Chapter 9

Padme had been crying on and off for days, certain that Leia had been taken from her forever. At the moment, she was sitting cross-legged on her bed in the Rebel Base on Yavin 4, sightlessly staring at the wall when a there was a knock at her door. Sighing, Padme dragged herself off the bed and went to go open the door.

Standing in the doorway was Mon Mothma, dressed in her typical white robes. "What do you want, Mon?" Padme asked her old friend wearily.

"Princess Leia has made contact," Mothma said. "She escaped the Death Star."

Padme's exhaled loudly and placed a hand over her heart in relief. "Oh, thank goodness," she said. "Thank you, Mon. Thank you."

Mothma gave Padme a smile. "She said she would be here in about an hour."

Overwhelmed with relief, Padme gave Mothma a hug. Mothma, who hadn't expected this, didn't know what to do with her arms. Padme released her quickly however, and spun around to get dressed.

An hour later Padme was waiting in the hangar, looking at the skyline anxiously as she waited for Leia to arrive. Finally, a ship emerged in the sky and descended down towards the hangar. Descending carefully, the ship landed smoothly on the landing pad. Impatiently, Padme waited for the landing crew to give the OK for the passengers of the crew to disembark.

A few minutes later, the bridge unfurled. First off the ship was Leia, who descended down the stairs regally, her hands held in front of her. Rushing forward, Padme surprised her daughter by enveloping her in a crushing hug. "Oh, Leia!" Padme said, closing her eyes tight as she hugged Leia tightly. "I was so worried!"

"I'm okay, Mom," Leia said in a muffled voice. Realizing that she must be embarrassing her, Padme let go but continued to hold onto her at arm's length. Mother and daughter looked at each other silently for a few moments before Leia spoke.

"Erm, Mom, this is Luke and Han. They rescued me."

Looking up, Padme saw two strapping young men standing awkwardly behind Leia. "Thank you so much," Padme said, extending her hand to each and shaking them vigorously. "I am forever indebted to you."

"About that –" the older looking man on the right began to say before he was rudely elbowed in the shoulder by his companion.

"It was nothing, ma'am," he said, ignoring the incredulous look that Han was giving him. "You don't owe us anything."

Returning her attention to her daughter, Padme could tell that Leia wasn't being fully truthful with her. "Leia, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

Leia's lower lip trembled ever so slightly. "Alderaan," she said in a whisper. "They destroyed it."

Padme's eyes widened in horror. Bail and Breha had been on Alderaan, Padme realized. Her protectors and closest companions were gone. "I'm so sorry, Leia," Padme said, her own eyes tearing up as she remembered her angry parting words with Bail. She had accused Bail of not caring enough about Leia, for putting her in unnecessary danger. That would be the last time they would ever have talked to each other…

"Come on," Padme said, willing herself to be strong for Leia. "Let's go inside."

After having given R2 over to the Generals, Leia spent the remainder of the afternoon showing Luke around the premises. She had extended the invitation to both Luke and Han, but the latter had refused, evidently annoyed that he wasn't receiving any form of compensation. Padme had watched from afar, not wanting to intrude on Leia's personal life. She noticed that Leia, who was normally dignified and aloof with people her own age, was remarkably comfortable and giggly in Luke's presence.

Padme watched Luke suspiciously. She had always been extremely protective of her daughter for understandable reasons. But Luke seemed to be totally genuine in his intentions. Nonetheless, Padme watched the two closely.

Padme was in command room listening to the General Dodonna and Mon Mothma discuss the plan to take out the Death Star ad nauseum when Leia arrived. Relieved to get away from the command room, Padme took Leia aside out into the hallway. Finding an empty room, Padme pulled Leia in and closed the door behind her.

"So," Padme said once they had both said down. "Tell me about Luke."

Leia rolled her eyes and sighed. "I just met him, Mom," Leia said. "I wanted to thank him for rescuing me, that's all."

"Okay, okay," Padme said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. "I just think you're moving a bit too fast with him."

"He's just a friend!" Padme gave Leia a skeptical look but didn't pursue any further. "He's volunteered to pilot an X-Wing, by the way. He says he's a good pilot."

That's what they all say Padme thought to herself. "Well, he's clearly a very brave young man." Leia nodded, clearly wanting this particular conversation to come to an end.

"Tell me what happened, Leia," Padme said. "I've been completely in the dark since we lost contact with your ship,"

And so Leia began her story. Padme inhaled sharply when she learned it had indeed been Vader who had boarded here ship and taken Leia prisoner. "Did he hurt you?" Padme asked, fearing the worst.

"No, not at all," Leia said. "But it was weird. When he took me to the Death Star, he didn't ask me about the Rebel Base."

"What did he ask about?" Padme asked, knowing the answer before Leia said it.

"He asked about you," she said. Leia paused, expecting a certain reaction from her mother but not receiving it. "He wanted to know where you were. I didn't understand why. Did you know each other in the past?"

Padme looked away, considering her options. There was little point in lying about this. After all, it was obvious from Leia's point of view that Vader at least knew her. "Yes," she answered cautiously. "A long time ago."

