Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything Star Wars related.

PART SEVEN

Lost Possessions

Padme finished searching through the Sith archives for the fifth time in two hours; releasing a heavy sigh when she once again turned up no results. She thought she had known exactly where she needed to go. There was something familiar about the foreign symbol that marked the small stone box that she had found in the Black Knight's grave, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She had assumed she would find her answers in the archives…she had assumed wrong.

Leaning back in her chair, she tossed the datapad she held over her shoulder in annoyance. The adrenaline that she had felt during the Black Knight's discovery was now replaced by frustration. She had run into dead-end after dead-end, and she had more and more questions with each passing second. Hopefully, she would soon have at least one answer. In the laboratory, several droids were currently working on getting the mysterious stone box open without damaging it. She sat on the edge of her seat; the possibilities of what lay inside swimming around in her head.

"Padme?"

Swiveling around in her chair, Padme turned to the door to her quarters. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she had not even heard Sabe enter the room. "Yes?"

"They're almost done," Sabe informed her friend. "It will only be a few minutes now."

"Let's go," Padme said as she jumped up from her seat and started for the door.

Side by side, Padme and Sabe strode down the long corridor that led to the lab. They reached it within a matter of seconds and joined the rest of their crew; all of which were already eagerly standing by. In the center of the laboratory was a sterilized table. A group of droids hovered around it and delicately picked at the box that rested in its center. After a short wait, the boxes lid was slowly lifted off and set aside. Then, with a long metallic arm, one of the droids carefully retrieved its contents. Padme unconsciously leaned forward in anticipation.

"What is it?" Sabe asked.

"It looks like…hair," Padme replied, curiously studying the long braid of blonde hair that the droid held in its grasp. "That's odd."

Sabe furrowed a brow. "Hair?"

"It doesn't make any sense," Padme said as she thoughtfully stroked her chin. "The Jedi would cut their padawan braids when their training ended. It marked their ascension to Jedi Knight…but why would a Sith have one?"

"It's probably from one of his many victims," Sabe retorted in disgust.

"Assuming that that's even what it is," Padme replied. "But it is possible that the Sith performed a similar ritual when they ascended from apprentice to Lordship. It's never been documented as far as I know, but that doesn't mean anything."

"Well, this is the week to find stuff that hasn't been documented," Sabe said with a smirk. "We've already found ancient scriptures, the tomb to none other than the Black Knight himself…"

"There's something else," a member of the crew spoke up as another item was plucked from the box.

Holding her breath, Padme intently watched the droid as it held up what appeared to be a green jewel. "It looks like a crystal."

"What do you suppose that's worth?" Sabe inquired.

"If I did this for the money I would have retired a long time ago," Padme replied, smiling at her wide-eyed friend. "I wonder if it was saved purely for its value, or if it has some sort of significance."

"Significance?" Sabe repeated. "Like what?"

"It could represent anything," Padme answered. "We'll have to figure it out for ourselves."

"And just how exactly do you plan to do that?" Sabe asked.

Frowning, Padme crossed her arms across her chest and studied the jewel further. "We need to get back down to those catacombs. There has to be more down there…something that will tell us more about this Darth Vader."

"Fantastic," Sabe muttered to herself. "I suppose you'll be waking us up at the crack of dawn to get started?"

"Or we could go back tonight," Padme suggested.

"Are you serious?" Sabe questioned.

Padme curiously turned to her friend. "Why not?"

"Padme, you have to let your crew get some rest," Sabe replied. "They need to sleep sometime."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Padme sighed.

"You need to sleep, too," Sabe said, firmly placing her hands on her hips. "You're going to work yourself to death."

"I'll get some sleep as soon as we're done here," Padme assured her. "Go ahead and turn in for the night, Sabe, I won't be much longer."

Padme watched her old friend exit the facility before she turned back to the droids. She would get some rest, but she had other plans to tend to first…