That very evening, in her first act as Imperial leader, as Anakin's partner, Padme sent Maul and Kit to free Rush and Roganda from a long-forgotten cellar beneath the crumbling Yankee stadium, where Dooku and other Imperials had been keeping guard. They had to be careful making they're way there and back, take a longer route, avoid open streets – Palpatine could easily have his people watching them for any sign of his family's location. It was better if he believed Anakin still had them hidden in the city.
Rush and Roganda's entrance brought a storm of gloom over the Empire. Padme felt the mood in the lobby shift as her friend rushed toward her to scoop her slight frame up into his arms with a swoop of delighted laughter, whispering thanks for her survival as he held her against him. Truthfully, she was glad to see Rush again – he was her friend – but the weight of Anakin's eyes on their reunion made the young woman clam up a little. Why? We aren't together any more… there's no reason to worry…
"Are you alright?" Rush's hands landed on her shoulders for a tight squeeze, "I truly thought that I'd lost you out there, Padme… When I found out you were alive… well, no news has ever been better to hear."
"I'm fine," she grimaced, her eyes dropping low for a moment, "really – I'm alright."
When he moved to cup her cheek in his palm, Padme carefully pushed his wrist away with a small but warning glare. "Rush," she hissed quietly, putting some distance between them. "Don't do that."
Hurt flashed in her friend's eyes, dulling his elated relief into bitter disappointment, as if some part of him had believed her survival may have changed things between them, that there could be a chance for them now. This time, it didn't pain her to reject him. "Sorry… I was just overcome with relief," Rush muttered but his eyes weren't focused on Padme, his gaze had lifted above and behind her and when she turned to follow, she saw Anakin storming out of the lobby. Kit lingered a moment behind his friend before wincing a quiet, "yikes…" and following after him.
Padme watched the pair leave over her shoulder before turning back to Rush with a vicious glare. "What was that all about?" She demanded, "I thought I made myself clear, Rush."
"You did," his cool blue gaze returned to her now that his intended audience had departed. "I'm sorry, I just – "
"Wanted to make him jealous? Really?" Padme shook her head. What had gotten into him? This wasn't like Rush at all, he was kind and respectful of people's feelings – even if he hated Anakin, it usually wasn't in him to try and cause someone pain like this. "What were you hoping that would do?"
"Padme," he drawled her name and for one frightening moment, her friend became his father right before her eyes. It was a flicker, gone faster than it had come, but it startled the young woman to her core. "You know you're my – "
"Nothing!" She hissed, mindful of the people listening around them. Roganda watched them curiously, arms folded as she daintily lowered herself into a nearby chair. Others kept themselves busy, at least attempting to hide their noisiness. "Rush, I am nothing but your friend, I already told you that isn't going to change."
"So you've gone back to him then," he rolled his eyes, "Even after he threw you out. After you almost died, you've given yourself back to him." A coldness began to seep into his angry gazes he spoke and Padme felt herself recoil. She always knew Rush hated Anakin but it hadn't ever been like this. He'd never talked to her like this. The shock repressed her anger at first, it was like a different person standing in front of her now, a man she had never met before. This certainly wasn't her friend, this wasn't the Rush she knew!
"What's gotten into you?" Padme felt her eyes widen, "I understand if you're upset but you can't speak to me like that! What I do isn't any of your business, Rush." It would be easy to tell him that her romantic relationship with Anakin was over and that it had been her own decision this time and it probably would have appeased him, but she decided to keep that to herself. Mostly because talking about it felt far too painful right now.
"I'll never understand what he has over you," Rush shook his head, "He abducted me, Padme, doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"That wasn't him. Anakin was with me in the hospital when it happened," she said with a shake of her head. The curious eyes of the Imperials around them pricked at the young woman nerves. They knew exactly who Rush was, a Rebel, their enemy, the son of the man who wanted to destroy everyone in the city and now here he was insulting their leader… it wasn't smart. He had to shut his mouth before someone else decided to do it for him.
