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Chapter 35

They went to see Darred the next day.

He'd been released from the hospital rather swiftly, since Sola could continue his treatment at home, and Padme wanted to see her brother-in-law before they decided on their next move. Though Anakin wanted his wife to stay safe, he didn't object to this trip. Sola and Darred's house was only minutes away from theirs, almost as secluded, and besides, seeing Darred would be productive. They could finally find out how much Sabe, Vader, and therefore Sidious, knew about their family, and from there, exactly how much danger Darred had put them in. And, as Padme rather wanted to know, they could finally find out why in all the worlds Darred had betrayed them in the first place.

Everyone went—Padme, Anakin, Acacia, Dorme, the twins—since they couldn't know when the Sith would try another attempt, and Anakin wouldn't repeat the mistake of letting a single family member out of his range of protection.

They entered the house, strangely silent, like the very walls themselves knew of Darred's betrayal and were too shocked to say anything in response to it. Acacia, Dorme, and the twins settled in the living room, but Padme and Anakin continued down the hall to Darred and Sola's room, Padme to ask the questions, Anakin to make sure she'd be safe. And, secretly, to ensure Darred answered her questions if he seemed a little reluctant.

They walked quickly through the house, Anakin carefully scanning each room they passed, wondering if Darred was still against them, if someone lurked in the shadows or behind a closed door, waiting for the moment to pounce. But he sensed no foreign ForceMarks; Darred and Sola were ahead in their room, and their daughters hid in their own chambers, pretending to play, really whispering about what little they knew and speculating over all that they didn't.

But even if he didn't sense anything, that didn't mean the Sith weren't here; they could be Cloaking after all, and then he probably wouldn't know it until they leapt for his throat or tried to relieve him of his head.

Anakin's hand brushed his lightsaber as they entered Darred and Sola's room.

He searched in the Force as they door inched open, but all that he sensed was all he could see: Darred, pale and pained in his bed, arm in a sling, chest wrapped in gauze from the lightsaber that had narrowly missed gutting him. Sola stood beside her husband, still holding his shirt and the roll of bloodstained bandages she'd just changed. Her normal, bright smile had disappeared, replaced by tight eyebrows, a trembling jaw, and tears glittering in her eyes.

"Padme." Darred tried to sit as the door shut behind them, but he fell back to his pillows with a grunt. "I'm so—"

"I don't want an apology," Padme said coldly, and Darred flinched but held her gaze. "I want answers."

He nodded. "Of course."

"How long have you been spying."

His eyes darted away. "Not long."

"More specific, if you don't mind."

"Padme..." Sola started, as if to ask her sister to be kinder. But then she shook her head and simply put away the bandages, like even she couldn't find a reason to request mercy.

"Almost two months," Darred admitted, facing Padme again. "They approached me about a week after the twins were born."

"Why you?"

"Sabe needed someone to..." Darred breathed deeply, like only speaking the word could make the action more real. "To spy on you while you were at home, since she couldn't be here all the time. I never headed any attempts—I swear—but they needed someone who had a right to know everything about your lives, even the insignificant bits you wouldn't think to tell Sabe."

"There are few things I tell you that I wouldn't have told Sabe if she asked me."

"True. But you might've grown suspicious if she asked too much. And besides, there are other things..." Darred's gaze slipped sideways. "Things you tell Sola."

Padme's eyes slid to her sister in horror. "Sola, you didn't..."

"No," Darred added quickly. "She had no idea. But..." He looked desperately at his wife as Sola shrank away from him, "you talk to me sometimes."

"And you used that," Sola whispered, like she couldn't find the voice to speak aloud.

"I had to! They threatened our daughter, Sola."

"You could've asked for help! Could've gone to the authorities—"

"What authorities? They are the authorities!"

"Anakin could've—"

"What?" Darred spat, his voice suddenly full of venom. "He's not some sort of hero, Sola!" He turned to glare at Anakin, eyes alive with a disgust usually reserved for cockroaches and deathworms. "He's just a man."

"A man who didn't betray his own family," Anakin shot back, anger boiling upwards and spilling over to saturate every syllable.

"No," Darred admitted, calming a little. "But a man who's done plenty of wrong. Letting my entire city burn for instance." Anakin flinched, but Darred continued before the Jedi could fire off a reply. "They convinced me that you were the enemy. And no, it wasn't difficult. I already knew you Jedi aren't what you seem. I already knew you let people die—"

"That's not what happened!"

