Okay, all. I am back with another chapter. I'm going to fire Fred, I think. First he inspires me to add more to this story, then he leaves on a long weekend before it is finished. I'm sorry my updates are so erratic in coming. Please bear with me and keep in mind that this was only two chapters long, originally. I'm making the rest up as I go along.
I am long winded today, so If you want to skip the review replies and get right to the story, I put a bar between my replies and the actual chapter, so you can find it easy.
I'm not sure if I like the new editors here or not. It isn't saving my seperating marks, although now it seems to be holding my carriage returns. I used bars instead and I don't like the way tehy look. Who knows? You'll have to bear with me while I figure out the best way to work this. It's either that or wait until I learn it before you get another chapter. :-)
To all those who reviewed...
k00lgirl1808: Always great to hear from you! You're always the first to review my updates and that means a lot to me. Thank You!
SSG Michael B Jackson: As always, you flatter me! My thoughts with Leia were that she hasn't seen her mother since she was very young, I'm thinking maybe three or four. Considering, the last she knew her mother was dead, in the shock of seeing her again, I would think she would revert momentarily to childish phrases. My only hold up was that I have no idea what the very young on Alderaan call their parents. (If anyone has any ideas, I'm game!) I grew up with a Mommy and a Daddy, myself. Some of my friends had a Momma. I'm sure there are many others, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. I picked the one that seemed to fit the best out of the things I could come up with at the time.
I'm glad to hear it doesn't quite fit, though. I will watch that in the future.
Rev042175: Aw, give them some bonding time before they start opening old wounds will ya? :-) That was a joke. I did want to give them a Happy moment, they've got some serious issues coming up. Don't worry though, the Vader issue is still coming. Leia is not going to just let this sit. Oh, and I'm glad you are looking forward to Naboo. I've got some seriously sinister things planned for the poor planet. :-)
Jokerisdaking: Sorry, I thought it was clear. Padme already knows pretty much everything that happened during the trilogy. She was keeping a distant eye on Luke and Leia the whole time and the events on the Death Star are pretty much common knowledge. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you are enjoying this!
Kazzy: I love the long reviews, you make me think about waht I'm writing so I can respond intelligently. Okay, first things first, yes, Mike was talking about the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, and his E-mail told me almost workd for word the same thing yours did. :-) I think I'll take both of your advice and forget about it. :-)
What was your impression of Amidala? Yes, most of my POV is slanted by a lack of information. My education comes mostly from the public library and here in the Bible Belt scifi books are out numbered ten to one by quilting books! I'm still not sure why because I only know a couple of people who actually quilt. Anyway, I figured Amidala was the type of personality a young Leia would look up to. She was brave, strong, and she fought agaist all odds to protect her people. Plus, I was going for that whole 'the force works in mysterious ways and indirectly directed Leia to Amidala' thing. :-)
I'm glad Kerine is going over so well. She started as, well, wallpaper. I really can't write Padme well without a 'handmaiden' character around so I put Kerine in. Kerine, although I won't go into it much, sees people for who they are and she recognised Padme as a good person and so she has devoted her life to the former queen. As for the rest of the galaxy, they won't show up much in this story. Just Naboo for now, and well, you'll find out about that soon enough.
I had heard that the last ruler was a king, but I didn't know if it was 'official' or not. What I read was that he was "Retired" for some white collar crime like Embezzaling and ended up dying under mysterious circumstances in a government supllied palace in the mountains. The impression was given that Palpatine was responsible for the entire thing and he did it to get Padme into office because he thought he could control her. I am choosing to selectively ignore bits of Naboo history, however, because I wasn't sure of their valididty and because they didn't fit my story. :-)
I truly don't know much about the time of the Prequels so you'll have to forgive my errors. I fell asleap three times during the novelization of TPM and pretty much gave up on it after that. I don't know how anyone could make such a story so terribly dull! Fortunately, I have no intention of focusing on the past so hopefuly I won't offend anyone too much.
As for Naboo's acceptance of Padme, well the phrase Beloved Queen pretty much sums it up. I don't know any but the most general information on the political structure of the planet, so I'll be making that up too.
