Hello lovelies!
Here it is! The moment we've been building up to since I started this thing! Who's excited?
I know a lot of you have been waiting for this part, so I hope I did it justice.
Skywalker
Sabé was brooding.
It wasn't a state of mind that she often allowed herself to be in, but given the current state of things in the galaxy, she thought she could be forgiven for it.
The Imperial Senate was no more.
This was hardly surprising.
She had known it was coming. For a long time now, the Senate had been nothing more than a fancy meeting place to listen to the Emperor talk about the glory that was the Empire and listen to the Senators bow acceptance with grandiose speeches. No, the only thing that surprised Sabé was how long the whole thing had taken. The Senate had been nothing but useless for years now. Though, she supposed, it was a good illusion of the opposite.
The final nail in the Senate's coffin must have been the events that preceded the end of the governmental body – something that Sabé still could not wrap her head around.
Alderaan.
The thought of it still sent a chill up her spine. An entire planet – gone. As if it had never been. And her people with her.
Greif had become a constant companion during these dark years, but now it flared to life with a vengeance.
Bail.
Breha.
Her heart ached with the knowledge that she would never see either other them again. Her only solace was that her little Leia had been on a diplomatic mission and was nowhere near her home planet when it was destroyed.
Destroyed.
Force.
An entire planet reduced to nothing.
She couldn't believe such a thing was possible even though the evidence was staring her straight in the face.
That anyone could have that kind of power…
It wasn't right.
She remembered the tilt of the Emperor's lips and the gleam in this amber eyes even as he announced to the Senate that Alderaan was gone due to the work of a new rebel weapon.
She knew better.
She remembered the way whispers broke out around the room, the way everything suddenly became too quiet and loud all at once and her legs failed her as she sank to the ground in shock.
The Emperor put on a good show, but there was no hiding that he was pleased. Not from her. She'd learned what to look for long ago.
Alderaan.
A whole planet.
Not just that, but a Core World.
Gone in an instant.
Without thought or hesitation.
And he didn't care.
Sabé knew. She knew that he was rotten, that he was heartless, that he cared little for life. The slaughter of the Jedi Order almost twenty years ago now had shown her that. The death of her Queen had shown her that.
This though, this was something different.
It was one thing to have an army that would obey your every order without question.
It was another thing entirely to have a weapon that could destroy whole planets.
A world killer.
Something needed to be done.
Naboo was usually a welcome sight.
But restless energy hummed under her skin and even her home planet could not cure her of it.
Sitting on her veranda looking out over the lake did nothing to calm her.
She turned at the sound of footsteps to see Eirtaé striding towards her, datapad clutched tightly in her hand. Her face was pinched and pale, her lips pressed into a thin line, her blue eyes full of turmoil.
Sabé straightened, voice coming out sharp. "Eirtaé?"
The blond woman stopped in front of her and made an aborted motion to hand her the datapad. "You might want to sit down for this," she said after a tense moment of silence.
Sabé narrowed her eyes, not amused. "I am sitting down."
Eirtaé blinked, shaking herself. "Right," she said slowly, "Right. I just…"
Sabé held her hand out and after a moment's hesitation, Eirtaé handed her the datapad.
It was an intelligence report from the Alliance.
She pulled the pad towards her, eyes roving over the words there, stomach dropping as she read. Leia, her little storm, had been taken. Taken and she hadn't even known. By Darth Vader. She felt nauseous because she knew that whatever happened, it was not good. And not even a day after, Alderaan was gone.
Force.
She forced herself to keep reading. Plans for the Death Star, the world killer, had been taken. That was what stared this entire nightmare. Leia had them. Her sweet, brave, little Queen. And when they were caught, she gave the plans to a droid. Sabé felt her lips quirk – she knew without even reading which droid it was. Even after all these years, Artoo was still tough as nails and stubborn as hell. If Leia gave him a job, that little droid was going to see it done.
The next words gave her pause.
Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan was on the Death Star.
Obi-Wan had come to help Leia.
Obi-Wan had fought Darth Vader.
Obi-Wan had lost.
Sabé brought a trembling hand to her mouth, her eyes burning with the beginning of tears.
Obi-Wan was dead.
After all these years.
He had lived all these years. In secret. In hiding.
And now he was gone.
Just like her Queen and his student.
He had been her last piece, her last link to the time Before. And now he was lost to her just like the others.
She bit the inside of her cheek and forced herself on. She could mourn later.
She read on.
About Leia's rescue, the chase the Imperial's gave, following all the way to the rebel base. The Death Star zeroing in on Yavin IV with the same deadly intent it had Alderaan. The Alliance's desperate attempt to destroy it, their success.
Then Sabé's eyes found the name of the pilot who had made the decisive shot.
Luke Skywalker.
Her heart froze. She stopped breathing as she stared at the name in stunned incomprehension.
Skywalker.
Skywalker.
Alive.
The child was alive.
How though, she wondered. She remembered the sight of her Queen's body – she would never forget it – still swollen with child. It shouldn't have been possible. The child had died.
…or it was made to look like the child had died.
Sabé's eyes snapped to the beginning of the report as she read it over again. He had been one of the group that had arrived to rescue Leia. He had arrived with Obi-Wan.
He had been with Obi-Wan.
Skywalker.
He was Anakin's child.
What she knew of the Jedi sprang forth. Anakin had been strong, it stood to reason that his child would be as well. Such a child would have to be kept hidden from the galaxy, especially with the shadow that fell around the time he was born.
Obi-Wan knew about the child.
Obi-Wan hid him.
Skywalker.
Anakin's child was alive.
Padmé's child was alive.
"You've read this?" she asked Eirtaé without looking away from the report.
"Yes."
"Anyone else?"
"No."
Sabé nodded absently, mind already sorting through possibilities. "Get the others," she said, "I think it's time we met this new hero of the Alliance."
Eirtaé's lips quirked ever so slightly, but her eyes were dark. "It's just like before isn't it?" she asked.
Sabé raised an eyebrow in question.
A small smile formed on Eirtaé's face. "Come on, Sabé," she teased lightly, eyes shining, "Surely you haven't forgotten? A planet in terrible danger from an oppressive force they couldn't possibly defend themselves against, let alone defeat."
Sabé chuckled, throat tight and eyes burning. "And who should save them," she murmured, smiling even as her tears finally fell, "but the boy who walks across the sky like he was born with wings on his back and wind in his soul."
Ahhhhh, so no Luke yet. That part comes next. This just started getting really long so I broke it up. Thoughts so far?
Until next time,
~Elri
