Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.
AN: Here's chapter 49! Thanks for all the great reviews!
Forever Destined
Chapter 49: Startling Discovery
Padme took another bite of the delicious manzana berry pie that Neela had served them for desert.
"Mmm...Neela, this pie is wonderful," Padme said.
"Thank you. I baked it fresh this morning. I'm glad you all like it," she replied, from her seat. Anakin and Padme had asked both Jac and Neela to join them for dinner and they had gladly accepted. Anakin had been telling Jac all about his missions during the Clone Wars and Jac had traded a few stories as well. Padme put another small bite on her fork and fed it to Luke, who opened his mouth and gummed the soft crust and sweet pie filling.
"Nummy," Luke said, as he eagerly accepted another bite. Neela smiled at him.
"He's such a good little eater," she said.
"Yeah, you're not a bit mad at food, are you baby?" Padme said to him. Luke grinned at her, as he stuffed another berry in his mouth.
"This one ain't either," Jac said, as he watched Anakin feed Leia.
"They get their appetites from daddy," Padme said, smiling at her husband. Anakin chuckled.
"Mom always says that I must have the metabolism of a Tatooinian sand mite," Anakin said.
"I'll get a warm cloth for those messy hands and faces," Neela said, as she went to the kitchen.
"Thanks Neela," Padme called. Padme cleaned the twins off when Neela returned.
"Dinner was great. Thank you both," Anakin said, as he lifted Leia into his arms.
"No, thank you for the company, my boy. Nothing I like better than tradin' a few stories," Jac replied.
"We better go give these two their baths. Dinner was really wonderful," Padme said, as she lifted Luke into her arms.
"You're most welcome. We'll see you later," Neela said, as they ascended the stairs.
Luke giggled, as Padme finished dressing him in his pajamas and blew on his tummy. She lifted him into her arms and he pressed his little mouth to her cheek.
"Oh thank you, my sweet boy," she said, as she kissed his cheek in return. Anakin smiled at her, as he held their sleeping daughter.
"She's asleep already?" Padme asked.
"Soundly," he replied.
"This one is tired too. They played hard today," she said, as Luke laid his head on Padme's shoulder. His eyes drifted open and shut before he finally gave in to sleep. They put the twins down in the cribs and watched them sleep for several moments. Anakin wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck softly.
"How about that moonlight swim we talked about earlier?" he asked.
"That sounds wonderful. Threepio, keep an eye on the twins for us," Padme said, as she grabbed a couple towels and they left the room.
"Nobody gets in but us, Artoo," Anakin said to him, as he maintained guard of their door. They walked hand in hand down to the beach. Two of Dantooine's moons bathed the beach and ocean in a silver glow. They still had their bathing suits under their clothes and they quickly shed those top layers. Anakin took her hand and they trudged into the water together. She wrapped her arms around his neck, as they waded through the water.
"This is very romantic," she said, as she kissed his lips.
"I am glad you approve, milady," he replied, as he captured her lips in a passionate kiss.
"Let's play..." she said, as she splashed him. She laughed at his surprised reaction.
"Oh, you're in for it now, star nymph. This is war!" he said, as he drenched her with a splash of his own. She squealed and the water war began...
"I don't understand. I was sure that this was sufficient proof that Anakin is innocent," Zia said.
"So did we. But the Chancellor will fight any attempt to clear Anakin's name. What we need is hard, duracrete evidence," Qui-Gon said.
"We will never get anything from Palpatine...but perhaps those around him know something," Dooku said.
"Getting into Tarkin's office shouldn't be too difficult. I can get by the night watch at the Senate fairly easily since some of them are Jedi. Getting past the Clone guards will be the biggest challenge, but it can be done," Zia replied.
"Then, we should do this," Qui-Gon replied...
Sola stood in front of the full length mirror in a beautiful white wedding gown that she was being fitted for.
"Darling, you look gorgeous," Shmi said. Sola blushed at all the attention.
"You really do, sweetheart," Jobal added. Shmi and Jobal had arrived on Serenno this morning and Obi-Wan had taken this as a sign that his grandfather felt things were getting too dangerous on Coruscant.
