Happy Epiphany! ^_^ And thank you all so much for your reviews!
The sky was amazing.
Thecine had a long-lasting tradition to throw one of the largest New Year's parties on the planet on the first night of the fete week, but after that the city always went dark by midnight if the weather was just right. New Year's came in the summer in this hemisphere of Naboo, but the lakes often cooled the temperature just enough to make the evenings crisp. When that happened and the city went dark, the still water channels acted as mirrors that reflected the infinite night sky.
Padmé and Vader were on a gondola heading back to the docks. It was time to return to Varykino for some much needed rest, assuming Vader didn't come up with a new training protocol. The gondolier made the trip smooth and quiet so the two could enjoy the scenery. People filled the streets, whispering in awe over the majesty of the sights above and below them. Padmé glanced at the water but despite the gondolier's gentle rowing the ripples disturbed the perfect reflection, and so she returned her gaze to the sky. Tonight was a rare gift; all three of Naboo's moons were new moons. It was so rare that it was part of the reason people crammed into the city today; Thecine had one of the best views of the stars on this side of the planet, if not all of Naboo. It stole Padmé's breath away.
She glimpsed to see if Vader was watching as well. The Sith Lord occasionally glanced up before looking around once more; he seemed to be keeping more of an eye on the stilled crowds than on the stars. Padmé wanted to urge him to look up, but it made little difference; besides, she didn't want to miss this once in a lifetime sight.
The rest of the gondola ride was spent in the same manner. Eventually they reached their destination and Padmé reluctantly returned her attention to Thecine. To think there were so many stars out there, so many populated worlds, so many beings out there… it inspired her to do as much good for them as she could. And then she looked at Vader and all her focus came forth; she was smart enough to know she couldn't save the universe, but she wanted to save him. She wanted to help him. She would save him.
Smiling, she stood at the same time as him. "Shall we?"
Vader disembarked and tossed her a brief glance before continuing. Padmé sighed in slight exasperation; she needed to teach that man some manners. She followed him back to their speeder, but she placed her hand on his arm when he reached to start the repulsorlift.
"Milord, why don't we just let the lake flow guide us out of the dock for a few minutes?" she whispered. "That way we don't bother the stargazers."
"They don't have sensitive hearing. It won't hurt them."
Padmé rolled her eyes. "It's called being considerate."
Vader eyed her. "What purpose does that serve?"
"Simply for its own sake," she replied.
Vader shook his head. "You make no sense."
Padmé laughed softly. "What does that mean?"
"You can't save everyone," he watched her carefully. "You can't be nice to everyone. You can't rescue everyone. Yet you're always nice to them and think that'll cause some sort of miracle. It's time consuming and wasteful of your energy. You can do so much more than waste your effort on people who neither care for you nor need your concern."
She heard the quiet complement couched in the callous words. "What exactly can I do?"
"You… you can do as you said you wished." Vader replied awkwardly. "You can help me. And… you can be… we can work together. We can be partners."
"Isn't that what we're already doing?" she asked gently.
"Yes," he answered. "But your focus has to be on Master, not them."
"I remember the ground rules," she replied. "But that doesn't mean I won't be considerate to others."
Vader sighed. Turning slightly he eyed the dock and then stretched his hand out. With a lazy flick of his wrist the boat suddenly moved as if it had been pushed from the dock. Padmé looked to see if somebody had done just that but saw no one. It must have been Vader. The gentle lapping sound of the lake against the boat relaxed Padmé and they traveled in silence. She pondered the day and her situation. Overall the day had gone incredibly well; she'd been able to finally enjoy her vacation as a vacation, and she'd learned much about Vader. And she'd finally been able to articulate her desire to help him. It had seemed to make a difference to him, too; he wasn't as demanding, he was more acquiescent to her, like he wanted to show he cared without ever saying anything. Or she was reading too much into it; after their dance they'd barely spoken at all. Words didn't seem to convey what they'd wanted to say to each other.
But now the only question burning in Padmé's mind was… what next?
"Milord," she began slowly. "What will happen when the final recess is over?"
"We'll return to Imperial Center."
No kriffing kidding. "I mean what will happen to me? You already said you knew I was a Rebel spy. I've turned away from that now, but… won't I still be in trouble? What will happen? How can I be your partner if I'm in trouble?"
Her gut suddenly twisted. She felt sick bringing this up; during their vacation Naboo had become a safe haven from everything in the galaxy, especially the Empire. She didn't want to talk about this, and she especially didn't want to mention the Rebels or her connection to them. But the more she hid it the sicker she felt, the less she wanted to hide anything from Vader. Their time was almost up; she just wanted to be honest with him, she wanted to see what he was willing to do to help her. Then, with some more time, she could maybe, finally, convince him to come to the Alliance with her.
It was so incredibly frustrating that the war would get in the way of what they had together.
Vader began to twist his hands together on his lap. The same body language from that morning, the same urgency, panic, and fear suddenly returned. "You… need more training before I can present you to Master. He won't accept anything but the best. You have to be his means to an end, and you have to be perfect."
Padmé waited expectantly, but when Vader remained silent for too long, she prompted him. "So… what are we going to do?"
"Train." Vader immediately replied. "Train a lot. As soon as we get back. And you have to finish telling me about the Alliance. Tell me now."
She knew she shouldn't have brought this up. "Finish telling you? I told you what I know."
This was so screwed up. Why couldn't she just tell him? She wanted to. She needed to if he was to truly trust her… but something in her just wouldn't allow her to do it. She would say it was her loyalty to the Rebel Alliance, but that implied she was trying to betray them by confiding in Vader – that wasn't the case, was it? She wanted to help him, she wanted to bring him to the Alliance to be with her. She wanted to aid the Alliance.
Yet somehow, deep inside her, she felt as if those two ideals didn't coincide.
