Distraction: Chapter Fourteen

"Your friend has more connections than I initially thought," Padme noted as we distanced ourselves from the ecumenopolis known as Coruscant.

"Who, Dex?" I would like to take credit for the connection myself, but I couldn't. "He's not my friend. Not really." I couldn't even take credit by association, but Dex had really come through for us. The yacht he'd managed to borrow for our trip to Kamino was comfortable and luxurious. Sidious never sent Anakin or me out in anything this nice.

"You mean, he's a friend… was a friend of Obi-Wan's. I'm having a problem with that, because you are Obi-Wan."

While preparing the ship for lightspeed, I couldn't help but cast Padme a look of sincere doubt.

"I know that look. See? Your mannerisms, your looks, your opinions…"

"My connection to the Dark Side," I finished her sentence for her, shutting her up completely. I didn't think she would give up on a debate that quickly, but a second glance revealed she hadn't. Her face had gone pale.

"Are you all right?"

"I'll be…"

Before Padme finished the thought, she had unstrapped herself from the copilot's seat and fled the bridge. I would've followed, but one of us had to fly. On second thought, a ship this nice could probably fly itself. There wasn't time to figure out if it could. I'd already done the configurations for lightspeed. Hopefully, she was braced for it.

As soon as the ship's engines engaged and we were moving smoothly amongst the stars, I abandoned the bridge myself and went to search for her. I found her in the 'fresher, bent over a durasteel toilet.

"Uuuuh," she moaned, her voice bouncing back from the water's surface. "What was in that caff?"

"Nothing," I explained, lifting her hair away from the bowl. "Dex said you might experience some sickness. Here," I remembered, fumbling through my vest pockets before finding a small hypospray. "He said to use this if you experienced any withdrawal symptoms."

"You do it," she groaned. "I can't lift my head."

I applied the injection port onto her neck and released the trigger.

"What was in that?" she questioned a little too late.

On the label of the spray was a script I couldn't read. "I have no idea," I told her truthfully. "I assumed you knew or you trusted Dex at least."

"Obi-Wan did," Padme spoke into the bowl. "So I did as well."

"A friend of a friend. I get it."

She finally withdrew from the toilet and leaned back against the wall behind her.

"Your color's returning, so I guess whatever it was, it's working," I smiled though I couldn't ignore the fact our conversation was getting more awkward by the second.

"It is," she agreed though her eyes were squeezed tightly together. "My head is still spinning."

Never had I considered myself a slow thinker. She certainly had a way of throwing me off my game. "Here," I finally suggested, reaching over to grab a towel before moistening it in the sink. I then passed it to her.

"Thanks," she told me before wiping her face and mouth with it. One eye opened gradually before the other joined it and she gazed over at me. I had matched her posture and was sitting on the floor, leaning against the opposite wall. "You do realize I have questions."

"Yes, I realize that," I answered. So far, all she'd heard was my side. I was interested in hearing her story as well. "And I will gladly provide any information you require. We need to move past this if we are to be an effective team by the time we reach Kamino."

"This is surreal," she said before a chuckle of disbelief. "You're just like him. You talk like him, look like him, and even think like him, and yet, you're not him."

She paused following her confession and I could detect the sadness in her eyes had returned.

"I'm sorry for that," I admitted. "Can you tell me if you recall what happened to him? What happened to you?"

Her dark eyes were moist with unshed tears, as she glanced up and over, her mind apparently struggling to provide a memory. "That part's a little sketchy. I do remember sneaking on board his ship. You see, Anakin had joined with the Dark Side and Obi-Wan was going to Mustafar to try and bring him back. I was worried about him and so I…." she hiccupped once and then sunk her forehead onto her drawn knees. A sob shook her frame.

An immediate though alien feeling came over me and covered me like a wet blanket. It weighed me down and I quickly decided I didn't like it. Not one damn bit! This had to be sympathy. I couldn't stop myself from caressing her head and running her long locks through my fingers.

"We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to," I said to try and comfort her. "I'm here for you if that helps."

Her shoulders shuddered from a long intake of air before she pulled her head up and wiped away her tears. "Of course it does. I'm just upset because, you see, it was my fault Obi-Wan was killed. He and Anakin were battling on the landing platform. I didn't want that. I didn't want either of them to get hurt, but especially not Obi-Wan. I stepped out of the ship and yelled at him. He turned to look at me and that's when…" She sniffled and looked away before continuing. "That's when he was struck down. I ran to help him, but all of a sudden, I couldn't breathe. Something was choking me. That's all I remember."

An invisible choke hold was one of Anakin's favorite negotiation strategies. He used it often and I could see him using it on Padme. But no more. That was the last time he'd use it on her or anyone else. I decided to share some information regarding Anakin with her, hoping it would offer her some relief.

"I dealt with Anakin right before I came to get you. He's dead." I stated it bluntly. No use hiding it. It was best to be honest with each other.

"Good." She said the word, but I couldn't imagine someone like her would ever mean it. I didn't question her on it, however. The timing wasn't right.

"After…" I began. There were a few things I needed to know, but I wanted to ask them the right way. She was already hurting. I didn't wish to make it worse. I started again. "After you passed out from being choked, do you recall ever having a conscious moment? At any time did you realize where you were and what was happening?"

Her brow furrowed and I wondered if I had offended her somehow. Then I realized she was sifting through memories.

"I believe so. At the time, I thought I'd imagined it. I probably was. I'm not Force-sensitive. There's no way it was real."

"What wasn't real?" I prodded. There was a reason I had asked. I just hoped she provided the right answer.

"There was an instance in the beginning when I overheard Anakin speaking with a woman. They were discussing the dosage of anesthesia I was being given. Anakin was very specific about my so-called quality of care."

I smiled when she rolled her eyes, though her playfulness was short-lived.

"The only other time I recall is when the medic forgot my dosage. She was late that day, which offered me enough lucidness to call out. Only, the strangest thing was, I didn't call out using my voice. It was all in my head."

My pulse quickened with hope. Could it be possible? "How long ago was this?"

Padme shook her head. "I don't know, really. I lost all track of time while I was there."

I wasn't ready to give up just yet. "What did you say when you called out? Do you remember that much?"

"Uhm.." I could tell she was thinking and I wanted to help her, though I didn't know how. "This is silly."

No. She had to tell me! "Don't worry about that. Please tell me," I pleaded.

"Very well. I was talking to Obi-Wan. I was asking him to come find me. I told him that I loved him and…."

"Don't leave me here," I interjected. "You said 'Don't leave me here."

She gazed at me in confusion. "Yes, that's it exactly. How do you know that?"

"I believe I'm the one who intercepted the message."

"Oh," she uttered before her eyes flew open wide. "Oh! How embarrassing! And the dreams! All those dreams about…about…when we were…that was you?"

I chuckled. I could tell by the darkening hue of her cheeks she was blushing, but I couldn't help myself. "Don't be embarrassed," I teased. "If you hadn't contacted me, we wouldn't be here. I never would've even looked for you. I was happily living my life being a Sith."

One of her eyebrows arched high on her forehead, causing me to chuckle again. "Really? A happy Sith? Isn't that an enigma? You are special, indeed."

Now, who was the one doing the teasing? "Come. Let me help you to a room where you can get some rest."

I led her to a comfortable sleep cabin down the corridor. She smiled at me as she closed the door and I turned away to return to the cockpit, only to be drawn back by her voice.

"Ben? Thanks for coming to get me."

Her appreciation warmed my soul. "You're welcome."