ʙᴏᴏᴋ 1: ᴡʜɪꜱᴘᴇʀꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴇꜱᴛɪɴʏ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 46: ʀᴇᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪɴɢ

'At times it may seem our path leads us astray, but in actuality, it's guiding us to where we need to be.'

Moira's vacation on Naboo is met with a twist that begins the next phase of her journey.

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The rest of the evening went smoothly without any other weird sensations. Dinner was stunning. The table itself had enough seats to fit at least 50 people. The table was made of quartz white, lined with placemats and glass dishes with gold silverware to top it off. In front of every five seats, there was a bouquet of flowers growing in a pot showing the beauty of Naboo's nature.

"Woah, this is amazing Padme! Do you really eat here every night?" I said breathlessly as I took in the beauty of the room. Padme shrugged. "Not usually, but I thought we should tonight since it's a special occasion. I took a seat at the end of the table as Padme sat at the opposite end.

"Now," She said with a smile. "Let's eat!"

The dinner that evening was delicious and set a good tone for the rest of the week. Padme took me to popular sightseeing spots on Naboo throughout the rest of the week. She didn't mention the war at all, and for a couple of days, I forget there was even one going on. We did a shopping in the market district. Normally I'm not a big shopper, but Padme managed to make the experience an enjoyable one. Overall, the week was relaxing. Padme allowed me time to vent to her in the evenings about whatever was on my mind. It was nice. After I was done, she would do the same, but keep it to topics about the pointless drama going on in the Senate, but made a joke out of it, which drove me into several laughing fits. Near the end of the week though, she broke the routine we had slowly started to develop at night of meeting in her room, she instead invited me to meet her in the center of the palace at midnight. I gave her an odd look but chose not to question it for the time being. As midnight rolled around, we met at the palace center.

" I have a little surprise for you tonight." She said as soon as she saw me enter the room. I tilted my head at her words.

"What do you mean?" Padme smiled slyly before her face relaxed to a more solum expression. As took my hand, and gently led me down the vast halls of the Palace.

"I know rebuilding connection is never easy." She began, glancing at me briefly, noting my eyes as they cast to the ground.

"In this galaxy, life has a way of screwing things up at the worst possible time for us. In the short term, it can seem like a never-ending dark tunnel, with no light at the end of it." She said as I began to note the darkening shade of the hallways as she led me to an outside balcony.

"But when you reach the end of it," She slowly moved to cover my eyes as we strolled to the edge.

"You'll find it was always there, just waiting for your arrival," She said lightly, before uncovering my eyes to relieve a beautiful view of the Naboo courtyards. Right before the balcony was a long pool. The water as clear as the ocean on a bright sunny day. And floating within that pool of water were little lanterns, illuminating the pond like the stars did the galaxy.

I looked over at Padme, who was always admiring the beauty of the lake.

"Is why you wanted to bring me out here? For a metaphor/lesson?" I said amused, smiling at her gently. Padme laughed.

"Sort of. Your real surprise is down in the garden itself. But I want you to go down and find it for yourself." I gave her an odd look.

"Head down those stairs to the center of the garden, and everything will make a bit more sense." She said, motioning to the other side of the balcony.