Wow! 483 hits, 163 of them on chapter two! I'm flattered that 162 of you liked chapter one enough to at least open chapter two. And five of you reviewed! Wow! (that's sarcasm and sincerity together. I am flattterd that so many of you are abviously reading this and I love all of you that review, I wish there were a few more of you, but I don't really mind that much.)

Sorry thistook so long folks. RL keeps popping in and dragging me away from the 'puter. This one is nice and long though.

Okay, on to replys...

Naurica7mk: Yes, she's alive. I do write about dead people but not too often. :-) Thanks so mch for reviewing. Let me know what you think of this chapter.

Amylion: Thank you. I really enjoyed writing that part. I like to see the happily ever after, but I never could come up with a believable "everyone's alive and living happily together" scenario. This is as close as I could get to a happily ever after for Padme and Anakin. I'm really glad you liked it too.

Shina937: Sorry for the confusion. I'll explain for you and everyone else who might have been confused. The part in Itallics was a flashback to explain how Padme is still alive. The part immediately after that, in Padme's bedroom, was kind of a force apparition, like when Obi-wan appeared to Luke in the trilogy. I fudged a bit and made Anakin corporeal, at least kinda. I wanted it to be one of those " is he here or not, oh wait, he is" kinda things. I was apparently a little too mysterious. Sorry about that.

Thank you for reviewing, I hope you like this next part. It is very straight forward.

K00lgirl1808: Ah, a loyal fan. :-) I like being mysterious, but not that much. I've got some surprises coming up, at least I hope they will be surprises. Here is the big meeting, I hope it was worth waiting for. I am re-writing the ending. This story got longer cause there was more stuff I want to put in so updates mught continue to be a week apart. It really depends on how much time I have to spend at work. At least, if all else fails, I do still have the original ending, so I will still finish it.

A/N I want to thank the 162 of you who are still reading this. (One of the hits was me) I hope you are truly enjoying this, thank you for putting up with me. I would also like to offer my apologies, Han is very out of character here. I hope it doesn't ruin it.

Now, without further adieu...

l

Sorrow Multiplied

Chapter 3

The next day, Leia slept in. She hadn't slept late in years when she wasn't in a medicentre somewhere and she decided she deserved the luxury. Aside from her mysterious meeting at noon, she had nothing inportant to do today and saw no reason to hurry. Leisurely, she wandered around her apartment getting ready. Winter had said to dress casually, but nearly everything Leia owned was either a gown or work pants. Feeling surprisingly nervous, she fretted until she found an old sundress in the back of her wardrobe.

She hadn't worn it in years, not since the last time she was on Alderaan. She had only kept it because it was from Alderaan. Smiling to herself, Leia put the dress on. It was sleevelss and had a conservatively scooped neckline. The skirt was full and fell to her ankles. Swirling in front of the miror, Leia admired the way her hair contrasted with the yellow fabric.

Suddenly inspired, Leia quickly twisted her long hair into two bundles that fell loose down over her shoulders. It was a child's fashion, but it seemed to compliment the dress and she decided it was fitting.

The doorchime sounded just as she was stepping into her shoes and she hurried to let her brother in. Opening the door absently, still thinking about the party she'd last worn this dress to, she almost didn't notice what Luke was wearing. Surprised, she stepped back to take a better look.

He looked almost the same as he had the very first time she'd seen him. He'd chosen a pair of brown pants and a cream colored tunic that belted at the waist. His lightsabre was hanging from his belt and he wore dark brown boots to complete the outfit.

Raising an eyebrow at him, she said, "I'm not complaining, but what happend to all the black?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I just felt like I needed to wear this today."

"I know what you mean. Are you ready?"

Luke nodded and held out his arm to her. "Ready when you are."

Leia took his arm and they headed for the cafè. Winter had chosen a small cafè not too far from where Leia's apartment was located and it was a nice day, so they waked there.

The gave the hostess Leia's name and they were seated in a private dining room. The space was meant to hold as many as a dozen beings and they were both surprised.

"Are you sure this is where we are supposed to be?" Luke asked the hostess.

