A soft voice saying something, followed by some gentle shaking gently rouses me out of my slumber.
"Easy…be gentle."
"Ba—bwahhh…ba—bwahhh…"
Mira.
Mira keeps gently shaking me and saying my name before I groan and open my eyes. My movement is immediately followed by a squeak and—
"Oof!" Mira tramples all over me while moving to grab my head. "Hi…hey. Good morning!"
Momma let Mira be my alarm clock today.
Mira vocalizes her happiness to me while I blink and she comes into focus. Round eyes and an undeniable smile greet me before Mira notices that I'm looking at her and she pats my chest lovingly.
I return the smile and give Mira a squeeze before seeing Hera looking on with a smile behind her. "Morning."
"Morning dear. Sorry to wake you up but we let you sleep in today."
I rarely do, despite their urgings. And not since Maul.
"Thanks…what time is it?"
"Just past ten."
TEN?!
I can't stop myself from snapping my head towards her. "You needed the rest." Hera defuses my argument before I can begin it. "And you would have kept sleeping if we'd let you. But Kanan was thinking of going for lunch at eleven and figured you'd want to be up."
"Yeah…" I groan and sit up. Mira moves with me, grasping onto me for a second before I spot Ghost on the side of my bed. "Hey Ghost."
"Go…" Mira commentates along with me before Ghost leaps up onto the bed and rounds it to lay down on my right, head in prime position for scratches.
Mira pats Ghost and I scratch his head before I say to Hera. "We're talking good today."
"She's getting a lot better. Still no name for Jacen really. But she's got me, got you, got Ghost, got Kanan, got Cayle…"
Jacen's not a problem. She just makes an excited noise at him and Jacen accepts that.
Kanan thinks she'll start calling him 'ba-ba' more as she understands Jacen's her brother. Jacen's name is hard.
Mine is too, but she's trying. She's added the 'w' sound in place of the r in my name.
Meaning she recognizes that it's different and is trying to say it. Which is all I can ever want.
It took Jacen a while to say my name too. My name's hard. Z's are hard.
"How is everybody today?"
"We're good," Hera replies. "Jacen wanted to practice what he learned from you yesterday, so he's in the backyard with his Dad."
Sweet.
"How about you?" I ask before giving Ghost one last scratch behind his ears and moving to get out of bed.
"Oh, I'm me. This one let me have a cup of coffee in peace this morning so I'm great."
Mira is already looking at me before I scoop her up and set her on her feet before I get out of bed, clad in shorts and a t-shirt. As soon as Mira puts together that I'm up for the day she starts saying something and races out of the room.
"Is Cayle here still?"
He was asleep in the theater room on the couch when I got back from training at the Temple last night.
"He went to the Temple around 8:30 this morning." Hera answers as I walk towards her, intending to hug her.
"Morning. Thanks for the nice wake-up call."
Hera leans into my hug and returns it before stretching to kiss my cheek. "No problem. You need your rest and she loves waking people up. The hardest part was keeping her out of your room before now."
"She wanted to say hi before now?"
Shocker.
"Yeah, as soon as Cayle left Mira started looking around for you. And you know how insistent she can be."
When she doesn't get what she wants, she will frown and let you know about it.
I chuckle and finish leading Ghost, Hera, and I out into the kitchen before I turn to my right and see Jacen and Kanan, Jacen with a training saber in his hand and Kanan clearly instructing him on something. Mira meanwhile, is playing in the grass.
She got outside?
Seeing what must be the look on my face, Hera says "Kanan probably let her out. She can't reach the latch yet but she'll bang on the door until you let her out."
I can't help but laugh again before Hera smiles back at me. "Go sit outside, it feels great. A cold front came thru last night with a touch of rain. I'll meet you out there."
"Okay."
We need all the rain we can get. There's more wildfires in NorCal.
Calling to Ghost, he trots to me before I grab the door and we make our way outside. Kanan and Jacen don't notice as I sit down on the patio couch outside, only for Ghost to position himself right beside me for more attention.
"Smart move boy." I resume scratching him around his ears and neck, inducing Ghost to lean over and get more comfortable.
