Aftermath

Padme and Obi-Wan ran out into the plaza just outside the Senate Building along with a crowd of hundreds. Obi-Wan carried Breha in his arms as Padme pushed a path for them through the crowd, trying to get to the emergency vehicles at the far side of the plaza.

They were nearing the edge of the plaza when the sky lit up. People screamed and dove for cover, fearing another attack. Instinctively, Padme dropped to a kneeling position, and Obi-Wan too sunk low, careful of his badly wounded sound of the explosion took a few seconds to reach them, arriving with a shock wave powerful enough to throw just about everyone still standing to the ground.

Padme braced herself against the ground as the shock wave passed over them. Through squinting eyes she saw the damaged Senate Building sway, but it's stocky frame stayed upright. She looked up at the sky, trying to determine the source of the explosion. As she scanned the heavens she realized she could no longer make out the silhouettes of the three large ships orbiting Coruscant.

"The prison ships," she murmured to herself, trying to understand what had just happened. "Where are they?"

"Destroyed," Obi-Wan answered. She turned to him and was surprised to see the Jedi's face had gone white, as though he were in shock. His eyes were wide and staring at the heavens.

"But why would the Separatists destroy their own people?" she asked, puzzled. None of it made any sense.

"Perhaps they didn't," he said, still looking up. Padme looked at him in confusion.

"You don't mean…" she began, trailing off as the full implication of his words sunk in. But she couldn't accept it. "No," she said firmly, "the Republic hasn't sunk that far. Not yet." Obi-Wan looked far less certain, but a pained moan from Breha reminded them of their purpose. There was no time for further discussion.

"Over here!" Medical units were organizing the people in the plaza. "Wounded over here!" Padme and Obi-Wan got up and brought Breha over to one of the emergency speeders. Obi-Wan handed the wounded princess over to the medics, who began securing her to a stretcher and hooking her up to a bacta bag.

"Stay with the princess, I'll do what I can here," Obi-Wan said, turning back toward the Senate Building. Padme nodded and started to get into the speeder with Breha, but a med droid blocked her way with its thin metal arm.

"No, critically wounded only, no passengers," Padme opened her mouth to argue, but stopped short. She didn't dare delay Breha's arrival at a medical facility. She stepped back from the speeder. The doors slammed shut and it sped off, sirens blaring.

She looked around for Obi-Wan, but he'd already rushed off and she couldn't see him in the crowd. For the first time since the attack began, Padme paused and took in the scene around her. It had been a long time since she'd been in a warzone, but the sights and smells were all too familiar. She recognized the looks of blank disbelief, the scent of smoke and blood in the air, the dust-coated faces streaked with tears. She'd seen it all play out before.

Her mind transported her, an unwilling passenger, back in time to her home village. The sounds of the engines of the emergency speeders transformed into the whine of bombers, growing faint as they moved on to their next target. The smell of burning evergreens erupted unbidden from the recesses of her memory. Her heart began to pound in her chest.

Padme squeezed her eyes shut, wrenching her mind back into the present. She pushed her memories back in the well-worn mental prison where she usually kept them and hurried over to help the wounded as they emerged from the Senate Building. She knew if she let herself stop and think for too long it would all overwhelm her. She couldn't allow that to happen. She had to keep moving. It was how she'd survived so long during the occupation of her homeworld, and it was how she would continue to survive now.

Running on autopilot, Padme made the rounds of the wounded, bringing them water, tightening bandages, finding a med droid to look after them. As Padme helped a Mandalorian delegate with a wounded foot climb aboard a speeder taxi turned into a makeshift ambulance, a med droid swooped down on her.

"You require treatment," the droid intoned, indicating the bloody patch on her left shoulder.

"It's fine," she said, trying to wave the droid away as she walked back toward the Senate building. "Just a scratch."

"This injury is not a superficial wound," the droid said, hovering behind her. "The risk of infection is high." Padme sighed.

"Alright, alright," she said, finding an overturned chair to sit on in a relatively empty part of the Senate lobby. "But hurry up." The med droid set to work, pulling back the tattered fabric of her dress and spraying her wound with a stinging antiseptic before starting the stitches. Padme winced as the droid worked, but the pain wasn't too bad.

