AN: Sorry about the delay. I'm in between plot points right now and I'm finding it a bit of challenge to get through this. I'm hoping I'm finally working myself out of this block. But then my work computer completely died. I spent five hours last weekend manually entering numbers (just numbers) into a spreadsheet because I was stupid and didn't back up my data for it. And I'm still not done cleaning up the mess my dead computer brought me.

Chapter 36

Padmé couldn't help but think of the woman she used to be. The Queen of Naboo. The Senator of Naboo. A woman who faced many challenges head on. Sometimes recklessly and dangerously so without thought to her own safety. She took great risks to if it meant bringing about the end of the Clone Wars and ensuring peace to the galaxy once again. She fought tirelessly to keep democracy alive. She put the lives of others before her own without a second thought.

Where was that woman now?

Padmé thought that woman died on Mustafar. Strangled and left on the hard floor of a landing platform. The woman who woke up after that disaster was a much different person. One who was left very deeply broken and scarred on a deep internal level. No longer did she worry about the war ending and protecting democracy. She just worried about her children. Her two precious, innocent children.

She worried about her children being turned over to Imperial officials for being Force sensitive. Then being shipped away or simply killed off. She worried about their lineage being discovered. Her children killed off for being the children of a Jedi. She worried more about the father of her children finding them. She worried about him finishing what he started. Strangling each child until they no longer lived. Or worse . . . taking the children away from her. Twisting and turning them into the horrible darkness that was now Padmé 's husband.

Blend in. Don't attract attention. Stay hidden.

Padmé Amidala had died. She had let the senator die, and the feeble translator was born for her children's safety. Mae Lars lived, but she was but a shell of her former self. Now she needed to shed herself of Mae Lars. Padmé didn't know if she could completely return to Amidala, but she could no longer be the scared translator. She had to be something more. Her son's life depended on it.

The Alliance had been no help with Luke's predicament. If the Alliance wasn't going to do something, then she needed to do something. Leia still insisted that Luke was still alive. This led Padmé to two thoughts. Either Darth Vader was keeping her son alive only to kill him off when he had her and Leia, or Vader was going to turn her son into a sith like he was. Neither option was what Padmé would accept.

Padmé found herself returning some of the old habits she had formed back on Tatooine. Each day after her work shift, she would scour the holonet for news about Darth Vader. The Alliance's holonet did provide a bit more information than what she got back on Tatooine. However, her hunt for Vader's whereabouts, and luckily her son's, had been forgotten for the moment.

She had just gotten off her work shift and retired to the bunk she shared with Leia. Leia was gone on a mission with Winter. It was supposed to be a simple mission to meet up with a smuggler group that had "gotten their hands on" some Imperial equipment and uniforms. When Padmé turned on the holonet, the first headline immediately caught her attention.

A New Jedi Within the Alliance, the title read. It showed a still holoimage of Princess Winter on the ground. Behind her stood a female human figure. The figure's back was to the camera, but it was clear she was wielding a blue lightsaber. Red blaster bolts were seen streaking through the image. A white blurry figure of a stormtrooper was seen off in the distance. It was very clear the figure holding the lightsaber was Leia. Padmé would know her daughter anywhere. Yet, she didn't know her daughter had taken up wielding a lightsaber.

That one article had sparked a dozen more articles and questions. Are the Jedi returning? Who was this mystery new Jedi? Were two Jedi enough to bring down Darth Vader? The Empire? What does this mean for the Alliance?

Padmé's anxiety rose to new levels. Here she had been trying to shed herself of the old Mae Lars and to rediscovered Padmé Amidala. Yet now all of Mae's old fears and anxieties clawed back into her. What was Leia thinking? How could she draw such attention to herself? She knew Darth Vader was actively hunting her. So why due such a careless thing? She should have stayed hidden.

Padmé worried something had gone wrong with Leia's mission. The meeting place with the smugglers was out in the outer rim, well far away from any Imperial patrols. Then again, something could always go wrong. Padmé prayed to her gods that it wasn't because Vader was involved with this attack. He had already had Luke, and if he got Leia as well . . . Padmé didn't know what she would do.

It was another two days before Leia returned back to Home One. On the second day, Padmé left her work shift early. When the door to the bunk slid open and Padmé saw Leia sitting on her bed, a giant wave of relief flowed through Padmé. Leia looked up and smiled. She was barely on her feet before Padmé had reached her and pulled her daughter into a tight hug.

Padmé pulled back as she looked over Leia. Her hair was down and damp. It appeared she had recently taken a shower. She was wearing loose comfortable clothes in gray tones. But Padmé saw no bruises or blaster burns. Padmé brought a hand up to Leia's cheek.

"You're not hurt?" Padmé couldn't help but ask. Leia let out a small laugh.

"I'm fine mom," Leia reassured her mother.

"There aren't any bruises or cuts that I can't see is there?"

"No. What would I have gotten cut on anyways? The sharp corner of some random counter?"

"But what about the troopers?" Padmé asked.

Leia blinked and furrowed her brows. "Troopers?" she asked. She paused as she glanced to the side clearly thinking. "There weren't any troopers."

Padmé frowned. "Leia you don't have to lie to me about it." Padmé had thought the two were past keeping things from one another.

"I'm not," Leia replied sternly. "We didn't run into any troopers. The mission went as planned. Most of it was just sitting around being bored in hyperspace. Were you told something different?"

