This fic was inspired by a dream I had, so it doesn't make much sense.
PALPATINE AND THE BIRDS
It was winter in the small deserted planet of Nlaham. Clear white snow decorated the now resting trees and ground and ice covered the many lakes of the beautiful planet. It was a small wonder no one lived there. Or, almost no one.
The planet was famous not only because of the beautiful atmosphere, but also because of the rare birds living there. The whole planet was the home of bullfinches and great tits. They lived in the huge forests and ate the healthy seeds of the trees.
Anyway, the two types of birds were the only inhabitants of the planet and because of that no one ever came to visit it. What good could one possibly get from a planet full of birds, trees and water?
Well, one man had solved it. His name was Palpatine, and he was the supreme chancellor of the senate. He had thought about the thing a lot. He was disturbed by the idea that there was a whole planet with no use. So, he made some research and found out that the trees of the planet were very useful in their own way.
His ultimate plan was to chop down the forests and since no one lived on the planet the profit would come straight to the senate - in other words, to him. He planned to sell the wood in the name of senate.
The work was going on well. They had already chopped down a good part of a big forest and Palpatine thought they would be done after a few weeks. The planet was rather small after all and he had hired many workers.
He was there himself to make sure that everything went fine. He couldn't trust anyone else in this matter and he knew the forest workers would be taking some of the wood with them if he didn't watch after them.
This fact of course annoyed him beyond belief. He didn't have any desires to spend weeks of his life on a cold deserted planet his only company being some scum. And birds.
Birds were everywhere he went. No privacy, just birds, birds, birds and more birds. There were birds outside and when he tried to hide in his ship they followed him. They were singing around him, they were flying around him and he thought they did it just to annoy him. Some of the birds were so brave that they actually sat on his head while he didn't notice.
"What arrogant little creatures," he muttered under his breath and shoved a bird away from his shoulder. If he just could barbecue them with his dark sith powers, but no. He didn't want to explain the sudden fate of hundreds of dead birds to the forest workers or some Jedi.
So, all he could do was watch and hope the trees would be down sooner he had thought. And the birds were chirping cheerfully around him all the time.
But of course, there were other problems coming too.
When a ship started to land on a clearing they had made he first thought his plan had been revealed. But then when Amidala, the senator of Naboo, came down from the ship he knew things were even worse.
"Chancellor Palpatine! What do you think you are doing here?" Palpatine gave her his infamous generous smile and walked to greet her.
"Ah! Our young Amidala. What a pleasant surprise to see you here," he said happily.
Amidala didn't fall for his fake-greet but instead crossed her arms in front of her and stared at the older man with anger in her eyes.
"I repeat, what are you doing here?" she asked and Palpatine sighed in frustration. He pointed at the forest workers who had stopped their work to watch what was happening.
"As you can see, we are chopping the forests down," he answered and Amidala nodded.
"That's what I thought," she said. "But you must stop this immediately," she continued and Palpatine found himself staring straight at her face.
"And may I ask why? This is the decision of the senate." Amidala snorted.
"Yeah, sure it is. But do you realise,that when all the trees are gone the birds here won't survive?" she asked.
Palpatine suddenly realised he now had two good reasons to destroy the forests. Firstly, he would make a great money out of it and secondly, he would get rid of the annoying birds.
"Well, yes, that's the unfortunate side of this, but neither of us can fight against the senate," he said and tried to drive two bullfinches away.
"And why haven't I heard of this decision?" Amidala asked in suspicion and Palpatine shrugged.
"It's not my problem if you are not informed about our every meeting," he answered. Why was this young woman so annoying?
"You can be sure I'll inform the senate about this little 'decision'," Amidala said and Palpatine tried his generous trick again.
"Ah, but I'm sure we can settle this matter right here," he suggested and Amidala gave him a look.
"You're right. We both will leave this planet and the work here will stop." Palpatine's smile suddenly died when he realised the woman was just as stubborn as he was.
