Chapter 13: Rendezvous With Destiny
"But why, Anakin?" Padmé asked frantically, shaking her head slowly as she watched his image flicker again on the holopad in front of her. "Why do you and Obi-Wan have to go after him?"
Sola reached over and gently took hold of Padmé's arm as she sat beside her; she could feel Padmé's entire body trembling as Anakin spoke to her, as comfortingly as he could.
"You know we have to go, Padmé," Anakin said softly, as Padmé reached up with her trembling hand and wiped away the tear that trickled slowly down her cheek. "We have to stop him."
"No, you don't," Padmé said angrily, shaking her head, her long brown hair tossing around her shoulders. "I don't care what Master Yoda says! You and Obi-Wan have done enough already!"
Sola closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then slid a little closer to her sister, reaching over and taking her hand in hers tightly as Padmé's breath began to catch in her throat as she began to sob on the couch beside her. She had been afraid that this would happen; she didn't really understand how Padmé had managed to withstand the incredible stress of the past few days as long as she had. Sola knew, instinctively, that her sister had finally reached the emotional breaking point.
"Let him go and kill those bastards," Padmé exclaimed, pounding her tightly clenched fists on her knees. "I hope he kills them all! They deserve whatever he does to them!"
Obi-Wan held the gunship's control yoke loosely in his hands; he looked down toward his lap, taking a long deep breath and exhaling slowly. He looked back up, after a moment, and turned his head slightly, looking over toward the copilot's seat thoughtfully as he listened to the conversation in the cabin behind him.
He could hear Padmé's angry, frantic voice coming from the holopad in the ship's central cabin; she was angry and upset, more so than he had ever seen or heard, and he felt a twinge of pain bite at his own heart as he listened to her plead with Anakin.
She had a right to be upset, he thought to himself, if anyone in the galaxy did at this moment. He felt guilty, and no matter how hard Anakin would have argued with him to the contrary, he felt responsible for the pain that the two of them were dealing with now. Their life had been blissful and content, until he had shown up only a few days ago and torn Anakin away from her. They had all gotten far more than they had bargained for that night in their ship's cabin, and he could sense as he listened to her trembling voice that she was as frightened now as Shanda and the children had been when he and Anakin had found them just a short time ago.
Anakin closed his eyes; he felt his heart breaking as he sensed the pain and fear that flowed through his beloved Padmé's heart. "Please don't cry, Angel," he said, opening his eyes slowly and looking back up at her image on the holopad in front of him. "Please don't cry."
"I'm scared, Ani," Padmé sobbed, as she finally let go of the emotions that she had struggled to keep at bay since that terrible night when she had watched him leave. "I don't want you to face him. I want you to come home," her trembling voice said softly. "You've done enough."
Padmé paused, and Anakin could see the tears that streaked her face as he looked at her image in front of him. "I don't want to lose you, Ani," she sobbed softly, shaking her head slowly. "Please don't let them take you from me."
Padmé wiped the tears from her cheeks with her hand as she looked back up at Anakin's image on the projector in front of her. "Padmé," Anakin said softly, "Listen to me for just a minute."
"I'm listening," Padmé said haltingly, her voice catching in her throat as she took another deep breath. She felt Sola's hand on hers, and she instinctively took it in her own and squeezed it tightly as he spoke to her.
"I love you so much, Padmé," Anakin said, as he gazed at her lovingly. "And I'm as scared as you are. But what does your heart tell you that we need to do?"
"My heart tells me that I want my husband back," Padmé snapped, shaking her head again. "I don't care what else it's trying to tell me."
"You know that's not true," Anakin said quietly, smiling back at her softly as she looked up at him again. "You're the strongest person I've ever known, Angel," he said, and he closed his eyes for a moment as he stretched out to her with his feelings. "I wouldn't have made it this far if it hadn't been for you."
Padmé closed her eyes and smiled, softly, as she felt that warm, wonderful tremor grow stronger in her heart as his heart touched hers again. "I miss you so much, baby," she said softly, as she turned her tearful eyes back up to his image on the projector. "I'm so scared."
"I know," Anakin nodded. "I miss you more than you'll ever know, Padmé, and I'm scared too, just as much as you are, maybe even more," he said. "But I made you a promise, remember?"
Anakin paused for just a moment. "What did I promise you, Padmé?" he asked quietly, after a long moment.
"You promised me that you'd be coming home," Padmé said softly, as she nodded her head and wiped the tear away that stood in the corner of her eye.
"And I will keep that promise, Padmé," Anakin said, nodding his head firmly as he spoke. "There's no way I'm going to leave you, or our children, alone. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," Padmé said, forcing a weak smile as she looked up at his image as it flickered on the pad in front of her. "And I believe you, baby. I'm just scared."
"I'm sorry, Ani," Padmé said, shaking her head as she looked down and wiped the tears away that stood in her eyes again. "This has just been so hard," she said, as she looked back up at him. "I know that it's been even harder for you, Master Obi-Wan, and Yoda."
"I'm sorry I'm carrying on like this," Padmé said, looking up at him apologetically. "I'm not any help to you at all, am I?"
