It's an incredible thing when an issue you've been puzzling over suddenly becomes clear. The worlds turn crystalline, and your perception tunes into that singular point of comprehension. All the puzzle pieces snap into place; you see everything for precisely what it is.

And you realize what a fool you've been for seeing otherwise. I sure felt like a kriffing idiot, because I should've seen it a long time ago. But I hadn't.

Why? Why hadn't I so much as glimpsed the blatantly obvious? Had I just been blind? Or had I, maybe, not wanted to see…?

And then, of course, there was also the other obvious: namely the according danger my discovery alerted me to. Danger from without. Danger from within. As always, danger from within proved the more concerning of the two.

It was remarkably easy to find Padmé. With everything making sense now, I felt incredibly in tune with the Alderaanian ocean that was my niece in the Force. At the moment, however, she seemed an ocean storm. Waves lashed. Tumult roared. A chaotic mixture of feelings raged within her, the intensity of all of them belying the way she put up her hand and said without even turning around,

"I do not wish for company right now, Mr. Whitesun."

Was she about to tell me off for lack of propriety? Maybe indecorousness? (And how had she realized it was me? Perception…?)

I decided to just embrace her belief of my rudeness. "I'm sorry if I've been acting improperly," I said. "I didn't know. And I'm sorry if it got you in trouble with your mother. It really wasn't my intention."

I'd only wanted to be a cool uncle, like Owen never had been for me. Probably I should've known I didn't qualify in the category by any metric, and never would.

Huffing, Padmé scooted around to face me. She'd been sitting on the balcony, legs dangling out into the open air through the bars. It had made me nervous—I never would've done it from such a height—but I hadn't commented.

"I just told you I didn't wish to speak to you," she declared haughtily and with a distinct lessening of her usual grace, rising to her feet. "You are dismissed."

I felt myself flush, and once again experienced the impotent fury of the lone nobody farmer on the desert world. Under the Empire's constant thumb. Hardly having enough air to breathe, much less to live.

"Well, you don't have that power, Padmé," I returned evenly. "You might be a princess, but I am your elder by about eighteen years. I'll dismiss myself when we're done talking, and I don't think we are."

Had anyone ever denied her? From the widening of her eyes, the flare of confusion followed by haughty indignation, probably not. She threw her shoulders back and did her level best to cut me.

"You, sir, are no gentleman. And I shall tell my mother I no longer wish to consort with you."

"I hate to break it to you, honey," I said gently, "but that is an incredibly petty threat. Besides that—I'm definitely no gentleman! I'd hardly know how to be one.

"But I am sorry for what happened tonight. I understand why it would have upset you. However, that's no reason to lash out at me or treat me rudely," I added.

Sudden shame flitted through the spoiled young aristocrat. Her brow was furrowed, her cheeks flushed, and she wore the distinct look of someone deprived of what they believed their natural right to dismiss and control the supposed lowly. For a moment, though, she seemed apt to apologize.

Then her brows drew lifted in a harsh, cold, and disturbingly cruel fashion that agreed with the look on her face. "You act utterly common," she returned to me. "And I do believe my behavior is thus merited. If I didn't know any better, I would say you are worthless rabble."

Something inside me snapped. Hot wind seemed to blow around us. I swore I felt sand stinging my eyes. I heard the hoarse calls of the beggars for water. Saw Camie stumbling toward home, drunk as a skunk once again. Experienced the endless cycle of days again and again, never ceasing, never slowing down, never showing mercy.

I told her, "If you believe those supposedly beneath you in meaningless rankings are worthless, then you don't deserve to be a princess. Cruelty is no virtue, young Padmé. Just because your mother makes you unhappy doesn't give you any reason to inflict cruelty on others to make yourself feel better. In fact… it makes you quite pitiable."

I smiled at her sadly, then took my ordered leave.

Leia had made many mistakes with her daughter's rearing, not the least of which was letting her believe in the Empire and in her loftiness above all others. But I still knew a good person lay within Padmé, one as loving and stolid as the oceans of Alderaan themselves; I'd felt it before, and seen glimpses in the rare times I met with her over the years. I just didn't know how to reach that good person within her.

Was it my responsibility to do so, since I knew that Tarkin himself saw the same potential for greatness within her? Only greatness of evil? Or should I leave it to Han and Leia, whose performance reports hardly recommended them to the task?

OOO

That night, sleeping in the beautiful and luxuriant room in the Aldera palace Leia had always lent to me during my few stays here, I had a dream. But—no—not a dream. A memory.

A memory of something that hadn't happened yet. I saw Darth Vader in all his dark malevolence. I saw a woman of power, kneeling to her master. I saw a fiery world of smoke and ash and burnt dreams.

"Where is the ninth sister, Grand Inquisitor Reva?"

"My lord—she has not returned."

"Where did she go?"

"None of us know, Master. You know—each of us—we follow our own threads—"

"Pull this one back. She believed herself to have located an intensely Force-sensitive being, as you know. Such a being could pose a minor danger to us. The beacon attached to each ship—track it."

"It will be done."

"I will hold you personally responsible if you fail me, Grand Inquisitor."

"I understand, Master. You will not be failed."

On waking up, I wanted to immediately set off. But it was the middle of the night. I might alert someone with strange movements.

Idiot seemed to be the theme of the week for me. Of course, the Inquisitor had a ship; I'd known that, but since it had been nowhere in the vicinity… well, I hadn't known what to do. And I hadn't known about the tracking beacons. Again, that made sense, but…

Idiot.

I needed to do better. Loads better.

At least the Force had given me a warning. It made me feel it really was on our side in all of this. Of course it was. I needed only to remember that, and learn to be more careful, more like a spy. Maybe Andor could help me with that. Hopefully he could.

At least I knew where the Inquisitor's ship was, now. But no matter how it grated, I knew I must wait. Patience. This wasn't present I saw; it was future, maybe days in advance. I had time. Patience.

First thing in the morning, cowl up, I ducked into Aldera's principle spaceport. Caution, I thought. Careful. Soon enough, they would realize the Inquisitor hadn't merely been delayed in her mission.

And then…

The hunt would begin. The hunt for me . In a way, I found myself looking forward to it… I didn't forget the need to figure out how to protect Padmé from future harm by the Inquisitorious, but I also had a suspicion. If that panned out, she may be well capable of self-protection to a good extent.

Also, what better way to distract them than to give chase to a rogue Jedi?

What about after I had the Inquisitors off her trail? Would she so much as consider Jedi training from me? A day ago, I felt on the right path to good relations with my niece. Today… I doubted she'd even speak to me again without coldness. Did I regret what I said? Of course not. But the fact remained that I'd sundered the inroads I had made all so that she could hear a truth she probably would give no credence to anyways.

And how long did I have for this before Erso's death and the heist?

OOO

"We all mourn. The news of the loss of Hero Galen Erso, the chief scientist on Project Stardust, which helped bring everlasting peace and prosperity to Emperor Palpatine's united galaxy through the Justice Laser of the Peace Star, impacts us all in profound ways. Word is that the Emperor himself will make a statement addressing the Empire in this time of great grief…

"According to reports, Galen Erso's body is being moved from his home on Lah'Mu to Imperial Center, where he will receive a state funeral with the highest of honors. His last request was a touching tribute to his work for our eternal Empire: holding a flash drive of the Peace Star plans in his hands for burial. A final and eternal grasp on his work, and the work of all the peace-seeking people of the Empire. Even as he ceases to personally breathe, his work lives on. Singularly beautiful.

"Meanwhile, Director Orson Krennick today gave a moving tribute to his old colleague and long-time friend…"

It began.

OOO

Author's note: Thoughts?