LITTLE RICH GIRL
Chapter Seventeen
Padmé, Anakin, Ruwee, Sola, and
her family were now on the moon Carpath. They had been there for about a week,
but it was time to leave. Anakin flew a speeder out to a docking bay and pulled
up to eight different cruisers. The first two were small, mostly for traveling
for a short amount of time. The other five were for regular travel. But the
last one, the largest and grandest, was a cruise liner for all beings, but
mostly for the rich. Padmé got out of the speeder with her family and
husband-to-be next to her.
"Before we go, I thought it
would be nice for you to say good-bye to your old life. So, instead of going on
the Meria like I said," Anakin was saying, "the High Council worked
it out and we will be traveling on a luxury liner in first class on the
Kateryn."
The family’s eyes lit up, and
they turned to the huge cruiser. They made their way on board, and it was
perfect. The four days of flying to Coruscant were sheer bliss. The family
lived and dined first class, but partied with the third.
On the fourth day, the planet
came into view, and the family started to pack up. Anakin came into the sitting
room, where he found Padmé. He took her hand and took her to the private
observation deck they had. He got behind her and wrapped his arms around her
shoulders.
"Welcome to Coruscant,"
he said.
Padmé looked at the giant city in
awe. It was amazing to her. The buildings stood high. She saw the Jedi Temple.
The way it was shaped and the structure of it, along with the buildings around
it, gave it away. It was the oldest of the buildings, and the most beautiful.
The Kateryn flew past it, and the passengers got out. The group followed Anakin
to a small vehicle and went to the Temple, which glittered in the sunlight.
Statues of great Jedi of the past stood tall. Padmé got out of the vehicle
first, and she felt so small. Anakin came next to her and took her hand.
"You go ahead," Ruwee
told them. "We can handle this."
So, Anakin and Padmé went up the
huge stairs, and Padmé was astounded when she walked inside. They walked down
magnificent hallways until Anakin found his new room. The High Council had been
told of Anakin and his new wife, so they had decided to give him a bigger space
to live. Padmé walked inside.
"Will this do?" Anakin
asked. She turned around. The place was empty--no tables or sofa, nothing.
"I’ll leave it up to you to paint. Do whatever you want with it."
"Of course it will do."
She walked to Anakin and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed him, then
looked in his eyes. "Something on your mind, Knight Skywalker?"
"Want to see the master
bedroom?"
"I don’t think there’s
anything there."
He looked at her with loving
eyes. "You know, I think you might be too sexy for the Jedi Temple."
He leaned in and kissed her again, then picked her up off the floor.
*****
It had been only one day in her
new home, and she loved it. Sola and her family had found an apartment not far
from the Temple, and with Richard’s degree in engineering, it wasn’t hard for
him to get a job on Coruscant. Ruwee had the choice of living with one of his
two daughters, but it wasn’t as if they lived that far apart, so Padmé was his
pick.
Anakin came back from a long day.
Now that Naboo was under control, it was time to find out why this had happened
and who was really in charge. There was no doubt that the mysterious Sith Lord
was behind everything, but they had to catch him before a new war could start.
As long as the debate in the Senate was still going and all eyes were on Naboo,
the Jedi had a chance to talk and plan the hunt.
Anakin walked into his apartment
and found Padmé painting the living room walls. They were going with a light
blue. The apartment still had no sofas or any real furniture; it only had
things from Anakin’s old apartment. But that would all change. It turned out
that Ruwee had a lot of credits saved that no one had known about. While fixing
up a new place would be costly, it would only use a small amount of the credits
in the account. Ruwee had never told anyone, because he had been hoping that
Padmé would choose not marry Bail and he could surprise them. But now the money
was for Padmé and his grandchildren’s schooling. His grandchildren from Padmé
would not need it, for if the father was a Jedi, let alone the Chosen One, the child
or children would be Jedi as well.
Padmé had no idea of Anakin’s
arrival. He set down his cloak, took up a brush, and started to help her and
Artoo. Artoo was proof that droids get lucky. Mace had found him under a pile
of rubble the day after Anakin was found. Anakin and Artoo were very close
partners. Now he was here to help Padmé.
Sola dropped by to help out and
talk. They finished up, and Sola had something to show them.
"Padmé, you are going to
love this." She pulled out something from a bag. It was a lavender dress.
Padmé smiled. "What do you think? Will it work?"
"Of course it will."
Padmé took it and looked at it. "Perfect. How do you do it?" she
asked Sola.
"I’m just gifted." Sola
smiled.
"We know you’re gifted,
Sola." Padmé smiled. Sola had been helping with the wedding plans.
But the wedding might have to
wait. A knock was heard at the door. Anakin went to it and found Obi-Wan.
"Anakin, we need to report
to the High Council. I think we might have found Lord Sidious," Obi-Wan
said.
Anakin looked back at Padmé. He
had known this would come. But he was the only one who could defeat this Sith
Lord. He told Padmé that he was leaving with Obi-Wan for a little while.
Once out in the hall, the two
friends started to speak.
"Who are they thinking it might
be?" Anakin asked.
"Anakin, you and this person
have been friends for quite some time, but I won’t lie. They believe it might
be Chancellor Palpatine." Obi-Wan looked at his friend. "Put aside
your friendship with him. Think about it. He’s managed to stay in office long
beyond his time. By doing that, he has gained support in the Senate."
"The attack on Naboo
happened right before the announcement that the Senate would give more time to
the discussion on the war," Anakin stated. The two turned a corner.
"Attacking an innocent
planet would cause great anger in the Republic--especially a well-known planet.
But the Senate cannot declare war--only the courts and the Chancellor."
"But when this happened,
this would allow the Senate to talk about war. And the Chancellor could be
given emergency powers allowing him to have complete control, even over the
Senate and the courts." They walked down a few flights of stairs.
"He could keep these powers
as long as felt, even when the war ended. He could make up some stupid
excuse." Obi-Wan turned to his friend.
"You think this is a lie for
the Republic?" Anakin asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Let’s say that Palpatine is
Sidious. He has complete control. He can be this evil person and kill millions.
In turn, Palpatine, the nice man, can flip the whole thing. So we’re really
battling ourselves. This war is lie," Anakin said. "We should kill
him."
"He needs to stand
trial," Obi-Wan said.
"He has control of the
courts and the Senate. We can’t leave him alive."
"Then I say we get Qui-Gon
and Mace to help."
"I second that."
*****
The four Jedi walked to the
Chancellor’s office and found him at his desk, working. He looked up and saw
the Jedi.
"Ah…my friends, what brings
you here?" he asked. Anakin came in front of the group. He turned on his
lightsaber.
"In the name of the Jedi
Order and the Galactic Republic, you are under arrest for treason and the
deaths of fifty million people," Anakin said.
Palpatine stood up in anger.
"You can’t do anything," Palpatine said, then jumped over the desk
and attacked Anakin. But the best Jedi were there to help.
Anakin had Palpatine to his knees
now. He wanted to kill him for killing the innocent and almost killing Padmé,
who he loved more than anything.
"Indeed, you are as powerful
as they predicted. But even if you kill me, there will be more." Palpatine
looked up at Anakin, who had his lightsaber at his neck. Before Palpatine could
say more, his head tumbled to the floor.