A/N: and we finally meet a character that y'all have been begging for some time... hope it won't disappoint!

Luke's early invasion of the Jedi temple had been more advantageous than anyone would like to admit, after all.

Having taken over the Jedi Temple back from the Imperial grasp allowed the rebel alliance no more quarrels about reestablishing political power. With the Jedi Temple in their control, they had felt comfortable enough to seize ground over the Senate building — and slowly, very slowly, started to build democracy again.

Of course, the galaxy was still at war. The remnants of the Empire still had charge of countless planets and planet systems — heck, the Empire still seized control parts of Coruscant itself — but slowly, very slowly, the rebellion would free them, one by one. In the meantime, they focused on tidying the galaxy back together, with major planets slowly and reluctantly accepting to be a part of this brand new galaxy.

Coruscant. Gatalenta. Corellia. Chandrila — Mon Mothma's homeworld. Hosnian Prime. Kashyyyk. Kuat. Alderaan — or whatever was left of it. Slowly, very slowly, the galaxy judged it safe enough to come together again, and soon, they would be able to create something beautiful again.

Padmé was happy. Years ago, when Palpatine took power all for himself, she never thought she would see this day come again. Where hatred and fear no longer reigned — well, ideally. She understood there was still a long way to come, that the wreckage of the Civil War was still fresh in everybody's life, but soon — very soon, she believed — there would be no hatred nor fear left. The New Republic would rise, having learned the flaws of its predecessor, and it would thrive again.

Everything would be all right again. Padmé knew as much.

And on a more personal, selfish note — her life was right again. She had her name back, she had her children back, she had a home. She was happy, despite all the turmoils they still faced every day, and nothing would steal that happiness away from her.

It was mid-afternoon, and Padmé was idly walking around the rebel base, throwing small talk away with Ameera. She was supposed to meet with Luke in the hangar in the near future, and they would fly to the Senate building to celebrate Leia's new office and position as an ambassador in the New Republic. Well, celebrate was a strong word, since Leia had not invited them over, or even had any idea that they were coming. Still, Padmé wished to pay her a visit, rather than just waiting for her to return to the base, and tell her how proud she was.

Padmé understood that Leia would only like to hear those words from her parents — her real parents — but in their absence, she hoped her effort would suffice.

Well, suffice was also a strong word. Instead, Padmé hoped Leia would accept it.

"Tell me again," Ameera prompted, with her usual apathetic tone, "How your children are always making trouble for everyone around them?!"

Padmé scoffed. Ameera had arrived back in Coruscant the previous day, and they were finally catching up on everything — although the Twi'lek was already aware of what had happened and how the twins were caught up in the middle of it. Apparently, the only thing that spread around the rebellion base faster than the flu was gossip.

"Is that your conclusion after everything I just told you?!" Padmé rebuked, disbelieved but amused.

"What else am I supposed to infer?" Ameera gesticulated wide with her arms, "Other than your children being dumb and setting fire to the entire galaxy?"

"You've met Luke," Padmé rolled her eyes, "He's not dumb."

Ameera gave her a look. "How else would you explain him getting into a building infested with Imperials with only a stick to arm himself?"

"The lightsaber is not a stick, Ameera—"

"You're right," she conceded. "I've seen Luke carrying that thing on his waist before. It doesn't even have a stick."

"That's because—" Padmé was about to give a full detailed explanation about how a lightsaber functioned before she realized it wasn't worth it. "I'm so glad you're back."

Although Ameera recognized the sarcasm in Padmé's voice, she ignored it, instead leaning her elbow over Padmé's shoulder. "Aw, I've missed you too, little sister."

"Little sister?!" she raised one of her brows, "I'm at least 20 years your senior."

"Yeah. But I'm at least 20 inches over your height."

Buffing, Padmé crossed her arms over her chest, straightening her back so she would be nothing more than 19 inches smaller.

"How was your mission?!"

"Boring," she threw the word out. "It was more diplomatic than anything else."

Padmé eyed her funnily, "That's usually a good thing. It means no unnecessary blood was spilled."

"Boring," Ameera repeated, louder. "Especially when said negotiations take ages. I'd much rather grab a blaster and be done with it."

Padmé shook her head. "You're aware that, from now on, most of the missions are going to be like that, right…?"

Feigning tiredness, Ameera cupped her own face with her hand. "I believe it's time I retire."

The queen snorted. "You'd get even more boring, then."