"Are you kidding me?" Anakin said lovingly, smiling back at her brightly. "You saved the lives of thirty seven children a little while ago, Padmé," he said, shaking his head as he smiled at her. "Children that would have probably died without your help."
"Not to mention," Anakin said as Sola squeezed Padmé's shoulders and looked at her sister with a reassuring smile, "That you managed to save the archives at the same time."
"That was more Artoo than me," Padmé smiled, as she wiped her eyes again and looked back up at him again.
"We never could have done any of this without you, Padmé," Anakin said softly. "If it hadn't have been for you, Master Yoda and I would have walked into a trap."
"And I could never have done any of this if you hadn't been here with me," Anakin said, reaching out to her with his feelings again as he spoke. "I've felt you with me the whole time."
"I am with you, Ani," Padmé said, softly, nodding her head and gazing at him fondly as she felt that strong tremor in her heart again. "I always will be."
"And I know you have to do this," Padmé said, as she took a long, deep breath and sighed deeply, casting her gaze downward again as she spoke. "I just don't like it, or the way I feel when I think about you confronting Vader," she said, as she looked back up at his image again. "He killed everyone in the Temple, Ani," she said, her voice trembling as she spoke. "The thought of you and Obi-Wan facing him alone terrifies me."
"I know," Anakin said, nodding his head slowly, as his image flickered again. "I'm not too thrilled about facing him either," he said, as the image of Vader's face, his own face, staring back at him from underneath that hood flashed through his mind again. "But we have to, Angel."
"But why now?" Padmé asked again, shaking her head slowly as she turned a painful expression to him again. "Why can't you wait until you, and Yoda, and the rest of the Jedi have time to regroup and think about this?"
"We have to stop him now, Padmé," Anakin said quietly. "If we don't stop him before he gets back to Coruscant and rejoins Sidious, then we'll have to face the both of them at once," he said, as he watched her lower her head and nod slowly, "along with the entire clone army."
"I know," Padmé whispered, as she felt Sola squeeze her shoulder again reassuringly.
"Please promise me you'll be careful, Ani," she said, as she looked back up at his image again, her eyes shining brightly in the soft light of the Destiny's cabin.
"We will, Angel," Anakin said softly and reassuringly. "And as soon as this is over, I'm coming home, I promise," he nodded. "And we're going to get back to work on finishing our nursery, okay?"
"Okay," Padmé said quietly, as she smiled up at him through the tears that stood in her eyes. She knew in her heart that he had to do this, as much as she hated it; she could sense that it was right, that it had to be done.
"We should get to Mustafar in a few hours," Anakin said, as his image flickered again on the holopad. "I'll contact you again just as soon as I can, okay?"
Mustafar.
"Okay," Padmé said, nodding her head again as she squeezed Sola's hand tightly in hers. She reached over, quietly, and began to tap the control pad beneath the holopad quickly; she watched, thoughtfully, as the homing transponder of Anakin and Obi-Wan ship flashed briefly on the display in front of her, and then she tapped the controls again, and the screen flipped back to it's signal strength monitor.
"Is the core still there on the ship?" Anakin asked. "Master Yoda wanted us to check on it."
"Yes," Padmé said, as she and Sola both looked at it as it sat humming near the ship's bulkhead. "Dad's on his way out to help us shut it down and get it off the ship now."
"Okay," Anakin nodded. "Help him shut it down, and then go in the house and try to get a little rest, okay?" Anakin said, gazing at her warmly. "You've done enough, too," he said. "I want you and our babies to get some rest."
"Like I could even begin to sleep, knowing where you're going and who you're going to find right now," Padmé grumbled, shaking her head slowly.
"Try," Anakin smiled back at her, as she looked up at him again. "For me, okay?"
"Okay," Padmé nodded softly. "I'll try," she said. "But no promises."
"Good enough for me," Anakin smiled back at her. "I can't ask for more than that."
"Sola?" Anakin said, as he watched her turn her attention to his face on the projector.
"Yes, Anakin?" Sola said, looking up at her brother-in-law as he spoke to her.
"Thank you," Anakin said, smiling warmly at her. "Thank you for being there with her through all of this. I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you."
"You can thank me by coming home soon, Anakin," Sola said with a smile as she squeezed Padmé's shoulder reassuringly. "She needs you."
Anakin nodded his head slowly, and then he looked back at Padmé for a long moment. "I love you, Padmé," Anakin said softly. "More than you'll ever know."
"I love you, Ani," Padmé said, as she looked up at him lovingly. "Please be careful."
"I will," Anakin said softly. "I'll be home soon, I promise."
Sola turned and looked back at Padmé, placing her arm comfortingly over her shoulders as Anakin's signal faded on the holopad in front of them. "You okay, baby sister?" Sola asked, as Padmé turned her worried, tear-stained face back up to her and looked at her quietly for a long moment.
"No," Padmé said quietly, shaking her head slowly, and Sola hugged her tightly as she closed her eyes and laid her head on Sola's shoulder as the two of them sat in silence in the Destiny's cabin.
Jobal folded her arms across her chest thoughtfully, as she watched her youngest daughter kneel down in front of the control panel on the university's computer core that sat, humming smoothly, near the Destiny's bulkhead.
