#imagining fairytale retellings of this a la retellings of cinderella... my heart sighs

[nabooro]

The Tale of King Dod Veruna and Enshadu

The full moon celebrations in Ojian were different to the ones in Theed. Dn. Sabrun told them all to hold hands in at least pairs and make sure nobody got lost as she led them through crowded streets filled with stalls of rice cakes and sweet breads dipped in thick syrups and large flat breads filled with meat that made her stomach growl just to hear it sizzle on its pans. Dn. Sabrun had promised them a good meal, though, and that where they were going was better than any of these distractions, so Padmé held onto Nura's hand and kept to the group, tugging Nura back whenever she started to get distracted.

Their teacher led them to the very coast, where a small crowd had gathered on a makeshift theatre, temporary seats and lights arranged, and even some tables in the back. Padmé followed her friends to their seats and sat with them, just close enough to Dn. Sabrun that she might hear anything she told them.

"Have any of you seen a theatre performance before?" Dn. Sabrun asked, as the performers began to set up. All of them were masked, some in plain enshué of tasse or synthsteel, the most of them white. Padmé wondered idly what the play was about.

One of the girls in the class raised her hand, though in the dim light Padmé couldn't see who. Dn. Sabrun said, "Have you seen the tale of King Dod Veruna and the Dark Lady?"

The girl hesitated. "No, but I saw Shiraya's Last Days."

Someone else said, "I've seen the holo!"

Several others chimed in, though Padmé did not. She hadn't seen the play before, but she didn't want to say it, not when many of the others had. Though she wasn't alone; several others were only looking among themselves.

Padmé knew the story, of course, or some of them, but if it was her choice, she liked watching Zenda—her mother said that was natural, because Zenda had the best adventures—and if it was her mother's choice, she would always watch Shiraya's stories. And if it was Sola's, it was cartoons. Enshadu had not featured much in their watching.

"This story is best watched," Dn. Sabrun said. "So pay attention, now."

Padmé adjusted in her seat and turned her attention to the beach, where the holo of a palace had been set up, and a performer in a King Dod Veruna enshué and a kua so long it dragged behind him stood, hands crossed behind his back.

In the background, one of the musicians began a low, haunting melody.

The séame began, "Ri cu nanké soc Veshinc, co fuâd re ké tugoné."

——————

Behind her, Anakin said, "Padmé."

Padmé looked up, and Anakin laughed. "What?" she asked, frowning.

"As much as I'd like to, I won't understand much of the holo if it's in Naboo."

Padmé sighed. She hadn't even realised the holovid, so familiar to her, would be basically gibberish to Anakin. "You could learn faster," she suggested, and Anakin laughed again.

"I will, I promise," he said, his eyes flashing to her stomach—still relatively flat, but Padmé knew that would probably not last. So he had noticed her murmuring to herself—well, to their child—in Nabooro. Nothing important, but it felt right, even here on Coruscant. Anakin had been meaning to learn Nabooro for the last three years, but it was only after she told him she was pregnant that his attempts had really gained any meaning. Until then, it had been only "I love you," and "dearest," and the few words she had taught him, all along similar lines. "But can we watch it in Basic now?"

"If you insist," Padmé said, teasing, and Anakin smiled, tucking his nose into her neck as she rewound the 'vid and changed the language settings to Basic.

The séame began once more. "Once upon a time," he said. Padmé repressed the wish to roll her eyes. The voice of the narrator in Basic was somebody with a deep and dignified voice and a Coruscant accent that reminded her a little bit of Master Kenobi. Anakin seemed to hear the resemblance, too, because he pressed a smile into her skin. "There was a just and fair King."

——————

The king's castle sat atop the moon, whence he watched all that happened in the Kingdom. This king was true and generous, brave and kind… but he had one flaw, and that was his pride.

One night, as the moon rose in the sky, the King's eyes fell for the first time on a part of his land where his light did not reach. Where all of his land seemed to shine back at him, this place sat dark and mysterious. Curious about this place, the King put away his royal cloak and his crown of silver, and wore simple clothing to descend to his kingdom, so he may have truthful answers. There, he asked in the surrounding villages about this strange, dark part of his world.

"That is the home of the Dark Lady," he was told. "She protects us from the creatures of the Deep, whom even the moon's light cannot protect us from."

This angered the King, whose pride in his light and his ability to protect every corner of his kingdom had sometime turned into arrogance. At once he took to the home of this Dark Lady… and found that the Dark Lady was only a woman, and nothing more. What could a simple woman do that his light, the light of the moon itself, was not capable of?

He asked her so.

The Dark Lady said, "The light of the moon cannot touch the Deep, and in truth never should."

——————

The performer that played Enshadu had not donned the traditional enshué, but a deep black one with a single tear limned in silver. Padmé watched as King Dod Veruna and Enshadu began a battle with their staffs, their long sleeves and cloaks fluttering around them as they did. It was beautiful—the moon caught upon the silver-threaded embroidery on their clothing and turned them almost into holos of themselves.

