Lady Amalia: The Almost Queen [Star Wars | Obi Wan Kenobi]

Chapter 10

If someone were to describe her future life to Neva over a year and a half ago, she never would have believed them. Where she was once living in one of the most renowned and illustrious apartment complexes on the Galaxy's Capitol, she was now living in a little house between Bestine and Anchorhead. Where she had once been an aide, unofficial chamberlain and stylist to a Galactic Senator, she now took in seamstressing jobs for a couple of the clothing shops in Bestine to make a little extra money. Where she had once been pining for a Jedi she could never be with, she was now married to that Jedi and building a comfortable, simple life with him.

She had never been happier.

True, she did miss Naboo, and the thought of what was happening in the rest of the Galaxy, and even elsewhere on Tatooine, was enough to make her sick at heart. Everyday she missed her childhood home in Fara and the family she had left there. She missed Padmé, unsure of her fate and whether or not she still lived, but she didn't dare to try and find out.

Though a little part of her had wished that she could have kept Padmé's son as her own, she had come to accept that his place with the Lars was a good one. She knew that Owen, Anakin's step-brother, had not been keen on the idea of taking the baby in at first. Nor had he been particularly keen on any association with Obi-wan. But Neva was sure that, despite his gruff exterior, he genuinely cared for Luke, and didn't regret taking in the baby for a moment.

Beru, of course, had loved the little boy from the instant she laid eyes on him. Even from her perch on the eopie they had taken out to the isolated farm, Neva could see it in the woman's face when Obi-wan had laid Luke in her arms for the first time. There was nothing that woman wouldn't do for her nephew. Neva had come to learn that intimately.

Shortly after they had delivered Luke to his new family, Neva had taken it upon herself to visit the Lars Moisture Farm on her own. Obi-wan had been off on some errand or another, and Neva couldn't stand not knowing how the little boy and his relatives were doing. Beru Lars had been hesitant at first, something that Neva couldn't help but approve of, given the situation, but the two women had quickly become friends. Neva's motivation for visiting in that first instance, and for several others after that, had been to check up on Luke. She had grown to love the sweet little boy in the short time that she had looked after him. She had been worried, especially after hearing about Owen's reluctance to take the boy, how Luke was adjusting to his new home. Neva quickly learned that she had nothing to fear there, but that realization didn't put a stop to her visits. In fact, they had become quite a regular occurrence.

Beru had been born and raised on Tatooine. She was a strong and resilient woman with a loving, gentle soul, and Neva came to admire her greatly. She soon discovered that, despite periodically asking the Naboo native to help watch Luke, Beru really didn't need the help; it was all for Neva's benefit. It was something that came to mean a lot to the former Princess. Beru was deftly able to juggle the care of her young nephew and her responsibilities on the farm. She had seen right from the start that Neva had needed the connection to Luke to help in her own adjustment process. He was a link, a bridge even, for her between her former life and her new one. Neva eventually came to realize that her connection to the little boy, and eventually her friendship with Beru had helped ground her, providing a purpose and a continuity that she could lean on as she adjusted to her new life.

Also, being from a far more temperate planet, Neva had not adjusted quickly to the harsh realities and harsher climate of her new home. Beru had been an immense help there. She had become an indispensable mentor to the former Princess, patiently teaching her vital lessons on how to survive in her new home. Plus, once she had learned about Neva's seamstressing background, Beru had been the one to put Neva in contact with the few garment shops she eventually gained a partial employment with. Had it not been for the Tatooine native's advice and instruction, Neva wasn't quite sure how she would have survived the transition. Needless to say, Neva owed the young farmwife quite a lot.