It had been a week. Obi-Wan and Anakin still couldn't find any evidence other than the sparkling cleanliness that something was wrong. They were driving Aleia, who had apparently lived there at one time, crazy with their suspicions. The only thing the three of them could agree on was to keep all of that from Padmé, who was torn between feelings guilty about her Senatorial duties and enjoying herself.
"See what y'all miss while you're being responsible and saving the galaxy?" said Aleia as she sipped her drink at the counter.
"For once, she has a point, Master," said Anakin smiling slyly.
"It is nice to get away," said Obi-Wan. He hadn't told Aleia their entire mission.
"It feels weird, though," said Padmé.
"All of you relax," said Aleia. "You're cramping my style."
"You don't have style to cramp!" Obi-Wan teased. Aleia gave no outward signs that she'd heard him, but Obi-Wan's drink suddenly spilled onto his lap and Aleia smiled evilly. Padmé and Anakin exchanged grins while Obi-Wan and Aleia were glaring at each other. It was nice to know they were a few steps ahead of their companions in at least one thing over, even if it was a forbidden love life.
"If you'll all excuse me, I'll gonna go find some old friends," said Aleia. She got up and left for the hall. A few of the creatures she passed toke notice of her, but most didn't even look up, passing her off as the usual scum. Although Aleia seemed calm as ever, she also sensed the same danger as Anakin and Obi-Wan. She hadn't really wanted to find any old friends –most had been betrayed to bounty hunters or murdered- she just wanted to follow her feelings. Aleia heard important sounding voices inside a conference room and didn't need to look in to know who was there.
"Have you found the Senator yet?" said a young boy's voice.
"Yes, Boba, I believe I have," said the administrator. "You may take her at will."
Aleia heard two people leave out the door on the other side.
"I shall be taking my Jedi now- all of them," said an all too familiar voice to her.
"But the deal-"
"-Has been changed. You received your money for housing this operation and that shall be enough for you."
"NO! The only reason I agreed to your informing the Council and the Senate of our operation was so I could get revenge on the one with them who almost single handedly destroyed this city! I didn't say anything when your bounty hunter arrived for the Senator, but this is too much!"
Aleia knew she'd stayed too long. The other voice didn't answer; he knew she was there. Aleia ran in the direction she'd come, ducking through hidden hallways to get back to the apartment before the bounty hunter.
"We have to leave- NOW!" she said as she charged back into the room.
"What?" said Padmé.
"I'll explain on the way out, but it's a trap. We were set up. Bounty hunter! Do I have to spell it out?"
"You might be fast, but not fast enough, Jedi," said Boba Fett in the doorway, accompanied by the armored man- probably a friend of his father. The dark figure appeared behind them.
"What the-" Anakin started.
"Aw shit," moaned Aleia.
"Give me the Naboo Senator now and no one gets hurt," said the little boy fiercely.
No one answered. The apparent Sith Lord lit his lightsaber- red blade. Anakin and Obi-Wan winced slightly at the sight of it. Padmé tried to hide her fear; she'd been hoping to get around aggressive negotiation, but no such luck. Aleia, knowing Padmé's insecurity about it, had an idea.
"Now that's not very fair, is it?" she said. "Four on one?"
The Sith Lord smiled, which was never good. A few dozen Cloud City guards appeared from behind the three in the door way and put the four at gunpoint.
"Well, I guess that evens it up a bit," said Anakin, battle humor rising again. The Jedi and Padmé instantaneously lit their lightsabers and chopped the ends off the blasters holding them. It became a fierce battle fairly quickly. It was awfully disturbing that none of the passing creatures paid much attention to the blasts being deflected into the hallway, ducking and dodging and continuing on with their business.
Padmé was doing better than she'd thought. She was doing more dodging than the others, but deflected enough to make people think she just had a more conservative style. The other three were quite a bit more aggressive though. Anakin kept trying to send blasts back at the Sith, but to his annoyance couldn't seem to hit him. As always, Obi-Wan was more conservative with his movements; he'd seen these types of battles turn into hand to hand combat, and he'd seen how the Sith fight. Aleia wasn't focused on the fight, but on what words would inevitably follow.
