Hi everyone. This took longer than I had expected it to, but once I got in the mode I couldn't write it down fast enough. Thank you to all the people who have reviewed, followed, and favored. There's still much more to the story for those of you who have questions about it. Enjoy!

Chapter 12

Anakin watched as shock filled Vatie, followed by anger and instant denial.

"No," Vatie shook her head. "No way. That's impossible. Inconceivable!"

"Vatie-" Anakin worried her voice would wake up the household, but Vatie stepped away from him.

"No Anakin. Just the thought… it's not right!"

"Vatie," Ferus' voice was calm and gentle that it surprised Anakin. "I understand your conviction, but we have to face the facts: at Varykino, Anakin and I made certain that security had no way of ratting us out, yet Inspector Divo came long before he should have after they were taken out. And today, someone knew Anakin and Padme would be in the market sector, close to Pooja's facility, and also, during our confrontation with Malorum, Malorum himself admitted to having a spy among us."

Vatie turned away, but Anakin could see a tear glistening down her face. She leaned against a holobook shelf and breathed heavily.

Anakin gave her a few moments before he continued in a quiet voice. "I know how close you all are to one another from serving my wife for so many years. You trained together, fought together, and served together. Betrayal like that is… it's like a knife in the back." Or a blaster bolt. Anakin swallowed the bitter hardness in his throat as he remembered the 501st. Men whom he had fought side by side in horrific battles. Men who had watched his back and he watched theirs. All that they had went through, forgotten as they stormed the Jedi Temple and fired upon Anakin and his fellow Jedi.

He felt Ferus looking at him in concern, but Vatie turned back to face them. "It's more than that, Anakin," her voice spoke just above a whisper. "As a handmaiden, we enter a ceremony where we pledge our lives to our mistress. We swear to honor her wishes and defend her with our lives. We are supposed to die before her. If a handmaiden broke her vows to her mistress or any of her fellow handmaidens, she would be disgraced, disowned, and face the chance of execution by her fellow handmaidens if not her mistress."

Anakin was shocked by that last bit. He knew handmaidens on Naboo took their vows seriously, but he never knew them to be that zealous. If the traitor turned out to be a handmaiden, would Padme agree to her execution?

"So you see how hard it is to grasp the possibility of one of us betraying Padme?" Vatie asked him. "I'm not saying Typho would be the traitor. As her former security officer, he would be under the same oaths to protect Padme."

"We're not saying that Typho or any of you ladies would willingly betray Padme," Ferus said calmly. "It's possible that Malorum could be blackmailing someone into reporting to him about our doings and whereabouts."

Anakin could sense the conflict in Vatie warring against one another. Her loyalty to her friends and the need to protect them and Padme if there really was a traitor endangering them all.

Finally, with reluctance in her eyes but conviction as well, Vatie looked up at Anakin and Ferus. "What do you want me to do?"

"The informant obviously contacted Malorum and Panaka via comlink around this area," Anakin explained. "If the timing is correct, the girls would have contacted you after Inspector Divo was already making his way towards Divo, so that leaves you off the suspect list."

Vatie looked at him in a sarcastic "gee thanks" sort of way.

Anakin continued. "We can't be sure where the informant contacted Panaka, but if you could go through everyone's comm records that could help us narrow it down."

Vatie thought for a moment before nodding. "I can do that. It will take time, but I can have it done by tomorrow night. What else?"

Anakin braced himself. This wasn't going to be easy. "We're to need files on all the handmaidens and Typho."

Now that drove her off the edge. "WHAT?!"

Anakin and Ferus hurriedly gestured her to keep quiet, hoping that no one heard her.

"We won't be needing Sache's. We already know that she's not the traitor," Anakin tried to placate her.

Ferus cut in, "we need to look into these files so that we can see what Palpatine could use against them."

Vatie bit her lip. Going through such personal information was a complete breach of privacy and trust, but eventually Vatie nodded. "Give me a few hours, and I'll have them ready for you to go through in the morning."

Anakin let out a breath he didn't know that he had been holding in. "Thank you, Vatie."

What none of them were aware of was the bug planted in one of the holobooks recording everything, and that the traitor was listening to every word they said.

000{{*}}000

When Padme woke up the next morning, she was wrapped in the arms of her sleeping husband, safe and secured. A smile graced her lips until she remembered what she had learned the day before.

Her great-aunt, Padme Lydonia and Emperor Palpatine had been lovers. Padme had cried at the thought of it last night until she fell asleep. Now, did Padme feel ashamed of what her aunt and Palpatine had been to one another? Maybe a little until she remembered how old her aunt had been. At seventeen what teenager didn't feel swept up in the motion of young love, and the feelings it carried with it? Palpatine was also a natural liar, so how could her young aunt have known of the evilness he hid so well from everyone? The same evil that would kill her and so many other people. Padme realized that it wasn't just her grandmamma's death Palpatine had orchestrated, it was her great-aunt Padme's and her grandfather Luke Naberrie's as well. She couldn't let Palpatine harm anyone else in her family. She wouldn't.