Oh, and I know nothing about starting a campaign, but I'll gladly offer my support in what ever way I can! :-)
owphoenix: Glad to hear from you! I love everyone who reviews, and I need all the encouragement I can get! Thankyou!
Sorrow Multiplied
Chapter 5
"Your Majesty, I must leave. My husband has traced me to this place. I cannot, in good conscience, place you and your family in danger this way." Padmè was inside Bail Organa's Palace on Alderaan. Vader had finally traced her to this place, as she'd long known he would. The man, no, the monster, was ruthless but determined. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
Bail spoke from his throne in the main audience chamber. It was an unconscious intimidation tactic but Padmè was one who would not be fooled by such things. She'd often used these very same means in her roles as Queen and Senator. The grandois chambers could not distract her from her goal. "Vader would not dare to invade us. Even if he has found you, you will be safe here."
Padmè shook her head, making her beaded braids jingle softly. "You do not know him as I do. He will stop at nothing to posses me. I will not be captured. There are too many who can be harmed with the knowledge I posses. I fear I would not withstand an interrogation by Vader.
"Your fears are well founded, Amidala. But surely there is another way..."
"We are no longer headed for dark times, Your Majesty, the Darkness is here. It colors everything across the galaxy. So far, Alderaan has been immune to the disease, but it will not remain so if Vader comes here. The only way to prevent that is for me to leave."
"Surely he will just follow you. It would be suicide for you, then he will come here anyway. If she tells him you left, if she speaks to him of you at all..." Bail trailed off, knowing how disastrous it would be for Vader to speak to his daughter at all.
Padmè lowered her head, her sorrow wighing heavily on her shoulders. "If I am to protect... those closest to me, I must disappear completely. Thank the skies that no one had figured out who I am here. That will make it easier for them to forget me."
Bail's face took on a stricken look at the thought that anyone could forget the mighty Queen Amidala so easily. It was unthinable that even her daughter would not know. She saw the look and laughed wryly. The sound was chilling and the cynical note froze Bail to the core.
"Your naievete is charming, Bail. I have done things that I would far rather were forgotten. It truly is better this way. I will fade away, become a footnote in history. Perhaps if I disappear, my sins will not haunt her. She will be able to live her life withough any shadows, as your daughter. She will never be known as the decendent of the woman who created Vader. She will never know the shame of standing by and allowing this Empire to be created."
With each syllable, her voice had dropped and the last words were spoken in a near whisper. Bail stood and crossed the room to offer her what ever support he could. "This is not your burdon to carry, Amidala. If any of us are to blame, we all are. Any of us could have stopped this, could have stopped him, before it got this far. Most of us were too wrapped up in our own little squabbles to worry about the bigger picture."
Wrapping her slight frame in a friendly hug, the larger man offered what condoleces a friend could. Padmè was gratefull for the support, but refused to cry. She hadn't cried since the night he'd left her and she wasn't going to start now, in the company of friends. "Am I having delusions of grandeur again?"
Bail smiled at her attempt at levity and smothed back her braids. Despite being nearly thirty, she looked very much like a child in adults clothing. Bail Organa had known her since they were both young and yet he could only remember a few, rare moments when she'd actually appeared young. This woman had always been the image of strength, but recently a certain innocence had surrounded her. The innocence of grief and loss would make anyone appear a lost youth, he had finally surmised.
"We all have those moments, dear Amidala. That's why we have friends."
Padmè pulled away and he released his hold on her. "Speaking of friendship, I have a favor to ask you."
"Anything." The current monarch told the former one, wondering when this had turned from a formal audience to a meeting between old friends.
"Tell her I've died." Padm's face became hard, serious. "She's old enough to understand it and young enough to accept it. If she thinks I'm dead she'll accept my disappearence and your guardianship. With time, I will fade and you and Sachè will become her parents. If the force is with us, she'll not want to speak of me."
"And she won't mention her dead birth mother to Vader or anyone else by accident. I understand. And I think I can help with that part too."
