A/N: From the bottom of my heart I am unbelievably moved by the messages I have received. I had no idea this would take off as it did, but I'm forever grateful to each and every one of you. I truly love this universe. The encouragement to update has really helped. Keep kicking my butt into gear: I need it sometimes 😉

Just wow. I poured my heart into this. GIF created by me. Enjoy🤍

[see end notes]

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THE PAITNNU WETLANDS—MOENIA,NABOO

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IT WAS THE IDEAL "ARTIST RETREAT." A city of dreams for an educator's profession afforded opportunities within the homeworld's most respected universities. It influenced sonnets from the most prolific writers and musicians whose haunting symphonies were often strummed from instrumentals; their muses founded in the ethereal ambiance that cloaked the urban metropolis. Along the bogged crags of the Paitnnu Wetlands, the perpetual haze left a dreamlike quality that influenced the Galactic Moon Festival haunts each standard year.

Like the capital of Theed, the city was known for its unique architectural beauty. A blended fusion of earthen tones crafted of sun-kissed stone with lush verdant surroundings mimicked the gentle undulations of the landscape. The graceful archways and glass-domed edifices captured a craftsmanship's harmonious balance between Nabooians and the planet's natural environment.

  Milliflower bloomed along the cobblestone streets they traversed. It eased their pace with the tranquil scent as they stepped into the heart of the city.

  "I don't think I'll ever get used to the mystique of this place. You'd know the drawing of evening from the grasslands, but here... nadè."

A cloying humidity had settled like an invisible spectral. The sweet nectar off the sapflowers nestled in the bordering marshes, carried a rich medley of scents. There was delicate brininess laced in the air with an aquatic nuance.

  "You act as if it's a surprise, Kye." She smirked, her chin tucking in with an accompanied wince. Gossamer awnings of the market district protected her skin from the elements, but the gelatinous wound still prickled from suffused heat.

   It was nearly overwhelming, the sudden assault of sights, scents, with the resonances of merchants shouting their wares. Lush flora and a whiff of perfumes, combined with an earthly loam saturated into the fresh produce cultivated by ranchers of the surrounding terrains. Those of affluence were dressed in fine karlini silks bearing an exotic array of spices.

"Ah, gàd, Graya. Ever stubborn as a tusk-cat."

  She eyed him pointedly. "I'm going to give you a parsec to retract that curse. Before I use mother's milliflower powder to send you into a coma."

  Kylar threw back his head and laughed, remnants of the deluge they'd surged through dripping off amber locks matted to a broad forehead. However, beneath the veneer of mirth, those tranquil eyes reflected the dark foliage around them and narrowed, emphatic.  "I stand corrected," he added with another scrutinizing peek at her shoulder. A taut arm forged from farmwork lifted the burlap sack of herbs off her.

  Graya rolled her eyes exasperated and brushed back a few strands leeched to her dampened cheeks. Naturally he'd shot past her in the last couple of years. Since, he never missed the opportunity to show off his honed physique. Even donning sleeveless leather tunics to showcase his fruits of labor had girls in a swoon.

"While your chivalry is appreciated, I was handling the weight just fine."

  "Yeah, says the girl with a gaping wound in her shoulder causing the muscle to spasm."

  "It's why mother sent us here wise one. Oh and this," she emphasized by flicking his tunic, "wasn't to impress the posse of women loitering by the university hall?" She raised a questionable brow imploringly whilst elbowing his side, as a dark-haired woman in a rough-hewn afghan locked eyes with her. They crossed under her awning while she lifted a necklace from her stall. Strings of veda pearls dangled from her orichalc ringed fingers, exquisite jewelry akin to the royals of Naboo.

  Graya bidded her with a wistful shake of her head.

"Shiraya's word, Gray," Kylar rolled his eyes in annoyance, redirecting her attention with a placative declining gesture to the woman. "No. Though I do wish I'd been with you on that damned hunt!"