"Who do you think will win?" Dn. Sabrun asked.

"They can't fight," Suvane said, sounding shocked. "King Dod Veruna and Enshadu love each other!"

Padmé frowned. That was true, and she knew that, but the sight of their battle had made her think that this was a different tale, or an older one.

"They will," Dn. Sabrun said.

Nura seemed to be in agreement with Padmé. "How?" she asked, pouting. "They're fighting."

Dn. Sabrun seemed amused. "Are they fighting?" she asked. "Or are they dancing?"

——————

The King, angered, said, "There is no place in my kingdom that my light cannot touch." And revealing himself as the King who lived upon the Moon, he ordered every lantern upon the moon lit, until each river in his kingdom shone back the veins of his land. His servants hurried to obey, but the King found the Dark Lady's home unchanged, still under shadow.

"Even now," the Dark Lady said, "the moon's light does not touch the Deep."

Growing angrier still, the King now had great mirrors built, and turned them thus that his own light may shine even brighter, until every lake in his kingdom became a mirror in itself and turned his own light back to him.

"Even now," the Dark Lady said, saddened, "the moon's light does not touch the Deep."

Finally, unable to relinquish his pride and furious to have twice failed, the King summoned the light of the sun to himself, and shone bright enough to illuminate all in the world, even the very shadows themselves. And as the light of the moon finally touched the Deep, all its creatures came forth, great beasts with teeth sharp as knives and mouths as wide as caverns. For these were creatures that had once been kept at bay by the Dark Lady's power, and upon seeing the brightness now they emerged.

"What have you done, King?" the Dark Lady asked, mournful, at the sight of these beasts, who began to crawl over the land, destroying villages and harvests, cities and forests, with no impunity.

Realising his error, the King pulled away his light. First, the King returned the Sun's light, which had never been his to keep. And still the creatures of the Deep crawled over the land, until his kingdom's towns and cities began to crumble.

Then, he dimmed his lanterns, and still the creatures of the Deep ravaged his kingdom, until the people of his land had to lift their own weapons, afraid that their King could not protect them against these beasts.

Finally, he shattered his great mirrors and spread them through the skies, each piece too small to reflect more than a point of light… and even then, emboldened now, the light of the moon was sufficient for these creatures, who did not cease their horrors.

"What have I done?" the King asked, as the people of his kingdom died before him.

——————

Anakin looked mildly horrified as the exaggerated bodré continued their destruction of cities that deeply resembled Moenia and Theed, though of course they wouldn't have. "Padmé," he said, slowly, "this is a story you tell children?"

Padmé raised her chin in the air. "It was my favourite when I was young," she said. On the holo, something exploded. "Children love explosions."

Anakin snorted. "I… you're not wrong," he murmured. "Ahsoka's been telling me some of the popular stories in the creche, ones I never really heard. They're violent." He huffed, a noise of quick amusement. "But the Jedi wouldn't like all this talk of Light and Dark. Definitely not when the Light unleashes, ah, all these beasts."

Padmé shifted in his arms. "This isn't about the Force, though I can see the similarity. It's the moon's light. King Dod Veruna illuminates… the injustices and horrors people believe they can hide under the cover of the dark."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling you don't like the Dark Lady very much?"

Padmé paused, surprised. "They're not opposites, you know," she said. "If you follow the metaphor, it may look like Enshadu is just espousing ignorance, but that isn't it at all. She's the protector of the damned and the outcasts. She protects her bodré just as much as she protects the people in those villages. This holo is… simplifying it a little."

"Monsters need protection, too?"

Padmé raised an eyebrow. "Is it better to pretend they don't exist than to offer them… aid, if they're willing to accept it? Enshadu's presence is a reminder." She looked over at the holo, paused upon a still of Enshadu watching the destruction. The holo had her in tears, but Padmé remembered her own preferred version: a play she had watched recently, in which Enshadu wept not for the villagers, but for the creatures that did not know what to do with so much light.

"An unwelcome one, for most," Anakin murmured, as she continued the 'vid and King Dod Veruna's devastated features rose.

Padmé eyed him thoughtfully. "They're lovers, you know," she said. "King Dod Veruna and Enshadu. And protectors of lovers, together. Our own ceremony invoked them… heavily."

Anakin opened his mouth, then closed his mouth. "Play the 'vid," he muttered, and Padmé laughed.

——————

"Only the darkness is protection from the creatures of the Deep," the Dark Lady said. "Would that you had understood this, King."

"I bow to your wisdom," the King said. "Please teach me what it is I may do to end this senseless violence." And seeing that his humility was true, the Dark Lady pulled him into her embrace. As she did so, the black of her long neem wrapped around him, head to toe, and finally the moon, too, was hidden entirely.

As the light disappeared, the creatures of the Deep, blind once more, began to stumble back into their depths, and the villages of the kingdom were safe once more, though not unchanged from this time.

