Chapter 9: Family Outfit
The next week went by as a blur to Leia. She hardly ever saw Luke or Han. Han was out with Lando, gambling no doubt, and Luke was busy making preparations for the Jedi Temple. He spent hours in the library looking up designs from the original temple, which had been torn down during the reign of the Emperor. Leia felt immensely lonely, and spent time wandering around the apartment looking for something to do. One morning, R2 bumped into her gently. He stuck the diary out of a slot in front of him. Leia smiled.
"Thanks, R2. Maybe I will read a little bit today. I've been too busy to do so lately," she said to the friendly astrodroid. She picked up the diary, and curled up on a chair.
Today we visited Mother and Father, and Sola. Pooja and Ryoo were thrilled to see R2 again. I had forgotten that I used to take him with me when I visited. Poor R2 though, they ran around him, screaming and laughing, the poor little druid must have gotten so dizzy and tired trying to keep up with the two of them. I can't believe how big Pooja and Ryoo are getting too! It seems like forever since the last time I saw them.
Mother and Father loved Anakin, but I'm not so sure it that's good or bad. He told them how much danger I'm really in, despite my wishes not to tell them that. They have more important things to worry about than me! Anyway, while we were eating, Sola told Anakin about a man that refused to eat Mother's cooking, and how she dragged him back home. And Anakin, still having that little boy attitude, asked, "To feed him, or to kill him?" That really broke the ice for all of us. Everyone at the table started to laugh, and I could tell that Anakin liked the attention.
Sola, of course, had to go and ruin it, by calling Anakin my boyfriend! Later in the kitchen, I was talking to Mother and Sola while Anakin and Father were talking in the garden. Sola kept going on and on about Anakin likes me, and she could tell by the way he looks at me. She's so horrible! She wants me to give up my life as a Senator, settle down, and get married. I can't though. My life is the Senate and politics. It's been that way for years, and I'm not about to change it!
That afternoon, Anakin helped me to pack a few of my belongings in my room. He was surprised that I still live at home, but I really don't. I move around all the time, my parent's house is just the one place I can go to and feel like I'm actually at home, and I explained that to Anakin. He then told me that he hasn't been home in years, home to him is with his Mother. I feel like I should do something about Shmi, but I don't know what. I must go now, Anakin wants to get to the Lake Country before dark.
-Padme Amidala
Senator from Naboo
Leia closed the diary, and rounded on R2 who was sitting quietly in a corner. She had never been so mad at him! Come to think of it, she couldn't remember ever being mad at him.
"You know where my Mother's family lives? Why didn't you tell us?" she demanded. The little robot tottered backwards, beeping and squealing. A little slip of paper stuck out of slit on his front.
"You never asked," it read. That was it, Leia was furious.
"I never asked? How was I supposed to know in the first place? You never even told me that you belonged to my parents. I always thought that you were Dad's, from the Clone Wars or something; a prize of sorts. I want you to tell me exactly where my family lives on Naboo," she said slowly. Reluctantly, R2 beeped, and gave Leia another piece of paper. It gave the location of her Mother's nieces.
"Thank you R2. I'll give the location to Han in the morning."
The next morning, Leia gave Han the piece of paper. He admitted that he had never been to Naboo, but could easily find the location.
"Leia, where did you get the location? It looks like a computer printed it up," Luke asked as Han began to start the ship.
"R2. He belonged to Mother and Father. He knew where our family lives," explained Leia. Not much in the mood for talking, she opened up the diary, and looked at the drawing of her Mother.
Padme had on a blue top that just covered her chest, and a matching floor length skirt. Her hair was curled and in a ponytail with a thick light blue head band. Next to the drawing was a drawing of a white cape with light blue patterns, and panels of light blue fabric. The cape looked a lot like the one Leia had worn when she and Luke had gone to visit Watto.
"Okay, here we are," Han said at last. Leia stowed away the diary, and looked out of the window in the cockpit. Naboo was a beautiful planet full of life and color. It was different than the drab colorless Tatooine, and the busy Coruscant.
"It's beautiful. I can't believe we're finally here," Leia said quietly more to herself than to Han and Luke. She then turned to Luke. "You ready to do this?" Luke nodded.
"Yes. I'm ready to get some answers," he said. Leia wrapped the blue cape that had been her Mother's around her shoulders.
"Han, are you coming or not?" she asked him as she began to walk down the ramp. Han shook his head.
"Don't feel like it. I'll be here working on this hunk of junk," he replied. Leia shrugged.
"We'll be back later today. If we're running late, we'll let you know. R2, are you going to stay with him?" R2 beeped a reply, and scooted alongside her.
"I take it that's a yes," Luke said with a smile. Leia smiled weakly in reply. She had faced so many things in her life, so many dangerous things, and now she was deathly afraid to visit her long lost family. Luke, using the Force seemed to understand what Leia was going through.
"Don't worry about it. Things will be fine. We're on her home planet. How bad can things get here?" Leia looked at her brother as they walked down the street.
"Luke, I got an idea a few days ago. Mother seemed to have a fair amount of decoys and handmaidens. Some of them must be still alive. Her family might not know a whole lot, but the handmaidens might know more. We should try and find a few of them. You know, just to talk to them and get some answers I figured we should do it now, since they're most-likely from Naboo too."