"I guess," Ameera sighed. "Honestly, I'd much rather help around here. Sweep the floor, for all I care. I'm never bored with the melodrama of your life."

Crossed, Padmé placed both her hands on her hips. "My life is not a soap opera."

"Isn't it?!" she dared, "You give birth to twins, who are separated at birth, who you later discover that they were wrongly taken from you by the evil men—"

"Like I said," Padmé cleared her throat, "My life isn't a soap opera. You don't need to recapitulate everything that happened in the past chapters for the bystanders."

Ameera pouted. "I do admit I was a little sad to miss the past few chapters. Watching it unfold with my own eyes is much more fun than reading a synopsis out of a gossip magazine."

"Oh, really," Padmé prompted, "Do tell me, then, what you would have done when Luke showed up at our bed in the middle of the night, seeking solace?"

"Oh, that's a nonbrainer," Ameera waved her hand, "I would have kicked both of you out and changed the password."

"The password to my bunk? That out of selflessness I decided to share with you?!"

"Don't be silly, Padmé," she said, "When you're Luke Skywalker's mother, you can get all the bunks you want."

Chuckling, Padmé retorted, "I'm not sure that's how it works."

"Fine. Then you would have shared a chamber with Princess Leia."

"Are you crazy," Padmé grimaced, "Leia's got a boyfriend."

"And you're not doing your motherly job right of getting in the way of the two of them," Ameera accused, "Really, Padmé, that's the basic rule of being a mother. Driving the daughter's boyfriend away."

Except — Padmé liked Han. More than she thought she would. Not only that, but Han was also a bridge between her and her daughter; she had only her gratitude to offer him.

"I remember the first time Duaa came home with a boyfriend," Ameera reminisced with a happy face, "She must have been what, fifteen? Something like that. And a human boyfriend, to my parents' despair. Hell broke loose that day, I don't think I had ever seen my parents so angry, or my sister so defiant, before that. Mostly, I was just having a laugh at her misfortune."

Padmé reprimanded her with a look — of course she was.

"I think he really liked my sister. He treated her right, not like an animal, like the Empire saw us as. But you know, parents. They forbid Duaa from ever coming home with a boy again until she was of age, and that was the final law. He got so scared by my parents that he ran away crying."

Padmé doubted that the last exaggeration was true to the letter, but she let it slide. "What did your sister do?"

By then, Ameera could no longer hide her smile. "You should have met Duaa, Padmé, she was ingenious. A couple of weeks later, she came home with a girlfriend, to horrify my parents, I'm sure. She told them that their word forbade her from ever having a boyfriend, but they had never said anything about having girlfriends. My parents had no choice but to sit back and swallow their tongues."

Padmé joined her in her bliss. Apparently, that savage spirit ran in Ameera's family.

"And the best of it," Ameera continued, "Duaa and Zora fell in love afterward. Unintentionally or not, they fell for each other and their relationship lasted for years."

"What became of Zora?"

"That's a good question," she shrugged, "Duaa became troubled after the death of our parents, she started to… lash out a lot, in her grief. Zora said she understood, Zora was patient, but my sister couldn't bear to hurt the girl that she loved, so she broke up with her. Zora's last words to Duaa was that she would be waiting for her, forever, as long as it took. Now, Zora doesn't even know that Duaa is dead."

Padmé couldn't fail to notice the sudden shift from happiness to sorrow in Ameera's tone, and she felt bad for bringing it up. "Have you ever considered reaching out to her?"

"Several times," the words flew out of Ameera's mouth so fluidly that they impressed the Twi'lek herself. "You see, I loved Zora too. Zora was my friend, Zora was my sister; watching her go hurt as much as it hurt Duaa. If I came to find her only to bring bad news… It would break her, and it would break me."

Padmé placed her hand on Ameera's back, trying to offer the comfort that she wasn't certain that the Twi'lek would accept.

"I could come with you if you like," she said. "I think seeing Zora would give you, and her, the closure that you need."

When Ameera faced her again, Padmé could only look at the sad eyes that had never been there before. It was the same eyes that Leia had when she talked about Alderaan, it was the same eyes that Luke had when he spoke of being stolen from her. It was the kind of eyes that broke her heart.

"Would you do that for me?"

"Of course."

Ameera nodded viciously, pressing her lips so tightly that they were white, contradicting the vivid blue of her skin. "Okay."