Vader breathed deeply through his nose. His hands finally stilled. His face grew stormy. His muscles tensed. His brow furrowed. His eyes darkened. She recognized the expression on other people; it was anger. But on Vader… it was this strange experience, as if she were watching anger simmer beneath duracrete, if that could even be possible to describe or explain. And then, suddenly, as if the lake itself were pouring into him to cool the lava flowing beneath the surface, he slowly settled into his usual calm self. He reached for the repulsorlift, engaged it, and then activated the engine. They spent the rest of the trip in silence.
Padmé had always hated the Empire. But all of a sudden she found herself hating the Alliance, too.
The night sky reminded him of his first kiss with Siri. It didn't reveal as much of the heavens as that night many years ago, but it was still beautiful to behold. But he couldn't really enjoy the scenery; though he cast a brief glance heavenward, his attention was fixed upon what would happen when they reached their destination. He and Siri had barely spoken since their arrival on Naboo; Al had said he would remain with the Invariant Beauty to prevent suspicion. Siri and Obi-Wan had arrived in Theed a little over two hours ago and had taken a shuttle to Oxon. They'd since taken a taxi to the docks that led to the expansive Lake Country.
Siri, of course, had hopped straight into the driver's seat; she was a fair pilot and drove a speeder well enough, but her favorite machine to maneuver was a boat. Ever since Obi-Wan had first taken her to Varykino when they were teenagers she'd fallen in love with the speeder boat; she immediately learned to drive it and got a license. She loved the speed, the thrill, the smell of the moist air, and most especially, she loved the water. Obi-Wan certainly preferred it to air transport; he wasn't a huge fan of flying.
Siri finally broke the silence between the two of them, interrupting Obi-Wan's reflections. "Is it the usual cover story, then?"
"I should think." Obi-Wan replied, stroking the stubble on his chin thoughtfully.
"Do you think he'll verify it?"
"Undoubtedly," he immediately answered. "But that's why we landed in Theed instead of Oxon."
Siri sighed heavily. "I know."
The Naberrie trio had only been Rebels for the past four years: the second half of Padmé's term as queen and all of her term so far as senator. In that time they often met up with other Rebel contacts and had to come up with numerous alibis for their clandestine dealings. Obi-Wan and Siri often attributed it to their old acquaintances in the RRM, and since Obi-Wan was Naboo's representative, he could also claim to have been touring the planet. Up until Padmé was nineteen most of their operations were on Naboo, anyway; they'd been fairly passive on Imperial Center until Kuna had come into the picture.
Obi-Wan shook his head. It didn't matter if they used their usual alibi or not. He and his wife were almost always in sync with each other; they'd easily come up with a cover story on the spot. That wasn't his concern.
He was worried about Padmé.
"There's Varykino," Siri noted, and Obi-Wan immediately looked ahead. The island came ever closer, barely visible in the darkness. The dock had a single light, allowing them to reach it. There was a speeder boat tied toward the edge of the dock, so Siri snuggled their boat in behind it. Glancing at Obi-Wan, she whispered, "Ready?"
Ready to see Padmé? Absolutely. Ready to face Darth Vader?
Not so much.
"Yes," Obi-Wan replied with a nod.
The couple stood and began their steady trek towards the villa. Obi-Wan had spent most of his time worrying about Padmé, but he suddenly grew nervous thinking about his newly discovered Force sensitivity. He'd already reasoned that if no one had noticed before, even the Sith Lord, then it was unlikely they'd notice now, but since he himself knew about it he felt like it was painted all over him in neon colors – I'm a Jedi.
He shook his head firmly. Siri gave a sidelong glance but didn't make a remark. She probably knew what was bothering him, but they needed to focus now; the time for worrying and fretting was over. It was time to act.
When they finally reached the balcony, Obi-Wan paused. Something was wrong… well, perhaps not wrong, but something was off. There were no lights on in the villa from what he could see. Checking his chronometer for the local time, he looked at the villa once again in confusion. It was ten on the chronometer; surely Padmé wasn't in bed yet. She was quite the night owl, after all. Then again, she may want to avoid Vader and probably would use the excuse of sleep as a good reason to get away from him. But something still didn't seem right… Obi-Wan had a sinking suspicion that she wasn't there at all. If that was the case, then where was she? Where was Darth Vader?
"Nobody's home," Siri immediately surmised, coming to the same conclusions. She sounded similarly befuddled, but also worried. "But there's a boat in the dock…"
Obi-Wan glanced back at the dock instinctively. Then a low humming sound emitted from the lake. He held up a finger. "Do you hear that?"
The two listened intently and saw the headlights of a speeder boat making its way to Varykino. They watched from the balcony as it pulled in, hugging the shore since the dock was mostly occupied by the other two boats. Voices echoed in the distance; one was a soft feminine tone sounding tired, the other a steady, calm baritone. Or not so steady; Obi-Wan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he heard it. His insides shivered as a freezing wind suddenly blew into him. Siri shuddered at the same time.
"Padmé?" Obi-Wan called, taking a step forward.
"Obi-Wan! Siri!" He couldn't make out her face, but the pure joy in her voice was enough to indicate she was relieved and happy to see them.
Siri immediately rushed down the stairs, but Obi-Wan remained on the balcony. As happy as he was to see Padmé was alright, he wanted to watch Vader. The man's silhouette was motionless as Siri rushed to Padmé and nearly tackled her in a hug. Although she seemed similarly disturbed by Vader's presence, she didn't seem to notice the distinct differences. When Obi-Wan had run into the Sith Lord before, he'd felt cold and something about the man had felt off. Now, he felt jittery, as if he were full of energy and was about to burst. He paced the balcony a little and his temples pounded. What was wrong?
He jumped when Siri dragged Padmé up to him and nearly threw Padmé and Obi-Wan together. Padmé didn't need much prompting; she squeezed Obi-Wan so hard he could barely breathe. Just seeing her was enough to appease his fears, but he knew to hug her back. It was a nice feeling, even if he often had to force himself to do it.
Before Vader could get a chance to reach them, he whispered, "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she replied softly, her voice quivering from emotion. "I'm so happy to see you two."
