Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas, Lucasfilm, and Disney. I am only doing this for fun.
Retrouvaille (n.) the joy of meeting or finding somone again after a long separation; rediscovery
Padmé Amidala followed Rex through the overcrowded streets of Coruscant. Even this late at night the planet was bursting with life, the bright neon signs flashed in her eyes while insistent street vendors tried to get attention. The constant noise and exhaust fumes from the air traffic above gave her a migraine.
"How much longer is this going to take?" Padmé asked. Puffing out a sharp breath.
She was regretting her curiosity; they had been walking for miles. Her feet hurt, the muscles in her calves burned from exertion, and a sharp pinch in her side was forming. Padmé felt sweat gathering in her cleavage and she could feel her hair sticking to the back of her neck.
"Not much longer." He replied easily, not bothering to turn around and look at her.
Annoyed, Padmé marched up to him and yanked on the back of his jacket forcing him to turn around.
"Hey," she said, eyes flashing. "I don't have time for this. I need to get off this planet soon so that I can-."
Cut off mid-sentence by an Aqualish walking through the narrow space between her and Rex, Padmé could feel her blood pressure rising.
Placing his hands on her shoulders, Rex tried to reassure her. "Senator, I promise we will take you wherever you need to go. You just have to walk one more block."
Pursing her lips, Padmé looked into his worn yet kind face, and she felt her growing aggravation leave her. Letting out a weary sigh, Padmé knocked his hands off her shoulders. "Okay, I'll go with you." She agreed, pointing her finger at him. "You better keep up your end of the bargain; I need to be off this planet by mid-day."
Turning on her heel she began to walk away, not waiting for Rex to catch up.
In one long stride Rex was beside her and said, amusement clear in his
voice, "I am a man of my word milady."
Rex didn't lie to her; it was only one more block to the motel they were currently standing in front of. Opening the door for her, Padmé walked into a small but clean lobby. The walls were bare except for an Imperial recruitment poster that boasted "Join the Imperial Navy and see the galaxy!"
Guiding her past the empty front desk and towards the lift Padmé could feel the nervous energy rise around Rex.
Exiting the lift on the fourth floor he led her to a door marked room 409. Rex didn't knock, but instead entered a passcode into the key pad by the door. It swished open; Padmé wavered in the doorway, but Rex didn't, marching straight into the room and he called out to someone she couldn't see.
"I'm back, and I brought company."
Hurrying into the room so the door didn't close on her, Padmé looked around, all she saw was a plain white room equipped with a single bed and a small kitchenette.
"Hold on," a disembodied voice called from the 'fresher.
Padmé froze. She recognized that voice, despite not having heard it for almost a decade.
When the 'fresher door opened and Ahsoka Tano walked out Padmé's eyes welled with tears.
Without thinking she took three quick steps towards Ahsoka and enveloped her in a warm embrace; Ahsoka's slender arms immediately wrapped around Padmé, and pressed her close. Padmé rested her head on Ahsoka's shoulder; she closed her eyes letting the gathering tears overflow, and leave two tracks of wetness down her cheeks. After a few moments of standing like that they broke apart to look at each other.
Ahsoka wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before proclaiming. "This is unbelievable; you have no idea how happy I am to see you, Padmé."
"How did you even know I was alive?" Padmé asked. Only four people-and one droid-even knew that she was alive, and she couldn't imagine any of them revealing the truth about her.
Ahsoka moved to the bed; sitting on the edge she patted the spot beside her, inviting Padmé to sit next to her.
"I think it was about two years ago," she explained looking at Rex, who nodded. "We received a coded message from Senator Organa asking us if we were willing to come to Alderaan. He didn't give us a reason, and even though we were hesitant to venture so far into the core worlds, we decided to come anyway."
"He and Queen Breha offered us asylum in the palace for a couple days before we set off on our mission. While we were there I met his daughter."
Padmé couldn't stop the rush of emotions that surged through her at the mention of Leia. She tried not to think about Luke or Leia too much. She wasn't sure if that made her a bad mother, (she never had the chance to be a mother at all) but if she thought about them too much she would drive herself insane.
Clearing her throat Ahsoka continued with her story. "When I met Leia the first thing I noticed was her Force presence. Children that young don't burn that bright. When I asked Senator Organa who her biological parents were he became cagey; only telling me that they died. The next morning when we were about to leave he handed me a letter that held the truth about you and the parentage of Leia and her brother."
Padmé was silent for a few seconds, absorbing the information. "Why do you think Bail told you the truth?" Padmé questioned.
"I'm not sure...hey you're not mad that I tracked you down are you?" Looking at her young face Padmé could see doubt flickering in her eyes. "I know who you're hiding from and I promise," Ahsoka took her hands and squeezed them tightly. "Rex and I both promise that we would never betray you."
Ahsoka's sincerity reminded her so much of Anakin in that moment she wanted to cry.
"No, of course I'm not mad." She smiled, ignoring the lump in her throat. "I'm overjoyed; I was so afraid that...that Vader might have killed you."
Ahsoka's death grip on her hands loosened. "Rex and I ran into him on Ryloth a year or so after…,"Ahsoka trailed off and lowered her eyes. Rex came to stand next to her placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It didn't seem like he really wanted to fight, he spent most of his energy trying to convince me to join him."
Padmé blinked, she didn't know what to say. She looked down at the carpet, and took a deep breath.
Hoping her voice came out strong, she said. "Rex said that you would take me to Onderon, will you?"