Without asking for permission, Padmé stepped in and wrapped her arms around Ameera, pulling her into a hug. Ameera was surprised, stunned, her muscles were rigid as death. And, for the first time in their relationship, Ameera hugged back.

When the Twi'lek pulled away, her eyes were glossy; still, she looked at Padmé dead in the eyes and denounced, "I hate you."

Padmé smiled to say that she didn't mind. If people in her youth hated her in the same way that Ameera did, then her journey as a monarch and a senator would have been a most pleasant one.

"I know."

Ameera rolled her eyes at the assertion, and swiftly regained her composure.

"So, when are we supposed to meet the troublemaker of your son?!"

Unbelieving that Ameera would so quickly snap back into her usual demeanor, Padmé returned to her slow pacing towards the hangar with a sigh. Eventually, they would get there.

"I don't know, all Luke said was to stop by when I felt like it."

Ameera snorted. "Thank the Force he wasn't the child of yours to go into diplomacy. Imagine Senator Luke with five ambassadors hovering around his office because they all decided to 'stop by' at the same time."

"Don't be mean to Luke," Padmé said, with half a smirk in her face after the imaginary. "Luke's an angel."

"Luke has faced both the Emperor and Darth Vader," Ameera remembered, "I'm sure he can take a few mean words thrown at him."

Padmé grimaced — she wasn't so sure about that. Luke was a sensitive boy, and she would like to preserve that on him.

"Promise you'll behave when you see him," Padmé demanded.

Ameera looked down on her. "You act like I'm incapable of being civil. Besides, I have met him before."

"Yeah. And the first comment you threw at him was that his Jedi robes were ugly."

"Ugly is an understatement," Ameera reminisced, "Those were hideous clothes. You're a terrible mother for letting him walk around wearing tramps."

"It's his essence. Our fashion choices tell more about ourselves than we'd believe," Padmé said, taking a brief pause to analyze Ameera's outfit. "For instance, you only ever wear black. That either means that you're a goth, or that your grief took away all the colors of your life. Or, maybe, that you're a mourning person trying to come off as a goth. But despite this grief, you're also fearless. You're not afraid of anything that the Empire might throw at you, because you've already seen all the evil that the Empire is capable of doing. Your leather top, your tight trousers, the single pendant hung in your neck — it says that you've got nothing else to lose."

Ameera listened carefully, and, surprisingly, seemed to agree with everything that had been pointed out.

"Alright, then. What's your son's excuse for going out looking like a hobo?"

Padmé grunted exaggeratedly. "Luke's trying to find himself, in a galaxy where he's the last of his kind. Give him some slack, he's already self-conscious enough as it is."

"I'd be self-conscious too if my great ancestors told me I had to wear ridiculous clothing," Ameera mumbled. "And he's not the last of his kind. He's got his sister."

Padmé's frown towards the matter came naturally. "Leia is not very interested in this Jedi stuff. I don't blame her, after what I assume Vader did to her, using the Force, and — ah, I shouldn't be telling you this."

"You're right. You shouldn't," Ameera criticized, but kept her tone meek. She thought of her sister, and how she would kill Duaa if she ever told anyone about her secrets — although, she supposed, it was different if Leia had never confined Padmé about anything, and Padmé was merely passing on her insights on the situation. "I remember briefly what it was like when the princess was rescued, after Alderaan. It was all messed up."

Padmé swallowed roughly, a wave of nausea coming down on her. "I don't assume she would advertise whatever had happened."

"No, but… People talk," Ameera replied coldly. "Above all, people stare."

Silence.

"I felt bad for her."

Padmé hugged herself. "She is very strong."

"You have to be," Ameera inferred, "When you become a martyr like that and people indecorously stare at you, whisper about you and your trauma right in front of you, and you still find the means to stand tall and carry on the fight. Carry the spark. She never gave up."

Padmé chewed her inner lip — she never gave up.

"I'm so worried about her, 'Meera," she confessed with a tight heart, "I don't know what to do."

"You'll do nothing," Ameera instructed, serious like she rarely ever was. "These are Leia's matters, and hers only. If she doesn't share them with you, then you're not entitled to break into her soul looking for her pain. Leia chose to be a beacon of hope to the entire galaxy, and we all admire her for it, but that does not mean she owes us the privacy of her heart."

Padmé shifted uncomfortably, surprised that Ameera had so easily understood what she had been trying to comprehend for weeks. "It doesn't make it easy, because I… I'm her mother, I—"

"No, you're not," Ameera inferred, "You have cried about that to me time and time again. Leia has told you that time and time again. She's not Luke, Padmé, and you can't treat her as much."