She smiled at them. "That is what the reservation says. Organa, party of three, private room. Would you like to order some drinks while you wait?"

They did so and sat at a table where they would have a clear view of the door. After they had their drinks, Luke turned to his sister.

"Is it just me, or is something a little off?"

Leia shook her head. "Something is off, but I don't think it's bad. Remember, Winter set this up."

Luke agreed with her, but still couldn't shake the feeling of unease. He stared at his drink for a long time, not sure what he should say. He cold hardly remember ever having exprienced an uncomfortable silence when he was with Leia, but this was very quickly becoming one. His eyes kept darting toward the door despite his attempts to calm himself. He ckecked his chrono twice and each time marveled at how slow the numbers were changing. They had arrived ten minutes early and Luke didn't think he'd ever experienced a longer ten minutes.

Finally, the door opened and the hostess led in an older woman with long brown hair. Luke and Leia stood and Leia motioned for the newcomer to join them. The hostess left, saying that a server would be with them shortly. The woman just stood there. She wore a slightly out of fasion, cream colored pants suit with a dark purple shawl. Her long brown hair was done in braids that looped back on theimselves. She looked both Luke and Leia over carefully and took a deep, shuddering breath.

When she spoke, her voice held a light deep-core accent that Leia found very familiar. "I didn't know..." She seemed to catch herself and start over. "Please forgive me. I was under the impression that Princess Organa would be alone and finding the two of you here startled me." she swollowd hard and Luke couldn't fail to notice how nervous she was despite her face being a cold mask. "L-Luke Skywaker, I presume?"

Luke nodded and pulled out a chair for her. "Yes ma'am. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you." she took the offered chair and Luke and Leia sat across from her. When they were settled, a server appeard with more drinks, though Luke and Leia had barely started on theirs, and took their orders. When she left, Leia said,

"Perhaps you could tell us who you are and why you asked me here." The new woman seemed to start.

"Yes, of course. My apologies, Princess." The woman paused and took a sip of her drink. Seeming to build up her courage, she took a deep breath. "My name is Padmè Naberrie. I was senator of Naboo when the Empire took over."

Leia nodded regaly. "I am pleased to meet you, Your Highness. I read about you when I was a girl on Alderaan. You are the reason I went into politics."

Luke looked at the two of them, slightly lost. Leia felt his confusion and turned to him. "The planet of Naboo was an elected Monarchy. Miss Naberrie was elected Queen at fourteen. After she served her two terms, she went on to become their representative in the senate. The people of Naboo thought she was such a wonderful ruler that they voted to change the laws and allow her to remain in office beyond her two terms, thoough she refused. She single handedly ended a civil conflict that had been warring on her planet for centuries and at the same time won the battle of Naboo and defeated the Trade Federation's droid armies."

"I hardly did it single handed. If you please, call me Padmè."

Leia turned back to her. "My history books said you were dead, Padmè."

The woman smiled sadly. "That is the way it needed to be. I had to be dead to protect the ones I loved. If Vader had known I was alive, he would have torn the galaxy apart trying to find me."

Padmè noticed the way Leia scoweled at the name Vader. Luke just nodded knowingly. She hoped that the fact that they came together meant that they knew about each other. If they knew about each other, that meant that Obi-wan must have told them about their father too. She almost felt like laughing, they knew about their father, but no one had seen fit to mention her.

Leia was getting more nervous by the second. "Why, exactly, are you here? I am very glad to meet you, but I'm sure there was another reason you contacted me."

Collecting herself, Padmè took a leap of faith and said what was on her mind. "It's been so long, I just wanted to see you. I wanted to know that you were happy."

Leia was kept from asking what in the galaxies she meant because their food had arrived. Ignoring the plate, Leia waited until the server left before asking, "What are you talking about? I don't remember ever meeting you before. Did you know my father on Alderaan? He never mentioned you..."

Leia trailed off. Padmè now had tears running down her face, though the mask Luke had noticed earlier was still in place. She started to stand up. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come. I should have left you alone, you're obviously happy now. I'm sorry." With that, she bolted toward the door.

Luke stood too. "Wait, please don't go."

