When Amelia arrived home, later that evening, she stood outside her rather large, but not overly massive house and sighed. This had been her home for the last 24 years, and it wasn't until she'd been away on Coruscant, thousands of miles from here, that she'd realised how much she actually missed this place.

However, stepping up the stone steps to the front door, she also realised that something was wrong. The front door had been left ajar and muddy footprints ran across the threshold. Pushing the door open slightly she stepped inside and her heart skipped several beats. The hallways had been trashed! Items and furniture were strewn everywhere like someone had carelessly thrown it all to one side in their haste to find something.

Dropping her bag on the floor, Amelia ran to each of the other rooms, both upstairs and down, and was horrified to discover than each room was the same. Trashed. Someone had obviously been looking for something, but had they found what they were looking for?

Fighting back tears of anger and disbelief, she climbed over the wrecked wardrobe in her room and began searching for one item that she dearly hoped hadn't been destroyed.

To her relief, it had fallen down the side of her bed and been protected from the rest of the objects and furniture. Reaching down, she pulled out a holographic image of five people standing on the balcony of the very house she was now standing in. Sitting down on her bed, she sat and stared at it for a long while, taking in all the details of the moving image.

A man, in his mid-fifties was standing with his arm around a woman, who was clutching a giggling child, whilst two young boys playfully poked each other at the front of the picture. The family were laughing and standing together for the photo, and it brought a lump to her throat everytime she looked at the picture. This time, however, Amelia actually wept as she held it in her shaking hands, because she'd almost lost it, and this was the most precious things she'd ever owned.

It was a photo of her family together...the only one she had of them ALL together, because it had been taken on her very first birthday. The next day, her father had been murdered by a mysterious bounty hunter, and over the next twenty odd years, she'd lost each of the other memers of that photo in one way or another, so now, the giggling baby in the photo was all that was left.

Making a silent vow never to let this image leave her side again, she set about painstakingly tidying the house, putting everything back where it had come from and mending as many of the broken items as she could. As far as she could tell, nothing had been taken, so she guessed the vandal's search had been in vain, which gave her some small pleasure.

Several hours later, the sun was just beginning to set behind the mountains and Amelia was setting the last of the chairs in the dining room back round the table. Standing back with her hands on her hips, she admired her work and was pleased to see that it looked exactly as it had before the break-in.

Wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, she retrieved her bag from the doormat where she'd dropped it, and took it back up to her now tidy room. Unpacking everything, she set the small wooden box on her bedside table beside the holo-image and walked out onto the balcony, leaning against the stone railings to watch the sun set completely. Feeling the warm breeze on her neck, she remembered that she hadn't actually showered in a few days, and was in desperate need of one. Looking out longingly towards the lake, then back to her soft bed, she decided that as it was dark, the swim in the lake could wait, and went to the bathroom to shower instead.

When she came out a while later, dressed in the silken nightgown that she'd found in her room at the Palace, she climbed into bed and took the holo-image again. Laying there for what felt like forever, she just watched as the people laughed and poked and played with each other, so happy and carefree.

Some time later, the image dropped from her lifeless hand and landed with a light thud on the carpeted floor, as Amelia dreamt about what the next day might bring.

The next morning, Amelia woke refreshed and with one thing firmly on her mind. Dressing quickly, she made her way downstairs, and hunting through the kitchen, she pulled out some old rusted pots from the back of the cupboard.

She took them out to the balcony, where she sat them on the stone railings. Then, taking ten paces back, she pulled out the holdout blaster that she'd shoved in her pocket and took aim, remembering how she'd been taught at the Palace.

The pots went flying through the air, dropping to the rose garden below as she hit each one, and after the last had fallen, she retrieved them and set them out on the railings again. This time, however, she took twenty paces back.

Again he pots hit the deck, one by one, and the more practice she had, the better Amelia became. Soon, she could hit each of the pots once to knock it off the balcony, and a second time as it was flying through the air.

She was getting more adventurous too. After she'd set a pot up on the railings, she'd walk away from it, and then suddenly spin on the spot and catch it with a neat blast from the weapon concealed up her sleeve.

It was quite fun to train in this sort of fashion with these types of targets, rather than the digital versions at the Palace, but soon she got bored and decided that she'd had enough practice for one day. Taking the pots back inside, she dumped them in a corner and tucked her pistol into the holster round her waist, which she'd found in Jude's room. Then she pulled out her comlink and checked it for messages - just incase.