Padmé's eyes stung; she knew that already, so why was it so hard to hear it from her friend again?

"Okay, then, as her friend—"

Ameera eyed her suspiciously, "Are you? Her friend?"

Padmé sighed, looking down. "I guess not."

"Then stop meddling, and let her come to you," she said. "I don't mean to hurt you, Padmé. Sometimes, having people that are complete strangers to you hover over you, trespassing your boundaries… It's suffocating. It doesn't matter if they do it out of compassion, or out of kindness, or whatever other bullshit; they're not the center of it. It's already hard to breathe when they aren't stealing all your air."

The human felt smaller than before. "I'm sorry."

"It's not me to whom you should be apologizing."

"No, I…" Padmé choked on her words, "That's exactly what I did to you."

"Maybe," Ameera shrugged. "But I chose to tell you about my burdens, you didn't force me. I wouldn't have done it, though, had I known you'd become vermin."

She chuckled, soundlessly, appreciating Ameera's effort to make her not feel so bad about herself. Maybe she should, though; maybe she should step briefly into her daughter's shoes and realize that she was doing more harm than good.

At last, they arrived at the main hangar, and Luke Skywalker could be seen tending to his X-Wing several yards away. For the first time since her return, Padmé Naberrie wasn't exhilarated to see him. She was happy, content, but she had reached a peaceful state of comprehension that Luke was her son, and nothing would take him away from her.

She had finally adjusted to the rest of her life.

The same, of course, couldn't be said about Luke, who eagerly waved his arms at them upon sensing their arrival.

"Your son is just like you. You're so annoying," Ameera accused, her arms crossed under her chest in rebellion. Padmé ignored her and gracefully walked up to Luke.

"I hope this isn't a bad time."

"Not at all," Luke jumped out of the X-Wing staircase. "We were just biding our time with some casual maintenance, waiting for you."

Not bothered enough to change her stance, Ameera simply pointed out, "We?!"

"Hello to you too, Ameera," Luke opened his brightest smile, his hands on his hips.

"You'll have to forgive her, Luke," Padmé said, with a dead tone. "I've been trying to teach her some manners, but, children, you know how they are."

Unappreciative of the joke, Ameera retorted, "Being one himself, I don't think Luke truly grasps what it means to be a child, coddled by their mother."

Shaking his head, the young Skywalker couldn't get rid of his grin. "You should spend some time with my sister, 'Meera. I'd love to see which of you would win in a quarrel."

"I have no intention of arguing with royalty, I'll have you know."

Luke made a face, "What are you talking about, you bicker with Padmé all the time."

Ameera frowned, "Your mother isn't—" she looked briefly at Padmé, and, upon seeing her flush, the Twi'lek was obliged to grunt, "You've got to be kidding me."

Luke merely laughed, while Padmé's face became redder by the second. "My mother used to be the Queen of Naboo. Didn't she mention that?!"

"No," Ameera replied suspiciously, "Is Naboo aware that we've got their missing queen?!"

Padmé cleared her throat, to reclaim back her place of speech. "Royalty implies that you're born into a family of sovereigns, that your blood is pure. Naboo's monarchy is elected, we hold more prestige in honor than blood."

"I'm not so sure that helps your case, Your Highness," Ameera teased, with a mock curtsy. "Besides, your definition is outdated. Princess Leia wasn't born out of royal Alderaanian blood, yet she's royalty. If she's royalty, you're royalty too."

Thinking to herself, Padmé realized she had no idea about Alderaan's acceptance of an adopted heir. Or about the possible backlash of the other Elder Houses, cold and conservative and hostile to outsiders as their essence. She made a mental note to ask Leia about that, some time in the future.

"Leia is a princess, I'm just — Padmé."

Ameera scoffed at her, while Luke at last came to properly greet her.

In the back, however, stood a droid a little too enthusiastic with their conversation. A droid that the three sentient beings were conditioned not to notice.

Luckily, for the droid, he had mastered far too well the art of being detected by those of flesh.

The astromech droid known as R2-D2 rolled to their presence, swift and determined. He did not cease until he commoved all three of them, by invading their personal space and threatening to knock those down that came in his way. Until he found the person he was looking for, stared at their face with intensity, and started to beep indecorously, while excitedly shifting weight from foot to foot.

He did not quit on his personal little party, and, as it seemed, neither would he anytime soon.