Padmè paused and turned back. Luke had extened one hand, as if reaching for her. She realized that he could sense her emotions but Leia couldn't see past the mask. With great effort, she dropped the mask and allowed her raw emotions to show on her face. Luke circled the table and handed her a napkin. She raised one hand and caressed his cheek. "My Luke. You are so handsome, just like your father was. And you are a Jedi, I am so proud of you."

Leia watched the scene, her heart pounding in her chest. She flashed back to when she was very little, being held tightly while her mother cried. Big, brown, sad, eyes, crying while she said, 'I will always love you.' The Princess stepped forward until she was standing next to her brother.

"Momma?" She felt her voice crack softly but didn't care. Padmè touched her face breifly and nodded, then wrapped both twins in a huge hug.

"My babies, you're all grown up," she whispered. She stood there and held them for a long time, not caring how akward such a pose was, since they were both taller than she. When she finally released them, Leia took her hand.

"Please, come sit with us." She led her mother back to the table and they sat down. Though they were on opposite sides of the table, Leia did not relenquish her mother's hand. After sitting in silence for a time, just looking at her children, Padmè whispered,

"You are both so beautiful. I can't belive I ever let you go." She squeezed Leia's hand and reached for Luke's. "I've been watching over you as best as I could. I wanted so much to come forward, to see you both again. As long as the Emperor was still alive there was no way. I couldn't risk you that way. Vader would have found me the instant I came forward and I couldn't put you in more danger. I wanted to be there for you, I am so sorry I couldn't be." Tears were running down her face again but she wasn't willing to relenquish contact with either of her children to use the napkin again.

"It's okay, Momma," Leia said. "I understand."

"I'm sorry, my Luke. I bet you never even knew enough about me to wonder who I was." She squeezed his hand tightly and he nodded.

"No, I didn't know and I didn't ask. I wish I had." He released her hand to pass her another napkin. "Here, I hate to see you crying."

She laughed and took the napkin. "Thank you. Your father hated to see my cry too. When we were young, he once offered to fight a war for me if it would make me feel better." Clear eyed again, she placed the napkin on the table. "There's so much I want to say."

Leia hadn't stopped beaming since they sat back down. "We'll have time to say it all." At that moment, Leia's stomach betrayed her by growling audiably. She giggled. "I suppose that we should probably eat our lunch. At the prices we're paying for it we definitely shouldn't let it go to waste.

They all laughed and started catching up while they ate. "How have you been, Luke? I've been able to keep track of your sister, the Princess of Alderaan is in the news quite frequently, but I'm afraid the first news I heard of you was a wanted poster. You've been on the holovid a couple of times in the last few months, but that didn't tell me much."

Luke smiled. "I'm afraid there isn't much to tell. I'm assuming you know what Tatooine is like?" At her wry nodd, he continued, "Well, I spent the first eighteen years of my life fixing Moisture vaporators. After Uncle Own and Aunt Beru died, I joined the Rebellion as a pilot. Later I trained with Master Yoda on Dagobah, then there was the Battle of Endor... and that brings us current."

Leia laughed at him and nudged him firmly with her elbow. "Is it just you or are all Jedi masters at understating things?"

"It may be because we're family, but Luke doesn't seem as bad as many I've met." Padmè told her daughter conspiratorily.

Luke snorted at the two of them. "I thought you were proud of me?" He asked indignantly. "Now you're making fun of me?"

"Never, my sweet. Never, never, never." Padmè insisted. Luke grinned. "And you, Leia, how have you been?"

Leia swollowed and decided to answer honestly. "It depends on what day you ask. Things are a lot better than they were, especially today."

She still held her monther's hand with her right one and was eating akwardly with her left. It was as if she thought the woman would disappear again if she let go. Leia tried, once, to make her hand let go but before she could convice the muscles to loosen, her mother had squeezed her hand again and she didn't have the heart. Now she just held on for dear life and prayed the moment would never end. "Where have you been, mother?"

"Everywhere and nowhere. I have a light freighter, I've been running everything from precious jewels to medical equipment to shovels. It left me available to check in on you two as often as possible. I even ran a few shipments for the Alliance. Though I doubt either of you saw me, I saw you a couple of times."