Padmè stood on tip-toe to kiss his cheek. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd walk to Naboo." He told her firmly. "That is where you are going to meet him, isn't it?"
"Yes... But I couldn't take one of your ships..."
"Of course not, you're not a good enough pilot. I've found you a ride though. An old smuggler friend of mine named Redge is looking for a copilot, a pretty, human, female, copilot would make him exstatic."
Shock twisted her features. "Bail Antilles you should be ashamed of yourself..."
"Really, Amidala, where is your mind! When I said Redge was an old friend, I meant he was an old friend. He just likes for other people to think he's still got... charm. I would never set you up for something like that and you should know better."
Padmè looked appropriately rebuked. "My apologies. I do know you better than that. So this friend of yours is going to take me to Naboo?"
"Well, if you want to you can stay on as his permanent copilot. You won't have any control over what people think of you but..."
"But sometimes it's best to let them make up your cover story. I suppose I might as well. I really don't have any other plans. Do you think he'd be willing to stop by Tatooine on the way?"
Bail winked at her. "He will if that's where part of his most recent cargo is supposed to go."
"Good. I need to stop by and see an old friend." Padmè squared her shoulders. "I've already paked the few things I am taking with me, when can I meet my new employer?"
"Tonight, if you like. I can have the cargo loaded in a couple hours and If I tell him it's a rush job he'll take his alcohol to go."
Nodding sharply, she agreed. "As soon as possible then. Bail?"
He focused on her when she spoke his name. "What is it, Padmè?"
"Take care of her, please? Raise her to believe all the things we were supposed to believe in. Teach her the things we forgot so many times. Would you do this for me?"
"Of course, Padmè."
The former Queen smiled sadly, an expression she would wear far too often over the next few years. "Thank you. One day, if the force is with her, she will end this nightmare and save us all."
They made plans to meet on Padm's ship the next day. The former queen had not been anywhere near Naboo since her "death" and she had no idea what to expect. Her home planet had pretty well disappeared shortly after Palpatine declared himself emperor. There hadn't even been any newsbytes from the planet in over twenty years. Padmè could only imagine what was going on there. She had seved as ruler of Naboo for years and had spoken for it's people in the galactic senate, but the planet's mysterious seclusion had her baffled. Ignoring the possibility that the Vader or Palpatine could have had something to do with it, she was finally returning in hopes that something of her home remained.
It wasn't that she thought the planet destroyed, not in the sense that Alderaan had been, but who could know what the people there had been put through. Flashbacks of the Trade Federation's invasion of her homeworld kept running through her brain. Images of concentration camps, interrogation droids, flashes of people she cared for screaming in twisted agony swirled in front of her like some mad man's fantasy brought to life. If the Trade Federation could have done such things to her people, under their own will power, what could Vader and Palpatine have done, under the influence of the Dark Side? What would such atrocities have done to her people?
No, such thoughts were best left to another time, another place. The simplest reasons were usually correct, after all. Most likely her home had simply cut itself off to avoid being noticed. The past few years had been a nightmare, a living terror for most of the galaxy. Naboo had just seen it coming and done their best to avoid it, much the same way she, herself, had.
Pulling herself out of this thought loop, Padmè focused ont he controls in front of her. They wold be arriving in Naboo's system soon. She'd spent the entire trip so far telling her children how wonderful her home planet had been. Both twins had sat, enraptured, as she told the tales of Theed, and the lake country where she had spent her summers. She flatly refused to believe she was trying to make up for lost time when she spent hours detailing the house in the mountain country where she'd grown up.
The blinking navicomp brought her back to the moment again and she reached for the controls. Kerinè was quietly waiting for Padmè to give her instructions and Luke and Leia sat behind the two of them, waiting for their first view of Naboo.
Padmè directed the ship out of Hyperspace and, out of habit, had the navicomp do the calculations to jump back to lightspeed in case they neded to make a quick get away. When she realised what she'd done, she flushed and winced a bit, but when she looked back to se if her children had noticed, Leia's face was blank and Luke just nodded wisely. They had both noticed and had aparently done the same thing at some point. Turning back to the controls, she saved the data the naviconp gave her and reached for the comms.