  "Huh." Her eyes followed up to the woven tapestries billowing proudly in the salty breeze displaying the emblem-like flower of Naboo. "Well, your education is important to you, and you couldn't have predicted a broken gate system."

  "Coming from the one schooled in her own homestead." He ushered a courteous nod as a sign of respect towards the flag. It symbolized Theed's Royal House of Naboo's, Queen Jamillia. "This university would have more to offer you than gallivanting after Shaaks all day."

  She shrugged off the jibe, albeit lightly. "Home education has its perks. How else do you think I learned how to fix a broken security system or craft a homemade weapon?" She gestured to the obsidian claw securely tied with a smirk as they skirted around a contingency of Weavers. The textiles showcased shimmered as if woven from starlight.

  They had to haphazardly dodge a trio of children that suddenly flooded into the stalls, their laughter permeating the atmosphere. Clenched between their small hands was the reddish-orange flesh of Muja fruit.

"Well, that's not going to go over well," Kylar smirked pointedly towards their rotund matron shaking her shawled head while bearing a large wicker basket. Following behind and soiled in muja juice was the father. His embroidered cap had slipped down the crown of his head, pretending to feign awareness of his wife's daggered glare.

  Kylar and Graya both shared a look and burst into laughter, swiftly rounding a bend which opened up into an ornate courtyard.

  Erected monoliths carved from stone, stole her breath and spoke of the ancestral passages of time. Featured was the winged beauty Shiraya, brandishing a half-crescent moon in subservient offering to the skies. Powdered rominaria flowers grazed the whimsical scape with an opulent fountain centered at the heart. Verdant poms floated on the translucent surface as several nunas flipped in the air.

  Seated on the studded benches were discernable scholars writing furiously in their leather-skinned books. Aft was an artist grafting a picturesque scene using brushstrokes. A sizeable Faamba abraded the cambylictus trees for berries with their young, their roughened yellow hides discernable among the vegetation.

  For a moment Graya listened to the gentle croons of the baby preening under it's mother. She'd never get used to the display of amphibious creatures considered majestic. At least, as long as she breathed. Unfortunately Kade hadn't been the only reptivian she'd found in the Great Grass Plains the day of the siege.

  "Graya," came a gentle tug on her arm as if he'd known what she'd been thinking. His eyes darted to the unfolding scene and back. "The apothecary remember? We've got to head back before dusk."

  "Right," Graya shook her head from her reverie with a small smile, "right, of course."

  Passing a few musicians strumming their seven-piece halliksets softened the hustling cadence of the main square. Once they drew further away, a plethora of dried leaves and fragrant oils percolated the air.

  Under a shadowed, secluded arch was a wood stand. Hanging dried herbs swayed in the breeze from nailed russet beams. Perched on a rickety stool sat a senior woman. Thick tresses of grey were pulled back into a leather tie. The earthly, organic linens adorned correlated to the herbalist's vocation.

  Her eyes swiveled upon their arrival as if she'd sensed them. "I knew I'd be seeing you two young ones, again." A slow smile wormed across the seasoned practitioners delicate features.

  "Hello, Mìera," Kylie placed the bag promptly on the ledge rather gruffly.

"Hello my dear," she greeted gently, "quite the handsome young man you're growing into."

  Kylar once confessed the old woman ruffled him more than a Shaak's kick to the groin. She'd laughed at the time. Now she saw the palpable unease emanating off of him—embarrassment.

However the elders attention span was short lived once her discernable eye fell upon lavender-hued leaves protruding from the knapsack. It's properties were noted for its calming draught. Liver-spotted hands shone from year's of tilling, gathered the dried out plants. "These herbs are of exceptional quality. A keen sense you have young one; your mother truly is a master of her craft. A shame she doesn't apprentice our own, here."

