a type of love between Padme and her handmaidens.

The story with Padme and Anakin's dreams of death in childbirth definitely filled me with some shivers of foreboding and doom as I wrote it. It reminded me of that sort of tragic side of Anakin and Padme's love and of the PT in general. But I always do admire Padme's strength and courage in the face of the possibility of death. It's such a deep, defining part of who she is.

It makes me so happy that you loved the smooth as sand imagery and the allusion to her relationship with Anakin because I really liked the idea of Anakin sort of being in that piece without being directly present or mentioned.

I always cherish memories of chasing fireflies as a kid so it was heartwarming in that way for me to be able to write about Padme's nieces chasing glowbugs, and I liked being able to show Padme's wistfulness in longing for children of her own but at the same time there is that sense of sorrow that Padme will never be able to be open about her love for Anakin or about the children that she will have with him. It will have to be a secret so in a sense her dream of a family is as out of reach as a glowbug chased by a child.

I definitely think that Anakin's passion could sometimes flame too hot, scaring Padme and even ultimately burning her, so that was why I felt I had to include that line. I think alone with Anakin's joy when Padme gives him the news of her pregnancy, we also see warning signs of his anger, jealousy, and possessiveness that raise flags, warning us that there isn't going to be a happily ever after for this couple and family.

Oh, I'm so happy that the story with the Gungans was your favorite. I really enjoyed revisiting Otoh Gunga (what a great setting I find it to be) and to exploring Padme's political connections with the Gungans post-TPM a bit more. It really interested me to think about how there might be distrust for the peace from the Gungan side that Padme would be able to heal with her grace, goodness, and courage. I really admired her capacity for mercy and commitment to bringing a genuine peace between the different species on her world. And I think as you say it will be an unforgettable act. And you are totally right that I think Anakin forgets this brave, selfless side of Padme when he goes down his manic path to try to save her by killing other people and going to the Dark Side. Padme would never want any of that violence done in her name.

The line about Anakin being Padme's eternal present and hard to speak of in the past tense was one that really struck me as I was writing that piece because it really to me captured that feeling of both Padme's love for Anakin and her grief at what he had chosen to become.

I'm so glad you appreciated the tie-in to my previous vignette "Sanctuary Coast." I really like the idea of Padme being alive and hiding on Alderaan so that she can maybe make some contact with her daughter and perhaps be involved in developing the Rebel Alliance against the Empire because it was the kind of ending I had envisioned for Padme before ROTS came out. So it would be cool to write a longer AU or series of AU about that. As long as my muse can make that sort of commitment...

Thank you again for reading and commenting, and I'm so happy you enjoyed this collection