The Jedi and Padmé were being backed up onto the counter. They were knocking guards down at an excellent pace, but they kept being replaced. The Jedi were tiring and Padmé was exhausted. The Sith Lord stopped the guards' fire and pressed a button that made the glass in the window slide down, revealing a long way down if one lost balance.
"You can't win, Aleia," said the Sith Lord with a smile. "You must face your true destiny beside me."
Aleia's gaze darted around and remained low. Anakin and Obi-Wan could feel a conflict within her, which was never good.
"Aleia, if you won't come willingly, I have other ways of bringing you to your senses," the Sith Lord said, smile and friendly pretenses replaced by a tone that suggested the full potential of his wrath.
"I've changed-" Aleia started unconvincingly.
"Not much," he cut her off. "You're not being logical and you never were. You don't honestly think I'd let my daughter sell herself short by joining the Jedi Order, do you?"
"Daughter?"
"You're right about one thing," said Aleia coldly. "I'm not logical."
With that, she turned off her lightsaber and let herself fall off the ledge. Obi-Wan stepped off immediately after; Anakin grabbed Padmé's hand and jumped. They all landed smoothly and hit the ground running after Aleia, who was not only running to the ship but from her past; it wasn't the first time it had caught up with her. The crew passed a familiar looking ship.
"You were wondering about the kid's ship?" Anakin shouted up at Aleia as they passed Slave I. He was extremely irritated that Aleia was at least half Sith and no one, specifically Obi-Wan, seemed to care, whereas he was only a bit reckless sometimes and everyone, specifically Obi-Wan, went off the deep end.
"Come on," said Aleia coarsely. She ran into the security station as though expecting something to be there. It was obvious by now that she knew what she was doing, whatever it was.
"Aleia, where are we?" asked Obi-Wan.
She ignored him.
"Jengé?" she shouted.
A girl of about the same age of Aleia and Padmé stuck her head around the corner curiously to see who was there. There was recognition in her face as soon as she saw Aleia.
"Aleia Hayley Madre! I thought you were banished for life!" she said.
"That explains a lot," Anakin mumbled.
"I am," said Aleia. "But with the new administrator and all, I thought… anyways I need the security code for Platform 3 so I can get out with my life."
"Oh it's always you, you, you," said Jengé with a smile before her head disappeared and they heard the sound of keys clicking madly. "Ok, it's 9382, security is hot on your tail, and you didn't get the code from me!"
"Thanks, Jengé! I owe you!" said Aleia as they started out. Aleia knew enough hidden hallways and passages to stay a step ahead of security, which was under the control of her father. They reached the Platform and she immediately began punching the code in which thankfully worked. The doors shut just seconds before security arrived. They guards assumed they'd reached the Platform first and stood outside it. The Jedi and Padmé sprinted to the ship at top speed.
"Obi-Wan, fly us out!" Aleia yelled. "Knowing the people here, they did something to the hyper drive to prevent exactly what we're doing now!"
She grabbed Anakin's arm and dragged him to the hyper drive sector while Obi-Wan and Padmé ran to the cockpit.
"Did you know?" asked Padmé as she strapped herself in, expecting a bumpy ride.
"It had been rumored," said Obi-Wan as they lifted off. "She never mentions her parents."
"Why? Who's her mother?" asked Padmé as the first blast came at them.
"Unknown," Obi-Wan said as he dodged the fire.
"Are all your old friends this eccentric?" Padmé asked sarcastically.
"You might say that," Obi-Wan answered with a grin.
In the other end of the ship, Anakin had ripped the tiles off the floor and was searching for the hyper drive cords. Aleia was over top instructing.
"Check there- no, maybe the power source- no-"
"I've been working with machines all my life; I think I know what I'm doing!" Anakin shot up hotly at her. "I thought you said this would be nearly impossible!"
"I did!"