"So how much did we get?" Ruwee asked, as he knelt down next to Padmé and watched as her nimble fingers called up the core's status summary on the small display just above the control pad.
"The core's at eighty three percent capacity," Padmé sighed, as she turned and looked back at her father. "Artoo thinks we got pretty much everything except the geographic surveys."
"And the archives at the Temple are gone now?" Ruwee asked, as Padmé looked up at him.
"Yes," Padmé said, reaching up and pushing her wavy brown hair from her eyes and tucking a loch of it behind her ear as she nodded at her father. "Once the destruct sequence was engaged," she said, shaking her head slowly, "there was no way to shut it off."
Ruwee nodded his head slowly, and his expression grew somber and thoughtful as he rubbed his hand thoughtfully over the top of the large, humming, cylindrical device. "So what we have here," he said, looking back into his daughter's thoughtful brown eyes, "is the only copy left."
"Yes," Padmé nodded, as she looked back at the core in front of her. She reached up and tapped the control pad again, and she and her father both watched quietly as the display in front of her blinked several times, and then the core's steady hum began to wind slowly down as the unit powered itself off, and then fell silent.
"We need to hide this," Padmé said, as she watched her father stand up and then extend his hand to her. "At least until Anakin and Master Obi-Wan can get back and figure out what to do with it."
"We can lock it up down at the shop," Ruwee said, nodding his head. "Darred and I can take it down there in a few minutes."
Padmé took her father's hand and stood up, somewhat slowly, as he helped her up; she winced, suddenly, and Ruwee took hold of her arms tightly as she stumbled and placed her hands on her stomach.
"Oooohhhhhhh," she moaned slowly, holding tightly to her stomach as she felt the sharp, squeezing pain in her lower back. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, as it traveled quickly from her back to her stomach, and then began to subside as quickly as it had appeared.
"You okay, sweetheart?" Ruwee asked, a worried frown on his face as Jobal walked quickly to Padmé's side.
"I think so," Padmé said, nodding her head and taking a long, deep breath. "I just felt a little pain in my back," she said, as she turned to look at her mother's worried face. "I think I'm just tired," she said, shaking her head as she smiled weakly back at her mother.
"You've been pushing yourself too hard," Jobal scolded, watching as Padmé took a long breath and sighed deeply.
"And don't roll those eyes at me, young lady," Jobal said, gazing at her daughter's smiling face sternly. "You're carrying two babies, and you haven't slowed down in as many days. You need to get some rest, and right now."
"I'll be fine, Mom," Padmé said, shaking her head and smiling back at her mother. "I'm just a little tired."
"What do you think Anakin would say and do if he were here right now?" Jobal asked, narrowing her eyes and looking at her daughter thoughtfully.
"He'd fuss at me about not getting any rest," Padmé sighed, as she nodded her head and smiled defeatedly. "And he'd make me go in the house and get some. He's already asked me."
"Exactly," Jobal said, nodding her head. Padmé watched as her mother turned her head and looked across the Destiny's cockpit. "Threepio?" Jobal said, as she turned her attention to the tall, silver droid as he stood next to the bench where Sola sat, watching them quietly.
"Yes, Mistress Jobal?" Threepio said, perking up quickly as she addressed him.
"If I remember correctly," Jobal said, "Anakin asked you to look after this young lady while he was gone, didn't he?"
"Why, yes, Mistress Jobal," Threepio said, nodding his head as firmly as his metal body would allow. "Master Ani specifically asked me to make sure she was taken care of. I promised him that I'd make certain that she was."
"Then it's time you made good on that promise," Jobal said, as she looked back at her daughter slyly. "Escort my hard-headed daughter in the house and see to it that she lies down and gets some rest."
"Okay, okay," Padmé sighed, as she started across the cabin to where Threepio stood watching her.
"And if she tries to get up without my permission," Jobal said, as she watched Padmé turn and look back at her with a curiously, "then tie her down on the bed."
"I most definitely will, Mistress Jobal," Threepio nodded excitedly in reply. "I ran the bailer for three seasons on Tatooine for Master Owen," he said, tilting his head proudly as Padmé looked at him with a smile. "I'm quite adept with over three hundred types of knots and fasteners. I can assure you that she won't…"
"Threepio," Padmé sighed, placing her hand over his narrow mouth and silencing him, "I think Mom was just kidding about tying me to the bed."
"Oh," Threepio said, as he watched Padmé shake her head and laugh softly as she stepped past him and headed toward the ship's entry ramp. He turned around quickly and walked along beside her as she made her way out of the ship and headed back toward the house.
"Sola," Ruwee said, as he watched his eldest daughter turn and look at him as she stood up from the bench where she sat, "Why don't you go help Padmé get settled for a bit? And have Darred come give me a hand with this core. We need to get it back down to the shop and lock it up as quick as we can."
He took a long look at the core for a moment, and then looked back up at Sola and shook his head slowly. "With everything that's going on," he said quietly, "I don't think I want this thing anywhere near the house if someone should come looking for it."
"Okay, Dad," Sola nodded, and he and Jobal watched as Sola turned and walked down the access ramp after Padmé and Threepio.
