The Lavender Ceremony

The Lavender Ceremony

by S. Sandoval.

(ff, Padme/Dorme)

Star Wars, Padme Amidala, Dorme, Anakin Skywalker, The Clone Wars, Naboo, Theed City, The Trade Federation, Nexu, Nubian Shuttle, Reek, Gungans, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Force, and Captian Typho are all owned completly by Lucasfilm Productions, with distribution help from 20th Century Fox, are are used here with that complete knowledge.

This story takes place just shortly before the events that occur at the end of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

This is my second attempt at a piece of slash fan fiction. It turned out longer than I expected, but I'm really proud of it, and I hope you all like it. Comments would be appreciated very much by all readers at convergenceone@yahoo.com

I.

Padme Amidala's mind and heart were both heavy as her transport descended through the upper atmosphere of Naboo. Stepping up from her desk in her private quarters, she padded barefoot across the room to the large viewport along the wall. Tapping the button, the screen raised slowly giving her a view of her home planet. At this point, Naboo filled her view, a gleaming blue green orb. A faint reddish glow began to appear as the atmosphere sped by, but the Nubian's shields were top notch, and prevented the heat of friction from obscuring the view.

Usually, this was the moment that she treasured the most; Returning home, and waiting until the very end to look out the viewport. Seeing her home planet so close up made her realize just how important it was to her that this is where she was from. Growing up there, amongst the lush forests and crafted architecture, she felt as if nothing could ever go wrong. But Padme grew up quicker than most girls, and therefore, she also found out the real truth much quicker than most. For while Naboo was indeed a peaceful haven, the dangers and turmoil of the outside galaxy was something that was too strong to keep out.

This she learned when she was elected Queen in her early teens, as the mantle of royalty instantly made her aware of all that swirled around what she thought was a perfect world; The Trade Federation and their unfair trade practices strangling the life out of planets in the outer rim was only the beginning, for when they blockaded Naboo in an effort to force the senate into lessening the taxes that had been placed on them, the invasion proved to be worst thing she had ever lived though.

Although this was nearly ten years ago, Padme is still haunted by memories of her people suffering during the invasion, both the humans she grew up knowing, and the Gungans, who finally revealed themselves to be both peace loving creatures, and brave warriors. She was haunted by those that had to die during the resistance, many of whom were loyal servants of the royal family for decades.

These memories only served to be a foundation for Padme from that point forward. As she grew into being a beautiful woman, leaving royalty behind for the robes of a politician, she devoted every moment of her life into doing whatever she could to prevent the loss of life anywhere in the Galaxy, but especially on Naboo.

But today, what once soothed her in the past, refuses to give her comfort. Shutting the viewscreen, Padme walked back across the room to gather up her things. She gathered the documents and holofiles about the recent battle on Geonosis and her experiences there together, placing them in a large black case. As she slipped her delicate feet back into her shoes, the intercom clicked on. A voice softly intoned from the bridge.

"Senator Amidala, we are beginning landing procedures."

"Thank you, Captain. Are we able to land at my alternate coordinates?"

"Yes, ma'am. We are diverting to the landing platform at Syendeed Gate, as per your request."

"Excellent, Captain. I'm proceeding to airlock 2. You are clear to redock at Theed City as soon as I disembark."

"Roger that, Senator."

Captain Typho's irritation at just dropping her off here deep in the country was evident in the tone of his voice. But this was something that had to be done alone.

Padme left her quarters and made her way to the airlock. The transport was mostly empty except for her and her minimal crew. Due to the assassination attempts on her, her profile has been kept low recently, and while she believed that the Trade Federation's attempts to have her killed were over now that the war has begun, her advisors felt differently, and insisted that just about any journey anywhere would be done so secretly. Which was fine with her. Deep down, Padme knew that secrecy was about to become a regular way of life for her.

As she reached the airlock, she gripped the handles alongside the bulkhead, steadying herself for the landing. Minutes later, the ship rocked ever so slowly with a soft thump. Then, all was still, except for the humming of the engines. She tapped the control panel and the ramp opened and extended, instantly flooding the passageway with bright springtime sunlight, and the sweet smell of the grass. As she prepared to exit, Captain Typho's voice once again crackled though the intercom.

"Senator Amidala, I must reiterate that I do not agree with your decision. You must let us leave some guards with you. What if..."

Padme cut him off.

"Captain Typho, I appreciate your concern, but I will be fine here for the time being. Trust me." She spoke the last two words in the pointed, but still calm tone of voice that she knew worked on him whenever she wanted to bend the rules he was duty bound to enforce.

"Very well, Senator. But I'll be waiting for your pickup time. And I do mean waiting." He concluded in the same grim, but still caring tone he used when he knew his was capitulating on his own terms.

Padme walked down the ramp and onto the landing platform, carved from the finest stone. The day was crisp and cool in the early morning hours, and a light breeze blew across the green plain, gently rustling Padme's brown hair around her neck and face. Across the platform was a small hanger containing several land speeders, and next to that was a modest home on the edge of a crystal blue lake. Mountains and waterfalls surrounded on almost all sides. The location at Syendeed Gate belonged to her family for years. Isolated and private, it was a retreat she didn't visit too much during her years as Queen, preferring instead to be closer to her people when necessary. But now, at this moment, she was glad it was here. This was where she needed to be. With the flame of war just beginning to break out across the galaxy, she knew there were more important placed for her to be than here, but right now, she just needed to be by herself. But yet, not entirely by herself.

As Padme cleared the platform, her transport, gleaming in the sunlight, lifted off quietly and once overhead, took off powerfully over the mountains, back toward Theed City. She was halfway up the walkway when the ornate doors opened and Dorme, her handmaiden, emerged quickly.

"Oh M'lady! I'm so glad you are here. I was so worried when I heard news from Geonosis. I had no idea where you were." Dorme threw her arms around Padme, and Padme responded to the embrace warmly. Dorme had been one of her most loyal friends all through her life, and was needed now by her more than ever.

"It's Ok, Dorme. I'm allright. Just tired though. It's been a pretty hectic couple of days, as you can imagine."

"Yes I can. Here, let me help you with your things. Let's get you inside so we can talk."

"Sounds fantastic."

Dorme took Padme's case from her and the two walked towards the lake house again.

"How much longer have you been here. I hope you haven't been waiting long," said Padme, knowing that the invitation to the Syendeed home was on such short notice.

"Oh no, m'lady. Once I got word that you wanted to meet me here, I boarded the first transport. Frankly, if you don't mind me saying so, I've always wanted to come here. It's so beautiful. So...private and serene."

"Yes, that it is. What's the condition like inside. I know the place hasn't been used in a while."

"Things were a bit musty when I showed up. Nothing some open windows couldn't handle. The cabinets were a bit empty too, but I figured so much, so I was sure to bring some food with me on my transport. Actually, I was just about to start breakfast."

"Excellent. That sounds fantastic."

They entered the house, and indeed the sweet smell of the outdoors was here as well. Walking into the kitchen together, Dorme set the case down and went back to the counter, where some vegetables had been chopped. She picked up a knife and gestured with it to Padme, "Now you run upstairs and get cleaned up, breakfast isn't quite ready yet. Now move! Scoot!"

Padme smiled as she turned to walk the stairs to her bedroom. Dorme had been by her side since the early days of her reign as queen. Only a few years older than Padme, she had been a constant source of comfort and resilience in times of turmoil. Times like these.

II.

Padme reached her room and quietly shut her door behind her. She knew the room should have smelled of dust from so much disuse, but Dorme must have been harder at work than she let on. The windows were indeed wide open, and the room felt positively alive with warmth, almost as if she had been staying there for years.

A quick walk over to a second door activated the automatic light for her private bathroom. The furnishings here, as in the rest of the house, showed the same care to detail as the rest of the architecture the Naboo was prized for. The bathroom was tiled with Gran Stones that shimmered a greenish white when the light hit them right. A large tub, rounded and curved inside for maximum comfort, sat against the wall, begging to be filled. Padme was more than willing to oblige.

