((AN: So this is my modern setting SW AU. The ages will probably be quite a bit different than they are in canon, but since this is an AU I assume that's okay. As you might see, there is going to be a cult in this though Satine isn't in it and its involvement is limited. I have done a lot of research on cults. Not for this but for one of my original novels.
This is my first time doing a modern setting for any fanfic that doesn't take place in modern times so I hope you all like it! I'm going to be attempting the romantic/Harlequin formula again because it's fun.
Sorry for any typos and mistakes.))
Satine knew it was a mistake. It wasn't like her but when she had been near him, she had felt alive and better than she had since her parents had died. And Bo had gone missing and was probably killed too. Every day she thought about how they were gone and she would never see them again. How she was the last one in her family left.
Bo… thinking about Bo was the saddest part. She had been so young still. Satine didn't even have many pictures of them. It wasn't fair.
Usually Satine was fine. She had to be. It's what her family would want but on birthdays and the anniversary of their deaths… it was harder.
And that day was Bo's birthday. That was the day where everything started. The day where everything changed. Not that she knew it right away.
Satine had planned to stay inside that whole weekend. She had kept thinking about how things would be if Bo had lived, even if their parents still died but that group… they hadn't even spared her. Satine had tried to escape with her, but Bo had been young and brainwashed and… Satine had failed her sister.
Satine had never even gotten her parents or Bo's bodies. They hadn't even found Bo's. Just a head band that she used to wear. Still apparently someone else who had escaped had seen her die so Satine didn't have hope that she was alive.
Satine had planned to just stay at her apartment and watch old movies that her family used to like. Maybe Brave which had been Bo's favorite when she was a little girl. Usually, they hadn't been allowed to watch things like that, but once they had and Bo had loved it. She'd say she wanted to be a warrior and fighter like Merida. She'd pretend to shoot a bow.
Satine could watch that movie and think about how things could have been different. How things would have been different if her family hadn't joined that group… no, that cult.
But before things had been wonderful. And that was how she liked to try and remember her family.
She was about to turn the movie on when there was a knock at her door. What? No one was supposed to be here. She hadn't invited anyone here. She never did on days like this.
At first, she didn't answer, just hoping to the person would go away and leave her alone. But they kept knocking. Satine's pulled a blanket over her face. God…
"Satine, I know you're in there," Padmé, Satine's best friend, yelled. "And I know what day it is."
Satine groaned and threw the blanket on the floor. She forced herself up and went to the door. It was tempting to stay quiet but she knew Padmé. She wouldn't leave. No, Satine really didn't have much choice.
So she forced herself to the door and opened it. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest as Padmé came in.
"What?" Satine asked.
Padmé pulled her into a hug. Satine hugged her shorter friend back. "I know what today is. I know it's hard for you."
Satine pulled away and shook her head. "It'll be fine. I'm going to watch some movies and eat ice cream and—"
"No, you're not. It's not healthy," Padmé said.
"It's one day. It's not as if I'm doing this every day." Only on days that reminded her of her family and how she had lost them earlier than anyone should have to.
"Still, it's not what your sister would want," Padmé said.
"You never met my sister," Satine said. And Satine didn't even know what she would want if she was alive. Bo had died so young. Satine wished she would have had the chance to grow up. To become the person she was meant to be. Satine knew that she would have been strong and fierce.
And Satine would have loved her. She still loved her.
"I know but you talk about her and…"
Satine wiped at her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Satine, I'm sorry." She pulled her into another hug and Satine returned in. "Let me take you out just for a bit. Then if you want I'll stay and watch old cartoons with you."
Satine pulled away and then she did something that she probably shouldn't have. She nodded.
*Scene Break*
Padmé had so many ideas as to where they should go. A lot of the ideas were quite out there as well. Not things that Satine would usually do. At least not right now.
"Indoor skydiving, Padmé? Really?" Satine asked.
"I've always thought that it sounded fun," Padmé said.
More like she probably believed that it would distract Satine from everything but even that wouldn't be enough. Skydiving was something Bo had wanted to do when she was a small girl.
But their parents had shot that down and said it was a trivial thing and not something people in their group did. They'd then lectured her for being too wild and for not being a proper girl in their religion. Even now it made Satine cringe. She should have done more.
But she never had.
Satine had been the one they thought was good until suddenly she wasn't anymore. And then she had barely managed to leave that cult. She could still remember that night when she had escaped. She remembered trying to take Bo, but it not going as planned.
