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❝𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. ❞

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»»-----------►Ｃｌａｒｉｓｓé

❝𝐈 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐓𝐎 go with them, Padmé, ❞ I requested to my sister, who was understandably hesitant in letting me leave to go out to the hidden dangers of Tatooine after we landed, "I want to visit the planet. I'll never be back out here again, I might as well take this opportunity now that I have it. I'm curious, Paddy, but can you really blame me? We've never been on another planet besides Naboo. I want to explore."

Padmé sighed as she thought about what I said, analyzing every bit of my words.

"How will you explain yourself dressed like that? Or what about your name?" She questioned, scared for my life and identity with the Hutts running around.

"I'll say that my name is Clarissé Naberrie," I suggested, as I had already told Jar Jar my civilian name, "and I'll change into more common clothes if you'd like. That way no one would recognize me for a handmaiden to the Queen of Naboo."

"Please, Padmé," I begged, looking at my sister with big doe eyes after she didn't give a response, "I just want to see more of the galaxy. Is that too much to ask for?"

Padmé took her lip in between her teeth as she thought long and hard about it, looking at me with prolonged concern.

"We have to ask for permission from Captain Panaka," she compromised, heading over towards the door, I assumed to find Panaka, "and you have to talk to Indirá about it. I'm also going with you."

I smiled widely at her compromise.

"I can certainly agree with that!"

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»»-----------►Ｃｌａｒｉｓｓé

❝ 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, forgive me, ❞ Captain Panaka started, staring at me with a concerned and worried expression on his face, "but I feel as if this is too dangerous for you to be rooming around Tatooine. If anything happens to you..." he trailed off, a grim look upon his face.

"Captain," Padmé interjected, looking at me with a bright smile on her face, "with all due respect I must say Clarissé can handle herself just fine. I completely agree with your statement of the dangers of Tatooine, especially for a young girl like her, but I think it's time we give Queen Clarissé Amidala of Naboo a little taste of freedom. Let her be nine years old for once in her young life."

I smiled at Padmé, pearly teeth and all. She knew how stressed I got when it came to royal affairs. She did know me better than anyone else, after all. I was eternally grateful for the fact that she stood up for me. I truly did have the best big sister in the galaxy.

Panaka sighed and rubbed his face with irritation evident in the motion.

"Fine," he grumbled, obviously angry at Padmé's persuasion, "but I'm only doing this for you, your Majesty. You may go if you wish. And Padmé," Panaka called out to my older sister, "make sure she's safe."

Padmé gave a nod of certainty.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to her. She is my little sister, after all." Padmé smiled at me with maternal affection in her dark brown eyes. I grinned cheekily at her in return.

I ran up to Panaka and gave him the greatest hug I could muster, smiling widely at the man.

"Thank you so much, Panny! I promise to be extra careful and not talk to strangers!"

The captain chuckled heartily at that, his head falling back while he ruffed my brunette hair.

"I know you won't, little one," he mumbled, my arms still tightly around his waist as he hugged my tiny shoulders with his large hands.

"Are you absolutely positive, your Highness?" Indirá imputed at the back of the room, her hands clasped neatly behind her back.

"Quite positive, Indirá," I affirmed, nodding with composure as I let go of Panaka and turned towards my decoy.

"As you wish, your Majesty." Indirá nodded once more at me, "I'll set up some new clothes for you at once."

I smiled immensely at her words.

I was actually going outside. I could just be Clarissé Naberrie. Not Queen Clarissé Amidala of Naboo. I could be a normal nine year old girl for just a fraction of a second. I could explore and enjoy the wonders of the galaxy without anyone hovering over me. Padmé wanted me to enjoy this, so I knew she wouldn't be too overbearing.

I practically skipped and ran all the way over to my room, awaiting my clothes so I could finally get outside.

I was going to be free, for once in my life.

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❝𝐃𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐍 murder ta mesa skin, ❞ Jar Jar
complained as him, Qui-Gon and Artoo began to head to Mos Espa, a city on the outskirts of Tatooine that offered transport parts and fuel. The transport had just landed, and the group was eager to recover their fuel and power generator so they could get the Queen of Naboo to Coruscant as soon as possible.