"We missed you," Obi-Wan said, smiling. He felt his knees tremble slightly; it was an enormous comfort to know she was safe and to finally reunite with her.
Padmé sniffled and buried her face in his chest. He held her more tightly until he saw Vader walking up the stairs. Siri stood firmly between the two of them and Vader as if to shield them. Obi-Wan eventually pulled Padmé away from him; if she showed this much relief to see them the Sith Lord might get suspicious. When Vader was finally on the balcony, Obi-Wan and Siri bowed deeply.
Vader nodded in acknowledgement. "Enjoying your vacation?"
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to reply when he found his voice had fled him… along with his resolve. He stood firm and his face showed no indication of his fear, but he didn't realize just how badly it was affecting him until he'd tried to answer. Siri hastily replied for him.
"Yes, actually. We were in Theed meeting with some old acquaintances. And stopping by home," Facing Padmé, Siri then remarked, "Ryoo wants to show you her latest drawings, so you should stop by if you can. Also, Sola asks if you've found yourself a handsome man to sweep you off your feet; she figured that surely at least one of the two fete weeks would provide some opportunities."
Padmé would normally laugh such a remark off or, more likely, roll her eyes. In this instance, however, she suddenly grew pensive, and then looked a little unsettled before finally emitting a forced chuckle. "Sola is quite persistent, I'll give her that."
There was a sudden awkward pause where everyone was either nodding or staring at each other. Obi-Wan hastily tried to move the conversation along, looking away from Vader and grabbing his resolve; if he wasn't looking at that cold void of a man he could at least say something. "How have you been?"
"Busy," Padmé said, and she sounded quite sincere. "Lord Vader and I have been engaged in quite interesting conversations as of late."
Immediately, Vader nodded again and excused himself, saying he needed rest. He vanished into the shadows. The three were silent for a solid two minutes before Siri blew out a sigh. "That was awfully fast; I expected more of an interrogation from him."
"He's probably tired," Padmé muttered, though she didn't sound convinced. She pushed aside whatever was bothering her, though, and she smiled at them, dragging them into a hug once more. "I'm so happy you two are safe and here. Come on, you've got to be exhausted as well—and hungry, I can imagine. Let's get some food and then go to bed."
"Perhaps we can skip the food," Obi-Wan shook his head with a gentle smile. Internally he was still reeling from his earlier hiccup, but he was steadily shoving that down. He didn't need to concern himself with that now; he needed to look after Padmé and Siri. Padmé obviously had missed them greatly, and Siri… well, he wasn't sure if she'd go berserk being in the same villa as that Sith Lord. "Maybe something to drink and then we can go to bed."
"Yes, I'd love to hear about your vacation," Siri said, her body tensing slightly. Obi-Wan reached a hand over to her shoulder and squeezed it; not here. Not with Vader around.
Siri sighed heavily.
The three pulled away from the hug and Padmé shrugged. "Like I said, some interesting conversations. Nothing particularly eventful… though I probably should mention what happened on CC4."
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "CC4? I haven't heard anything about it."
"I'm not sure it got much coverage even within our own sector," Padmé shook her head. "I doubt it got any publicity outside of Chommell. CC4 had a groundquake and the slaves rebelled."
"It wouldn't be the first slave rebellion on that colony – weren't there issues with that before the final recess?" Obi-Wan asked, recalling Rekk's report back on Imperial Center. That seemed so long ago now… how long had it been since that conversation? Two weeks?
"Yeah, actually, you're right," Padmé sighed as she made the connection as well. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, then. Either way, Vader and I handled the situation."
"You two went to CC4?" Siri blurted out, surprised.
Padmé nodded. "Yeah, my vacation has been pretty eventful and not so relaxing, but lately it's been… nice. How about you two? Was your free time spent productively?"
Obi-Wan caught her meaning. He still didn't really want to reveal anything, especially with Darth Vader heaven only knew where in the building, but he indulged her a little. "Marginally. We hit a few… obstacles."
"And learned some interesting things," Siri muttered.
"But in either case, I'm very tired," Obi-Wan hastily moved the conversation forward. Padmé had enough to worry about—honestly, they all did; he wasn't going to add his newfound Force sensitivity to that list. "Perhaps we can discuss more over breakfast, Padmé, though I will ask this: are we going back to Imperial Center together?"
Just say yes. Just say yes, Padmé. Come with us and let Vader return alone.
"I'll be returning with Lord Vader," Padmé replied with a neutral expression. She was hiding something. Why was she hiding something from him?
Siri looked like she wanted to argue, but she bit her lip. "Suit yourself. We'll see you in the morning, then."
"Good night," Padmé hugged them a third time, and the hug lingered so long that Obi-Wan began to worry about her again. He really didn't like that she wasn't telling them everything, but he supposed it was simply because Vader was in the vicinity. At least he hoped so.
Eventually the couple separated from Padmé and went to their usual room in the villa. Siri paused on the way.
"Is that… a broken chair?" she asked softly, trying to make the object out in the dim light.
Obi-Wan immediately followed her gaze. Why was the furniture broken? The two steadily walked closer to the site and saw a chair leg innocently lying in the middle of the hallway.
"Maybe Vader's fat ego broke it," Siri said so softly Obi-Wan wasn't even sure he'd actually heard it or just imagined it in his head. He picked up the leg and examined it for a few seconds; the breaking point was shredded, and splinters were hanging out. Some sort of blunt force caused this, but he wasn't sure what. Obi-Wan resolved to ask Padmé about it tomorrow.
"Let's go to bed," he advised, and the two went to their room, tossing their one luggage bag beside the bed. The couple collapsed.
"Something's wrong," Siri said as soon as they'd settled in bed. "She's not telling us something."
"I know," Obi-Wan responded, staring at the dark ceiling.
"How are we going to figure out what it is with Vader around?"
Obi-Wan shook his head. Not now. Siri seemed to catch his meaning, and she gave him a sour look.