"You could have more than this you know," he muttered bitterly, casting a disparaging gaze across the lobby, "more than what he can offer you. There's something I have to tell you, I spoke to – "
"Enough," Padme cried, "Rush – just… enough." She couldn't go around and around in this circle anymore, it was exhausting! "I don't want to talk about this any more. I'm sorry."
She didn't give her friend any time to respond before storming off toward the stairs, leaving whispers and wide eyes in her wake.
The Imperial's welcome to The Coruscant was cold at best. At worst? Tense. Awkward. Generally unpleasant.
Padme, Anakin, Kit, Roganda and Rush made a strange grouping marching across the city to sit down with Obi-wan but with so much to discuss on her mind, the young woman hardly noticed two of the three men throwing vicious glares at one another every time their eyes met. At least neither opened their mouths and started any trouble. These days, she took her blessings where she found them.
Surprisingly, it had been Anakin's suggestion to visit the Rebels as the sun died high above their heads, painting the meagre scraps of sky visible between looming glass towers in hazes of pink and orange. She wished for a moment that they had more time to stop and admire it, but the streets were littered with hungry beasts and they were short for time. Being out for too long risked Palpatine's spies reporting the two clans speaking and ruining their one advantage. The element of surprise.
Having seen their approach from one of the hotel windows, Obi-wan stood beneath the old, crooked sign reading, "The Coruscant!" bearing a gun. Bail and Mon flanked their leader far more peacefully. Padme saw warmth and relief in Bail's dark eyes and calculating curiosity in Mon's. They, at least, might be willing to listen, she thought. When the Rebel leader's piercing blue eyes fell first upon Rush and then Padme, the weapon in his hands began to tremble.
With obvious dislike in his eyes, Anakin nodded to Rush and the former banker rushed to his uncle. Both Imperials and Rebels watched the two men embrace warmly and though she ached to join them and greet her friends, Padme stayed behind. The pair exchanged a few hushed whispers she couldn't make out from where they stood. As they spoke, she and Anakin exchanged a quick glance. He was tense and fidgety, far from the smug bravado he usually wore when around Rebels.
"Is everything alright?" She murmured, ignoring how the tips of her fingers twitched as they battled an urge to touch him, to soothe whatever was bothering him. That wasn't her place anymore."
"Fine," he nodded, focusing his eyes straight ahead, "just don't like being here is all. Bad memories."
"Bad memories?" She frowned, "but you've never – "
"You want to speak to me?" The Rebel leader's voice cut through Padme's whisper and brought both the Imperial leader's gazes to himself at once. Obi-wan's eyes met hers, he looked her over as if to be sure it was really her standing here before him. To be sure she was alive and breathing after watching Ahsoka drive her off half-dead and her flesh torn from her bones a few weeks ago. She saw relief and love in those eyes and all the same emotions swirled within her own for him.
"Yes," she nodded, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat. Right now she wasn't here to be Padme, she was the Imperial leader come to call a truce. The petty war between the gangs had to end now if they wanted a real chance of escaping the fate Palpatine and his friends had decided for them. "We need to work together right now. Terrible things are about to happen."
Obi-wan's gaze flicked behind Anakin to where Roganda stood silently beside Kit in her rumpled clothes. He frowned slightly at the new face, something uncommon for the Imperials. Palpatine's wife looked around curiously at the former hotel, like a tourist experiencing the culture of some far off-world. "You want us to work with him?" A cold, biting bark of mirthless laughter passed his lips, "I don't know what's gotten into you, Padme."
"Obi-wan, it's important. Please."
"I have nothing to say to him," the Rebel leader pointed angrily at Anakin who glowered but bit his tongue beneath Padme's warning glance. "Not after what he's done."
"It wasn't him," Rush muttered bitterly, looking as though it pained him to defend Anakin. "It was the woman who had me taken, that bitch Aphra, but she's dead. Skywalker was in Ahsoka's hospital with Padme."