When she saw that there was none, she decided to catch up on the news that she may have missed while she'd been away.

Sitting behind the desk in Jude's room, she switched on his Holonet and flicked to the news channel and then looked up the latest Naboo News.

Turmoil after Naboo Elections the headline at the top of the page said.
Naboo has been balancing on the brink of a civil war within the Royal Courts. The two sides in despute are those who support Ryll Darkell and those who support Celesté Kylantha. The elections saw that Kylantha won a majority of 60%, and for the past few months she has been Queen of the Naboo. However, the Darkell loyalists proclaim that the elections had been illegally arranged in favour of Queen Kylantha.

This came about after whispers in the courts heard that representatives of Kylantha had been slipping money in the hands of the wealthier citizens of the planet. However, this claim has come under much criticism as the man who first came forward about this is a known loyalist to the Darkell and holds strong connections with the family.

Despite all of the constant accusations, neither side is willing to give up their fight for the control of the planet. Even though Queen Kylantha has proved popular since her inagaration and shows no signs of personal involvement in such corruption, the Darkell loyalists still push to have her taken from the rank of Queen, and to make Ryll King of the Naboo.

Queen Kylantha, in her darkest hour, announced that she would not stand down from her place, but instead they would hold another election to prove that her place on the Naboo Throne is righteous. But the Darkell have refused this offer.

The courts of Naboo are not shattered by these events, however, there are constant whispers of a Darkell uprising against the Kylantha Throne.

"So that's what the Queen was so worried about," Amelia muttered to herself as she finished the article. "No wonder Asane warned me about Darkell."

Scrolling through the news archive, she found some snippets of conversation and speeches made by the Queen herself, and sat listening to them over and over again. But she wasn't listening to the content of the post. She was listening to how the Queen pronounced each word, how she said certain things, how her accent sounded when she was cross, or angry, or sad. Slowly, overtime, she'd listened to each snippet enough to hear the Queen's voice repeating them inside her head, and then Amelia began to practice. She'd listen to a sentence, then repeat it, trying to copy exactly how the Queen said each word.

At first, she was rubbish and sounded nothing like Kylantha. But with practice, she'd get there eventually...she HAD to if she was ever to become a decoy.

Several hours passed and once again Amelia grew bored of her training and practicing, and if she was honest, she was bored of being alone in this house. She enjoyed company, and found herself longing for a decent conversation with someone...anyone...just to take this feeling of loneliness away.

Packing her bag on her bed with everything she could possibly need at the Palace, she placed the holo-image of her family onto of everything else and gently closed the lid. This time, the image would not be leaving her side. Opening the little wooden box that she'd been given her Handmaiden's uniform in, she placed the white sash inside it - seeing as she was no longer in training, she didn't need it - and placed the box where the image had been on the bedside table.

Then she made sure that everything was perfect in the house, before leaving and locking the door behind her. She didn't want a repeat performance of the house trashing waiting for her the next time she came home.

And so, carrying her bag full of stuff, she began the long walk back to the Theed and the Palace.

"Thank you for escorting me home. I appologise if it caused you any inconvenience," Amelia said to Damien as they walked towards the steps leading to her front door. However, when Amelia saw that the front door was once again open, she froze mid-stride, one foot still hanging in the air, and motioned for Damien to stay silent. Someone had broken into her house again, and from the sounds of things was still there.

Pulling out her comlink, Amelia sent a message to Asane, back at the Palace, and then turned to Damien, her voice dropping right down to a barely audible whisper.

"Stay here and cover the exits, incase they try to escape. Also keep a look out for Asane and whatever help she might bring. I need to go and check out who's in my home. It might just be my brother, after all...but I have to know. Promise me you'll stay here and won't try to do anything heroic? I don't want innocent people to get hurt."

Damien looked stunned at her request them mummered low to her " wait till help arrives.." his blue eyes darted around, alert to any change in the enviroment as he looked around for something that can be used as a weapon..

"And what if it's my brother in there? I have to know, Damien...Don't worry, I won't be long," she murmered. Then she pulled out both her blasters, and showed them to him. "Besides, I don't intend to get into a fight, but if I do...It's not like I'm unarmed."