She paused for a moment, "I said the first I saw of you was a wanted poster, but that's not true, Luke. I saw you shortly after the Battle of Yavin. I was getting ready to leave and I saw them carry you around on their shoulders. You looked so much like your father right then, I couldn't help but recognize you."

Leia was obviously uncomfortable hearing about her father, and Padmè couldn't blame the girl, but she couldn't help talking about him either. Sitting here with her babies, she couldn't help but think about the man she had loved. Besides, Luke was so obviously enjoying hearing about his father that Padmè couldn't have stopped herself if she'd wanted to.

"Why didn't you come forward then? We were already in trouble with the Empire."

Padmè smiled sadly. "You were in trouble with the Empire, yes. But even then, Vader wasn't any more interested in you then in any other rebel. It wasn't until about five months ago I could have come forward without further endangering you, and then only because Luke was already on Vader's list. Leia, you still weren't a top priority, even then.

"I should have come to you at Endor, but I heard everyone was celebrating and I didn't want to interrupt. Then, after you got back from Bakura, I almost came. I even called the medicentre twice, but I cut the comm off before anyone answered. Then I took a shipment to the Rim and I was afraid so I took the long way back..." She looked down at the table.

"I'm sorry, I was afraid. Before I left for the Rim, I sent you that letter. I wrote it before I left you on Alderaan, Leia. I was going to stay with you. That had been the plan from the beginning, you two had to be seperated to keep the Emeror from sensing you, but I was going to stay with you and Obi-wan was going to stay with Luke, but Vader was still looking for me. He cornered me on Alderaan and I had to leave. I couldn't risk him finding out that you weren't realy Bail's daughter and putting two and two together."

It was too much for Leia to take. The question that had been burning inside of her since Endor burst out before she could stop it. "Why, Mother? Why Him?"

Padmè held more tightly to her daughter's hand. "You think he was always that horrid machine? Have a little faith, Leia. Ani was the most charming, caring, wonderful person I've ever met. He gave with no thought of himself. Sometimes he gave too much." She closed her eyes, seeing images of the past. "Ani was always ready to help anyone no matter the cost to himself. That's how I met him. I was straned on Tatooine with no money and a broken hyperdrive. Ani risked his own life to win the money we needed to fix the hyperdrive knowing full well that once we left he would never see us again."

Luke stopped her. "Who is 'us'?"

"My security, several of my handmaidens, one gungan and two Jedi."

Now Leia was interested, still hurting, but interested. "You said he would never see you again, but obviously he did because you married him."

"What none of us knew at the time was that Qui gon, he was one of the Jedi, had betting with Anakin's owner to set him free."

"Set him free?"

Padmè smiled at them. "I forget that you don't know him, which is silly since that's why I'm telling this story. When I first met him, your father was a slave. Lucky for him he was good with mechanics and a fabulous pilot, that made him valuble and he was treated well. He won us the money to fix our hyperdrive in a podrace, but that's another story."

Luke swollowd hard and Leia winced. Neither had known that. Luke asked the next question. "But I thought Father was a Jedi?"

"He was. He was nine when Qui gon freed him and took him to the temple to train. After that, I didn't see him for almost ten years. When we finally did get together again, it was almost as if no time at all had passed. After almost being executed and starting a civil war, we were married in secret. Later, more peole knew, but it still wasn't many. I was out of the spotlight by then and the only ones we actually hid it from were the Jedi. So when Ani began to fall, when I got pregnant, it didn't take much to erase the fact that we had ever been married. Obi-wan hid all three of us to keep you safe from Vader."

She reached out to her children. She didn't have to be a jedi to feel Luke's acceptance of her story. Leia, on the other hand, didn't doubt her but still held a modicum of disbelief about the validity of her mother's claims. Still, the acceptence Padmè felt from her children could counter everything and for once, she was home.

They finished their lunch with laughter, each relating stories of the recent past. Leia told her mother how Luke had slipped on the ice on Hoth. Luke told about Leia's first attempt piloting. They both shared stories of a time before they had been reunited. As they were gathering to leave, Padmè felt her heart clench tightly in her chest. Even while she was politely saying goodbye on the outside, her heart screamed inside. NO! I can't say goodbye yet, I've only just said hello!

