Title: Hiding From Darkness

Author: Kimberly

Beta Reader: Amanda

Summary: After Palpatine took control of the Senate and declared himself Emperor, Padme Skywalker flees for her life trying to escape from the Emperor and his right hand man, Lord Vader, but what will happen when the past catches up with her.

Disclaimer: I pretty sure that I own Star Wars but my psychiatrist says I don't so I think I need to go by what he says.

Chapter 6: Adjusting

            It had been three weeks since Padme and Sabe had arrived on Valar. They had finally started adjusting to their new life and were very thankful for having Elladan as a friend. Life kept going for them. They continued receiving some news of the happenings in the Empire. They heard that the price on Padme had gone up. They also heard that most of the escaped Jedi and Senators had been caught, but there were still a few who were not yet caught. Padme and Sabe had not heard from Obi-Wan since the time he contacted them to tell them to head to Valar. Both were worried at the lack of communication. They hoped that he hadn't been caught. They wouldn't know what to do if he was caught.

            Sabe was worried for Padme. She had noticed that she wasn't looking well recently. Sabe hadn't said anything to Padme about it yet, she thought it was probably just some cold she had caught and that she would get over it quickly, but as the days passed by, Padme didn't get better. Finally, one morning as the two were eating breakfast Sabe decided to bring it up.

            "Padme," she started, "I'm worried about you. I've noticed for the past week or so you haven't looked well at all. You barely eat anything and you spend most of your time locked in your room. What's wrong."

            "Don't worry Sabe. It's probably just some bug that I picked up here," Padme said.

            "That's what I thought at first to, but your not getting any better," Sabe said.

            "I promise, I'm alright. It's just the shock of everything that has happened in the past few weeks. I'll be ok," Padme said.

            "I think it would be a good idea if you went to see a doctor. Just to make sure everything's fine," Sabe said.

            "Sabe, really, I'm ok. I don't need to go see a doctor," Padme said.

            "If you're really fine then the doctor can prove that. What are you afraid of about going to the doctor," Sabe asked.

            "I'm not afraid about anything, I just don't think we should waste any money on a doctor when I don't need one," Padme said.

            "Money shouldn't be a problem. I've been searching for a job this past week and I think I may have found a good pay one that will hire me. Padme, please. Just go to the doctor, prove to me that I'm wrong. Prove to me that your really ok," Sabe pleaded.

            "Fine, I'll go see a doctor," Padme said in defeat.

            "Good. I'll go schedule you an appointment right now," Sabe said.

            Sabe got up from where she was sitting and went over to the communications pad in their apartment to contact a local doctor. Padme sighed, "Why is she so worried? There is nothing wrong with me," she said quietly so Sabe couldn't hear her.

            Sabe came back into the room in a few minutes with a smile on her face. Padme looked at her expectantly awaiting whatever news was making her so happy.

            "I was able to schedule you an appointment for later today. The doctor seems like a really nice person and would be happy to look you over," Sabe told her.

            "What time?" Padme asked.

            "Three o'clock this afternoon. The doctor said to get there about an hour earlier so you can fill out paper work and such," Sabe told her.

            "Is the doctor a man or woman," Padme asked.

            "Woman," Sabe said.

            "Well, I'm done eating," Padme said standing up and picking up her half full plate and brought it over to the sink to clean it off.

            "See what I mean, you're barely eating," Sabe said pointing out how much food was left on the plate.

            "I'm not that hungry," Padme told her, "I'll be in my room if you need me."

            "Ok, I'm probably gonna head out for a little while. I'll be back before it's time for you to leave for the doctors," Sabe told her.

            Sabe walked out the door, and starting walking towards the nearby park. When she got to the park you walked over to the railing of a bride that crossed over a small creek there. She sighed, gazing off into the distance only to be brought back to reality by the sound of a familiar voice.

            "Rachelle!" Elladan said walking up to her, "What are you doing out here?"

            "Oh, I just decided to go for a walk, give Pa..Helena some time to think," Sabe said almost forgetting that she and Padme had changed there names.

            "Is everything alright with Helena. She hasn't been looking too well recently," Elladan asked concerned for his new friend.

            "I don't know. I finally convinced her to go and see a doctor today. She may have caught something here. But part of me thinks it may have to do with everything she's been through recently, all the heartbreak she's suffered," Sabe said, trailing off at the end.

            "You two had a rough life before you came here, didn't you?" Elladan asked.