She walked over to it and turned the knobs. Crystal blue water poured from the spout, cold at first, but soon steaming with heat. After activating the stopper, she walked away and began disrobing. Piece by piece her cumbersome garments began falling to the floor. Although she no longer had to wear such elaborate clothes now that she was no longer a queen, her Naboo heritage still taught her that her way of dress had much to say about how she was as a person. But, how to feel with them gone? Standing in front of the mirror, only in her bra and panties, with her skin pale in the light, she felt uncomfortable and alone.

Reaching behind herself she unlatched her bra, which immediately folded forward over her breasts. As a queen, her clothing was designed in a way that purposefully obscured her age and gender. Often, her chest was bound so tight, it was all she could do during important state meetings to keep from yanking at her bodice in an unladylike manner, something that Dorme had been quite adamant about her not doing in those early days.

She lowered her panties down to the floor and stepped free of them. She had been avoiding this next part for a long time, but it could no longer be ignored. Looking temporarily at her naked body; Her pert young breasts had grown larger over the last few years of her teens, and they stood out from her torso proudly. The muscles on her abdominals were defined just enough for two perfect lines of definition, one on each side of her bellybutton, trailing down toward her hips, where a triangle of dark hair awaited.

Sighing to herself, Padme finally did it; She turned around slowly and looked over her shoulder to see her back in the mirror. Her first boyfriend had once told her she had the most beautiful back of any woman in the universe. He said it while they laid on the beaches of Therok Province the one summer they spent together. At the time she acted like she found it embarrassing, but in reality, it was the most wonderful and unique things anyone had ever said to her, and it was something she still held dear to this day.

But now, on that back that Palo once considered the most beautiful, there were three large scars that ran diagonally across the middle. They weren't as prominent as they were a few days ago, which was a miracle considering what they looked like two weeks ago, after the Nexu slashed her with his claws in the Geonosian execution arena. It was pain she had never felt before, and at the time it took her all she had to remain standing on the pylon she was using to stay off the ground. Just after its claws sliced through her, her vision grew blurred and her head grew woozy. For a split second, she could clearly imagine herself passing out and falling straight down into the Nexu's waiting jaws. Only one thing snapped her out of it. Anakin.

She clearly remembered seeing him across the arena fighting for his life against the Reek, handling it with all the calm of his Jedi trainer, Obi-wan Kenobi. Watching Anakin calmly using the Force to control the beast long enough to jump on top of it made her realize how much was on the line, and how much she had to fight for. She loved him, after all.

And wasn't that love the reason she was here, away from all prying eyes, and away from all commitments? She heard the water valve shut off as the water finished filling the tub. Padme turned and grabbed a towel, which she placed on a rack nearby. Stepping over the edge of the tub, she lowered one slender leg into the water, then the other. She sat down in the tub slowly, sighing as the hot water surrounded her. Taking a washrag from the nearby stand, she lowered it into the water and then took it out and draped it across her face, relishing the feel of the hot water on her face.

No longer able to run away from the thoughts of recent events, they washed over her like the water she reclined in.

Just after the battle of Geonosis, things seemed to move at accelerated speed. It didn't take long before word began to spread on the various Holonet services about the battle and how it transpired. Services loyal to the Republic tended to call it a brave victory over treacherous Separatist forces. While those more independent, and especially those who belonged to the systems a part of the Separatists, proclaimed it as a deplorable act of violence against a political movement that had no plans to start a war, making special note of the Republic's use of Clones in the battle, claiming it was an act of empire building, since the Republic hadn't had a central army in thousands of years.

As word spread, it didn't take long before reports of small skirmishes began to filter in. The more the Republic sent in clones to pacify these flashpoints, the larger they grew. Soon, offensive stratagems were launched, counterstrikes followed, and as of last week, talk of these events as "conflicts" or "disputes" were no more. This was war. And it was spreading.

With the traditional spacelanes no longer entirely safe, at least not without clone escort, it took a lot of wrangling for Padme to authorize this trip, and even more cajoling to arrive at the lake house without guards. But, now that the Military Creation Act had already been enacted by Chancellor Palpatine, Padme felt sure that the assassination attempts made on her were over. Her role in the debates was over now, only war remained.

Sinking deeper into the water, letting it creep up to her chin, her thoughts dwelt on Anakin; On their first meeting in that junk dealer's shop on Tattooine; On their reuniting just a month ago on Coruscuant, where she saw that he was no longer a boy, but a man. As he escorted her to Naboo as her protector, she knew deep down she needed him. Part of her was scared at what his gaze meant, that penetrating gaze that seemed to bore down all the way through her. She had never seen any man look at her like that, and the feeling, as much as she claimed it made her uncomfortable, in reality made her feel alive in ways she hadn't felt in years.

But such things couldn't be so easy. Anakin was a Jedi, and a Padawan learner, no less. For a Jedi to love required the highest level of commitment to both the Jedi Order, as well as their partner. But for a Padawan, one who still had so much left to learn, such things were forbidden. Padme knew this, and to a larger degree than she would ever admit, she agreed with it. For while she did love Anakin, she also knew that he wasn't perfect. She could see the hurt and the pain inside of him just as easily as he could control the thoughts of weaker minded beings. She knew his training was difficult for him, and that the death of his mother and the subsequent confrontation with the Tusken Raiders was tearing him apart inside.

But in spite of all that was stacked against them in their relationship, she would risk all for him. And in a way, she already had.

Just shortly after the battle of Geonosis, back on Coruscant, Anakin came to her quarters in the Senatorial Palace. It was a night quiet on the brink of war, and they fell into each others arms in private. They kissed for what seemed like hours, with Padme realizing as she lost herself in his passionate kisses, that she would do anything for him. She only hoped that she could ease his pain, that her kiss and her touch could make the fear and the anger fade into nothingness.

And then, just shortly before the break of dawn, he proposed to her. And without a second thought as to the consequences, she accepted. Quick plans were made, with Padme agreeing to return to Naboo, and Anakin promising to follow a few days later, as to not arouse suspicions. This was to be a secret wedding, a relationship forged in secret, not just to protect themselves, but to protect their careers, and their families.

And as much as Padme tried to block out the nagging fears she continued to feel about the impending marring, she knew there was one last concern that had to be dealt with. But unlike the wedding, she knew that it was something that she could not do alone; Something which required her return to Naboo.

III.

"The Ceremony? You mean, the Lavender Ceremony?"

Dorme's eyes grew wide and her hand went up over her mouth in a gesture of surprise. They were sitting in the house's day room on the first floor, on a large, soft couch. Padme's hair was still damp from her bath, and her skin still glistened with the Bayonna Oil she used afterwards. Words seemed to be caught in Dorme's throat. Padme was instantly sorry she ever spoke of the Ceremony, but she knew it was too late. She tried hard to explain to her handmaiden.

"Oh Dorme, I just...., well. It's the only thing I can't just ignore. I love Anakin, and I want to be his wife. So much so that I'm willing to sacrifice everything to do so. I'm willing to risk his life as a Jedi, my political career, my family, everything!" Padme's eyes were full of tears now, but she continued.

"But The Ceremony," Padme paused, trying to find the words. "Every girl born on Naboo dreams of the Ceremony. I can't get married without going through it. It just wouldn't seem real somehow. I mean, my God, how selfish is that, Dorme? Don't you think I know how ridiculous it is that I'm about to be married in secret to a man who isn't allowed to love, a man who is about to head straight into a war? And here I am worried about a stupid wedding ceremony!"

Tears were now streaming their way down Padme's cheeks in silvery runners. Dorme placed her hand on hers and leaned in close.