"I'll go for a walk. You'll find me in the forest if you need me with driving the workers away."
After Amidala had gone Palpatine swore under his breath and kicked the icy ground. Now he really did have a problem, no matter how much Amidala respected him she would surely go and tell everything about this to the senate. And Palpatine didn't want anyone to know what his small "vacation" had been about nor did he want to lose the good amount of money selling the wood would bring.
"What are we going to do, sir?" one of the workers asked and Palpatine thought for a moment before answering.
"Return to your work." he said and promised himself he would handle Amidala somehow.
Amidala was really enjoining the peaceful atmosphere of Nlaham, the clear air not ruined by fumes, the crystal powder like snow and the cold temperature. There were some birds flying and chirping around her, but most of the ones she had seen were still annoying the heck out of Palpatine.
She couldn't really believe that Palpatine, the generous old man she had respected for so long would actually want to destroy the innocent birds living on the planet because of money. What had happened to him? Had being chosen as the supreme chancellor gone to his head?
She sighed and decided not to think about that. The more urgent business was to make sure this planet would not be harmed more than it already had. She was sure Palpatine would not continue chopping the forest down now when she had told him not to do so. After all, could he probably disobey his former queen?
A happily chirping great tit sat on her shoulder and tugged her hair a little making her laugh. These birds were obviously not used to humans, they didn't have the slightest idea about someone wanting to hurt them.
She walked around deep in thought without really paying attention to where she was going. Only when she shuddered suddenly did she notice how cold the temperature had turned. They didn't have winters like that on Naboo, so she hadn't prepared herself properly for the cold. She also noticed that the forest had suddenly became much darker. I should return to my ship,she thought with regret. She really shouldn't have wandered that far.
She turned on her heels and started to return her own tracks. At first it was easy and rather fun despite the cold creeping into her, but when there was less and less light she started to worry. Surely she should have reached the ships by now?
They had stopped working for the day and everybody was back in the warm safety of their ships, the forest workers in one and Palpatine in his. Despite the fact senator Amidala was there disturbing his plans he was feeling rather smug.
He was enjoining his second cup of hot tea when someone burst in his ship bringing a great deal of snow inside. Palpatine grimaced at that. Great.
After that he paid some attention to the man who dared to disturb him with his presence. With a small joint of surprise he noticed that the man was the pilot of senator Amidala's small ship. He forced a some kind of smile on his face and stood up putting the cup on a table near the book he had been reading.
"What is it?" he asked.
The pilot took a deep breath.
"Senator Amidala has not returned yet." he managed his voice trembling slightly with worry. Palpatine tensed with that.
"What do you mean? Why?" he asked and took a few steps towards the poor pilot who backed away. He swallowed.
"She - she hasn't returned from her walk, sir." he said weakly.
Palpatine blinked. First Amidala came there and dared to disturb his plans like she owned the damned planet and then she disappeared! She had no doubt informed at least someone about her trip so if she died or something bad happened to her all suspicions would turn on him. And that really wasn't good for his plans of taking over the galaxy.
"That was hours ago!" he shouted to the poor pilot who thought his death sentence had been given right there.
"I didn't think anything would be wrong, sir. Senator Amidala is very capable of taking care of herself and I didn't want to set a false alarm." he explained and flinched at the sight of the enraged supreme chancellor.
"We have to go and look for her." Palpatine said after few moments of hard thinking. He gave mental sigh when he thought about going out there in cold instead of finishing his tea, but he couldn't really help it. Besides, if he was lucky, Amidala would be so grateful for him saving her that maybe, just maybe she would forget she had even heard about the planet.
The pilot, lets call him Wellen, nodded and pointed towards the ship where the forest workers were.
"Should we ask them too?" he asked and Palpatine thought about it. Of course, it would be easier to look for the senator, but at what cost? The workers were the lowest scum of the galaxy and Amidala was quite an attractive young woman. And Palpatine sure didn't want to explain to the senate how Amidala got raped and half dead with him.
