Chapter Four: Infighting
Hours have passed since Anakin Skywalker has contacted his in-laws. He patiently waits for them to arrive, contacting Sabé - Senator Amidala's former handmaiden and best friend - for moral support. It's a tense time, one that has everyone on edge...
Sabé glanced between everyone in the room, knowing she should not be amused but...well...this was exactly like a bad soap opera. Everyone was so quiet, not looking at anyone but the floor. It was so incredibly uncomfortable, what was just revealed. She really should have brought a Holorecorder - this would be great tabloid bits right here.
However, she loved Padmé too much for that.
That's why she was here, in a way. To help Padmé...by standing beside Anakin Skywalker while he faced his in-laws, truly faced them, for the first time. It was strange, to think of the young Jedi as a married man terrified for his wife's life. She kept imagining the little scared, shivering boy in a ship, even though she had one of the first - well, the first human sentient - to learn about the marriage. Well, the engagement too. If she kept thinking about it, she would remember that her name - Captain Typho's too - was on the marriage license as witnesses. Those droids had only gone in their place.
She leaned back against the wall when the silence became too much, glancing at everyone. Someone has to talk.
"Well this is exciting," she said to no one in particular.
General Skywalker tossed a glare at her, which she answered with a raise of her eyebrows. He eventually sighed, not able to force himself into a proper sitting position. It was surreal, how incredibly young and terrified he looked.
"You...married my daughter...without telling us?" Ruwee Naberrie - tired, shocked, confused - stared at his...well. His son-in-law.
"Mé-Mé was the one who did not want to tell -"
"My daughter does not keep secrets!"Jobal let her eyes glance down to the young Jedi's hands - the flesh one, not the creepy cybernetic - where a wedding band gleamed. She shook her head as if to clear the image from her mind, and continued to pace. "She abhors secrets."
"You don't know your daughter very well - secrets are a politicians trade," Anakin muttered, a wry smile twisting at his lips.
Ruwee scowled, leaning forward in his seat, elbows on his knees. "And you know my daughter better?"
"Daddy," Sola murmured, rubbing at her temples. She had slumped in the private waiting room chair the moment the General had given the horrible news about Senator Amidala, and had not spoken a word since.
General Skywalker shrugged, a bit of a feral gleam in his eyes. "I would hope a husband knows his wife better than her father. It'd be a bit weird if it was the other way around.."
Sabé turned her head, avoiding Gregar's eye and trying not to snort. Her actions, however, had not gone unnoticed.
"You two knew about this?!"
"We trusted you!"
Gregar met the eyes of the Naberrie elders, raising his eyebrows a bit. "Senator Amidala is my employer - to divulge her private life, even to family, in any way, would void our vow to protect her interests."
"Let's not forget that she threatened all of us with utter financial ruin and a possible assassination," Sabé chirped, watching General Skywalker grimace out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh right - there's that."
"She did what?" Jobal pressed a hand to her chest. "My sweet daughter -"
"Ruled a planet whose wars are waged by poison, whose history is shaped around infidelity, and whose gods are tricksters." General Skywalker gave a small smile while he stood, his shoulders slumping. "Do you want to visit Mé-Mé or not?"
Whatever Sola Naberrie was expecting when she walked into the hospital room...it wasn't that.
That was not her little girl, who was so fiercely independent, almost hilariously so. That was not Padmé, bound to a bed and breathing only through the support of oxygen. That was not Padmé, who had a husband gingerly sitting down in the seat beside the bed, reaching over to brush hair away from her face.
She swallowed hard, feeling her husband wrap an arm around her. "So when...when will she wake up?"
Anakin shrugged, feeling tears gather in his eyes and trying to blink them away. "She...flatlined before you came...it...no one has any idea. It's just…"
"Wait and see." Sola sighed, stepping around her parents and walking to the bed. She put a hand on Anakin's shoulder, looking down at her little sister. "She's a tough cookie, Ani."
"Mmm hmm."
Ruwee cleared his throat. "You know...Padme had pneumonia once...it was pretty bad."
"Her blood went septic after Geonosis - that was pretty bad." Anakin smirked a little. "I lost half my arm, millions of people died - that was pretty bad."
"Are you trying to antagonize me?" Ruwee asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Are you trying to be a dick?"
"Excuse me? I could have you removed -"
Anakin raised his eyebrows, his voice low and scathing. "Then do it."
Ruwee blinked, taking a step backwards. "What?"
"Remove me - from the room, the hospital, the planet." Anakin shrugged. "I could easily tell the Chancellor - I hardly doubt -"
"Stop it, all of you." Sola glanced between everyone, realizing the lights were flickering in the room in time to her brother-in-law's breathing. She squeezed Anakin's shoulder again, staring her parents down. "Padmé wouldn't want us fighting."
"You have learned nothing then?"
Obi-Wan sighed, folding his arms over his chest. "Unfortunately, no. The staff of Senator Amidala remained amazingly tight-lipped while we were at the Royal Theed Hospital."