"But why does he want to find you?" Leia asked.

"I… I can't tell you," Padme said, avoiding Leia's incredulous eyes.

"What do you mean you can't tell me?" she asked indignantly. "What are you hiding?"

Padme shook her head and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Leia," Padme said. "It's for your own good that you don't know."

"He wants to kill you, doesn't he?" Leia said, her eyes alight with passion.

"Perhaps," Padme responded honestly. "I can't know for sure what he wants with me."

Leia gave an exasperated sigh. "What can you tell me?" she asked irritably.

Padme was silent for a few moments, considering what she could safely tell Leia. "Darth Vader is a very dangerous man," she said finally, knowing that this wasn't what Leia wanted to hear. "The less you know about him and what he's done the better off you'll be."

Leia narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized her mother's face intently. "Fine," she said bitterly. "Have it your way." Leia resumed her story, powering through the destruction of Alderaan without stopping. Padme looked at Leia with a mixture of sadness and pride. She had been through so much over these past few days, and yet she was still strong, perhaps even stronger than she had been before.

When Leia reached the part of the story where Luke showed up in her cell, Padme interrupted her. "What did you say?" she asked.

"I said he stormed into the cell and said 'I'm Luke Lars, I'm here to rescue you."

Luke Lars. She knew that name. That was the name of the Larses baby boy! She had held him in her arms nineteen years ago when she had gone to Tatooine looking for Obi Wan.

"Then he said he had R2 and he was here with Ben Kenobi."

Padme froze, her mouth slightly open as she stared back at Leia. "Kenobi?" she said slowly. "Obi Wan Kenobi?"

"Yeah, Bail told me he was a Jedi who fought during the Clone Wars. He said I should try and make contact with him if anything went wrong on the trip. I guess he got the message."

Padme was barely listening. So Obi Wan was alive after all. She had never really thought he was dead, but after nineteen years she had figured that he had vanished from the Galaxy somehow. Yet suddenly he had appeared alongside Luke Lars, the boy whom she had met on Tatooine all those years ago. Obi Wan must have been on Tatooine! She must have just narrowly missed him.

How come Bail knew how to find Obi Wan? Surely he would have told her if he knew where to find the last remaining Jedi in the Galaxy. Or maybe Bail had only just discovered where Obi Wan was and he hadn't had the time to relay the news to Padme? Either way, something was awry with this.

"Did you know him too?" Leia asked.

"Oh yes," Padme said, not hesitating this time. "He is a very old friend of mine."

"Oh," Leia said, suddenly looking sullen. "Luke thinks he died on the Death Star."

"What!" Padme exclaimed. "How?"

"He was fighting with Vader," Leia said, her eyes out of focus as she pictured the event in her mind. "Vader was holding two… I don't really know what they were. They were like laser swords, I guess. One was blue and the other was red."

"Lightsabers," Padme said, closing her eyes as she realized what must have happened. "The weapon of the Jedi."

"Yeah, so it looked like Vader was about to kill him when Luke called out and distracted Vader. Obi Wan kicked Vader away and tried to run away but the door closed and we didn't see what happened afterward. We had to escape while we could because we were under heavy fire from the Stormtroopers."

So Vader had killed Obi Wan. That must mean that Anakin was truly gone. Obi Wan had been his best friend, a simultaneous father and brother figure for the little boy who had never had a real family other than his mother Shmi. There was nothing left of Anakin in Vader if he had tried to kill Obi Wan like that. She suspected that this was the case for a long time, but hearing the definitive proof was still deeply saddening to her. For the umpteenth time she wondered how this could have happened. How had Anakin become so lost?

"Mom? Are you okay?"

Padme looked up to see Leia's concerned expression. "I'm sorry," Padme said. "This is just a lot of information, that's all. I'm just happy that you're alright."

Leia pursed her lips, seemingly conflicted about whether or not to continue questioning her mother about Vader. She decided against it, however, and stood up from her seat. "Well, I'm going to go wish Luke luck," she said. "The pilots should be leaving soon." Ignoring Padme's smirk, Leia pushed the door open and walked off down the hallway.

Padme lagged behind for a while after Leia had left, considering everything she had learned. She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep the truth from Leia for much longer. She was a smart girl, surely she would begin to put the pieces together after a while. Or perhaps Vader would die today with the Death Star. She knew it was a long shot, but still the possibility existed. Would she be happy if that happened? She knew she ought to be, but she suspected that she wouldn't. Part of her knew that she could only ever be happy if she saved Anakin from himself. But there was nothing left to save, was there?

Leaving the room, Padme walked back down the hallway towards the command room. Leia joined her a few minutes later, anxiously standing beside the hologram table which showed the location of their squadrons.

"Which one is Luke?" Padme asked cautiously.

"Red 5," Leia replied, making a concerted effort to sound indifferent.

"I'm sure he'll be alright," Padme said unconvincingly. Internally, Padme knew that the Rebels didn't stand a chance. Attacking the Death Star was one thing, but Padme knew that Vader was an even more formidable obstacle. The Rebel pilots were completely out of their league compared to Vader. He would make mincemeat of all the Rebels, including Leia's friend Luke Lars.