"Well they only unplugged the cord and wrapped it around the rest. No short circuit, no blown fuses, they didn't even cut anything!"
"Wha'd'ya know, I have more friends in Cloud City than I thought!"
"Go tell them in the cockpit that it's fixed!"
Aleia was racing to the front before Anakin had finished talking.
"Punch it!" she yelled and collapsed in the seat behind Obi-Wan.
"Not yet," said Obi-Wan. "They might be tracking us."
"Very true," Aleia agreed. "In that case, just float around for a while and see if you can lure them out."
Anakin stumbled in and collapsed in the navigator's seat behind Padmé.
"Now what do we do?" asked Padmé. "I'd say you found the corruption."
"Now it's the Senate's problem," said Obi-Wan. "We have to return to Coruscant to inform the Council."
"So where do I go from there?" asked Padmé.
"It's still not safe for you to return," said Obi-Wan. "The Chancellor himself requested that Queen Jamillia appoint a temporary replacement."
"It feels like I died and someone forgot to tell me," groaned Padmé.
No one had a reply for that, although Anakin had to cover his mouth in mock yawn to keep from cracking up.
"So Aleia," said Obi-Wan after a bit. "Which of your friends was that who wanted us dead back there?"
Aleia glared at him before replying.
"He's my father," she began. "He's a freelance Sith and thinks I should be, too."
"I thought all Sith were freelance," Anakin commented dryly.
"They're only freelance after they've killed their mentor," she spat at him; Obi-Wan and Anakin gulped uneasily.
"Father thinks I can either make him or break him, so he won't stop looking for me until I'm either on his side or dead."
"And I thought I was dysfunctional," said Anakin.
"Why, what's your story?" asked Aleia.
"My mother and I were slaves on Tatooine," he explained shortly.
Padmé could tell it was painful for Anakin to talk about his childhood around one as unsympathetic as Aleia, but there was really nothing she could do for the moment.
"You're dad left too?" asked Aleia.
Padmé looked over to see how Anakin took the question, but he seemed all right.
"I never had one. I don't mean I never knew him, I really never had one," he said.
"A virgince?" Aleia snorted.
"That's why Qui-Gon decided to bring him along," said Obi-Wan.
"The way this galaxy works, I shouldn't be surprised," sighed Aleia.
"It'll take us a while to get back to Coruscant," said Obi-Wan, taking the conversation back to a comfortable business tone.
"I'm dead tired; I'm going to bed," said Aleia. "You can probably go into light speed now; I don't sense a homing devise."
She got up, threw a sidelong glance ant Obi-Wan and sauntered out of the cockpit half sleepwalking and they heard her bumping along the whole way. Something clanged hard at about the exact moment Obi-Wan put the ship into hyper drive. The clang was apparently the artificial gravity, for Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padmé suddenly found out exactly how much force it took to go light speed as they were slammed against wall of the cockpit.
"Aleia!" shouted Obi-Wan.
"I didn't mean to!" came the reply. There was another clang and the heat went out. Something jerked around and Padmé found herself hanging on to the doorway for dear life. Before she could scream, Anakin had grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go any sooner than he'd be a moisture farmer. They heard Aleia slam into something else.
"AH HAH!"
WHAM.
Everything was back. Obi-Wan slumped down onto the floor, but Padmé and Anakin went flying through the doorway and crashed into the wall.
"We're ok!" Anakin shouted.
"Just bruised," groaned Padmé. She'd hit the wall first and then again as Anakin hit. She was laying spread eagle with Anakin on top of her. Aleia glanced at them as she continued into the cockpit. She would have said something to Obi-Wan, but he cut her off.
"Don't even tell me," he groaned.
Anakin and Padmé, completely aware of the closeness, milked the moment for all they could. They were a bit stiff as expected, so they just didn't move as quickly as possible.
"This is cozy," said Anakin softly. He lifted a hand to run through her hair, but Padmé grabbed his tunic and pulled him into a kiss. Obi-Wan ended the moment when he called from the cockpit. Anakin helped Padmé to her feet and they returned to the other two.