"Keep your blade up. It's easier to drop it than it is to raise it." Kanan instructs Jacen, who isn't fighting him, but blocking bolts from a droid before Kanan's eyes find me and he clicks a remote. "Now what's the velocity we're running?"
"Block, parry, attack." Jacen answers his father.
Basic, but we're at the fundamental level.
"Good. Now…" Kanan prepares Jacen who visibly buckles down before starting the velocity.
"Block."
"Parry."
"Attack!"
Jacen does just that, blocking the bolt from the droid, parrying a fictitious attack then letting loose a nice chop that starts at his shoulder height right at his Dad. Kanan, who is prepared for this sidesteps the chop with ease.
"Good. Very good. Let's reset. You want some water?"
Jacen shakes his head, helmet still obscuring his vision before—
Oh.
"Is that Mira?" Jacen points behind him, where Mira is following the fence line for who knows what reason.
He reached out with the Force to see who all is there.
Missed me over here…but that's okay.
I didn't know he was getting that comfortable with Force Probes already though.
The sound of the door to the house distracts me, revealing Hera carrying a thermos of something, what clearly is a cup of orange juice for me along with a few pieces of paper.
"Thank you." I pop to my feet and take my OJ from her.
Hera gives me a smile before sitting right beside me. "You're welcome."
"What have you got there?" I gesture to the papers, then sip my OJ.
"Some intel Aubrey passed along to Cayle last night. He said you missed the meeting last night…I thought you were the one who scheduled it?"
I shake my head and move to set my OJ down. "Aubrey reached out, saying there were some new developments. I assume those—" I motion towards the papers. "—are it?"
Hera is mid-sip of her coffee, making an affirmative noise. "Why'd you bail to go train?"
I—I'm not gonna be able to slip out of this one.
"Just thinking of Sabine. I figured Cayle could handle the meeting and I didn't want to sour the mood."
Things went well last night, got some good core work in and even did some Force Training. I was glad I did it.
My eyes fall onto the papers in Hera's lap before mentally, I can't stop myself from adding "But maybe I missed something."
"Well, it was apparently enlightening enough for Cayle to head out first thing this morning." Hera fills me in before pushing the first paper to me.
It's a photo—of—
"That's him."
The ghostly skeleton of a stadium still under construction is illuminated, not by the warm yellow light of electricity, but by cold, piercing blue light coming from horizontal bolts of lightning.
He knows my lightsaber was a fake.
"That's apparently what Aubrey said right off the bat. Cayle seemed to agree."
I should not have skipped last night.
…
Liuzhou.
He's in Liuzhou.
"I've got a full write-up here, but basically this had been going on for a couple of nights. Aubrey had to carefully position herself in order to get that shot and not be seen. From the sounds of it, he's definitely involved with that construction project Gallius Rax is running."
The one with the notorious torture technique being used.
Go figure that they're getting off easy.
Hera passes me another paper, one with a similar shot of concrete, steel girders, cranes, heavy equipment all lit up by the blue of Force Lightning.
It looks like it's tucked away inside the stadium. Not in the middle, on display.
"He never really cared about secrecy or being covert. This is new."
Hera seems to get it before replying. "That lines up with what she said. She said that it was hidden away enough that nobody would see."
"It's a construction site, so there likely isn't another apartment complex or easy vantage point nearby." I think aloud.
She had to really work for this.
"I should not have skipped last night." I mutter quietly before sipping my orange juice and trying to blink away the last vestiges of sleep.
I need to wake up. I need to call Aubrey, I need to talk to Cayle and I know I have to talk to the Council.
"Do you know if I'm on a timer? It's going to sound childish, but I have plans today." I ask Hera.
"Cayle texted about ten minutes before we came to get you. Apparently, Master Windu wants you to proceed with your day as scheduled. They'll contact you. His major note, Cayle's, was that you'll probably have to go to Napa Valley."
Yeah…
"That's not bad though. We finally have a reason to take Insight over to China. Specifically, Liuzhou."
"Evidence." Hera clarifies my point for me. "What plans do you have today?"