He shook his head.
"No, that's not a good idea. I really don't want to think what they would do to her if they found her first," he said and Wellen nodded in agreement.
It was really dark and cold now and Amidala was feeling very annoyed at herself. Just because she was stupid and had not paid attention to her surroundings she was lost in this forest.
She knew she would not survive the night there alone and the thought didn't really make her feel better. Who would be chosen as the new senator of Naboo? Would he or she be as good as she was or would her follower be as corrupted as some of the other senators?
And who would take care of her handmaidens? What would they do if she died? Or Palpatine? It would do no good to his career if the senator of his home planet was found dead so near him. She blew in her hands and rubbed them together. Well, she was just going to have to survive!
Her boots were full of snow and cold water and her clothes didn't do good job with protecting her from cold. It was dark and she had no idea where she was going, she just knew she had to keep walking or she would freeze.
There weren't any birds now and she felt lonely. Not miserable, she was too strong for that, but lonely. Like she was the only living creature in the forest.
What she wouldn't give for a cup of hot tea! She remembered Palpatine usually had some and she was sure the chancellor would not have come to this planet without being able to enjoy it. Maybe she would find the ships soon and the older man would offer her a cup or two.
She swallowed and continued walking in the deep snow. She felt her limbs slowly going numb and cursed under her breath. She had to survive.
"Don't these things ever sleep?" Palpatine asked in frustration and shoved a few birds away from him.
"They seem to like you, sir," Wellen said and carefully hid his smile. Palpatine gave him a dangerous look but didn't say anything.
They had soon found Amidala's tracks and were following them with ease. It was freezing, their breath was steaming and cold crept into their bones. Palpatine had known the nights of Nlaham were cold but he had spent them in his ship, so he had never actually imagined how cold.
He could hear branches of the trees snapping in the cold, could feel it in his bones and again he hoped he was a few ten years younger. Old supreme chancellors just were not made for hiking in a cold forest looking for a disappeared senator.
"We should be able to find her soon, sir," Wellen said and tried to start a conversation. Palpatine was quiet and the pilot thought it was because he was worried of the young senator. After all, he must feel at least some kind of fatherly care towards the woman. Or that was what he thought.
Palpatine nodded. He sure hoped that too. He already missed the warmth of his ship and his tea. And of course, he could not forget the difficulties he would face if they didn't find Amidala.
Suddenly Wellen, who was leading the two, stopped.
"Sir, I think you should see this," he informed and Palpatine rushed to his side the birds following him. Wellen was showing some light so he could see the Amidala's tracks in the snow. The only problem was that there were two sets of tracks, each leading in different direction.
They both had born and grown up on Naboo, so neither of them was able to tell which set of the tracks was newer.
"What should we do, sir?" Wellen asked even though he had already decided. He just knew it would be proper to ask the supreme chancellor's opinion first.
Luckily to him, Palpatine had made the same decision.
"Let's split up." he said.
It was about half an hour after Palpatine had left Wellen when he started to feel a bit too cold for his own liking.
"I'm too old for this," he muttered bitterly and rubbed his arms trying to make his blood warm up a little. They had split up, each of them following a line of tracks hoping they would find Amidala before she or them would freeze. Wouldn't it be a sight, a senator, a supreme chancellor and a pilot all frozen to death on some backwater planet.
He sighed and shuddered soon after that. Maybe Amidala was somewhere there, maybe she would be able to hear him if he tried?
"Senator! Are you here?" he shouted on the top of his lungs and stopped to listen. Everything was quiet, even the birds surrounding him didn't give a noise.
"Great."
Meanwhile, Amidala had almost lost her hope. She knew there was hope as long as she was alive, but how could she keep it up when she was half frozen in the middle of nowhere?
