"Thank you again. I promise we'll be out of your home as soon as possible - we can even camp outside in the garden tonight -"

"Oh, no, no." Their hostess smiled graciously at Barriss Offee, putting her hands up. "I wouldn't dream of it. Please, our home is yours."

Barriss gave a small sigh as she smiled. As far as disasters went, this wasn't as terrible as it first seemed. Nexu Company, with their various injuries, had sprawled out in the house's living room. Truthfully, it had been a blur of bacta patches, contacting command, and making sure that all of the clone troopers she was responsible for were doing well. Zek was still unconscious, laying out on the couch. Grey was up but groggy, rubbing his temples to try and massage away his headache. The others had managed to make themselves comfortable, nursing bruises and burns, but were otherwise going to be fine. It was the first pause Barriss had to really take a few deep breaths and clear her head instead of worrying about the injuries of all the troops.

"I'm so sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "I don't think I caught your name -" Barriss paused to squint at the other woman. "You do look rather familiar, I'm sorry, have we already met?"

"We might have," the other woman said graciously. "I was one of Padme Amidala's handmaidens. Retired, now. Este Naberrie - it's good to meet you."

There was a slight pause before her name, and Barriss was able to catch it, though at that moment she didn't think much of it. "Barriss Offee, and this is Nexu Company..." She craned her head to catch a glimpse of a small figure clutching to Naberrie's legs, hidden behind her skirt. "And who's this?"

"Oh - this is Leia. Her brother Luke is around here somewhere." She smiled flusteredly, and Barriss quietly noted that there was no mention of the childrens' father. Best not to push it. "They won't be in your way for long, I was just about to fix some dinner and take it upstairs so they can eat up there. There's almost an entire roast Numa, and other leftovers -"

"We'll be fine with prepackaged meals, I'm sure -"

"It would be my honor. Please, your men have been through enough, they deserve a homecooked meal. Even if it's just leftovers. And it's the least I can do to help as a Republic citi-" Her eyes drifted over to the living room and she gave a small gasping squeak. "LUKE!"

Barriss whirled around to see that the little blonde-haired boy had gone to sit among the troopers. Grey had plopped his helm onto the boy's shoulders, making it look comically oversized; Luke himself was giggling away as if this was a fantastic joke. That was almost adorable. The fact that Grey had placed his carbine in the child's hands wasn't so adorable. "Look at 'im, what a little trooper. He's a natural," Grey gushed.

Mrs. Naberrie managed to be graceful even when flailing madly to go grab her child, nearly tossing the carbine across the room while simultaneously snatching up Luke into her arms. Barriss winced. "Grey!"

"All the safeties were on, ma'am, I swear!"

"I know you have a concussion, I didn't know it was that bad," Barriss fussed, shaking her head. "Mrs. Naberrie, I'm so sorry..."

"It's fine! It's fine. I just - I'm not quite ready to see my son playing with guns." She laughed nervously, holding Luke close and helping him take off the oversized helmet. "We'll get out of your way." As she turned to open the pantry, pulling out a tray with one hand and still keeping Luke at her hip with her other arm. Luke half-whiningly asked her something that Barriss didn't catch, and she shushed him. "Sshh. We'll talk about that upstairs, okay? Just not here." It was a whisper that others wouldn't have been able to catch, but Barriss did.

There was something... off. Something strange. Jedi didn't have hunches - they had the Force. But Barriss definitely had a hunch that there was something going on that she couldn't see. This was only reinforced when she saw Mrs. Naberrie piling food onto her plate. Although she settled for cold leftovers, she doled out enough food for the children and at least two adults. It made Barriss' eyes narrow in thought, enough for Mrs. Naberrie to catch; she gave a small laugh. "Sorry. Running after these two is hungry work," she teased, bouncing Luke on her hip and making him giggle. "I'll just put some of this back, so all of you have enough." Barriss didn't catch the worried grimace that crossed her face once she turned away, thinking of how she was going to have to go hungry tonight to make sure Anakin had enough to eat.

Barriss could tell that she was well-versed in the art of duplicity. She was a handmaiden - of course she had been trained. But caught so off-guard, the cracks were starting to show. Barriss was normally not one to be prying and curious. She left pushy maneuvers to Ahsoka, who was admittedly much better at them. But there was still something...

There was a sharp groan from the other end of the wide, joined room, and Barriss turned. "Ma'am? Jak's coming 'round..."

It was enough of a distraction to keep her full attention right until Mrs. Naberrie was upstairs. In fact, it was mostly clouding her mind even as she delicately climbed the stairs. If she could find a few more bacta-infused bandages, or some painkillers... there was only so much she could do in the Force before becoming exhausted. It was hard work to stretch out through the Force, find where life had been full of tangles and snags and straighten it out so that it flowed smoothly. She hated to see her men in pain, and there was no shame in turning to medication. It was just that they had run out. Surely Mrs. Naberrie had some upstairs. It was a lovely house, spacious with a wide corridor, and the stairs didn't creak even as Barriss snuck up them. There was the distant sound down the hall of some children's vid that was likely keeping the twins momentarily entertained. But a sliver of light came from an open door - the master bedroom, it had to be. She could see a glimpse of the wide bay window that had been turned into a sniper's nest.

And the sniper's nest was occupied by a man. A very familiar-looking one.

Barriss drew in a quick, sharp breath and pressed herself against the wall, trying to see yet not be seen. Mrs. Naberrie pulled gently on the man's shoulder. "Please, Anakin. It's sunset..."

"There's night-vision scopes. Someone has to keep watch." His voice was hoarse and exhausted, but Barriss recognized it, hairs on the back of her neck standing up. "If there's another attack..."