Jobal came and stood next to Ruwee, and the two of them stood quietly for a moment, as they watched Artoo finish detaching the last of the interface cables from the ship's bulkhead panel. "Do you really think that someone would come looking for it here, Ruwee?" Jobal asked, looking up at her husband with a somewhat worried expression.
"If Padmé is right," Ruwee said, placing his arm around his wife's shoulder, "then no one except Anakin and a few others even know it's here."
"Just the same," he sighed, turning and looking at his wife thoughtfully, "I'll feel a lot safer when it's locked up down there."
"How's she doing?" Obi-Wan asked, as he looked up at Anakin as he came and took a seat in the copilot's seat beside him.
"She's okay," Anakin sighed, as he flopped back into the chair and felt himself relax for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. "She's just ready for all of this to be over," he said, turning and looking back at Obi-Wan thoughtfully. "And I have to admit," he said, nodding his head, slowly, "so am I."
"I know," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head as he watched Anakin close his eyes and wince slightly, as he raised his left arm and rubbed his chest gingerly. "Me, too, Anakin," he said with a sigh. "Me too."
"Chest bothering you again?" Obi-Wan asked after a moment, as Anakin opened his eyes and looked back at him.
"Just a little," Anakin said, nodding his head as he lowered his arm again and leaned back limply in the thickly padded chair. "I don't think it was all healed up. I think that little droid was tired of working on me and just wanted to get me out of there."
"What do you expect?" Obi-Wan said with a sly grin. "The way you slapped him, I'm surprised he bothered to finish your leg. He probably left it that way on purpose."
"I only hit him once," Anakin chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned back and looked out of the cockpit window at the stars as they streaked quickly by them.
"That I saw," Obi-Wan grinned, as he reached over and checked their position on the ship's nav map.
"How long till we make Mustafar, Master," Anakin said, turning and looking back at Obi-Wan thoughtfully.
"About four hours," Obi-Wan said, as he looked back up out of the cockpit window and leaned back in the pilot's seat. "I figure that Vader's got about an hour's lead on us," he said, looking back at Anakin. "Our ship's lighter and faster than the one we think he took, so we should be able to make some of that up."
Anakin nodded his head slowly, and then Obi-Wan watched as he closed his eyes and yawned widely. "Why don't you get a couple of hours of sleep, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, as Anakin turned and looked at him again. "I'll wake you up midway there and you can take over for a while."
"Okay, Master," Anakin said, and Obi-Wan watched as his young friend leaned back in the copilot's seat and closed his eyes.
Obi-Wan leaned back in the pilot's seat, and watched quietly as the stars streaked quickly by them as they slowly closed the distance between themselves and the mysterious Sith.
Jobal opened the door to Padmé and Anakin's room as quietly as she could, peering around the door toward the bed near the center of the room.
She was asleep, and Jobal looked at her thoughtfully for a moment as Padmé lay quietly on her side, the blanket pulled up snuggly over her shoulder. She looked down at Artoo, raising her finger to her lips as the little droid swung his dome toward her and switched his main sensor light on as he sensed the door open near him.
"It's okay, Artoo," Jobal whispered. "I was just on my way to bed, and I just thought I'd check on her."
Artoo nodded slowly, and he watched for a moment as Jobal looked back at Padmé for another long moment, and then closed the door quietly behind her.
Padmé raised up in the bed, looking over her shoulder to the door quietly for a long moment. She listened intently, as she heard her mother's footsteps fade slowly as she made her way down the long hallway toward her own bedroom, and then she tossed the blanket off of her onto the bed beside her as she heard the door to her mother's bedroom close soundly.
Padmé sat up quickly on the side of the bed, and she turned and looked at Artoo as she slipped her shoes on and stood up quickly.
"Okay, Artoo," Padmé whispered, as she walked quickly to the chair beside him and picked up the dark blue cloak the hung draped over its back and tossed it onto her shoulders. "Let's go."
Artoo whistled softly at her, and she took the small translator display from her pocket and looked at it intently as the message scrolled quickly across it. "No arguing," Padmé said, raising her eyebrows and looking at her faithful little droid with a determined expression. "I said move, and quietly."
Artoo shook his dome slowly, and with a resigned, soft whistle, he rolled quietly to the door to her bedroom as she opened the door; he rolled out into the hallway, and Padmé closed the door quietly behind her as she started down the hall behind him, pulling her cloak tightly around her as she and her little droid made there way out of the house as quietly as they could.
"Mistress Padmé," Threepio said, his electronic voice conveying his deep concern as he turned quickly in the copilot's seat and watched as Padmé walked quickly into the Destiny's cabin and tossed her cloak onto the bench as she looked at him. "Are you absolutely certain that this is a good idea?"
"I'm not so certain that Master Ani would approve," Threepio said, waving his arms jerkily as he watched her take a seat quickly in the pilot's chair. "He's liable to deactivate me when he finds out we're doing this."