While she waited for the droid to finish its work, she looked around at the others taking shelter inside the lobby. She recognized a few faces and was glad to see many of her colleagues had escaped unharmed, but there were also plenty of stretchers bearing the dead. Her stomach gave a funny jolt as she recognized the glittering gown of Ta'a Chume splayed out beneath a white sheet, the princess's bejeweled hand dangling lifelessly off the side of the stretcher as a med droid pushed it past.

Her first thought was one of relief. She would never have to worry about the meddling princess from Hapes again. But her relief was soon replaced by shame. Are you really so desperate to keep your secret that you can rejoice in another's death? she asked herself, horrified. And then, it hit her. Her secret. In the flurry of violence and terror, she hadn't given a thought to it. Her chest constricted in panic as her hand fluttered automatically to her abdomen.

You would know, she told herself. You would know if something happened, if something went wrong. But she wasn't actually certain of that. She remembered with renewed fear the force of the blast that knocked her back in the service passage. Everything felt normal, but she had to know for sure. She turned to the med droid who was just wrapping up its stitches.

"Do you keep records of your patients?" she asked quietly, looking around to make sure no one was standing too close. Fortunately, they were tucked in a corner of the lobby that was largely shielded from view.

"I am an emergency medical droid. I am not programmed to record personal information."

"Then there's something else I need from you" she said, dropping her voice still lower. She explained her condition to the droid in a hushed whisper. "I was in close proximity to the blast. Can you…" she paused, unwilling to vocalize her worst fears. "I just want to make sure everything is okay."

The droid extended a sensor, which emitted a blue light as it scanned her body. The droid's holoprojector came on, displaying the results of the scan. Padme held her breath, watching, waiting. Finally, after several agonizing moments, she saw once more the two ill defined spots in the holo, neither much bigger than a caf bean. As the sound of their heartbeats reached her ears, she finally exhaled.

"Everything appears to be normal," the droid assured her.

"Thank you."

"Padme, is that you?" Padme jumped out the sound of Obi-Wan's voice calling out to her from nearby. She whipped around to see him coming toward her through the rubble. Padme swore under her breath.

"Turn that thing off!" Padme ordered the med droid frantically. The droid promptly turned off its projector, but as Padme turned around and saw the look on Obi-Wan's face, she knew it was too late.

Obi-Wan stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure what to do. His mind was quickly putting the pieces together. The mission on Scipio, Anakin's emotional turmoil, the terrified look on Padme's face, and at the center of it all, two tiny blips of new life. He was dumbstruck, caught somewhere between shock and mortification."I'm so sorry," he finally stammered, staring at his boots, "I thought you'd gone...I didn't mean to…" he trailed off, his thought incomplete. He waited for Padme to speak, but she said nothing. He could sense her nervousness.

"Do you require any additional assistance?" the med droid asked, oblivious to the tension.

"No, you've done quite enough," Padme said forcefully, waving off the droid, who moved on to another group of wounded. Obi-Wan looked up as she turned back to him. She looked defiant, her jaw was set, but he knew she was afraid. "You saw the scan?" she asked. Obi-Wan nodded.

She went silent again, her lips pursed in thought. He went back to staring at the floor, but he could feel her eyes on him. He knew his cheeks were burning red, though he honestly wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or anger. Anakin, you fool, he thought to himself, you blasted, blasted fool.

"If you want to ask me, ask me," Padme said at last. Her tone was strange, halfway between challenging and entreating. What does she want me to say? he wondered. What can I say?

"It's none of my business," he said after a moment's deliberation, finally looking up at her. He saw her smile ever so slightly. She had clearly expected a different reaction, but he had no intention of interrogating her on the matter. Besides he didn't need to ask. He already knew.

"Will you tell the Council?" she asked, the nervous strain returning to her voice. Her question and the look in her eyes erased any lingering doubts he might have had.

"No," he said slowly, thinking it through, "I will speak with Anakin first."

"He doesn't know," she said hurriedly, her voice a little panicky. "I haven't told him."

"Are you going to?" Obi-Wan asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Before she could answer, a clone trooper came rushing over to them, leaping over debris to get to their position. He saluted Obi-Wan as he reach them.

"General Kenobi," the trooper said with a salute. "You're wanted at the Jedi Temple, sir. No one has been able to reach you on your comm." Obi-Wan looked down at his belt and pulled his comlink free. One end of it was smashed, with sparking exposed wired coming out of it. Obi-Wan sighed.

