Chapter 10: Sisters and Secrets
Sola walked into the cockpit of Anakin and Padmé's ship, balancing the small tray that she carried carefully in her hands as she turned a worried look toward her younger sister, and then sat the tray down carefully on the small table near the bench where Padmé sat.
They had been out here for several hours now, ever since that terrifying tremor had struck Padmé and left her trembling and crying in Sola's and her mother's arms. Sola reached up and rubbed her arms for a moment, as a cool chill ran down her spine; Artoo had had some trouble with one of the cabin heaters, and he had started to repair it, but Padmé had told him to concentrate on contacting Anakin, and the little droid had, as always, obeyed his mistress to the letter.
Padmé sat quietly on the long padded bench, the blanket she had brought with her to the ship pulled up over her shoulder, as she turned her deeply worried face back toward her older sister as she sat huddled in the corner near the bulkhead.
"Anything yet?" Sola asked, as she picked up one of the cups of hot tea that she had brought with her from the house and sat down on the bench next to Padmé. She placed the cup in her lap, and then reached over and rubbed Padmé's shoulder gently as she watched her sister close her eyes and shake her head slowly.
"No," Padmé said softly, as she slowly opened her eyes and looked back at her sister's worried face. "Not yet," she said, as she turned and looked at the little droid as he worked diligently at the communications station. "But Artoo's still trying."
"Here," Sola said, as she handed the cup that she held in her lap to Padmé. "I brought you some hot tea," she said, and she watched as Padmé sat up straighter on the bench and reached out from beneath her blanket and took the steaming cup from her. "It's cool out here, and it'll help keep you warm," Sola said, managing a weak smile.
"Thank you, Sola," Padmé said, managing a somewhat troubled smile herself, and then she turned and looked back at Artoo as she blew softly across the top of the steaming cup for just a moment, and then took a long, careful sip of the hot beverage.
"I'm sure that we'll hear from him soon," Sola said, as she leaned over and took the other cup from the tray, and then leaned back against the bench as Padmé turned and looked at her sister again.
"I know," Padmé said softly, nodding her head, as she watched Sola take a sip from her own cup. "I know he's okay," she said, as Sola turned and looked back at her thoughtfully.
Sola could see the deeply worried look in Padmé's eyes as she spoke. "I mean, I know he's there, because I can still feel him," Padmé said, softly. "I just wish I could talk to him, and find out what's happened."
Sola reached over and placed her hand on Padmé's shoulder. "I know," she said, squeezing Padmé's shoulder reassuringly. "And we will soon, I'm sure," Sola said, and she watched as Padmé nodded her head slowly, and then looked back toward Artoo.
"I hope so," Padmé said quietly, and then she took another long sip from the steaming cup in her hand as she watched Artoo work quietly at the communications console. "I just need to hear his voice."
Sola took another sip of her own tea, and then turned and looked back at Padmé for a long moment, as she watched her sit quietly, holding her cup in her hands as she watched Artoo work; she was truly worried about her baby sister, and her brother-in-law, more so than she had been since Anakin had left home.
"What does it feel like, Padmé?" Sola asked quietly, turning and leaning against the thickly padded bench as she looked at her younger sister with a thoughtful smile. "I mean, I know that the two of you can sense each other," Sola said, as she watched Padmé turn her eyes toward her, as she lifted the cup in her hands to her lips again.
"I've always loved watching you both play that game when he comes home," Sola said, quietly, "and it amazes me every time you can tell that he's near, like the other day when he came home with Master Obi-Wan."
"But what does it really feel like, to you," Sola asked with a smile, "to be able to feel him like that, all the time?"
Padmé smiled, as she looked down for a moment and took a long, thoughtful breath. "It's hard to explain, Sola," she said, as she looked back up at her older sister.
"Well, try," Sola nodded, as she leaned forward and rested her head on her hand, watching Padmé with great interest; she truly wanted to know, and she had always wanted to ask. Now seemed like a perfect time, and she knew that it would help to brighten Padmé's spirits, help shift her attention away from the long, arduous task of waiting.