Hearing Aphra's name was a hot rod of iron thrust into her heart and she closed her eyes for a moment, willing away the images of the other's woman's blood staining the grimy floor.
Though surprise painted his face, Obi-wan quickly shook it off. "That doesn't matter. He's done enough."
"I have," Anakin said suddenly, stepping forward and raising his hands when the Rebel leader aimed his gun defensively. Padme's heart leapt into his throat and Kit hissed for his friend to come back. Another gun aimed at him. Another risk of death. Would it ever stop? "I know I've tormented you… You're smart not to trust a word I say," somehow, the confidence returned to his voice despite facing the barrel of a gun, as if he thrived upon the danger. "But if you don't hear me out, you and your people are going to die and I don't want that blood on my hands."
They stared each other down, one leader to another and something stirred beneath the surface, mistrust, anger and even… regret? Padme glanced between both men and frowned. What the hell was going on here? She felt like an outsider, someone not privy to the context of the situation. "Since when have you found it in your heart to care about Rebels?" Obi-wan demanded suspiciously.
"Does it truly matter?" Mon braced a hand on his shoulder, "I know that I would certainly like to hear what they have to say."
"I agree," Bail nodded, "Padme wouldn't come here unless it was serious. I trust her implicitly. "
She smiled briefly at her friend in thanks before glancing pleadingly to Obi-wan. Put the gun down. Please put the gun down. "You know I would never put any of you in danger. We're trying to help."
After a few moments of consideration, the auburn-haired man lowered the gun and strapped it back into the holster on his hip. "Who is that?" He tipped his chin toward Roganda who startled as everyone looked at her. "I haven't seen her around before."
"My father's new wife," Rush murmured, his voice tight and almost angry. "He wants us both back and he's willing to pay handsomely."
No, Padme wished she could say, not handsomely at all. But no one else knew of the deal Palpatine had offered so she held her tongue. Tightly. This time, Obi-wan couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes as he looked to Roganda once more, his eyebrows shot up toward his hairline too quickly to hide. "His wife? That is not an enviable position…."
"I haven't risked my life coming here to speak about my marriage," Roganda snapped, her long, inky hair spilling over her face for a moment as she looked to the crumbling road beneath her expensive shoes, "Padme is right, we must speak with you. Let's all go inside before I have my first true encounter with a beast, shall we?"
Padme smiled over her shoulder at Roganda's firm, albeit politely pleasant tone despite her irritation and the other woman met her gaze with a tight-lipped smile of her own. Beneath it all, the woman was nervous. Anyone who hadn't seen the horrors that survivors endured daily would be. Obi-wan seemed to sense it too and nodded for them to follow him inside.
As the Imperials entered The Coruscant, Mon touched her shoulder with a nod. "I'm glad to see you're well, Padme. Truly."
"Thank you," she smiled at the redhead, "A doctor told me what you all paid to save my life… I don't know how I can ever repay all of you." Two weeks of supplies made the difference between life and death now that food had become scarce and the Rebels had paid it willingly for her. The generosity was enough to make her eyes burn tearfully.
"Well, if what your lover says is correct then I believe this meeting will perhaps cover the bill," the smile Mon gave was supposed to be warm but Padme saw the strain behind it. She hated Anakin as much as everyone else but she hated the thought of dying more.
"If we can find a way to work together then I'm sure there's nothing to fear," Padme said with a confidence she did not quite feel but it seemed to convince her friend and for now, that was enough.
A moment later, she was enveloped in a tight, four-armed hug as Dorme and Sabe descended upon her tearfully, speaking frantically of relief and disbelief that she was here. Padme held her friends tightly, euphoric from their reunion. She had missed these two! They were her best friends in the world! Being with them every single day had been one of her favourite parts about coming back to The Coruscant. Who else could she make an utter fool of herself around and laugh about it the next day?
"Look at you!" Sabe cupped her face tearfully, "Oh Padme, I've been worried sick even after Obi-wan told me you were okay. You look like nothing ever happened."