So great was her pain, she nearly didn't hear Leia's question. "Mother, would you come to my apartment this evening? I'm not much of a cook, but we could have a light dinner and... There are so many things I want to talk about."

They do want to see me! "Yes, of course I will. All you ever need do is ask, my baby, and I will be there in a heartbeat."

Leia embraced her mother and nearly cried again. As they seperated, Leia suddenly rememberd Luke. "Can you make it tonight, Luke?"

Luke smiled at her knowing what she needed. "No, I have to cancel our vacation plans and I should probably make some calls. I'll have plenty of time to spend with Mom, you go bond."

Seeing the stricken look on the woman's face, Luke rushed to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

Padmè shook her heand and took her boy's face in her hands. With tears running down her face she giggled. "It's just so great to have someone call me Mom!"

After another round of fierce hugs, Luke said, "You are going to be here for a while, aren't you?"

"A day, a month, a year, a lifetime, however long you want me."

Leia, still clutching the hand she hadn't let go of since she'd first touched it, leaned close and said, "Forever and ever and ever and ever!"

They parted ways after that, each with more to think about than they had arrived with. Leia went to her apartment to get ready for tonight and Padme went ot her ship to do the same and to check on Kerinè. Luke went to find Han. He wanted company right now that wasn't family.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Luke found Han on the Falcon, repairing something, as usual. He boarded without asking and headed for the cockpit. Chewbacca was there, programming something into the console. When Luke asked, Chewie told him Han was near the engine compartments, replacing a power converter.

With a "Thanks Chewie," Luke haded back. He walked quietly and stood near the compartment Han was in. The pilot was inside one of the larger engine compartments, half laying under some piping while he worked on a piece Luke couldn't identify. The older man's face was completely hidden and he seemed to be focusing solely on the repair work.

That image was broken, however, when Han said, "Chewie, would you hand me that other adjustable hydrospanner, I don't know what size this is."

Luke grinned and fished the tool out of the case. "Here you go Han."

"Thanks Chewie- Chewie?"

"Not quite, but I saw him on the way in."

Han slid out and stood up. Inside the pit, his head just barely reached the deck plates and Luke reached down a hand to pull him up. He accepted the help and climbed out. "What brings you around here, kid?"

"Just needed to see a friendly face. You want some help?"

Han shook his head. "Nah, I'm not doing anything important. Just doing a systems check."

Luke raised an eyebrow. It might be like Han to play with his ship, but the man rarely admitted that was what he was doing. "What are you avoiding?"

Han rubbed one hand on his coveralls. "I'm not avoiding anything, just trying to decide what's next. What about you, Why are you hiding out on my ship?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Luke leaned against a bulkhead. He offered his friend a wry look. "I guess you could say it's family troubles."

The pilot started. "Why, what's wrong with Leia?"

Luke grinned and shook his head. "Leia's fine, in fact she's wonderful."

"Then I'm confused, Kid. What's the problem?"

The Jedi's face turned to the reckless expression he'd worn the day they rescued Leia from the Deathstar. "You know, it's strange. To go from being an orphan to having more family than you can deal with."

Han clapped and hand to Luke's shoulder and steered him toward the lounge. "This sounds like it's going to need a drink, Kid. You gonna join me?"

"Sure, Han."

While Han poured them drinks, Luke sat and stared at the table. He wondered why he'd come here. Now he was going to have to talk about it and he wasn't even sure he wanted to think about what had happened at lunch yet.

Han settled the tall glass in front of him and he could smell the alcohol. He was pretty sure he didn't want to drink that, but sipped it anyway. It was just as strong as he'd thought and he only drank as much as it took to taste it and set the glass back on the table.

"So what happened, Kid?"

"My mother's alive, Han."

The old Pilot just sat there for a minute then, "That's great, Luke! This does call for a drink!" Then he noticed his friends expression. "That's not great, is it?"

"Yes it's great, but... I don't know"

Han set his own drink next to Luke's. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard you mention her."