"I'm helping my buddies with their summer workouts around 1:30-2 today." I tell her as in front of us, Jacen runs thru another velocity.
"They invited you?"
I nod before explaining. "I've gone with them a couple of times the last week or so. It's not that much of a workout for me, but it is hot."
I've gone to workout at the Temple afterward to finish my workout but…man is it hot.
Feels like I'm getting baked out there in the midday heat.
"I can imagine. Nice of them to invite you."
It is.
We've mostly avoided talking about Sabine and that drama. It's been a lot of hard work, with me being put in the odd position of pushing both of them because they're not pushing themselves hard enough.
I know they can't keep up with my workouts, but still.
I've seen students my age at USC 'go to the gym', only for them to lazily stroll around, do a few reps of something, take a picture for Instagram and then leave feeling like they accomplished something.
When in reality they went backwards. Did nothing.
"Do you mind if I ask a few questions? Only one of them is about Sabine." Hera cushions the queries before I nod.
"You guys okay? You said you bailed on the meeting because of her."
I set my half-finished OJ down. "We're fine I guess. I…just feel like I'm seeing the full picture of her now. Feels like the spring was a façade after I went to UCLA."
The more and more I think about it I don't think she actually loves me…
She just thought she does.
"For what it's worth I don't think it was a façade. I think you're very important to her, she's just trying to understand a lot of things that don't make sense, plus the loss of her Mandalorian heirloom and—"
Yeah yeah…
"—Kanan and I went thru something similar to this. I thought he was talking to another girl because he couldn't really explain his schedule. This was right after the Jedi Council apparently loosened their restrictions on attachment and Jedi in relationships."
I nod and wait for Hera to continue.
"The best way to defuse her concerns is to be honest with her. Maybe ask the Council if you can clear things up for her."
No way.
"I can't tell her the truth." I dismiss the idea out of hand. "I…she'd betray me. Go tell the world who I am and putting all this—" I gesture out to the backyard, where Ghost has moved to where Mira is playing in the grass as well as Kanan and Jacen who are still training. "—in a grave."
They'd have to move. I'd have to leave.
I'd…That'd be the end.
I'd never forgive myself. Everybody's happy here.
Genuinely, legitimately happy.
"I don't think she'd do that." Hera disagrees gently.
"You haven't been on the other end of her fury."
Since it comes on a schedule it seems like.
Sabine leaves LA? Sabine doesn't see me?
Sabine mad.
"I can't have Sabine trying to blow all this up right now. I need to listen to the Council, focus on what's in front of me, and focus on this." I grab one of the pictures of Elias using Force Lightning and display it for Hera.
Hera's expression looks understanding but down. "You're losing faith in her."
Faith.
Faith is believing in the Force. In yourself, in others.
"I don't know if that's the word." I fall back into the cushions before peering back over at Hera, whose eyes have followed me. "What were your other questions?"
(Four Days Later)
The security line I'm in moves forward methodically while a musical act I don't recognize plays on. Patiently, I allow my eyes to pop around the property.
The line's not too long, and they're passing out lanyards. Once you do that it seems to be relatively open.
There's an outdoor dining area, tennis courts, walking trails that lead down to the beach…
This place is ridiculous. The property is huge, reminds me of that mansion Matt invited me to for a party.
This one is very different from that mansion. The architecture is completely different.
I should text Sabine and—
…
No. I shouldn't.
She'd know the architecture style though. It'd probably fascinate her, and it'd be fun to listen to her talk about it.
When I took her to the Getty for her birthday, I wasn't expecting Sabine to flip it on me. I didn't mind spending all day there, admiring the art and statues and sculptures.
Most of it she had to explain what was going on to me while she tried to contain her excitement and wonder, to varying levels of success.
The paintings are definitely her thing. I actually really liked the old bronzes and sculptures.
I couldn't really put it into words, but Sabine explained that what I liked so much (she thought) was how they captured motion and movement in an inanimate thing.
I think she was right. Crazy thing was, a lot of what I liked was on loan from a collection in Rome, putting most of the stuff at like a couple of thousand years old.