"I'd really, really love to know," Sola said quietly, nodding her head. "If you don't mind telling me."
Padmé's smile widened, and she laughed softly as she saw the familiar look on her sister's face. She was well acquainted with that keenly interested smile; Sola had always taken great delight in prying into her romantic life, ever since they were younger. For the most part, Padmé enjoyed keeping her guessing, but there were times, like this one, when she welcomed her older sister's curiosity.
"Well," Padmé said, as she took another deep breath and sighed, deeply, as she turned and leaned back against the bulkhead; she drew her knees up in front of her, as closely as her round stomach would allow, and pulled her blanket down, covering her feet as she spoke. "Do you remember the first time that Darred ever told you that he loved you?"
"Yes," Sola replied, nodding her head slowly.
"Do you remember what you felt like, right after he told you?" Padmé asked softly, as she looked at her cup thoughtfully as she held it in her hands, resting it on her knees. "You know, that warm, fluttery feeling in your heart that you felt the first time he kissed you, when you realized that you really loved him too?"
"Uh, huh," Sola nodded again, her smile brightening as she watched her younger sister with keen interest.
"Well, that's kind of what it feels like," Padmé said softly, as she returned her sister's bright smile. "Only it never goes away, not even for a little while," she said, as she leaned her head over and rested it on the padded bulkhead where she sat. "It's always there, even when he's not."
"Wow," Sola sighed, shaking her head. "I mean, really," Sola laughed, softly, as she fanned her face playfully with her hand and took a deep breath, "Wow."
Padmé laughed softly, as she saw her sister blink her misty eyes several times, and then take another sip of her tea. "I know," she laughed, as Sola looked back at her from her cup. "It does the same thing to me sometimes, too," Padmé said, and she paused and took another long sip from her own, and then looked back at Sola with a smile. "And that's the best word I've found to describe it, too."
"I bet you use that word to describe a lot of other things, too," Sola said, her mouth curled into a sly grin as she lifted her cup to her lips again and took a long sip, looking over the rim as she did so at Padmé's smiling face.
Padmé looked down, following her sister's gaze to her distended little belly; she smiled, and rubbed her stomach gently as she looked back up at Sola. "Possibly," Padmé laughed, as Sola looked back up from her tea and laughed back at her. "Why, is it that obvious?"
"Oh, please," Sola said, placing her cup in her lap and looking back at her sister with a grin. "You'd have to be deaf and blind not to know, the way you two cling to each other all the time," she laughed, as she watched Padmé laugh and blush, slightly, as she lifted her tea to her lips and blew across it again, the steam from the hot beverage rolling gently in front of her rosy cheeks for a second or two, and then disappearing into the cool cabin air.
"And I think it's absolutely wonderful," Sola sighed, smiling warmly back at Padmé as she looked back at her older sister as she took another long sip of her tea. "You both keep on clinging to each other as tightly as you can, baby sister," she said. "I hope it never, ever changes."
"That must be so amazing," Sola said after a moment, leaning forward a bit and looking at Padmé with an awestruck smile, "to be able to feel that all the time. Have you always been able to feel him like that?"
"No," Padmé said, shaking her head gently as she looked back at Sola thoughtfully. "I mean, I remember the first time that I realized that I had fallen in love with him, and I've known how much ever since," she said, "but it wasn't until that day on Geonosis that I was actually able to feel him like I do now."
"That was when he saved Obi-Wan from Count Juju, right?" Sola asked, nodding her head as she listened to her sister intently.
Padmé burst our laughing, and Sola looked at her with a puzzled grin. "What?" Sola laughed, "What did I say?"
"Dooku," Padmé exclaimed, as she held her stomach as she laughed, harder than she had since that night that Anakin told her about slapping the medical droid that had been trying to help him.