"She's fine, Siri," Obi-Wan replied, reassuring himself as much as he was reassuring her. Padmé seemed awfully clingy; he could imagine it wasn't easy at all dealing with Vader constantly, but it seemed like she was seeing them for the first time after a war. "She's uninjured."
"Physically," Siri remarked, but Obi-Wan wouldn't comment. Instead, he brushed his fingers against her face in a small gesture of assurance and then closed his eyes to sleep. Siri snuggled beside him and he sighed and turned towards her as they both slipped into unconsciousness.
The lazy morning light drifted through the windows. It pierced her eyelids, making Padmé turn away from it. She'd been in this groggy half-asleep state for a while as she'd been thinking about recent events. She was ecstatic that Obi-Wan and Siri were back, but at the same time she was worried. She'd wanted their support for most of the vacation, but the past few days had actually begun to satisfy that yearning; once she and Vader had finally started to open up to each other, everything had improved. For the most part, at least; of course there were bumps, but the days had been relatively smooth. Now, though… would Vader be open around Obi-Wan and Siri? It wasn't likely.
Maybe she could find a way to convince them to leave ahead of her? She felt horrible even thinking it let alone suggesting it; the two of them had been worried sick. Siri had immediately wrapped her in an enormous hug, which was her indicator that she'd missed her greatly, and Obi-Wan didn't even complain about being hugged constantly so many times and for so long. They were just as happy to see her as she was to see them. She didn't want to push them away. But she didn't want to push Vader away, either, and that's exactly how it would feel if she suddenly spent all her time with her family.
Blast it, what was she supposed to do? It wasn't fair to either party to choose one over the other. How could she help Vader and still be with her family?
Why couldn't they both just be one in the same?
Padmé sat up abruptly. Did she really just say that in her head? She… wait, wait, wait, Vader was—she wanted to help him, and she certainly didn't mind being around him—in fact it was starting to be quite enjoyable and amusing, even if it was also tiring, but… but… she couldn't even finish her thought. She was startled enough that the idea popped in her mind, but she was even more startled by how content she felt at thinking é shook her head violently and moaned. Not now. She couldn't think about this now.
Sighing, Padmé rose, cleaned herself up, and dressed. She strolled through the halls of the villa and glanced into her brother's room. Obi-Wan and Siri were both still asleep, cuddled relatively close together. They looked exhausted. What did they go through? Why did it take them so long to get back? Padmé felt her chest grow heavy; she adored the two of them, but seeing them reminded her of her duty to the Alliance, and she just didn't want to deal with that right now. All of her energy was focused on helping Vader, on just being with him, and she didn't want anything to invade their refuge. But reality was steadily returning; the vacation was ending.
Wandering by different bedrooms, she wondered if Vader was still asleep. She had no clue where he'd been resting the past two nights, but after she passed every single bedroom in the villa she concluded that he wasn't in bed anyway. Maybe he was on his morning walk? Going to the balcony she looked around for any sign of the Sith Lord but saw nothing. She supposed she'd have to wait.
As she fixed herself some breakfast, Padmé glanced at the container of chocolate ice cream in the freezer and her chest grew even heavier. She wanted this vacation to last forever. At the same time, she wasn't sure she could handle that, either; she had no qualms spending time with Vader, but trying to convince him of things was sometimes very exhausting. If only Obi-Wan and Siri could help her… she needed some sort of support. She'd had none her entire time here, and she was feeling pretty weary. It was ironic that she'd been desperately wishing they'd come back all the way up until she decided to help Vader – now she had to juggle taking care of Vader and keeping Obi-Wan and Siri from jumping to conclusions or panicking.
Eventually Obi-Wan and Siri were up and wandered into the dining room. They both greeted her warmly, and they seemed infinitely more cheerful than yesterday.
"I see the sleep did you two some good," Padmé remarked with a genuine smile.
"Yes, it did," Obi-Wan replied, sitting at the table after making some food for himself and Siri.
"It also helps that Varykino is Vader-free for a while," Siri chuckled as she sat beside him.
Padmé crossed her arms. "Well, he's not in the villa from what I could tell, but that doesn't mean he's not here at all. He normally goes for morning walks."
"He's not on the island," Obi-Wan shook his head.
"How do you know?"
"We looked," Siri shrugged. "One of the boats is missing. Also, we swept the place for bugs and there are none, so we can finally speak freely."
Padmé didn't let them say anything else; she immediately rushed down to the dock to confirm Siri's claim. There were indeed only two boats. Where had he gone? Why would he leave? He was coming back, right?
"Padmé?"
She slowly turned to Obi-Wan, who'd followed her. He was watching her curiously, but his blue-grey eyes were sharp with concern and something else… suspicion? She wasn't sure.
"I… didn't expect him to just leave like that," she shrugged with the best smile she could muster.
Siri joined him a few seconds later. "What's wrong?"
Padmé looked away, gazing off at the expansive lake. Where was he right now? "It's nothing."
"Why are you lying?"
Why was she lying? Did she have anything to hide from her own family? Well, she hid a lot of the dangers of being a Rebel spy from Sola and her parents, but Obi-Wan and Siri understood her life better than anyone. Why would she keep this a secret from them?
Maybe the better question was why shouldn't she tell them?
Siri would never accept that Vader was anything but a murderer. The woman was more opinionated than even Padmé, and while she tried to be understanding of the circumstances, she was unlikely to see Vader as anything but a monster. Firstly, Sabé and Siri were closer than Sabé and Padmé, and while she hadn't seen Siri coping with the loss, she knew it affected her far worse. Secondly, Siri had an unshakable sense of justice, and no amount of explanation about Vader's upbringing or opinion of himself would change that.
What about Obi-Wan? He was far more willing to look at a situation from all angles, even more so than Padmé herself. Surely he could understand this, and he could help Siri see reason too, right?