She tucked the Bryar Blaster into her belt so that it was clearly on show, then holding the hold-out blaster securely, she started up the steps of the house, looking back to make sure Damien wasn't following, and was actually doing as she'd requested.

As much as it killed him, she did have a blaster and he was unarmed and so he followed her request. His blue eyes are lert and moving back and forth, constantly observing every shadow or percieved movement, alert for anything out of the ordinary.

Amelia cautiously pushed open the door and walked in, listening to where the sounds of movement were coming from.

"Hello?" she called out at last. "Jude? Is that you?"

There was no answer, but the movements stopped, as if the intruder had frozen. Jude wouldn't have tried to stay hidden from his own sister, so she knew it must be someone else.

"Look, whoever you are, I don't want any trouble, alright? Just come out here and we can talk. Whatever it is you're looking for, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement."

She sounded more confident than she felt, and as she glanced towards the blaster gripped firmly in her hand, she wondered if she would really need to use it...and if it ever came to it, could she use it against someone else? Would she have the strength to do it, or would she falter and hesitate, allowing the intruder the advantage.

No...I'm a decoy for the Queen of Naboo...I can't show fear...I must be strong, or I will let her down. She thought as she started to slowly walk towards the balcony at the back of the house where the sound had come from, tightening her grip on the blaster, just as a precaution.

Damien frowned, not liking this one bit, as his blue eyes scan the darkness to the best of his abilities, looking for anything that can be used as a weapon, as he had a bad feeling about this.

Damien did however calm himself and slowly relaxed and focused on the task at hand, keeping his senses alert and focused, so not to miss any sight, smell or sound.

He thinks silently to himself "she should really wait for help.." as there are too many exits to cover and not enough of him to go around, because if the intruder wants out, odds are that he could not stop him.

What is worse, though in his mind, if anything were to happen to Amelia, he would not be a happy camper to say the least.

Amelia slowly walked out onto the balcony, all her senses alert for even the tiniest sign of danger. She remembered her training back at the Palace, and couldn't help but compare the situation. However, this time she was up against an unknown opponent, and had no idea if they were friendly, violent, armed or armoured.

"Hello?" she called again.

Suddenly something was jammed into the top of her spine, between her shoulder blades making her flinch.

"Don't move," a voice hissed in her ear as she realised that it must be the muzzle of some sort of blaster.

"Look, I don't want a fight," she said, standing perfectly still.

"Drop your weapons," the voice hissed again. "Then turn around."

Amelia slowly extended one hand and set her hold-out blaster on the table. Then she pulled out the bryar pistol and that joined it. Finally, she turned very slowly on the spot and came face to face with a heavily armoured, bulky looking man. She had no idea what his face looked like because he was wearing a full face helmet. Pointed at her chest now, she noticed was another bryar blaster.

"Who are you?" the intruder asked suspiciously as he slowly positioned himself between her and her weapons.

"I could ask you the same," she countered calmly. "I'm Amelia and this is my home you are trespassing in, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Not until I get what I came for!" The intruder snapped.

"And what's that then?" she asked curiously, trying to buy some time to let Asane get there with whatever help she was going to bring.

"That is none of your business."

"Well this is my house, so technically I should know where everything is kept, especially after having to tidy up after your last visit...that was you wasn't it?"

The figure said nothing, but simply nodded his helmeted head.

"So, you gonna tell me what you're after? Or at least what your name is?"

"My name is Rohlan Dyre, and like I already said, it's none of your business."

"Ok, how about we try this then. There are Naboo Guards out there. They've got this place surrounded, and once scream from me, they'll be down on you quicker than twenty rancors dropped from a turbo lift."

The helmeted head tilted sideways slightly, as if amused.

"Really?" he said at last, motioning out to the empty grassland behind the house. "Coz I don't see any."

"Oh." Realising the flaw in her plan, Amelia shrugged. "Well, it was worth a try. But if you wanna know the truth, there are infact several Naboo Guards on their way to this house right now. I messaged them before I came in here, looking for you. They should be here any minute."

Again, the hunter's helmet tilted sideways in amusement.

"No really, there are," she assured him, forgetting for a moment about not making any sudden movements. She plunged a hand into her pocket to pull out her comlink as evidence, but Rohlan panicked, thinking she had another weapon, and lashed out with the butt of his blaster, catching her round the head. She staggered backwards, dazed, and then realising that she was in trouble now, made a dive for her own weapons at the same time the hunter did.