"I never knew her, not even a little. I never even wondered about her and today she just... she was just there."

"Kid, I don't know much about family, never really had one myself, but it sounds like you're feeling a bit guilty."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, she spent that last twenty years running around the galaxy, trying to keep an eye on both of us, Leia and I, and I never even thought about her. Not even once."

"And now it bothers you because you are wondering about her. You just realized you want to know who she is?"

"How'd you get so wise, Han?"

The pilot shook his head. "I'm just an old smuggler, I'm not wise. That's what Jedi are for." He gave a rougish grin and Luke could see why his sister was falling for the old pilot. Han was a lot deeper than he let most people think. "So, what's she like?"

"She lookes like Leia, or rather, Leia lookes like her. She's really strong, and so sad, Like Leia always said." The jedi thought for a minute. "Oh, and she used to be really important, I'm trying to remember what Leia said..."

"Don't tell me, Your father was Darth Vader and your mom was, what, a duchess?"

"No, she was... she was a queen! She was the Queen of Naboo, then she was a senator to the republic"

Han frowned. "So that's where Leia gets it, figures it would be genetic!" The old smuggler reached behind him and pulled a datapad out of a storage cubbord. "Here, if she was a senator, you should be able to look her up. I've got tons of info on the Old Republic."

Luke took the datapad, startled. "Han, why would you have information on old governments?"

"Well, Leia's been researching it and I realized I had no idea what she was talking about, I'm a smuggler, not a beuracrat. So I decided to do some reading up." Luke noticed that his friend was rambling and couldn't help himself.

"You can read?"

Han scoweled. "Of course I can read, I'm not stupid..." He realized Luke was grinning and rubbed his head as if he was getting a headache. "I just don't like feeling stupid and this is important to her Highnessness so she talks about it all the time."

Deciding to cut the smuggler some slack, Luke said, "It's alright, Han. I understand, and I approve, though I don't know what mom will think."

"Oh, yea!" He said dryly. "At least tell me she's corporeal? I'm still not over dealing with dear old daddy."

"Yes, she's very much alive." Luke tapped the criteria into the datapad and let it search. after a moment, it pulled up a biography, and several holos. He pulled up the first. The image was of a woman in a huge gown made of red velvet with gold trim. The woman wore heavy white facepaint and a huge headdress that had her hair woven through it. She looked positively fierce, sitting on a throne large enough to accomodate her gown.

"Wow, relative or not, I wouldn't want to have had to face that." Han pointed to the image. That's even more frightening than getting a late-night visit from Vader!"

Luke had to agree. "You can hardly recognize her under all that paint, and that gown makes her look twice as big." He pulled up another image. This one showed a young woman, still a teenager, in a grey tunic with her hair braided and running down her back. He face was devoid of any make-up at all. "It says this was a disguise she used often, it doesn't say why or what it's supposed to be."

Luke pulled up another image before Han could comment. The next two showed her in the heavy make-up, each with a different gown. The final image showed her standing on a platform with a creature Luke didn't recognize and several bodyguards. She was apparently waiting to board a ship. "This was taken while she was Senator to the republic."

Luke studied the image, trying to reconcile it with that of the woman he'd met for lunch a short while ago. She was quite a bit older, of course, and she looked more rugged now, but it was undeniably the same person. Han tipped the viewer toward himself to get a better view. He whistled softly and Luke shot him a glare.

"What?" He offered the young man an innocent expression. "She's really pretty."

"Uh huh." Luke said skeptically, clearing the image from the display. "There really isn't much information here. It's a bit more specific, but basically it's just what Leia told me. It breifly mentions that she died during a rock climbing accident four years after she retired from her position as senator." Luke shut off the datapad and set it on the table.

"I don't know what to tell you, kid. Like I said, I don't know much about these things."

"That's okay, Han. You've helped a lot already." Luke stood and turned toward the door. "I've got a few things to do, I'll see you later, Han."

"Sure thing, kid."

As soon as Luke had left, Han finished the kid's drink and pured himself another. Joking aside, the smuggler was definitely getting tired of everybody's long-lost relatives showing up all the time. What was the galaxy coming to?