It was another month before the Senate held session; I think the Emperor was getting just as tired of it as everyone else. It was exactly the same speeches, the same claps, except for Aria. She was wearing a dark red tunic that was tight against her body revealing her curves; many in the Senate wore conservative clothing, respectful to other races but Aria was above that. It was low cut with a small pendant hanging at her neck. Black leggings and her usual cloak completed the look with black boots and golden rings around her arms. Her hair was simple, we compared to the other senators; it was pulled back into a ponytail but twisted and braided throughout. She sighed during the session fighting to stay awake while doodling. If the Emperor caught her...
"Representative Amidala," I called as soon as session finished. The other senators ran and hid under my gaze but Aria grinned and waved the fellow Naboos away.
"And how are you doing, Lord Vader?" She asked with a charming smile. Her eyes were twinkling full of mischief and knowledge but still plagued under a horrible pain and sorrow.
"Or should I call you Kaeli or Starkiller?" I asked narrowing my eyes. I expected her to stumble, her smile to falter, her emotions to quake with fear but she simply shrugged and began walking.
"I'm hungry," she announced giving me a look.
"So?" I growled feeling suddenly impatient with her; I wanted answers, not food. She gave me that look.
"So I'm going to get food; if you want answers you'll just have to come along." She flashed me a smile and began walking away. I stood there undecided; I was supposed to be hunting down a possible Jedi in the Utapau system, not going for a dinner date with the late senator's sister. My anger clawed at the surface but my desire, my need for answers push me forward. The Force pulled me towards her as I found myself outside watching as she surveyed the speeders.
"Hmm." She had her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she stared at two different speeders. "This one." She finally stood beside an open cockpit speeder smiling at me in triumph. I stepped beside her and looked at the speeder. It was the fastest out of all the ones present and was agile. She had good taste but I shook my head and stood beside her second choice speeder; it was just as fast but had a closed cockpit.
"Come on, Grandpa," she groaned but climbed inside taking the driver's seat. "I'm driving; I want to get there before I'm forty."
"Only forty?" I grumbled taking my seat cursing the lack of leg space; it felt as if I were eating my legs. She glanced at me before take off wearing a half-smile.
"If this all goes according to plan, I don't expect to last to thirty let alone forty!" She laughed but I could feel her determination flash, but no fear; Aria had fear but not for death. Everyone feared death but those who had felt a greater pain; I understood.
"Can you even eat?" She asked after minutes of silence with nothing but the whirring of passing speeders. Aria was a good but very aggressive driver, something to expect from a former podracer. If there was any space, she would take it cutting off other drivers as they shouted obscenities in various languages. She would just laugh and wave before cutting off another driver. I found I was gripping the door so tightly it bent in my hands; someone else, a long time ago, would have laughed right along with her but that person was dead.
"Yes," I growled not caring to explain further. We soon landed on the lower levels of Coruscant where she led me to a sketchy-looking restaurant filled with bounty hunters and several criminals, but no Jedi.
"Hey, Stars, haven't seen you for a while!" A Bothan cook shouted as he jumped out from behind the kitchen. I noticed Aria had pulled her hood over her face but her eyes were still visible. Her mouth had formed a small smile that sent tingles up my spine, up everyone's spines by the look of it. Everyone looked at her with utmost respect but mingled with fear. People looked at me the same way.
"Good to see you too, Fias," she replied with a nod glancing at me behind her. The cook, Fias, I presume, paused as his face slacked. I could feel his fear leaking from his body as I grinned taking in the scent fueling me.
"I didn't know you worked for the Emperor, Starkiller, I thought they would have gone against your code," he muttered with a forced laugh.
Aria shrugged, "Desperate times, Fias, we'll be back there; just get me my usual. Darth Vader, you want anything? Fias is one of the best chefs I know; the only I trust with my food, in fact." I glanced at her friend once again relishing the fear he emitted, that all the patrons emitted.
"Nothing for me," I answered before following Aria to the back of the restaurant to a small, lonesome table covered by shadows. No one would see us if they didn't already know we were here. Those who did know kept glancing at us as the restaurant died down into an uncomfortable silence; the only sound was food cooking, sounds of people eating, and the occasional cough. A robot came by and dropped off some food in front of Aria but otherwise we were not disturbed.
"Friends of yours?" I asked after the silence became too unbearable, even for me. She looked up from her food with some sort of noodles hanging from her mouth and sauce on her chin.
"Hmm?" She slurped up the noodles and shrugged. "Well, if you consider them that; they are more like... Associates; we compete for jobs, some I get along with, others I don't," she answered staring at some of the individuals.
"You do not seem surprised," I said watching her intently feeling her emotions.
She shrugged once again and grinned, "Obviously or else we wouldn't be sitting here chatting."
"What would we be doing?' I asked carefully.
"I don't know; that will all depend on you; you'll figure it out, I know you will. It's just whether or not you are ready to figure it out." She smiled that grin of hers as she finished the rest of her meal. "I assume you have questions so ask away; although, I may not answer them."
"Do you know Boba Fett?" I blinked in surprise; I didn't know why I asked that question out of all the questions I had.
"Yeah, I do," she muttered with a grimace, "he has no code, though, just will go to whoever's paying him most. We're often hired by opposite parties, but I am better than him, and he knows it." Her eyes glinted with pride as she sat back in her chair.
"Code?" I asked leaning forward.