"Padme, The Lavender Ceremony is something that is passed down from woman to woman before she gets married. We talk of it from the moment a girl reaches for her first pretty dress. It's a part of our culture. Of what we are as women of Naboo. If marrying Anakin is what you feel you must do, than as your handmaiden, I will stand by you, and not tell a soul. And as a woman, a woman who had been by you since you were Queen and who regards you as her best friend, I am honored that you want me to administer the ceremony."

"So you will than?"

"Oh Padme, of course. With your word, it is done."

Padme's heart swelled with love for Dorme. They threw their arms around each other, laughing and crying at the same time. The room seemed to dance with the afternoon sunlight.

"So what do I do know? I mean, well...do you and I....," stammered Padme, as the enormity of what they were about to do began to hit her. The weight of it all suddenly felt as staggering as the thoughts of her marriage to Anakin. Dorme answered her back, as calmly as ever, as she always did in time of crises.

"The only thing you have to do is relax. The Ceremony is a natural act. You only have to be here, and you'll know what to do. You'll wonder why you were ever nervous."

Padme tried to cover her feelings, although she knew that Dorme could easily see through her. "I'm not nervous, I just don't know what you have to do on such short notice."

"First of all, yes you are nervous, I can see it in you. In your hands, and in your beautiful brown eyes. And second, every woman on Naboo knows that someday she might be asked to administer The Ceremony, especially a handmaiden for a former Queen. So you don't have to worry about me. I've been prepared for this for a long time now."

Padme's heart swelled when she thought of Dorme dreaming of this the same way she had been. "So, what do I do," Padme said with heart racing fast in her chest.

"As I said. Just be here. Tonight, in your bedroom, in five hours. You won't see me until then."

"OK."

They rose from the couch, hugged each other tight, and then left towards separate rooms, practically floating.

IV.

Nights on Naboo are some of the most beautiful in the galaxy. Padme always believed this, and although she had been many places during her tenure as a Senator, she had yet to be proven otherwise. Here, in her lakehouse away from all, and away from the organized hustle of Theed City, she looked out her bedroom window and was comforted to see what she could only see here, especially not on Coruscant, where activity was constant; A night as quiet as space, with only the faint rustle of breeze; And a night dark blue under the moonlight. She was truly alone.

Padme stopped herself on this train of thought. She wasn't alone. Tomorrow, she was going to be married to the man she loved, and she would never be alone again. And tonight, she had Dorme, and The Ceremony.

She checked her chronodial like she had every minute on the minute for the last hour. The time was approaching. The lights in her room were dimmed to the rosy glow of candlelight, and the temperature set just warm enough to counter the slightly chilly night outside.

Padme took yet another look at herself in the mirror. She wished Dorme had told her more about what to do to get ready. She had dressed herself in a long, flowing, sundress, with her delicate shoulders exposed as slight ribbons of fabric arched over them. Her hair was curled meticulously, and done up in two small buns, one on each side of her head, with the rest of her hair escaping in twirls over her forehead, and down her back. She hoped she looked the way she needed to.

And then, there was a knock at the door. Padme almost jumped out of her shoes when she heard it, too startled to react properly.

With her voice almost strangled with nervousness, she managed to choked out a response.

The door opened and Dorme walked in slowly, shutting it behind her. She was dressed in a long robe, not that similar from what Anakin wore. It was closed around her, obscuring her from the neck down, with a hood up over her head. In the light, Padme could only see the glint of her big eyes, and the rosy glow of her cheeks and her lips.

Dorme almost gasped. "Oh my.....Padme. You look beautiful."

"I didn't know what to wear. I just thought I should...well, look good for you."

"You look wonderful, m'lady. More so than I could have ever imagined."

Padme smiled. "I'm not sure about the specifics of The Ceremony, but I think tonight....I'm the one who's supposed to call you `m'lady.'"

They both broke into wide smiles that warmed the room up even more. And with that, the tension and nervousness seemed to evaporate in the night. Dorme was pleased. Deep down, she knew Padme was more ready for this than she knew. It was time.

"Padme, step over here to me." Dorme walked to the center of the room, next to the large couch set in a recessed section of the floor. Somewhat taken aback by the sudden tone of formality, Padme stiffened slightly, but she still recognized the need for it. This was the beginning of it, of what she had been waiting for for so long.

Padme, her body surround by flowing fabric, seemed to float across the room. She stepped into the reclining pit with Dorme, and stood in front of her. She had known her handmaiden for years, but never had she felt this way around her. Never had she felt so, small, so vulnerable, so naked.

Dorme looked into Padme's eyes intently. While she had only hours to prepare for The Ceremony, she found this first part, the reading of the Intent, all too easy. She had it memorized as soon as Padme was no longer Queen, as soon as she saw how beautiful a woman she had grown into under the heavy robes and thick facepaint. She began the Intent.

"From the age of civilization, women on Naboo hold the ultimate secret in our hands. For it is in our hands that our culture has defined itself. It is from us that life flows, and only our hands have the ability to hold it all. And now, on the eve of your wedding, it is time for you to learn how to hold yourself, so that you may be a cup, a vessel for your mate. So that you too, like all Naboo women, can make yourself the vessel for his needs, and the owner of your own."

Having completed the only part of the Ceremony that was scripted, Dorme looked into Padme's eyes once more. She was trembling. Dorme reached out and took Padme's delicate hands into her own.

"It is time now."

Dorme lifted Padme's hand her to lips, where she placed a tender kiss on her palm.

"What do I do?" Padme said, barley able to contain her trembling.

"Let's just sit down. You'll know what to do."

Dorme led Padme to the couch, and sat down after her. The fabric was a dark red, and soft and yielding to their bodies. Dorme lowered her hood, revealing her beautiful face. Padme sighed uncontrollably, unable to repress the way her best friend was making her feel.

"Kiss me," Dorme said.

Those words were like a command to Padme, who was more accustomed to giving orders than receiving them. But upon her handmaiden's words, Padme felt what the Ceremony meant. She felt the need to be there for Dorme, to be with her, to love her in a way that she had never thought of before this moment.

Padme leaned forward, closed her eyes, and kissed Dorme. Their lips met, soft on soft, and the sensation overcame them both. Their lips had only moved against each other for the briefest moment before they simultaneously moaned into each other's eager mouths after which Padme fell instinctively into Dorme's arms. They embraced each other, with Padme tilting her head up submissively to accept more of Dorme's kiss. They were astonished at the softness of their kisses, and the sweet smell of their skin that was almost inescapable as the tips of their noses rubbed against each other. They continued kissing for what seemed like an eternity. Dorme reached up and undid the buns in Padme's hair while they kissed, her hair spilling down over them both.

Padme wrapped her arms around her, and drew her close. Before this, she had only kissed two other people, Palo and, of course, Anakin. But this...this was more wonderful than she had ever expected. Now, losing herself in Dorme's kisses, she wondered why she was ever afraid at all.

Finally, like two swimmers coming up for air, they broke their kiss, although they remained in each others arms. Looking into each other's eyes, they smiled, and laughed softly.

"Oh Dorme, I never thought it would be like this."

"It's just the beginning. The Ceremony has just started. Frankly, I'm looking forward to teaching you tonight. That's what the Ceremony is about, teaching you what you need to know to please your husband, and also how to find your own pleasure."

Pleasure. That word sent a slight chill through Padme's body. At 24, she was a virgin, and had yet to experience any form of sexual pleasure. She considered herself a passionate person, and she knew she had much love to give. But pleasure? The pleasure that lies from having a lover between her thighs, inside of her? That she had yet to explore. Dorme, confessing that this Ceremony was all about pleasure, made time stop still with her words.

Dorme, taking the initiative, and relishing it, reached out and placed her hand on the clasps of Padme's bodice, her eyes twinkling. "May I?"

"Oh yes...," Padme responded, pausing slightly before finishing, "M'lady."