The King was moved and humbled by this act, and for the first time he gained an appreciation for the dark, which he realised was as much a part of his kingdom as his own light. He thanked the Dark Lady, but as he did, he saw that she could not see. "My eyes were not made for such light," she said, sorrow in her voice. "Having once seen it has changed me. I cannot see in my own dark. How, now, will I protect our people?"

And so, the King once more lit his lanterns, but wary of his past mistakes, he lit only those that would shine upon the surface of her home, and allow her to see.

And even to this day, you may find the moon shining upon the waters of the home of his beloved Dark Lady.

——————

Before them, King Dod Veruna unmasked Enshadu, and pulled her to him for a kiss, tying off a new enshué behind her head before they separated. This mask was the one Padmé knew—deep black, with a streak of silver down the forehead, over the nose, and past the lips: the streak moonlight left on the Dark Lady.

"Any questions?" Dn. Sabrun asked.

There were lots. "Why did he help her?" "Why did she help him?" "Why wasn't Zenda there?" "Why doesn't he wear his neem?"

"What does it mean?" Padmé asked Dn. Sabrun, as the performers parted to to mark just where the moon—not Veruna, but Ohma D'un—cast a bright halo across the lake, rippling out almost to the beach itself.

Dn. Sabrun said, "It means different things to different people," she said, patient. "What do you think it means?"

Padmé stopped. "What does it mean to you?" she asked.

Dn. Sabrun said, "To me, it means we all have much to learn, from the oldest and wisest of us to the youngest. And that we must help each other learn, whenever we can."

——————

"What does it mean?"

Padmé looked over her shoulder. "What did it mean to you?" she asked.

Anakin shrugged, but he looked thoughtful. "There's more than one way to skin a womp rat?"

Padmé grinned, carding her fingers through his hair. "You're not wrong. I've always seen it as a story of… ignorance, and its cost. Where even good intentions can fail." She paused, and rolled over to face Anakin. "And I've always found the lovers very romantic."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "What's romantic about that? I assume the light and dark thing means they never meet again?"

Padmé shrugged. "That can be romantic! It's the sacrifice, I think: he gives her a little bit of his light just so she can see, and doesn't see her again so she can… be who she is without suffering. Do what she's meant to do, even if that means sacrificing his pride."

"He doesn't seem to have much to offer, considering he's the one who blinded her in the first place."

Padmé stroked her fingers across his forehead. "This is a kid's holo, but… there's this poem, Cu Saétâto so Enshadu, where Enshadu talks about how nothing she's ever seen before and nothing she'll ever see again will compare to the singular moment in which she was surrounded by King Dod Veruna's light. It's an erotic poem," she added, and Anakin's attention shifted.

"Is it? Tell me more about this… erotic poem."

——————

"What do you think it meant?"

Leia frowned. "Well, from one point of view, the King was responsible for all of the destruction himself. So perhaps it's about… ignorance and its consequences." She snorted. "Or it's a commentary on the carelessness and arrogance of royalty."

"You're royalty," Luke said.

Leia shrugged. "Self-awareness is a useful quality."

Luke shook his head. "I thought it was about forgiveness. The King was responsible, but—what happened wasn't what he intended."

"That doesn't change everything that was lost," Leia said. Luke nodded.

"I know. But if the Dark Lady hadn't forgiven him, it would never have ended." Leia gave him a wry look, like she knew what he was doing. Luke could feel his shoulders slowly rising to his ears, and he sat up straight again. "What are you giving me that look for? I haven't seen this before any more than you have."

Leia shook her head, but she was smiling. "I want to look into the Dark Lady more. All this beasts from the Deep and Dark nonsense just sounds like Imperial propaganda—how old is this 'vid, anyway?"

Luke checked. "Just a few years, but I don't think the story can be that different from the traditional ones." He clicked through a few articles, then slowed. "They're lovers, traditionally," he said. "The King and the Dark Lady. Enshadu." The name was strange in his mouth, unfamiliar. He imagined what it might sound like with practice, and said it again. "Enshadu."

"I wouldn't have guessed that from this."

Luke nodded. "I'd like to hear the real story, though. If they're lovers, then really, isn't this a story of everyone trying to protect the ones they love? Even if it doesn't always go well."

Leia's expression softened. "I suppose so. If you ever find a better 'vid, one that doesn't look like it was made to pander to Palpatine… well, you know where to find me."

Luke grinned. "I'll find something. Stories like this—they're always being told."

#star wars #sw fanfiction #anidala #padme amidala #nabooro #naboo culture #naboo #luke skywalker #leia organa #this is not how i intended to tell this story but you know what #i enjoy seeing different people interpret the same story. and i DEEPLY enjoy seeing its development in time #imagining fairytale retellings of this a la retellings of cinderella... my heart sighs #i need to add a ...thing with all the translations. and i will. eventually #i hope most of the words are clear enough though lol #.religion #.myths #.mythology #.six