"Hey, no need for tears," she said despite welling up herself, "I'm fine, see?"
"Oh the tears aren't just for you," Dorme laid a hand on her sister's shoulder, "we uh, we've got some catching up to do…"
Frowning, Padme took one twin's hand in each of her own, "What do you mean? What's happened?" A tear dripped onto Sabe's pale face as she shook her head and wiped it away with her free hand.
"No, no – it's nothing. We'll talk later."
"Padme?" Anakin called for her suddenly, lingering by a doorway which led to an old meeting room the hotel had. Everyone else had already gone inside without her. "Are you coming?"
"Yes," she nodded right away, "We will talk later though, okay?" The twins nodded as she released their hands and made her way toward the doorway where Anakin held the door open for her, willingly this time. There were no chairs around a long, oval table so the Rebel and Imperial delegates stood on opposite sides, staring each other down. Rush stood at the head of the table alone while Roganda hovered by Padme's side.
When Anakin explained everything they knew, Obi-wan covered his mouth with his palm, the horror evident on his face. Mon stared blankly ahead, her eyes wide and dead. Bail thumped his fist against the table in indignation. Padme knew them all enough to recognise the flashes of panic in the depth of their gazes. She'd felt that too when Ahsoka and Barriss had told her everything.
"What's your plan?" Mon spoke first, after exhaling a long, shivering breath. In a blink, she was calm and indifferent, almost haughty. As if she felt nothing of the fear that shook the room. "I have to imagine if you've come all the way here it's with some suggestions on avoiding falling victim to these bombs."
Obi-wan glanced to Rush first and then Padme before closing his eyes tightly. "I have always thought your father was many things…" he begun, speaking to Rush without looking at him, "but this? Burning a city and its inhabitants for convenience?" His voice trembled as he spoke.
"He won't have the chance," Padme said firmly, "Palpatine and the others like him plan to lock us in so I say we push our way out. If the Rebels and Imperials combine forces, we could do it."
"It won't be easy," Roganda shook her head, "Sheev and his council have invested heavily in a strong military presence at the city lines to hold everybody in until its too late for us to escape."
"We do have one advantage," Anakin leaned on the table, "My beasts. We can use them against the soldiers as a distraction. A defence even. They'll be so busy fighting them off, there won't be too much pushback while we get the hell out of here."
"You really want the Rebels to work with you Imperials?" Obi-wan scoffed, glaring at Anakin whose face remained impassive, "Do you think I'll simply hand you another opportunity to betray me?"
"What?" Padme looked between them as some long-kept secret began to boil and spill over at last. "What do you mean betray you again?"
Anakin stood straight and folded his arms over his chest, though his eyes never left Obi-wans. "I used to live here… before there were Rebels or Imperials."
The floor disappeared beneath her feet. Everything shook. Lines blurred. Padme couldn't believe the words she was hearing. He lived here? But – but that wasn't possible! She shook her head again and again as her mind struggled to make sense of it. "But that's not… That can't be right…"
"Unfortunately it is," Obi-wan sighed, "I'm surprised you never told her."
"Likewise," Anakin's eyes narrowed, "and to be clear, you betrayed me, not the other way around, old man."
"Wait, wait, wait! Padme threw up her hands. At least everyone else in the room looked as surprised as she felt, except Roganda who seemed bewildered by the entire conversation. "This doesn't make any sense." Anakin had lived with Obi-wan here, in The Coruscant? But how was that possible? They hated each other! She didn't think they would survive half an hour alone in a room much less coexist peacefully.
"He took me in," Anakin huffed, "before he came alone," he threw a hand toward Rush with an eye roll. "But I wanted more – I saw the potential of the Empire and everything it could be for when I found you. Obi-wan didn't agree."
"If we're telling the story, let's at least be truthful," the Rebel leader glared, "He had that beast of his. I never could make him give it up or kill it… but when he told me he wanted to breed them, I was horrified." He shook his head. "I told him it was monstrous. That he couldn't have people living under the same roof as beasts if he wanted them to be safe."
