10 BBY. Abregado-Rae. City of Abregado-Rae Spaceport.

By the time Luke's first (and last, incidentally) morning on Abregado-Rae rolled around, he was tired of Being on an Adventure. It had been fun last night, sure, as he and Sabé had walked through the Spaceport's brightly lit streets. Sabé had kept her hand on her blaster the whole time and everything. All in all, Luke had felt like the hero of the Holo program he and Mom watched on the weekends.

Oddly enough though, Intergalactic Secret Agent Satam never had nightmares about pirates and what they might be doing to his mother. Luke, on the other hand, did. By the time the sun finally lit their hotel room, Luke had barely gotten any sleep. It didn't help that Sabé got a comm call at around 0600 and then rushed him out the door and to a street vendor's stall for breakfast. Luke had no idea what was happening.

Still, thought Luke, as he ate a fruit turnover while Sabé checked over her blaster next to him, Abregado-Rae was kind of a cool place. There were beings of all shapes and sizes walking through its streets. It was nothing like Coruscant, or Naboo either. Luke, a little bored with watching Sabé, had started making up stories about random passersby. He'd just decided that the Devaronian across the street was actually an undercover secret agent hunting Rebels (Mom said they did that) when two beings approached his and Sabé's table. Sabé's head snapped up, but she relaxed almost immediately. Luke couldn't help but stare at the two. One was human, and he looked incredibly familiar, but Luke couldn't quite place him. The other was a tall, slim Rattataki female, her ice blue eyes flitting back and forth around the crowded street. She carried no weapons, that Luke could see anyway, but Something prickled prickled nervously in the back of his head every time he looked at her.

"He didn't say he was sending you." said Sabé, sounding a little annoyed. Luke, who was a little in awe of Sabé and her ability to ignore the dangerousdark dripping off of the Rattataki, dragged his attention back to her companion. The human chuckled.

"Apologies, Sabé." he said, inclining his head. "Any deception was strictly necessary, I assure you." Now, his warm grey eyes flicked to Luke. "Hello there, Young One." Sabé scowled, but she gave Luke a nudge. Remembering Mom's words, Luke racked his brain for a good fake name.

"I-I'm, uh, Ruwee." he said. "Ruwee Nertie. Sabé's my mom." he added, because he knew his lie hadn't been all that convincing. The man didn't even raise an eyebrow at Luke's obvious deception. He just kept smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Ruwee. My name's Ben." Luke summoned up a smile, but his attention was mostly on the Rattataki woman and the strange aura she gave off. She reminded him a little bit of Lord Malefus, actually. As a result, it was taking all of Luke's self control not to crawl into a hole and hide. "Ah," added Ben, who had noticed his staring. "This my friend." Luke noticed that he didn't give a name for her.

"Come on, Ben." growled the woman, finally looking at her friend. "We're out in the open here, I don't like it." Luke looked up at Sabé, not sure what to do. She gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Come on, Ruwee." She said. "We're going on a little trip to meet some of your mom's friends, alright?" It wasn't alright, nothing was alright, but Luke nodded like it was, all the same.

The two beings led the way to a docking bay, marked with a faded 64. What waited there was almost enough to make Luke feel excited again, like he had the night before. It was sleek, dark grey and fast looking, and Luke could see its laser cannons from the bay entrance. In short, it was the average eight-year-old aspiring pilot's dream ship. In fact, Luke was so in awe, he completely forgot how scary the Rattataki woman was.

"What is that?" he asked. He was too busy staring at the fighter to see Asajj Ventress' smirk, but he did hear her answer.

"It's an Aggressor."

"It's yours?" asked Luke. "It's totally astral!"

"You've got a nice eye, for a little kid." she said. The sneer in her voice made Luke remember why he hadn't been talking to her before now. He swallowed his retort and shrugged instead, staring hard at the floor.

"Shall we?" said Ben, somewhere over Luke's head. He guessed Sabé agreed, because she placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him gently toward the ship's gangway, now descending to the bay floor. Luke walked obediently to the ship and climbed aboard behind Ben. The nameless Rattataki had already strapped herself into the pilot's seat. Ben settled down next to her, leaving Luke and Sabé to take two of the back seats. Apparently, Ben had been waiting to get aboard before he explained anything, because he turned to look at Sabé as the ship lifted off the ground, engines humming eagerly.

"It's good to see you again, Sabé." he said with a smile. Sabé didn't smile back.

"I thought you were dead, Master Jedi." she said flatly. Luke snapped his head up to stare at her. There was a snort from the pilot's seat, and Ben opened his mouth, but Luke interrupted.

"You're a Jedi?!" he exclaimed. "But the Jedi are gone!" Jedi were criminals, traitors to the Old Republic, but Luke was not afraid. After all, he supposed, Mom had almost been arrested by the Emperor, right? Clearly, not all criminals were bad news. Ben raised one gingery eyebrow at Sabé. She shrugged.