The three began to walk to their destination, when all of a sudden a running Captain Panaka entered Qui-Gon's line of sight.

"Wait!" The captain shouted as Qui-Gon stopped to pursue the out of breath man.

Behind the run down captain, were two girls. One looked roughly in her early teens and the other looked as if she was about eight or nine.

Although Qui-Gon didn't recognize the older girl, he certainly noticed the younger one.

It was the girl that everyone seemed to be protective over, as she was always looked over by the captain or even the Queen herself. Qui-Gon couldn't understand it; she was just a handmaiden, after all. What was the big deal?

The other thing Qui-Gon noticed was her eyes. Her eyes reminded him of his own blazing, bright green lightsaber. He saw the shining, blinding green whenever he looked into her eyes, but most importantly, he saw the pure, raw kindness in her bright irises. He saw a girl who had more kindness in her brave little heart then she knew what to do with.

The old Jedi Master was intrigued with the young girl, and wanted to know more about her, sensing that she was more than just a handmaiden. She was increasingly special.

"Wait," the captain huffed as he gestured towards the two girls next to him.

The older girl was dressed in black trousers and a navy blue tunic with puffy, long sleeves. The younger one was dressed in a floral patterned dress with a long sleeved, cream colored shirt underneath it. She wore white stockings under the knee-length dress and had dark brown, sturdy boots on. A spring green cardigan with big white buttons was also placed upon the young girl. Her long, milk chocolate hair was placed into two Dutch braids, white ribbon tied into little bows held the identical braids together, her messy, fluffy bangs hanging perfectly on her forehead without covering her beautiful, vibrant eyes.

"Her Highness commands you to take her two best, finest handmaidens with you," Captain Panaka ordered on behalf of the Queen of Naboo, looking at Qui-Gon for some sort of confirmation.

"No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain," Qui-Gon rejected, waving the captain away with his hand. The Jedi had much to do, and he didn't need two handmaidens sticking around causing him to lose focus while trying to chase them around Tatooine, "This spaceport is not going to be pleasant."

"The Queen wishes it," Panaka informed, looking towards the little girl in Dutch braids, "She is curious about this planet." The dark skinned captain gave a knowing look to the little brunette on his right.

"This is not a good idea," Qui-Gon mumbled, looking down at the two supposed handmaidens, the younger one staring up at the older man, her beautiful eyes flickering over his face with curiosity scattered in the vibrant, florescent irises. The older Jedi tilted his head at the young girl's actions, making him even more curious about her, "Stay close to me."

The Jedi Master gave a stern glance at the two girls and quickly took off in the direction of the bustling, infamous spaceport.

"Clarissé," Captain Panaka stalled, the said brunette stopping in her tracks to turn back around to find the captain beckoning her over. The girl obliged.

"Clarissé, you need to be extremely careful, understand?" The captain enforced, kneeling down in front of the girl while taking her small shoulders in his large hands, "You are very valuable to the Queen."

The young girl smiled knowingly, sensing that he meant she was too valuable to the planet of Naboo.

The young girl nodded with a promise hidden behind her glowing eyes.

"I will and know, Captain."

The captain softly smiled and pulled the young girl into a big, bear hug, rubbing the young girl's back in a soothing way.

"Be safe, little one," the captain whispered to the young brunette in his arms, smiling worriedly at her petite figure.

"When am I not," the cheeky little girl mumbled as the captain slowly and quietly chuckled at that.

"Whatever you say, little one."

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»»-----------►Ｆｏｒｃｅ

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 walked towards the town of Mos Espa that equally pulled Clarissé Amidala and Qui-Gon Jinn to it, almost like moths to a flame.

While Jar Jar talked poor Padmé's ear off towards the tail end of the group, the young Queen of Naboo and the Jedi Master led the small group by walking side by side.

It was silent for a moment, the only noise being the distant chattering of Jar Jar, who was telling some elaborate story to Padmé.

The young queen looked up at the man with long hair next to her, curious about him, and really just any Jedi in general.

"What's your name?" She boldly asked, holding up a delicate, small hand to block her dainty little face from the two blazing suns in the hot atmosphere of Tatooine.

