A/N:Thanks to those of you who read and reviewed! I'm so sorry I couldn't reply (I've been busy up to my eyeballs!). I hope that you enjoy this chappy and keep the reviews coming! ;)
Jedi Knight247
Chapter Two: Padmé's Story
After exiting the ship, Anakin and Obi-Wan felt lost—even though they were already in the spaceport of Mos Eisley.
Anakin secretly hoped that the 'informer' would show up and lead them to this evidence. He didn't utter a word to Obi-Wan about it, but obediently.
000
Padmé, who had slipped ahead of the men, made her way into a dark alleyway and waited for them to come near. She would put her plan into motion.
Suddenly a voice rang in her earplug.
"Is everything going accordingly?" a young male voice asked.
Padmé smiled to herself; she knew this voice all too well—the man had been concerned for her since day one of the plan.
"Yes, everything is going perfectly; tell master Sidious that he need not worry—" Padmé was going to say something else, but cut herself off when she saw two familiar shadows passing by. "I have to go," she said, terminating their connection.
As Anakin and Obi-Wan were walking past a dark alleyway, they heard an urgent voice behind them.
"Come, quickly!" a female voice hissed.
Unsure if they were the ones she was calling, the Jedi Knight and Master turned around to see a woman adorned in Jedi robes staring intently at them.
Before they could utter a word, Padmé spoke. "You both know me—although this is the first time you have ever seen my face."
It didn't take long for the duo to realize who she was. "You're the informer!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "Have you come to show us the evidence of Grievous' mysterious activity?"
Padmé nodded, surprised that Jedi of such high ranking were so easily fooled by her ploy. None of them seemed to notice, though, that Anakin was bewitched by the woman.
"I will, but we must do it discretely—Sith spies could be anywhere."
"How do we know that you can be trusted?" Obi-Wan said, his cautious side taking over once again.
"Master Kenobi," Anakin intercepted. "With all due respect, she risked her life to bring us such valuable information, and now you question her loyalties?" it was obvious that Anakin was annoyed by Obi-Wan's caution.
"It's alright," Padmé said, stepping closer to them, and ultimately testing the boundaries of the plan—she wanted to make sure that they couldn't sense the dark side in her. Nothing happened.
Padmé continued normally. "I understand why you question me, master Kenobi. Time is not on our side, but to kill your doubts I will tell you as briefly as I can."
Obi-Wan made no objection and let her tell her tale.
"I was once a Sith apprentice far on the Outer Rim—I had been taken from my home planet and was forced to learn the ways of the Sith…until my future Master came along…Sherar Redblade. He took me as his Padawan, but we were hunted by the Sith and by an unfortunate incident, he died to save my life. I then wandered around helpless and without direction; I continued to find out what I could about the Sith so that I might know what vile deed they were planning—"
Obi-Wan took liberty to interrupt. "Did it ever occur to you to go to Coruscant?" he asked with minor suspicion.
Padmé/Zorah laughed in spite of herself. "How could I? The Sith had every spaceport watched—that is, until I found Mirah. She was a bounty hunter, but also owned a ship; when she told me that Grievous was operating in Tatooine, and agreed to take me there, I didn't think about Coruscant, until I started to warn you. Fearing that the major spaceports might still be watched, I sent you holograms and didn't show my face in case it fell into the wrong hands; and as you can see, I was hiding in the dark alleyway, for I was certain that you might pass by if you wanted to get to the most popular Cantina."
Anakin nodded, instantly approving her story. "It makes complete sense, Master Kenobi—she has no reason to lie."
Obi-Wan was silent for a few moments until he finally came to a decision. "Take us to the evidence," he said decisively.
000
Meanwhile on Korriban, a young man stared out of a large window and surveyed the desolate plains. He and Darth Zorah had severed contact minutes earlier for some unknown reason, yet the man's personal intuition told him that she had spotted the Jedi.
Ever since he and Darth Zorah first met at the Sith Academy, they had struck an instant connection, they had grown quite close since, yet when Sith duty called, they had to abandon those feelings so that they could be focused for the task at hand.
The man knew that there was a chance that he would get sent to Coruscant to be an extra set of eyes and ears—and he hoped that Darth Sidious would finalize that decision, for he knew full well what would happen to Zorah if she were to be found out—those wretched Jedi would kill her!
He couldn't let that happen; no, he wouldn't let that happen. He had had strong feelings for Darth Zorah when they were at the Academy together, now as he had matured; those feelings had evolved into something greater.
Perhaps he should have told her before she left…perhaps.
000
They didn't have to walk far from Mos Eisley to reach the place where there was evidence of General Grievous' occupation. Of course the General had fled by now, but Anakin and Obi-Wan hoped that he had left behind something to give them a clue of his whereabouts; the Jedi had been searching for Grievous for a long time. Obi-Wan hoped that this woman, who had just informed them that her name was Padmé, would play a key role in finding him…after all, the Jedi need all the help that they could get when it came to searching for Grievous.
The said area seemed as though it had been abandoned in a hurry: the prefab shelters were still upright and there were still weapons littering the area. Some animals, used for transportation, had been slain for they were extra baggage.
Anakin and Obi-Wan looked in disbelief. All traces of doubt that Obi-Wan had harbored for Padmé were gone.
Anakin, on the other hand, hadn't doubted the woman's word—instead, he had become instantly infatuated by her.