Chapter 39
A Gift of Japor

Vader wandered back into the apartment late that night. After being dismissed from the hanger for the day he'd swung by the cafeteria for dinner and then went to visit Obi-Wan. And then he'd talked to the older man about the amazing new Eta-2 until Obi-Wan was thoroughly sick of hearing about it.

Now, slightly weary from running all over the hanger all day, but not particularly sleepy, he slumped down onto the common room couch and tried to think of something to do. Normally, if Obi-Wan had been around, he would've bothered the older man until his Master decided to get him meditating. But Obi-Wan wasn't around to bother and he really didn't feel like meditating by himself. So what to do?

Scrabbling for ideas, Vader rolled off the couch and meandered into his room. It looked tidy enough at first glance, but if one were to look under his bed or in his closet they would find the first glance to be a lie. Deciding he'd let those two problem areas go for far too long, he set about cleaning them up.

His excavations under his bed produced some rather shocking things. The most disgusting of which had probably been a half-eaten sandwich at some point, but now was a pile of greenish fuzz that could probably give someone food poisoning just by looking at it. But aside from that, he also found some data chips he'd thought he'd lost, crumpled hard-copy notes from years ago, a few mismatched pairs of old dirty socks, and an ancient paper book he'd borrowed from the Archives for a history report two years ago and still not returned.

Cringing at the book discovery, he carefully set it aside, making a mental note to slip it back in the Archives as soon as possible. Preferably when Master Nu wasn't around to see him. If she caught him with such an old and overdue book, she might hurt him, or at least lecture his poor ear off.

After throwing away the Moldy Sandwich of Doom! and the other miscellaneous trash he'd discovered under his bed, he moved on to the closet. Most of the closet mess was ruined tunics and pants that he'd meant to fix, but never had and now none of them fit. But underneath all of that were…other things.

Once the old ruined clothes were piled off to the side for disposal, he stumbled over his old bag. He hadn't seen the beaten up old thing since his first year in the Temple (because after that point the mess in his closet had effectively buried it). And he hadn't gone through it since he'd tossed there on his first day here. He stared at it for a few minutes before hesitantly opening it up and sorting through its contents.

The first thing he pulled out were his old clothes. They were as ratty and musty as he remembered them being, and now they were utterly useless. He'd grown several inches since entering the Jedi Order and there was no way he could fit into his old clothing. Sighing, he added his old 'civilian' outfit to the pile of ruined Jedi robes to be thrown out. Making another mental note to find some new civilian clothes (just in case) he moved on to the next layer of things in his bag.

Next, he fished out his tool collection. His personal collection was stored in a smallish looking fold-up bag made from Dewback leather. Unfolding it, he gazed down upon his tools, a wide selection that went from wrenches to hydro-spanners and logic probes. He even had a small laser torch for cutting and welding. Each tool had its own loop inside the little bag and his quick glance-over confirmed that all tools were present and accounted for. Folding up the bag, he set it aside and dug deeper into his old pack.

Underneath the tools he found several small pouches. He carefully emptied each one out, took stock of the contents, and filled it back up. Each pouch contained a different type of currency, both Republic and non-Republic credits. Some of it he had come by legitimately, but most of it he had stolen early on in his flight from Dooku.

Buried under the money pouches was something that made him cringe. His old crimson-bladed saber, the one the Count had had him make. He lifted it out of the bag, trying to touch as little of it as possible. Why haven't I thrown this thing away yet? He wondered disgustedly.

Vader was about to bury it in the pile of clothes he was going to throw out when an idea struck him. He cracked the saber hilt open and began to poke around inside. When he came to the crystal, a blood-red gemstone, he popped it free and tossed it into the throw-away pile. Then he resealed the hilt and put it down, making yet another mental note, this time to pick up a new crystal. That way he could turn the old Sith hilt into a proper back-up saber in case anything happened to his current one.

Peering into the bag again, it appeared to be empty, but he poked around inside just to make sure. In the backpack's pockets he found a few used ticket stubs from flights he'd bought passage on and some old candy wrappers. But in one last tiny inside pocket, he found something he'd completely forgotten that he had.