Upon hearing Padme refer to her as she did, Dorme's heart began thumping in her chest, and she felt herself grow wet inside with the prospect of what was about to happen. Tonight, she was Padme's husband. She was the one who would teach Padme, a powerful senator, a woman proud and strong in her convictions, the meaning of love, and reduce her into the core of her womanhood, the essence of passion and pleasure underneath the everyday facade of civility she, as well as all people, present to others.

Dorme undid the clasps, one by one, from just under Padme's arm, to just above her waist. She reached into the gap and removed it, revealing Padme's naked, trembling torso. Padme instinctively reached her hands up to cover her naked breasts. Dorme stopped her.

"No, no. No hiding tonight. Not from me."

Padme lowered her hands back down, and Dorme reached out to cup Padme's young breasts in her hands. The senator closed her eyes and leaned back against the cushion to enjoy the feeling of Dorme's soft, soft hands roaming and gently squeezing. It sent an electric tingle through her chest and down into the pit of her stomach. The feelings continued and Padme relished them, seemingly lost, until a sudden shock of new sensations traveled through her. The feeling was wet, and warm on her breast.

She opened her eyes to find Dorme leaned forward, with her mouth and soft lips wrapped around the nipple of her right breast. Dorme reached up with her hands and cupped the breast, making it fuller against her face, and drawing it farther into her mouth, where her gentle sucking continued.

Padme couldn't take her eyes away from the sight of Dorme at her breast. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Before this night, her breasts were simply anatomical features. But now, with her beloved handmaiden taking pleasurable nourishment from them, she realized what her breasts were capable of, how they could give pleasure like milk to a lover who needs it, and how she could receive pleasure from being the one who gives it to that lover. She felt like...a vessel.

Upon this realization, Padme's need for more overtook her. She lifted Dorme from her breast and brought her back up to her lips. They kissed with a ferocity that surprised Dorme herself, as Padme almost threw her handmaiden back onto the couch and climbed on top of her. Dorme was amazed at just how little it took to bring the animal out of her lover.

On top, Padme kissed Dorme so hard they could feel their teeth though their lips. Their tongues darted in and out of each other mouths. Padme could feel hands gripping her breasts firmly as they kissed harder and harder. She felt the space between her legs soaked, and soon uncontrollably found herself grinding her hips into Dorme's. The hands that were on her breasts migrated to her hips, helping her movements. Padme no longer had control over herself, she was living on pure instinct, moving her hips the way a woman would to please her husband.

And then she felt it.

Underneath her, against the thin layer of her panties, she felt something hard pushing against her wet entrance. At once she knew what it was, but she couldn't believe it. Looking at Dorme with eyes begging for an explanation, she asked.

"Is that the....you know?"

"The Phaylyx. Yes it is."

Suddenly, the enormity of what that meant, began to hit her. When this ceremony was about kissing and touching another woman, that was one thing. But the Phaylyx was something completely different. Something completely different indeed. While Padme knew of the Ceremony (every girl was told about it growing up, although not in too much detail) she had heard of the Phaylyx in whispers. Now grown up, she considered that part of the Ceremony legend to be a myth. She was wrong.

Padme climbed off of Dorme and moved back to the other side of the couch. Every instinct told her to cover her breasts, but the part of her that was still very much surging with passion left them hang free.

"May I...see it?" Padme stammered nervously.

"Of course, my love. It is after all, for you."

Dorme stood up from the couch and undid the sash around her waist. The robe fell open to reveal she was wearing a simple brown tunic wrapped tight around her. She undid the clasp and it as well fell open revealing her breasts, which were fuller than Padme's. They seemed to hang just slightly lower, with darker skin that looked intoxicatingly smooth. Her nipples were erect, and Padme found her mouth watering just looking at them. Dorme lowered her skirt to the floor first, revealing slender tanned legs. Her white panties bulging at the crotch. Padme was almost frightened. She couldn't believe this was really happening.

Dorme stuck her thumbs in her panties, which she lowered to the floor. When she stood back upright after doing so, Padme saw it; The Phaylyx.

Standing out from between Dorme's thighs was a penis. It bobbed slightly as she stood; hard and inviting. Padme knew it wasn't real, at least not flesh and blood. She knew it was part of the ceremony, that it was constructed of the same droid technology that gave Anakin his replacement arm. She knew that underneath its skin were servos and wires that made it move. But yet, it seems to be real. Padme tried not to stare, but she couldn't ignore the fact that it didn't look like it was being worn. It looked like it was a part of its wearer.

"How did...I mean...can you feel with it?"

"Yes Padme, I can feel with it just fine."

"What does it feel like."

Dorme thought about this for a second. The ceremonial appendage had only been attached to her for a matter of hours, and until the ceremony started, she couldn't really feel it at all. But now, with it erect and pointing at her love, she felt it glowing with warmth as it unfurled from her, almost aching to be touched.

"It feels wonderful."

"But how did you find it. I mean, how did you get it so quickly?" Dorme cut her off with a wave.

"These are questions you don't need to know the answers to right now. All you need to know is a loyal handmaiden is ready for this many years before her Mistress knows she is ready. How it works is not important either. This is something you will find out when you administer the ceremony to someone you love someday. Now, tell me what you want."

The directness of the question startled Padme, plunging her back into the almost woozy delirium of the Ceremony. She looked at Dorme's penis and spoke the only thought that occupied her desires, "I want it in my mouth."

"Oh Padme, it is yours."

Dorme stepped forward to Padme, who was still sitting, naked from the waist up. She stepped until the silken head of her cock was in front of Padme's soft face. Padme leaned forward and opened her mouth ever so slightly, before opening wider and taking it into her mouth. The sudden flood of sensation was almost too much for Dorme, as her cock began transmitting sensation into her body. The Phaylyx was indeed a construction of robotics, but of an ancient design known only to Naboo women, who have passed knowledge of it down through the ages. It was attached to her via temporary genetic patches of nerves that connected it to her own genitals, and skin grafts to make it appear as it if was a part of her.

As Padme's mouth surrounded her cock, she felt the true power of the appendage as it sent bolts of pleasure through her body. She never imagined that Padme would adapt to her own needs so quickly. The image of seeing a former queen sucking uncontrollably on her penis made the feelings even more intense.

Padme was lost, but in a sense, found, in her pleasure. The penis was hot to the taste of her tongue, with skin that felt soft to the immediate touch, but hard, so wonderfully hard, underneath. As she bobbed her head back and forth, she could hear Dorme sighing in pleasure. The sound made her even more hot as she moaned softly with the penis in her mouth. For Dorme, it was like someone struck a nerve in her deepest being. The sensations were overwhelming, and she could feel something building up within her. It was the climax. She had been warned of this, and she knew that it was something meant for later in the ceremony. But the feeling, the inevitable surging sensation radiating from deep in her new penis as Padme sucked on it as if she was possessed, was too much.

Before it was too late, Dorme placed her hands on Padme's head, her hair almost instantly intertwining within her fingers. She pulled back slightly.

"Oh Padme, stop!"

Padme opened her mouth and removed herself from Dorme's cock. Her eyes flickered with the slightest trace of disappointment.

"What's wrong. Did I do something wrong?"

"No my darling. If anything, you were doing exactly what you should be doing; Losing yourself in your desires. It made me want to lose myself. That's the problem, we shouldn't progress too quickly. The ceremony has an order, and a purpose. And now I feel you are ready for the next step."

"I am?" Padme said, the look of excitement returning to her eyes. Her skin was flush with color. "What would that step be?"

Dorme simply looked across the room. Padme instantly knew what she was looking at.

"The bed?"

"Yes. The bed. It is time. Are you ready?"

"Oh God yes. I want you. I cant explain how I feel any other way."

"You don't need to. I'm feeling the same way."