Somehow after Satine had rejected almost all her suggestions, she was now in Padmé's car heading for not just one day but a weekend in Leavenworth. Even now Satine wasn't sure how it happened. But it had obviously been Padmé's plan to begin with since Leavenworth was so busy this time of year.
Leavenworth was a very special town in the state of Washington that was modeled after a Bavarian village. But the reason she knew Padmé wanted to go was because of all the Christmas celebrations they had. Christmas… that was yet another tough day for Satine and yet here she was going to a town devoted to celebrating it.
"We're going to have a lot of fun," Padmé said. "The Christmas lights are going to be beautiful. Everything there is going to be beautiful and wonderful. It's just what you need, Satine. It's what I need too."
Satine just looked out the window. That was when Padmé put on Christmas music, even though she didn't even like it. Satine looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.
"I want to get in the mood," Padmé said, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't even look away from the road.
And so that was that and Satine had to listen to Silent Night, The Little Drummer Boy, and other Christmas songs for hours. For awhile Satine felt like she might lose her mind. She did think less of her family during this though.
Finally, they arrived after a few hours of driving.
And it was somehow more Christmassy than Satine had imagined. It was crazy. There were lights everywhere and Christmas trees filled with decorations. Nearby children ran around with candy canes and other Christmas treats. There was even an ice rink in the middle of town and of course, it had been cold enough to snow.
Satine didn't even know what to say.
"I should really come with my sister and her kids here one day," Padmé said, looking away from the road for a second to admire the pure Christmas landscape. Satine half expected to see Santa Claus handing out gifts to all the children.
And then she did. Kids ran over to him with grins on their faces. It… Satine and Bo had never had a childhood like this. Well, that wasn't true exactly. Satine had before her parents had taken her and joined that cult.
Bo never had.
Satine sighed and leaned back in her chair. She could try to explain this to Padmé, but she would never understand. She had a perfect family.
"You should have just taken them to begin with. Your family would enjoy this," Satine said as she watched some snowflakes dance down from the sky.
"I wanted to bring you," Padmé said. "You needed some cheering up."
Satine forced herself to nod.
Eventually it got… slightly… less Christmassy, but really it was still pretty bad. People had fake reindeer and Santas in the yards. At one point, she opened her window and there was Christmas music playing. They weren't even in town. She closed her window and just listened to Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton sing about how much they loved each other and the holidays.
Satine wanted to put her hands over her ears, but she didn't. She would be polite and gracious. Padmé was a wonderful friend to think about her. And she was grateful to have her. It was just hard. Harder than she could imagine.
But she could try and make her friend happy.
So when they arrived at the cabin, Satine tried her best to look happy. She tried to act excited when she saw that they had a Christmas tree in the cabin, even though they didn't need to and Christmas wasn't for another few weeks away.
At least the cabin wasn't rustic. It had wi-fi, heating, and everything they would need. It even had cable, which was unusual.
"Isn't this beautiful?" Padmé asked, grinning at her friend. Satine wished she could share her excitement. Satine did take a candy cane though and took a bite out of it. She did like peppermint.
"Yes, I suppose, but what if I was Jewish or just didn't celebrate Christmas?" Satine ate more of her candy cane. Somehow it was perfect, even though it had been hanging on the tree. It wasn't stale or anything. She thought they would have only hung up ones that weren't good.
She had been wrong.
It was perfectly Christmas like everything here.
"You're not," Padmé said. "And you do celebrate Christmas."
Satine paused but nodded, barely resisting a sigh. Yes, she wasn't Jewish and she did celebrate Christmas, but still. She could see why some people complained about how they were almost attacked by Christmas things during December. It could be overwhelming even for Satine, and she celebrated the holiday.
This town…
"Let's go back to town," Padmé said, even though they had just gotten here.
"I don't know," Satine said. "I'm pretty exhausted." She gave her a fake yawn, hoping that Padmé would buy it and then they could just stay here and… drink maybe.
Satine drank sometimes, but not a whole lot and well now seemed like a good time for that. She was even on vacation now so it was a really good time. She had a good excuse.
But Padmé just rose an eyebrow.
"Fine," Satine said with a sigh as she looked down at the perfect wood floor in the cabin. How could it somehow remind her of Christmas too? "I just thought that maybe we could have some wine or—"
"Wine?" Padmé asked, even though she usually loved wine, more than Satine. She had been to some vineyards even with her family and done wine tasting there. "We should have a holiday flavored thing. Like buttered rum."
