Post by kenobifan on Feb 13, 2007 22:48:07 GMT -5
Checked on Oct 26 NOTHING IN STORY RATES FOR MATURE AUDIENCE.
Rate: G
If I Lay Here
by Voodoolily
Obi-Wan took a deep breath just before he raised his hand and knocked on the door to the Queen’s chambers. His grief weighed heavily on him, but he had to report to Queen Amidala on the manner of Qui-Gon’s death. He knew questions were already starting to be asked, and it was important that Naboo’s leader knew the facts when she spoke to her people. It was important that she knew the truth.
A handmaiden opened the door for him and he asked to see the Queen.
“I’m sorry, Jedi Kenobi. Her Highness asked not to be disturbed.”
Obi-Wan’s eyes narrowed as he sensed a lie. He glanced from the handmaiden to a partially open doorway, through which he could glimpse a bed. He knew Padmé had to be in that bedroom.
“If she had asked not to be disturbed,” he said evenly, crossing to the bedroom door as he spoke, “then she would have shut her door and locked it--like this.” He slipped inside the room and swiftly demonstrated the act he had just described to the flustered handmaiden.
Turning from the door, the Jedi opened his mouth, ready to confront the Queen, but the words died in his throat when he saw the state she was in.
Padmé was sitting at a vanity, asleep. Her body was slumped forward as her head rested on the table, her right arm curled around her head, her left arm sprawled out to the side, near a pile of used tissues. It was clear she had exhausted herself from crying and had fallen asleep.
Obi-Wan, who thought he had already cried himself out when he had been alone with Qui-Gon’s body in the generator room, felt fresh tears well up in his eyes, which he quickly blinked back. He had a job to do, after all.
He put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and gently shook her awake. “Your Highness,” he said softly. “Your Highness, I must speak to you.”
Padmé stirred, blinking sleepily at first, but then she sat bolt upright when she recognized him.
“Jedi Kenobi! What—How—“ She wanted to ask “How did you get in here?” but bit her tongue. “How can I help you?”
“I think it is I who may be able to help you, Your Highness. I thought it best if you heard directly from me the facts about… how my Master passed away. I’m sure that with the funeral coming up, the public will be asking questions, and... I would not like you to believe a rumor.”
Padmé nodded. “Then please continue.”
“First let me say that Qui-Gon died bravely. The enemy we confronted was a Sith. There are always two, a Master and an apprentice. I don’t know which one the Sith we defeated was. There was a duel, and in the end, I was separated from my Master by a generator wall. He was forced to confront the Sith alone…and he was defeated. I had to vanquish the Sith myself and managed to succeed, but by the time I got to Qui-Gon, it was too late.”
“Thank you for coming to me and telling me this yourself, Jedi Kenobi, but…” Padmé paused, her gaze roaming over the dark circles under his eyes and the drawn lines of his face. “You need rest,” she said with quiet insistence.
One side of his mouth lifted into a smirk. “So do you,” he countered.
“Ah, but I had been sleeping before you woke me,” she reminded him. “Now, please,” she stood up and extended one arm out towards her bed, “lie down before you collapse from exhaustion.”
He glanced at the bed, then back at her. “I wouldn’t want to impose, Your Highness.”
She smiled at the polite way in which he was being stubborn. “I assure you that that will not be the case, Jedi Kenobi. If it will put your mind at ease, however, then allow me to suggest a compromise. We may share the bed for the night.”
She half-expected him to protest again, but instead, he only looked at the bed again.
As he stared at the bed, Obi-Wan seriously considered the Queen’s offer. The bed looked soft and inviting, and his body was beginning to feel the effects of not getting enough rest after the battle he had fought with the Sith.
Without saying a word, he walked over to the bed and settled himself on one side of it. He folded his arms behind his head and let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes as he relaxed.
Padmé silently crept to the other side of the bed and lay down next to the Jedi. She stared up at the ceiling, letting her mind go blank, feeling safe in the presence of the young man beside her. As her eyelids grew heavy with sleep, she yawned and then closed her eyes. Soon, both she and Obi-Wan were fast asleep in a dreamless slumber.