She couldn't feel her legs anymore, they were just two lifeless limbs she kept moving. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to walk or what would happen if she just collapsed on the snow. Maybe it would be just easier to give up, to wait the death come to claim her?
She shook her head. She couldn't let thoughts like that in her mind. They would make her feel worse and maybe even give up. And she couldn't do that just now. She had to think about all the people who would be left behind is she died there.
And she had to think about herself too. If she died, well, she would be dead. And that's it. No coming back. No second chances. Amidala bit her lip angry at herself. Here she was, thinking depressing thoughts again.
It was then when she noticed something in the dark. She frowned and went closer. What was it? When she came closer she finally saw what it was.
A cave.
Not really knowing why she felt like she had already been saved. She forced some strength into her frozen legs and rushed closer to see. When she reached the cave she sighed in relief.
The cave wasn't very big, it had enough room for a few people but that was not what made her feel better. It was the fact there was no snow in there. Somehow the trees and walls of the cave had protected it from getting any of the white powder inside it.
If she could find some wood and a way to light it she would have a chance of surviving. With a determined nod she returned in the forest to look for something to burn.
Now he was lost too.
Palpatine was on the edge of using the Force to find his way back, but he kept himself from doing it. He had been able to hide himself all these years, he was not going to give it all up for this.
He had been following Amidala's tracks and shouting for her until his throat was sore and then, suddenly, he didn't see the tracks anymore. He had then turned around to return, but had soon understood he would freeze before making it.
Of course, he had no intention of dying there the birds his only company. He caught a sight of a few birds sitting on a branch and wondered how such small creatures could stand the cold so well. They should have turned into ice statues by now.
Maybe they were something more than just regular birds? There were many different kinds of aliens with different abilities, maybe these birds were just a new alien race. Not as intelligent as most of them, but enough to separate them from regular animals and give them the ability to stand the cold of the planet.
One of the birds chirped happily and spread its wings before jumping in the air and landing on his head.
"Go away!" he stated angrily. He would be damned if he died there in front of those... alien birds.
So, he restarted thinking what he should do. One option, of course, was to try finding the ships. But then Amidala would surely be lost and he didn't want that yet. He had plans for the senator and they were no good if she was dead. And he didn't want to explain this little adventure to the senate, doing that would cost him his career and dreams of ruling the galaxy. So, the only thing he could do was to continue searching and hope he could make it.
He continued walking and cursing the snow. He was cold, tired and incredibly annoyed. And he was sure he would catch a cold even if he survived. He rubbed his hands together and tried to make himself feel at least a little warmer. It was useless though, maybe the cold wouldn't affect him that much if he was younger.
He hadn't been there even an hour and he was already freezing! He hoped it really was because of his age, since otherwise Amidala would be long dead for spending hours here. Usually some honourable Jedi knight would come and save the senator, so where was a Jedi when you needed one?
Or maybe Amidala had already been saved by a Jedi and was right now drinking his tea in his ship giving no other thought to that there was a supreme chancellor risking his own life in search for her. Palpatine had to admit that it was not likely, but heck, if he was going to freeze to death he could allow himself some sarcasm, couldn't he?
Walking became more and more difficult until he just couldn't go on anymore. He sighed bitterly when his knees gave under him and he collapsed on the cold snowy ground. He breathed heavily and tried to stand up, he knew giving up would mean his death. But it was so cold! Slowly, without really noticing it, Palpatine, the supreme chancellor of the senate lost his consciousness.
Amidala was feeling rather smug at the moment. She had found some wood and marked her way back to the cave so that she could find it again. The only problem was how she was going to light up the fire she needed. She decided to think about it later, right now she ought to find some more wood and return.
She was freezing and tired, but now when she had a change of surviving she didn't care about it anymore. Or at least she felt like she didn't care, her young blood was boiling with excitement and she had to admit that would have been fun if not for the danger of dying.
Then she suddenly heard something. Amidala frowned and stopped abruptly tilting her head. Like... chirping? What could it be? It sounded like dozens of birds were very worried about something. She snorted at the thought. Animals were not able to worry about something. But then, what else could it be?