It was wrapped up in a ragged scrap of cloth and if he hadn't bothered to unwrap it he might've thrown it out. He held it gently with his right hand and slowly ran the fingers of his left over the smooth surface and through the shallow, slightly rough grooves. After several minutes of lip-chewing contemplation, he wrapped it back up in its cloth and placed it in one of the empty pouches on his belt. Tomorrow, he decided.

With everything gone through, he carefully replaced the things he was going to keep back in the bag. Then he shoved the bag back into its little corner in his closet, hopefully not to be as thoroughly forgotten as it had been last time. And then he gathered up all his recently discovered garbage and threw it out before getting ready for bed.

I'll do it tomorrow, after hanger duty…

Padmé leaned against the burbling decorative fountain near the stairs that led nowhere at the back of her penthouse apartment. She trailed the fingers of one hand lazily through the cool water and stared blankly up through the glass ceiling of her common room. Above her the sky was a clear blue, unmarred by clouds or traffic since the cluster of apartment buildings reserved for Senators had a no-fly zone directly above it.

It had been a long day. Most of it had been taken up by a lengthy Senate session that ended with a lot of argument and the Supreme Chancellor gaining more emergency powers. And the rest had involved meetings with fellow Senators on the same committees she was on and piles of paperwork.

Now, though, she had nothing to do. She'd read all she'd needed to read, written all she needed to write, and spoken to all the people she'd needed to speak to. And now that she'd run out of work to do, she had no one to talk to.

Captain Typho was busy managing security. Ellé was shopping to replenish her kitchen. Moteé was on vacation back on Naboo. And Sabé was down with the Corellian Flu that had been going around. So for the moment, she was alone in her apartment with only her worries to occupy her.

Padmé sighed heavily and abandoned her fountain to go sit on her couch. She worried about a lot of things. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine continued to incrementally prove how wrong she was about him. It appeared that he only reluctantly was accepting the emergency powers he was granted, but she was getting a feeling that it was an act.

Then there was the war. She abhorred violence. She always felt that with enough time and effort any problem could be worked out without resorting to fists or blasters. And now the Republic she loved and served, the institution that was meant to prevent war and conflict, was now neck-deep in one. That bothered her immensely, not to mention the fact that millions were dying: clone, Jedi, and civilian alike.

And that brought her to Vader. She wasn't happy that the Jedi Order had decided to send him out again, so soon after losing Obi-Wan. He was nowhere near done grieving yet. After his impromptu sleepover on her loveseat, he'd come back to her apartment every afternoon that week after he'd finished working with his new guardian, Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi.

Each time he'd come over had been a little worse than the last time. He was a shell of his former self, hollow-eyed and numb. He would just wander in and sit on her couch or loveseat and stare blankly ahead. She and Sabé tried to cheer him up, as did Artoo when he was around, but it did no good. It broke Padmé's heart to see him that way; to see him suffering just like Obi-Wan had suffered when Qui-Gon had been killed only worse. Obi-Wan had been slightly more prepared to lose his Master, Vader was not.

But now Vader was gone, off trolling for pirates in the Varonat system. He was with Master Ki-Adi-Mundi and the Cerean Jedi's current Padawan, so he wasn't alone, physically anyway. But, then again with only other Jedi for company, he could very well feel alone emotion-wise. And so she worried.

Had her apartment not been so empty and quiet, she might've missed the faint hiss of an opening door. Since she wasn't expecting anyone, this worried her a little bit, but only a little. Captain Typho and the building security wouldn't let anyone past that was dangerous. But who could be visiting her?

"Um, hello?" A male voice called out hesitantly.

Padmé's jaw dropped as she recognized the voice. Then she jumped to her feet and strode towards the lift. "Vader?" She rounded the corner to find him standing there looking – of all things – sheepish. "What-what are you doing here? I thought you were patrolling for pirates in Varonat."

Now he really looked sheepish. "Ah, yeah, I-I was…until a few days ago."

"Oh," Padmé blinked.

And then she took a look at him, really looked at him. There was something different about him. Something difficult to accurately define.