It was an honest mistake, but Sola didn't care; it warmed her heart to see Padmé laugh again, and she laughed along with her, even if it was at her own expense. "Juju, Dooku, whatever," Sola laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "That horrible, old gray haired man with the red lightsaber you told me about, right?"
"That's him," Padmé laughed, as she reached up and wiped the tear away that stood in the corner of her eye. "And yes, you're right," she said, as their laughter subsided, slowly, "that was when it happened."
"What happened, Padmé?" Sola asked, resting her head on her hand again, as Padmé smiled back at her. "I mean, I remember what you told me about what actually happened," Sola said, "but what was it that happened between you and Anakin that day?"
"I don't really know, Sola," Padmé smiled, as she shook her head, slowly. "I can remember the exact moment that it happened, and exactly what it felt like," she said, "but I can't tell you exactly what it was."
Padmé looked up, thoughtfully, and she closed her left eye, like she was trying to remember something elusive and difficult. "Master Yoda says that it was something he calls a Force centered convergence, or a dyad, or something," Padmé said, looking back at Sola with a skeptical grin. "You know how the Council is," she said, shaking her head. "They have to have a name and an explanation for everything."
"He can call it whatever he wants," Sola smiled. "I call it love, plain and simple."
"Me too," Padmé said, as she smiled brightly back at her sister, and then sat quietly for a moment. "It was like, all of a sudden, our hearts just merged," Padmé said softly. "It was like he was suddenly part of me, and I was part of him. It was the most amazing thing that's ever happened to either of us."
Sola sighed softly as she listened to Padmé share their amazing experience with her, as best as she could. "That night when we were on the ship, heading back to Coruscant," Padmé said, as she looked at her sister thoughtfully, "we felt it again."
Padmé looked down and smiled, as she reached down from her cup and rubbed her hand gently on the bench where she sat. "He was holding me, right here, on this bench," Padmé said softly, as she looked up and smiled at Sola again. "I was thinking about how amazing it was, what I was feeling," she said, as she looked back down to the bench thoughtfully.
"I could literally feel how much he loved me, Sola," Padmé said, turning her eyes back to her sister's attentive face, "just like love was something you could actually touch and hold."
"It wasn't long after we'd come home," Padmé continued, "that we started noticing that I was able to sense other things, too," she said.
"Like the day that you knew that Ryoo had fallen, down by the river, and broken his arm?" Sola asked, nodding her head slowly.
"Uh, huh," Padmé said, nodding her head. "I have to admit," she said, taking a deep breath for a moment, "it scared me a little, at first, when I started feeling things like that."
"I imagine so," Sola said, looking at her sister. "It would've scared me, for sure. That was when you and Anakin went to talk to Master Yoda about it, right?"
"Yes," Padmé said, nodding her head again. "That was when Anakin talked Master Yoda into secretly giving me 'the test'," she said with a grin.
"Test?" Sola asked, cocking her head and looking at Padmé inquisitively. "What test? You never told me about any test."
"I was afraid it might have freaked Mom and Dad out a little," Padmé said, shrugging her shoulders slightly, "if they'd found out about it."
"So what was the test about?" Sola asked, her expression growing more inquisitive by the moment. "Come on," Sola exclaimed, placing her cup down on the bench in front of her and waving her hands frantically. "You can't leave me hanging now," she said, as Padmé laughed at her as she bounced frantically as she waved her arms even faster. "Come on, tell me," Sola said. "I promise I won't say a word to Mom and Dad."
"Okay, okay," Padmé laughed, and then she paused for a moment and took another sip of the sweet, hot tea in her cup. She smiled, as she looked up at her sister over the rim of the cup in her hand; she and Sola hadn't talked like this in a long time, and she really didn't understand why they didn't more often, as she was enjoying it as much as Sola was.
"Anakin was convinced," Padmé said, leaning back against the bulkhead behind her, holding her cup gently in her hands, "that I was Force sensitive," she said, as Sola listened to her intently. "He wanted to find out for sure, so he took me with him on one of his trips to Coruscant to meet with the Council, and he told Master Yoda about the things that I'd been able to sense."