Now interested she went closer and when the chirping came closer she could see the forms of birds flying around something lying in the ground. She narrowed her eyes and took few more steps closer. It looked like a ... human?
Dropping the wood she was carrying she realised it was actually Palpatine, leaning against a tree looking too dead for her liking. She quickly knelt next to him and tried his pulse. To her relief he was alive, just out cold.
"What is he doing here?" Amidala asked herself and blushed then. Of course, how stupid she was. Palpatine had obviously noticed she was missing and come to look for her. She felt herself writ with guilt, Palpatine was too old to spend a night in cold like this.
And still he had come. She would be damned if he was going to die because he was concerned about her! She pressed her lips together and frowned. What was she going to do? She didn't know where the ships were, and she was rather sure she would not be able to drag the man there. Maybe they would make it to the cave if he was aware of his surroundings and able to walk at least a bit.
A bullfinch sat on Palpatine's head and chirped at her. Again she felt like the birds were actually worried about Palpatine. What in him attracted them so much?
"You know, he wanted to chop down your beautiful forests and kill you," Amidala said to the bird and it tilted its head a bit.
"Chirp?" was the only answer she got.
Palpatine was feeling nothing, he was floating in nothingness barely able to think. Where was he and how had he ended up here? He tried to blink but found out it felt like he didn't have body at all. What was going on?
Where had he been before this? He felt dizzy and tired, but something inside him told him not to fall completely asleep. Why was that? What bad could sleeping probably cause? Besides, he was feeling rather comfortable right now, and good sleep was just what he needed.
"... chirp chirp chirp... "
Palpatine gave a mental moan. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he was sure those chirps were there just to annoy him. Whatever was causing them didn't probably care about the fact that he was in the need of sleep.
Then something else disturbed him. It was something different, it had nothing to do with his mind, and it made remember he had a body too. Someone was shaking his shoulder. Oh well, it was probably not anything important.
"Come on! Don't do you dare to die on me like that!" Amidala shouted angrily and tugged the blue cloth Palpatine was wearing. The man wasn't responding to her calls and for the first time in ages she felt really helpless. That was something new to her, she could not solve the situation with her political skills or relaying on someone else.
The birds had started to chirp loudly now and a few of them were flying around wildly. One surprisingly yellow great tit landed on Palpatine's hand and looked at Amidala with expression she would have called worry if she hadn't known better.
She pressed her lips together with desperate determination. She was not going to let Palpatine die, no matter what.
"The Republic needs you, and you better come back, like it or not." she said and slapped the supreme chancellor with her palm.
Ouch.
Palpatine didn't really know what had happened, but he was suddenly wakened from his peaceful slumber by something unpleasant. It hit his cheek hard and left it glowing with warm pain. That finally made it, he was getting up now to settle things with this disturber.
It was a good try anyway, the only problem he was not getting any results from his body. That was weird. Palpatine caught himself wondering why that was and what had happened.
He was more aware of his surroundings now and started to feel the coldness of the snow and the air. With these new discoveries his memory came slowly back. He was somewhere he shouldn't be, that much was for certain.
"What?" he managed to mutter and immediately felt someone almost hug him to the death. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into senator Amidala's brown eyes now twinkling with sudden relief. Disgusting...
"What happened?" Palpatine asked and eyed the dark forest around him. He remembered he had been looking for Amidala, how cold it was and how annoying the birds were, but after that it was just plain dark. Amidala shook her head.
"No time for that. Can you walk?" she asked and when Palpatine nodded helped him to stand up.
The birds were chirping more happily now and flew around them in small swarms.
The trip back to the cave went more easily Amidala had thought. She had to carry the wood so she couldn't help Palpatine very much, but she was surprised to notice the man was fine on his own. Now when he was awake and aware of the situation it seemed like he had found some secret source of strength. It reminded her of the way a Jedi she had once met had acted.