"Sir. Please empty your wallets and hand over your identification please." A voice brings me back to reality. Doing as requested, I hand over my car keys, wallet, and phone before fishing out my ID. "Name?"
"Ezra Bridger?"
The bowl containing the contents of my pockets gets passed along while the man in front of me turns around. "Bridger, Ezra."
Another staffer starts rifling thru lanyards, all set out on a table presumably in alphabetical order except for one set above all others with a red cloth piece connecting it to the plastic-y, clear identification part.
"Your personal belongings are kept up front sir." The staffer turns his focus back to me. "You'll be able to collect them when the fundraiser is over and you depart. Did you drive or come with another party?"
"I drove." I reply before the Force twitches.
Damn. The red lanyard's mine.
The staffer in charge of the lanyards moves to speak with a large man in full suit and tie "—park in which lot?"
"Lot A."
Just like was sent to me by Alyssa in the email. Gave me all the instructions I needed, plus a placard I hung on my mirror so my car won't get towed…
Another probe into the Force tells me that they definitely know who I am before I'm motioned towards the metal detector.
Smile.
Stepping into the circular metal detector, I comply with the operator's directions before the machine rounds me once, twice before the green light pops up and I'm welcomed thru.
"Thank you for your cooperation sir. Here's your lanyard, the official dinner begins in two hours, thirty minutes. In the meantime, there are hosts with refreshments all around the property."
Jeez.
"Thank you." I nod and smile again while slipping the lanyard over my neck and letting it next to my tie.
The staffer turns away to the guest behind me, and I step thru the steel door that leads to what appears to be the main building on the property.
I think this whole security setup is temporary and just for this function. Seems a little ridiculous though.
The flow of traffic eases me into the building before I stuff my hands into my pockets, only to find them empty.
No phone…I'm out of contact with everyone until this is over.
I'm on my own. By design.
Palpatine's people and the Council debated on how to get me in and out without getting detected this time and concluded that I should do it alone, with no markers or identifiers to set me apart from another guest.
I'd argue the red lanyard distinguishes me, but whatever.
"Starter water sir?" A host walks right up to me and extends a stemmed wine glass filled with water. Taking the proffered glass, I thank him only to get a nod in return before he moves to other guests.
Okay…I got this. I've got this.
I sip my water and drift off towards one of the windows and get a glimpse of the estate, which flows from the building I'm in down via some stairs before sloping into some hedges and multiple nature paths that some guests are already walking down.
I can pop out there if I'm overwhelmed at some point.
Gently sloping green hills set the backdrop as their bordered in front by what must be the vineyard itself, which runs right up to the hedges and the rest of the estate.
This place is stupid nice. I should not be here.
But I am here. And finally.
Cayle's very clearly getting prepped by Ahsoka for his Trials, and Aubrey was commandeered by a powerful Hutt for a mission away from Liuzhou.
All I've been able to do is give my thoughts to the Council, train, look over the current political situation between Palpatine, Organa, and the race…and wait.
Gazing out at the guests mingling here in the atrium, I sip my water before the Force pulls at my focus.
Somebody's spotted me. I think.
Ignoring the cue, I fiddle with my water glass which is quickly perspiring and causing the entire thing to become slick before—
Three insistent taps on the window beside me forces me to turn and see—
Oh. It's one of Palpatine's people. Johnny, the jokester guy.
The guy Vader tried to kill.
The window turns out to be a door before he pulls it open. "Ezra! There you are, come on out here, it feels great…" He leads me, both physically and in the conversation leaving me no choice but to go along with it.
Now's not the time for a social faux pas.
"You were looking for me?"
Johnny sidles right up to me and begins piloting me out towards a balcony. "We just got a text saying you were here is all. You look great by the way, I'd heard you'd lost a whole bunch of weight here recently."
I bet you did.
"I'm learning how to pack on the pounds." I try to make a joke out of it, smiling down at the speechwriter.
He picks up on my cue and returns the smile. "Me too, but I think we're talking about different pounds here." He laughs.
Despite myself, I chuckle. Johnny follows up with "Alyssa's gonna be so happy to see you, she's been worried sick about you."