"They normally don't give the Force sensitivity test to anyone much older than two or three years old," Padmé said. "It's the test that they give to determine if someone is capable of sensing the Force strongly enough to become a Jedi." She paused, and took another sip of her tea. "Anakin didn't take it until he was nine, and that was highly unusual," Padmé said, as she looked back at Sola. "The only reason that they let him take it then was because Master Qui-Gon specifically requested it."
"Anyway," Padmé said, "There's no way that the Council would have given the test to someone as old as I was," she said, "but Master Yoda was as curious as Anakin was about what I was sensing, so he agreed to give me the test himself, without the Council's knowledge."
"There were two parts to the test," Padmé continued. "The first one was a blood test, where they took a sample of my blood and checked something called my midichlorian count."
"Midi-whatians?" Sola asked with a laugh and a puzzled smile.
"Midichlorians," Padmé laughed in reply. "According to the Master Yoda, the higher your midichlorian count, the more strongly you're able to sense and use the Force."
"And the Force is what gives a Jedi their powers," Sola said, nodding her head as Padmé smiled back at her.
"Right," Padmé said with a nod. "Well, my midichlorian count is four thousand, seven hundred," she said, "according to the blood test that Master Yoda gave me."
"Wow," Sola said, looking at her sister with a wide-eyed expression. "That sounds really high."
"Well," Padmé sighed, "it's higher than most of the population, according to Master Yoda," she said, "but in order to be considered strong enough to be trained as a Jedi, you have to have a midichlorian count of seven thousand or more."
"Oh," Sola said, looking back at Padmé with a sense of amazement and keen interest. "Do Jedi really have counts that high?" she asked.
"Master Yoda shared some numbers with me so that I could understand what he was trying to tell me," Padmé said, as she reached down and tucked her blanket in around her. "Master Obi-Wan has a count of thirteen thousand, four hundred," she said, and she smiled as she saw the look of amazement on Sola's face.
"Whoa," Sola said, her mouth dropping open in amazement. "That's incredible."
"You think that's incredible," Padmé said, as she lowered her head and smiled slyly at her sister. "Master Yoda's midichlorian count is seventeen thousand, seven hundred."
"I guess it wouldn't be very smart to judge him by his size, would it?" Sola asked slowly, as she smiled in wide-eyed amazement. Padmé laughed at her sister, as she watched her; she could tell that she was absolutely amazed and fascinated by their discussion.
"I had no idea you knew so much about the Jedi," Sola said, shaking her head slowly. "But I guess I really shouldn't be," she laughed, as Padmé smiled back at her. "I mean, you are married to one, after all."
"So," Sola said, waving her hands again, "What happened after you found out about your midi, whatever, count?"
"Well," Padmé said, "Like I said, Master Yoda said that mine was higher than most, but he told me that it wasn't high enough for me, at my age, to be sensing the kinds of things that I was."
"He said that, in order for me to be able to sense something, say, like Ryoo getting hurt," Padmé said, as she looked at Sola thoughtfully, "and to do it without any training at all, I'd need a midichlorian count almost as high as Obi-Wan's."
"He said that he thought it was possible that I was somehow picking up on things that Anakin was sensing," Padmé said, as she nodded her head slowly as she spoke. "And to be honest, that made more sense to me than anything. I mean, it seemed perfectly reasonable to me that, if I can sense Anakin's feelings so clearly," she said, "that it shouldn't be a big deal for me to be able to feel something that he senses through the Force."
"So," Padmé said, pausing and taking another sip of her tea, "Master Yoda gave me the second part of the test, and he sent Anakin out of the room so that I'd have to take it on my own to make sure that I wasn't just picking up on what he was sensing."
"What was the second part of the test?" Sola asked, as deeply curious as ever.