It was stupid, of course. Palpatine was not Force sensitive, or he would have been trained as a Jedi. Still, she was happy to see that neither of them was dying at the moment.
But she had to be realistic. There were many hours of night ahead and they would not make it without help and it seemed rather difficult to find some in the middle of no where. She herself was freezing and even though collecting the wood had warmed her up a little she couldn't feel her limbs. Amidala licked her lips and was shocked to find how cold they felt. She assumed she had to look like a blue skinned alien right now.
She dropped the wood on the bare stone floor of the cave and sighed. Now the only thing they had to do was to light the fire. Palpatine sat on the floor not far away and blew in his hands.
With hands trembling because of the cold Amidala tried to rub too pieces of wood together to make them catch fire. She knew it was useless, the wood was frozen and even if it warmed up the ice would melt and wet wood was just as good as frozen.
Nevertheless, she was determined not to give up and continued her work until her hands were almost bleeding.
Palpatine was studying the senator's work from his corner. He too knew it was useless and he was thinking rather hard now. Amidala was so caught in her fight with the wood she would probably not notice if the wood would catch fire. And she would definitely not question it.
So, with a small unnoticed wave of his hand he used the Force to start the fire.
Amidala was startled and backed away before she understood what was happening and tried to make the fire grow. She turned her smiling face towards Palpatine.
"It worked! It really worked!" she exclaimed eyes shining with excitement.
"Yes, it did," Palpatine said.
The fire made them feel a little warmer and Amidala even felt her bones melting a bit. Her muscles started to hurt and she felt sleepy. It was much nicer now when there was a fire giving light and warmth. They would soon have to go outside and look for more wood to prevent the fire from being extinguished. But not now, maybe she could sleep for a while...
No! She rubbed her eyes and stood up and started to pace in the small cave. Sleeping meant no waking. She shot a quick glance in the direction of Palpatine, where the man was leaning against a wall eyes half open.
"Don't sleep!" Amidala forbade and quickly knelt on his side. Palpatine blinked and looked at her with surprise playing on his face.
"I wasn't asleep," he stated and Amidala sighed.
"Not yet," she shot back.
After about half an hour their fire started to die. At that point Amidala was half snoozing herself and when her mind told her to go outside and find more wood her body didn't obey. She felt frostbites in her fingers and wondered would she ever melt again.
"We need wood," she said wearily and Palpatine nodded.
"True."
So, the fire didn't last very long like that that and with it the light left them slowly. The darkness hit Amidala harder the cold ever could. When she was able to see in front of her in the cave she had actually believed they could be saved, but now, in the pitch black she was not able to fool herself anymore.
"We are going to die here," she whispered. She hugged her knees and closed her eyes. What matter would it do any way? It was still dark. She didn't get any response from Palpatine, who was half asleep again. A curious bird flew inside and tilted it's head.
"Chirp!" it said to the darkness.
"Can't those creatures let me die in peace?" was the last thing Palpatine murmured before totally losing his consciousness.
Wellen was very worried now. Not was only Amidala lost in the dark, cold forest, but Palpatine had disappeared too.
When they had split up he had followed the tracks until it was clear he was walking in circles. Then he had returned back and tried to find Palpatine with no effort.
After about an hour of useless wondering he had really started to panic and had decided to ask help from the forest workers. They would understand the situation and help, wouldn't they?
The workers had not been happy when a Nubian pilot had told them to leave the warmth of their ship and head back to the cold forest, but they had not protested when he had explained the situation to them. After all, if Palpatine was dead, who would give them their paychecks?
They had formed three groups each heading for different direction. Wellen himself was with two men, a tough-looking from Alderaan and a younger one, who didn't want to talk about anything.
"Have you seen any trace of them?" Wellen talked to his commlink and received the answer he had expected;
"No, we have seen tracks, but they are going around with no direction at all. It's very hard to tell if we are following right ones," a male voice answered.