"I'm fine, and besides I'm pretty sure I've been even more trouble for you guys." I lower my voice.
"Trouble." He proclaims. "Is having some Qatari prince decide to tear up the accord you'd worked on for six months thirty minutes before the President goes up on stage to announce it. You." He turns to smile at me. "Are not trouble."
"That happened?"
I didn't know that.
Johnny nods mournfully. "Jon and I had worked on that damn speech over the course of two months. I don't know if you've paid attention but we've tried pivoting away from…" He gives me a significant look.
Me.
"To our foreign policy accomplishments. Only for that fuckwad to ruin it all. Excuse me, he's not a fuckwad." He backtracks.
Again I can't withhold a laugh. "No, that sounds like a fuckwad to me."
"He's a valued ally and friend of the US government who just lost—here we are!" He proclaims as we angle around a large group and—
The air suddenly is almost knocked out of me and I take a half step back before noticing that Alyssa's tackled me into a hug. "—so glad to see you. And you—." She stutters before taking a step back to take me in. "You look great!"
"That's what I said!" Johnny proclaims getting laughs out of—
Oh. Everyone that I know is here.
—
"Thanks." I mumble, not knowing what else to say before looking to the others.
I, uhm…
"You don't look like you just lost seventeen pounds." Tommy states the obvious.
Johnny replies. "Just asked him about that, apparently he's gained most of it back."
"I LOVE your hair." Alyssa finally stops hugging me long enough to gaze up and spot my new, longer hairstyle.
"Thanks." I glance down, feeling everyone's eyes on me. "The, uhm, the stuff they had me in the help heal me grew everything on accident. And I just trimmed it, didn't cut it."
Kanan and Master Kenobi made me shave for this though. I would have anyway.
"You should keep it longer." Alyssa proposes. "A lot of men look better with longer hair."
I don't know. It's just a short-term thing.
"Not me." The man named Dan, who is sporting his mustache still, says. "My hair goes—poof—" He motions to his hair then faux inflates it getting laughter from his fellows.
"Lyss is right Ezra, it does look good." Tommy smiles at me before moving to shake my hand. I return the gesture before the others in the group fall into line and we all exchange greetings.
"How was your drive? Did you have any trouble getting in?" Alyssa dictates the conversation before I sip my water.
"No trouble, thanks for your help by the way."
I imagine that if they found out I was here so quickly, their boss knows as well.
"—mention it, glad you could make it." Johnny replies.
"And security is air-tight, so we don't have to worry about…"
He won't be here.
"He wouldn't be here." I inform them. "He's still scheming…plotting."
I don't know when he's going to make his move again. But that's also a little bit of why I'm here.
We find Elias, we're one step closer to finding Maul.
"Speaking of that, I don't want to interfere with your plans. You don't have to babysit me, is there somewhere I should go…?"
"We're not—" Tommy quickly shakes his head.
"We're not a babysitter. We just wanted to see you, say hi. And thank you—" Mustache Dan adds.
"There's nothing to thank me for."
If they're talking about the last time I saw them, I was just doing my job.
A job their boss thinks I failed at.
Alyssa makes a loud, dismissive noise that gets me to glance around anxiously. "Are you kidding me?" Tommy begins before—
That's…Senator Amidala.
Amongst five to six people stands the esteemed Senator from Naboo, talking to another Senator I recognize.
Rush Clovis. Senator Keith has leaned on him from what I've heard on those podcasts. He's on the Senate Finance Committee.
The Force gently urges me back in Tommy, Jon, Alyssa, and Palpatine's people's direction as I keep my eyes on the flock of Senators.
Padmé's technically not even on Palpatine's side in all of this, despite she and Palpatine being aligned earlier in their careers.
An elbow in my ribs pulls my attention back to my right. "Ezra. Hey." Alyssa says, quietly.
They're afraid to push me further.
"I'm fine." I mutter then spin back to see everyone in our little group looking at me. "Why's Senator Amidala and Senator Clovis here?"
"Clovis is here?" Johnny's eyebrows shoot up before taking a step towards me and peering beyond to where the Senators are socializing.