"I'm proud of you Sola. I know I've been a terrible mother to you and especially to Padme, but I do love you both," Jobal said.
"And I love you mom. Padme does too," Sola replied.
"But it will take her a long time to forgive me. I do not deserve her forgiveness. I used to watch her father whip her when she'd done something he didn't like. She would beg for my help, but I was a coward and let her bare his full wrath. A lesser girl would have been broken by such abuse...but not my little Paddy. It only seemed to make her stronger. She had such a fire inside her and no matter what we did to put it out, it just burned brighter," Jobal said, as she sobbed.
"It's okay mom...everything's going to be fine," Sola replied, as she hugged her.
"I let him beat my baby girl, Sola. I even convinced myself that she deserved it. And then I let that other monster rape her. I am a poor excuse for a mother. I will not blame Padme if she never forgives me," Jobal said.
"But she probably will forgive you, because that is the kind of person Padme is. Especially since you are doing the right thing now by divorcing that poor excuse for a husband and father," Sola said.
"He will be so angry when he receives those documents," Jobal cried.
"I don't care and neither should you," Sola replied.
"She's right Jobal. You are doing what's best for yourself and for your girls," Shmi added.
"Padme and Sola are both extraordinary women and the love they share with our boys is simply too powerful to be destroyed. Let them try, because they will fail," Elana stated.
"Come what may, mother. It is a motto Padme and Anakin share. Come way may, because no matter how dark it seems, love will conquer all in the end," Sola said.
"Well said, sweetheart," Shmi replied, as they helped Sola out of her dress. She put her maroon dress back on and hugged her mother.
"Everything will be all right, mother. Now, if you'll excuse me though, I have a certain Jedi I'd like to find," Sola smiled, as she left in search of her beloved.
Sola found him on the veranda outside their bedroom, watching the sunset.
"There you are," Sola said, as she cuddled against his side. He smiled and turned, pulling her into his strong embrace. Sola pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss.
"My love," he rasped, as she began unbuttoning his tunic and kissing his hard, muscled chest.
"Sola..." he moaned, as he pressed her back against the railing and plundered her mouth in a relentless frenzy of need. His lips tackled her neck with the same need and hunger.
"Ben...is something wrong?" she asked, as she held his face in her hands. He stared into her gypsy eyes, hoping to lose himself forever in the dark pools of love.
"I am leaving for Coruscant in the morning," he said. She smiled.
"Well, then we will go with you," Sola replied.
"No love, I need you and the girls to stay here. I just spoke with grandfather and Coruscant is becoming increasingly dangerous. The tension between the Jedi and the Senate continues to grow and until this mess is fixed, we all think it's best for all of you to remain here," Obi-Wan said. Sola nodded.
"I understand. But we still have tonight?" she asked. He smiled and caressed her cheek.
"We still have tonight," he replied, as their lips met in a searing kiss...
General Tarkin left his office that evening and the two Clone Troopers bid him a good evening. As the evening progressed, more and more people left for the day. Now, at the late hour of one o'clock a.m., only Clones and a few Jedi assigned to the night watch remained, including the Custodial staff. Getting past the Jedi Knights at the entrance was no problem, since they were expecting her on Master Dooku's orders. She crept up to the second level where Padawan's Whie and Scout waited for her.
"Do you know what to do?" Zia asked.
"Yes Miss Jade. Leave it up to us," Whie replied, as he raised his comlink to his lips.
"Captain, I need you and your partner to come down to the first level. We have a small situation," Whie said.
"We'll be right there," he replied. Zia hid behind a pillar, as the Clone Troopers passed by. Once they were gone, she crept to Tarkin's office. She overrode the lock code and quietly slipped in...
Padme laughed, as she plopped down on their towels that they had spread out on the sand.
"I am the champion," he said, flexing his biceps for her.
"Oh please, it was a vastly unfair battle. You can make bigger waves than me," she replied.
"Excuses, excuses," he said, plopping down next to her.
