Author's Notes: Whether this is AU or not depends on what happens to Naboo in Episode Three.
DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
The forest was ancient, beautiful. Sunlight spilled through the spidery, moss-covered branches of the fallen trees, the size of some core beasts. The air was murky and misty, just the way the young Gungan liked it.
Tappi readjusted his electropole on his shoulder and continued his dogged trek through the swamps, feeling cool mud ooze over his hard feet. He stopped and smiled a little, squishing to and fro in the mud, his earflaps whizzing behind his head like twin flags. His billed face split in a happy grin.
SQUILCH! A faint noise from the mud caught Tappi's attention. He glanced down, then bent down to retrieve the small wooden box that had fallen from his belt. He hurriedly brushed the mud from it before securing it to his tattered leather pants.
There was a time when he wouldn't have had to do this, he thought ruefully. If only...
There had been a time when the Gungans were feared warriors, living in the beautiful ancestral cities like Otoh Gunga. Tappi's father had even traveled with Jedi Knights, and Queen Amidala of the Naboo herself.
But the Empire had changed all that. Otoh Gunga and all the similar cities had been destroyed by the Empire's hideous stormtroopers, in small aquatic subs that disrupted the huge bubbles. A handful of Gungans had escaped from each city, now dwelling in dank caves. Tappi alone took care of three small Gungans, orphaned in the initial attack. But they were safe, safe so long as they stayed hidden.
The Naboo had fared no better, living in small bands throughout the forests and swamps, exiled from the ruined cities of their own.
The Empire had strip-mined parts of Naboo, had destroyed some of the ancient, priceless trees that Tappi loved so much. But, he thought, glancing at the huge fallen trunks and the younger trees, other trees would grow to take their place.
He stuck the end of his electropole into the mud and leaned on it, sighing sadly and eyeing the fleshy clams in the pools without much interest. Could things ever be pleasant again?
Tappi glanced up at the sky as a spot of light streaked over it, then began to run through the woods to the rendezvoice point. Small animals skittered out of his way as he skillfully wended through the bushes, his tall frame somehow managing not to trip on anything.
Suddenly he burst from the woods into a small clearing, where a sleek silver ship had landed in the clearing, its arrowhead shape pointing straight at him. Tappi jogged toward it, feeling the sun sting his sensitive eyes and dry some of the comfortable moisture from his mottled skin. No matter, he wouldn't have to do this for another month.
A human male, short and squat with balding gray hair, popped out of the side hatch, beaming. "Ah, so it's you, my young Gungan friend," Cade beamed, as Tappi bobbed his head in an awkward greeting. Cade came about once a month, bringing medical supplies and other necessities to the bedraggled Gungans.
"Hewo, Cade," Tappi said graciously, fumbling at his belt for the box. He had spent hours underwater, hunting for the rare, glimmering gems that only the Gungans could find in the mazes of caverns. "Mesa bringing-"
Cade waved his hand. "No need for that, boy."
That stopped Tappi short, the box dangling from his thick fingers. Cade had never refused payment before. "Yousa saying what?" he asked, blinking.
"I said no need for it. This shipment is free, on me."
Tappi's yellow eyes grew wide on their stalks. "Why yousa doin' that?" he asked slowly, fidgeting uneasily and shifting the box of gems from one hand to the other.
Cade pulled a large, heavy box from the hatch of his ship and held it out to Tappi, beaming like the sun. "My dear Gungan, the Emperor has been killed. The Empire is gone, and the Republic is back. I'm so happy, this shipment is free!"
It took a moment for the information to hit Tappi fully. For a moment, the young Gungan simply wavered on his gangly legs, eyes still fixed on Cade. His arms dropped to his sides, the box landing quietly on the grass and moss with a faint squish.
"Yousa sayin..." he choked, "dat the Empire is gone? Wesa no havin' to hide anymore?"