Looking confused at the direction the conversation had taken; Ahsoka glanced at Rex and replied. "Yeah sure, I had no intention of staying on this planet any longer than necessary. It's not safe for either of us to be this close to the Emperor."
Looking at Rex once again he seemed to understand the unspoken request and said. "I'll go warm up the ship."
Ahsoka's eyes followed him until he left the room; she then turned her piercing stare on Padmé. Uncomfortable from the scrutiny she shifted around on the bed until finally asking. "What?"
"I can't believe you and Anakin were together the entire time, and you never even told me!"
Now she was the one confused at the direction the conversation had taken. Padmé was silent for a moment before responding. "We never told anyone. We couldn't. Besides looking back now you had to have seen how obvious it was."
"It was one thing to think Master Skywalker was in love with you, but I would never have guessed that you guys were married!"
The way Ahsoka whispered 'married' like it was a dirty word was enough to make Padmé throw her head back and laugh.
Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, Padmé could feel happiness bubbling in her chest. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed, and she certainly couldn't remember the last time thinking about Anakin made her want to do anything besides cry.
"It's a moot point anyway." Padmé explained. "We're not together anymore."
Ahsoka frowned. "Only because he thinks you're dead, technically you're still married."
"The only reason we are still "technically married", is because you can't file for divorce when everyone thinks you're dead." Padmé argued. "Like I said, it's a moot point; I can't see us reconciling anytime in the near future."
Before Ahsoka could utter a retort her commlink beeped, signaling that Rex was ready to take off.
The ship was docked in a Hangar about five minutes away from the motel they just left. The ship was an older model, built before the clone wars. Despite its age it looked to be in almost perfect condition besides a few dents and blast marks.
Ahsoka and Rex were already sitting in the cockpit by the time Padmé walked up the gangplank.
"How long will it take to get to Onderon?" Padmé inquired.
"Onderon is located in the Inner Rim; it should only take us a few hours." Ahsoka answered.
"Would you mind if I slept on the way there? I've been up all night and I'm exhausted." Padmé confessed.
"No we don't mind, there's a bed in the back." Ahsoka stood up from the captain's seat and led her towards a room with a small cot in it. "We need the brave Padmé Amidala well rested if she is going to take on the Empire." Ahsoka teased.
Padmé smiled at the playful tone in her friend's voice. "I can't thank the both of you enough for helping me like this, it really means a lot."
"No thanks are necessary Padmé, I'm glad I can help you." Ahsoka gave her a quick hug, and turned back to the cockpit.
Sitting down on the small cot Padmé kicked off her boots and released her hair from the simple braided hairstyle she wore it in. Leaning back against the wall and burying her toes into the soft blanket Padmé connected her commlink to her datapad and began to review the information Pryia sent her.
The man's name was Flint Hakim- Padmé suspected it was an Alias- he was going to be in Iziz for the next five days, and all he requested was that the money be deposited in a private bank account in one large sum. She didn't like working with so little information; too many things could go wrong.
Padmé typed a quick message to Flint from her secure comm frequency, she instructed him where to meet her and what to bring. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer she quickly nodded off still slouched against the wall and datapad still in hand.
She's walking through a labyrinth. Its walls loom over her, trapping her inside this dark maze. The sound seems to have been completely sucked out of the room; the only noise she can make out are waves crashing in the distance. After trying to navigate around the maze for what feels like hours she finally hears it, the whir of Darth Vader's breathing machine.
Panic blooms in her chest. She begins to walk faster, trying desperately to find a way out. She doesn't dare turn around to see how close he is behind her. His steps never falter; maintaining the same steady pace. Her fear is escalating, and she is openly running now, frantic at the thought of him catching her. It doesn't matter how matter how fast she runs, he is always just a few steps behind her.
Dashing through the labyrinth she makes a sharp turn and finally sees it; a large intricately carved door with a bright light peeking through the underneath. She is almost to the door when she sees it in her mind's eye; she sees his terrible black gloved hand outstretched towards her, just a breath away from grabbing her shoulder. The moment before he touches her she swings the door open and bolts through it.
The harsh white light blinds her when she enters the other realm. When her sight returns to her she sees a large crowd and a bright blue sky. This world is garish and vibrant compared to the labyrinth she just escaped. She can still hear the waves crashing in the distance.
Looking down at herself she notices that she's wearing the white dress she wore to the victory parade after the Battle of Naboo. When she looks back up; the crowd is no longer cheering. The silence is back, everyone is now turned in her direction and they are all staring at her, reproach clear in their eyes. Unnerved at the singular attention of everyone she feels her face grow hot underneath the royal makeup. Turning her head to look at where she remembers Anakin stood; she is instead greeted by the nightmarish visage of Darth Vader. She can feel her eyes widen, and before she has the chance to run away his hand grips her throat and squeezes hard.
Padmé lurched awake with a loud gasp, and pressed her hand to her throat. She attempted to reassure herself that it was just a dream.
(Just a nightmare.)
Her heart was pounding against her ribs and her breathing was coming out in quick pants. The stench of her sweat was pervasive in the small room.
(An extremely realistic nightmare.)
Looking at the small clock on a crate that served as a makeshift bedside table Padmé noticed she was only asleep for half an hour.
After taking a few calming breaths Padmé picked up the datapad that was knocked off the bed when she woke up, and placed it back into her pack.
Padmé got up to flick the light off, and flipped the blanket down so that she rest more comfortably.
After a few minutes Padmé dozed off once again and fell in a thankfully dreamless sleep.