"Yes, I'll be right there," he said, reattached the destroyed comlink to his belt. He dismissed the clone trooper, making sure he was well out of earshot before he turned back to Padme.

"Your secret is safe with me," he said softly, "for now," he qualified. "But it's not a secret I can keep forever."

"I understand," she said, nodding.

"Talk to Anakin," he implored her as he turned to go. "For all our sakes."

Anakin gripped the edge of the holoprojector, still staring at the place where Maul's ship had vanished a few moments before. All around him, however, life continued on. He was only half aware of what was happening in the room, but as the shock of Maul's escape ebbed away, his surroundings slowly began to come back into focus. Padme, he thought, I have to find Padme.

The comlink on his wrist began to beep. He was being summoned back to the Temple. Beside him, he could see Barriss was receiving the same message. She didn't seem to notice her comlink whatsoever. She continued to stare down at her hands, her face still pale from shock.

Anakin knew he'd have to take charge. Barriss would be no help to him no. He stepped over quickly to General Palpatine to ask permission for their dismissal. Palpatine was bent over a schematic of the office wing with a naval officer, and the two were engaged in a heated debate.

"I am not concerned with security, it is imperative that my personal team of agents inspect the office first. I will take no chances," Palpatine's tone was urgent and firm as he and the officer argued. "Yes, Skywalker, what is it?" he asked as Anakin walked up.

"Sir, Barriss and I have been recalled to the Temple," Anakin explained.

"Yes, you are free to go," Palpatine said, waving a hand dismissively, "I trust I can count on you, at least, to give a fair account to the Council? I don't think that girl is in any fit state to explain." Anakin looked back over his shoulder at Barriss, who still looked shaken. He felt suddenly embarrassed by her. She'd questioned Palpatine's orders, and now she was barely holding herself together.

"You can count on me, sir," Anakin said, his cheeks reddening slightly. Palpatine gave him a small nod before turning back to his discussion with the officer. Anakin strode back over to Barriss and took her arm, hauling her up somewhat roughly. "We have to go back to the Temple," he told her, steering her out of the room. She let him lead her out. Beneath his fingertips he could feel her arm was shaking.

They moved together through the checkpoints, under the watchful eyes of the clone guards. As they came out of the reinforced bunker at the heart of the building, the damage of the attack became starkly real. Everywhere they were surrounded by collapsed walls, chunks of permasteele and duracrete, and the unmistakable stench of death. Clone troopers were carrying bodies out on stretchers, moving them from the ballroom. Anakin's mind reeled as he took it in.

His thoughts flew to Padme. If she was dead you would know, he told himself. But she could still be hurt, or trapped, caught somewhere in mortal peril. He tried to reach out to her through the Force, but his senses were garbled and distorted by his rising panic. He looked down at Barris, who seemed to be coming back to herself somewhat.

"Can you get back to the Temple on your own?" he asked her. She turned her face upwards.

"Yes," she said, still a little shaky, "but where are you going?"

"I have to check on something," he said, staring to move away, but she grabbed his sleeve, clutching it tightly in her fist.

"It isn't safe, Anakin," she whispered nervously, glancing around at the milling clone troopers and naval officers. He tried to tug free, but she held on. "We can't trust them. Not after what he did." He could see the fear in her eyes. The shock of the deaths on the prison ships had given way to fear. She believed Palpatine was a cold-blooded killer. But Anakin had no time or sympathy for that way of thinking.

"I'll be fine," he said coolly, prying her fingers away. "Go." She gave him one last beseeching look, but when he didn't budge she turned and walked through the rubble and out of the Senate Building toward the Temple. Anakin watched her disappear into the crowd outside, then headed in the opposite direction, following the maze of half-destroyed corridors until he came to the ballroom. His heart sank as he looked in on its collapsed ruin.

People were still streaming out and away from the scene of devastation, heading to the plaza outside. Anakin followed them, jostling through the crowd and into the orange glow of Coruscant's sunlight. He moved through the plaza, trying to take in every face, but he couldn't find her. Panic continued to rise in his chest. Then someone grabbed his shoulder from behind and he turned around, beaming, certain it would be her.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. Anakin's face fell. "You seem to be headed in the wrong direction. All Jedi are to report to the Temple."