"Anakin's not going to deactivate you, Threepio," Padmé said, turning and looking at her silver companion as Artoo rolled quickly to the pilot's station behind her. "And good idea or not," she said, as she watched Artoo insert his data probe into the control wheels and begin to spin the quickly as he brought the ship's systems and engines online, "I'm not going to sit here while my husband goes to some horrible planet six parsecs away to face that freakish abomination that Palpatine and Dooku created."
Threepio watched silently from the copilot's seat as Padmé brought the Destiny's systems online as the ship's thrusters powered up, and he looked out of the cockpit window and watched as Padmé leaned back in the pilot's chair, taking the control yoke tightly in her right hand as she gripped the throttle firmly with her left.
"We should be able to make Mustafar in two hours," Padmé said, as she called up the navigational charts that she had instructed Threepio to program a few hours earlier. "Once we get out of the atmosphere, I want you to lock in on the homing transmitter of Anakin's ship," she said. "I want us to land in the same place they do."
"Yes, Mistress Padmé," Threepio said, nodding his head obediently as he called up the communications station in front of him.
"Maneuvering thruster's only, Artoo," Padmé called over her shoulder to her little companion at the pilot's station. "And don't bring the running lights up until we're clear of the hangar. I'm going to have a hard enough time explaining this to Mom and Dad when we get home as it is."
Artoo whistled brightly, and Threepio reached down and grabbed the armrests of the copilot's seat tightly as he felt the ship bounce as it lifted off of it's landing gear as Padmé began to maneuver it, quickly and precisely, out of the hangar and into the field ahead of them.
Ruwee, Jobal, and Sola rushed out of the garden door at the back of the house, just in time to see the running lights of the ship power up as it lifted slowly into the air, spinning smoothly as the landing gear began to retract slowly into it's hull as the bright moonlight flashed off of its sleek, silver hull.
"What in the blazes does that girl think she's doing?" Ruwee shouted, as he watched the ship turn slowly toward the meadow below the house.
"She's going to find Anakin," Sola said, shaking her head with amazement as Jobal clung tightly to Ruwee's arm, watching as the ship raised higher into the night sky as its nose turned faster and faster toward the meadow below them.
"That girl," Ruwee said, shaking his head angrily, as he watched the ship throttle up and head out over the meadow, and then bolt up into the night sky, the moonlight shining brightly off it's smooth silver hull. "Anakin's going to kill her."
"If she doesn't get herself killed first," Sola sighed, shaking her head as she watched her sister blast off into the night sky.
He leaned forward in the thickly padded pilot's chair, watching as the bright red indicator began to flash on the console in front of him; the dim, red emergency lights glowed softly through the cockpit of his ship, as he reached over and activated the ship's transmitter, leaning back in his seat again as he watched the ship's computer lock onto the incoming signal.
He preferred it dark; he had turned off everything but the ship's crimson emergency lights shortly after he had taken off. It reminded him of who he was, and the powerful, forbidden side of the Force that he and his master served.
It had been almost too easy, he had thought to himself earlier, as he had left the decimated Jedi Temple and begun his trip to Mustafar to complete his master's dark, sinister bidding. The Jedi that had remained at the Temple had proven little more than a nuisance to him; he closed his eyes, and took a long, deep breath, as he allowed himself to reflect on what he had felt a few hours earlier. The powerful sense of fear and sorrow was as sweet to him as a rare wine, and he could still see the look of abject terror on the face of the young Jedi who had tried to oppose him in the narrow hallway of the Temple outside the Council chambers.
Vader opened his eyes, as he heard the two tones echo through the small cabin as the computer locked in on the incoming signal; he lifted the hood of his thick, black cloak up over his head, and smiled as he leaned forward and saw the signal's source flash on the display near the holographic emitter. These would be little more effort to him than swatting flies, he thought to himself with a sadistic smile, and he looked up and watched the holographic transmitter in front of him flash brightly as Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray's image appeared on the console in front of him.
"Viceroy Gunray," Darth Vader said, nodding his hooded head politely as the Viceroy's image stabilized on the holopad on the ship's command console. "How can I be of service to you?"
"We are awaiting your arrival, and the delivery of Chancellor Palpatine as your master has promised us," Nute Gunray said, an arrogant, anxious tone reflected in his familiar voice. "My associates and I are growing tired of waiting."
"We are en route to you now, Viceroy," Vader said, nodding his head again, slowly. "I should be landing at your coordinates within the hour."
Vader smiled at Gunray's image on the console in front of him, as he paused for just a moment. "Patience, Viceroy," Vader said. "You will have that which you so richly deserve in a matter of moments."
"We have been patient, and for far too long," Gunray snapped back at Vader, his large, round head bouncing angrily as he spoke. "And I do not need one of Master Sidious' underlings to tell me that I need to be patient!"
The smile disappeared from Vader's face, as he listened to Gunray's arrogant, demanding voice. "My apologies, Viceroy," Vader said, his tone becoming deep and sullen as his eyes began to glow faintly as he spoke. "I assure you," Vader said, nodding his head slowly, "you will be the first one that I see as soon as I arrive."
"Very well," Nute Gunray snapped, angrily. "We shall await your arrival within the hour. And no excuses this time."
"No excuses," Darth Vader growled in reply, nodding his head. "I'm looking forward to meeting you in person, Viceroy," he said, his eyes glowing more with each passing moment. "More than you can possibly imagine."
