A/N: Thank you for your kind responses to the first chapter- I already had this written when I posted the first, so I cannot promise that updates will be speedy after this (quite the opposite, actually) but your kind reviews warmed the cockles of my heart :)
"This is completely insane, you know," Nola told her, idly wiping the lens of his holocam with a cloth. "Even if Vader says yes-"
"He'll say yes"
"—if he says yes, there's no way he'll actually answer anything or make any kind of concession. He'll just trumpet some load of bantha crap about duty and the Empire and you'll have a whole audience of beings moved to tears by boredom…and a whole room full of advertisers wanting your head on a stick."
"This is not good for my serenity, Nola," Espera answered fiercely, fastening and re-fastening her outer tunic, each time with a different knot. "How am I supposed to collect myself to play hardball with two Jedi if you keep on being a Doubting Dathomirian?"
"Adversity only makes you stronger," he replied lazily. Nola was equally clean-cut as his partner, but with straight black hair pulled away from his face in a neat queue and deep red skin that was surprisingly well-maintained for a holocam operator—Nola claimed that never being in a holo was no reason not to look like he just walked out of one.
"I am going to take that holocam and I am going to shove it down your throat if you keep on trying to throw me off my game," Espera replied. She flipped open a small compact and corrected non-existent smudges in her eye makeup. "What, more than anything in the world, does the Galaxy want from Vader?"
"Endless footage of him acting like a complete lunatic?"
"No- an apology. They want an apology, and whatever twisted reasoning he has for wiping out planets left and right- can you imagine it? If we were the ones that got him to out and out say what he did was wrong without his possible execution being on the line? That trial was all show and you know it—as if his daughter couldn't have pulled the strings and set him free any second."
"I don't know—she's not terribly keen on the idea of Vader being her biological father. I don't think she'd mind seeing him thrown to the nexus."
"Again, you are missing the point—people need closure. Didn't you hear about the riot?"
"Which one?"
"Don't be dense, the one we passed on our way to the studio earlier! Vader opens his mouth to say one word and the whole crowd starts screaming for his blood—if we can get him admitting that he's a war criminal on public holovision, then we'll have achieved the biggest journalistic feat in the history of news."
"You've clearly been thinking about this," Nola said, sitting up from his recumbent position and sounding serious for once, "but I just don't think you thought this all the way through—what if he doesn't say anything good? What if no one picks it up? What if he chokes you before we even get started? You're risking a lot, 'Pera, and chances are you won't gain anything at all…"
"That's enough," she replied, coolly, and began re-applying her blush.
As it turned out, Anakin did end up accompanying Luke to the appointment with D'tol—as did Leia. She appeared at their door, fully ready to verbally tangle with her father until she received some sort of concession, and Luke had told her about the reporter's offer.
My son is a fool.
Leia had demanded she go as well—"Espera D'tol is smart, and she's tricky- she's more than good enough to hoodwink both of you into agreeing to something you don't want. I might as well be there to make sure you two don't get totally robbed in the negotiations," she said, and despite her father's protests that there were not going to be any negotiations, she refused to budge.
Back in the present, Luke cordially greeted the hostess at Republica Evenings, smiling as though the restaurant had not gone completely silent upon their arrival.
"Excuse me, Miss, but I believe we have a reservation, maybe under the name D'tol…?"
The hostess, a rather harassed-looking Rodian, pointed to an elegant table next to a window overlooking Upper Coruscant and squeaked. She never once took her black eyes off Anakin.
"Yes…um, thanks," Luke mumbled, and they made their way to the table- Leia, just as queenly in her bearing as her mother, Luke with his hands folded in the folds of his tunic and looking pensive, and Anakin Skywalker- tall, amor-clad (though now in his New Republic whites), and the recipient of every gaze in the room. He had a mind to turn suddenly and shout, just to see if it would startle all the patrons into falling out of their chairs. He pushed aside the tempting fantasy as they approached their adversaries. D'tol stood immediately, offering to shake hands with Luke and Leia (who accepted) and finally Anakin (who very reluctantly accepted, noting the look on her face when her small, slim hand slid into his massive durasteel one). Her companion remained seated—he looked as though he had some Zeltron heritage and was nonplussed by having late lunch with a Sith. He was either very brave or incredibly stupid—likely the latter.
"May I get you something to drink?" Espera asked, motioning for a waiter—who appeared like magic, taking drink orders with shaky hands. Espera had a small fruit juice, her companion something that sounded poisonously alcoholic, while Luke and Leia both asked for water- the waiter turned to ask Anakin what he wanted and received an icy glare for his efforts. After a tense moment he scuttled off, and Anakin gazed out the window longingly as D'tol began chattering away.
"I understand you all have some concerns about this project, so let me assure you," she started, leaning forward and causing the firegem in her hairpiece to catch the light, "that by no means is this some sort of stunt or ruse—this is journalism working as it should, as a link between the masses and their elected leaders."
Anakin snorted derisively, and Luke gave him a warning glare. D'tol continued as though she had not heard.
"What I'm proposing is an interview- a series of interviews, actually, given consecutively over three days on live holovision. The topics covered will be the ones people really want to hear about—the rise of the Empire, Anakin Skywalker the man, your past with the Jedi and Sith, your decision to defect…" the last topic hung in the air like a question, as if she meant to drive home that few believed his story.
"Those are all private things," Anakin said, curtly. "It is no one's business but mine whether or not I stayed along the path of the Jedi or anything else."
"But that's just it," D'tol cut in, her eyes beginning to shine. "You aren't a private man—you are the very opposite of a private man. You—and you alone!—were directly involved in the overthrow of two galactic governments over the past two decades, you served as head of the Republic Armies and as Second-in-Command of the Empire, you currently have your finger hovering over the button that, if pressed, could plunge us back into war with the Imperial Remnant—and no one knows a thing about you! People fear things they don't understand, Mister Secretary."
Her eyes gleamed triumphantly, and more than anything in the world Anakin wanted to throw her against the transparisteel window and out into Coruscanti traffic.
"Do not presume to lecture me about fear, Miss D'tol," he grated, feeling a small curl of pleasure when she paled slightly. "I have been spreading fear throughout this Galaxy since before you were born."
"Really," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "And you are going to try and scare the Remnant into good behavior, negotiations be damned? You sound like you want to send us back to war."
"Now you imply that I enjoy inter-planetary slaughter, that I would like nothing more than to see the Galaxy thrown back into chaos…"
"Well, I don't know that you don't want that, do I?" she replied, smugly. She inclined her head slightly, and Leia looked impressed. Anakin turned to Luke, who gave the slightest shrug of his shoulders, as if to say she has us there, Father.
"If Anakin agrees to these interviews," Leia cut in, "what topics will be covered? Will there be some sort of monetary compensation?"
"All of these things are open to negotiation…if Mister Skywalker is willing," Espera said, fixing her gaze on Anakin.
Remember what Leia was saying earlier, Luke sent him through the Force. If you could tell people more about what good you hope to do for the Galaxy…well, it could make your next public address go much smoother.
Anakin glared at Luke, but conceded his point.
"I want to hear terms before I agree to anything."