"I'm sorry," she finally said, shaking her head and facing them fully. "I… this vacation has been… insane. Remember when I said Darth Vader and I had interesting conversations? They were… eye opening, to say the least. I…" She sighed heavily, playing with her dress and trying to figure out how to phrase this. Instead, she decided to wait. "Let's talk about your vacation first, okay? Vader knows what happened here, but he… he can't know about your excursions, so let's get that out of the way while he's gone."
"Salkende won't help," Siri immediately said, looking frustrated. "They're in a civil war that's almost over but they're convinced they can't help us."
"There's a bit more to it than that," Obi-Wan amended, silently chastising Siri with a look. "Their decision may be regrettable, but they do have some legitimate reasons. Padmé, did you hear about what happened to Senator Mothma?"
Padmé felt her heart sink. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear this. "I've been out of the loop. What happened?"
"She's been captured."
Padmé closed her eyes and felt every fiber of her being tighten and tremble. So not only was the Rebel Alliance low on supplies and down both of its bases, but two out of three of its political leaders were now known traitors to the Empire. First Iblis became a fugitive after his family was executed and now Mothma was imprisoned?
"There's not been any official statement on the matter, but if she's declared a traitor…"
"She'll be executed," Padmé finished for him.
"We spoke to Senator Organa," Obi-Wan continued. "He says the Alliance doesn't have a rescue operation put together yet because they're too busy trying to establish a new base; they're still running from the search parties."
"But the Jedi are keeping the Imperials at bay," Siri added with a smirk. "Can you believe that?"
"The… the Jedi?" Padmé stared at them in shock. "I thought they were extinct!"
"We did too," Obi-Wan replied. "Apparently there are quite a few of them." He and Siri then exchanged glances and he shook his head slightly before returning his attention to Padmé. "We'll be getting one as a protector."
"A Jedi protector?" Padmé repeated. "Won't that be a little obvious?"
"We were wondering that too, but the man has managed to avoid Imperial attention for the past twenty-two years," Obi-Wan shrugged. "I suppose we can assume he knows what he's doing."
Padmé nodded, staring at the dock and taking it all in. Salkende wouldn't help, the Alliance had no base of operations, Mothma was imprisoned with no immediate rescue, but the Jedi were protecting them somehow. Where did the Jedi even come from? They appeared out of nowhere.
"How are we getting a Jedi protector? Why?" Padmé looked at Obi-Wan once more. She had wondered for many days whether they would return to Imperial Center or not, and she'd wanted to do so to be with Vader, but she hadn't expected Obi-Wan and Siri to agree to it. Obi-Wan's query last night about returning to Imperial Center had simply been a formality in case Vader had been listening. On top of all that, if Vader knew of her status as a spy, didn't the Empire know too? Wouldn't that compromise her position? Should she tell Obi-Wan and Siri that? She had to talk to Vader about this – things were getting out of control, confusing, and worrying.
She moaned and rubbed her face with her hand. What a mess. She needed to change topics; she needed to not think about this insanity for a little while more. "Did you two really stop by home?"
"Yeah, for about five minutes," Siri answered with a sheepish laugh. "Everything we said about that was true. Relax, Padmé; we didn't say where you were or who you were with."
Padmé breathed a sigh of relief; her parents and sister would explode with panic if they found out what she'd been up to. She could imagine it hadn't been fun covering for her, though. "Thank you."
"So," Obi-Wan said slowly, crossing his arms and watching her shrewdly. She knew that look. That was his I'm your older brother and demand a straight answer from you because I know you're up to something look. At least that's what Siri had called it when she'd first seen it. "What eye opening experiences have you been enduring here?"
That familiar knot returned to her stomach. Sighing, she tried to dance around the issue. "We… Vader's been a little… different than he was on Imperial Center."
"Different how?"
"Less… intense," Padmé tried to explain. "At first it was awkward but okay, but after a while… he's… I just… he's more than what we thought he was. He's not just a monster."
Well, she was in for it now. Siri's eyes widened and her brow furrowed, and Obi-Wan's mouth became a thin line.
"Padmé," Siri said slowly, as if to a youngling. "This is the same man who has led armies to slaughter innocent people and Rebels alike. This is the guy who probably is responsible for Kuna and Sabé's deaths, and he's the guy who's going to kill you if the Empire finds out what you really are. There's nothing more to him than that."
Padmé immediately wanted to argue; she wanted to say that Vader did know what she really was and he hadn't killed her for it… but considering how they were reacting already, she figured they'd lose it if she told them. She looked at Obi-Wan to see what he had to say on the matter. While Siri looked shocked and affronted at the notion that Vader was anything but a demon, Obi-Wan looked… suspicious. He could tell there was more to it than just a mere suggestion of humanity. Padmé squirmed under his gaze.
"What made you come to this conclusion?" he asked quietly.
"I… we've talked. A lot." She answered carefully. Blast, she shouldn't have to play politics with her own brother. Why was everything so screwed up? "He showed a different side to me."
"It's called playing you," Siri shook her head. "I thought you were supposed to be doing that to him, not vice versa."
Annoyance began to flow through her, and she shot Siri a glare. "You haven't been here! You guys have been running around taking your sweet time to get here! How much time does it take to get to Salkende? How long were those negotiations? What took you two so kriffing long? I was here by myself dealing with Vader, dealing with his everyday rituals and mannerisms and everything and actually learning about him and—and—who got the real work done during this vacation?!"
Before Obi-Wan and Siri could say anything, Padmé stormed back to the villa.
Tarkin paced his living room restlessly. Data pads containing reports of multiple attacks by that blasted Jedi fleet were scattered all over the place. They had been in a neat stack until he'd read the most recent one, marking the fleet's seventh attack. A giant holographic galactic map was lazily rotating in the center of the room, and Tarkin had been marking the location of each attack by the Jedi. They were steadily heading closer to Imperial Center. They'd started in the Outer Rim and were now lingering in the Mid Rim. How long before they suddenly appeared in orbit? Why couldn't any of the blasted Imperial fleets find them and destroy them? The two armadas he'd initially lost hadn't been the last ones – Tarkin had since sent another fleet that had managed to locate them and then he'd lost contact. The navy was still trying to get a report, but it was obvious; they'd been destroyed.