"Hm, Luke," Ameera was the first one to say anything, while mother and son simply stared at the droid, lost for words. "I think there's something wrong with your droid."

Luke had no idea what he was supposed to do. He had seen R2-D2 acting erratically before — more often than not — but never like this.

"Artoo, cut it out!" he demanded; however, R2-D2 had a tendency to listen to his own interests rather than those of his owners. "I don't know what's up with him!"

Padmé remained frozen, so Ameera dared, "Do you want me to smack it with something?!"

"No…!" Luke shouted, perplexed at such a suggestion. Meanwhile, R2-D2's rotated his dome in his commotion. "He'll calm down. He just needs to get whatever it is out of his system."

Like his words had jinxed it, R2-D2 now began to circle around Padmé, over and over again. Padmé could not move, somehow caught up in her own daze.

"Now he's showing murderous tendencies," Ameera grunted, although there was no hint of panic in her voice.

Luke swallowed roughly; he didn't think that was the case, but he wouldn't like to see it for himself.

He never thought he would ever address a mean word to his droid; at that moment, those were all he had. "Artoo-deetoo! You will stop that now!"

R2-D2 didn't, and Padmé's eyes sparkled when she heard it.

She lowered herself to her knees, and the simple act caused the droid to stop in his tracks right in front of her. While Ameera looked at the scene with suspicion, and Luke with confusion, Padmé brought her fingers to the beaming lights of his dome and smiled tenderly.

"Artoo-deetoo?!"

If R2-D2's beeping was loud before, it couldn't even compare now. His head swirled in his happiness — like he was smiling back at her.

Luke stood fazed in the distance, unable to tell what was happening. "Padmé? You know Artoo?!"

"Yes!" Padmé all but shouted; she never thought she would be so thrilled to come across a droid, but R2-D2 had once meant so much to her that she felt her eyes stung.

Ameera's eyes were large in the back, but she said nothing.

"Artoo…" Padmé hadn't expected for her voice to become so emotional, "Artoo was my droid, back in my reign as the Monarch of Naboo. He saved my life so many times, I owe him so much."

Luke was now kneeling next to her, his hand caressing the droid as well — the droid that had finally contented himself enough to peacefully exist next to Padmé."

"Artoo belonged to you, mother?!"

From his voice, she noticed that this was as moving to him as it was to her. "For a long time. Until I married your father, and Artoo was my wedding gift to him."

"My father?!" Luke cried, taken aback. "Artoo belonged to my father?!"

Padmé nodded, unable to take her eyes away from the droid. Too many good memories. "Artoo meant everything to your father. You won't find a more devoted droid than Artoo."

Artoo beeped in agreement.

"Artoo, why didn't you tell me?!" Luke asked in his childish voice. "You know how much this means to me. To have something of the father that I never met."

Because Luke had only met Vader, and he would never bring the two people together. Sure, he had seen Anakin when he redeemed himself, but it had passed so quickly he couldn't claim any acquaintance with the man. Anakin would always be a stranger to him, living only through Padmé's stories.

R2-D2 replied, but nobody could understand him.

"I don't think he knew," Padmé said, still touching the droid, because — she wanted to cherish that last connection to Anakin. "Or, well, Artoo definitely knows too much; his knowledge is his greatest asset. In trying times, though, it is safer that knowledge remains hidden."

Luke sighed, dropping on his bollocks to the floor — Ameera scoffed at his lack of mannerism. "Did I ever tell you how and why I joined the rebellion?"

At last, Padmé looked at him again. Bearing all her grace, she sat down as well, her legs crossed in front of her. Ameera stood in the back, slightly interested, but giving them their privacy.

With a big smile, Luke said, "Artoo."

Padmé grinned too.

"He was Leia's droid. Or, he belonged to someone aboard Leia's diplomatic ship, I'm not sure. It happened when Leia stole the plans to the Death Star, and Vader captured her ship before she could deliver the plans to anyone in the Rebellion. Leia's genius often has these ideas bright enough to save the day, and this was one of them: she hid the plans inside Artoo and recorded a holographic message of herself to Obi-wan Kenobi. Using an escape pod, Artoo slipped right through the Imperial's fingers, bringing the Death Stars plans to Tatooine."

Padmé smiled with her lips closed; sometimes, all it took to save the universe was a bright idea.

Luke patted the droid. "This little guy here got caught by Jawas on Tatooine, and my Uncle Owen bought him. Can you believe it! The Force works so fluidly sometimes — it brought Artoo right back to me."

