AUTHOR'S NOTE: FF has changed their email system… you need to go and approve e-mail notifications in order to know that chapters have been posted.
"Odd to see you dressed like that," Padme said as she walked down the street with Yagi, moving along with the rest of the crowd as they all made their way towards the different office buildings that they worked at. "I'm used to you wearing baggy t-shirts and jeans."
"I wear those when there is a chance I might need to fight a villain because they don't tear apart when I take on my muscular form," the skeletal man said, reaching up subconsciously to adjust his tie. He was wearing a nice suit and with it tailored to fit his skinny frame he actually didn't look as sickly and worn down as he normally did. Padme had always been worried for him when he was in his smaller form, as he looked like he was ready to topple over at any moment, but wearing his suit he looked just like anyone with a leaner frame. "Today I'll be able to quickly access my suit if need be so I can wear this."
"You should look into getting suits made that can stretch," Padme commented. "Doesn't that one superheroine, Mt. Lady, have a suit that grows with her?"
"Not the shoes," Yagi commented but he was already thinking about what Padme had said. "And that isn't a bad idea… if I kept it very generic no one would put two and two together." He coughed and Padme shot him a concerned look. "I'm fine," he tried to assure her. "My throat was dry."
"Did you remember to drink your breakfast today?" she pressed.
"I thought I was supposed to be mentoring you," Yagi said in a teasing tone. "You don't need to mother me."
"Someone has to. Recovery Girl certainly doesn't."
Padme wasn't exactly pleased with the superheroine who oversaw Yagi's health; it had become clear to her that the woman was just trying to keep him stable rather than helping him get better. That was something Padme would never approve of and as such she had sought out other doctors to help out Yagi. They couldn't reveal that he was All Might so they'd claimed he was injured years ago in a car accident. Yagi hadn't liked that, or going to see the other doctors at all, but had changed his tune when one had suggested getting him on a liquid diet that would help build up his strength once again rather than just keep him functioning. They had put them in contact with a nutritionist who specialized in people that could no longer handle solid foods…
"Here," she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out what looked like a child's drink pouch. "Drink that."
"I'm fine," Yagi said even as he took the pouch. After a few moments of trying, and failing, to stab the straw through the pouch he meekly handed back to Padme, letting her do it, before he began sipping on his breakfast. It was rather tasty, having been designed to have a fruity flavor without being too harsh on his intestines or his taste buds which had begun to suffer from athropy thanks to his rather bland meals.
"I want you get your strength up," Padme repeated. "Anakin said that he is about 8 months away from having the artificial lungs finished and after that he plans to work on the stomach. But you need to be ready for the operation and that means no more coughing up blood."
Yagi smiled around the straw. "Recovery Girl has stated that my going into my All Might form aggravates my injuries. Soon that won't be a problem."
Padme though shook her head. "Yagi… if you were willing to take a few months off…"
But he cut her off. "Anakin already stated that even with the new organs he is making me-" And it still made his mind spin that in a year he'd have functioning lungs again. They'd be robotic, of course, but they'd work like his regular lungs! Or at least how they once had. No more feeling winded in his smaller form, no more coughing blood, no more fluid rattling in his chest! And a stomach… in a year and a half or so he might be able to go to restaurants again. Eat a hamburger! And with both of those he could begin getting his smaller form to gain strength. He would never be peak again. But… he could be normal. "-they will only work for this form. Becoming… you know…" he glanced around, as the crowd had grown thick again, "will strain them too much."
"He could work something out," Padme assured him. "I'm willing to wait until you are ready, Yagi."
He tossed the finished pouch into a trash can. "And I am ready now. Or will be very soon. I will… I will miss One For All. Don't think otherwise. But… I have held it longer than any other bearer. And I can feel that it is ready to be passed to you." He smiled. "I dreamed of Nana a few days ago… I don't remember what she said though. I think she might not have said anything at all. But what I do remember is her smiling at me and patting my hand before motioning for me to follow her. There were other people… those that came before I think…" He paused. "Don't worry, I don't mean that they wanted me dead. I think… I think they were telling me my time was over. I have been the Symbol of Peace for a long time but now it is your turn."
Padme smiled at that. "And you will still be helping me," she reminded him. Her hand drifted down to her purse once more and the tiny capsule that was stuck in it. Within was a single pile, made from one of All Might's hairs. When she'd learned that One for All was passed on through DNA she had consulted with Recovery Girl and Gran and they'd been able to create a pill that would allow her to gain the Quirk. More than that according to Recovery Girl; rather than the 24 hour period that Yagi had been forced to go through before he gained his powers Padme would receive them within seconds, the chemicals in the pill speeding up the process. The pill would grant her instant transfer. "That's part of what we are working on today, remember?"
Yagi nodded. "Yes… and hopefully you won't have as radical of a physical transformation as I now have!"