"I have to find Senator Naberrie. I sent her back to the ballroom, if anything happened to her..." he trailed off. He didn't want to finish the thought.

"She's fine." Obi-Wan assured him. "We ran into each other. She's safe. I promise." Anakin didn't both concealing his relief at the news. Maul had escaped, but at least Padme was okay. His master looked intently up at him. "There's something else, isn't there?"

"It was Maul," Anakin said, realizing Obi-Wan must not know.

"What?"

"Darth Maul. He's alive. He did this. All of it." Anakin felt his anger come rushing back in. Obi-Wan looked incredulous.

"You're certain?" he asked. Anakin knew Obi-Wan thought he'd seen Maul die above Alderaan four years ago. Anakin thought he'd seen the same. Now he knew better.

"I saw him." Anakin said shortly. "He's back."

Obi-Wan took a moment to absorb what Anakin had told him. Maul had returned. The war was not over. He could sense the storm brewing in Anakin's already troubled mind.

"Come on, we need to report in at the temple." Obi-Wan steered Anakin toward a gaggle of hover taxis, looking for one to hail. In the aftermath of the attack, however, this proved easier said than done.

"They'll send us after him, won't they?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan anxiously as they poked through the crowd, trying to find an available transport.

"It will be up to the Council," Obi-Wan said, clearly not keen to discuss it.

"It should be us. It has to be us," Anakin said authoritatively. "We're the only ones who've faced him."

"I'm sure the Council will weigh all the factors carefully," Obi-Wan demurred, cursing quietly as a group of senate aides beat them to an open hover taxi.

"I have to go after him, Obi-Wan." Anakin insisted. "I'll do it against the Council's wishes if I have to."

"That's a good way to get expelled from the Order," Obi-Wan noted wryly.

"What does it matter?" Anakin asked aggressively. "Isn't that what you think I deserve?" Obi-Wan regarded his apprentice in silence, trying to keep his frustration in check. In light of Padme's accidental revelation, there was part of him that wanted to shout at Anakin that expulsion was exactly what he deserved, but he held back. Arguing with Anakin would only feed the young man's anger.

"I did not discuss the...incident...on Ryloth with the Council," Obi-Wan admitted. Anakin looked up, clearly surprised at his master's words.

"Why not?" Anakin asked, squinting suspiciously.

"Let's walk back," Obi-Wan said, steering toward the elevated walkway and away from the hover taxis. "This is a lost cause anyway." Anakin fell into step beside him. Obi-Wan could sense his apprentice's trepidation. What should he say to the boy? Master Yoda's counsel was still there in the back of his mind, but Obi-Wan wasn't sure it even mattered in light of the situation with Padme. It seemed all but certain now that Anakin would leave the Order, one way or another.

"I am your master, your teacher," Obi-Wan told Anakin as they walked, "at least for now. You are my responsibility. Contrary to what you seem to think, I'm not trying to get you into trouble. I'm trying to help you."

"I know," Anakin said quietly.

"I saw no reason to involve the Council in this matter," Obi-Wan said, deciding not to elaborate further for the moment. He wanted to advise Anakin, but everything was so up in the air he wasn't sure how. Padme's secret felt like an invisible wall between them, one only Obi-Wan knew the full extent of. He needed to talk to Anakin openly and honestly, but he couldn't do that without betraying Padme's trust. They walked on in silence for some time.

"Obi-Wan," Anakin said as they neared the Temple. His voice seemed uncharacteristically small. "What's going to happen now?"

Obi-Wan glanced over at Anakin. In the retreating light, Anakin suddenly looked younger, more like the teenager Obi-Wan had met on Tatooine years before. He could sense the boy's fear, and he shared it. Everything was uncertain now.

"I don't know, Anakin," Obi-Wan said as they marched up the Temple steps. "I really don't."

By the time Padme boarded a dingy public transport for the medical facility it was fully dark outside. She'd lost track of how many hours had passed since the attack. It felt like a lifetime ago that she and Anakin had sat on the rooftop, planning a future that now felt very far away. Over the course of the evening she'd learned more details about the attack as she'd continued to tend the wounded. Darth Maul was alive, Chancellor Valorum was dead, and General Palpatine was now the de facto leader of the Republic.

