Chapter 143
AN: A note to all the faithful readers and reviewers. I apologize for such a long delay in the update and can assure you that updates will be more regular now.
Theed was very similar to what Ari remembered. Yes, there were many signs of destruction, but much had remained the same. She looked around, taking in the familiar sights, sounds and smells. She had missed Naboo so much, but until she had seen it, she hadn't realized how deeply she had been longing for it.
In the distance, over the noise of other beings and various city sounds, she heard a roaring sound.
"Waterfall," she explained to Luke. The Virdugo Plunge. The largest waterfall in Theed."
"Are there a lot of waterfalls?" Luke asked.
"Yes," Ari answered. "Half dozen in Theed I would say. Hundreds of years ago, about eight hundred I would say, the people of Naboo settled Theed on a cliff to protect themselves from attack. They were refugees from another planet. And there are many more all over the planet."
"It sounds like a nice place."
"It is," she agreed.
"So where should we go first?" he asked.
Ari thought this over. There were so many places she wanted to go. She knew that he would want to see the Palace, where the Kings and Queens had lived and ruled. This included his mother. She would have wanted that.
There were a number of other places. The Palace Plaza were many of the people of Theed met. Broadberry Meadow, a small secluded garden that people could only reach by boat. She remembered having a picnic there as a child. There were various statues and monuments, if they were still standing. Then Ari realized that those things could be missing. Maybe the Empire had destroyed them.
"Ari?" Luke asked, pulling her back to the present.
"I want to show you all of Theed and a few other places in Naboo." She thought about the Lake Country, which she and her family had visited one summer. She didn't remember exactly where it was, but could remember the water and the tall grasses and playing with the other children. It had been the Festival of Glad Arrival, to celebrate the colonization of Naboo. She would like to find that place again. "But there is one place I really need to visit."
"Of course. Where?" he asked.
"My old home." Ari knew she had to see what was left of it. To see if it was still there. It was so long ago, but she could still remember that night as if it had just happened. "I just want to see it one more time."
Luke nodded and Ari led the way. They weren't too far and the road seemed to be shorter now that she was older, yet she felt a growing anticipation that made the walk seem to take forever.
Turning the corner, she could see that the structure of the house was still there, but not many of the details. Walking closer, more of her old house came into view. It certainly was still there but it was clear that it had not been cared for in years. It was still standing there, but some of the windows were covered over and the door, had a mark on it. One that signified the house belonged to traitors. Climbing up the well worn path, Ari saw there was also a well worn proclamation, claiming the house as property of the Empire and that trespassers would be punished. Frowning, she tore it off the wall and let it fall to the ground.
She stood outside the door for awhile and then tried the door handle. It was locked so she reached out with the Force to unlock it. She was shaking though. Taking a deep breath and letting go of her emotions, not letting them control her, she heard the click of the locks.
Trying the door again, she pushed it open. Many had doors that opened and shut based on mechanical means, but there were still a number of homes that used manual handles and hinges. The door made a creaking sound as they stepped inside.
Luke was silent as Ari took in as much as she could at once. The furniture was all overturned and there was a layer of dust covering everything. The stairs showed sign of anyone walking up them lately, though there was clothing tossed about. However, Ari ventured toward the living room, instead of the stairs.
She could see more furniture and saw now only was it overturned, but it was broken too. Her gaze fell on the sofa where she had last seen Sabe. She knew that her mother's best friend was not there anymore, but she could see the red stain on the fabric of the sofa that was laying on its side. Her blood.
Ari felt herself shudder as she looked at it. The memories of that night came back to her. Running, hiding, the fear. She walked closer to it and then her gaze fell on something that looked furry.
Carefully picking it up, she brushed it off and then realized what it was. "Star."
"What?" Luke asked, walking over to her. "What's that?"
"It was a stuffed animal. A pittin," she explained. The entire stuffed animal was grey, instead of grey and white like it previously was.
"Yours?"
Ari nodded, hugging the stuffed animal close, even though the dust on the stuff animal tickled her nose. "I gave her to my mother's best friend. She was here when we left." She pointed at the sofa. "She probably died here. I gave her Star so she wouldn't be alone."
"The night you left?" Luke asked and Ari nodded.
"There's more too," she added. "Luke, her name was Sabe, like my middle name and she was a handmaiden to Queen Amidala, your mother."
His gazed traveled to the sofa again. "I wish I knew her. I would like to know about my mother."
Ari wrapped an arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder. "We're in the perfect place for it." She didn't know how much Luke knew of his mother, but being on her homeplanet would be a good start. Maybe they would meet others that knew Amidala on a more personal level. "There is something else too."
"What?" he asked, then he looked at her closely. "Ari, what do you know about her?"
"A lot," she admitted. She shifted the pack on her back and pulled out her mother's journal, finding it odd to bring it to the place where some of the entries were written.
"What? How? Why didn't you tell me before?" He didn't sound angry, but surprised.
"When, Luke? There was that long amount of time we didn't see each other. Then everyone on Tatooine, then everything on Endor. We had almost no time before we were parting ways again. I also thought that you would want Leia there. I shouldn't have waited though."
Luke looked at the journal and Ari opened it, finding the first passage that mentioned Amidala. Ari had occasionally opened the journal at random and just ready whatever entry was there. This meant finding out a lot about her mother's life and sometimes, she could almost hear her voice again.