Rate: G
If I Lay Here
by Voodoolily
Obi-Wan took a deep breath just before he raised his hand and knocked on the door to the Queen’s chambers. His grief weighed heavily on him, but he had to report to Queen Amidala on the manner of Qui-Gon’s death. He knew questions were already starting to be asked, and it was important that Naboo’s leader knew the facts when she spoke to her people. It was important that she knew the truth.
A handmaiden opened the door for him and he asked to see the Queen.
“I’m sorry, Jedi Kenobi. Her Highness asked not to be disturbed.”
Obi-Wan’s eyes narrowed as he sensed a lie. He glanced from the handmaiden to a partially open doorway, through which he could glimpse a bed. He knew Padmé had to be in that bedroom.
“If she had asked not to be disturbed,” he said evenly, crossing to the bedroom door as he spoke, “then she would have shut her door and locked it--like this.” He slipped inside the room and swiftly demonstrated the act he had just described to the flustered handmaiden.
Turning from the door, the Jedi opened his mouth, ready to confront the Queen, but the words died in his throat when he saw the state she was in.
Padmé was sitting at a vanity, asleep. Her body was slumped forward as her head rested on the table, her right arm curled around her head, her left arm sprawled out to the side, near a pile of used tissues. It was clear she had exhausted herself from crying and had fallen asleep.
Obi-Wan, who thought he had already cried himself out when he had been alone with Qui-Gon’s body in the generator room, felt fresh tears well up in his eyes, which he quickly blinked back. He had a job to do, after all.
He put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and gently shook her awake. “Your Highness,” he said softly. “Your Highness, I must speak to you.”
Padmé stirred, blinking sleepily at first, but then she sat bolt upright when she recognized him.
“Jedi Kenobi! What—How—“ She wanted to ask “How did you get in here?” but bit her tongue. “How can I help you?”
“I think it is I who may be able to help you, Your Highness. I thought it best if you heard directly from me the facts about… how my Master passed away. I’m sure that with the funeral coming up, the public will be asking questions, and... I would not like you to believe a rumor.”
Padmé nodded. “Then please continue.”
“First let me say that Qui-Gon died bravely. The enemy we confronted was a Sith. There are always two, a Master and an apprentice. I don’t know which one the Sith we defeated was. There was a duel, and in the end, I was separated from my Master by a generator wall. He was forced to confront the Sith alone…and he was defeated. I had to vanquish the Sith myself and managed to succeed, but by the time I got to Qui-Gon, it was too late.”
“Thank you for coming to me and telling me this yourself, Jedi Kenobi, but…” Padmé paused, her gaze roaming over the dark circles under his eyes and the drawn lines of his face. “You need rest,” she said with quiet insistence.
One side of his mouth lifted into a smirk. “So do you,” he countered.
“Ah, but I had been sleeping before you woke me,” she reminded him. “Now, please,” she stood up and extended one arm out towards her bed, “lie down before you collapse from exhaustion.”
He glanced at the bed, then back at her. “I wouldn’t want to impose, Your Highness.”
She smiled at the polite way in which he was being stubborn. “I assure you that that will not be the case, Jedi Kenobi. If it will put your mind at ease, however, then allow me to suggest a compromise. We may share the bed for the night.”
She half-expected him to protest again, but instead, he only looked at the bed again.
As he stared at the bed, Obi-Wan seriously considered the Queen’s offer. The bed looked soft and inviting, and his body was beginning to feel the effects of not getting enough rest after the battle he had fought with the Sith.
Without saying a word, he walked over to the bed and settled himself on one side of it. He folded his arms behind his head and let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes as he relaxed.
Padmé silently crept to the other side of the bed and lay down next to the Jedi. She stared up at the ceiling, letting her mind go blank, feeling safe in the presence of the young man beside her. As her eyelids grew heavy with sleep, she yawned and then closed her eyes. Soon, both she and Obi-Wan were fast asleep in a dreamless slumber.