Author's Note: This chapter is filler, I know. But everyone has to have a few of those, right? I promisepromisepromise that the action will start next chapter.
Dovasary: XDD Lol, both of the two boys will come into this story. ;) What would Star Wars be like without Han and Luke? And Han? And Han/Leia? And Han? Hehe, I've never read a Padmé lives fanfic. Well, other than the stuff the GreatOne writes, but those still focus on HL. Which is great. xD
SuP3R G1R: Lol. There is no other pairing! No... Han/OC... Leia/OC... Han/Luke (just...no)... Leia/Mara (although I've never seen one of those oO;)... you get the picture. Han♥Leia best! (;) I'm very passionate on the subject, lol.)
darth mojo the spork: Lol, thanks:) Yeah, I particularly liked that chapter. I don't like this one, though. x.x
CHAPTER THREE: NEAT OBSESSION
Everything had to be neatly folded. Leia was not the kind of person that simply threw things into their bag and hoped that it'd all sort itself out once the need for the packed item arose. She neatly put in what she called her 'diplomatic' dress; a white, long-sleeved garment with a square, low neckline and grey stitching at the sleeves, neck, waist, and hem. It hugged her hips and the skirt wasn't full, but it wouldn't stick to her legs like some dresses. It sloped downwards at the front, where the hem would brush her ankles and the angular slit would go up to her knees, leaving the back to lightly brush at the floor. With it, she set her gray, flat boots that went midway up her calves, and white leggings that went under the boots. It was modest enough to not offend anyone, but stylish enough to not seem like a prude.
"How long will you be gone?" asked a voice behind her, and she peered at the older man, lounging on a chair near her bed. Zach had been here for the duration of her packing. Which has been around an hour already.
"Only a few days," she smiled reassuringly, making the trip across the bedroom and into her bathroom, gathering her necessary toiletries - which included two full bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Which shows how much hair products she uses. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she said, as he still looked dubious.
"I don't know. Kessel is a shabby place. Full of... smugglers, and spice dealers..." his voice trailed off.
"Yes. And I'm working to make their professions legal," Leia said wryly, clicking a side pocket on the bag shut. She smiled, walking over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders. He wasn't much taller than her, and he was around forty-five standard years old. But he was one of those good-looking middle-aged men, and he wasn't uptight like most officers on the ship were. Like Piett.
For some reason Leia liked older men, only once had she been seriously attracted to a man her age - when she was sixteen, and the boy was in her Advanced Diplomacy class (she had already been in university by then). To keep it in a nutshell, it didn't work out very well.
He still looked skeptical. "Zach," Leia said, impatiently. "I'll have an escort. They're not just throwing me out there," she said sternly. "Now," she started, looking at her watch. 1410 hours. "You have to be on duty in five minutes, and I have to finish packing and take a shower, and get to the docking station a little bit early." she said resolutely, before snapping off her watch and putting it on the bedside table. She bent over him, kissing his cheek. "Bye, honey," she said quickly, then promptly resumed her packing. She heard him get up and leave, and she sighed. Worrywort.
It took her at least another hour and a half to complete packing to her satisfaction, then two and a half hours showering and getting her hair done up in two french braids ending in long plaited knots at the back of her head. She would do something more formal for the meeting, but a few casual braids would do for the trip.
Her father's heavy, deep breathing alerted her to his presence as she finished tying a the last knot.
"You are ready?"
His voice was the same, deep, mechanical, menacing that loomed around him wherever she went, but Leia simply glanced at him nonchalantly from outside her door.
"Yes. I was hoping to grab a bite," she answered steadily, emerging and smiling at him before heaving her heavy case off of the bed and strapping on one of her cheaper, numerous watches while tucking a silver-tones one into her upstanding case. "Was there anything you needed me for, father?"
"To wish you luck, simply," he answered after a pause. This made Leia frown, and wheel to face him.
"You're not seeing me to the ship?" she asked, slightly upset. It was childish, but oh well.
"I cannot. The Emperor needs me by his side momentarily."
As a girl, it was hard for Leia to hug her father. He was so... for lack of a better word, metal. Hugging him was like hugging a piece of durasteel (that killed people). Even now, she was still faced with a sort of subconcious decision on how she was to approach the embrace, and it always required her the slightest moment of thought before it was acted upon. But she walked over and looped her arms around his lower chest briefly (that's about where she reached), and let go.
"Promise to meet me when I return?" she started in a compromise, and he responded with a slow nod. She took his word for it.
She felt the tiniest, briefest hesitation, then, "May the Force be with you."
Leia blinked. That was a phrase that she hadn't heard him utter in... never. She recognized it; her various researchings of the old Jedi and the Republic (know your enemies) mentioned that phrase a few rare times, but her father said it with somewhat ease and familiarity.
"As - as with you," she stammered, a flicker of surprise dancing across her eyes.
And he simply left, leaving Leia to stare at his dark cape whipping around the door as it slid shut.
"Your highness," greeted a polite, official voice; a member of the personell that she had seen in the seven hour journey to the mining planet. Leia placed her hand over his in a very princess-like manner, letting him lead her off the ramp, while tightening her nerf fur coat around her as she peered at the barren, rocky horizon. Kessel was frigid, and lifeless, full of salt flats, flat plateaus, and flatter, grassless plains. There was the dark hole of an occasional cavern where there seemed to be mining routes, and she watched the number of slaves - predominately non-human - file into the caverns.
It appeared that she arrived in one of the more 'busier' plces on Kessel; it was a sort of model of the old barter system of a feudal marketplace (except more high tech). Credits seemed nonexistant out here - at least among the commoners - and she distinctly watched a trade between a dead animal - food - and a large tank of water.
She was led in silence and with an escort - Zach was more than correct when he said it was shabby and dangerous - and people stopped to stare at the large progression. It was hard, with her short stature, to see around her various bodyguards, but she was sure she caught a glimpse of the imfamous Smuggler's Yard, which was just a variety of old freighters landed near eachother. One human, she noted, seemed to be loading some suspicious cargo into his own beat up freighter. Scum.
She rubbed her face, now red and flushed from the cold, and attempted to bury her freezing fingers within the confines of her jacket thereby declining help up the stairs. She half-jogged up, now trying to reach the inside of the large multistory building in front of her as quickly as possible. She arrived inside, basking in the warm glow that spread to her toes. They came into a large atrium, full of real wood floors and comfortable seating, but no comment from the secretary was made as she was immediatley pushed into the hallway.
Obviously, the owners were very wealthy.
Leia was led to a very surprisingly comfortable room, although a bit small for her taste, and was told that she would have a meeting the next day at 0900 hours. She went to t he window, and looked across the gray and barren landscape, and the various people in their thin rags trying to scrape a life in the cold. She felt a tiny stab of pity, but she drew the curtains and proceeded to unpack.
After all, she had work to do.
Other things to say:
Movies YOU should see: THX1138. Lucas' director's debut. Strange, but I liked it. Hollywood Homicide. Harisson Ford as an arrogant cop! Take me now! He's a hot old man!
Bad News:( Dad hid my SW OT. And I have all these oneshots mulling around, too. :(
Lol. Review!