"You just can't stand losing, because you know that the rules state that the loser must do whatever the winner wants," he replied.
"Oh, and what rule book does it state that in?" she asked playfully. She squealed lightly, as he pulled her into his arms.
"My rule book," he replied, as his lips moved along her collarbone.
"Mmm...and what is it that you want, my champion?" she asked.
"Why...you of course, star nymph," he replied, as his lips descended upon hers...
Zia Jade waded through stacks of datapads in the dimly lit office. She was careful to make sure everything was put back in its place, but so far, she had found nothing of use.
"Where is the evidence, Tarkin? Where have you hidden it?" she wondered aloud. She sighed, as the chrono read three a.m.. Whie had informed her that the Troopers outside the office took a ten minute break at four, which left her an hour to find what she needed. She walked along the wall, looking at various paintings that adorned the wall. Like Palpatine, Tarkin was known for his expensive tastes in art. Suddenly, an idea struck her and she removed the painting from the wall. After finding nothing behind it, she put it back and checked two more. When she found nothing, she lost hope in her theory...until she spotted a lone painting on the far wall. She removed it and smiled when she found a safe built into the wall behind it. She set the painting down and took a tool from her belt. She attached it to her ear and then pressed her ear against the safe, as she began turning the combination. The device enhanced her hearing and once it clicked, she turned it the other way until it clicked again. After a final click, the safe opened and Zia put away the device.
"Well, well, it looks like you've been up to no good, General Tarkin," she said, as she grabbed the datacard for further examination. Then, she took her small holo recorder and captured stills of the stacks of credits in the safe. After that, she put the data disks into her datapad one by one to copy them. Once she was finished, she put the contents back and locked the safe back up, before replacing the painting. She glanced at the chrono and noticed she still had a half hour. She sat down and began examining the contents of the datacards she'd copied. She began filtering through them and her eyes widened, as she came upon a most incriminating piece of evidence.
"I don't believe it..." she gasped.
"This is the verdict...the real verdict! Anakin was never supposed to be convicted!" she exclaimed quietly. She kept clicking through documents, trying to find a piece of evidence that incriminated Palpatine, but it seemed the Chancellor had managed to keep his name off any of the documents. Zia, however, was convinced that he was behind the whole thing. She kept searching through, hoping to find something else groundbreaking, but found nothing until she came to the last one. She was surprised when a hologram of a circular structure popped up before her.
"What is this?" she wondered, as she looked at the design. They looked like some sort of plans, as the document with the hologram was a mess of formulas. She was not an engineer, but her gut told her that whatever this thing was, it would mean trouble for the galaxy. She saw the chrono strike four and she closed her datapad, concealing it in her cloak. Whie signaled her that it was clear on her comlink and she quietly slipped out of the office. She had to get this information to Master Dooku right away...
The sun peaked over the horizon on Dantooine that morning and it was a beautiful sight, as it reflected off the water. But that beauty went unnoticed by the man that stepped off his ship at the small filling station.
"What can I do for you?" the man who owned the station asked.
"I am looking for a young couple. They have two small children with them. Have you seen them?" Senator Danae asked, as he held up a holo for the man. He looked at it closely and then back at the Senator.
"I am the young woman's uncle. She told me she'd be vacationing here with her husband and little ones and I want to pay them a surprise visit," Danae said. The man smiled.
"They're staying on a little out of the way island called Dalica, about fifty miles east of here. You can rent a boat at the marina and I can park your ship here for a small fee," he replied.
"That would be most agreeable," Danae said, as he paid the man.
"Come," Danae called up the ramp of his ship. The owner's eyes widened, as several Clone Troopers filed down the ramp.
"Hey, I thought you said you were her uncle!" he cried.
"I lied. Captain, please stay here and make sure this nice man does not make any calls," Danae ordered, as he and the rest of the Troopers headed for the marina.
"Yes sir," he answered, as he pointed a blaster at the man.
"Go about your work and I'll advise you not to do anything foolish," the Trooper warned. The man obeyed, silently hoping those kids would be okay...