"So no, it wasn't hard for me to believe you were dangerous. And in a toss-up between my daughter and you and your sister, Anakin." Darred shrugged with little regret. "I'm afraid you two were the obvious sacrifice."

"I would've helped you." Anakin seethed. "Not for your sake, but for Pooja's. Because somehow she didn't inherit your—"

"Enough," Padme stated. "So, Darred, you're saying you only intended to hand my husband and my sister-in-law over to the Sith, but never than me and my children?" Under some circumstances, her wording may have implied forgiveness if the answer to the question was yes; but this circumstance was not one of them. Everyone in the room could hear the dangerous undertone to her words, and Darred knew forgiveness wasn't currently in reach. But he also knew the truth was the only thing that could bring it closer.

"Yes," he admitted. "They said the Jedi had to be ended. I didn't disagree. Sabe promised they'd... kill only Anakin and Acacia, then she'd bring you in and help you understand how the Jedi had fought the Emperor and betrayed the galaxy. She'd show you their evil, and you'd understand."

Padme shook her head. "And you believed her?"

"I..." Darred sighed, and the last of his defiance evaporated. "I chose to, yes. I couldn't let Pooja be taken to the academy, so I allowed myself to be blinded by all of Sabe's excuses."

"Her lies," Padme corrected.

"Yes, her lies. But," He lifted his eyes—now pleading—to Padme. "It was Pooja. I knew they'd turn her into some sort of— of killing machine if I let her get sent to those Sith schools. I couldn't—" His voice broke, but he took a shaky breath, swallowed, and continued. "I couldn't let that happen to my baby girl."

"So you sold my husband out instead."

Darred nodded miserably, and Sola turned away.

But Padme wasn't finished yet. "All right." She nodded once, and her voice was cold, detached, no longer Darred's relative, close as a sister, but something distant, a diplomat come to interrogate a prisoner. "So how much did you tell them? Everything?"

"Whatever would help them with their mission."

Padme took that as a yes. "Do you know how long Sabe was spying? Did they have any further plans?"

Darred shook his head. "They didn't tell me things like that, Padme. Every trap I knew about has already been sprung. And now you know everything I knew."

"Everything?"

"Yes, Padme! I'm not your enemy! I shouldn't have done what I did, I realize that now, and I know I can never repay you and my apologies will never be enough, but I'm sorry."

Padme's gaze met her brother-in-law's, and she searched his eyes as if looking for something precious and priceless, then shook her head like it was lost forever. "So am I."

The procession home was a silent one. The twins had fallen asleep, Padme had received her answers, Anakin mentally debriefed Acacia on them, and Dorme asked no questions, knowing Padme would tell her all she needed to know when she needed to know it. Besides, the pain and anger in the air was palpable, tastible; it wrapped around the soul so thoroughly, they could hardly break it to speak a word.

As they reentered their home, silent with no malicious presences, Padme's commlink beeped.

"It's Sola," she said, stepping aside briefly to speak with her sister. "She says they're something on the HoloNews we need to see."

It was a recap of the Emperor's latest address: a list of thefts, assaults, even murders, supposedly committed by Jedi. The Emperor graciously took the blame for these attacks, claiming he should've ensured the Jedi's extermination sooner. However, in a gesture of glorious bravery (according to the commentator), the Emperor intended to rectify that mistake—by personally overseeing the final stages of Act 66: discovering every Jedi and ending their cursed Order once and for all.

Unfortunately for the Skywalkers, it was impossible to hear any plans beyond that—because the crowd's cheering drowned out any further words. Anakin hadn't thought he could be any more angry, but seeing the people clapping and whistling and screaming their approval almost made him see red again.

Luke cooed in his arms; the red faded to a light pink tinging the edges of his vision.

"Is everything in this room breakable?" Acacia suddenly asked from her perch on the couch.

Padme glanced around. "Yes. Why?"

"Because, after seeing that, I really need to throw something."

Anakin gave a half-chuckle that was only a quarter humor. "You and me both."

"You're holding a child. That would be a poor idea."

Anakin cast his sister a withering look. "You're kidding."

"Milady," Dorme broke in before the siblings could get started, "they are trying to flush you all out. This law will be only one of many to find and kill every Jedi in the Galaxy. You have to get away from here."

"I agree, Dorme." The senator nodded. "But where can we go? Sabe knows everything about my safehouses, my emergency contacts, my friends in the Senate. Going to any of them would be as dangerous as staying here."

"Aren't there any Jedi safehouses?" Dorme asked, turning to the Jedi in the room.