Just leaning on a stone-looking railing.
Silently, Tommy jerks his head towards the steps off to our right, descending towards the gardens and hedges. "We should get going."
"Yeah." Jon nods before Alyssa tugs on my sleeve.
Okay, okay I'm coming.
I play along before Dan gives me a wink and affectionately claps me on the shoulder. Johnny follows up with a friendly smile and waves before our group disperses as soon as it's gotten together.
It's a bad idea to just linger with all those Senators there.
Tommy, Alyssa, and Jon lead me down two sets of stairs before we bump into another waiter who gives us some sort of white wine off a tray while also taking my water.
Okay. I can't drink too much though.
Dooku did make a contingency plan for me to get a hotel but I'd rather it not come to that.
"What is this anyway?" I quietly ask as the mingling crowd around us thins out more and more with each step. "I thought it was a fundraiser."
"It is. Among other things." Alyssa hardly clarifies.
Tommy sidles to my left and lowers his voice. "It's a Russian nesting doll of influences and objectives. Obviously, we want to get together and celebrate and raise some money for the campaign, but—"
"Everybody's got to let off some steam." Jon enlightens me. "The campaign trail's a grind, even from the White House. It's good to get out, away from the Capitol Work."
"So it's a big party." I cut thru the ambiguity.
Tommy shrugs. "Think of it like the banquet you and Sabine went to—"
The Force immediately vibrates with tension before I sip my water—
That's not water.
"Speaking of…who the hell'd she go to Lolla and get all cozy with?!" Alyssa turns and asks not so nicely.
"I don't know." I look away from them as we round a turn and start into the hedges. "I haven't checked anything all week."
"All week?" Jon questions.
Alyssa rolls her eyes so hard I can hear them. "Oh bullshit."
"I saw it from Hannah's Instagram." Tommy reveals to me. "You're telling me you haven't seen it?!"
No.
"I've been prepping for this." I defend myself. "And when I'm not doing that I'm looking for the beskar, and when I'm not doing that I'm training. And when I'm not doing that I'm either at home or trying to hang out with my friends."
I have no time for her damn Instagram chicaneries.
Alyssa's already tapping furiously on her phone, which apparently she got to keep. "You prepped for this?" Jon follows up.
"You don't need to do that." Tommy smiles at me. "We got you dude. Just…be you."
"I have to know what's going on." I call back to Tommy and I's conversation at the banquet. "Plus the race and all its news. Like it or not, you're in this spot largely because of me."
Jon shakes his head. "The race was always going to tighten. It always does. Not double-digit points, but you were always gonna come up like you did last time. The leak's what changed the game along with what followed."
"We're gonna find an attack that works and things will flip." Tommy says in a reassuring tone. "Don't worry about that Ezra."
"Ignore the polls." Jon adds before Alyssa puts her phone in my hand.
A large picture of a white-haired girl with purple tips shines up at me, smiling next to a vaguely attractive brunette guy with light stubble and a spikey, coiffed haircut.
sabinewren5: Had SO MUCH FUN at Lollapalooza this weekend! Helped to have the hawtest guy there as my sidekick/partner in crime/backup singer when I lost my voice the hundred times in between shows! So lucky to have you!
Swipe.
The screen changes to a video, the quickly starts blaring before I hastily turn down the volume of Sabine singing along to an act on a massive stage.
Good seats. She's close.
Another swipe gets a new shot of a different band, this time at night. Another swipe, another picture, this time of a huge crowd. Swiping—
There we are.
…
…
Feeling Tommy, Jon, and Alyssa all looking at me and breathing on me, I swipe past the picture of Sabine kissing Ryan's cheek to another one of them together with the Chicago skyline in the background.
That's a good picture. If you take out the Frat-hole.
"I know you guys were around when my buddy got into the argument with her." I pass Alyssa's phone back to her as the three of them look at me. "Plus, I'm grounded."
"But you guys were together—" Tommy protests.
Alyssa cuts Tommy off. "You said at that banquet that you talked to her. In-person, and she said they're dating!"
"That was the cover story for the night."