It was the eighth day of the final recess. If Amidala wished to get back to Imperial Center within any sort of reasonable amount of time, she'd be leaving today or tomorrow. That meant Vader's mission would also end. The likelihood that the man had obtained any useful information was low; earlier, that would have frustrated Tarkin beyond belief, but now it was exactly what he wanted. He needed to be careful, obviously; Vader would take the fall for this failure, and Palpatine would not be pleased in the slightest. Tarkin had to ensure the emperor didn't kill his apprentice for his ineptitude, though that didn't seem too likely; Palpatine always had a soft spot for the Sith Lord… if one could imagine that keeping the boy alive indicated he had a soft spot. It was at least useful, though. Tarkin shuddered slightly, but he shook the feeling off. He and Vader would both be better off after Palpatine was dead.
Slowly going to his comlink, Tarkin checked his chronometer. It was 0410 locally (he had been spending the night and early morning correlating the different attack locations of the Jedi fleet), so in the Lake Country it should be half past ten in the morning. Vader had probably been awake for a few hours, and Tarkin was eager to hear some sort of good news, so he patched in the boy's frequency. At this point, Vader would have either managed a miracle by getting solid leads on the Alliance or, more likely, he'd failed and was in desperate need of Tarkin's guidance. Even if the miracle did occur, it was still good news for Tarkin in either case.
Vader didn't answer. Tarkin frowned. Even when he was distressed, the young Sith would always answer his comlink; barely anyone knew his frequency, so if they called it was always for something important. Surely he wasn't still asleep; even if he were, he'd hear the comlink. Growing slightly concerned, he called again.
The holoprojector on his desk hummed as Vader answered and a medium sized hologram of him appeared. He looked even worse than the last time Tarkin saw him; although the hologram wasn't particularly detailed, Tarkin could clearly see rings under the young man's eyes. He couldn't sit still, either; he paced as he waited for Tarkin to say something. His hair was messy as if he hadn't taken his usual two minutes to ensure he looked presentable. Tarkin took a small steadying breath; the damage had been done. Vader had failed his mission. Now Tarkin could just help him… a little bit.
"Report," he quipped.
Vader finally stopped pacing, but he said nothing.
Tarkin repeated himself. "Report, Lord Vader. That's an order."
Giving the young Sith orders always made him snap out of whatever daze he was in, and it was no different this time. He faced Tarkin fully and opened his mouth to speak, but he paused and closed it again, looking away. He clasped his hands behind his back, and his entire posture was rigid.
"What did you learn?" Tarkin prompted once more.
"I need more time," Vader finally said, still looking elsewhere. Tarkin waited for him to elaborate, but he was silent.
"You don't have more time," Tarkin eventually replied with just enough force in his tone to make the point clear.
"I'll make more time," Vader suddenly said, and his voice deepened considerably. Tarkin translated the reaction as best as his memory allowed; it had been a very long time since he'd seen Vader act differently from his usual façade. He was frustrated, he was frantic… he knew he'd failed and he was flailing in the dark. But he wouldn't give up; Darth Vader never gave up. However, this also put him in a precarious and somewhat dangerous frame of mind – at this point he would start analyzing his mission objectives and strip away any unnecessary quips, including any semblance of subtlety. Vader could potentially start a diplomatic incident on Naboo, one that may require more cleaning up than Tarkin really cared to do. Not that he cared about Amidala's safety—quite the contrary, actually—but if Palpatine wanted Amidala alive, it would make the situation even more tedious… and dangerous. Tarkin needed to stop this thought process before Vader brought it to fruition.
"You can't kill her, milord," Tarkin advised carefully.
Vader shook his head. "I won't kill her. But there are those who are close to her. She can be persuaded to speak. She has to learn."
What did that mean? Tarkin leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms, examining the Sith Lord. There was more going on here than just Vader's desperate attempt to salvage the mission. "What, exactly, does the senator have to learn, milord?"
"Obedience." Vader answered gruffly, but he shuddered as if he didn't even like what he himself was saying.
Tarkin smirked. "Yes, the senator is quite out of line. Nevertheless, it is not your decision to make; if the emperor wishes someone else to be taken care of, he will inform you. Since he has not, your main priority is to extract information in other ways."
"I—" Vader immediately tried to argue, but he stopped himself.
Tarkin tensed a little; seeing the young man in this much turmoil was slightly disturbing, even for his calm disposition. It would be over soon enough, though, and when he was emperor, he would recall this moment with pride – his first real victory over Palpatine. In the meantime, he had to ensure Vader didn't screw it up.
"I am to obtain information about the Alliance from the senator without hurting her or anyone she knows and while convincing her to like me," Vader muttered and shook his head, growing even more frustrated. "It's—it won't—I—she's too—she doesn't understand, she needs to be taught a lesson, she—Master can't possibly—how—governor, what do I do?"
Vader looked at Tarkin for a moment and then he closed his eyes, tipping his head downward. His hands balled into fists at his sides, and he stood rigid as a soldier in formation. He was trying to center himself. It didn't work. He opened his eyes shortly after and started to pace again. This was starting to get a little out of hand.
"Where's the senator now?" Tarkin asked.
"Varykino, her lake retreat."
Tarkin furrowed his brow. "So you're not there right now?"
Vader didn't respond. Tarkin presumed he shook his head, but with as much as he was moving around it was difficult to tell.
"Where are you?" he queried. Vader again didn't reply; he was too lost in whatever frantic thoughts were flurrying through his mind. Tarkin cleared his throat. "Lord Vader."
Vader threw him a glance and continued to pace.
"Lord Vader, where are you?" Tarkin again asked.
"Oxon," he muttered, not really paying Tarkin any mind.
"Why?"
Vader stopped once more. "I needed to sort this out. I needed to be alone. I can't—I can't fail. I won't. I'll get the information."
