The Long Night
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Star Wars & Marvel are owned by Disney.
A/N: A series of vignettes telling Padm and Loki's story between 'Peace' and 'War'. Large sections will be taken directly from Revenge of the Sith, film and novelisation, and Rogue One.
'The long night has begun. But even in the deepest night, there are some who dream of dawn.' - Revenge of the Sith
Padmé slowly awoke as a large, warm hand stroked the curve of her stomach. A smile, soft and gentle, curved her lips as she stretched and pressed herself against his hand. "What time is it?" she asked, without opening her eyes.
"Not yet near dawn," Loki replied quietly. "I am sorry if I woke you. You need your sleep now more than ever."
"That's about to get easier no doubt, with you around," Padmé breathed, taking Loki's hand in hers and pulling it up to her chest. She continued to lie there against his chest, luxuriating in the warmth of his body against hers for the first time in months. She could feel the regular puffs of air against her hair from his breathing. She could also sense his frown. "What is it?" she asked, opening her eyes to blindly stare into the darkness of her bedchamber. "And please don't lie. I can tell when you do. I can sense it."
She felt Loki shift behind her, coming up onto his elbow so he could better look over her shoulder at her face. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Some newfound ability granted by our daughter?"
"Not exactly," Padmé explained. She told him about the first time she'd sensed their daughter's developing mind reaching out to hers, and the subsequent testing she'd undergone to determine both her own and the baby's midi-chlorian count. "I've always been able to guess what people were feeling, even guess which way their thoughts tended. I always believed it was just a good sense of empathy, not the Force."
"But you are Force-sensitive. And so is our daughter. Prodigiously so, if your tests are correct," Loki was still frowning, as he lay back on the pillows, eyes narrowed at the ceiling. "This could be dangerous."
"How so?" Padmé asked. "I'm leaving the Senate soon. In a few months, I will disappear from public life entirely. Who would know?"
"The Jedi might test her," Loki pointed out. "Others might sense her power as she grows. Others less inclined to take 'no' for an answer than the Jedi."
Padmé thought of Count Dooku, Darth Maul and their ilk, and couldn't hide her shiver. "I won't let anyone use our daughter for their own ends. She will be free to make her own choices," she vowed, her voice strengthening as she dropped Loki's hand to caress her belly. She felt a wave of curiosity as their daughter sensed her mother's distress, and she did her best to quell it. Loki recaptured her hand, squeezing it comfortingly until she calmed, his lips pressed against her hair.
"As will I," he whispered. "If nothing else, I will fight for that, for her."
In a flash, Padmé understood. "Is that what you're worrying about? If you'll make a good father?"
She felt as well as heard Loki's sigh against her back and hair, his hand tightening around hers. "I do not know how to be a father. My birth father abandoned me to a slow death by exposure and dehydration while the other…I would not wish such an upbringing on my own children. But I do not know how to do this."
"Neither do I," Padmé admitted. "The thought of being a mother terrifies me, now it comes down to it. But perhaps the fact you have such examples in your memory will ensure you don't make their mistakes. You love her, don't you?"
"I do," Loki stated, his voice rising with ferocity. "I do," he repeated, his voice quietening but no less strong for it. "I have only known for a few hours but I would give my life for her. And for you."
"Well, that's a start," Padmé whispered, turning over so she could rest her head against Loki's chest. "Now, stop worrying about the future. It will come for us soon enough so let's just enjoy what peace we have. Agreed?"
"And suddenly the mystery of your success as Queen is no mystery at all," Loki quipped, prompting a playful slap from Padmé. Closing her eyes, she gladly slipped back into slumber.
Padmé should've known their peace could not last.
They were torn from it some hours later as Dormé rushed into Padmé's chamber the next morning, alarm etched in the fine lines of her face. "Milady, milady!"
"Dormè?" Padmé mumbled, mind still hazy with sleep even as the body lying entwined with hers tensed. "What is it? What's wrong?"
To her credit, Dormè did not flinch when she spotted the large male sharing her lady's bed. She held a flimsiplast in her hand, which she offered with only the pallor of her fine features as a clue to what was happening. Padmé took it, concern turning to anger as she read it. Loki read it over her shoulder, brow furrowing with every word.
"He can't do this!" Padmé muttered. "He cannot-"
"What's the matter?" Loki asked, not being entirely up to date on politics in the Republic.