"Buttered rum works," Satine said. It had rum in it so it should be good. Not enough to push thoughts away of Bo-Katan and just this Christmas town but still.
"And we can go ice skating," Padmé said.
"I don't know how to ice skate," Satine said. Padmé gave her a look. "Fine, ice skating."
And so ice skating was what they ended up doing. Padmé was a better ice skater. She looked like someone who had been doing it for most of her life, but apparently this was only the third time. Still, she was somehow amazing at it.
Satine stayed close to the wall making sure not to move that far away from it. Whenever she did, she would fall on her face. But watching Padmé… She really was talented. Padmé grinned at her.
"Come over here, Satine," Padmé yelled. Satine could barely hear her over the Christmas music that was playing over the speaker and the delighted cries of the people near them. The rink was very busy. "I can help you."
Padmé was skating near a man now who kept sneaking looks at her. It was as if he had fallen in love at the very first sight of Padmé. At one point, he grabbed her hand and helped her do a little twirl. It was sweet.
And maybe this meant Padmé could have fun and Satine could concentrate on just staying close to the wall. Maybe if Padmé spent a lot of time with this guy on this trip, than Satine would feel less bad about boring her friend too. Then again Satine would have to make sure that this guy was nice. Padmé had just gotten out of a bad breakup and she didn't need to deal with another jerk, even if it was just a weekend fling.
Padmé was happy and responsible and would be careful, but Satine could still watch out for her. She was a couple years older than her after all and Padmé was like a little sister to her. It was the least Satine could do when she had failed her actual sister.
Satine was about to attempt to skate over to them when suddenly she slammed into someone. Satine let out a cry and fell back about to hit the ice. But then the person she crashed into grabbed her arm softly and pulled her up. Somehow saving her from the fall that had seemed inevitable.
Satine tried to pull away and reach for the wall but she was too far away now and was already losing her balance. She put her hands out like a gymnast trying to stick a landing on the beam when it was doomed.
She grabbed the man's arm so she could keep from falling. This was when she finally noticed what he looked like. God, he was attractive with his reddish blond hair and just his arms and well… everything. He was definitely Satine's type.
Not that it mattered. If anything it made this whole situation worse. She wasn't supposed to find anyone attractive here. Not on this day.
And he had almost caused her to fall.
At least he hadn't been a child. Satine would have never forgiven herself if she had crashed into a child. Really she should have been paying more attention.
"Um… hello there?" he said, helping her not fall to the ice since it still seemed like it was possible. How could some people be so good at skating and Satine was so horrible at it?
Satine finally managed to pull away from him and not fall down. Now if she didn't move, she might not fall and break her arm. She could do this.
"Hello there?" Satine asked, stunned. Somehow that didn't seem like a normal way to great someone. Especially when the two of them had just crashed into each other. She had just expected something else.
"Yes?" he asked. "I'm Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan? That was a weird name. Then again it wasn't like Satine was a normal name either. "Are you okay?"
Satine could only stare at him at first, and that was when Padmé and her new friend came over. The man with Padmé laughed and punched Obi-Wan in the arm. "You almost killed this woman. I should have known not to take you here."
"It was hardly my fault," Obi-Wan said and then he looked at Satine. "I mean it wasn't only my fault and—"
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, you could have done a better job at watching where you were going." She paused. "I'm Satine."
She should introduce herself, despite everything. It was the polite thing to do. Even if it was hard to be polite on this day.
"Satine, this is Anakin," Padmé said. "Anakin and his friend are going to go with us to the bar. They might spend some time with us this weekend. He's really nice."
"Obi-Wan isn't too bad also," Anakin said.
Obi-Wan just gave Anakin a look.
"That's okay, right?" Padmé asked, her eyes were large and Satine could tell she wanted this. She deserved to have fun this weekend.
So Satine found herself nodding, even though she worried this would mean she was going to spend a lot of time with this Obi-Wan person. He might be attractive, but she wasn't in the mood to flirt or find love.
All she was going to do was try and make it through this weekend. If she could, she would be happy.
((AN: I hope you all liked this. I haven't actually been to Leavenworth yet, but I want to go. I don't think they actually have an ice rink there, but they do in this story. I hope I do okay at writing Padmé. I think this is the first time I've written anything with her in it. Thank you all for reading!))