Padmé Amidala was a kind, compassionate, intelligent woman. So when she saw Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the man who was probably the child Boba's father outside her ship, she did the sensible, compassionate thing of distracting Anakin and shut down any chance he would see them. Anakin needed time to process the situation, and she didn't think he was quite ready to converse with Obi-Wan in a calm reasonable manner just yet. She asked if he wanted something that would help with the stress. He said yes, and so she added the tiniest bit of a mild sedative to his tea. It should have only taken the edge off, especially since he was a Force-user and they tended to be more resilient when it came to sedatives. He should have only relaxed. And surely the Jedi Order, at the very least Obi-Wan, had noticed Anakin was far too overloaded for his own good. As it was, she couldn't help but feel upset that Anakin was so stressed that his body took even the smallest of openings to get him to simply fall asleep.

With his head in her lap.

"The trouble with you Anakin," she said affectionately, stroking his hair, "is that it is very hard not to fall in love with you."

Still, Padmé had a stake in whatever was going on, and she was not going stay put while matters of importance to the entire Galaxy were being discussed in a starship with the unfortunate moniker of Slave I. She very gently slipped away from Anakin, leaving one of her cloaks, the lighter one, under his head, and pulled on her rain-cloak.

"Threepio, look after Anakin. Artoo, come with me," Padmé ordered and went out into the rain.


It seemed silly to knock on the hatch of starship, so Artoo took matters into its own, er, hand, and from a repair data port to hack into and open the hatch for Padmé. There was a Force-awful klaxon aaooguuing away, but she kept her composure and made an entrance that would have done her proud when she was still the Queen of Naboo.

She coolly surveyed the three grown men sitting on the floor toasting marshmallows. The boy, Boba, was the only one who met her eyes. His eyes danced with amusement as he tilted his towards Master Obi-Wan and his father. She smiled back with her eyes, sharing a silent joke.

"Is there a chance that that noise can be turned off?"

Jango reached out and touched a panel and the intruder alarm was silenced.

She arched an eyebrow.

"Are there any of those left for me?" she pointed to the marshmallows on forks with a small smile.

"Err, there are probably more in the apartment," Jango replied, "more room as well."

Boba looked up at his father with an impression of being impressed.

"You two cleaned up?"

The wide-eyed stare Fett and Obi-Wan shared left no doubt in Padmé's mind that they had certainly not cleaned up.

The boy took a deep breath and sighed. His attitude of amusement and being put-upon.

"Dads, you go clean up and I'll take care of Master Windu and the Senator until you're done," Boba said decisively. Someone was going to have to take charge here, and his Dads (well, neither had contradicted him) were not up to the task right now.

"I'm not certain I'm comfortable leaving you..." Jango started, but quieted when Obi-Wan place a hand on his shoulder.

"If Mace was going to make off with Boba to force you to come to Coruscant, he would have done so before now," Obi-Wan reasoned, "Besides the Senator would be appalled at such an action."

"And I know where all the hold-out blasters and tranqs are, Dad," Boba added with a thoroughly innocent grin.

Jango sputtered as Obi-Wan guided him out into the rain.

Padmé sat down, and took up a fork and marshmallow.

"I take it that further assassination attempts will not be undertaken?" she asked.

"Not by my Dad," Boba said handing over a sweet cracker and chocolate, "but by whoever hired him?" the boy shrugged.

"Thank you, Master Windu," Padmé nodded, as Mace handed her a cup of hot chocolate, then looked from Jedi Master to child; clearly the three of them were only sane and clear-headed people involved in this clusterfrak, and she needed to be brought up to speed, "what is going on?"

"Someone has created a Clone Army for the Republic," Mace started, "according to Obi-Wan, it was commissioned by the late Master Sifo-Dyas shortly after Naboo was liberated. I remember Sifo-Dyas as having concerns, but I can't imagine that he would simply go ahead and not tell the Counsel that an army was being cloned for us."

Boba and Padmé stared at him. It was amazing how two such dissimilar people could manage to have the same exact 'you idiot' look.

Mace face-palmed.

"I knew we should looked for the other Sith."

"Sith?" Padmé asked as Boba asked: "Uhm, would 'Sith' have two names?"

"A Sith might well have an alias, yes," Mace turned his full attention on the boy, than ratchetted it back a couple of notches; he didn't want to alienate the first person he had been able to have a calm intelligent conversation about the latest iteration of Macha Bindu and Ormand Sacker on the holonet.

Boba turned his concentration on the marshmallow he was toasting. He licked his lips and looked any where but the Jedi and Senator.

"Well, Dad took this job from a man named Tyrannus, and other jobs from him too, but," Boba finally looked up at them, "I think Tyrannus is also someone called Count Dooku," he offered a kind of caught with his hand in the sweet jar grin, "I backtracked one of his transmissions once, (as practice!) to the planet Serrano."

It took a moment for it to sink in, but Mace's face was study in disbelief, denial and betrayal. There was no way this child could have known he considered Count Dooku a friend, a very distant friend of late, but a friend nonetheless. The idea that he was a Sith lord hurt in a way Mace had never expected, but Jango's earlier comment made more sense now.

Artoo beeped out a short succinct swear.

"That's a very serious allegation, Boba," Padmé said gently, keeping her eyes on Mace.

"I know," the boy shrugged unhappily; he was beginning to really like Mace, and seeing the hurt his words caused made Boba feel guilty. He was startled when Mace's hand descended on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Boba," Mace said seriously, "Count Dooku's actions are his own."

The comm chirruped and Boba opened it.

"It's...presentable in here now," Obi-Wan's voice hesitantly sounded, "I think it should be..."

Jango's voice came from the background.

"Oh for Kad's Sake, Love, we stuffed everything into the bedroom, there's nothing to see now."

Boba snorted with laughter; that was both so unlike his Dad and so like his Dad. Both Mace and Padmé held back their laughter.

"Err, yes," Obi-Wan continued, "you can come in now."

And the comm closed.

It took just a few moments for Boba to stow away the cooking burners and the food. Very meticulously, it should be added; he was always tidy. And then the quartet went out into the rain.