They collided mid-air, and fell to the floor in a tangled heap, the table and all three weapons going flying. Now his thick gloved hands had found their way to her throat, and Amelia had to use all of her skills and training that she'd learnt, just to get him to release his grip. The two wrestled furiously, each trying to gain the upper hand.

However, Amelia's agility and speed were no match for Rohlan's sheer brawn and muscle, and she soon found herself pinned to the floor.

"Give it to me!" he bellowed as his hands once again found their way to her throat.

"Give...what?!" she gasped, frantically trying to get him to release his grip on her, just so that she could breath again.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a leg of the broken table and desperately reached out for it, hoping to use it as some sort of defensive weapon.

Her fingers closed round it at last, and in one fluid motion she brought it down on the back of his neck, where his armour was weakest...or so she hoped. Rohlan howled in pain and released his grip, allowing her to claw her way across the balcony away from him. But just as she got to her feet and turned to see where Rohlan was now, something came swooping through the air towards her. Cold ceramic cracked against her temple and her legs buckled, sending her crashing to the floor amidst the shattered remains of her mother's favourite vase.

Rohlan just looked at the prone form lying on the floor infront of him, blood slowly seeping from a large gash across her forehead, then snapping out of his trance like state, he grabbed his weapon, vaulted the balcony railings and hurried away towards his ship, hidden down by the lake.

Damien herd the commotion and arrived just intime to see amelia hit the floor followed by the intruder making his escape. His blue eyes went wide as he saw the wound on her forehead, then without a second thought, he removes shis shirt, racing over to her and uses it to stop the bleeding as best he can with his first aid skills. He strokes her brown here mummering " Im so sorry amelia.." then his face turns serious as he looks out to where that bastard made his escape.

Damien also uses his shirt and one of the table legs and immobilizes her neck, as head injuries can be bad and it looks like she took a bad one. He squeezed her hand gently and checked her vitals as he is doing the best he can with what he has at his disposal, though he will need a new shirt however.

Damien slowly says to her softly "Can you hear me amelia ?" said to her gently as he tries to see if she is responsive.

After some hours, Asané followed by two security guards entered Amelia's home. As she had fallen, Amelia must have landed on her comlink as Asané had been alerted. Asané immediately ran to Amelia's side, checking her pulse quickly.

"She's breathing.... Check the perimeter, call for help, we need to get her back to the palace, to the Queen's medic!" Amelia ordered as the guards left to check the rest of the house while one sent the distress call.

"Amelia..... Amelia can you hear me?" She asked.

In the distant recesses of her groggy mind, Amelia had heard Asane speaking, at first to someone else, then to her. Her head felt like it had been cleaved in two, and was throbbing constantly. Any attempt she made at trying to open her eyes was deterred by a sudden nauseating wave of dizzyness. Eventually she just decided to keep her eyes closed, as this eased the pain a little...not much, but it was something.

"Asane?" she groaned, recognizing her friend's voice. "What're you...how did you...how..." Her scrambled brain was making it impossible for her to string together any complete sentences, so in the end she gave up and groaned again as the headache intensified once more.

Asané gave a sigh of relief that Amelia had at least responded,

"It's alright now, you're safe.... We're going to take you back to the palace......... Is the transport here yet?!" She asked one of the guards.

"They are on the way M'Lady....." He said before returning to his duty, searching the house to make sure it was secure.

After half an hour, an emergency speeder finally arrived. Carefully they took Amelia aboard and quickly they headed back to Theed. Asané wondered what on earth had happened to her. She lived in such a remote part of the Naboo Lake Country that it seemed strange that something like this would occur.

OOC: Next post is here: http://sw-thedarktimes.com/index.php?showtopic=696

Damien would have left after help had arrived. The young sailor leans against a tree outside and thinks to himself. He rembered what amelia had said about her past and after several days he would go down to the lake to think.