Her mind was too tired to truly process what the fallout of the attack would be, though she was certain it would not be good. She rested her head against the window and shut her eyes, half-dozing despite the bright light running down the center of the transport's interior, letting her exhaustion take over for the brief trip. She didn't know what she might be facing on the other side.

She knew the journey was easily half an hour on the transit system, but it felt like only seconds elapsed before the electronic scroll above the door signaled that she'd arrived at her stop. She began to feel uneasy once again as she stepped down onto the dock and headed towards the medical facility. She'd had no word on Breha. For all she knew, her friend was dead. She hadn't seen a trace of Anakin either, for that matter. One crisis at a time, she told herself as she walked up to the front desk.

Her relief at discovering Breha was checked into a room and not in the morgue was short lived, as the droid at the counter directed her towards the area of the facility reserved for the most severely injured patients. She hurried down the hall to the lift, tapping the toe of her boot impatiently as the metal tube shot up several floors. Her senate identification badge was enough to get her into the secured wing, and when she saw Bail Organa sitting in a chair in the hall, she ran to him.

"Padme!" he said, standing to hug her. She could see his eyes were bloodshot. He looked completely drained. She didn't imagine she looked much better.

"How is she?" she asked nervously. The curtains of the room across from them were drawn. Padme felt certain Breha was behind them.

"The internal damage was extensive, but she's out of surgery and she should be through the worst. She's going to make it." Padme felt the tightness in her chest loosen somewhat. She collapsed into one of the chairs and buried her face in her hands, willing herself not to weep. Bail gently put his hand on her shoulder. She forced her tears down and looked back up at him.

"Is she awake?"

"Yes, they're just changing her dressings. I'm sure you'll be able to go in when they're done," he said, taking a seat next to her. "She knows about Salma," he said quietly, referencing Breha's late sister. For the first time it hit Padme that Salma's death meant Breha was now queen. "She's been asking for you." Padme nodded, and they sat in silence for a few moments before it occurred to Padme that Bail might have crossed paths with Anakin at some point during the attack. There was no harm in asking, she decided. Besides, Bail was an old friend.

"Did you happen to run into Commander Skywalker today?" she asked, trying to sound casual. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I did, actually," he said, "last I saw him he was in the Command Center, safe and sound." The tension drained out of Padme's shoulders. Anakin was alive. Breha was safe. Maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be alright.

The door to Breha's room hissed open and two medical droids floated out of it. "You may go in now," one of them said as the pair drifted down the corridor. Padme looked over at Bail.

"You go on," he said gently, pulling a datapad from his bag. "General Palpatine will have me locked up if I don't report in soon anyhow." He said it jokingly, but Padme thought there might be some truth in his words. Padme nodded and pushed herself up out of the chair, then walked cautiously into Breha's room.

The lights were dimmed, but it was still bright enough that Padme could see Breha was hooked up to a variety of machines and monitors. Breha lay nearly flat on the bed, with her head just slightly propped up. Beneath the white sheets that covered her Padme could see the glow of pulmonodes in Breha's chest. A thicker blanket in place on the lower section of Breha's body made it impossible to say how extensive the rest of the damage might be, but Padme could guess well enough.

"Breha," she said, sitting on the edge of the chair next to the bed and taking Breha's hand in her own.

"You made it," Breha said weakly, glancing over at her.

"Of course I did," Padme said, giving her hand a light squeeze.

"You saved my life," Breha said, laughing a bit, though it caused her to grimace. "Again." Padme bowed her head.

"You'd have done the same for me." It was true. They'd each pulled the other out of deadly situations many times before.

"You're alright?" Breha asked. "I mean…" Padme realized she was referring to the twins.

"Everything's fine," she told Breha, feeling glad she could say it with certainty.

"Good," Breha said, her eyes closing slightly, "that's good." They were both silent for a moment. Padme suspected Breha was working very hard to hide her pain, mental and physical. But when she spoke again her voice sounded stronger. "I never would have forgiven myself if...well."

"None of this was your fault," Padme insisted. Breha looked away. Padme understood. She blamed herself for surviving when her sister had not. Perhaps she even thought the Separatists had targeted the Alderaan delegation as retribution. It occured to Padme that could very well be true. Her blood ran cold at the thought.

"I'm just glad your safe," Breha said, turning back to her. "I can't lose anyone else, Padme." Breha's voice cracked. "I can't."