The hologram of Mace Windu leaned forward in his Council Seat on Coruscant. "And Skywalker?"
"You have better luck kissing a gundark."
Luminara Unduli smiled a little. "You should have no trouble with that Obi-Wan - you are called the Negotiator."
"Only because 'the Flirt' sounds less intimidating," Depa Billaba murmured, trying to hide her giggle.
"Depa…" Mace muttered in exasperation, though he - and the rest of the Council members - seemed bemused by the quips.
Obi-Wan raised his eyes at his old creche-mates, then shook his head in amusement before continuing. "I apologize I could not find out more, Masters - I can try to continue my quest, though I am not sure how far I will get."
"Acknowledged." Yoda placed his hands on his knees, staring Obi-Wan down. "Your men? Padawan Tano? How fare they?"
"Best they can - some of them have space sickness, but given that Naboo isn't far from Coruscant - they should stabilize once we reach Coruscant Medical." Obi-Wan frowned while the Council members glanced at each other. "What?"
Kit Fisto tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair. "We want you to leave the clones and Padawan Tano on the nearest medical station...and for you to come back to Coruscant."
"Beg pardon?"
"They're not cleared - and Bant Eerin wishes to study them, to ensure they're stable in a few days."
"We want to keep this affair quiet, Master Kenobi...and away from the ears of the Chancellor and the public." Kolar cocked his head. "Unless you disagree?"
"Is there any room to disagree?" Obi-Wan murmured, attempting to smile. He bowed while the Council fizzled, and leaned heavily against the holoprojector. Closing his eyes, he listened to the whirs and clunks of the cruiser.
"This is...interesting...Master Qui-Gon...I don't know what to do."
Sic days. That was how long it took for his dear wife to blearily awaken. She had been showing movement for three days - a twitch of her fingers, eyes moving, a grimace when her IV was changed or her blood was drawn. Her vitals were still low, her body still weak...well, no one knew exactly what would happen when she awoke. What she would be like.
Anakin didn't care.
He just wanted her alive.
He kept a hand over hers, leaving only on occasion - really, when the staff kicked him out to perform tests or someone - Gregar or Sabe - bodily dragged him away for a shower and a meal.
It was late at night when Padme blinked awake, giving a small groan. The oxygen mask had been removed, replaced by a tube. She wrinkled her nose, looking at the ceiling.
He knew he looked like a mess, but that didn't matter.
Padme was alive. He squeezed her hand gently, smiling when she turned her head and gave him a puzzled look. "Ani? What?..."
"You feeling okay?"
"Mmm...mmm."
"You commissioned to have Jar-Jar trained in defense arts."
"I did what?" Padme murmured, scrunching up her face at him. "Fuck."
She drew out the word comically, and Anakin had a hard time not busting up laughing. He used his bionic hair to smooth her hair away from her face, feeling her clammy and pale skin. "That's not a very Senator Amidala thing to say."
"Blue Shadow Virus, huh?"
Obi-Wan glanced up, cracking a tired smile at the person before him. "Quinlan - back from the depths of the Underworld."
"Very funny, Kenobi."
"I think so." Obi-Wan rose, accepting the offered embrace. "It's good to see you, old friend."
"You as well, Obes."
"When will you stop using that name?"
"When you stop reacting to it." Quinlan observed the mess of datapads on the library table, the sheets of flimsi, and the bags under his friend's eyes before frowning. "This is how you're spending your leave while you wait for your padawans to come back on-planet?"
"I'm making lesson plans - I do teach classes, Quinlan. We all do.."
"Uh huh - you're going out tonight and getting shitfaced. Garen is getting debriefed, he -"
"Yeah...yeah, I'll wait around."
Quinlan sat down, sighing heavily. He kept his voice low. "Obi-Wan...I heard about Siri -"
"Quin -"
"That's why we're all here Obes - to be at her funeral next week...and to support you."
"That's very kind of you but -"
Quinlan put a hand over his friend's forearm. "You loved her...we all did, in our own way.
"Can we just skip straight to tonight, Quinlan? I don't particularly crave conversation right now?"
Quinlan raised his eyebrows before grinning. "Sure - whose apartment?"
Author's note: the idea that Naboo's history and wars are shrouded in secrecy intrigues me so much. It's a headcanon i hold dearly - and makes sense, given Padme and Sheev's personality's. I also really, really love the idea that Padme's parents weren't that close to her, and it was Sola that mainly raised her. It just makes sense, as who in the right mind would allow their pre-teen to be groomed into politics? Obviously people who were involved somehow in Nubian politics.
I love Sabe, and the smart-ass way fandom has depicted her warms my heart. I'm so happy I can include her in this fic :D
Yes, I'm aware that Depa was in a coma early in the Clone Wars - it's still early in the Clone Wars. She'll probably end up in a coma sometime in this fic.
Ahh, Obes. The most pansexual Jedi ever. ;)
ii Digestive Reader ii