The older Jedi was surprised by the question, looking to his right to find the little girl staring up at him with those gorgeous eyes of hers.

The question just made Qui-Gon Jinn much more curious about the young girl.

"Why do you need to know?" He side eyed the petite girl with his wisdom filled, grey eyes.

"Because I haven't learnt it yet," Clarissé countered, looking at the man with an innocent smile plastered onto her pretty little face, "it's impolite to not ask for one's name when going on an adventure with them."

The middle aged Jedi softly smiled at her interpretation of learning of someone's name.

The girl, as he expected, seemed very kind, her soft and gentle demeanor shining through her sweet and innocent words.

"You certainly have a way of thinking," the older Jedi mumbled under his breath, the little girl's sharp ears perking up at his words, "I'm Qui-Gon Jinn. And you are..." the man trailed off, waiting for a reply.

The young queen stopped and spun towards the man to her left, sticking her hand out eagerly as the long haired man turned towards the young brunette with confusion present in his eyes.

"I'm Clarissé Naberrie," she excitedly introduced, waiting for the hesitant man to timidly take her small hand and shake it politely, as if the young girl were a delicate doll made of glass, "It's very nice to meet you, Qui-Gon Jinn."

"It's very nice to meet you too, Clarissé Naberrie," the older Jedi stated as he lightly grinned at the little girl shaking his hand. She was very friendly, and seemed to have a knack with words. The Jedi seemed to like her the more she talked.

The two continued walking side by side, silence overshadowing the young girl and Jedi once more as they walked closer and closer to Mos Espa.

"If I may ask, Clarissé," Qui-Gon asked as he looked towards the small brunette girl, "but aren't you a bit too young to be a handmaiden?"

The young girl immediately stiffened at the question, the small action not going unnoticed by the older Jedi, his eyes scanning her with questions of all sort in them.

"My age doesn't matter to the queen," the young queen replied, casting her brilliant green eyes down at the endless desert floor, "She says I do a good enough job and that's all that matters."

"You must be her best one if she's sending you off to explore for her," the older Jedi observed quickly, starting to look ahead at the long stretch of desert left to go.

The young brunette shrugged, staring off into space.

"I suppose, although she never sends me without my sister, Padmé, for my protection."

"Your sister is back there, I take it?" The older Jedi questioned, looking back at Padmé to find her indulged in cheery conversation with the excitable Gungan next to her.

"Yes," Clarissé replied, looking back at her older brunette sister, smiling slightly as she did. She loved her sister more than anything else in her life.

"You must be very important to the Queen then, for Captain Panaka seems to look after you as well," the long haired man asserted, looking towards the little girl next to him once more.

"I've known him since I was about maybe four," the young girl opened up, looking at Qui-Gon with wide eyes, "That's when I was first brought to the palace."

"Where are your parents?"

"Back on Naboo," the little girl answered truthfully, thinking back to her mother and father, her older sister, Sola, "they gave me away for the greater good, but I don't mind, I still get to see them occasionally, when I'm not overly busy."

The older Jedi grew quite sad at the brunette's statement, as he felt bad for the young supposed handmaiden.

"I think about them an awful lot," the brunette confessed as she kept her otherworldly eyes to the horizon beyond her, "but I suppose that's why Padmé brings me great comfort. She's the only part of my family that I have left with me."

Qui-Gon studied the young girl's side profile, his eyes tracing her facial expression, which was a saddened frown at the mention of her missing family.

"You are a peculiar girl, indeed," Qui-Gon concluded as the young girl's head perked up at his words, familiarity shining in the bright green, "you are very articulated with words, and you seem very wise for your young age. I'm quite positive your family is very proud of you and the young woman you are becoming."

The little brunette smiled softly at the older man's revelation, grateful for his encouraging words.

"I sure hope so," she whispered, her tiny voice floating away in the soft, warm wind of Tatooine as the two, Jedi and queen, made their way to the city of Mos Espa.

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»»-----------►Ｆｏｒｃｅ

❝. . . 𝐌𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 for the most part, ❞ Qui-Gon continued as the little group made their way onto the bustling Main Street of Mos Espa, "Some indigenous tribes and scavengers. The few spaceports like this one are havens for those who do not wish to be found."