"I don't think Anakin would mind," she admitted.
"Oh?" Yagi said, surprised.
"Ani… Ani was born a slave. His mother was the one person that was a constant for him. But he was always around other slaves. They weren't for pleasure or anything of the like, thankfully… they were workers. And for slaves to survive… you have to be strong." She chuckled. "Before we came here Anakin was always trying to get me to work out more. Not jog or the like… lift weights, do squats. He wanted me to bulk up." Though it was hard to tell thanks to her wine-colored suit jacket Padme flexed an arm, feeling the muscles she'd built up over the last 8 or so months dance under her skin. "He's liked the results so far."
Yagi chuckled at that.
It took them another 10 minutes to finally reach Might Tower. The massive skyscraper was the headquarters for All Might and not just in terms of him fighting crime. It was a massive and impressive building yet also rather understated in Padme's option… if it weren't for its height and the planet with its two rings upon the top it would have looked like any other skyscraper. It rather fit All Might well, all things considered.
"That's a lot of floors for one person," she said with a teasing smile.
"While some of the floors are dedicated to my offices, workout rooms, and other areas I need for stopping villains much of the rest is set up to handle everything needed to manage the All Might brand." He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't like it that so much of hero culture is wrapped up in public appearances and merchandise but it is an element I have to deal with. If I just ignored it someone else would be doing it. This way I can ensure that the money goes to the right places." His mood became far more cheerful. "There are several charities that I run that are well known but also several that aren't… I like to keep things quiet, so they can actually do their good work without becoming flooded with attention. Every t-shirt, every poster, every action figure helps me pay for all I do to help others."
"That's very noble of you," Padme stated as they made their way towards the Tower, Yagi pulling a badge up from under his suit and holding it up to a security guard who had a mutation quirk that made his head look like a bear.
"Hello Yagi," the man said.
"Dango. How is your grandfather doing? Get over that cold?"
"He did but now he has a sprained ankle. I swear his quirk is bad luck!" The guard looked over at Padme. "Who is your friend?"
"Skywalker Padme," Yagi stated. "I'm training her… she's part of the secret project All Might is working on."
Dango looked about before whispering, "I hear he's getting a new sidekick."
"Is he?" Yagi said, flashing a slight smile.
"You… wouldn't have any insider information on that, would you?"
Yagi though merely shook his head. "All I know is that he requested I find someone with experience in politics."
"Hmmmpf. You're no fun, Yagi!" the man teased, straightening up. "Okay, remember to get her to Myoga to get her employee id badge. Nice to meet you Skywalker!"
"Nice to meet you too!" Padme said quickly before following Yagi inside.
It took about an hour for Padme to fill out all the forms and get her ID badge. Officially she would be doing what Yagi had told Dango: working for the All Might Agency to navigate the political scene of Japan. Of course there would be an entire team doing that soon and Padme would be able to focus on Hero Work… though she still planned to have a hand in that department's tasks. Once a Senator…
Following the instructions Yagi had given her she arrived at his office where Yagi was going over some forms, murmuring to himself before signing off on them. Taking a seat across from him she waited patiently, used to being forced to 'cool her heels' as Ahsoka called it while other political and officials worked. More than one time she had been forced to wait an hour for the Chancellor to get done with some sudden crisis that had sprung up that demanded his attention but wasn't so serious that she needed to jump in to help.
She sighed as she thought of Chancellor Palpatine. She hoped that the old man was doing well, that he wasn't letting the belief that she had perished drag him down too much. He was a strong man who had suffered many blows in his life… but every time he'd managed to rise up. The difference though was those had come when he was younger, and when he hadn't had the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. She truly hoped that he was doing okay, that he wasn't letting what happened crush him.
"Are you okay?" Yagi said, drawing her attention.
"Fine. Just thinking about someone from back home." She shook her head. "Don't worry about it Yagi… let's focus on today."
"Right. So I want to spend the next few weeks getting you established here, both as Padme and as a hero. Tomorrow we're going to bring in Madame Mode… her family has been designing costumes for heroes for generations so she'll be able to help you pick out the perfect outfit. She's American so that will upset the Japanese government… so expect that to be the first crisis you deal with."
Padme nodded. "I'm thinking about a wig," she admitted. "Something to change my hair color. Obi Wan had a suggestion… I'm not sure if you'd be up for it…"
"What is it?"
"To the public I am going to be a hero who has All Might's powers, brought in by All Might, and clearly close to All Might. They are going to ask questions about that. He suggested we simply… embrace it."
"Oh?"
Padme shifted in her seat. "Based on our ages… Obi Wan suggested that we say that All Might is my father."
Yagi let out a little sharp gasp and for a moment she was afraid he'd send blood all over the place but he quickly recovered. "Father?"