Never breaking their gaze from each other, they walked, Padme backwards, towards the large, king sized bed in the corner of the room. Soon they were standing by it, and for a second, Padme felt the apprehension rising up in her again. This was her bed. The place where she slept, where she dreamt of peace on her planet and in the galaxy, where she dreamt of Anakin. And now, half naked in front of the only woman she's ever kissed, a woman whose ceremonial phallus had been in her mouth, it all started her to hit her all over again, what this meant.

Dorme could sense this and took control, as the handmaiden should. She stepped back ever so slightly.

"Take the rest of your dress off." She said this in a firm, commanding way that she had never before used when talking to Padme.

"Yes, M'lady."

Padme reached down and undid the hip clasp for her dress. It fell to the floor quickly with a soft swoosh of fabric.

"And now the panties."

"Yes, M'lady." Padme answered in the submissive without a trace of knowing irony. At this moment, she spoke as she truly was no longer a senator, but a willing lover ready to be held, kissed, positioned, and yes, penetrated, by her lover.

Padme lowered her panties to the floor. Dorme almost couldn't believe how beautiful she was. The sight of her perfect young body, skin so milky white, was almost enough to make her look away for fear of losing control. Maybe it was the ceremony, most definitely it was the Phaylyx between her legs; Whatever it was, she knew the power of this moment was about to take over.

"Get on the bed, Padme. It's my turn to please you now."

Padme pulled the blanket and sheets down and started to get in.

"No, no. Not in bed. I said, on the bed," Dorme said, correcting gently. "You'll need your legs free."

The sweet mystery of those words and what they meant made her tremble again. Padme laid on top of the covers, her skin seeming all the more white against the red sheets. Dorme walked to the foot of the bed, where she took in a second to drink in the sight of Padme's naked body, before climbing onto the bed catlike. With her head propped up slightly on pillows, Padme watched Dorme do this, her breasts hanging down beautifully, her waist leading into her hips.

Dorme moved halfway up until her face was inches away from Padme's vagina. Dorme could feel the heat coming from it, and a scent as sweet as the Naboo breeze. She looked up the length of Padme's torso from this position, noting her flat, toned stomach trembling slightly; her breasts, heavy enough to press back on herself as she was on her back, but firm with youth enough to remain luscious and full at the same time. Their eyes locked in this position for just a moment, like two lovers gazing across an endless expanse. Dorme instantly wanted to kiss her sweet lips again, but the ceremony demanded that another set of lips take precedence.

Dorme closed her eyes and lowered her head between Padme's thighs, her lips and face coming into contact with Padme's vagina. The sheer warmth of the flesh consumed her as she reached out with her tongue once, twice, three times until she found the wet, sweet folds of flesh inside Padme. The taste was delicious, and instantly Dorme's need for Padme's taste became a hunger. Dorme wrapped her arms around Padme's slender thighs, locking them in position as she buried her face in Padme's warmth.

Padme's back arched as the pleasure overtook her. To her, the sensation was simply indescribable; Dorme's soft, wet tongue probing her in a place where she had never been touched before.

Dorme licked and nibbled everywhere she could, around the edges and inside, every so often, flicking her tongue across Padme's hard clitoris. Every time she did so, Padme responded with a gasp, almost a squeak. The sound, passionate, but almost deliciously cute, made Dorme continue even harder. And as she did, Padme's wetness began to increase. Dorme suddenly wanted it all over her, she pushed her face deeper and deeper into her lover's wetness, licking and licking. One of Padme's hands gripped the sheets so hard her knuckles turned white, while the other softly pounded the mattress.

"Oh, Dorme......Ohhhhhhh," she gasped.

Dorme released herself from Padme's vagina with a wet smack, her face almost dripping with her love. She felt it. With every step, Padme was nearing closer and closer to the true meaning of the ceremony. It was only a matter of time until it happened.

With one graceful movement, Dorme lifted herself up on top of Padme. Face to face, they felt the glorious sensation of breast pressing against breast. Padme instinctively spread her legs to accommodate her new female lover. They kissed almost instantly, and Padme tasted her own body on Dorme's lips. They shared the taste together in a whirlwind of wet lips and tongues sliding against each other. Padme subconsciously realized that Dorme was a woman too, and as women, they should know what they like; Padme wrapped her arms around Dorme, and traced soft lines up the middle of her long back. Almost instantly, Dorme moaned passionately into Padme's mouth, increasing the intensity of the kisses a thousand fold.

Padme could no longer ignore the feel of Dorme's cock pressing hard against her. This had gone so far, she knew what she wanted now. There was no question. Padme broke the kiss and looked into Dorme's eyes.

"Make love to me. Please."

"Oh darling, of course. But there is a way that this must be done. Are you ready?"

"Yes, anything you ask of me I will do. Anything."

"Very well."

Dorme climbed off of Padme and stood at the side of the bed. She wiped at her face with the back of her arm and prepared herself. For while there was no Intent to be spoken at this final act, there were still words that needed to be spoken. And she did.

"Padme, a woman is capable of so much pleasure. It is this pleasure that keeps our world, and life on this universe in a state of continuance. For men want nothing more than to be a part of that pleasure, to be with us as we open ourselves and our universe of passion to them to share. But for us to share, we must first find our passion inside of ourselves. That is what the ceremony is all about. I can only hope that you have found this evening as pleasurable as I have, sharing my womanhood, and my femininity with your own. But this has only been the beginning."

Dorme turned and walked back to her robes, still left piled in a heap by the couch. Padme leaned herself up on her right elbow to watch, seeing Dorme's curvy, hourglass shape walk away into the dusky shadows of the room. A shaft of soft orange light played across Dorme's back and buttocks. Padme noted, and loved, how curvy she was. She understood what femininity was now that she could see this. Although Dorme was only a few years older, and still unmarried and childless, Padme saw her at this moment as a mother of sorts, a mother and a sister who has always been there for her.

Dorme crouched and pulled a small purple velvet pouch out of her robe. She walked back over to the bed and held it out in front of her. It was tied up by a golden cord of fabric. She gently pulled on the cord with her slender, delicate fingers, and it opened slightly. She reached in and Padme could hear a slight sound of clacking, as if stones were being knocked together. From out of the pouch, Dorme pulled out three small carvings. She stepped over to the small oaken nightstand and placed these carvings on it, setting them up in a straight line.

Padme saw them to be indeed carved out of stone; Granulite Stone, which while hued a dark purple, still shone with glints of crystal flecked throughout the rock. They were simple carvings, lacking detail, but yet their individual geometric shapes were familiar to her, for they were indeed present amongst much of Naboo's architecture.

Dorme sat on the edge of the bed, looking towards Padme, whose ivory legs instinctively moved slightly against her lover, touching her lower back as she sat.

"Padme, do you recognize what these are?"

"I think I do." Pointing to the first carving, a blunt tower, with a flared base. "That's the Temple at Theed City."

"Correct. And the next?"

Sitting in the middle was an archway. Although it was carved, it looked as if a thick column of stone had been bent so that it would stand on its own. Padme also recognized this shape.

"It's the Portal of Passage at Bareen Province."

"Also correct. And the last?"

It was a circle, flattened on the base so it would stand.

"The symbiotic circle monument, constructed in Theed after the treaty with the Gungans was signed."

"Once again, correct. Although that monument was based off of a design of origins much more ancient. Still, you know them all. But now, you will understand why these shapes hold so much meaning for us as a people, as a culture, as women."

Dorme reached out for the first carving, and held it in her hand.

"The Temple at Theed. Constructed hundreds of years ago by men who studied their craft from their fathers, who learned from their fathers. But did you know, it was a husband and wife who drew the plans?"

"No. I guess I just assumed that it was a man."

"Most do. But indeed it was a man and a woman who were commissioned to create the Temple, and imbue the stone and steel that formed it with meaning that would make it more than just another building. And they did. Their inspiration was the Ceremony. More specifically this first act of it."

Padme's eyes grew wide as she listened.