"Milord, what are you planning?" Tarkin narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the man's desperate ideas.
"My primary objective is to gather Intel. My secondary objective is to be amicable, to gain her trust. There are no other stipulations." Vader was muttering so softly Tarkin wasn't sure if the man was speaking to himself or to Tarkin. In either case, he left out many key details, and it made Tarkin nervous. Killing Naboo citizens without provocation would only cause more unrest on the planet, and after they'd just gotten rid of the Rebels, no less; the last thing they needed was more rebellion on the planet right after they destroyed the first group.
"Use the Force on her," Tarkin suggested. "If she doesn't remember the incident, it won't be so difficult. Perhaps you can damage her mind a little bit – make it look like she fell ill."
"I can't," he shook his head fiercely now; somehow that suggestion upset him even more.
"Why not?" Tarkin asked, a little exasperated and a little curious. It was vital that Vader obtain something of use or Tarkin wasn't sure even he could convince Palpatine to leave the boy alive. Considering any information on the Alliance was only available through this one source, Vader's mission was rather paramount, and Palpatine would not be happy if it had borne no fruit whatsoever.
"Because I—because Master said so, dammit!" Vader suddenly snapped, whirling on Tarkin. Then he panted for air and abruptly sat down, running his hands through his hair.
This had to stop. Now.
"All right," Tarkin said acquiescently, taking a small step towards the hologram of the young Sith. He quieted his voice to a somewhat soothing tone, both for the act and because he was genuinely starting to worry quite a bit for the young Sith's sanity. He'd never seen Vader this worked up. Ever. "Look at me. Go back to Varykino, but quietly – don't let Amidala know you're there. Just observe and listen; if she believes she is alone she's more likely to reveal something. Stay the entire day. When evening comes, bring what you learned. Come home. Never mind the secondary objective – let me take care of that. The emperor is only concerned with your primary objective. Be subtle, be a shadow, and then come home."
Vader watched him. The hologram couldn't provide too much detail as to his expression, but Tarkin was fairly certain the Sith Lord was holding on to every word as if it were a lifeline. However, he didn't acknowledge the command. Instead, he looked away once more, lost in thought.
"That's an order, Lord Vader."
Vader eventually took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "As you wish."
The hologram vanished.
Siri was often called a short fuse. Obi-Wan used to call her a firework; she'd go off in enormous explosions, but he still found her beautiful. She'd been so touched when he'd told her that, and he'd done so shortly after she'd verbally torn him to pieces, no less. He always had such infinite patience for her, for everyone, for everything. He worried a lot, and sometimes situations did push even him too far, but he'd always be one of the first to recover and make the situation right. Obi-Wan was always called the peacemaker of the Naberrie family. Siri was often the opposite.
This situation definitely exemplified that.
"What the hell was she thinking saying that? Did she think we were just lounging around? Does she know how much we worried, how hard we tried to get back here?" Siri ranted, pacing the dock angrily. She was hurt by Padmé's remarks; the entire time they'd been dealing with Salkende—all through their time in hyperspace, their time on Nar Shaddaa, on Salkende, on Alderaan—she'd been worrying about Padmé while also trying to help the Alliance while also bearing the loss of Sabé while also looking after Obi-Wan once they'd found out about his Force sensitivity. Did Padmé think nobody else felt anything but her? Padmé had no clue what Siri had been going through—what Obi-Wan had been going through! Just because she suddenly decided to play the stupid "There's good in him!" crap did not mean that Vader actually was worth saving! Honestly, Siri thought they were all in agreement on that, at least!
Did she not realize that he could kill her?! And why did everything have to be about her, anyway?! Siri and Obi-Wan had been the ones to bring the Alliance to her, and now she was suddenly the most important one, the one who needed the protection, the care, the concern, the everything as if Siri and Obi-Wan's efforts didn't matter! They'd just risked their necks going to Salkende and Alderaan, and they were the ones making arrangements while Padmé sat on the sidelines, which was almost always what she did anyway, and—
"Siri."
Obi-Wan's voice cut through her thought process like a knife, but she was still angry. Turning to him, she said nothing, too annoyed to bother acknowledging him verbally. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her fiery hot temper cooled a little at the touch.
"It's obvious Padmé's gone through… a lot… since we separated," Obi-Wan remarked. "She just hasn't realized we have too. It's fine."
It's fine?!
Siri pushed his hand off her. "No, it's not fine! All our time on Imperial Center is spent helping her, looking out for her, and—"
"This plan was her idea. She hasn't been passive about our predicament, Siri."
Why was he so kriffing calm?! Siri glared at him in the eye and her temper immediately vanished. He looked tired, hurt, and worried; he was just as affected as Siri, and here she was throwing all of her anger at him. Sighing heavily, she reached and held the hand she'd just shoved away. "I'm sorry. It's just… I'm sorry."
She felt drained. She didn't want to talk about this anymore. Obi-Wan squeezed her hand, and she felt some energy surge through her. She sighed and leaned towards him, putting her forehead on his shoulder. "I expected a happy reunion, not an argument."
"We're all stressed," Obi-Wan reasoned, his voice soft in her ear. "It's expected."
"Don't give me that crap," Siri said, pulling away and looking him in the eye. "You're worried. She said something you didn't like."
"It's more of what she didn't say." He sighed, looking away.
"About Vader?" Siri asked, and she grew even more exhausted just saying it. She was so sick of talking about Vader, of talking about the Empire, the Force, all of it. She wished she could just wring the emperor's neck with her bare hands and be done with it. She wished she could do something more active than this kriffing subterfuge. She felt so small, so insignificant, so helpless, like a cog in a machine that would never see the big picture and was eternally stuck in that one place doing the same pointless work that could easily be done by someone else. She hated it.