"Keep searching. Wellen out," the Nubian said and sighed.
"Faron out."
It seemed rather pointless now. This forest was huge, it was cold and dark and if the senator and supreme chancellor had not found some kind of shelter they would surely have frozen by now. He felt the weight of guilt on his shoulders. It was all his fault. If he had started to worry about the senator sooner she would surely be save and none of this would have happened.
Suddenly they all could hear a rather surprising sound ahead. It was like... flapping of small wings? Wellen stopped in his tracks and blinked in surprise. Birds. Since he had split up with Palpatine he had seen not a single bird on this planet. Could it be... ?
He didn't have very much time to ponder this since almost immediately a swarm of birds flew from the darkness and surrounded them with a mass of feathers, chirping and wings. The younger one of the workers raised his blaster, but Wellen quickly put his hand on the man's arm and shook his head.
"That's not a good idea," he said and after a few seconds of hesitation the man nodded.
After flying around them for few moments the birds started to retreat back into the darkness of the forest. When they noticed no one was following them they turned back and this time few of the bravest ones even tried to peck them. Wellen eyed them for a while before making his decision, one he knew would be the weirdest of his career.
"Let's follow them."
Following the birds was rather easy, since they obviously wanted the men to do that. They flew ahead and landed a few times on a branch to wait. Wellen shook his head to himself, these were the strangest birds he had ever seen. They seemed rather intelligent, in fact.
"What do you wish to achieve by this?" the Alderaanian man asked with a low tone after ten minutes of wandering after the swarm. Wellen shrugged. He wasn't sure himself, it just felt like he was doing the right thing.
"We'll see," he answered.
Then he thought he saw something ahead. He narrowed his eyes slightly and stopped the others with a wave of his hand.
The birds flew inside the cave and Wellen thought he knew what they would find. Of course, it made no sense, why would these birds do this and how were they capable of it? They were just birds after all...
But, like he had thought, they found dangerously pale duo of senator Amidala and chancellor Palpatine in the cave, both unconscious.
Palpatine woke and hoped immediately he hadn't. His body felt like it had been used as a punching bag and he couldn't really focus his thoughts on anything. He felt warm, and that was good enough for now. It didn't matter where he was, how or with who. He could sort that out when he was feeling better.
Time for that came a few days later when both he and Amidala had recovered enough to stand on their own. Palpatine was still suffering from a nasty cold he had managed to catch during the adventure but Amidala was feeling perfect, if you didn't count some frostbites that is.
Palpatine was feeling irritated. Not only was he unable to breathe through his nose, he had a cough, there were even more birds swarming around him but the forest workers had decided to have a little vacation during his recovery. He made a mental note to cut some credits from their paychecks when Amidala arrived next to him.
"Still going to chop down all these trees?" Amidala asked pressing her lips in grim line.
"I a matter of fact, yes I am. I can not disobey the decision of the senate," Palpatine answered and tried to shove a bird away from his calculation. It gave surprised chirp and landed on Amidala's shoulder.
She smiled a bit to it and stroked its soft feathers with the top of her finger.
"You don't feel at least a bit guilty?"
"For what?"
"For the birds." Palpatine blinked in surprise.
"Why should I? They are doing nothing expect annoying the heck out of me." Now it was Amidala's turn to blink.
"Wellen didn't tell you?" she asked.
"Tell me what?" the supreme chancellor asked.
"Without your annoying birds we would still be in that cave, dead by now," Amidala answered. Palpatine didn't say anything, he just stared.
"What?" he finally managed.
"Somehow they led the rescuers to us. They saved our lives," Amidala explained and felt rather smug because of the shocked expression on Palpatine's face.
"Chirp!" the bird on her shoulder said and it hopped to sit on Palpatine's arm with ease.
"They can not be just regular birds, they are something more. Besides, they seem to take a great liking in you. They must recognise a truly honest person."