Vader watched, as Gunray snorted disgustedly, and then his image faded from view on the holopad in front of him.
Vader reached up and tossed the hood of his cloak back onto his shoulders, and glared at the communication console where the Viceroy's image had been only a few moments earlier. "I can't wait to meet you, Viceroy," he growled again, as his eyes began to glow brightly with an angry, yellow light.
Jobal sat silently on the couch in the living room, watching as the fire in the fireplace in front of her crackled softly, its light flickering through the room and off of her deeply worried face.
She looked down for a moment, and rubbed her hands gently over the blanket that she held in her lap; she had retrieved it from Anakin and Padmé's bed a little earlier, and she squeezed the thick, colorful material tightly in her hands as she looked back up and watched the fire as it flickered and danced in front of her.
It was just a blanket; it had lain on that shelf in Padmé's closet for years, hidden in the darkness, gathering dust since the day of her thirteenth birthday. Jobal smiled, faintly, as she remembered the moment when Padmé had pulled it off of her bed and looked at it disgustedly.
"I'm tired of looking at this old thing," Padmé said, as she snatched it off of her bed and tossed it over on the floor beside her mother as Jobal passed her the thick, new blanket that she had bought for her for her birthday. "You can throw it away, Mom. I don't ever want to see that old thing again."
"I think we'll keep it," Jobal whispered to herself, echoing her own words from so long ago as she lost herself in that precious memory; she remembered how she had picked it up from the floor and begun folding the old, brightly colored patchwork blanket, and how Padmé had shaken her head and looked at her disgustedly as she placed it on that shelf in her closet.
"I don't know why you're keeping that ugly old thing," Padmé said, as she tossed the new one her mother had given her onto her bed as Jobal closed the closet door and looked back at her daughter with a smile, watching her as she tucked the new one neatly around the foot of her bed.
"I'm keeping it because you like it so much," Jobal laughed, as she walked over and helped Padmé finish fitting the new one on her bed; they had the bedclothes back on neatly in short order, and Jobal tossed the final pillow to her bright eyed, pigtailed daughter with a smile.
"Come on, Padmé," Jobal said, as her daughter tossed the pillow onto the bed and started around toward her, "It's almost time for you to go."
The two of them walked out of the bedroom, and Jobal reached around behind her and turned off the light.
It was just a blanket; Jobal didn't really know why she had kept it that day so long ago. She looked down at it, as she ran her hand over it again, letting her fingers drag slowly across the thick, soft material. It had lain there, in the darkness of that closet, for over ten years, until that wonderful day nearly four years ago.
"Do you have an old blanket that Anakin and I can use, Mom?" Padmé asked, leaning her radiant, happy face around the doorway of the kitchen where her mother stood, putting away the last of the food from their wedding reception. "We're going to go down and spend a little time in the meadow for a while."
"I think so, honey," Jobal nodded, turning and looking back at her daughter with a smile as she wiped her hands on the towel that hung near her waist. "There should be an old one or two in the closet in your bedroom, up on the top shelf."
"Here," Jobal said, a she reached down and picked up the small tray she had prepared for them earlier. She watched with a smile as Padmé took it from her and looked back up at her mother, her dark brown eyes twinkling happily as she looked at the basket of treats that rested on the tray.
"What's this?" Padmé beamed, looking back up at her mother's smiling face.
"I kind of thought the two of you might like to go to your spot in the meadow tonight," Jobal nodded. "The bride and groom never get to eat anything at their own wedding," she chuckled, "so there's plenty of food there for both of you."
"And," Jobal said, leaning over and whispering in Padmé's ear, "a very nice bottle of wine and two glasses," she said as Padmé laughed softly as Jobal leaned back and smiled at her. "Compliments of me and your father."
"Thanks, Mom," Padmé laughed brightly, and Jobal chuckled as Padmé leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, and then she watched as her daughter turned around and headed back down the hallway to fetch the blanket from her closet.
It had been transformed, changed forever, just as the two of them had been, ever since that moment when Padmé had pulled it from her closet, and she and Anakin had taken it down to the meadow with them for the very first time, on their wedding day.
It had traveled with them when they had gone back to Tatooine to search for Anakin's mother the day after their wedding, keeping Anakin warm as Padmé had covered him with it as he slept in the cabin on the way. It had kept Padmé warm that terrible night when she had been injured in the Tusken camp, when Anakin had retrieved it from the ship and placed it over her as she lay sleeping, Beru's dermal generators working to heal her vicious wounds. It had traveled with them to Geonosis, and it had looked after Padmé once again, keeping her warm as she and Anakin traveled back to Coruscant.
It wasn't just a blanket; it was their blanket, a wonderful image of the love that bound her youngest daughter and her husband together. It was as bright and colorful as their life together, as soft and warm as the love that flowed so strongly and effortlessly between them.
Jobal sighed deeply, as she squeezed their blanket tightly against her chest; Padmé had been gone almost two hours now, yet it seemed to Jobal like she had been gone for a month. She looked up slowly, as she heard Sola's footsteps behind her, and she watched as her eldest daughter sat down slowly on the couch beside her.