He didn't look like the walking dead anymore. His face had more than a blank or pained expression. There was light in his eyes again. It was like he'd found his soul after losing it with Master Kenobi.

She tilted her head and studied him. "Something's happened."

"Huh?" Vader blinked, looking slightly anxious. "What do you mean?"

"You look better than you did last time I saw you." Padmé shrugged, smiling slightly.

"Oh, um…thanks?" Vader squirmed a bit, looking confused.

"You're welcome," Padmé grinned. "Would you like some caf? Tea?"

"Caf's fine." He graced her with a faint, wavering smile.

"Okay," Padmé nodded, heading for the kitchen to brew up a pot. "Have a seat, this'll take a few minutes."

He didn't answer, but she heard him moving towards the common room. Padmé scampered around the kitchen, pulling out the caf pot and caf powder. As she filled the machine with water and loaded the filter and powder she wondered just what had happened in the nine days he'd been gone.

It had to have been something good to bring him back to life. Though, short of Obi-Wan coming back from the dead, she couldn't imagine what this good thing was. Wondering about it just made her frustrated as she came up empty. As soon as the caf was ready, she poured two cups and hurried back to Vader to find out what was going on.

"One cup of caf," she grinned, passing him the steaming cup.

"Thanks," he smiled weakly, taking the cup with his less sensitive mechanical prosthetic.

"So," she settled herself down on the couch, "care to explain why you're back early?"

"Er…" He stalled by taking a slow sip of his caf. "No," he decided, "I don't think I will."

"What?" Padmé frowned. First he has no name and no past and now he won't share what's going on…

"I'm keeping it a secret for now," he grinned slyly, "but I promise I'll tell you all about it soon. And you'll like it." He promised.

Padmé eyed him suspiciously. "Define 'soon.'"

"Oh, a few weeks, a month at the most, hopefully before I'm sent out again," he said after a few moments thought.

"Great," Padmé sighed, "this is going to be bugging me until whenever 'soon' is."

"Sorry," he cringed a little and sipped at his caf. "Don't mean to be driving you crazy."

"It's alright," she grumbled, "I'm resigned to the fact that you'll be a mystery to me indefinitely."

Vader wilted slightly. "I wouldn't say that." He muttered. "When…when this war is resolved…I'll be freer to explain things."

Padmé arched an eyebrow, deeply intrigued. "Oh?"

"Yeah," he swallowed, nervously sipping at his cup of caf. "Hey Padmé?"

"Yes?" She inquired curiously, nursing her own cup of caf.

"I…I'm sorry for using your apartment as a place to hide and mope," he apologized, staring fixedly into his caf. "But thanks for putting up with me."

"It's no problem," she assured him kindly, "I'm glad I could help."

"Yeah, well…" Vader trailed off. He set his cup down on the small common room table so that he could pull something out of a pouch on his utility belt. "I still feel like saying thanks and…well…here." He shrugged uncomfortably, holding out a small object wrapped up in a torn bluish cloth.

Padmé's eyes widened in surprise as she set her own cup aside to take the mysterious object. Whatever was under the cloth felt very solid to her probing fingertips. Feeling a rush of girlish excitement, she quickly pulled aside the concealing cloth to see just what Vader's thank-you present was.

It looked like a wood carving of some kind. It was flat and roughly square in shape with a half-circle taken out of each side. A few wavy lines cut into the surface of the piece radiated out of the center towards the corners. There was a hole bored in the center and as she turned it over to see that the back was the same as the front, a leather cord attached to a little metal eyelet dropped free. It was a pendant.

She had a lot of pendants. She had a lot of jewelry in general. But nothing like this. All of her jewelry was made of some sort of precious metal and usually included a precious stone or two. It was mostly very elaborate and some of it was rather large and bulky. She'd never had any jewelry like this…

"Where did you get this?" She breathed.

"I, um, I made it…when I was little." Vader hesitantly admitted, reclaiming his caf cup and taking a long sip from it.

"Really?" Padmé glanced up from the wooden pendant. "You made this?"

"Mm-hm," he nodded. "I carved up a snippet of Japor wood in my spare time. It's supposed to bring people good fortune." He took another sip. "Or so I hear, anyway."