"The Temple, as you have seen, is formed of two pieces. The base, which holds firm the second piece, The Tower, which is what gives it the glorious beauty of stone reaching for sky. Which is why, here and now, in your bed, we will form the tower."

Padme's heart began racing as she started to understand what was about to happen.

Dorme reached out and started caressing Padme's hair. "There are many ways for a husband and wife to make love. Tonight you will learn the three that are considered sacred by the women of Naboo. This first way, is for your pleasure. A way for you to be made love to with respect that a women, especially a former Queen, deserves. A way where you will rise and display everything you are to your lover."

Padme could no longer stand it. She sat up in bed, skin flushed, perfect pink nipples standing proud. "Oh Dorme, please tell me what I need to do," she spoke in a breathy, almost desperate voice.

"Move over, make room for me."

Padme moved over and let Dorme climb into bed where she laid on her back. Her heavy breasts slid to the sides of her torso. To Padme, they look unbelievably soft, incredibly malleable like clay. Her cock, which was soft, started to swell slowly, growing taller and taller until it stood up from her body like the tower she mentioned earlier.

Dorme looked at her with her large, blue eyes. "You know what to do, Padme. You've always known."

And indeed Padme knew. She climbed up over Dorme, positioning the silken, throbbing head of Dorme's cock against her wet entrance. There was no need to ask for permission, or ask what to do or how to do it. She knew. She knew she wanted to make love to her tender, soft handmaiden. And she wanted that hard, hard cock inside of her. With one fluid motion, she sat down on it. It slid inside of her slowly as she accepted it into her virginal body. She felt it fill her up inside, filling up the space inside her that she didn't know was empty, that she didn't know needed to be filled, until this night, until Dorme reached inside of her, and made her wet.

Dorme was lost now, lost in the ecstasy of feeling her ceremonial penis sliding deep into Padme's soft wetness. Her back arched as sensations from her cock, a warm ache, spread all though her all at once. And it was at once that she felt the bottoms of Padme's thighs hit hers. She was inside. All the way inside. For a moment they remained perfectly still. Dorme opened her eyes and looked at Padme. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Padme, legs spread, her brown pubic hair tangling with the hair surrounding Dorme's cock, her body rising up, straight up, revealing every perfect line and curve of her body.

And then, they instinctively began moving with each other. Padme began moving her hips back and forth, while Dorme responded to this movement by thrusting upwards every so slightly in time with her lover. Dorme grabbed Padme's hips. She had no idea how she knew how to do this, but it was if the Phaylyx was controlling her now. It needed to be pleased, it needed more flesh. More wetness, more sensation.

Padme tilted her head back as Dorme did this, moaning into the quiet night at the cock filling her, her clit engorged and moving just enough with each thrust to send wave upon wave of pleasure, sweet glorious pleasure, all through her. Her breasts ached to be touched, as she grasped them and held them firmly to herself, bucking her hips harder and harder. They had yet to speak one word to each other.

Then, Padme began to feel it. A tingling warmth deep inside her, a warmth which started to become a feeling of weightlessness in her head and her body.

"Oh God...oh Dorme! I'm.....I'm....."

Dorme was astounded that it was all happening so quickly, that Padme was unlocking the secrets of her own pleasure so fast. It was touching hearing Padme attempting to bring voice to what she was feeling; to bring it into words solidifying the feelings into reality. Dorme knew Padme would know. Every woman on Naboo did.

Padme's body thrusted up and down harder and harder. The bed's creaking became louder and louder, as her body bent back, breasts madly careening up and down with the movement.

"I'm......I'm.....I'm Comeiiiiiiiiiiiinge! Ahhhhhhhhh!" Padme exclaimed, her face an expression that could have been mistaken for pain, but was instead a countenance of pure pleasure. Dorme's heart grew hot in her chest hearing Padme say the words, the sacred words, which every women on Naboo knew deep in her heart, whether she knew it or not.

To come, to arrive, to follow, to stay in the heart of orgasm was a sacred experience, and sharing it with Padme was almost overwhelming.

As Padme's orgasm subsided, as her vision returned to her, she fell forward, just barely getting her arms in position to hold herself from landing completely on her lover. Her skin was beaded with sweat, her breath heavy. They gazed into each others eyes, their faces inches from each other.

"Oh my God, Dorme. That was...I mean...it was so...wonderful. I had no idea I could feel that way."

"I always knew you could."

"I wish you would have told me a long time ago," Padme said smiling. "I would have gotten engaged a long time ago."

They laughed softly, before kissing and holding each other. It was amazing to them how natural their lips felt together, and the ease with which they began the kissing again.

Dorme then continued. The ceremony wasn't over yet.

"My love, what you just experienced was orgasm. It is the culmination of both physical and spiritual love. It is something you can enjoy yourself, or share with your lover. I can't tell you how proud I was when you came."

"Came? Wow, I guess I did say that didn't I? I almost don't realize what I was saying."

"Your subconscious knew what to say. Even though the sensation was new for you, you knew to cry out that you were coming."

"'Coming.' It sounds so....well, I don't know. It sounds, poetic."

"That it is. That it is."

Padme looked at her sheepishly like a child wanting more candy. "Can I come again?"

"Yes you can. Do you want to?

"Oh yes, Dorme. More than anything. But, what about you?"

Dorme didn't quite know how to answer that one. For while she knew the husband's pleasure was part of the ceremony. And she knew the ceremonial penis she wore had the ability to climax, she was unsure. Unsure as to how to come, and when to come. The appendage, still erect between her legs, was proving to be trickier than she had thought. But she looked to the nightstand and saw the carvings there, and knew that the answers would find themselves in The Ceremony.

Reaching over with her hand she tipped the tower over, letting it clank against the wood. She grasped the Arch and held it over her collarbone, letting Padme look at it.

"This is the Portal of Passage, also constructed years ago. Meant to serve as the gateway between Bareen City, and the Mountain villages beyond it. But do you know why it is an arch?"

"No."

"The Portal was built in the midst of a natural wall of rock. While some of the wall was cleared away to make room, one section could not be. Which meant that whatever structure that was to be built through it, had to be one that could support the weight of the stone upon it. And that is why they used the arch. The arch is one of the strongest structures known to man. The weight it can support on its back is astonishing. It is for that reason that the people of Bareen built an arch through that wall."

"And I suppose that arch was designed by the same people who designed the temple?" Padme said, smiling a wry grin.

"Why yes, they did. And would you like to know why they did it the way they did?"

"Yes."

"Very well. I'll tell you." Dorme got up from the bed again, walking around to the foot. She gestured for Padme to follow her. Padme climbed out of the sheet and padded around to stand next to Dorme. Their naked bodies reflected beautifully in the window that overlooked the valley outside.

Dorme gently tossed the arch carving, where it landed with a soft sound near the pillows. She looked at Padme, standing next to her, and said, "Well, go get it."

Padme started to walk over to the side of the bed, but Dorme grasped her arm, flesh warm to the touch. "No, no. Not that way."

Padme started to understand. She climbed up the foot of the bed and made her way on all fours up the mattress. Just as she reached the carving, Dorme grasped Padme's hips firmly from behind, holding her in that position. Padme was resting on her elbows and knees, her buttocks up in the air.

"Now you know. Now you know what the arch is. And what it means for the woman to use her body as the arch. How do you feel this way?"

Padme thought about this for a second. She knew that people made love this way, but she had never really thought about how she would feel in this position. Deep down, she had always considered it something that was degrading in a way. That it was like treating a woman like an animal. But now, her head down, her hips and butt up in the air behind her, she felt...proud. She felt, powerful. Just knowing, just sensing that Dorme was behind her, wanting, teaching, and needing her, Padme felt completely in control.

"I feel...wonderful." Looking over her shoulder and Dorme, she said, "And who's pleasure would this be for."

Dorme knew the answer. All at once, when she looked at her erect cock, and realized its power and its hunger, she responded.