When Resei woke up, he found Mia still asleep.
She looked so peaceful there, sleeping. A beautiful angel. Seeing her filled his heart with warmth, and nearly brought tears to his eyes.
He smiled, a far away smile, before he gently covered her with her quilt. Then he kissed her forehead lightly, as not to disrupt the image of a sleeping saint, and got out of bed. After his usual, light morning gymnastics, he went into the kitchen. He knew cooking was not his most honed skill, so he settled with making some sandwitches, and pouring something with a certain similarity to what we on earh know as orange juice in two glasses.
He put it on a board found, and brought it in to the bedroom.
Checking the watch, he estimated it'd been an hour since he woke up.
He'd woken up later than usual, feeling strangely... Empty.
He sat down, waiting for his angel to wake up by herself, not daring to break the illusion by shaking her awake.

As consciousness slowly pulled her from the very odd and rather disturbing dream she'd been having (a stormtrooper on a womp rat chasing her into a washing machine), she realised that although she was alone now, she hadn't been for long. In the half of the bed she wasn't lying in, there was still a light indent in the mattress from a recently vacated body, and the sheets were still slightly warm.

Pulling herself into a sitting position that wasn't too painful for her aching leg, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around.

The curtains leading out to the balcony of her room were still closed, but a few streaks of sun had managed to work their way past the dark fabric, and were illuminating a shadow sitting at the end of her bed.

Stifling a yawn and pulling the sheets up a little higher about her neck, she grinned at Resei.

"Hey you," she mumbled sleepily, trying (and failing) to stifle another yawn.

"Hey beautiful," he replied, grinning back at her.
"Tired? Hehe. Made you breakfast." he showed her the board with the toasts and the glasses on.
"Slept well," he enquired as she edged closer and grabbed a toast.
"Oh, and I'd be careful with that one. I was never any good in a kitchen... Perform better in other arenas, to put it that way."
He grinned, dodging a pillow coming his way, nearly spilling all his orange juice(-looking stuff).
"Hehe, sorry, sorry. I'm just in a really good mood today. And how's you, angel?" He smiled at her. Although quite drawsy, she still looked pretty. Her hair was a mess, but he found even that charmed him.

"I had the weirdest dream," she frowned, nibbling at a bit of the toast.

Despite the fact that it was much later than normal and she was still in bed...she was in no rush to go anywhere. She wasn't very hungry either...but Resei had gone to such trouble to make breakfast for her, so she thought it only polite to at least eat a bit...if not all...of what he'd made for her.

Then she shifted a little to retrieve her pillow from the floor so that she could prop it behind her head, but ended up twisting her leg a little, instead, and yelped in pain.

"Jeez...so glad I've got the day off today," she whimpered, rubbing her leg gingerly and wincing each time it twinged with pain.

Resei looked on in pity as she kept wincing.
"Maybe we should get a doctor for that..?"
He wasn't very hungry, he soon discovered. He felt empty, ok, but food couldn't fill him, it seemed.
He drank up his juice, and sighed. he wished, but kept it for himself, that he could wake up like tis every morning... Or at least with her sleeping next to him. He realised all of a sudden they'd just broken a rule. First date... Oh, blast. Well, well.

"No, I'll be fine," she sighed after a moment. "It's just a pulled muscle...that's all. If I rest it today, then it should be alright for when I go back to work tomorrow."

Smiling slightly, she put her half eaten bit of toast back on the tray and lent forwards to kiss him on the cheek.

"Lovely breakfast, by the way," she said, because this was the truth. It was lovely...she just wasn't hungry. "Thank you."

Resei nodded slightly. He wasn't sure it had been lovely (after all what could be truly called lovely after last night?), but he himself felt that he hadn't screwed it up this time. Except for making way too many, that is.
"Anyway, I suppose I should get back to the hotel. I'd love to stay with you all day, as it's your day off, but I suppose you need some privacy... eer... And some rest for that foot of yours to heal, of course."
In his voice there was a silent plead that she would object, despite she might need some time for herself.

"Off so soon?" she teased, easing herself out of bed but taking the bed sheet with her and wrapping it tightly about herself. Then she sat at the end of the bed with him and took his hand in her own.

"You know...you could...I dunno...stay for a bit, if you like?"

Her thumb slowly traced over the back of his hand as she was talking, and her head rested against his shoulder. Then she let out a sigh and sat up again.

"Still...if you have to go...I won't stop you."

There was a double edge to her voice, like she was trying not to sound disappointed, and at the same time was willing him to agree to stay.

Deciding to add the finishing touch to her sentence, she lent up and kissed his lips softly again, then let go of his hand and stood up, pulled on her silk robe, tied it tightly about her waist and took the tray, aiming to head back down to the kitchen to tidy up.