"If there's another attack, there's an entire squad of troopers downstairs, and the automated security systems." She rubbed at his back as she tried to pull him away. "Please. You need to rest."

Barriss saw how he hung his head, obviously exhausted. She did not know how Anakin had been having a rough few days even before this. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he was simply sitting there, surrounded by spent shell casings and the impressive-looking slugthrower sniper rifle (with a few blaster rifles for good measure). Barriss could feel his pain through the Force, though it was obvious enough in his body language. Slumped shoulders, dark circles underneath his eyes, labored breathing. His wife's hand worked in gentle circles on his back, soothing him as best she could. Eventually it seemed to work, and as she kissed his cheek, he nuzzled into the touch. "Fine. Just for a little while. They'll probably attack at third watch, anyway, if they're going to..."

"Then I'll take third and forth watch." She guided him up with another kiss, and Barriss could finally see his face. Yes, he was thinner, gaunt in a way that reinforced his ongoing battle with sickness, but there was still the distinct scar over one eye. Anakin Skywalker. This was Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. It clicked into place so suddenly that Barriss wondered why she hadn't placed them before. Of course she had listened to the gossip, but after Anakin's death, it was considered rude (at best) to speak ill of the dead. But now was not the time to figure out what to do with this revelation. Now it was time to stay back, gather more data, and be calm. Ahsoka was always teasing her about being the rational one, after all.

He staggered, barely able to walk on his own, and she guided him to the bed. Barriss heard his muttered further protests, but they didn't seem to go very far; soon he was content to let her soothe him, her hands running through his hair as he slowly relaxed. Barriss knew she should likely look away from such a moment of simple intimacy, but she found herself unable to do so. She was not angry or bitter or even jealous. She just became acutely aware of a sense of loss. There was something that she would never have, or was never supposed to have, as a Jedi. It was beautiful and delicate and sincere. Barriss still knew the intelligent arguments of why a Jedi should not become romantically attached. But now that such a connection had been formed, the thought of anything damaging it was horrific.

"You should eat a little something..."

"I'm fine -"

"Ani, we both know those nutrition bars barely count. They're disgusting, anyway. And you've been pushing yourself too hard. You need some sort of pain medication..."

"Maybe half a dose," he conceded. Barriss saw the shock on Padme's face: it was rare for him to acquiesce so quickly. But he was already starting to relax as Padme sweetly ran her fingers through his hair.

"Think you can stay awake to eat a bowl of noodle soup?"

"Mmn. It's likely."

"Good." She leaned in to kiss him softly - then a pause, and a deeper kiss. "I'll be back with that, then. I'll just... I'll tell them downstairs that Luke didn't like his sandwich, or something. Be back soon."

Barriss finally flinched away, skittering back. There would be no graceful way to admit to eavesdropping. Instead she went to stand by the stairs as if she had just come up them, calling out: "Mrs. Naberrie?"

Padme jumped but put on her best smile, even as she noticeably paled. "Oh - Master Offee. What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if you had a few more bacta bandages..."

"Oh, yes, of course. They're downstairs." Padme wore a smile that was too perfect to actually conceal her panic. "If you'll just come with me, I'll show you..." She waited until they were walking down the stairs, unable to look Barriss in the face. "Master Jedi, may I ask you a question?"

"Certainly."

"Hypothetically speaking..." She was carefully choosing her words in a way very like a politician. "Would a Jedi such as yourself find that she is... beholden to return a Jedi to Coruscant in all circumstances, even if he is content in the life he has made for himself? Even if innocents would dearly miss him, and if it means breaking up a family?"

Barriss knew that tone of voice. It was very polite, but there was an edge that she could easily identify. If you try to take my family from me, it said, I will hurt you. Don't make me kill you. Please don't make me kill you.

She reached out to lightly brush a hand against Padme's shoulder as they watched the bottom step, a small physical touch to interrupt her. "Well, hypothetically, it is up to an individual Jedi's sense of moral obligation. The council would likely demand to be informed, but information could always be conveniently forgotten." Padme didn't make eye contact with her again until she turned to hand over another small package of small bacta bandages.

"However, nothing here that warrants a mention to anyone when it would come at the cost of interrupting the well-deserved retirements of two of the Republic's tireless servants. And since we are just speaking in hypotheticals..." Barriss smiled at Padme, locking eyes with her. "I'm glad I'll never have to answer that question of what I would do, Mrs. Naberrie, because I've seen absolutely nothing."

Padme closed her eyes, letting a soft sigh roll out of her. The 'thank you' she gave was so small it wasn't even a whisper, merely mouthing the words. Barriss bowed politely, wished her a good evening, and let her get to finding the noodle soup in the kitchen.

Nexu Company had to stay one more day to recuperate, but it passed without incident. The twins did venture in to talk to some of the clones in a way that suggested to Barriss that they didn't have much in the way of physical contact with outsiders - not unusual, really, this far in lake country; many of the farmers' children attended virtual schools by holo, and she assumed Luke and Leia did as well. A frigid edge had come off of the forced politeness, making it genuine. It was a wholly unremarkable trip.

The morning they set off again, Barriss did wait until they had slowly marched to the top of the next hill, pausing their hike to a pickup point. "Nexu Company." Her serious tone of voice caused them all to stand up straight at attention. "I rarely give specific orders, especially specific orders of this sort of gravity. But in your official reports... never mention the family that lives there," she said softly, pointing to the house. "Say that the building was abandoned, and we took shelter there. Understood?"

She expected a few more questions or odd looks. Part of her was still very uneasy with how easily the clones accepted this order. But no more was said of it.

Not until the Tarisian Blitz.