Padme grimaced. "If you don't want to-"
"No… no, it isn't that," he said quickly. "I just… never considered that. I suppose, with our ages, it would fit."
"If I got a blond wig or found some way to change the color of my hair while acting as a hero we would look more alike. It would explain why we have similar quirks, at least as far as the public knows."
Yagi leaned back in his chair, considering her idea carefully. There was certainly merit to the suggestion… it seemed like if he spent even 5 seconds talking to any hero it was assumed he was in a relationship with them. He knew there were entire websites dedicated to cataloging his 'torrid love affair' with Endeavour. The public would assume that Padme and him were connected somehow and if they came out ahead of them and said she was All Might's child…
"How do we explain you never being seen before?" he asked.
"Things can be forged. You had me living someplace else due to how powerful my quirk was. My mother passed away when I was young… that could even explain your decrease in patrolling these last few years; it wasn't because you were hurt its because you were spending more time with me. It also protected me against your enemies. But now that I'm grown I can begin learning the family business." She paused. "It would make the transition from you being the Symbol of Peace to you leading the Might Agency with me as the Symbol far easier. People wouldn't accept easily a random new hero… but the daughter of All Might?"
"Yes…" Yagi smiled as he truly began to consider the idea. "People would ask questions about All Might suddenly having a young female hero take over everything. Assume… horrible, vile things." His smile turned to a glower for a moment but then it was gone. "But my daughter? That would be acceptable to many. A comfort, really." He paused. "But… would you be okay with that? It would mean lying…"
Padme chuckled. "Anakin and I lied about being married for months. And when I first met him I lied about being a mere handmaiden. At this point it would be odd not to lie."
"Then I suppose we will go with it."
"Good," Padme said. "So, what else for today?"
"I want you to meet a friend of mine, Detective Tsukauchi, today. I've set up a meeting if you are okay with that."
"Of course!" Padme said with a smile. "I'd love to meet your friend!"
"Tsukauchi is one of the few people in the world to know the truth about my quirk and my injuries. He is my best contact in the police and I want you to know him as well as I think he will be a great help to you." He looked at the forms on his desk. "I do want to give you a tour of the tower but other than that I don't have much planned."
"Good, because I do have some ideas," Padme stated. "I wanted to begin working on filling my department and I already know who I want to reach out to." She pulled a document out of her purse and handed it to Yagi, who scanned it… then scanned it again.
"Padme… this man…"
"I know," she said. "He calls himself a villain."
"He doesn't merely call himself a villain he declares it openly!"
Padme had known this would be a hard sell for Yagi but she'd come prepared. "He might call himself that but his actions aren't of a villain… they are at best a petty criminal." She pulled out several more sheets of paper and passed them over. "He robbed a store… that was known for price gouging people in a neighborhood that had been under a boil water advisory for a month. He defaced a statue… of a hero who its rumored molested some of his fans. He did break the law but he never sought out to hurt anyone innocent. Most of the government databases don't even know who he is. I only found him through… research…"
~Three Weeks Earlier~
Padme sat on the toilet, lazily scrolling through the recommended Youtube videos, seeing if there was anything interesting.
"Huh…" she said, clicking on a link…
"Padme!" Anakin whined, knocking on the door. "Come on, its time for your workout!"
"In a minute!" She groaned. "Stupid all protein diet…"
~MC~MC~MC~
"He's still a criminal," Yagi argued.
"He wanted to be a hero," Padme stated. "He said so in his first videos. But he couldn't get into a hero school so he settled for a small high school… and their hero studies program wasn't great. He repeated classes and didn't have the best grades but I think that was his teachers' fault, not his. He truly wanted to do good work." She pulled out her phone and cued up the video she wanted Yagi to see. "I need someone that understands how to talk to people… someone good at PR. His videos don't get a lot of views but that is because they are focused on his crimes… which are bland and boring. But look at how he edits them."
She slid the phone to Yagi and he watched for several minutes, his frown lessening.
"You talked about the charities you run… about helping people. What better way to help the world then taking someone who thinks all they can be is a villain and bringing them back to the side of heroes?"
"You… truly want to do this."
"I do."
"…very well, you can interview him."
"Good," Padme said, standing up. "Because I told him to be here at 10:30 so he should be be-"
The phone rang and Yagi shot her a look before answering it, telling the person on the other end to send the man up.
After about 2 minutes a dapper looking man knocked on the door, looking a bit nervous. "H-hello?"
Padme winced; of course the man would be nervous! She'd told him to come to the Number 1 Hero in Japan's office because they needed to talk! Hurrying over she offered her hand.
"I am sorry about that… you must think you are in trouble. It's the opposite… my name is Padme Amidala and I want to talk to you about a job, Tobita." She paused. "Tell me… do you still want to make a difference? To help the world? To be a hero?"
The man known online as Gentle Criminal felt his heart clench as he took Padme's hand.
