Author note: SUCCESS! I have found a picture of Lady Malus! If you want to see it, then just send a review with your e-mail address and I can e-mail you with mywebsiteaddress. I would say it in here, but because I am only using word pad, it won't let me put in funny lil symbols! Stupid thing! Anyways, you will find a link that says 'The Ties that Bind Us', click it and then you should be asked whether you want to read the story, or view the gallery. Needless to say, she is in the gallery part, along with Lord Vader, Anakin and Obi-Wan, the Chancellor, Commander Cody, Commander Logan and hopefully many more characters, when I have the time to add more!
I found the pic accidentally when I was looking for pics of Padme for another part of the website, and before you ask, I can't remember where I found it now! Oh well! LOL!
(-o-)
"I warned you not to underestimate the Jedi! You should have killed her when you had the chance! Now they know our secret!" The new Emperor growled. He may only be a clone of the former Sith Lord, but he was just as scary and Malus, Dooku, Sidious, Logan and Cody shrank away in fear. They were the only remaining ranking clones, seeing as Vader and Maul had been arrested by the Jedi. The attack had greatly reduced the number of Rogues left, leaving the building a smouldering wreck.
"How are we supposed to carry on with two of our leaders gone and our troops reduced to 50,000?" Malus inquired and Logan, who was standing behind him, thought that he had been named well, for that was just the sort of remark Lady Malus would have said.
Logan bowed his head, suddenly feeling guilty for turning on his mistress like that. She had trusted him and he had let her down.
Well, we belong to the Republic, not the Jedi, and our orders were to exterminate them. She saved her own skin by helping us, then turned against us when the danger had passed. She is the traitor. He managed to talk himself out of feeling guilty and looked back up intime to see the Emperor stand. He bowed low, along with all the other clones and waited ntil he had left the room before standing up straight again.
"So what do we do now?" Cody wondered and the other's shrugged.
"Well, Sidious should be incharge seeing as he was second in command," Malus suggested, but Sidious shook his head.
"Please don't call me that anymore."
"What?"
"Sidiuos. I don't want to be called that anymore."
"Why not?"
"Well, he's called Sidious isn't he. We can't have two Sidious' running around."
The other clones saw his point. "So what shall we call you?" Cody asked.
"I kinda like the name Jango, you know, after the bounty hunter we were cloned after."
"Jango?...Yeah I suppose," Dooku said, cocking his head to one side and staring at Sidious through the lens of his helmet. "You do look like him."
Sidious...or Jango now, bit back a snappy comment and looking around saw that the others were doing the same. Dooku must have been dropped on his head when he was released from the cloning pod.
(-o-)
"DAD CAN WE COME DOWN NOW?" a voice called from the twins bedroom.
It was a few hours later and Anakin had completely forgotten about the twins because in his struggle to get down, Luke had managed to kick the door closed and no-one had heard a peep out of them since. Han, who was staying with them for the time being, had gone to look around the rest of the apartment, leaving Padme and Anakin alone in the living room.
Anakin glanced at Padme and saw that she had rasied her eyebrows at him.
"Anakin Skywalker, did you hang your children on the coat hooks again?" She asked in a tone that Anakin had heard many times before when he was in trouble.
"No!" he lied quickly, but she didn't look convinced. Sitting back and folding her arms she raised her eyebrows at him.
"Really? Then why are they asking if they can 'get down' now?"
"I dunno. I'll go and see," Anakin said, hurrying towards their room before Padme could say another word on the matter.
Luke and Leia appeared a moment later looking thouroughly fed up, adjusting their collars and mumbling under their breath. Padme smiled at Anakin in a 'you'll pay for that later' kind of way, then got up to make dinner. Anakin slumped back on the couch and switched on the holo-tv as Han came back from his exploring. He spotted Leia over in one corner trying to fix her saber with the new part Anakin had given her in order to keep her from blabbing to Padme about what he had done.
Han decided that she was still not approachable at this time, so he made a bee-line for the kitchen instead.
"Can I help with anything?" he offered and Padme looked up from the chopping board.
"Not unless you can peel onions without crying. That's the one thing I can't do. Anakin always has to do it, but I'm not in the mood to honour him with the pleasure of being able to do something that I can't," she said, stabbing the piece of chicken a little too hard and getting the knife stuck in the chopping board.
"I can try?" Han offered, and when at last Padme nodded, he took the onions over to another chopping board, took a knife from the block and began to cut. He had never cut onions before, but Padme had already attempted to do one, so he saw how she wanted them cut.
Everything was going fine until Han's eye became a little itchy. He rubbed it and carried on, then howled in pain, slapping his hands over his eyes. Tears streamed down his face and when Padme saw what had happened, she gave him a sympathetic smile, handing him a wet dishcloth that he slapped on his eyes and sighed with relief.
However, just as he removed the cloth to reveal his red and puffy eyes, a bleeper sounded in the front room. Padme and Han stuck their head round the door to see who was calling as Anakin answered it.
"Master Skywalker! Hurry!... The Temple is being attacked!... Hundreds of clones!..." Serena gasped and Padme saw her hologram bend over and try to catch her breath. Her robes had been ripped in several places suggesting she had been in a violent struggle with someone.
"We'll be right there!" Anakin said, jumping to his feet. Padme ran into the front room and pulled on her robe aswell as Luke and Leia looked up from what they were doing.
"Han, stay here and take care of the kids, please?" Padme asked him and he knew from the urgent tone of her voice not to argue.
"But Mum, we want to come with you. We are jedi after all!" Luke protested. Padme knew that refusing to let him come would break his heart, but he was only a child.
"I'm sorry Luke. How can Leia fight anyway when you broke her lightsaber?" she said softly and Luke scowled.
"I didn't break it on purpose, she wouldn't let me use it."
"Well you have your own, why would you want to use hers?" Anakin asked as Padme fastened her belt tighter and made for the door.
"We want to come!" Luke shouted and Padme turned to look at Anakin.
"I'm not happy about his life being in danger!" she insisted but Anakin raised his eyebrows at her.
"He's a Jedi Padme. He'll have to fight someday, you can't keep him locked up forever."
"But what about Leia?"
"I'll stay here mummy. I don't trust him to stay alone in our house!" she piped up, jamming the two halves of her saber back together again.
Padme opened her mouth to protest, saw the look on Luke's face, realised there wasn't much time left and sighed.
"He's your padawan!" she said to Anakin and Anakin nodded to Luke who punched the air in excitement and followed them out of the door, grinning madly at the fact that he was finally going on a mission with his Dad.
As the door closed, Han turned to Leia.
"I guess it's just you and me then kid!" he sighed, slumping down on the sofa and switching on the tv, something he hadn't been able to do in a long time.
"Panda!" she mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Leia said innocently, not making eye contact with him. Han shrugged and went back to watching the news which was all about the temple.
Leia glared at him for a moment, then carried on mending her saber, determined to join in the fight as soon as it was fixed.