"Completely gone," Cade said, his grin flickering a little and his grip on the package starting to slip. "I say, could you take this package? It's a bit heavy."
For a moment, Tappi just stood and stared. Then he let out a howl of joy and delight, his gangling arms whirling in a windmill of delight. "Wesa free! Wesa goin' home!"
He hurriedly grasped the parcel in one arm, while scooping up the box from the damp moss, where it had become slightly sodden, the dark wood turning darker underneath. He jammed it into an astonished Cade's hands. "Only right yousa bein' paid," he said hurriedly, as he hugged the medicines to his chest. "Yousa deserve it!"
Cade only stared at the box as Tappi sprinted away through the trees, slipping through them like a wraith.
The Gungan Caves were dark and damp. Not the warm dampness of the oceans or the air up above. Chilly dampness, filling the entire network of caves that laced the area under the small land masses.
A dark lake filled the middle of the huge, cathedral-like cavern. Hundreds of Gungans huddled around it, murmuring and eating the clams that were brought down once a day. Their mottled skin was paler under the spots, and they blinked in the light.
Smaller Gungans played on the rocks, tossing pebbles into the water, and occasionally aiming at a fish. A pair of older Gungans watched them silently, making sure that no one fell in or was hit by a flying rock.
Every earflap perked at the sound of excited gibbering and pattering footsteps reached them, distorted by the echoes of the caverns. Captain Karps rose from his seat and reached for his electropole, his fellow guards doing the same. A frightened murmur ran through the Gungans, some of them rising in preparation to flee.
Young Binks burst in, dancing and babbling, dropping his electropole with a crackle and a large white package with a crunch. Karps relaxed, slumping back to his rock as Boss Torm stood up, dressed in the tattered old robes and headdress, his dark tan skin looking wan in the dim light.
"Everybody!" Tappi shouted, long arms whirling around his head. "Da bombad Empire's gone! Da Emperor's dead! Wesa goin' home, outta dese caves! Wesa free! Wesa free now!"
There was a stunned pause, and a murmur rippled over the Gungans. Then shrill cries of delight came from the far side, dancing through the amphibious creatures as they rose and shouted, "Wesa free! Wesa goin' home! Wesa free, free forever!"
Tappi found himself caught up in a scintillating sea of bedraggled, joyous Gungans, hugging each other and shouting the words over and over, as if crying out to the very planet itself, scarred but not broken by the Empire. And they had prevailed.
As a new morning dawned on the battered planet of Naboo, a hidden pathway between two trees was filled, a steady stream of Gungans pouring out into the swamp.
Many of them flinched in the bright light, holding up their hands to shield them from the bright rays of the sun that filtered through the leaves, but they smiled and wriggled delightedly in the warm, soothing breezes. Many of them wandered in wonder, running thick fingers over the rough, bent trees, smiling.
Tappi stumbled over the roots, following Boss Torm as the dignified old Gungan glided through the trees. The hundreds of Gungans followed him, excitedly murmuring amongst themselves.
The shores of the ocean were still shrouded in mist, the water still littered with shreds of what had once been Otoh Gunga, floating like dead fish on the water. Tappi shuddered, but stepped off into the warm, lapping water, feeling it soak into his leathery pants. A tiny thrill went through him as the other Gungans gingerly waded in, delight and a little sorrow crossing their billed faces.
Hundreds of lithe figures swirled down into the depths of the Naboo swamps, shooting through the green water to the ocean floor where Otoh Gunga had once stood. Now, only the skeletal frameworks remained, blackened by blaster fire, the shreds of the hypostatic bubbles still floating atop them.
Tappi landed softly on the sandy bottom, sending a swirl of sand upward toward the surface. He smiled, thinking of how the new Otoh Gunga would look, when the hydrostatic bubbles were put back in and the Gungans were living in them. Perhaps they would also shelter the Naboo.
"Wesa free," he murmured, running the sand through his stubby fingers. "Wesa home..."