Resei watched her walk to the kitchen with a smile. She somehow managed to move with a certain grace, despite the bad foot.
Some voice in his head was throwing a party, it seemed, making no sense but making happy noises. He had to touch his lips to check they were not moving, in fear that he'd actually been shouting out loud.
He rose from the bed, and went to join her.
He approached from behind, and put his hands around her waist, burrying his face in her hair, smelling her scents.
She managed, it seemed, to smell quite good even after having been so... active before going to bed -before falling asleep, that is- yesterday. Of course, love makes blind, but he'd defenitely smelled worse!

"Oh, well. I suppose I can stay for a while. I'll help you clean up my own mess here at the kitchen. Besides, can't leave you here with that foot of yours, can we? Least I can do his keep you company, and help out if you need any help- any help."
A sandwitch thrown over her shoulder barely missed him, thanks to his Jedi reflexes. He laughed.
"Sorry, sorry. May I stay a while, despite my bad behaviour?"

"Course you can," she chuckled, turning in his arms so that she was now facing him. Then she wrapped her arms about his waist and laid her head on his chest, just happy to hold him close and listen to his beating heart. "As long as you behave yourself. Otherwise you'll be ..."

She looked up into his eyes with a cheeky grin as she chose her words carefully. "...sleeping outside tonight...alone."

And then her face twinged with pain a little as a hand dropped to her throbbing leg.

"Don't suppose you could get me something for this, could you? Med -box is in that bottom cupboard."

Resei reluctantly untangled her grip.
"Of course I can. A moment."
He walked over to the cupboard, and opened it.
Hmm... Let's see... Painkillers? No, not yet. There's an idea for later, though.. hehe, hmm.. Ah!
Rummaging arouund for a bit, he finally produced a lenght of bandage and some bacta patches just in case.
"Here you go. Shall I put this on for you?"
He winked and grinned.
"Oh, damn... Watch my behaviour. Tru, true. (he grinned again) But to be serious, need help?"

"No I can manage," she replied confidently...though she was definitely being stubborn, because she didn't want to appear weak in front of him. After dropping the bandage three times, however (and cursing the third time when it unravelled completely) she threw it in Resei's direction with a frustrated sigh, then gave him her biggest puppy dog eyes.

"Help?"

He laughed, and picked up the bandage. Then, firmly, he put it on, his head hovering purposefully nearly between her legs...
She slapped his head, then he grinned and withdraw.
Then, finally, he was satisfied.
"So so, there we go. How's it feel?"

Standing up and testing her weight on her leg, she nodded.

"Much better. Thanks."

Then she looked out to the sun behind the mountains, and grinned.

"I'm so glad I had the day off today...it's turning out to be a beautiful one. Don't you think?"

Resei grinned suddenly. He'd gotten a quite freaky idea.
"You know- wanna test that bandage?"
She looked at him in bewildered amusement, trying to figure out if he was hitting on her (agai) or not.
"What I mean is: The lake's just a short walk from your backgarden, isn't it? Wanna go for a swim? Just cool down, watch the sky... No one but you, me and mother nature... Something to enjoy the nice day, eh?"

Amelia's smile showed exactly what she thought of that idea.

"I haven't been swimming in that lake for ages," she replied excitedly. "I'd love to...and who knows...you might get the chance to save my life again."

Her cheeky wink showed that she had no intention of playing the damsel in distress...but at least she wasn't being stubborn enough to ignore the fact that, just maybe...she might need help from time to time.

That was a start. A start down the long road to bringing back the old Amelia...the Amelia from a time before her best friend had been murdered, and her house robbed...and she herself attacked by a mysterious bounty hunter.

Maybe dating Resei wasn't such a bad idea after all, she decided as she went upstairs to get changed.

Resei smiled as she went upstairs, his mind creating an image of the two of them chilling out in the cool, but not too chilly, water.
Changing was easy for him. He merely pulled off his clothes, throwing them in a disorderly heap at a spot on the floor he briefly judged as "out of the way".
Standing now in only his underpants, he had to admire himself a bit ( :P ). The years of training had done him well, he reasoned. Not a milligram of fat, just muscles. And not too many of them, either, so he didn't look like something tried to burst out of his skin. Just enough to give his punch enough force to smash skulls, and to enable him to carry women through nearly all of the marketplace to her home.
And then she came down those stairs. Slightly hindered by her bandage and her slight pains, she still descended with grace.
The sight of her in a bikini made him instantly forget all about his own body. His mouth nearly dropped open, and he had to breath calmly.
He didnæt even try to speak. He merely stood there, awed.