"It's an executive decree transferring power from the Senate to regional governors-" Padmé began to explain, but he cut her off impatiently.
"I can read Aurebesh, Padmé," he said pointedly. "What I do not understand is your distress. What is the significance of this decree?"
Padmé quickly filled him in on the political situation in the Senate as it currently stood, then she explained the issues arising from it. Loki's frown grew darker and darker as her explanation drew on, his arm still around Padmé's waist. "For a political system which touts the benefits of democracy, your Supreme Chancellor is beginning to sound more and more like a king. He hoards power as some hoard gold," Loki pronounced, as silence fell between the three of them.
"I can't believe it of him. The Chancellor is one of my oldest advisers, he has been nothing but a friend-" Padmé began with a shuddering sigh.
"That does not mean he remains one. He would not be the first leader who was seduced by power," Loki interjected, his mood darkening. He did not say it, but he'd had his suspicions about Palpatine ever since first meeting him all those years ago. A part of him wondered if the Supreme Chancellor had ever been a true friend to anyone, or if they were all just pawns in his game.
"I have to stop this. The Senate cannot be so blind as to not see what this means-" Padmé began to get out of bed, when Dormè stopped her with a raised hand.
"That's why I came to wake you, milady. Senator Organa and Senator Mothma have requested a meeting," the handmaiden told her, her brows creased with worry. "They want to meet here. And they said to expect some guests."
Padmé frowned, mind racing ahead. "Send them a message telling them to come this afternoon. And Dormè, not a word to anyone about Loki's presence here," she said decisively. With a nod from the handmaiden before she left, Padmé shared a glance with Loki as she went to rise from the bed.
"You need to be careful, Padmé," Loki stated, still lying on the bed and watching her intently. "If Palpatine's motives for this move are truly impure, he may be having those he sees as threats watched. And you have been quite the voice of opposition to his policies over the years."
"I know," Padmé replied as she reached for her robe. "But I need to know who I can trust. Which of my colleagues are blinded by naïveté or mired in corruption to see this for what it seems to be. I would appreciate your input."
"If you wish it," he inclined his head, as Padmé smiled.
"Why do you think I instructed Dormè not to tell anyone of your presence here? You're my ace in the hole."
Loki's smirk was wicked as she threw that last over her shoulder before she stepped into the fresher.
Some hours later, Loki watched from his hiding place by the window of Padmé's audience chamber, shielded from sight with his magic, as the senators amassed there argued back and forth. Some he vaguely recognised from his previous diplomatic voyage through the galaxy, such as Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. He felt sure that even after years of war, he still had their measure. The others, he kept a closer eye on.
Padmé, to her credit, was being cautious. "I am no happier about this than the rest of you!" she said, eyes darting between the flimsiplast of the Sector Governance Decree and her fellow Senators. "But I've known Palpatine for years; he was my most trusted advisor when I served as Queen. I'm not prepared to believe his intent is to dismantle the Senate."
"Why should he bother?" Mon Mothma countered, one slender brow raised pointedly. "As a practical matter - as of this morning - the Senate no longer exists. We have been reduced to figureheads within the bureaucracy of the Republic."
Loki's gaze flashed from one face to another: Mothma and Organa both looked grave and earnest; Giddean Danu nodded in agreement while the elegantly robed Terr Taneel kept her gaze averted, readjusting her cloak. Fang Zar was grim-faced as he ran a hand over his topknot, streaked with grey. He could detect no falsehood, no insincerity in any of them. While some, like Taneel, were cautious and reluctant to admit the truth, others such as Danu and Zar were in full agreement with their fellow Senators.
At that moment, Organa leant forward to speak, his eyes as hard and unyielding as his words were passionate. "Palpatine no longer has to worry about controlling the Senate. By placing his own lackeys as governors over every planet in the Republic, he now controls our systems directly," he stated. "He's become a dictator. Worse, we made him that dictator."
Padmé's frown intensified. "I take your point, as much as I wish I could argue otherwise. But what course of action is open to us, if as you say, the Senate is little more than decoration to placate the people?"
"That is why we called this meeting," Mothma continued, the flame-haired Senator's voice still calm and controlled, unlike the earnestness Loki could sense practically leaking from Organa's every pore. "To discuss what we are going to do about it."
