The Kenobi Saga Book One:The Clone Wars

3. Accommodations

"Master Ani! It is such a pleasure to see you!" C3PO greeted, "And General Kenobi! An honor."

Lore-Val watched as Anakin tried to quiet the droid to no avail.

The protocol droid caught sight of the teenager and rushed to introduce himself. "Hello, I am C3PO, human cyborg relations-"

"3PO, do we have visitors?" Padme asked, coming into view of the door, "Anakin, General Kenobi, how nice to see you," she paused seeing the teenager standing beside them, she smiled at her.

"Padme," Anakin stepped forward, reaching back for Lore-Val to follow him in, "This is Lore-Val, she's-"

"My daughter," Obi-Wan interrupted, "Anakin hoped you might be able to help us with the lodging problem we've encountered."

Ever the professional, Padme swallowed her surprise, "Of course," she said looking at the young girl in front of her with a soft smile. She noticed how she played with the sleeves of her dress, "Lore-Val, would you like to borrow some clothes?"

Lore-Val nodded, "Please," she answered softly. She followed the senator to her closet.

Padme looked the girl over. She remembered hearing rumors that Satine had a child, she always assumed they were gossiping about her nephew Korkie, but apparently it had all been based in truth.

"How old are you?" Padme asked the girl as she began shuffling through the closet.

"Fourteen years standard," the girl answered quietly.

Padme paused. She was fourteen when she became queen. Lore-Val was too young to lose everything.

Padme pulled herself from her thoughts, "You're a little taller than me so I don't know how well anything is going to fit," She turned back to Lore-Val, handing her a simple green dress "Once you get settled we can go shopping and get you clothes. But for now, the refresher is through that door. Leave your clothes there and I'll have them cleaned for you okay?"

Lore-Val nodded, taking the dress, "Thank you senator."

"Just Padme," The older woman said with a smile, leaving Lore-Val to change.

Padme came back to the common area and found the two Jedi arguing. She sat next to Anakin and didn't have to wait long for him to catch her up.

"Obi-Wan is going to leave the order."

Padme sat up straighter, "Obi-Wan is this true?"

The man nodded, "I owe it to Satine. The Jedi failed her and Mandalore, I can't fail Lore-Val too."

Anakin looked at Padme, "He took an oath. He has responsibilities," he paused, turning back to Obi-Wan, the man he considered family, "Its not that I don't understand. I do, it's just..." he trailed off, his unsaid words- I'll miss you Obi-Wan. You're my brother Obi-Wan- settling heavy over the room.

Padme shoved aside the longing she had to take her husband's hand and forced her focus back to the man standing across from them, "Obi-Wan, I think you're doing the right thing."

"Thank you Padme."

"How long have you known?" she asked Obi-Wan.

He let a dry laugh out his nose, "A few hours."

"Wow," she whispered to herself, determination growing in her eyes as she asked, "What can I do to help?"

"Letting her spend the night here is more than enough. Truly Padme, Thank you," he looked past her, and she turned around. Lore-Val was standing a few feet behind the couch, hands clasped behind her back as she rocked on her heels.

"Lore-Val, come have a seat," Padme offered with a smile, giving Anakin a push to slide down, "Would you like something to eat? I can have 3PO get you something."

The girl shook her head, "No thank you," she whispered, sitting on the edge of the sofa.

"It's late," Obi-Wan said, "Anakin and I should go. Thank you again Padme, for your hospitality."

AN: hi! So this was originally part of chapter 2 but Padme deserved her own intro chapter. Next time we get more Obi-Wan & Lore-Val angst/fluff so that'll be fun. Comments appreciated :)
Shout out to Delicattie who puts up with me and looks chapters over before I send them out to the interwebs <3