  Graya nodded catching Kylar's eye that shone of pride with a hint of pain. The same matron who'd kindly taken him in at 10 standard years. The Vossars had neighbored across her family's field, often lending their son to help assist her father. Used as extra hands in the fields they'd grow exceptionally close over the years. As the families bonded, they'd taken trips up to the village of Keren to fish for prized goons; a Nabooian fish delicacy. However, on the day of the Trade Federations invasion tragedy would strike the Vossar's household. His parents, along with a majority of Moenia's population, were forcibly relocated to Detention Camp Six.

  With the camp located south of Lake Vis, tomes would later be erected near the rural area of Harte Secur in memoriam. It had left a permanent scar on their hearts along with thousands more in the devastation.

  Since, there remained a respect throughout the metropolis of Moenia. To the higher echelons of Nabooians whenever Amanthè-her mother-was mentioned. After the siege, she'd voluntarily taken in many of the wounded, concocting homemade medicinal tonics that had aided many lives. It was rumored—and allegedly Amanthè respectfully declined—that Queen Amidala herself had offered ostentatious accommodations to bring her practices to the Royal House of Theed.

  "Though dedicated to the art of healing, Mìera," Graya mused, "she's content where she remains. Humble as ever. "

  The herbalist's eyes sparked, her voice softening to a conspiratorial whisper. "May that be my darling, she'd be intrigued to know I was given the fine privilege to obtain a rare extraction from... a japor tree. I believe its properties will serve its purpose for that nasty bite you're sporting."

Graya's lips fell ajar, Wait... how did she know?

Kylar himself did a double take, shooting her a look that read, See I told you crazy—before the woman straightened up. Like she hadn't just confessed to having one of the most endangered trees, galaxy-wide as part of an elixir.

"It's got restorative properties for worn bodies." Mìera rambled on, revealing the depths of her solitude. "Can you imagine? A boosting property for thickening a Shaaks coat too! Now, I don't recommend experimenting on a humanoid lest you prefer baldness. But perfect for Gungans. Ah well, both their species of the Otollas and Ankuras have disappeared. By the stars, even the Sacred Place! Oh!—You brought the crushed millaflower, perfect! I still can't seem to replicate quite the consistency desired. Ah, jìana..."

  While Mìera rambled on Kylar had leaned over murmuring in a low voice, "I am not about a drive into the wilds of Naboo." He pierced her with a look as a muscle feathered in his jaw, "Especially in the dark. So please, shut her up."

  Graya would've retorted with a sharp tongue hadn't she already been anxious. With the thick fog capsizing the city, it was hard to discern the lunar phase.

Mìera had already emptied the contents of the bag. With a knowing smile she presented a glass vial from a small, ornate chest and the last herbs her mother needed to fix her wound. The sheer luminescence inside the strange vial was akin to the prominent silver lining of the lesser moon, Ohmaa D'un.

  "A token, from of our long-standing partnership between your mother and I, fair child." Despite the mannerisms of the enigmatic woman, a profound and enduring connection had been fused over time. A bond from the shared cultural ties of a Nabooian known for their reverence and inherent hospitality.

  Though Graya had not a single drop of Nabooian blood, she embraced her ties as one born from the homeworld.

  Too soon they were bidding farewells before venturing out of the bustling markets. Focused on the arduous trip home, and leaving behind the mysterious city teeming with life.

  With the hazy horizon against the backdrop of a camouflaged cityscape, Moenia's Starport sat on the fringes. Few transports were left to propel through the vaporous skies leaving a trail of fiery plasma. A few pilots sat tinkering with a sputtering ion engine in the port. They waved in passing as the two settled into the cockpit of the family's new, V-35 Courier.

  With the flick of his wrist, Kylar switched on the turbines and tested the ion thrusters. Grasping the control yoke, he skillfully piloted the angular ship as the tapered nose lifted and swiftly glided out of port. The whirring propulsions echoed and seamlessly lurched them forward.

  Guided by the docking lights Graya grasped unto the edge as they sliced through the mist. Moisture clung to the gauzy wrap draped over her injured shoulder. Luckily Kylar had been too focused on taxing out, double-checking the scanners scope for a clear visual. She glanced back to make sure her sack was safely secured in the cargo, before facing forward.