"I'm not sure I'm going to like the direction of this conversation," Fang Zar muttered.
"That's entirely the point!" Organa interjected heatedly. "None of us like the direction this is going. We can't let thousands of years of democracy disappear without a fight."
Loki's brows rose with surprise. He had always seen the Alderaanian noble as being a man of peace and diplomacy. The fire he now saw in him startled him. Organa must be concerned if he used such language so readily, without qualification.
"Careful, Bail," Padmé said, warningly. "That sounds alarmingly like the words of a Separatist."
Organa appeared to wilt slightly at Padmé's assertion. He slumped back into his chair from where he'd half-risen in his righteous anger, pressing a hand to his eyes tiredly. "I apologise, that was not my intent. We asked you here today because of all the Senators, you four have been the most consistent and influential voices of reason and restraint protecting our battered Constitution. We don't want to destroy the Republic."
"Indeed not. We are not Separatists trying to leave the Republic, we are loyalists, trying to save the Republic," Mon Mothma interjected, showing the first signs of earnestness Loki had ever seen from her. "It has become increasingly clear that Palpatine has become an enemy of democracy. He must be stopped."
"The Senate gave him these powers. Given enough pressure, the Senate will rein him in," Fang Zar pointed out.
"I fear not," Danu shook his head. "I think you underestimate just how deeply corruption has taken hold in the Senate."
"Palpatine has shown them where the power lies," Mothma agreed. "And they will do anything to share in it. Who will vote against him now?"
Silence fell among the group, as Loki's eyes shifted towards Padmé, who looked deep in thought, her face pale and wan. Finally, she stirred, raising hard eyes to meet the gazes of Mothma and Organa. "I will, and I'll find others too," she stated forcefully. "We can't be the only ones to have misgivings about this, or about the state of our Constitution in general. As opposition grows, so will support as other Senators feel emboldened to add their voices to the call."
"Do it," Organa nodded. "Make as much noise in the Senate as you can. Keep Palpatine's attention fixed on you. That will provide cover for us," he gestured to Mothma and himself. "Senator Mothma and I are putting together an organisation-"
"We understand you perfectly, Bail," Padmé interrupted firmly with a raised hand. "But at this point, some things are better left unsaid for safety's sake."
The other senators all nodded in agreement with Padmé as Organa hesitated, then inclined his head. "Agreed," he said. "Other matters can be left for other times. Until then, this meeting must remain absolutely secret. Even hinting at opposition to Palpatine can be dangerous, especially now with this," he held up the Sector Governance Decree. "We must agree never to speak of this except among the people in this room. We must bring no one into this secret without the agreement of each and every one of us."
"That includes those closest to you, even family," Mothma added. "Even family. No one can be told."
Padmé nodded. "Agreed."
Shortly after that, the meeting adjourned and the other Senators left discreetly to their own offices and apartments. Loki waited until Dormè had left her mistress before lifting his magic. Padmé was stood by the window, staring out at the ever-heaving lines of speeders and shuttles, yet Loki knew she wasn't really seeing them.
"Are you sure this is wise, Padmé?" he murmured, as he went to stand beside her. "You place yourself in considerable danger by this. And our daughter."
"I know but…" she sighed, her eyes closing tightly as she hugged her arms around her waist. "I cannot walk away from this. I can't retire from my post in good faith without having at least tried to stop the Republic falling. And what then? What galaxy will our daughter grow up in if I do not try?"
Loki sighed. He knew he could not force her to do otherwise, no matter how foreboding sent a chill down his spine. How he wished for a tithe of his mother- of Frigga's skill with precognition, to look into the future and see how this would play out but alas, he had no such skill. He could only watch and protect her from the shadows.
"I know, just…" he breathed as he stepped into her so her back was pressed against his chest. He covered her arms with his own, hugging her back against him tightly. Feeling the hard curve of her belly against his arms. "Be careful."
Padmé was careful. She had played this game for many years, and despite her reputation as an idealist, she was also capable of cunning and pragmatism. It was not difficult to curry opposition to the Sector Governance Decree as it took effect, as brigades of clone troopers were stationed on sector capital worlds and governors began to assert their authority.