"Truly," Palpatine said dryly and gave a long stare at the bird and finally shoved it away. "But the will of the senate matters the most."
"But the birds - "
What and idiotic thought! Palpatine pressed his lips together in a grim line. Birds? Saved them? Hah! It was a coincidence, it had to be. These creatures were not intelligent enough to do something like that. Hey, even most of the senators would not be able to save someone even if their lives depended on it.
Besides, even if it was true why should he care? He was a sith lord and beyond all feelings. These creatures were on his way to fortune and he surely was not going to start feeling sorry for them.
A bird, the same one from his talk with Amidala, flew beside him and landed near him.
"Chirp," it said cheerfully. Palpatine sneered at it.
"Sure. You can sing now, but wait until my workers get their hands on your favourite tree," he said and immediately felt himself really ridiculous. Here he was, a powerful sith lord and supreme chancellor talking to a bird.
Another bird came by and tilted its head. Soon it was followed by a whole swarm and they sat in unision watching Palpatine. That's creepy, he thought and turned his back to them. A sudden "Chirp!" made him turn back but he was not able to tell which one of the birds had sung.
He waved his hand.
"What is it with you? Get lost!" Palpatine ordered even though he didn't expect any of them to obey. A small yellow great tit blinked at him. That thing has quite beautiful eyes, he noted and gave himself a mental slap. He should get out of there now.
Later that evening Palpatine ordered his men back to work. Amidala was mad at him, she didn't talk when not threatening him with the fury of the senate. Palpatine sighed in annoyance. He was sure he could talk his way out of everything if the senate was really going to rip his heart out, but something else had been nagging him the whole day since he had talked with the senator.
It was a weird feeling to him, it felt like something he had thought he was not capable of feeling anymore. Not in a long time. But he just couldn't put his finger on it.
He watched as the workers were chopping another tree down. Good, the work was going on as well as it had been before and he was optimistic. Or he would have been, if not because of that feeling.
"Chirp?"
Palpatine froze and turned his head slowly already knowing what he would see. And he was right, it was a great tit and he was sure it had to be the one he had threatened.
"What?" he asked and the bird titled its head towards the forest workers. They were doing some great work with a huge tree.
"Your favourite?" Palpatine asked mockingly.
"Chirp!"
Palpatine shrugged.
"So? Find a new one, I've got work to do."
"Chirp! Chirp!"
"I know, we'll take every tree from this damned planet. Where are you getting at?" Palpatine couldn't actually understand the bird, if it even said something, but he could imagine what it would say.
"Chirp!"
"No!" he denied and the bird blinked.
"Chirp?"
"What do you mean I owe you?" The great tit chirped again.
"Oh that. I don't care."
"Chirp!" the bird said angrily.
"No!"
"Chirp!"
"No!"
"Chirp?"
"Still no."
"... chirp...?" The bird gave Palpatine its most innocent look and Palpatine knew would it have lips they would be trembling.
"Why are tormenting me?" he asked.
"Chirp." Palpatine froze.
"No way!"
"Who are talking to?" asked the voice of Amidala next to him. Palpatine jumped in surprise, he had been so caught up in talking to the great tit he had not noticed the senator.
"No one," he said in hurry and Amidala giggled.
"You sound like boy who has been caught from mama's cookie jar," she said.
"I do not!"
"Told you."
"All right, I was having an intelligent conversation with Mr. Bird here," Palpatine admitted and Amidala gave him a curious look.
"Chirp!"
"What? No!"
"Chirp chirp!" Palpatine threw his arm in the air.
"Fine, you win." He was silent for a moment before turning to wards the forest workers. "Hey guys! Start to pack, we are leaving this place immediately!" he shouted and the workers just stared him.
Amidala was doing the exact same thing.
"How?" she managed and Palpatine gave her a sore look.
"It said that if I destroyed their home they would move with me to Coruscant."
"Chirp!"
The End