"Naboo control, this is Raven Maiden, come in control."
The seconds it took for control to respond were pure torture. She almost believed, for an instant, that there would be no one there to answer. Then, a miracle happened.
"Raven Maiden, this is Naboo control. Is that you Redge?"
"Who's Redge?" Leia asked from the back seat.
Padmè turned to her sadly. "The kindest smuggler in the galaxy. I inherited this ship from him." She turned back to the comms. "Negative, control. This is his neice. I'm afraid Uncle Redge didn't make it back."
There was a burst of static, then, "Sorry to hear that hon, he was a good man."
Grinning, she replied, "Hey, just cause the man's dead, that's no reason to ruin his reputation!"
"Too right, my apologies. Where you headed?"
"Theed. Can you get me clearance?"
The voice on the other end hesitated for a moment. "Done. Raven Maiden, you are cleared to land in bay 117, Theed spaceport. Can I meet you for a drink once you're down?"
"Look me up in a couple of days. I got company."
"Will do! Control over and out." The voice on the other end said enthusiastically.
Luke spoke up from the back seat as she piloted the ship down the the planet. "Who's 'Uncle Redge?'"
"He was a very kind man who helped me hide after I faked my own death. He wasn't really my uncle, of course, but I called him that as sort of a cover." She smiled wryly. "Uncle Redge was an old man when I met him, far to old to have truly been my uncle. Most of the people who met me thought I was, well, his companion. I think Redge liked the idea that people thought that. At any rate, that was a safe thing for people to think. As long as they thought I was with him, they weren't thinking about other things or comparing me to old wanted posters." Padmè sighed thoughtfully.
"Apparently Redge made it to Naboo often enough to have made some friends here. I didn't know that." She shook herself mentally and smiled widely at her companions. "Well, are you ready to land?" The question was rhetorical, but everyone nodded just the same.
Flying low over the city, Padme was surprised to see it much the same as she had left it. It seemed the war hadn't made much of an impact on her home town at all. There was her favorite museum, and there was Theed Palace, in all it's glory. The streets were still planted with gardens and the stuning archetecture that had made the city famous long ago remained unmarred. She made the ship drop steeply as they approched the spaceport and she managed to drop the light freighter into it's berth with practiced ease.
She turned her chair around and regarded her children, who both seemed to be delighted. "Well, we're here." I don't know what we'll do now, she thought silently, but we're here.
"This city is beautiful!" Leia exclaimed, unfastening her saftey restraints. "I can't wait to get a closer look." Luke, who had stood at almost the same time, stopped her with a hand upon her shoulder.
"Leia, wait a moment."
She saw the intense look in his eyes and froze in place. He'd worn the same look the night he'd told her about her 'inheritance.' "Luke, what is it?"
"I hate to ruin the moment, but something has occured to me." He hesitated and Leia knew he didn't like what he was about to tell her. "People here are going to recognize Mother. She was their queen for two terms and their representative to the senate for several years. The people here also know who Father was..."
He trailed off and Leia sank back to her seat. "I hadn't thought of that..."
"If I may interrupt," Kerinè spoke up, "Am I to understand that you don't want the general public to know that you are related to the man who became Darth Vader?" At their nods, she continued. "Then your problem is solved. The people of Naboo do not know that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader."
Leia looked up in surprise and Padmè nodded quickly. "She's right, she usually is. Aside from those you two have told, everyone who knows about Ani is either dead or sitting in this room."
Luke corrected her. "Actually, most everybody on Coruscant knows who my father was. I can't imagine why the news hasn't travelled any farther than that yet. It's Leia no one knows about."
The former pricess had buried her face in her hands and was sobbing quietly. Luke knelt and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.
"Leia, it will be okay. We'll figure this out."
She hiccoughed loudly. "No, it won't be. My Mother is really, (hic) trully, alive and I can't even tell anybody."