"It was an image association test," Padmé smiled, as she watched Sola pick up her cup and hold it while she listened to her attentively. "Yoda had a small display pad in his hand, and it flashed different pictures and images on the display so that he could see them, and I couldn't."
"The idea of the test is," Padmé said, "is that, if you're truly Force sensitive, you can sense what the other person is seeing and see the images in your own mind."
"And since you have a midi, whatever, count that's under seven thousand," Sola said, nodding her head, as she lifted her cup closer to her lips, "Yoda naturally assumed that you wouldn't do too well on this test, unless Anakin was in the room with you."
"That's right," Padmé smiled, as she watched Sola take a sip of her tea. "And to be honest with you, I wasn't expecting to get any of them right."
"So," Sola asked, as she lowered her cup and looked at Padmé with keen interest, "How many pictures were there, and how'd you do?"
"There were twenty of them," Padmé said, as she raised her cup up to her lips again and took a small sip. "They cycled one every four seconds, and they never tell you when they change."
Padmé turned and looked at Sola with a grin, and sat silently for a few moments, as she watched her sister look at her, bouncing her head slowly. "Well?" Sola asked finally, with a broad smile. "How'd you do?"
"I got them all right," Padmé said, as she smiled brightly back at her sister as Sola started to laugh.
"You're kidding?" Sola exclaimed, as she watched Padmé beam back at her. "All of them?"
"Every one," Padmé said with a laugh. "I even got the last two, though I had no idea what they were," she said. "I just told him what they looked like."
"Well, what does that mean, Padmé?" Sola asked, her expression growing deeply curious, and a bit more serious. "How could you do that, if Yoda said that your count wasn't high enough?"
"I don't know," Padmé grinned, shrugging her shoulders. "Master Yoda said he had a theory, the whole dyad thing, or whatever," she said. "But he did say that I would have needed a midichlorian count of over ten thousand to get all of those right the first time. He was just as amazed as I was."
"You should be proud to know," Padmé said, sitting up straight and smiling proudly, "that your baby sister is one of the most perplexing conundrums that the oldest member of the Jedi Council has ever encountered."
"You're kidding," Sola laughed, smiling as widely as Padmé was.
"Not at all," Padmé said, shaking her head. "And Master Yoda has the only copy of the test results in his personal library to prove it."
"So," Sola sighed, looking at Padmé with keen interest again, "did Yoda ever tell you how or why you're able to sense these things now?"
"No," Padmé said, shaking her head, "but Anakin did."
"Anakin?" Sola asked, looking at Padmé again with yet another puzzled smile.
"Mm,hmm," Padmé nodded, as she took the last sip of tea from her cup, and then handed it to Sola, and watched as her sister placed it on the table beside her.
"It was right after we got back home, after the test," Padmé said softly, as she leaned back and looked at her sister thoughtfully. "We were in bed that night, and he was holding me in his arms," she said, "and we had, uhh, just, uhhm…"
Padmé paused for a moment, and Sola laughed as she saw her sister look back at her, her cheeks flushing a rosy pink. "Uh, huh," Sola nodded, laughing quietly. "You'll have to tell me more details about that a little later, for sure," she said, "but I want to know what he told you about the test."
Padmé laughed, softly, for a moment, and then she continued, looking back toward Artoo as he sat quietly at the communications station across from them. "Anakin told me that he believes that we were always meant to be together, and when we, joined, or bonded, or whatever you want to call it, that day in Dooku's hangar," she said, "that we both took on a little of each other when our hearts joined that day."
Sola smiled, sighing deeply as she listened to her sister share her deepest, most personal thoughts with her. "Anakin told me that he believes that I gave him the ability to love unconditionally, to be patient, understanding, and forgiving, and to be content and happy in a way that he'd never known before," Padmé said, as she looked back at her sister.
Sola could see Padmé's eyes glistening as she smiled back at her. "And what did he give you, Padmé?" Sola asked quietly.
"I think he gave me some of his incredible strength, and his courage," Padmé nodded. "His passion and dedication for the things that he loves, and his ability to trust people," she said. "Especially the ones that we love."