"You okay, Mom?" Sola asked softly, placing her hand gently on her mother's shoulder as she gazed at Jobal's deeply worried face.
"I can't believe she left it," Jobal said, as she looked back down at the blanket in her lap again. "She never goes on a trip without it."
"She'll be fine, Mom," Sola said, smiling softly as she squeezed her mother's shoulder reassuringly. "She just couldn't sit here and worry about him any longer," she said, as she watched Jobal sigh deeply and nod her head slowly. "I'm surprised that she lasted as long as she did."
"Besides," Sola nodded, looking back at her mother reassuringly, "The first thing she's going to try to do is contact Anakin," she said. "Once he finds out she's on her way to find him, he's going to head straight for her. He's not going to let anything happen to her."
"I hope so," Jobal said, nodding her head slowly, and Sola watched for a long moment as her mother tossed the blanket over her and leaned back against the couch; Sola leaned back against the couch and sighed, worriedly, as the two of them sat quietly in the living room, watching the fire as its light danced brilliantly off the walls around them.
Yoda sat quietly on the thick, soft couch in Bail Organa's study; his eyes were closed, and the tiny Jedi Master sat perfectly still, his hands folded in his lap as he meditated, allowing the soothing energy of the living Force to flow through him.
The bandage on his hand was evident, yet the wounds that he had suffered on the inside were far more painful than the deep burn where the Dark Lord's weapon had sliced into his small hand.
He was all that remained of the Council; his companions, his friends that he had known for so long, were all dead; indeed, as far as he knew, he, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and the younglings that his two companions had rescued were all that remained of the once noble Jedi Order. Sidious had been thorough, more so than he or anyone else had ever envisioned; Yoda felt another dagger of pain and sorrow slice through his troubled heart as he reflected on the loss that they had suffered in the past few hours.
What troubled him even more now, though, was what he now sensed as he stretched out into the living Force with his feelings. He had feared that this might happen, that the stress of the situation that they now found themselves in would prove to be too much for her, that the image that he had foreseen through the Force several nights before might become all too real.
Yoda took a long, deep breath, opening his eyes as he exhaled slowly. Padmé was on her way to find Anakin, that much he knew, and there was little, if anything, he, Anakin, or anyone else could do to stop her.
"Stubborn, that girl is," he sighed under his breath, as he turned and looked thoughtfully at the Book of The Whills as it lay on the couch beside him, rubbing his hand slowly across its cover. "Like her husband."
Yoda reached down and picked up his small cane, and then stood up and looked silently out the window for a long moment at the thousands of lights that twinkled across Coruscant's landscape in the darkness. He turned around slowly, and then made his way out of Bail's study and back down the hallway toward the main living area of the senator's residence, where he could hear the voices of the younglings echoing through the hallways ahead of him.
Bail looked up from the chair where he sat, and watched as the tiny Jedi Master strode slowly into the chamber, his tiny cane echoing off of the ornate tile floors of the large receiving room where he, Breha, and several of the younglings sat.
"Off you go, now," Bail said, as he slipped the young Twi'lek girl who sat in his lap down to the floor, and Yoda watched with a smile as the youngster looked at him with a sheepish grin, and then ran across the room to join several of the other children who sat at the entertainment console in the corner of the room, its lights flashing brightly as they laughed and took turns at the game they were quietly playing.
Yoda looked up at Bail as he stood up and watched the children for another moment, and then turned and walked over to join Yoda as he stood near the doorway.
"I'd forgotten how enjoyable spending time with young ones like this could be," Bail said, folding his arms across his chest and looking back at Yoda with a smile as the Jedi Master looked up at him.
"Truly wonderful, it can be," Yoda replied, nodding his head slowly. "Trained the younglings for many years, I have," Yoda said, turning and looking back at the small group that laughed and played happily in the corner of the large, ornate chamber. "Enjoyed it immensely, I always have."
Bail watched quietly as Breha walked over and knelt down beside the youngsters for a moment, watching them as they played contentedly with each other. "Breha's often spoken to me about children," Bail said thoughtfully as he watched his wife tussle the hair of the small boy closest to her roughly and look at him with a smile. "I've always felt that I was far to busy for such things," he said quietly, as he looked back at Yoda's face as he smiled up at him.
"Perhaps it's time that I reconsidered that decision," Bail said, nodding his head slowly as he turned and looked at his lovely young wife again for another long moment.
"Indebted we are to you, Senator," Yoda said after a long pause, nodding at Bail as the tall, lean senator turned his attention back toward him. "Rescued them, we could not have, without your help."
"I'm afraid I did far less than I would have liked to, Master Yoda," Bail sighed, as he and Yoda turned and began to walk slowly toward the doorway through which Yoda had come. "I can't help but feel that we should have seen all of this coming long ago."
"Done all that you could, you have," Yoda said, nodding his head as he and Bail took another step toward the doorway. "Only one thing more, will I ask of you," Yoda said quietly, as he stopped suddenly and turned his attention back toward Bail as he stopped and looked down at him.