Unable to stay silent any longer, Ameera groaned, "It's been weeks since I've been trying to understand how does the fate of the entire universe rest in the hands of one family only, but at this point, I don't think I have the brain capacity to find a suitable answer."

They both laughed — and the Twi'lek didn't even know of their kinship to Vader.

"I'm not quite sure of it myself," Luke said, although he didn't doubt that it was all the workings of the Force. Like Ben had said, the Force worked in mysterious ways. There was nothing to do about it than to accept it. "All I know is that as I was cleaning him, I found parts of Leia's holographic message. I will never forget that moment, hearing her words. That was the first time I saw her, my sister, and I felt a connection with her immediately."

"What did she say?" Ameera asked, more curious than she would like to admit.

"'Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi, you're my only hope,'" Luke quoted her. "I had no idea what that meant, or who precisely was Obi-wan Kenobi. I wasn't supposed to investigate, I wasn't allowed to investigate, but devoted little Artoo ran away in the middle of the night to find Obi-wan. I had no choice but to go after him."

"I didn't know droids to be this motivated," Ameera remarked, and Padmé and Luke shared a smile — only those who had worked under Artoo to know how stimulated the droid could be.

"That's how you found Obi-wan," Padmé concluded, reminiscing fondly of her old friend, but not with the same intensity she would have before she learned of his misdeeds against her.

"Yes," Luke agreed, "Ben welcomed me in and gave me my father's lightsaber. My first contact with the Jedi way, and I rapidly felt a connection to the Force. After that—well, the rest is history."

"Not yet," Padmé said, "But it will be."

Luke flushed at her consideration, and Ameera snorted at his reaction. Only Luke Skywalker to free the galaxy from the clutches of evil and become embarrassed with the recognition and praise that came to it.

Respecting his coyness, Padmé diverged her attention back to the droid. "I know it's silly, but it makes me happy that Artoo was always there to guard you, amidst the terrors of the war. Even if he thought your father and I to be dead, he knew how much it would mean to us to look after you and your sister."

Luke leaned on his arms behind him. "It's funny how things work sometimes, don't you think? Poetic, even. My mother gave this droid to my father, and without a single clue about it, my sister gave this droid to me."

"Yes," Padmé simply replied. She wasn't naïve to believe in coincidences, but there were several things that she couldn't just explain. So, she gave the universe the benefit of the doubt for that.

"Do you think Artoo knew who Leia truly was?"

Artoo replied on his own behalf, but since there were no computers or protocol droids around to translate, his answer disappeared into thin air.

"I doubt that," Padmé said, "Yours and Leia's origins needed to be lost into oblivion, and although you bore the Skywalker name, no links are connecting Leia to her ancestry. Most people aren't even aware you are siblings, so it wouldn't fall on Artoo to know of her bloodline."

Before Luke could process her line of thinking, Ameera interrupted.

"Why were the two of you separated at birth?" she pondered, "That's the one thing that doesn't make sense to me. I get it, you're the children of important people, yada yada yada, but nobody is that important that would require you both to fall under the shadows of anonymity. Especially when—Padmé didn't even know she had been carrying twins! There wouldn't be a greater cover than for you to be kept together."

Padmé and Luke stared blankly at each other, unsure of how to proceed. He opened his mouth to suggest something, and she shook her head; he sighed and tried a different approach.

"Leia and I are very strong in the Force," he said, "Together, our signature in the Force would be too perceivable, and the Emperor would have found us and killed us."

Ameera remained unconvinced. "Palpatine was very powerful, yes, but he wasn't some sort of wizard."

Padmé made a face. "That was kind of his entire deal, though."

"Whatever," she grunted, "What I mean is, Palpatine found all the other Force sensitive children in the galaxy and exterminated them. Except for Luke and Leia. They were endangered either way, yet, they remained safe. It wouldn't have made a difference whether you were separated or not."

"But it was a risk that the people responsible for separating them weren't willing to take," Padmé said, looking over her shoulder to partially look at Ameera. "Everything that happened, happened on their best behalf."

"I doubt that," the Twi'lek's voice lowered, "Taking babies from their mothers and telling the mothers that their babies have died is hardly on anyone's best interest."

Padmé swallowed, uncomfortably, and traced her eyes back to her one anchor amidst all of that: R2-D2.

Pursuing his lips in a thin line, Luke conjectured, "You have to tell her."