"You know, like a code of honour; this is what I'll do and this is what I won't," she answered as the droid came and picked up her empty dishes. "Like, I did a lot of war refugee contracts during the height of the Clone Wars, so protecting them as they travelled to a new planet from pirate and whatnot." She shrugged, "It was good, easy money but I'm pretty sure you are familiar with what contracts I accepted and which I did not. Any more questions?"
"Why did you become Kaeli and why did you leave Naboo? You were a part of the Queen's Guard; why would you leave that, and your family all behind?" I asked the words tasting like vinegar on my tongue. Darth Vader did not ask for information, he took it. Aria noticed this and smiled even bigger.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" She hissed relishing my anger and frustration, which only added to it.
"I could always go to torturing you to find my answers," I huffed forming a fist on the table for her to see, "I do not need to ask for permission."
She laughed, "You could but you won't." My anger flared.
"And why wouldn't I?" I growled slamming my fist against the table. The patrons stopped and stared at us waiting for a fight, while others began betting on who would win. Aria's tough facade broke as pain filled her eyes and she looked down.
"The same reason you meet me after each session, the same reason why you looked into my history, and why you are trying to figure out who I am; the same reason you are sitting across from me now and haven't killed me, or why you didn't choke me the first day we met," she answered calmly as she leaned back into her seat. "Because I am Padme's sister and that makes you curious. Sit down, Lord Vader, please and let go of some of your anger; you won't need it against me I promise. Save it for when you truly need it." For reasons unknown to me, I felt my anger slowly disappear like sand through your fingers as I relaxed and my fist fell limp.
"Most of these people do not know Aria, and I would prefer to keep it that way, but I did promise you some answers," she began scanning the other patrons as she leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I was always more free-spirited than my sisters; they wanted to talk politics and go to council meetings while I wanted to explore the Gungan forest and fight with the boys."
"Your charges for fighting," I muttered causing her to nod.
"We just saw things differently; Padme thought we could best serve everyone by creating good leadership, democracy, and negotiations, while Sola didn't really care, and I thought it was best by fighting. Democracy is good, don't get me wrong, although we now live in a Galactic Empire, but back then democracy was good but it takes too long and not everybody can agree on what's best. I always just wanted to go to the root of the problem and fight it out; I would while Padme discussed it with others and I would get in trouble, but I still loved my sisters. Anyways, after I had got into another fight defending what was right, my father decided it would be a good idea for me to put my skills and passion to good use. I was admitted into the Queen's Guard at eight years old, as you probably know, when Padme was starting her first term as queen. I was pretty good but still found it boring; I didn't want to patrol I wanted to find the trouble, stuff like that." She paused.
"Then..." I urged wanted to get my answers and leave to complete my Utapau mission before my Master realized I was taking too long.
"Then I made a mistake, a big one and I got into an argument with everyone: my parents, Sola, Padme, the governor, Captain Panaka, the other council people. It was the biggest argument we had and things that shouldn't have been said were said; I insulted Padme's beloved politics and she pointed out my criminal behaviour. So I hijacked a ship and I left and never looked back. I did what I always wanted to do; I went in podraces, got in fights, and didn't have to worry about disappointing my family or Naboo. It was awesome and I never looked back. I stayed out of the Republic if I could, still helped people, but in my way where I didn't have to worry about a decision that would take three years to make," she huffed but I could feel her pain and lonesome coming off her in waves drowning my other senses.
"Why did you disappear again only to reappear as a bounty hunter?" I asked noting the information.
She sighed, "Bounty hunters could make good money and I could put more of my skills to use. I could help people more by that than by podracing, so I did it."
"What skills?" I asked feeling something inside her move, something I couldn't quite identify; her guards were too strong, even for me.
She checked her datapad and smiled, "I'm sorry, Lord Vader, but we must continue this discussion at another time; don't want to give you too many answers at once do I?" Besides," she chuckled again but her attitude was serious, "I'm not sure I can trust you with that information yet. I shall see you next session, I presume." She placed some credits on the table and made her way to the exit when a large Aqualish stepped into her path.
"You owe me some money from that last job you pulled," he growled in Aqualish as his red eyes glinted angrily. My suit automatically translated it for me. "That stunt you pulled cost me $50,000!"
Aria sighed, "I was hired to stop you; I owe you nothing!" Everyone around stood up watching the pair. I stepped forward conflicted on whether or not I should interfere but Aria made the decision for me and flashed me a stern warning look. I nodded and clasped my hands in front of me keeping to the shadows; apparently, Aria could handle herself.
"You remember what happened last time, Sawkee?" Her eyes narrowed as her voice dropped and her hands went to her belt. The room seemed to hold its breath as the Aqualish glanced around trying to determine his next course of action. Aria's eyes were harsh and dark, nothing I had seen during these past few months; they reminded me of her photo as Starkiller full of anger, hate, and darkness. Right now, she was a being that emanated power, beauty, and fear; everyone was afraid of her.
"Decide now," she hissed lowering her stance. Sawkee growled and muttered obscenities before he walked away slowly. The restaurant returned to what they were doing as Aria stood up watching the Aqualish until he disappeared from sight. Then she looked at me and lead me out of the restaurant.
"Well, Lord Vader, I've had a wonderful time but I best be going or Kavis is going to lose it. Take the speeder; I want to cause a bit more trouble before I return to Naboo." She waved and disappeared into the mix of people.
I watched until her presence disappeared then I entered into the stolen speeder and took off to where the Death Star was waiting; the Emperor liked to keep it over Coruscant to show the people his power, and the threat of what happened if they ever rebelled. Aria had revealed some light but the way they feared her, the way they respected her brought more pieces to the puzzle.