"For mine!"

Losing complete control of herself, Dorme grabbed Padme's hips hard and pulled them back against her. Her cock surged into Padme's waiting, wet lips. Padme let out a sound that was a cross between a high pitched gasp of surprise and a moan. The sound seemed to travel all the way though Dorme's body, and she thrusted harder and harder, not letting go of Padme's soft hips.

Padme reached out with her hands and grabbed the wooden headboard, using it to help press herself backwards onto Dorme's cock. Dorme caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window reflection to the right, she could see herself pumping in and out of her best friends tight opening, the rounded cheeks of Padme's butt up against her. The bed creaked even louder than it did during the tower ritual. This time, the mattress practically shook with their reciprocal thrusting.

Sweat seemed to pour down Dorme's chest, down her abdomen. She could envision it running off her and down the soft canal of Padme's bare back, into her hair, down around her neck, into her mouth. She was amazed at how good it felt to thrust, to use Padme's body in a way that pleased them both. Was this what men felt?

And then Dorme felt it, that feeling building up deep inside her. Growing, pulsing. She knew what it was. And while she knew that the ritual of the Arch was the time for her to let go, she wanted Padme to come again. She wanted to last long enough to her Padme cry out again. But there was no denying the building sensation inside her new cock. She tried to slow down in an effort to allay the orgasm. Upon feeling this, Padme, head still face down in a red pillow practically screamed.

"God dammit! Dorme, don't stop! Please, please just fuck me harder!"

Upon hearing such a sacred profanity come from Padme's mouth, any pretense of holding back on Dorme's part dissolved. She let loose, pumping out harder and harder still. The headboard was clunking against the wall. Their animalistic sounds echoed back and forth between them. Words were as useless here as they were in the vacuum of space.

"Uhhhhh. Uhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Goddddddddddddd!."

"Arrrrr, ohhhhhhh, eeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa. Paaaadmeee, I'm coming!"

And with that, Dorme came. When she uttered the words, she realized the difference in the way it sounded when Padme said it. Padme came in a long silent scream, the word stretching out over the seconds. But for Dorme, the feeling of orgasm hit her so fast, she only had the energy to spit the declaration out before it hit her.

It felt like bolts of laser fire where shooting from her, as the cock pulsed out. Once, twice, three times, surging blasts of pleasure seemed to consume everything she was. Her legs buckled and she dropped to her knees, sliding out of Padme, landing in a naked sweaty heap near the foot of the bed.

Padme immediately rolled over, gasping for air. She shimmied over to the end of the bed, lying on her stomach, she looked over the foot like looking over a cliff. Dorme was curled up on the carpet, dazed, a look in her eyes like she had just awoken from a peaceful dream.

"Dorme, are you OK?"

It took her handmaiden a few seconds to respond. "Oh God yes. I think so anyway."

"What happened? Did I hurt you?"

"No, no. You didn't hurt me at all. I just wasn't ready for how that would feel. It was wonderful."

"Well don't stay down there. Come up here and be with me."

Padme reached her hand down to Dorme. She helped lift her up back onto the bed where the two of them laid against each other, still above the sheets and blankets, letting the air cool their young bodies. They held each other, the soft on soft feel of their skin leading them into more tender kisses.

They continued kissing for quite a long time. Letting their passion cool, but not letting the embers die. They stopped and looked each other in the eyes again. They both had the look of sexual satisfaction in their eyes, a dreamy satiated look. Padme glanced over to the bedside table again. Dorme noticed this.

"You cant be ready for more?"

"Oh yes I can be. Now that I know how easy this is, and how good it feels, I don't want to stop."

Dorme laughed. "I believe you. I knew there was a real woman underneath all that work and toil."

"Tell me about the last carving. Please."

Padme asked in such a plaintive tone, Dorme could do nothing but respond.

"While it is true that the circle representing a symbiotic relationship has been around much longer than we all know, its meaning here is something much deeper. A sexual relationship is one of the most beautiful and enriching things that two people can experience. But while I'm sure that tonight you realize that it can feel wonderful, it is only truly over a lifetime of sharing yourself with your mate that you can understand what I mean. You are about to embark on this journey with your husband. But where this last ritual is different is that while the tower and portal were to instruct you in regards to your husband. This ritual is for us.

"Us."

"Yes. For only during the Ceremony can we know the ecstasy of a woman sharing love with a woman. It is our way. So the circle represents us, and is how we will bring this night to a close, by celebrating the sacred power of woman joining with woman."

Dorme reached down between her legs and grasped the Phaylyx around the base. She was amazed at how one second it was so powerful, and now how it seems so vulnerable and soft. Perhaps the penis is more revealing of a man's true nature than many have believed. How it captures their duel essence as well; the protector and the eternal child needing protection.

Nevertheless, the time for such things was over now. With her other hand, Dorme reached over and under the scrotum. Pressing, she found a small hard nub. Pressing on that at the same time as a slight twist at the base caused a slight click. A small flap of skin raised up around it, peeling away all around the circumference. Padme's eyes grew large as she watched. Dorme tucked her fingers into this flap and lifted, and the entire penis and testicles simply came away from her, revealing the patch of trimmed dark hair that marked her own genitalia.

Dorme lightly gasped as the Phaylyx came away from her. As the thin tendrils of cord that connected its arcane droid nerve system to her own were pulled out of her vagina, she sensation was a surprising one. It felt like a long, hard stretch you take first thing in the morning, after all your muscles were tight. While it was a phenomenal experience having worn it, having her own womanhood free finally felt wonderful. Padme's eyes were wide, transfixed by what now lay between her handmaiden's thighs. She lifted herself up on her elbow again, a slight tremor in her voice.

"May I...touch you?"

"Oh yes, you most certainly may."

Padme lightly brushed her fingertips over and through the dark, curly hair that surrounded Dorme's sex. Each time letting them burrow ever so slightly deeper into them until she eventually touched the warm, soft entrance. With a knowing glance, Dorme approved this action, and Padme pressed slightly, letting her fingers push slowly inside.

She was amazed at the feeling; at how wet her best friend was. Once inside, her fingers almost instantly slid in past the knuckle. Dorme sighed in pleasure as Padme's delicate fingers filled her. Padme turned her hand so that her free thumb pressed against Dorme's clit.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. Padme, that feels so good."

"Am I doing it right? Please tell me what you are feeling."

"Oh my mistress. Your hands are so soft. Kiss me."

With her fingers still flexing inside Dorme, Padme leaned against her and they kissed, their lips tasting of passion. With each subtle movement of Padme's thumb, Dorme felt a flowering warmth growing inside her. And even though she knew what this sensation was, and knew that it was more than allowed, she also knew that just because the Phaylyx was no longer needed, it didn't mean that this Ceremony and its ritual was over. Therefore, the final orgasm, the holy release of feminine energy, must be delayed for just one last, aching moment.

Dorme reached down between her thighs and grasped Padme's hand. Withdrawing it, she raised it to her mouth where she gently sucked on Padme's index finger, tasting the warm sweetness of her own sex on the former Queen's finger. Padme gasped softly as Dorme licked it clean, then moving from that finger to the next, where she continued. After finishing the ring finger, the two women looked at each other, communicating the unspoken. Padme knew what she wanted now.

"I want to taste you too."

"Then help yourself. It's all for you."

Padme hesitated. Dorme instantly tried to reassure her.

"What's wrong, my love."

"Well...I'm afraid. I'm not sure why."

"Is it because we are women?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. I mean this night has been wonderful, but all we've done before was with the...well, you know."

"The Phaylyx."

"Yea. I mean that way, it was you making love to me, but behind a penis."

"Do you not want me without it?" Dorme spoke this confidently. She knew the Ceremony well, and knew that this last expression of love for womanhood was often difficult for initiates. She also knew that Padme, of all people, had the strength to overcome her fears.