Impetuously, Padmé shook her head. "Too many people know already."

"Hardly," Luke argued, "Only you, Leia and I."

She gave him a pointed glare, "And Han, and Safira and Taro, and Mon Mothma."

"Mon Mothma knows?" Luke couldn't feign his frown.

"Of course she knows," Padmé stated, "She's Leia's friend and mentor."

His frown didn't disappear. "Regardless. That's the end of the list."

"That we know of," she pointed out, "There might be more people that remember than we know of. The more people we tell, the harder it becomes to keep the secret from spreading out."

"Well, maybe it should," he crossed his arms, "Maybe that's the only way the galaxy will learn of its mistakes."

"Luke, you're not stupid," Padmé warned, "If it came out, people would ignore everything you did on their behalf and condemn you for sins that aren't yours. And people would crucify Leia, for being in a position of power, thinking she was only trying to secure bigger power for herself."

"That's too pessimistic of you, mother," he accused, "I'd rather believe in the good of people. They will understand it, they will know to discern everything."

"Your faith in people is your biggest flaw," she said, a little harder than she would have liked, "Trust me, somebody who spent the majority of her life inserted in the political scenario. Trust your sister, who will undoubtedly have the same opinion as me. This story must die with all of us."

Out of a sudden, Ameera loudly cleared her throat, saying, "Hello. I'm still here."

Padmé closed her eyes — she hadn't forgotten.

"Tell her," Luke repeated. "I understand your point of view, and even though I disagree with it, I respect it. However, I also believe that we need to have people by our side, who know our true identity and willingly choose to stay by our side because they know that we aren't defined by it. Ameera is your friend, your only friend here. You need her and her support more than you realize."

Exhaling deeply, Padmé prompted, "I can't tell her here. There are too many people."

Luke nodded, and, finally, stood on his feet again. "Come to the Senate with us, Ameera."

Ameera only stared at him with wild eyes. "Whatever for?"

"Well—" Luke murmured; hadn't she been listening to their entire conversation? "You haven't met my sister yet."

Her expression didn't change. "And…?"

Luke looked at her incredulously. "And you could meet her today."

"No, thank you."

"No thank you—" Luke quoted her in a high pitched tone. "What's your issue with my sister?!"

"I have nothing against the princess," Ameera blurted out, "I just don't ever plan on meeting royalty."

He arched one of his brows, "Scared you're going to say something indecorous and she'll throw you in the brig?!"

"Have you met me?!"

Luke laughed, watching from the corner of his eyes as Padmé leaned on R2-D2 to help herself stand.

"What Ameera isn't telling you," Padmé jumped in their conversation, "Is that she's scared of the princess."

Ameera gasped loudly at the accusation. "I most definitely am not."

More interested in unwrinkling her clothes, Padmé didn't offer her the courtesy of her eyes. "Fine. You're scared of figures of authority overall."

"You're delusional," Ameera alleged, "And to prove as much, I will just go with you and your crazy son to meet your other crazy child."

Luke giggled at her characterization of him and his sister. "You don't have to worry, 'Meera. Leia is unlike any other sovereign you might have met."

She looked at him dead in the eyes. "Because skipping from world to world meeting kings and queens surely is a hobby of mine."

Luke rolled his eyes. "What I meant is, Leia is a human first, princess second. You're going to love her."

"I doubt that."

Stepping in between the two of them, Padmé took Ameera by the arm and started walking towards the landspeeder that would take them to the Senatorial building. "Come on. We need to talk."

Ameera's pacing was reluctant. "Whatever this big secret of yours is, you can keep it. I don't want to know."

"Luke is right," Padmé said, "We need people to trust with this. You're my friend, and I trust you."

Luke offered them his hand to hop onto the landspeeder. Ameera grunted, "I don't know whether befriending you is a case of being at the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time."

He jumped in as well, with a little boost of the Force, and turned on the engines. "Definitely the latter."

Luke Skywalker focused on the road ahead of him, allowing Padmé and Ameera to privately chat on the backseat.

They were in no hurry. The galaxy was walking towards peace; for the first time in years, there was no hurry at all.

Padmé took her time; yet, she told Ameera everything.

When Padmé started to tell her the story, Ameera looked disinterested. As the story unfolded, her eyes widened. As the story came to an end and Vader's revelation was left hanging in the air, alongside his kinship to Padmé and the twins, the color had drained from her face.