"I'm not going anywhere," Padme said, wrapping her other hand around Breha's. One corner of Breha's lips tugged up every so slightly in a half-smile before the young queen drifted back into sleep. Padme watched her slumber for awhile before laying her head on the bedside and letting sleep overcome her at last.

Obi-Wan stood, exhausted, in front of the Council. The evening had quickly ebbed into the fullness of night as he'd debriefed the Council and listened to others do the same for hours on end. Anakin and the other apprentices involved had been mercifully dismissed, but Obi-Wan was still here. He zoned out for a while, resting with his eyes open, but his mind came back into focus as Master Balaba finished her compiled report on the attack.

"Our report from Republic Intelligence is heavily redacted, but the accounts of those Jedi who were present confirm the return of Darth Maul and that General Palpatine himself gave the order to destroy the prison ships. We also have a confidential informant who has suggested the Maul may have attempted to repeat the clone attack at Geonosis, but we can't confirm." The last part of the report was news to Obi-Wan. He surmised the informant was probably Bail Organa. Whoever it was, they were taking an awful risk coming to the Jedi.

"We also know," Master Balaba continued, "that Republic forces captured multiple co-conspirators, but so far none has yielded any accurate information regarding Maul's location."

"Worrying, this is," Yoda said. "Too much we do not know. "

"What about the clone trooper recovered from Ryloth?" Master Windu asked.

"Our analysis will not be complete for several days. We need more time." Shaak Ti explained.

"Perhaps, Master Kenobi and his apprentice…" Master Fisto began, but Windu interrupted him.

"No. Skywalker is far too close to the situation," Master Windu said forcefully, shaking his head. "He lacks objectivity."

"Anakin can control his feelings," Obi-Wan insisted, though he didn't really believe that in his heart of hearts.

"So sure you are, Master Kenobi?" Yoda asked. Obi-Wan frowned. He'd thought Yoda would be on his side. But perhaps he thought Maul would be too dangerous for Anakin, and maybe he was right.

"If the pursuit of Maul is not a suitable mission, then let us go to Alderaan," Obi-Wan said, improvising on the spot. Maybe he could at least get Padme to talk to Anakin and he would no longer be burdened with her secret. "Anakin and I have some familiarity with the planet, and we are both acquainted with the new queen, as well as with Senator Naberrie."

"Master Kenobi raises an important point," Master Mundi stated, bowing his large head sagely. "The leaders of Alderaan will need additional protection."

"Many of the former Rogues will be gathered for the funeral of Queen Salma. The event could prove a tempting target for the Separatists."

"Obi-Wan, you are the only Jedi who has faced Maul before," Master Windu said. "We will need your experience."

"My padawan and I can accompany young Skywalker to Alderaan, if Master Kenobi is needed elsewhere," Master Unduli offered. Obi-Wan looked at Luminara, wishing she hadn't been so quick to assist. He didn't want to separated from Anakin, not now. He shot a pleading look at Master Yoda, but it went unnoticed, or at least unheeded.

"Go then," Yoda said to Luminara. "Escort the delegation from Alderaan, you will. Master Kenobi will help lead the hunt for Darth Maul. Adjourn here for tonight, we shall."

"Obi-Wan," Mace Windu said, coming over to him as the Council dispersed, "I'll see you on Yularen's ship at oh-eight-hundred."

"Yes, sir," Obi-Wan said with a sigh. "I'll be there."

"Here's your tea," Neerin said as he entered the Alderaanian repulsorpod in the Senate Chamber. He handed the warm mug over to Padme and took his seat behind her, his faithful astromech in tow. Padme had awoken in Breha's hospital room to find she'd been summoned to an emergency session. All she wanted was a Savareen brandy and her bed, but as she could have neither she nursed her tea and listened to the shouts of those senators awake enough to make their opinions known.

"This is what we had feared! Darth Maul has returned!" someone shouted from a repulsorpod above her.

"We are more vulnerable than any of us knew. We must increase our strength!" an aggressive voice shouted from across the chamber.

"The Separatists must pay for the blood on their hands!" This remark drew a substantial, if somewhat weary, cheer.

Padme was having none of it. She knew what it was to act out of revenge. She'd done it herself, and she knew the only thing it would result in was more bloodshed. She took another sip of her tea as her eyes roved over the chamber. An astonishing number of repulsorpods were empty. Some occupants were dead, and many others were wounded or had gone home. At the center of the chamber, the Vice Chair, Mas Amedda, called the session to order.