"Like us," Padmé and Clarissé Naberrie stated at the exact same time, the two girl's looking towards each other and silently giggling.

Qui-Gon Jinn smirked lightly and rolled his grey eyes at the two young females.

The three continued walking through the busy street, the Gungan of the group lagging behind and stepping in some puddle of oil.

"Dissen berry berry bad. Ooooh... icky... icky... goo."

The small droid next to him gave an energetic beep at the Gungan's complaining, finally free from his lonely little charging station.

Artoo kept close to the little girl in braids, occasionally bumping into her soft white stockings. The said brunette didn't mind it, as she quite liked the little astro R2 unit she cleaned up.

The bright green, curious eyes of Clarissé Amidala Naberrie scanned the exotic and new environment with great wonder. Everything was so new and exciting to the young Clarissé. She wanted to talk to everyone around her, and ask them all sorts of questions about living on a planet like Tatooine.

Freedom.

That's what the young queen felt, and she never wanted it to go away.

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»»-----------►Ｃｌａｒｉｓｓé

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐊𝐀 told me I could explore Tatooine, I had never felt so free in my life.

That was until I actually got to Mos Espa, the town the Jedi, who's name I learned to be Qui-Gon Jinn, wanted to refuel and rejuvenate at.

We walked towards a group of repair shops in the center of town, my curious eyes darting all around the place and all its inhabitants. Everything was so interesting. I couldn't help myself to not get curious.

Qui-Gon had been watching me the entire time, his eyes carefully watching my body movements and facial expressions, as if I were a difficult puzzle he had to figure out.

Padmé also watched me, her soft brown eyes filled with love and affection and a beautiful smile on her youthful face as I eagerly waved towards a group of children my age playing in what looked to be a basket full of speeder parts.

"We'll try one of the smaller dealers," Qui-Gon stated as he led the way towards a smaller, more broken down repair shop.

The sign above it read 'Watto's Repairs'  in Toydarian, another language I learnt while training.

The small shop seemed to pull me into it, almost like I was being sucked into a giant wave. It unnerved me a little, and I could tell Qui-Gon felt the strange pull as well.

The only question was: what was waiting for us on the other side of those doors?

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»»-----------►Ｆｏｒｃｅ

𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐑 was cruel, and extremely vain, especially as he sat on the dingy counter of his shop, counting all the credits he had received that day.

But nothing was ever good enough for the Toydarian. No, he needed more money, and he needed that stupid slave boy and his mother to work harder, and faster.

As Watto thought about ways to punish the mentioned young boy and his mother, certain guests came in, the bell above the door ringing obnoxiously, catching Watto's attention.

The Toydarian grinned maliciously at the prospect of new customers.

"Guta naloya," the pudgy, blue alien greeted, flying over to the group with his little hummingbird wings. The little brunette girl in between the older man and the teenage girl quickly leaned over to the both of them and translated the Toydarian language for them.

"He said, 'Good day to you,'" the tiny brunette whispered, the older man leaning back in the process and nodding in confirmation.

The Toydarian flew towards the group and over the counter he was previously sitting on, stopping right in front of the long haired man.

"Ha chuba da nala?" He questioned nastily, the young Clarissé Amidala becoming fascinated with his quickly paced wings, her pupils widening at the sight of the speed.

"He wants to know what we want," the Queen of Naboo translated as she tore her gaze away from the wings of Watto and to Qui-Gon, who still looked intently towards the fat alien.

"I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian," Qui-Gon requested as he looked around the shop, as were Padmé and Clarissé.

"Ah yes, ah yes," the flying blue alien replied, clapping his hands in acceptance while also revealing he knew Galactic Basic, "Nubian. We have lots of that."

The blue creature quickly whipped around to yell at someone in the backyard of the shady junk shop.

"Peedenk! Naba dee unko!"

The young Clarissé was confused at the Toydarian's words, furrowing her eyebrows in curiosity and tilting her head slightly, causing her long, milk chocolate braids to fall off her shoulder and down her back. He was yelling for a boy, and not very politely, she noted. She wasn't a big fan of this alien, so far.

"My droid here has a readout of what I need," Qui-Gon imputed as he glanced towards Artoo, who still kept close to Clarissé in