Well aware that her choice of clothing had caused his lower jaw to hit the floor, she blushed slightly and wrapped a towel about herself.

Although...standing there looking at him in the sunlight, she almost felt her own jaw doing exactly the same.

"Well...erm..." she grinned, forcing her wandering eyes to focus back on his face again. "Shall we?"

Walking arm in arm down to the lake, she wasted no time in dropping her towel on the bank and diving head first into the cool, crystal water, resurfacing seconds later and shaking the wet hair from her eyes.

"Come on in!" she called back to Resei. "The water's great!"

And then she was off again, diving under the surface to explore the hidden depths of the lake - her leg no longer seeming to bother her.

In fact, a few moments after that, she resurfaced once more, and tossed the soggy bandage up with her towel.

"Sorry," she apologised, knowing how long it had taken him to put it on in the first place. "It just kind of fell off!"

Floating on her back and gazing up to the sky for a moment, she waited for Resei to join her in the water, lazily flicking a hand every now and then to gently propel her away from the bank where he was still standing.

Resei watched her for a while, grinning. He was not a very good swimmer. His childhood had been a constant lack of water, it seemed to him now. So upon seeing her, someone who'd grown up on Naboo, he was taken aback by her skills.
Finally he decided to jump. With a look on the bandage and a grin, he hopped into the water.

And sunk like a rock. His feet meeting the ground, he lanched himself back up. His mouth was full of water, and he spit it out, coughing violently.
Then he swam towards her, in his usual breaststroke-style, his head well above the surface. It was the only way of swimming he knew.
Finally he catched up, exhausted.
"Damn," he said between two breaths, "this is so difficult!"
He rolled over, facing up. At least he knew how to float in the water!

Suddenly a mini wave of water splashed over his face, and he heard a giggle from somewhere...but looking around, there was no-one...Amelia had vanished.

Suddenly she re-appeared, behind him, swatting even more water in his direction.

"Hmm...not a bad view from down there," she grinned, swimming round in front of him again. Then catching his expression decided to add, "of the water life and rocks on the bottom and stuff...coz I wasn't looking anywhere else. However tempting."

Floating on her back again, she began to lazily swim circles round him, causing the water to spin him round and round with her.

"Come on, it's not so hard..."

As if to try and encourage him, she swiped even more water in his direction, before vanishing below the surface again, hoping that he'd at least try to follow her, if only to get revenge. That was how her brother had taught her to swim, and it had done her no harm...so why shouldn't she help Resei now, using the same trick?

Resei understood she was hoping he'd follow her.
He wished to. But could he? Heck, he could try!
He somehow managed to dive beneath the surface, with the grace of a sinking ship, and he even remembered to close his mouth.
Swimming underwater was a different matter. He soon found his clumsy style did not quite fit with the constant pressure.
He soon understood he was better of with lowering his head. When he had to surface again to breath, gasping for air, he found he'd moved nearly three entire metres...
Amelia was ten metres away or so, laughing.
He grinned, and kept chasing her, slowly and clumsily.

Eventually she reached a bit of rock that she could just about stand on, whilst keeping her head above water.

"Come on...you can do it," she laughed, watching his rather ungainly style as he made his way towards her.

And then, just as he reached her, his momentum caused an underwater current that wasn't really strong...but strong enough to push her legs out from under her.

Falling backwards into the water, she re-emerged moments later, coughing and spluttering, but laughing all the same. As retaliation, she shook her hair, sending droplets of water all over him. And then she was off again, this time swimming for the bank, because although she could swim for hours, she didn't think Resei would be able to. They could just rest up there for a while, and dry in the sun, then go for another swim a little later.

Resei, glad it was over for now, although he'd had a good time, followed behind her.
Reaching the shore after her, he could just lay right down on the towel she'd prepared for him.
He merely breathed for a while, grateful for this moment, before turning towards her.
He laid a hand on her stomach, and smiled.
"What a wonderful day," he said, and sighed.
Then he edged closer and kissed her as softly as he can, while still being firm enough not to slide off her lips which were still wet.