"What? Until yesterday afternoon, I thought you were dead, Master Kenobi. Padmé didn't tell me or the boy anything." Under normal circumstances, Luke might have taken issue with the anger in Sabé's voice when she said Mom's name, but as it was, he had been completely sidetracked.

"Master Kenobi?" he asked, voice shooting up an octave. "As in General Obi-Wan Kenobi?" The Jedi sighed.

"Yes, Luke." he said softly, sending panic through Luke's veins. How could he know who Luke was? Could Jedi read minds? He was maybe he ought o be afraid of Ben-no, Obi-Wan after all.

"Calm down, Young One." said the Jedi, and a gentle wave of exactly that washed over Luke. "I am a very good friend of your mother's. I've known her nearly as long as Sabé has." And Sabé hadn't tried to shoot him yet, so Luke supposed he was telling the truth.

"Did Mom tell you about me?" he asked, for surely that was the only way the Jedi could know his name.

"She didn't have to." said General Kenobi. "I was there with her when you were born." Luke was too busy processing the fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi had probably held him as a baby to see the man open his mouth again, only for Sabé to shake her head sharply and mouth "not now" at him. Luke focused in time to see the Jedi shrug. He then proceeded to grill Sabé about what had happened on Coruscant and with the pirates. Luke, who didn't really want to think about any of that, chose to look through the viewport at the stars. The Rattataki pilot glanced back at him once, but she didn't say anything. Luke watched until the ship pulled free of Abregado-Rae's gravity well and she sent it into hyperspace.

Luke seemed exhausted, and Sabé took him to a bunk barely half an hour after the ship entered hyperspace. While she was gone, Obi-Wan took a few deep breaths in lieu of meditation. Padmé's old friend was very clearly angry, and he was not exactly looking forward to her return without Luke's presence as a buffer. Beside him, Asajj rolled her eyes.

"You're telling me that's the Hero With No Fear's son?" she asked. "He's wimpy." She smirked. "Then again, I always thought Skywalker was overhyped." Obi-Wan scowled at her.

"He's eight, Ventress." he said. "And you know full well that Anakin is nothing if not brave." She laughed.

"Touchy." she said. "Just a joke, Kenobi. You ought to be used to me by now." Obi-Wan found himself grinning.

"Yes, well, you still mange to surprise me from time to time." They sat in companionable silence until Sabé returned, shutting the cockpit door behind her. The small brunette dropped into her seat with a heavy sigh.

"Right." she said. "What the kreth is a Sith doing with you?" Asajj's eyes narrowed dangerously. Fearing a catastrophe, Obi-Wan said quickly,

"She's no Sith, and Palpatine would like very much to kill her." Asajj let out her breath, and Obi-Wan continued. "She was living on the same planet that I chose to settle on. As we are no longer on opposing sides of a war, we saw no reason that we couldn't be allies." Asajj snorted at his word choice, but Obi-Wan was not about to get into details of his sex life with Sabé Vertie. "Now, what do you know?" Sabé didn't look ready to let the issue of Asajj's presence go, but she crossed her arms and sighed.

"I know about Padmé and Skywalker, and that Luke has a twin sister. I also know that Bail Organa and Mon Mothma started some sort of resistance movement, and that they can give Luke and I shelter. She wanted us to go to Mothma on Dac." Obi-Wan nodded.

"I can do you one better." he said. "We can take you to Senator Organa. His position is better hidden than Senator Mothma's." Sabé nodded.

"Alright. Luke's safety is what's most important. What are your Rebels doing about Padmé?" Obi-Wan sighed.

"The last I heard, Bail was putting out feelers to try and find the pirates that captured her ship. From what Bail said, I suspect Anakin will be looking for her as well, once Leia's somewhere safe." At Sabé's questioning look, he elaborated; "Luke's sister." She frowned.

"Surely Organa's not allowing that? If the Empire gets its claws on him-" Obi-Wan nodded.

"You're right. As soon as we drop you and Luke off, I'm going after him."

"As usual." interjected Asajj, who was now sitting cross-legged in her chair, cleaning her lightsaber hilts. Obi-Wan hummed in agreement. "Hang on." said Asajj. "Did you say Padmé hadn't told you or Luke anything? Does that mean-"

"He doesn't know." she said. "Any of it. All Padmé told him was that she's a fugitive from the Empire because she disagrees with Palpatine. He doesn't know about Rebels, or the Purges, or who his father is."

"Damn." said Obi-Wan, stroking his chin. He had never managed to kick the habit, despite having been clean-shaven for eight years now. "That complicates things."

"Yes, that's one way of putting it." Sabé's tone implied that her preferred method of putting it involved quite a bit more profanity than Obi-Wan's had.

"What shall we say, then?"

"We'll tell them what he told you." she said, after a moment's consideration. "His name is Ruwee, and he's my son." Mildly relieved, Obi-Wan nodded, and Sabé went on. "Viceroy Organa and Mon Mothma will know, of course, but if we dye his hair, we ought to fool everyone else. As few people as possible should know who he is before he does, after all."

"Can't you just tell him who he is?" asked Asajj, rolling her eyes.