Standing in the middle of the room, Ari read to Luke from the journal. As she continued to flip through the pages to find the various mentions of Luke's mother or the situation, Luke slowly moved closer to her. He found himself standing directly behind Ari, so close that Ari could feel his breathing on her neck.
When she reached the end, she turned to face him, their faces only inches apart.
"That's more than what I ever knew," he sighed, though Ari knew that had to be hard. Yes, there was a lot she wanted to ask her mother, a lot she wanted to say to her. Yet, Luke never even got to know his mother. She wrapped her arms around him and he wrapped his one real arm around her waist.
They stayed like this for awhile before Ari felt him move his arm and she let go of him.
"Do you want to see the rest of the house?" he asked.
Ari hesitated. She knew they should leave, but she did want to see the bedrooms. She couldn't help but wonder if things were the same there. Something told her there probably was not much different. Though from the earlier sight of fabric on the stairs, she knew things were probably messy from being searched. "I think I should." She hugged the stuffed pittin then turned and led the way to the bedrooms, Luke following her.
Ari climbed the stairs looking at what was thrown about, pictures no longer on the walls, splinters of wood, most likely from broken furniture could be seen.
The first room was her parents. The room looked smaller than she remembered, most likely because she was much younger the last time she had seen her. The clean room looked even worse than the stairway. The sheets and blankets were ripped from the bed and it looked as if everything that was in a drawer had been tossed to the floor. Stepping inside, Ari heard a crunch and when she looked down, she saw small beads that must have belonged to jewelry, all over the ground, which was what she had stepped on.
Deciding not to go in any further, she turned and saw Luke was behind her, but looking at her, not the room.
"Mom would never have allowed it to be like this. She was always neat. Remember how she always did her best to keep the sand out of the house?"
Luke nodded and touched her shoulder. "I remember."
They stood like this for a moment before Ari turned and walked into the next bedroom, which had been Jett's. It was clear that this room was made for a young child. He wouldn't have been able to stretch out on that bed and the clothes that were thrown around the room were covered by a layer of dust.
She didn't step further into the room. Instead, she stayed there for some time, just staring, remembering how things used to be. Luke just stayed a few steps behind her, letting her have this time.
Without another word, Ari turned and went to the last bedroom. Her old bedroom. The door was open and as she got closer, she saw that room was also messy. The blankets ripped, clothes tossed about. The drawers from her dresser had all been pulled out and she saw that even the pillows had been ripped open.
She slowly entered the room, boots making little noise as she set the stuffed pittin down on the dresser which was still upright. She reached over and picked something off the ground. She blew on it, causing the dust that had settled on it to scatter, revealing a picture.
Ari could remember when this picture had been taken. It had been after Jett had been born, shortly before Sabe had been killed and the Narabe family had to escape. Both the families had gotten together. Tyrele, Sabe's husband, must have taken the picture since he was the only one not there. Malik, their son, who had been a year and a half older than Ari.
"My family," Ari spoke as Luke came up behind her, though he hadn't made a sound. "That's Sabe," she pointed. "And Malik, her son." She was sure there was a picture of Tyrele somewhere too. "We should go to their house. Not now, but soon." She didn't know if she could stand seeing what had happened there after seeing her own home like this.
"They look like good people," Luke commented.
"They were," Ari sighed and set the picture down next to the pittin. "I'd like to clean things here. Keep the things of sentimental value and find a way to make this a home. Maybe not for me, but it would be good for a family." She didn't know if she could ever live in this home again, after all that had happened. However, maybe it was possible for others to find happiness here.
Luke wrapped one arm around her waist as they both looked at the picture for a long time. Katri and Derin were smiling as was Sabe. Malik must have told a joke because Ari was laughing. Jett probably didn't understand the joke, but was laughing too.
"I think they'd be happy and proud," Ari finally said, turning to look at Luke.
"They would be," he agreed then leaned over and kissed her gently. Ari kissed him back. They had only kissed a handful of times, but it felt right to her. She had never thought she would fall for Luke. He was her best friend growing up and if someone had told her she would love him like that, she would have thought that person was crazy. Now, looking back at how much their lives intertwined, she realized she couldn't imagine being with anyone else.
Pulling back, Ari smiled at him. "There is a lot of work to do, but we can wait." She still wanted to show Luke around Naboo, especially Theed.
Luke nodded. "We'll do that."
At that moment there was a beeping sound. Luke took out his communicator off of his belt. "Hello?"
"Luke?" Leia's familiar voice could be heard.
"Leia," he smiled. "It's good to hear your voice."
Ari watched them and realized the jealousy she had was no longer there at all. There was only a bittersweet feeling. Luke and Leia lost years together, but in the end were reunited.
"Yours too. I just wanted to tell you that Han, Chewie and I are coming to Naboo. I can't explain it, but I know I have to be there."
Luke nodded though Leia couldn't see. "The Force."
"The Force," Leia agreed. "We'll be landing soon at Theed. Would you like us all to meet?"
Luke and Ari shared a quick look, but no words needed to be spoken. "Of course," Luke answered. "We'll be there shortly."
The communication ended and there was silence for a moment before Luke spoke. "Are you ready to go?"
Ari nodded, looking around the room once more, committing everything to memory before she and Luke left.