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From the pad they were escorted to meet with the king in his palace, though it was unlike any palace that Padme had ever seen before. It was built into an actual portion of one of the giant wroshyr trees that made up the city, and had an admittedly beautiful balcony leading into it, down and around in various ways along the tree's outer trunk. It was further connected by large chains, or what she thought at first were chains, to other nearby trees. It was only when she was close that Padme saw that these were actually vines of immense girth.
The king was an ancient Wookie going gray of fur in some places, but he was as tall as Chewbacca, and he greeted the party warmly on the patio which led into the palace proper, followed by several other Wookies. "Greetings, oh Warrior Queen! Tales of your bravery against the dishonorable and cowardly Trade Federation have come before you, of course. I also was enraged to hear that you were attacked en route to our planet. I cannot apologize enough for not anticipating that."
Padme, garbed in her ultra-formal robes, greeted him just as warmly, forgoing much of the ceremony she had built up in her head when she realized that the Wookies really did not stand on ceremony, even at the highest level of their government. She stepped forward from her party, gesturing with her fingers to her two maids to move to the side and away with the Jedi so that the two monarchs could meet truly face-to-face.
"King Grakchawwaa, tales of your own bravery and skill of hand and mind also reached my ears through the words of your subjects. While the journey here was more exciting than I had hoped, that is no fault of yours, and my welcome thus far has been all anyone could ask for, if not as formal as I had obviously anticipated." Padme then gestured to herself rather patronizingly. "I'd go get changed into something more comfortable, your Majesty, but this takes so long to get on and off. In truth, I'm beginning to see the benefits of having fur."
The king laughed at Padme's little joke, clasping one of his large hands onto hers and shaking so thoroughly that Padme nearly winced, though she kept it off her face easily. From there the two monarchs went inside alone. Over the next few hours Padme officially signed over the Lucrehulk to the Wookie government, receiving in turn the signed trade agreements which would formalize the understanding between their governments. She also talked about extending those agreements, and did what would have taken several days with most Republic governments in about half a day.
Around five in the local evening, Padme came out of the palace smiling happily, wincing slightly as the king had shaken her hand again, somewhat injuring her arm and shoulder. Aayla and the other padawans noticed, and Harry and Kass immediately began to soothe the ache away via the Force, their hands touching her shoulder and wrist.
"They like you," Aayla said while the other two worked, gesturing over to a few Wookies nearby and then back to the king.
"I like them," Padme replied honestly. "I will admit that I haven't actually met many Wookies in person, but all the ones I have seem to be good people to meet. And I really like Malla and Chewie. Rocks of good sense and dependability, the pair of them."
Linking her arm with the Rutian Twi'lek, Padme grabbed Sabe's arm with the other. "Now, let's get me out of this clown outfit and go exploring!"
After Padme had changed into something much more suitable for moving around the city, Chewbacca led the group through a tour of the city and then to his family's home. House was a bit of a misnomer for this edifice, just like calling the king's residence a palace. Again it was built into the solid bark of a wroshyr tree, this one situated near the edge of the city. The actual home encompassed at least six or seven stories up and down from the entrance they were shown to, which Chewie said was for children who had yet to be allowed out of the central-most trees in the city, which were called crèche trees.
Each family in the clan had a small central room to themselves, along with far smaller sleeping quarters which reminded the Jedi of their own small sleeping quarters in the Temple. There was a large balcony several stories up which served as the clan's communal area. Here the padawans were split, boys and girls, with Kass and Aayla joining Padme and her two maids in one of the larger rooms, which they shared with a few females from Chewbacca's family, the Jedi translating the local dialect for the non-Jedi easily.
Chewbacca, on the other hand, put Mak and Harry up in his own room, explaining that he and Malla had yet to carve out their own house. They had not yet decided whether to simply enlarge the clan's domain, or build their own home somewhere else. They weren't in any rush; Wookies could live for a little over four hundred years or so, after all, so there was no need. Indeed, for his people, Chewbacca was the equivalent of Obi-Wan in age and would remain so for the next hundred or so years.
Malla was a few years younger than Chewie, and though she did not share in Chewbacca's wanderlust, she was in no more rush to start building a family than he was. And while she didn't like being in space, Malla had greatly enjoyed her time so far on Naboo. The wide open spaces and the ability to swim without worrying about any danger fascinated her.
That evening the Wookies prepared a large meal for the clan and their guests. It looked as if the entire clan and then some were going to join them for a meal tonight. The guests were told that the meal would include some of the local delicacies with a certain air that made the Force sensing individuals among those guests noticeably wary. Mak nudged Harry in the shoulder. "Are we about to have a bit of another eyeball incident?"
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