"Oh wow," she murmured. Then she bit her lip. "I can't take this."

"What? Why?" Vader's face fell. "You…don't like it?"

"No, it's very nice," Padmé smiled encouragingly.

"So…why can't you take it?" Vader frowned, puzzled.

"It's just – you worked so hard on it, and you need more 'good fortune' than I do." She shrugged, swishing the last sip of her caf around in the cup.

Vader laughed a little. "Who says you don't need some good fortune in dealing with the Senate?" He grinned. "And besides, I'm not really the jewelry type. You'd get more use out of it than I ever will."

"You're sure?" Padmé asked quietly.

"I wouldn't give it to you if I wasn't." Vader smiled, amused.

Padmé smiled and ran a thumb over the smooth cool wood of the pendant. "Thank you. This is one of the nicest presents anyone has ever given me."

"Sure," Vader snorted disbelievingly.

"No I'm serious," she corrected. "I really like it."

He squirmed a bit in his seat and she swore she saw a faint blush form on his face. "Um, thanks. Glad you like it." He smiled shyly at her.

He really should smile like that more often, Padmé decided as she beamed back at him. He looks so much more handsome when he smiles. And it's good to see him happy.

Vader shifted anxiously and glanced up at a wall chrono. "I…should go. It's getting late."

"You can't stay?" Padmé asked. But you just got here.

"No, I have some things to do and I have a…friend…I'd like to visit in the Healer wing." Vader shrugged, a strange, almost smug, smirk appearing on his face.

"Oh no, will your friend be alright?" She wondered, concerned.

"Yes, he'll be fine," Vader nodded. "Maybe when he's feeling better I'll bring him over for a visit?"

"Certainly, I'll be looking forward to it." Padmé smiled.

Vader's odd little smirk grew wider and a strange glint flickered in his eyes. "So am I. And thanks again," he nodded and downed his last sip of caf.

Padmé rose with Vader and walked him to the lift. Before he stepped into the lift car, she caught his elbow to stop him. He looked over at her, confused, waiting to see what she wanted.

"I'm glad to see you looking so much better," she smiled. "And thank you very much for the necklace." She then pulled him into a quick hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Now take care of yourself and come back soon."

Vader seemed to have lost the ability to speak, though he did manage to give her a nod before the lift doors closed, separating them. She turned away from the lift and wandered into her room, giggling. The dazed expression on Vader's face after she'd hugged and kissed him had been priceless. She knew it wasn't very nice to pick on Jedi like that, they didn't believe in anything more than a distant sort of friendship. But she really couldn't help it; she treated all her close friends that way.

Her giggles died away as she took a seat on her bed. The wooden pendant drew her attention once more and she turned the smooth carving over in her hands as she studied it. She couldn't quite decide if it was abstract or a highly stylized symbol of some kind.

Hmm, this leather looks worn out, she noted, rubbing the leather cord between her fingertips. Maybe I should look and see if I have any spare chains lying around. A nice simple gold chain would work perfectly…

Vader staggered backwards until his back hit the lift car wall. He slumped towards the floor, barely catching himself on the handrail. His heart raced and his mind spun and he had trouble catching his breath.

He could handle talking to pretty girls like Padmé fine most of the time. He could tolerate hugs and holding hands. But one chaste little kiss, it seemed, was enough to fry his brain.

A violent shake of his head and a few deep breaths helped him get back in order. He wearily ran his cold metal right hand over his burning face and struggled to think clearly. Ugh, stupid hormones. I'm not a teenager anymore, shouldn't this crap have stopped?

The lift doors opened too soon, forcing him to saunter out into the lobby as if nothing had happened. He gave a little wave to Artoo and Captain Typho as he saw them and smiled a bit when Artoo rocked back and forth and squealed like a lunatic. Good old Artoo, he chuckled to himself as he stepped out onto the busy Coruscant streets.

But back to real life, Vader sighed as he locked on to the Jedi Temple. Back to being the hanger errand boy and visiting poor bedridden Obi-Wan… As he walked, a silly contented grin found its way onto his face.

She liked it…