"All of those years in public service and the Senate had made it almost impossible for me to trust anyone," Padmé said, looking back at Sola, her expression growing more serious, as she reached up and wiped away the small tear that stood on her cheek. "It wasn't until Anakin came along," she said softly, "that I learned how to do that again."
"And," Padmé smiled, as she took a deep breath and sighed thoughtfully, "I guess that I agree with him, that I may have picked up some of his Force abilities, as well."
Sola looked at Padmé for a long moment. "I believe," Sola said, as she reached up and dabbed at the tear that stood in her own eye, "that your husband is a very wise, loving, and wonderful man."
"And I believe," Padmé said with a broad smile, "that I'll have to agree with your very wise assessment of him."
Sola laughed, and then she looked at Padmé with a curious expression again. "By the way," she said, "you never told me what Anakin's midi, chlorid…"
"Midichlorian," Padmé corrected with a laugh, as she watched Sola struggle to pronounce this new word in her vocabulary.
"Midichlorian," Sola said, nodding her head. "You never told me what Anakin's was," she said. "Don't tell me you don't know."
"Oh, I know," Padmé said, nodding her head with a mischievous grin.
"Well?" Sola asked, holding her hands out inquisitively in front of her.
"Twenty seven thousand, seven hundred," Padmé said, and she smiled broadly as she watched Sola's jaw drop in amazement. "The highest count ever recorded for any Jedi," Padmé said, with more than just a little hint of pride in her voice as she spoke, "at any time, since the Order was founded thousands of years ago."
Padmé laughed, as she watched her sister sit in complete, stunned silence for several moments. "I bet you'll look at him a little differently the next time he's sitting across the dinner table from you," she chuckled, her eyes twinkling as she spoke.
"Dinner?" Sola said, looking at Padmé with a stunned smile, as she started to laugh. "I can't believe I pick on him the way I do," she said, as she held her hand to her mouth and laughed with amazement.
"He's still Anakin, Sola," Padmé laughed, as she reached over and took her sister's hand and squeezed it gently. "The same Anakin that loves it when you pick on him the way you do. You just know some of the things that I've known about him for a long time, now," Padmé smiled softly. "Some of the things that make him so special."
Sola smiled back at Padmé, as she squeezed her hand in reply. "Thank you, Padmé," she said, softly. "Thank you for sharing all of that with me. It makes me feel very special."
"You are very special, Sola," Padmé said, softly. "You're the only person that I've ever shared any of this with," she said, and then she looked at her fondly for a long moment. "I don't know how I'd be getting through all of this without you."
Sola smiled back at her, and then they both turned and looked to the communications station, as Artoo swung his dome toward them and let fly with a long series of beeps and whistles.
"What is it, Artoo?" Padmé asked, as she sat up quickly, tossing her blanket onto the bench beside her, as she and Sola both stood up and walked quickly to the communications station where the little droid stood.
"Has he been able to get in touch with Anakin?" Sola asked, as she watched Padmé activate the display in front of them and engage the translator.
Padmé's expression grew more serious, as she shook her head slowly, as Artoo's message scrolled across the bright screen in front of them. "No," she said, "he's still searching for him. But he's picked up an incoming transmission from someone else."
"Is the signal encrypted, Artoo?" Padmé asked, as she turned and looked at her little astrodroid with a curious expression.
Padmé looked back at the display in front of her as Artoo's long burst of electronic tones scrolled through the translator a moment later. "It's encrypted," Padmé said, her expression growing even more puzzled. "Using the Order's encryption key."
"Who's calling?" Sola asked, as Padmé stood up slowly and turned to look at her, the expression on her own face even more puzzled than her older sister's.
"Senator Bail Organa," Padmé said, and the two of them turned and looked back at Artoo, as he spun the wheels on the communications station quickly, as he prepared to lock in the transmitter and transfer the signal to the holopad in the cockpit.
Our story continues shortly!...