"A ship, I need," Yoda said, as Bail looked at him, his expression growing deeply concerned as he heard Yoda's unexpected request. "And a fast one."
"Is something wrong, Master Yoda?" Bail asked, his countenance growing more troubled. "I assumed that you would stay here with us, until Anakin and Obi-Wan returned from Mustafar."
"Changed, the situation has," Yoda said, nodding his head slowly as he looked up at Bail thoughtfully. "Imperative, it is, that I leave immediately, and get to Mustafar as soon as possible."
Bail looked at Yoda thoughtfully for a long moment. "Of course, Master Yoda," he said, nodding his head as he looked down at the tiny Jedi Master. "I'll just need a few moments, "he said. "I'll come with you."
"Unnecessary, that is," Yoda said, shaking his head as he waved his injured hand in front of him. "Done enough, already, you have," Yoda said. "Pilot the ship myself, I will."
"Nonsense," Bail said, shaking his head and turning back toward the chamber where Breha sat with the children. "Besides," he said, as Yoda looked up at him, somewhat puzzled, "Mustafar's a considerable distance from here. If you truly want to get there as fast as possible, you're going to need my help."
Yoda stood quietly, and he watched Bail from his spot near the doorway as his friend walked quickly across the room and knelt down beside his wife.
Yoda and Bail walked briskly down the long hallway toward the hangar; Bail was tall, quite tall indeed, and his strides were long, but he found that Yoda had no trouble keeping up with him, even when he walked as quickly as he did now.
"This ship's brand new, Master Yoda," Bail said, as he put his arm through the other sleeve of his dark brown leather jacket and pulled it up onto his shoulders. "It's less than two months old, and the hyperdrive unit was installed less than two weeks ago."
"Interested, I am," Yoda said, his small cane echoing through the hallway as he walked quickly at Bail's side, "to see this ship. What kind, did you say," Yoda said, looking back up at his friend as they walked, "this ship is?"
"It's a new, experimental Corellian cruiser," Bail said, as he and Yoda turned the corner of the long hallway and started toward the exit to the hangar at the rear of Bail's large senatorial residence. "I haven't had a chance to fully test it yet, but its builders tell me that it's supposed to be the fastest design they've ever come up with," he said, as he turned and looked back down at Yoda as they made their way along the hallway to the door that led to the hangar.
Bail reached down and opened the door, and Yoda walked past him and out into the large, domed hangar, looking up at the ship that stood near the far side of the hangar as Bail stepped quickly through the door and closed it behind him.
"Peculiar indeed, this design is," Yoda said, as he squeezed the handle of his cane tightly in his unwounded hand and looked up at the strange looking ship thoughtfully.
"They assured me," Bail said, as he and Yoda started across the hangar toward the large, platinum-silver vessel, "that she's the fastest ship in the quadrant," he said, as they walked quickly toward the ship. "I think it's time that we put that claim to the test."
Yoda watched as Bail reached up and pressed the control panel just under the center of the ship's two large, conical observation decks that protruded from it's nose, and they both watched as the long entry ramp dropped down from the center of the ship as it's interior lights came up to full brightness.
"After you, Master Yoda," Bail smiled, bowing politely and gesturing toward the ramp. "Welcome aboard the maiden voyage of the Millennium Falcon."
Bail followed along behind the Jedi Master as they made their way up the ramp; it began to close quickly, after a long moment, and the hangar doors above them began to open as the Falcon's engines began to whine, faster and faster, as Bail brought the ship's systems online and prepared them for departure.
Breha looked out of the window of Bail's study, and she folded her arms tightly across her chest as she watched the large, flat ship rise up through the hangar doors, spinning slowly as it's three-point landing gear retracted and stowed quickly beneath it. She could see her husband, and Master Yoda, sitting inside the large, transparent cylindrical cockpit at the front of the ship as it turned slowly toward the city beyond their residence.
She took a deep breath, squeezing her arms tightly, as she watched the long, brilliant blue-white impulse engine at the rear of the ship flash brightly, as Bail powered the ship up and into the dark evening sky, leaving a trail of swirling plasma behind them.
"Be careful, Bail," Breha said softly, sighing deeply, as she watched her husband's ship until it disappeared into the cloud banks high above them. She stood quietly at the window for a long moment, and then turned as she heard the soft knock on the door behind her.
"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, my lady," the young woman said, nodding politely, "but I thought you might like to know that we have dinner ready," she said. "We were about to round the children up now. I know they're probably quite hungry."
"Thank you, Maria," Breha said, smiling and nodding thoughtfully at her. "Some of the children are in the main reception hall," she said. "We'll need to round them up, too. I'll be down to join you shortly."
"Yes, ma'am," Maria said, smiling and nodding politely, and Breha watched as the dark haired young woman turned and walked quickly down the hallway to the main hall. She turned and looked out of the window again at the dark evening sky, and she rubbed her arms slowly, as she thought of the events of the past few days, and where her husband and Yoda were going, now.
She turned and walked slowly back through her husband's study, still holding herself tightly; she reached over and turned out the light as she reached the doorway and, glancing back toward the window once more, she stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, and made her way back down the hallway, toward the sounds of the children that now filled her residence.
Our story continues shortly!...