In the meantime, when Loki was not at her side, he used his power to act as spy and information-gatherer for her, infiltrating the Jedi Temple, among other places. Thus, they came to know of Grievous's location and the mission to intercept him, among other news including the Jedi's fears that a Sith Lord had infiltrated the Chancellor's inner circle. After that, Loki did not dare to go to the Chancellor's offices directly, in case this Sith Lord sensed his presence where the Jedi could not.
Only a few short weeks after the Sector Governance Decree was passed, Bail called another meeting in his Senatorial office. Padmé could sense Loki's presence at her back, wreathed in shadow as he always was when she went out in public, as she scrutinised the latest ally she had found for their cause.
Senator Chi Eekway, a Pantoran Senator, appeared nervous but earnest as she spoke. "I am very grateful to be included in this group," she said, her head tilted to gesture to every member of their group. "I speak directly for my own sector only, of course, but I can tell you that many Senators are becoming very nervous indeed. You must know that the new governors are arriving with full regiments of troopers - what they call security forces. We have all begun to wonder just whom these regiments are meant to protect - us from the Separatists, or the governors from us."
"I have reliable information that General Grievous has been located and that the Jedi are moving against him. The war may be over in days," Padmé informed them.
Bail sat hunched over his desk, fingers laced together under his chin. "And what then?" he asked. "How do we make Palpatine withdraw his governors and security forces? How do we stop him garrisoning troops in all our systems?"
"We don't have to make him do anything," Terr Taneel pointed out, brow furrowed. "The Senate granted him these executive powers only for the duration of the emergency-"
"Which he alone possesses the power to declare over," Padmé interjected, to grim nods and sounds of agreement from the others.
"How do we make him surrender power back to the Senate?" Mothma asked, looking around at the gathered Senators questioningly.
Chi Eekway sat up straighter, her eyes bright and fervent. "There are many who are willing to do just that," she stated. "Not just my own people, but many Senators. We are ready to make him surrender power."
"Careful, Senator," Padmé murmured. "The last thing the galaxy needs is another war."
"Indeed not," Bail agreed, with a disapproving look in Senator Eekway's direction. "For every Senator who may favour a military solution, there are a thousand who would balk at it. That's the last thing any of us want. Alderaan has no armed forces; we don't even have a planetary defence system. A political solution is our only feasible option."
"Which means a petition is our only option," Mothma interjected softly. "It will show solidarity in the Senate and hopefully stop anymore erosions of the Constitution on Palpatine's part. With the signatures of two thousand Senators-"
"We will still have less than we need to stop his supermajority!" Senator Eekway pointed out forcefully, before she stopped and sighed. "I am willing to put my name to this, but I am losing faith in the abilities of the Senate to rein the Chancellor in."
"Perhaps we should consult the Jedi," Bail suddenly suggested, prompting everyone to turn to him in shock. "They are no happier with this situation than we are. There is one I believe we can trust absolutely-"
Padmé frowned. Which one? The war had changed the Jedi significantly. Once, she would have trusted at least two of them with her life. One was now dead and the other…she had not seen Anakin since Obi-Wan's funeral but even then he had seemed changed. Grim-faced and volatile.
"Patience, Senator," Bana Breemu, one of the latest recruits to their cause, advised coolly. "We cannot be sure of where they stand in all this."
"There has not been any talk of Jedi being included in the sector security postings," Padmé felt compelled to point out. And if Loki's intelligence was true, then Bail wasn't lying. If anything, they seemed to deeply suspect the Chancellor and his circle. She thought hard, mind racing ahead.
While the others debated back and forth, in her heart Padmé knew the petition would change nothing. It would only paint a target on their backs for Palpatine. Her gaze trailed to Bail, then to the air behind him where she knew Loki stood, unseen and unheard. She had been debating in her mind when it might be time to reveal Loki's presence, if only to Bail and Mothma. She had a sinking feeling it would be soon.
Once the meeting broke up, Padmé lingered, eyes intent on the air where Loki stood. As the others left, leaving only she, Bail and Mothma, she called them over. "Bail, Mothma, there's something I think we need to discuss. I haven't been entirely honest with you."
Bail's features grew dark where Mothma only looked confused, right up until the moment Loki seemingly stepped from the air beside Padmé. "Hello again, Senator Organa, Senator Mothma," he smiled urbanely, ignoring their cries of shock. "Wonderful to see you again."
To be continued...