  "Shame this speeder only goes 100 kilometers," Kylar shouted over the hum of the engine with a quip of sarcasm, the winds tousling his curls as they sped across the plains. He shot another inspective glare as he looked at her shoulder. "I don't give a Veermoks arse how rare, we are using that vial to heal your shoulder. The old crone was right, it's infected."

  Graya shot him a reprimanding look. Ultimately she failed to mask the pain as she clenched her teeth. "I can't imagine we will get there before nightfall with the wild life more active. So I apologize... now."

"You apologize?" He cocked a brow with a teasing grin that highlighted the contoured planes of his face, down to the angular curvature of his nose. "You really must be hurting, Gray."

  Maybe it was due to their established bond forged over the years, but she sensed a flickering concern just below his blasè bravado. A keen eye could make out the tension in his jaw. There were subtle shadows dusted under his eyes, the freckles more pronounced and his skin unusually pale.

  It was then she realized he was truly worried about her health.

  "Hey," She knew her voice was futile above the hoarse winds as they zipped through a line of trees. Yet, his head swiveled in her direction. With a small curl of her lip, she placed a reassuring hand on his braced knee. "I'm gonna be okay. It's only been one day, Ky."

  "You better be. Otherwise I will go to any lengths necessary—"

  "Stop being dramatic or I'll have Kade set up post in your room. We all know you love his snoring."

  He grinned, flashing a crescent smile with a disbelieving shake of his head. "I've caught you sleeping next to him in the fields, anyway. Don't make me go into the wilds and wrangle a Night Spider as a pet."

  Her eyes widened as her face paled, "I will haunt your arse from the cosmos should you ever commit such atrocity."

  A rich laugh bellowed, the kind she adored that provoked a genuine smile to stretch across his lips. "As you wish, Gray."

  "Your impossible," she chuckled with a cross of her arms. "I—"

  "Freeze! By order of the Empire, you are to land your speeder immediately or be shot on site for treason!"

  "Treason?! What the kriff did that crone give us, Graya?!"

  Graya felt her entire body ice over, her heart plummeting to the soles of her boots as several lights suddenly blinded them. Two BARC speeders locked on either side of their vehicle, blockading them like a metal contraption.

  I didn't even hear the thrum of the engines. Am I that poor in condition... ?

  Fear.

  It felt as if she'd slammed into a wall as it flooded her senses, tunneling her vision. All she felt was him. It practically oozed from his pores, shuddering his breaths and drowning all sense of sound around her but the cadence of his heart beat. Kylar. Blood roared through his veins, pulsing through the muscle frantically pumping to keep in sync with his breaths that rattled in his chest—

When suddenly she was left staring down the barrel of a blaster pistol. Held by the gloved hand of a stormtrooper, she snapped back to reality.

"Cease your speeder and prepare to be inspected, NOW!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

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INDEX

Ottola and Ankura: Different Gungan species. Rugor Boss Nass was an Ottola whereas Jar Jar was an Ankura.

The Nabooian language was made with a mixture of actual language I believe close to Nabooian heritage as unfortunately there is no script for such. I'll be posting the meanings later on. Otherwise Naboo was known for Galactic Basic, Gunganese, Furthark which is an ancient script you've seen on the pilots N-1 starfighters and helmets derived from the Royal Script of Grizmaltt. This comes from the origins of grizmallti humanoid inhabitants that colonized Naboo

All foods and plants spoken of are actually from Naboo. You can find all this information on Wookiepeedia if that helps.

Shiraya was an actual worshipped figure on Naboo even by Queen Amidala herself. This you can see also on her veranda in Coruscant.

While I studied MANY of Naboo's mapped regions I went off the one I own, Star Wars Galactic Maps: An Illustrated Atlas of the Star Wars Universe Lucasfilm Ltd (2016).