For the longest time, Ameera could not move. She sat there, trying to process the information that had been laid out so explicitly for her. Then, she looked at Padmé, and looked at Luke, and looked at Padmé again, trying to paint a face to the mask that had haunted the entire galaxy for two decades.

Her friend had been the Monster's wife, and her friend's children were the Monster's children. The spawns of evil. The spawns of evil that had dedicated their entire lives to free the galaxy from their father's grip, even before they knew of their bloodline of diabolism.

Ameera took a deep breath and leaned back on her seat, sitting in the most uncomfortable stance so she'd directly stare at Padmé.

"That's tough."

"That's…" Padmé babbled, nodding with her head very slowly as she tried to understand Ameera's trail of thinking. "Tough. It is."

With her lips compressed in a thin line, Ameera nodded as well, as if to say — yeah, it is.

Padmé waited for Ameera to say anything, but it seemed that the Twi'lek had already settled in her silence. The senator cleared her throat, "That's… it?! You're not going to say anything else?"

Ameera stared at her blankly. "What do you want me to say?"

"Well, I don't know," Padmé spasmed with her arms, "You can't accept it… just like that."

"Can't I?!"

"I mean—you can, but," she struggled to form a coherent sentence. "Most people don't take it so well."

"I thought this was a secret known to only a handful of people."

"And it is, but actually I have yet to meet someone who took it as well as you did."

Indecorously, Ameera brought both her legs up the cushion of the seat. "You, nor Luke, nor Leia, is Vader. I don't understand how else you'd want me to react."

"Yes, but—" Padmé rambled on, unsure of what she was trying to do. If Ameera had accepted it gratefully, then why was she trying to stir up intrigue?! "We're connected to him by blood."

"And…?" Ameera waited for a complement that never came. "Look, I'm just an outsider. And from an outsider's point of view, you're Padmé, and he's Luke, and she's Leia. The Jedi who killed Palpatine and Vader, the princess that gave everything for the cause, and—well I have yet to figure out what you are other than their mother, but—you're not Vader. You're nothing like Vader. That's all the information I need."

Padmé smiled shyly, with her lips closed. Oh, if only the galaxy as a whole would be as wise as the Twi'lek. "I appreciate it, 'Meera."

"No need to thank me for pointing out the obvious," she said. "If people can't see that for themselves, then they're the foolish ones. Nobody should be crucified for the sins of their relatives, only for the sins of their own."

"I appreciate you nonetheless."

"As do I," Luke spoke up for the first time, looking behind his shoulders to gaze at the two of them.

Ameera shrugged, unbothered.

"Eyes front, Evil Spawn," Ameera bossed him, "I don't want my death to come from the hands of a reckless Jedi pilot."

He did as he was told, whilst commenting, "You're not gonna make that a thing now, are you."

Ameera smiled devilish. Luke rolled his eyes at the lack of response.

Padmé laughed. "Word of advice, don't go calling Leia anything of the sort. She's… struggling to accept her parentage."

Ameera looked baffled, "Do you really think I'm crazy enough to get on the bad side with royalty?!"

Luke snorted, "So you are scared of her."

"No," she emphasized, crossing her arms. "I'm not scared of her. She's just… a little intimidating, is all."

"He's teasing you, Ameera," Padmé started, "Because he's scared of her too."

"Am not!" Luke screamed, "Only when I do something stupid and she is mean to me."

Ameera chuckled. "Sounds like my type of gal."

"You realize, mother," Luke said, "That when Ameera and Leia meet, it'll be over for us. They'll never let us breathe in peace again."

Padmé chortled. "I'm not scared of Ameera like you are, Luke. She's loud, but she doesn't bite."

Luke cleared his throat, "Leia has definitely bit Han once or twice."

Ameera made a face. "Why would you—that's disgusting."

His cheeks blushed so intensely that they became redder than his father's lightsaber. "What—No, I—I didn't mean it like that!"

Ameera clicked her tongue, "Thinking of your sister's sex life, you freak."

"No…!" he sounded like he was about to start crying, "Mother, make her stop!"

Being the only one able to see the look of mischief over Ameera's face, Padmé had to stop herself from laughing, and saying instead, "Be nice to him, Ameera. Otherwise, you'll make us crash."

Ameera snorted, but respected them enough not to say anything else. Being there with them, seeing them at their best selves, while knowing of the secret that they had trusted her with their hearts — she almost felt like she belonged.

A/N: leave me a comment, i am no longer asking :(