It was Padmé's turn to look confused. Something wasn't quite matching up here. She walked over to the holoprojector which still sat on the small table of their bunk. She brought up the image of Leia wielding the lightsaber with Winter sprawled on the floor.

"What is this?" Leia asked. The shock and surprise on her face was clear as she moved closer to the hologram. She leaned down and scrutinized the image. "Is that . . . me?" Leia stood up straight and looked at her mother. The confusion on her face was turning into anger. "Where did you get this image?" Leia asked.

Padmé did not like how this situation was playing out. Something was going on here beyond the two of them. Yet it would do no good to hold back from Leia. If Padmé didn't tell her, Leia would shortly find out. Home One was abuzz with gossip over the image from the article. Many people did speculate on whether the new mystery Jedi was indeed Leia. Padmé clicked on the projector bringing it to the article.

"A new Jedi?" Leia said softly as she read the article. Leia was quiet for a moment while she read over the article. "What- when- I-," Leia stuttered.

"It's all over the Alliance's channel. Everyone is talking about it," Padmé explained. "Tell me what happened Leia. I'm trying to figure it out."

"I'm trying to figure it out, too!" Leia shouted. She stormed away from the table. She marched between the two beds. Her shoulders were hunched up and her hands were in fists. But then she took a deep breath. Her hands unclenched and she turned and faced her mother. "That never happened. That . . . that image. It didn't happen. You've got to believe me mom."

"I do," Padmé said. It was the truth. She did believe Leia, but she still had a lot of questions. "Any idea on how this happened?"

Leia sat on the bed. She looked tired. Padmé was about to say this could wait until after Leia got some rest, but Leia spoke up. "I think I know how some of it happened . . ." Padmé sat down on her bunk opposite of Leia's. She didn't say word. She just waited for Leia to continue.

"I . . ." Leia started. She looked up at Padmé. She looked unhappy. Guilty.

"Leia," Padmé said. "Whatever it is, it's fine."

"It's just . . .," Leia said again. Her voice was tight. Uncomfortable. Her body was tense again. "I know how you never liked the idea of Luke or I learning about the Force. I know you didn't like him learning how to be a Jedi . . ."

"And now you are too?" Padmé said softly. She made sure there was no discomfort in her voice. Leia only looked up at her mother. Padmé sighed. "It's true that I never approved of you two learning the Force. I just . . . I just was afraid. Afraid I'd lose you, like I did your father. The power would corrupt you." A tense silence stretched between the two.

"I still don't know if I want to be a Jedi truthfully. I wanted to talk to Luke about it . . . but then he . . . I've been thinking about it since joining the Alliance. I kept a lightsaber when I helped free Luke on Nar Shaddaa. After Vrogas Vas . . . I just felt like I needed to something. Anything. I felt so utterly helpless when I faced him. If only I had a way to defend myself."

Leia paused as she took a long look to examine Padmé. Padmé could tell she was watching for her mother's reaction. Padmé kept her face calm and open.

"So I just started practicing with the lightsaber is all," Leia said a bit shyly. "I really have no clue what I'm doing. Just swinging it around desperately trying not to kill myself with it. And well . . . Winter saw me practicing with it. That was when she asked me to go on the mission with her, I agreed.

"Anyways while we were in hyperspace, Winter brought up the lightsaber. She suggested I practice with it. I didn't want to, but she insisted. I told her that I was just trying to learn how to defend myself," Leia paused. It was clear she was recalling the events of the mission. "Winter was so enthusiastic. She was encouraging. She said I should try to practice defending someone else. She offered to be that someone else. She laid on the ground and I just practiced swinging the lightsaber around with a seeker droid."

Leia's eyes met Padmé's. Her eyes were intense. "That was it. That image looked like it was from that practice session. But there were no troopers. We were on the ship. That image isn't accurate."

"It's been changed," Padmé said. Leia nodded. "Well it looks like we'll need to talk to Winter about this. It's clear she was the one who had the image taken. Why do you think she did it? Did she ever mention anything to you?"

Leia thought for a moment. "Possibly," she finally said. "She said the council doesn't believe me when I've said Luke is alive. Maybe if they saw me as a Jedi they might take my claim more seriously?"

"Possible," Padmé agreed. "But why announce it over the holonet? To boost public pressure and opinion? If the council wouldn't take you seriously by yourself, would they take you seriously if more people supported you?"

Leia's face scrunched up in concentration. Padmé had clearly hit on something that had caused Leia to pause and think.

"Morale . . ." Leia said softly. "Winter mentioned that the council has been preparing for when the Empire announces Luke's capture and execution. They fear what that would do to morale of the Alliance."

Neither mother nor daughter spoke for a long while. Both were lost in their own thoughts. Padmé didn't deny she was angry at Winter. The princess had acted without Leia's approval or knowledge. Even if the princess had good intentions of bolstering Leia's reputation in hopes of the council taking her more seriously, how Winter had gone about it was done in poor choice. Which also led Padmé to another thought. What if Winter was not doing this for Leia? What if she was doing it more selfish reasons? Or at least something more focused on the good of the Alliance than on Leia?

Winter didn't know of Leia and Luke's connection to Darth Vader. No one did. They didn't understand why Padmé and Leia were so positive that Darth Vader had Luke. They didn't know that Vader was also looking for Padmé and Leia as well.

Should I tell them? Padmé wondered. Or at least Mon and Winter? Could the Alliance keep us safe? Keep Leia safe? Or would they use that knowledge against us? Padmé decided for now it was just best to keep that secret to herself. She would at least see how the upcoming confrontation with Winter went.