"A few," Acacia said. "But those aren't real safe either. Sidious is looking for Jedi after all, and clustering us all together is exactly what the Council was trying to avoid by sending so many of us away. Besides," she added, glaring at the sofa beneath her, like she could somehow manage to pick and throw that, "most of the safehouses were raided in Order 66."

Dorme nodded slowly. "And the ones that remain?"

"We only know for sure that one does. It was super old, so Sidious probably doesn't even know it exists.

"But the problem is it's on Coruscant."

"If we have to run," Anakin agreed, "we need to be getting farther away. Not closer."

"But he's overseeing this operation to, well, hunt the Jedi." Padme winced a little at her own statement, but went on because they had to deal with the fact. "So maybe he's leaving Coruscant. Then we could stay there in his absence."

"But we don't know when he's leaving," Acacia pointed out, "so we can't know when it'll actually be safe to go there."

"Besides that, it could be a ploy. Maybe he wants us to give ourselves away by going to Coruscant. Or maybe he'll leave immediately and try to catch us here on Naboo." She shook her head, kicking the couch since a harmless projectile was unavailable. "We can't really know what he plans to do next."

"What about Utapau?" Padme asked. "Isn't that a Jedi planet now? And your friend, Koresck, he's there, right? Maybe he could help us."

Before Anakin could say what a brilliant idea that was, his sister opened her mouth again, "Mostly, yeah, but it's also a war post. And Sidious is constantly attacking it—quietly, but constantly, from what Obi-Wan told us. If we were safe there, it wouldn't be for long, especially with Sidious personally tracking the Jedi." Acacia scoffed and shook her head again. "Though I'm starting to wonder if anywhere is safe for us anymore."

Tattooine. The thought buzzed through Anakin's head like a sand gnat, small and quiet, but thoroughly annoying because it existed.

"Tatooine?" Acacia asked, catching the word before he could swat it away. "You think that's a good idea?"

Padme frowned. "But the Emperor already knows you came from there."

"Exactly," Acacia exclaimed, suddenly grinning. "And he knows Anakin hates the planet. Didn't you tell him a million times that you'd never go back? Ever? For anything?"

Anakin could see where this was going—and he wasn't a fan of the discussion's direction. "Yeah, but—"

"And from what he knows of you," Anakin's sister barreled over his words, "he'll think you still mean it. He probably knows we'll try to get offplanet, but he'll check one of Padme's safehouses or even Utapau first. Tattooine'll be a lot lower on his list."

Padme was still frowning, but now her expression seemed less confused and more thoughtful. "How do you figure?"

"Sidious will trust in his own knowledge. He won't check Tatooine—not at first anyway—because from what he knows of Anakin, there's nothing left for him there. But," She turned towards her brother. "the Jedi and your best friend are on Utapau. And you'd rather go to them than go home."

For once, Anakin had nothing to say. Sometimes he forgot that just as Darred and Sabe had betrayed Padme, Palpatine had betrayed him. The former-Chancellor had been his mentor, friend, confidante; Anakin had told him many things that he now wished Sidious didn't know.

But maybe, Acacia whispered, we can use that knowledge against him.

"So you think Tatooine is the safest place for us right now?" Padme asked.

"Nowhere's safe," Acacia replied, answering her own question from moments before. "But Tatooine, for now at least, I think it's as safe as we can get. Like I said, we can't know what Sidious intends to do next, so we have to stick with what we do know. Tatooine is in the Outer Rim, so pretty far from Coruscant even if he does figure out where we're going. And from what he knows of us, it's one of the least likely places we'd decide to go. Plus, even though Vader might know Tatooine a little, it's a big planet and the farm is pretty isolated. From there to the nearest city, there's just miles and miles of nothing but sand. Besides, even if somebody did find out were there, Tattooinians are pretty tight-lipped."

"They'll talk for money," Anakin said. "And they'll talk if they're threatened."

"Yeah, but ideally, we won't even be there long enough for Sidious to realize we were there.

"I'm not saying we should stay forever, or even for a week," she went on, and Anakin knew she was mostly speaking to him. "I'm saying a few days on the farm til we can figure out somewhere better."

Besides. You did promise.

Padme couldn't even hear the final nail in Acacia's argument, but she could see the logic in the rest of her words. "She makes some great points," Padme admitted. "At the moment, it looks like your old homeplanet is our best bet. At least for the next couple of days."

How far have we fallen, Anakin wondered, staring down at his son, that for "safety," Tatooine is the best I can do for you.

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