"I don't think it's my place." said Sabé. "If Padmé didn't tell him, there must be a reason, right?"

"Indeed." said Obi-Wan quickly. "And with any luck, she'll be back before anyone has time to wonder about him. Now, that's settled. We've about seven hours in hyperspace before we reach our destination. We just need to explain to Luke what's expected of him when we get there."

Sabé left the cockpit soon after, and Asajj turned to Obi-Wan.

"Don't think you're fooling me, you coward." she said. "Whatever her reasons are, you're just trying to avoid telling the brat that his mother's been lying to him his whole life." Obi-Wan smiled ruefully.

"You know me too well, my darling."

10 BBY. Florrum.

Honestly, Padmé supposed, she was having a fairly lucky day. After all, Hondo Ohnaka was an immensely preferable host compared to Emperor Palpatine. Also, she'd been kidnapped by quite possibly the only criminal mastermind in the Galaxy who had a sense of honor. The Hutt Council, for example, would almost certainly have thrown her to the Imperial Navy if it had shown up on their doorstep.

Now, this was all true when thought about rationally, but Padmé Naberrie Amidala Skywalker was (understandably) not in the most rational mood. In fact, as she was wearing utterly filthy pirate rags, her hair was in painfully tight braids, and she was currently seated on one Captain Ike Alatar's lap, Padmé thought she was allowed to feel a little sorry for herself.

Her hands wouldn't stop shaking. So much for being the picture of iron will in front of the pirates.

Padmé had newfound sympathy for the Senate's Organized Crime Task Force, if all criminal bosses were as good as Hondo. In less than an hour, the pirate and his men had completely hidden everything, from evidence of their illegal spice trade to the military grade black market weapons. Even Hondo's rather impressive ship collection had been concealed beneath the compound. Hondo, in an effort to protect his own back, was committed to making sure the Empire didn't find her in his compound. To this end, Padmé had traded her dusty, but still obviously high quality, gown for a pair of fatigue style pants, work boots, and a gray jacket with a wide hood, which she'd pulled low over her face. Between the clothes and her braided hair, she hoped she'd pass for one of the female weequay who frequented Hondo's bar.

The Empire didn't bother knocking. One second, the bar was full of music and laughter, the next, it was full of smoke as the door blew off of its hinges. Stormtroopers poured through the gap, blasters at the ready. Hondo's men leapt to their feet as one, but none of them were bold enough to draw guns on Imperial troops, to Padmé's relief. Hondo remained seated at the bar, a drink in his hand. He looked for all the universe as though armed men broke down his door every day.

"Ah, gentlemen!" he called, spreading his arms wide. "Welcome to Florrum. Would any of you care for a drink?"

"You'll keep your mouth shut, Pirate, unless you want to spend tonight in our brig." snapped a cold voice from behind the troopers. Padmé leaned forward a tad, just enough to see around Alatar's outflung arm, praying to all the Goddesses that her luck would hold out.

A moment later, she breathed a sigh of relief. The officer who'd spoken was small and angular, with a face rather like a marsh rat. Most importantly, however, Padmé didn't recognize him. She leaned back against Alatar's chest, her heart racing. The big pirate captain, thankfully, didn't seem to find her particularly attractive; he hadn't so much as looked at her chest, let alone taken advantage of the fact that she was sitting on his lap.

The rat-faced Imperial officer stalked forward, chest puffed out, past his troops and directly up to Hondo's chair. As he passed her, one of the troopers turned his faceplate to her shadowed face. Padmé's heart leapt into her mouth, but she resisted the urge to go for Alatar's blaster, which was strapped to his leg, just a few inches from her left hand. After the longest moment of Padmé's life, the trooper looked away again, turning his faceplate back to his superior's gray back.

"Mr- Ohnaka, is it?" asked the officer, looking down his nose at Hondo, who deliberately spread his arms and smiled widely.

"Yes indeed. I am Hondo Ohnaka, the leader of this modest little trade outpost." He leaned forward. "What, may I ask, is the nature of your very welcome visit?" The officer, whose insignia plate Padmé couldn't see, smirked.

"I am here to establish a garrison on this world, in order to-ah-civilize it, in the name of our Emperor. Congratulations, Mr. Ohnaka." Here, his smirk turned downright nasty. "You have just been afforded the protection of the Imperial Navy."

Hondo made a reply, but Padmé wasn't listening anymore. Her heart was sinking. If the Empire was establishing a presence on Florrum, it would be highly difficult for her to escape. There was very little shipping traffic, which meant every ship that entered or left Florrum's atmosphere would be subject to search, and nothing would fall through the cracks. Why, oh, why couldn't Hondo have set up his pirating operation on a halfway-civilized world?

Padmé sighed softly, and clenched her fists at her in her lap.

She was trapped here, and the Empire hadn't even had to try to catch her. Somewhere, she was certain, Palpatine was laughing at her.

A/N: I am a cruel writer. Poor Padmé really doesn't deserve this. And yet, somehow, her life is still better than in canon. I'm bitter. Reviews are all that is good in the world.