Luke and Leia stopped in front of a small clay house. Out front were some potted plants. Taking a deep breath, the siblings made their way up the steps to the front door. Leia knocked briskly on the door.
"One minute, please!" a female voice called out from the inside. Leia chewed on her bottom lip as they waited. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, and there stood a woman only a few years older than her. She had curly blonde hair, and a kind, round face. The woman didn't seem to recognize Luke and Leia right away. Her expression changed, however, when she saw R2.
"R2? What are you doing here? I never thought that I would see you again," she said, now very confused. The woman then stood up, and looked at Luke and Leia. A wave of emotions overcame her when she realized who exactly was standing in front of her.
"Oh my! We were told that she died before she could give birth! Please, please come in," the woman said before ushering Luke, Leia, and R2 inside.
The inside of the house was very cozy. Leia could see why her Mother liked to come home to visit every once in a while. Luke and Leia sat on the couch while the woman sat on a chair across from them.
"I guess we're family," she said after a few minutes of silence. "My name is Ryoo. Your Mother was my Aunt."
Luke asked, "How did you know who we were even though we didn't introduce ourselves?" Ryoo smiled.
"You look exactly like your parents. I don't know if anyone told you that though."
"Luke that would explain Watto's reaction to me on Tatooine. He must have thought that I was Mother."
"So she did name her son Luke. Mom and Aunt Padme talked about names if she should ever settle down. Do you mind if I guess your name?" Leia shrugged. She was actually learning a lot from Ryoo. "Is your name Leia?"
"Yes, Luke and Leia. We're sorry that we didn't send you a message that we were coming. We've been busy lately." Ryoo shook her head. Her bouncy curls flew all over the place.
"No, no. You're family. You don't have to worry about telling me that you're coming. Now, what can I do for you both?"
"We would like to know a little about our parents. See, Leia found our Mother's diary, and now we'd like to know more," replied Luke.
"You found her diary? Do you have it with you? Could I look at it for just a minute?" Leia shook her head.
"I'm very sorry, but I left it on the ship. As soon as I am done looking through it, you're more than welcome to read through the whole thing. That way you can take your time." A smile broke out across Ryoo's face.
"Oh, thank you! I didn't get to see Aunt Padme a lot, and after the Clone Wars started, we saw less and less of her. My Mom, Sola had a feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure it out. We found out that she was pregnant at her funeral, some time to find out, right? It was that Senator, the one from Alderann." Leia immediately looked up.
"Bail Organa. His name was Bail Organa. He and his wife were my adoptive parents," she said.
"Then I know that you were raised with a loving family around you. Anyway, it was Senator Organa that told us what we already thought. Padme had been pregnant, but he told us that she had died before they could save the babies. A boy and a girl. We were also told that the Father, her husband was the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. I remember when Aunt Padme brought Anakin home with her. They were on their way to the Lake Country, and stopped by to pick up some clothes. We all loved Anakin right away, and my Mom could tell that he liked her. My Grandparents knew more about the Jedis than I did, and told me that they couldn't fall in love when I asked them if he and Aunt Padme were in love. We were very surprised when we found out that Anakin was behind almost everything going on." Luke shook his head.
"I was there when my Father died. I could have saved him, and we could have made things right, but he wouldn't let me. The ship was blowing up. We were both weak from attacks by the Emperor. Father told me that he wanted to see me with his own eyes. His dying words were that I had saved him. He realized what he was doing was wrong, but it was almost too late."
"I just don't get why he did this. It's still a mystery to everyone around us. Why did Darth Vader become like he did," said Ryoo.
"That's a story for another day, I guess. Ryoo, I have one more quick question for you, and then I am afraid that we must be on our way," Leia said.
"You're leaving so soon? Will you come back?"
"Of course we will. We have a lot of work to do though. Luke just got permission from the Senate to rebuild the Jedi Temple, so that's our next task."
"I will have to come and see it one day then. What was your question, Leia?"
"It seems from what I have read so far that my Mother had quite a few decoys and handmaidens. Do you know where any of them are? If you just have their names, then that would be enough to start a search." Ryoo smiled.
"There was one handmaid that Aunt Padme was best friends with. She was fond of all of them, but this one was different. She had been with her since she was Queen of Naboo. Her name was Dorme."
"Yes, I've read quite a lot about her. Is she still alive? Do you know where I can find her?" Ryoo got up.
"Yes, I do. You're quite lucky. Dorme was devastated by Aunt Padme's death, but kept in close touch with the family." Ryoo began to scribble on a scrap of paper. "Here you go. She'll probably recognize you; make sure you tell her that I sent you." Leia took the piece of paper and looked at it.
"This is nearby. We could probably go their today," she said to Luke. Luke looked at the paper.
"I guess we could. Han doesn't look like he's going anywhere anytime soon." They both stood up, and gave their cousin a hug.
"You'll have to come and visit us too. My husband and I are moving here for a while, but you must come to Coruscant with us. Just let us know when."
"If it's not a burden, I'd like to go back with you the next time you leave." Leia smiled.
"I don't know when we'll be returning, but I'll be sure to give you some sort of warning."
"Thank you so much." With that, Luke and Leia left. Their next task was to find Dorme, Padme's best friend it looked like.