That's the truth.
"Oh for the love of God…" Alyssa looks to the sky and paces a few steps away.
"He—" Jon motions with his head towards Tommy. "—said that you guys were super close, even closer than when we were monitoring you for Palpatine."
"We're friends." I remind them. "Always have been, she's wanted to take things slow. And—"
Alyssa's eyes nearly come out of her head. "THAT—"
"And…" I drag out my tone, then glare at each of them individually. "I lost her priceless Mandalorian heirloom. She's pissed at me right now. She has a right to be."
"You nearly died!" Alyssa's tone almost breaks the sound barrier it's so shrill before she peeks around nervously.
I let loose a Force Probe to double-check that the coast is clear, only for the Probe to come back clean. "Perception is reality, right? She perceives me as a failure as a friend right now. So that's the reality."
Stupid girl.
Of course she and Ryan went to Lollapalooza and she made some over-the-top affectionate Instagram post.
Probably trying to get a rise out of me.
Probably pissed her off that I haven't reached out to her or said anything about it. That it failed.
Stupid girl.
"That's…not fair to you. At all." Tommy says, looking dejected.
"So?" I can't help but laugh. "Life's never been fair to me. My Dad was a Sith Lord."
I can't be truthful to her because of that. It all boils down to that fact.
My Dad's Darth Sidious. My brother's Darth Tyranus. I'm Darth Vader.
I can't tell her the truth because she can't handle the truth. And all she wants out of me is the truth…supposedly.
"Sorry…don't mean to be this bitter." I mutter quietly, feeling all of their eyes on me.
"Don't apologize." Alyssa instantly tells me.
Jon adds. "You have every right to be angry and frustrated."
"No. I don't. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Suffering is the way of the dark side. I cannot afford to be angry because people fear I'll turn back to the dark side."
Padmé thinks that's probably where half of Organa's stance is coming from. She's sent me a few emails, trying to soothe the wounds from some of Organa's more inflammatory speeches.
That's what she thinks. They're afraid of me, they don't hate me.
They fear me.
I think she's wrong but whatever.
"You're…not. Are you?" Jon asks, in a tone I've never heard before.
"NO!" Both Tommy and Alyssa answer for me before Alyssa slaps at Jon's wrist.
"Hey, hey! Sorry…just had to be asked…"
"It's fine." I dismiss all of their concerns. "Don't worry about it. It did have to be asked."
Tommy speaks up as I move to sip my wine again. "You're doing amazing dude. Seriously, beyond anyone's expectations. I…ignore Sabine, ignore all this political crap, just do you. Be who you think you are. That's what's gotten you here."
"You're doing amazing." Alyssa hugs me again, and I find myself returning the hug.
Interesting how the Council, Jon, Tommy, Alyssa, Matt, JJ, and Cayle all are coming to the same conclusion.
…
"Was Amidala on the guestlist for tonight?" I ask Alyssa once she's let go of me.
I don't love that she's just…here.
She's always been on my side. Always.
Until now, with Organa. Which I understand to a degree, but now she's just here playing both sides?
"I don't know, I wasn't in charge of that. I can check though." She replies.
"She has endorsed Senator Organa." Jon throws out there.
It would have been weirder if she hadn't due to their years of cooperation and work in the Senate. Would have made people ask 'why not?'.
Probing before my wine, I detect a hint of anxiety from Tommy.
Attack it.
"You said that there's a lot of competing interests here." I turn to him, catching him mid-sip and off-guard. "What else is going on here?"
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, the other two tense up thru the Force as Tommy straightens up.
"Uhm, well…the President uhm, has been working on getting you that access in China for Project Insight Ezra. He thinks what you think, that the mathematical odds are in your favor."
Okay.
We didn't share Aubrey's intel with them because we haven't been able to talk about it.
We can't go burning Aubrey in a foreign country that like it or not, does not align with many of the Order's key tenets.
"I'll have to thank him for that." I smile.
"Well, to that end he's successfully gotten the Chinese President and a portion of his security council over here covertly to talk to you about that Ezra. He seems to think we have a shot at getting a deal done."