            "Yes, but mine seems so simple compared to Helena's. We used to live on Alderaan. She was always so happy there. Until The Clone Wars started. They changed everything. You see, right after The Clone Wars started, Padme and a life long friend got married. He of course had to go off and fight in the wars. During one of the last battles the republic fought, his ship crashed on another planet. They never found the ship or his body. They proclaimed him dead, but Helena wouldn't believe them. She always believed that he was still alive. She wouldn't let go, and it destroys her a little bit more each day," Sabe said.

            "I'm so sorry. I never knew someone's life could be filled with so much sadness. Is there anything I can do to help?" Elladan asked.

            "Just be there for her. I think she just needs friends who can help her get through everything right now," Sabe said.

            "I'll do that. So, why did you two leave Alderaan. I've always heard it was a beautiful and peaceful planet. Was it because of the declaring of the Empire?" Elladan aksed.

            "Actually that was why. It became too dangerous for us to live there. We had to escape some how, so we came here," Sabe said.

            "You're not telling me everything, are you," Elladan asked.

            "Why would you say that?" Sabe asked.

            "Well, there seems to be some holes in your story. Like you never say what you and Helena did for a living. You never really said why it was so dangerous for you to live on Alderaan. And it just seems like there is something missing from your story. Forgive me if I'm imposing," Elladan explained.

            "No, it's alright. You are right. I'm not telling you everything. It's too dangerous for us, we're new here and barely know who to trust and who to not trust. But I think we may have just found someone. How 'bout you stop by our place for dinner tonight. We can tell you more then," Sabe said.

            "I'll look forward to it," Elladan said.

            "Just come by around 6, everything should be ready then," Sabe told him.

            "I'll be there. Are you doing anything for lunch?" Elladan asked.

            "Nope, not yet. I'll probably just head back to my apartment, get something to eat there," Sabe told him.

            "Why don't I take you out for lunch somewhere. We could just talk, get to know each other better. We don't have to talk about your past at all. We could talk the whole time about me if you would like, or we could talk about whatever you want," Elladan suggested.

            "That would be nice. I'd love to," Sabe replied.

            "Good, now if you would just follow me, I will lead you to a nice restaurant," Elladan said.

            Elladan lead Sabe to a nice looking restaurant and got them a table. During the time they were sitting there and eating they talked about many things, but they stayed away from Sabe's and Padme's past. Sabe was having such good a time that she didn't realize how late it was getting. As she was sitting at the table she glanced at her watch, shocked at what time it was.

            "Oh my, I had better get going, it's already 2:15 and I need to make sure Padme gets to the doctor and doesn't miss the appointment on purpose," Sabe said getting up from the table.

            "Alright, I'll let you get on your way," Elladan said.

            "Thank you so much for lunch, and don't forget about tonight," Sabe said.

            "I won't, see you then," Elladan said and then watched Sabe leave.

            Sabe half walked and half ran back to the apartment. When she got there she quickly unlocked the door and stepped inside. She walked over to Padme's bedroom and door and knocked on it.

            "Padme are you ready to go?" Sabe asked.

            "Yeah," Padme said stepping out of her bedroom, "As ready as I'll ever be."

            "Let's get going," Sabe said.

            Sabe and Padme started the short walk towards the doctor's office. Along the way, Sabe told Padme about her meeting with Elladan and how she had invited him over for dinner that night and what she planned to tell him.

            "Are you sure that's wise. We really don't know him that well. Should we really be trusting him this much," Padme asked.

            "I think everything will be alright. I know we can trust him, he won't let us down," Sabe said, "Well, here we are."

            Padme and Sabe walked up to the front door of the office and stepped inside. They walked up to the receptionist at the front counter and got the paperwork they needed to fill out.

            "I've never noticed how much paperwork a person has to fill out until now," Sabe commented.

            They quickly got the information filled out and waited for the doctor to come and see them.

A/N: Yeah, I know, probably not a good place to stop the chapter, but I feel like making you guys wait to see what happens. I hope you liked this chapter! I'm so sorry that this took me so long to post. I've been so busy these last few weeks that I've had no time to work on this. Gosh, I hate one-word chapter titles. Why did I even decide to make all these chapter titles one-word? This has been the hardest chapter for me to name so far. Guess it's time to get out the dictionary. Anyway, please review.

Thanks to Reviewers:

kawaii Jen- I'm glad to know that you don't think that chapter wasn't too boring.

Kathy- I'm glad you love my story and I will definitely keep posting.