"I do want you Dorme. I mean, I've never dreamed of feeling anything so soft. Anything so wonderful, this sharing with you. I feel you all through me right now. So it's not that. But it's just hard because...well."

"Hush." Dorme sat up, her breasts swinging slightly with the motion. "Padme, I know what you are worried about. You are worried about what other people will think. Or about what you will think of yourself. Naboo is a different planet than so many others, this you know. What we will share tonight, is shared between all women of Naboo, it is something we have all done and all thought about. For two women of Naboo to be together is to continue a holy tradition. We are lucky to have been born on a planet where we can share this with each other without fear of recrimination. Here, all women, be they friends, sisters, mothers, or daughters, are eventually lovers. For at least one night, anyway. Now, what do you want.? What do you really, really want?

Padme smiled, understanding at last.

"I want to taste you."

"Good. Than do so. Your lady commands it."

Padme started to shuffle down to the end of the bed, just as Dorme had done earlier. But Dorme grasped Padme's leg as she moved.

"No, no. Not like that. These stay up here with me."

"My legs? How can I get down there if I cant move."

"Oh but you can move. You just have to adapt."

"Adapt?"

"Yes. Form the circle."

Padme looked at the final carving, and began to figure it out. Staying parallel to Dorme, Padme turned herself upside down on the bed, her head near Dorme's feet, swinging her own feet near the headboard. She tenderly raised herself up on her hands and feet and climbed up on top of Dorme this way, relishing the exotic feel of her own hanging breasts brushing against Dorme's soft stomach. Dorme's hot sex was now right in front of her face. Padme felt Dorme wrapping her arms around her own legs, spreading them slightly; the cool feel the the pillowcases pressing against her own feet, which were placed, one on each side of Dorme's head.

Padme looked at the mirror across the room. She saw them, one on top of the other, turned upside down, as a circle. A perfect circle.

Padme looked back, and lowered her head to Dorme's vagina. The taste and scent instantly enveloped her and her tongue instinctively snaked out to probe, to lick, and to taste. Dorme propped her own head up on a pillow, and did the same to Padme, arching her neck up so that she could reach up with her own pink, tender tongue, needing to retaste the warmth that lay between her best friend's thighs. As soon as she did so, she could feel Padme's soft moan of pleasure instantly being exclaimed into her own wet sex. The feeling of the wordless moan traveled through Dorme and made her softly moan into Padme's clasping mouth.

And that's how they stayed for quite some time, body pressed to body, mouths to luscious, sweet genitalia, taking from each other what they needed. Their bodies became drenched in sweat again, as their skin started to slide in a wonderful friction of lust. The only sounds were their moans of passion, muffled by their own dripping vaginas.

And then it started to happen. Dorme could feel it. She could feel it in Padme's increasingly high pitched sounds of pleasure spoke into the heart of her body. She could feel it in the way Padme's own pussy started to become more and more wet, and the way the wetness started to taste even more sweet by the second. Padme's body started to become rigid atop of her handmaiden, then a slight quaking in her muscles. Dorme held Padme's hips to her mouth even more firmly as she prepared for the inevitable.

Padme suddenly released her mouth and face from Dorme's sex with a loud smack as she raised her head up and came, this time much more violently than she did the first time.

"Gods I'm....I'm....cummmmmmmmmmmm.....eeeeeeee.eeeeeeeeeeeee.eeeeeeee," Padme screamed into the darkness of the room, so awash in the pleasure radiating from her body as Dorme licked that her words trailed off in a loud squeak that raised and lowered in pitch as the waves washed over her.

Dorme heard Padme cry out and only had a second to prepare herself before Padme fulfilled the Ceremony. Instantly, a flood of wet started to burst from Padme's vagina in perfect time to her cries. It splattered all over Dorme, filling her mouth, and drenching her face where it ran down her neck like a waterfall, collecting in the nape of her neck.

As the intensity of Padme's orgasm subsided, she started to realized what had happened. Instinctively, she tried to climb off of her handmaiden, believing herself to have urinated. But Dorme wanted more, and she knew that her lover could provide it. At the first sign of Padme attempting to move, Dorme wrapped her arms around Padme's hips even harder and continued thrusting her tongue in and around. Realizing that Dorme was fine, Padme gave in and lost control again as her mental defenses fell and she started to come yet again.

"Oh my....I can't beliveeeeeeeeeeeeee. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhohhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Once again her words were gone in a groan and she felt her body let loose as she ejaculated yet again over her handmaiden's face. This time, knowing that what she was feeling was what Dorme wanted, she let go completely and her orgasm seemed to stretch over untold minutes, radiating in waves from her as her vagina poured fourth uncontrollably.

As Dorme continued to drink up the sweet liquid spurting from Padme's body, hearing her come again so quickly atop her made her lose control herself, and Dorme came as well, never removing her mouth from Padme's soft, drenched lips. The sensations only served to push Padme even farther than she though she could, as her own orgasm went on and on and on still, their cries blending together into one gentle scream.

And then it was over. Padme, released from the grip of her orgasm, collapsed. Dorme's head fell back in exhaustion, her face quickly becoming sticky sweet with Padme's juice all over her. Dorme opened her eyes to see Padme's buttocks suspended above her, spread slightly, listening to her heaving breathing they moved up and down gently and seductively. Padme rolled off of her lover with a tired groan. They laid there like that for a long time catching their breath. Dorme decided to go to her, after all, it was Padme who came three times tonight.

Dorme slithered her way across the bed to Padme, where they curled up next to each other. Padme looked at her with pleading eyes.

"What just happened?"

"Padme, my love. You just discovered it. The secret that all Naboo woman own to themselves."

"You mean when I..." Padme paused with embarrassment.

"You ejaculated. It's a marvelous thing. And a rare thing as well."

"You mean not all women can do it?"

"Some can. Many can't. Those that can are prized all over this galaxy. But the most important thing to remember is that it is something that all women born on Naboo can do. That is the goal of the Ceremony; to teach a woman how to let her love flow from her like the waterfalls that cross the planet. Do you understand now?"

"Yes, I think I do. Does that mean that the Ceremony is over now?"

"Yes. It does. But believe me that our night together is something I will never forget."

"Me neither." Padme's eyes filled with tears.

"I love you Dorme. I love you so much. Thank you."

"And I love you too Padme. I always have. I hope I've taught you well."

And they held each others naked, sweaty bodies in the night. Eventually, they fell asleep in each other arms, a senator and handmaiden, bonded on this night as lovers.

V.

Padme awoke a few hours later. Still naked, but now with a blanket covering her. Dorme was gone. Somehow, Padme knew she would be. She looked at the chronodial across the room and saw that in minutes the sun would be rising. Reluctantly, she brushed the blanket aside and climbed out of bed. She thought of grabbing her robe, but decided against it. After all she learned tonight, she no longer felt the need to cover herself. If she had to, she felt she could walk through the heart of Theed City in the nude.

She walked to the window overlooking the valley below. It was still dark outside, although the sky was turning a kind of lightest purple as the sun came ever closer to breaking the horizon. Soon, Anakin would be here, and her new life as a beloved wife would begin. True, it would be a union in secret. But now, knowing what she had learned from Dorme, sweet Dorme, and The Ceremony, she felt able to enter this union proudly, with the dignity of a Queen.

Padme looked and saw the small waterfall in the distance pouring over the side of the cliff. In the predawn air under the soft moonlight, she saw the water wasn't blue, but a rich inviting lavender. Dorme's beautiful body and the way it felt against her crossed her mind once more, and Padme felt a warm glow inside. She felt honored that she had been brought into the world of pleasure that all women of Naboo held dear. And she hoped that someday she would be able to teach the same lesson to her daughter.

The End.

with the exception of the above notice of characters and concepts belonging to Lucasfilm Ltd, the above story is copyright 2004 S. Sandoval.