"How could anything be safer than your very own army of them?" Anakin glowered, "Especially if you make them loyal. You never could see the big picture, Obi-wan. You're blinded by your own fear, that's why I never shared everything I knew about beasts with you. You'd have thrown it all away."
"And you are blinded by your lust for power. Padme told me what happened when one of your loyal pets broke out - or have you forgotten about that?" He sniped back.
Padme winced as Anakin seemed to deflate beneath those words. She knew how that incident haunted him – it caused the end of their relationship. It had stripped him of his wholehearted belief in his ability to keep her safe and broken both their hearts. She wished Obi-wan hadn't brought it up but didn't intervene in their argument to tell him so. Finally, there were answers to her questions, she wanted to hear everything they had to say.
"That… that was different," Anakin muttered, "You're only angry with me for leaving you. I built the Empire without you and look at what I have – it kills you. That's why you did it, isn't it? You wanted to punish me for going against you."
"Did what?" Bail asked wide-eyed.
Obi-wan sighed long and heavy before lifting his eyes to meet hers. "Padme, I – "
"I told him about you," Anakin interrupted, "I told him everything. How I wanted to find you, how I wanted to keep you safe if you were still out there. While I was building the Empire, he searched for you and he found you before I did. That's why he took you in, not out of the goodness of his heart." His words became a snarl as something heartbreakingly close to betrayal made her limbs feel slack. She shook her head as Obi-wan looked imploringly at her.
"Is this true?" Her words came barely above a whisper, "All this time you were only my friend out of some vendetta against him?" Padme's heart began to break. All these years, Obi-wan had been a stable and steady source of familial love and friendship in her life. He'd been her friend! He supported her. He had saved her life by taking her out of the streets… and it was some kind of a joke? A vindictive and childish act of revenge against his former friend?
"I saved you from him!" The Rebel leader pleaded, "Everything I have ever said to you is true, Padme. You've always been a dear friend to me. I'll admit, I sought you out in retaliation in the beginning but everything after that moment was truthful, I'll swear it on anything you ask."
"So all this time I was nothing but a pawn in your childish schemes against each other," tears came unwillingly to Padme's eyes as the pain burned raw and agonising. She knew Anakin's side of things, how he'd obsessed over finding her, lived his life in fantasies of their reunion. If he'd told Obi-wan even half of what he'd confessed in the hospital then taking her into the Rebels was the ultimate betrayal against Anakin.
When I found out you were with the Rebels, it drove me mad… Anakin's words came back to her suddenly, each one a brutal shot to her heart. Suddenly, all his anger, all his hatred toward Obi-wan and the Rebels made sense. It finally made sense! She didn't know whether to laugh or cry about it.
"Of course not, I value our friendship greatly. I only ever wanted to protect you from – "
"That's why you were so angry when you found out that Bail and I ran into Anakin and the others that day in the convenience store, isn't it? The day I shot him. You said I had to stay inside because I was in danger but you knew that wasn't true, didn't you?"
"I couldn't have foreseen how things would be between you," Obi-wan admitted quietly, "and none of this would have happened if he hadn't taken in and then threatened Rush's life."
"Ask your nephew what happened," Anakin rolled his eyes, "Rush came to me."
"And you almost killed me for it," her friend hissed, "You're a bastard, Skywalker. I hope she comes to her senses before it's too late."
"Enough of this!" Mon's sudden screech brought silence to the room. "Have we all forgotten that we are facing imminent bombs or has this petty drama stripped your minds of the dangers we've gathered to discuss?"
"She's right," Kit came forward, "All that shit from before is done with now. I don't know about you guys but I'm not dying beneath a bomb. It's not happening. So let's get back to work."
Padme wiped her face and took a deep, calming breath. Her mind was screaming. Her heart raced. The hurt and the shock still throbbed like a deep wound in her chest but Kit and Mon were right, there were more important things to think about right now.
"Yes," she nodded, refocusing on the task at hand, "Let's figure this out."