For once Obi-Wan didn't seem to notice her plight. He merely stepped away and gazed at the lake, lost in thought. "The way she spoke about him… she's…"
"Lost her mind?" Siri finished for him, crossing her arms. Then she took a deep breath to calm herself so she could try to reassure her husband. "She's just been stuck here with him too long. We'll be leaving soon, and—"
Oh right. She said she was going to leave with him.
"Well we can always convince her to come with us," she tried again, rapidly attempting to put a plan together in her mind.
"Let's just find her," Obi-Wan said, heading back towards the villa. Siri followed him reluctantly; she'd rather wait a few hours, both so she herself could calm down and so she could come up with a compelling argument to convince Padmé to leave with them.
The two didn't have to search long to find Padmé; she was sitting in the dining room eating a small bowl of chocolate ice cream. She looked at them a little reluctantly, remorse clear on her face, but Siri still wasn't quite sure how to proceed – mainly because a part of her was demanding that Padmé apologize first. Blasted pride. Sighing, she figured just for that thought alone she should apologize first, but she felt her chest tighten as she opened her mouth. She couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Padmé, we're sorry we upset you," Obi-Wan said softly. Of course he would apologize first. Kriffing martyr. Siri glared at him; it wasn't his fault Padmé went berserk on them. Blast it all, why was she getting mad at him for trying to help with the situation? She needed to calm down. "We're just worried about you."
Padmé sighed. "I know."
Fine, blast it. "I shouldn't have jumped down your throat."
Padmé smiled tiredly. "Same."
The hair on the back of Siri's neck stood up, and she felt a little queasy. Was the food not sitting well with her? Now really wasn't the time for her to feel ill; she was just making amends with Padmé. She wanted to talk to her.
"It's just…" Padmé shook her head. "I didn't expect so much bad news all at once, and… I'm just tired. To think Senator Organa is all we have left… what happens if they find out about him? If the Empire takes him, the Alliance will have no one."
"It won't happen," Siri answered with conviction. She was probably tempting fate just by saying that, but blast it she would somehow will the universe to make sure she was right; nothing would happen to Organa. He would finish his term and quietly retire. This, of course, left them as the sole source of information on Imperial Center… delightful.
She suddenly felt even sicker. Obi-Wan physically sagged and leaned against the wall. This wasn't just some weird queasiness; something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" Padmé asked, rising.
"Let's go out," Obi-Wan suddenly said. "Let's celebrate the New Year together."
"We should probably wait for Vader," Padmé said, glancing towards the dock.
"I don't think he'll go into a panic if you're not here." Siri argued in her husband's defense. "Come on; we can go to Thecine."
Padmé smiled. "Well, actually, I just came back from there yesterday."
"You're kidding," Siri raised her eyebrows. "You actually went somewhere public with him? And he didn't kill anyone?"
"Not a single person," Padmé laughed a little sadly. Why was she sad? "I suppose we can go again; you two haven't been since… how long has it been?"
"I can't even remember," Obi-Wan shook his head, and Siri actually felt a bit of excitement at the notion of just spending time relaxing with her family.
"Sounds like reason enough to go," Siri shrugged with a smile.
Padmé reflected the smile. "Yeah, I guess it does. Let's go."
With that said, Obi-Wan and Siri led the way to the dock and the three clambered into a boat. As Siri took her place in the driver's seat, she noticed that an unusual amount of the dock was wet; did the wind blow a little wave onto the dock? The detail was minute and somewhat innocuous, but it bothered her somehow. Nevertheless, she pushed it aside as Obi-Wan settled beside her and Padmé behind her. Smiling to them, she activated the engine and the repulsorlift, and she guided the boat out of the dock and off towards Thecine.
The rest of the day was spent like how their entire kriffing vacation should have been spent. Siri and Padmé went shopping while Obi-Wan relaxed in one of the plazas, and then they all ate a delicious lunch together. Afterwards they walked out of Thecine, exploring the island and hiking through the hills. At one point they found a private alcove where a waterfall poured off into the lake. Here they rested, dipping their feet into the warm water.
Siri leaned her head against Obi-Wan's shoulder as Padmé trekked delicately through the water. "Why couldn't we have had more of this?"
Obi-Wan squeezed her hand in reply. She wasn't really expecting much of an explanation anyway. The only real answer was simply that life wasn't perfect, and they'd chosen this life, anyway. They'd all chosen to defend the innocent, to fight tyranny, to free the oppressed… they'd all chosen to destroy the Empire. In return they'd received no medal, no congratulatory parades or rewards of any kind, little to no acknowledgement, and nothing but trouble. But when she was at peace with her husband and her best friend, Siri knew that it didn't matter.
Padmé eventually sat on Obi-Wan's other side and leaned against him as well. Obi-Wan sighed in slight exasperation. "Do I look like everyone's pillow?"
"Yes." Siri and Padmé immediately replied at the same time.
Obi-Wan grumbled under his breath, garnering laughter from both women.
They were quiet for a while, but Siri eventually glanced at Padmé. "Padmé, why don't you just return to Imperial Center with us? It'll be more fun."
Padmé gazed out at the water, lost in thought. "I… I'm not sure. I have to sort out things with Vader first. But… I suppose I can."
"What do you need to sort out?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Just… matters. It's not important."
Siri and Obi-Wan exchanged knowing glances, but for once, Siri didn't push it. She didn't want to break the peaceful moment, and she gave Obi-Wan a look that advised him to do the same. He sighed again and remained silent.
The trio stayed there until dusk. Honestly, Siri wouldn't have minded staying longer, but Obi-Wan was the voice of reason (as usual) and said they should probably head back to Thecine. They all rose and returned to the city, and then they took a gondola ride to the less touristy sections of the city; they knew the city rather well, having visited many times, and so they knew a nice little alcove where they could get some dinner without waiting several hours. As they sat on the gondola, Siri closed her eyes and leaned against Obi-Wan once more. It was so nice to finally be with her family. Something in the back of her mind whispered of danger and darkness to come, but at least now she had everything she wanted, despite all the terrible things happening.
Nothing would ever tear them apart.
Sadly all vacations must come to an end. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)