"In this time of great crisis, we must turn to the strongest among us to lead." Mas Amedda's voice boomed across the chamber. Padme sighed. This is absurd, she thought, there's hardly enough of us to even hold this session. "General Palpatine has led our forces through years of war. He is a strong man, a fearless man, who will crush these Separatist murderers!" There was a roar. "Therefore, I nominate General Palpatine as the new Chancellor, and move that we grant him immediate emergency powers to strike at our enemy with the full might of the Republic!"

A chant rose up among the senators for an immediate vote. Padme was feeling more awake now. She knew what voting Palpatine in would mean. More war, more violence, more death. She looked again at the half-empty chamber...maybe there really weren't enough senators for a vote. She pulled up a chart of the chamber on her console.

"What are you doing?" Neerin asked, watching her eyes move methodically across the screen.

"Counting," Padme said, mentally marking her place to talk with her assistant.

"It's not a quorum?" Neerin wondered, peering over her shoulder.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," she said, slightly exasperated. Neerin nodded.

"I'll get Tinny to scan, it'll be faster," he said, summoning over his small, ancient-looking astromech. A scanner slowly rose from the top of the little droids head and Padme soon heard the whirring of gears as the droid started its count. Not totally convinced Tinny was up to the job, she resumed her own count.

"Is this what we have come to?" Senator Mothma was saying, having risen up in the wake of Mas Amedda's rant. "My friends, the Republic is in grave danger. Listen to yourselves. We are on the verge of becoming as barbaric as our enemies." To Padme, Mon Mothma sounded like the voice of reason, but then she saw Palpatine stand up.

"We must end the war. The time for compromise is over." Palpatine said firmly. Padme stopped counting now. She wanted to hear what he would say. "We must show no mercy. If they will not accept defeat, we have no other choice. The complete and total destruction of our enemy is the only way forward!" There were murmurs of agreement from the chamber. Palpatine's remarks only confirmed her fears. She looked over at Neerin, who was checking Tinny's progress.

"We need more time," he told her. "Stall!" Padme signaled that she wanted the floor and was soon recognized. Most of her fellow Senators seemed too tired to have much interest in grandstanding.

"Senators," she began, taking a brief pause as she sorted out what she would say, "many of us, myself included, will soon be departing for home to bury our dead." If she could guilt them into postponing the vote, she would. Money and fear were the primary tools of politics, but guilt sometimes worked too, and she intended to lay it on thick. "I wish I could say this is the first time in my young life I have seen a friend laid to rest, but I cannot, and I know it is the same for many of you. I, for one, do not wish to rush hastily forward while my grief is still so fresh."

A few senators nodded, but those ginned up by Mas Amedda and Palpatine were clearly still ready for a quick vote. She felt Neerin slip a datapad into her fingers. She looked down at it and quickly took note of the number.

"I also beg you to remember how many seats in this chamber are now empty," she continued. "How can we vote for a new leader without representation from so many worlds? We must allow for more time. Time to grieve, yes, but also time to restore this body to full strength. Our laws require it." A few more heads perked up at her last sentence. She could see senators turning to their staff, trying to figure out if she was correct.

"Senator Naberrie is right," an elderly statesman from Gromas said. "Do we even have a quorum?" The murmuring grew louder. Everyone was checking the numbers now. She could see Mas Amedda hunched over his own console at the center of the chamber. When he straightened up again, he looked livid.

"It appears our numbers are insufficient to vote at this time," Mas Amedda conceded. "Our session is adjourned." The chamber erupted in chatter as the senators took their leave. Padme sat down heavily, breathing a sigh of relief, but across the room she made eye contact with Palpatine. His eyes seemed to bore into her very soul, but she didn't look away. She had the distinct impression he was trying to read her mind, but after a few more moments of eye contact, he suddenly turned away.

"That was close," Neerin said, giving Tinny a pat on the dome. "You'd think they would have counted everyone before convening the session."

"Oh, I think they did." Padme said, now staring at Palpatine's back, "I think they knew exactly what they were doing." Padme got up to leave as well. She had to see Breha home safely, and bury her queen, but she knew now that the fight against the ambitions of General Palpatine was only beginning.