Leia shook her head and Padmè wanted to cry for her. This was what Anakin had been talking about. Her daughter refused to recognize her father and that was tearing her up inside. She loved her brother, and now her mother, but she couldn't get past the hatred of Vader. The only trouble was, the former queen had no idea what to do. Instead of acting, she stood back and allowed Luke and Leia some space.
Luke's face set, his features showed determination when he next spoke. "We won't tell them about Father. We'll do what we've been doing. You can tell every one that Mom is just your Mother." He looked up to the woman in question, as if to ask permission.
"What ever you think is best, Luke. I abandoned you both, I don't deserve any say in your lives."
"That's not fair to you Luke, not to you and not to Mom." Leia looked up at them with tears still running down her face. "Besides, they know about Father. They know about mother and he (hic) being married. The wedding was right here on Naboo. If I'm related to Mother..." She wiped her palms across her cheeks fiercely and sniffled.
Kerinè knelt in front of the young woman and handed her a kerchief. In that moment, the girl was all Leia could see or hear. The rest of the world faded away leaving her thinking clearer than it had been in a very long time. "It may not be my place to intterupt, but it sounds to me as if you have a decision to make. In my experience most people do not get the option of choosing their relatives, you are in a unique situation, Princess. You can choose to claim only your adopted family or your biological one. Families seem to be all or nothing though, and that makes the decision a difficult one."
Gazing into the clear, almost white, blue eyes in front of her, Leia had a moment of insight. "What would you do?"
The younger woman smiled and bowed her head briefly. "Your adopted family, though their past is clean, are dead. Your biological family may not be perfect, but they are surrounding you now. I have never had a family, for me there would be no decision to make. I would want to be with my loved ones."
Leia forced a smile and blotted her eyes. "I thought that is what you would say." Leia looked up at her brother, who was now standing, and her mother. "Let's go enjoy ourselves, the rest of the galaxy be damned."
Luke grinned and Padmè thought her heart would burst. Her daughter was willing to claim Darth Vader, just to be with her! Who could ask for a better homecoming than that?
Han Solo slammed his fist into the controls. Several buttons were pushed at once and the recorder rewound and played Leia's message one more time.
"Han; Luke, Mother, and I are going to her home planet for a few days. We'll all be back before too long. I would have come tell you in person, but we are leaving right away." Until now, the former princess had been speaking matter of factly, now her face came alive. "Luke told me he went to see you, can you believe it? She's still alive!" Leia was positively gleeful. "It is so wonderful, I can't wait for you to meet her."
Luke's voice could be heard from off screen but it was impossible to make out the words. "I have to go Han, I love you."
The message ended again and this time the screen went blank. The old pilot ran one hand through his hair and considered the ramifications of punching the console again. After a moment he decided it only had one more good hit in it. He decided not to waste that on his own foolishness.
It was his own fault, really. If he would just make up his mind and ask her, he wouldn't be left wondering everytime something came up and one of them left. Now he was stuck on Coruscant with no place to go, and no reason to stay. For all he knew, she would never be back to him...
Han cut off that line of thinking before it could get a hold on him. Yes, she was gone, but she would be back. He didn't think he would be able to stand it if she didn't. The princess was irritating, abrasive, self absorbed, beautiful, kind, wonderful... and nothing like he had ever dreamed of. She was far from perfect but the old smuggler couldn't imagine ever being with anyone else.
But every time she left, he was sure she would find someone else, someone who was worthy of a princess. Someone who wasn't an out of work smuggler.
Han gave in and started pacing. He was sorely tempted to hit something or throw something else, but he resisted the temptation. The Falcon was in bad enough shape with out him breaking things. Running through his entire repetiore of swear words, Han marched into the lounge. Sitting on the holochess table was the datapad he and Luke had been using the day before. Han recalled the last article they had accessed and an image of Queen Amidala was displayed. Scrolling through the article, not really reading it, Han noticed the coordiantes were listed for Naboo. Staring at the series of numbers, he had a sudden epiphany and dashed for the cockpit. In minutes, he had filed a flight plan and gotten clearence form traffic control to take off.
Han Solo was not going to sit around and wait for her to come back to him, he was going to find her. And this time, he wasn't going to let her go until he'd asked her a question.