Vader was pacing back and forth in his private quarters while Obi Wan awkwardly sat in a chair in the corner, not knowing what to do with himself. Vader had dragged Obi Wan away quickly after he had decided not to kill him, fearing that Tarkin would notice that something was wrong. Vader was playing with fire, though. It was only a matter of time before Tarkin found out what had happened. Not killing Kenobi would be considered equivalent to treason in Tarkin's book.

But Vader had a more pressing issue now. The Death Star was on its way to the Yavin system to destroy the Rebel Base. Now that the Rebels had the plans to the Death Star, they would no doubt initiate an assault on the battle station. Their efforts would be futile, however. The Rebels had no chance of destroying the Death Star with nothing but X-Wing fighters.

Vader was now convinced that Padme was on Yavin 4 with the Rebels. That meant he had to rescue her before the Death Star annihilated the planet. But how would he manage to get down to the planet without anyone noticing? It would be especially helpful to Vader if the Rebels actually did succeed in blowing up the Death Star. Nobody would be able to hold Vader accountable in that case. Could Vader somehow sabotage the station to make it blow up? He didn't have the faintest idea how to do this, however. He had to prioritize getting down to Yavin 4 and deal with the consequences after the fact. Padme was more important than anything.

What would he do with Kenobi in the meantime? He had hoped to use him as a bait at some later date, drawing Padme away from the Rebels so that he could intercept her. Now there was no time for this. He would have to take Obi Wan with him, as he didn't trust his old Master enough to let him leave his sights.

"Put this on," Vader said stiffly, reaching into a closet and producing a black imperial uniform. "Hurry up, old man." If he was embarrassed to get changed in front of Vader, he didn't show it and instead quickly stripped out of his dusty Jedi robes and slipped into the tight Imperial uniform.

"It fits, but only barely," Obi Wan said, with a hint of his old humor. Vader ignored this comment, looking at a holopad to see how much time he had.

"We have to move quickly," he said.

"We?" Obi Wan said inquisitively. "Am I not your prisoner?"

"I have no time for semantics!" Vader bellowed, fed up with Obi Wan's behavior. "The Death Star will be in range of the Rebel Base within the hour. We have to get down to the planet and rescue –"

"Abduct more like," Obi Wan muttered under his breath.

" – Padme before the Death Star blows up the base. If you make any move to escape or to impede my progress, I will kill you. Is that clear?"

Obi Wan shrugged. "I am unarmed. There is little I can say."

Vader smirked. "There's little you could do even if you were armed, old man."

Obi Wan looked up at Anakin quickly, an inquisitive expression on his face. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable by this casual banter, Vader turned to leave. "Come on," he ordered. "Follow me."

Vader marched with purpose down the long hallways of the Death Star, Obi Wan trailing a step behind. Fortunately for Vader, nobody was brave enough to ask him where he was going. People had a tendency to shy away from him whenever he passed by. Entering the TIE hanger, Vader slipped into the crowd of Stormtroopers who were preparing their ships in haste to counter the rebel fleet which must have just arrived.

Reaching his custom TIE fighter, Vader suddenly realized a flaw in his plan. There was only room for one in his ship. Where would Obi Wan sit? There was no chance in Hell that Obi Wan was going to sit on his lap all the way to Yavin 4. Looking around, Vader formulated a plan quickly. "Come on," he murmured to Obi Wan, keeping his head low. Obi Wan followed Vader to the unmodified TIE fighter parked next to Vader's. "Get in this one," Vader said.

"You want me to fly it?" Obi Wan asked, surprised.

"No, I want you to give it an oil change. Of course I want you to fly it!"

"Okay, okay." Obi Wan said, scrambling to get into the ship.

"Follow my ship. Believe me, I will shoot you down if you make any wrong move." Satisfied that Obi Wan was ready to take off, Vader rushed off to his own TIE fighter and clambered into it quickly. Entering Obi Wan's TIE fighter's code into the radio, Vader gave Obi Wan the order to take off. He remembered that Obi Wan wasn't a natural born flier, but the TIE was so easy to fly anyone could pilot it, Vader reasoned.

Taking off into space, Vader saw that the battle over the Death Star had already begun. TIE fighters swarmed the outnumbered X-Wings. Vader momentarily considered joining the battle on the Rebels side in an effort to improve their odds of destroying the Death Star somehow. This would be too much of a risk, however. If his Master found out that he had turned on the Empire, he would be executed no doubt.

Instead, Vader flew off in the opposite direction towards Yavin 4. Confirming that Obi Wan was still behind him, Vader continued flying away from the battle. The green orb of Yavin 4 grew larger and larger in Vader's window until it entirely surrounded his field of view. Checking the navigational computer he had had installed, Vader determined the most probable location of the Rebel Base based on the high concentration of life forms. Vader and Obi Wan descended into the atmosphere and finally below the clouds. In spite of the terrible odds, Vader couldn't help but feel excited. This was the closest he had been to Padme in nineteen years! Finally he was going to be able to see her!

"This is where the fun begins," Vader said aloud. He could almost hear Obi Wan roll his eyes over the radio.