Carefully, so she wouldn't wake Anakin up, Padme slipped out of bed to get dressed. Because of the incident in the market area, stormtroopers would be patrolling everywhere which meant sneaking back over to Lieutenant Panaka's home impossible. Maybe Padme could talk with Captain Typho and see if he could bring the Lieutenant here. Until then Padme would brush up on her history.

Padme crept down the stairs and headed towards the library. Finding it empty, she set off her search. Eirtae had once mentioned that her father use to collect holoarticles of major Naboo events since he was a child. The bombing that killed Queen Celestine and many of her staff and allies would have been a highly major event in its time. Padme found the articles stacked inside a box in the corner of the library. Dust had begun to settle on it since Eirtae's father passed away years, but Padme ignored it as she opened it and began to search through the old pads, trying to find the one dated back forty-seven years ago. It was near the bottom of the box and the par was beginning to chip, but it still worked when Padme turned it on.

Queen Celestine and Nineteen Others Murdered in Horrific Bombing.

That was the heading, and underneath it was an image of the palace with black smoke coming from where Padme remembered the throne room.

Padme remembered her history. It had taken three years to restore the throne room to its former beauty, but rumors had circled that the ghosts of the people killed in there haunted the palace, searching for the ones responsible for their deaths. It was just an urban legend, but when Padme had been queen, she had always felt unsettled wandering the halls and corridors in complete darkness, and even her handmaidens had admitted to feeling unhinged some nights.

Padme read the information in the article, remembering. Investigators had deduced that the bomb had been placed inside the Queen's throne, instantly incinerating everyone within five feet. That included Queen Celestine, Captain Blantyre, two handmaidens, and the Queen's secretary, Padme Lydonia.

Padme took a deep breath before continuing on.

There were images beside the names of the victims, including their age and position. Many of them were around the same age as Padme and her friends had been when she had completed her terms, but the youngest amongst the dead were Padme's aunt and Princess Blantyre at the ages seventeen and sixteen. After killing Celestine, Blantyre, Lydonia, and the two handmaidens, the blast continued, burning council members and guards stationed around them. The throne room doors had been opened by a witness moments before the explosion had happened. The witness statement and identity hadn't been published, Padme noticed.

She continued reading.

Emergency medics had rushed in, but there had only been seven people still alive after the explosion. One had died as they were moving him from the scene. Another died when his heart gave out in the middle of bacta treatment. Then another died from the severity of her wounds two days later. Only four people had survived the attack: two guards and two handmaidens.

One guard had lost his left arm, both of his legs, and suffered severe burns. He later drowned in the Lake Country months later while on a family vacation, some believing it to be a suicide. While Padme didn't recognize the name, her heart wept for the pain he and his family had gone through.

The other guard was Lieutenant Gregor Panaka. He had been the farthest away from the blast because he had intercepted the witness who had barged in, but his wounds had consisted of burnt ligaments in his leg and severe burns up his body from covering the witness. When Padme looked at the Lieutenant's image she was startled to see how young and unscarred he seemed to be before the attack. Almost resembling his son back when Padme had just become Queen.

One of the handmaidens that had survived was Pooja Janren. Her injuries had been so severe the medics had doubted that she would last long. The blast had flung her incredibly hard into one of the throne room's pillars paralyzing much of her body and causing severe brain damage. She had been in the hospital for over two months before she was placed in the Theed Care Center.

The other handmaiden- Padme's eyes widened when she saw the handmaiden's image, and recognized the name.

"Cafe?"

Padme jumped in surprise, dropping the holopad onto the ground, and shutting off the article. She looked up and saw Sabe standing in the doorway, holding two cups of cafe.

Sabe frowned in concern as she made her way over to Padme. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Maybe she did. "I'm fine. I just… didn't hear you come in."

"You were in the zone, looking at whatever it is you were looking at," Sabe said as Padme picked up the holopad she dropped. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Actually, I hope you can," Padme said, setting down the holopad onto the desk before taking the cup of cafe Sabe offered her. "Sabe, isn't your mother's maiden name Olnick?"

Sabe nodded. "Yes, youngest child of Dian Olnick of Olnick Holdings."

"And wasn't her aunt a handmaiden?" Padme asked.

Sabe nodded again. "Yes, First Handmaiden of Queen Celestine until her assination. My aunt had been one of the few survivors from the attack," she paused and looked at Padme questionably. "Does this have something to do with Padme Lydonia?"

Sabe had been Padme's closest friend before Padme had even become queen and she could read her as if she were a holobook. "I'm wondering if it does," Padme admitted before sipping her cafe. "Lieutenant Panaka didn't say where my aunt's comb or diary could be, so that narrows our options. I wonder if your Aunt Line would know. Has she ever talked or mentioned anything that would indicate if she knew my aunt?"

Sabe shook her head. "No, my great-aunt never likes to talk about her days of service to Celestine. The attack left her horribly scarred, and she lost her fiance Shon Lasara."

"Shon Lasara? Eirtae's uncle?" Padme asked.

"Yes," Sabe confirmed. "My aunt was devastated. No man wanted to marry her with the way her scars were. Not that she wanted to marry anybody after losing Shon. She just kept her mouth shut and closed herself off. I didn't even know she had been a handmaiden until I began my training."

Well, that made things complicated. Still… "But she would have kept in contact with fellow handmaidens or guards like Pooja or Lieutenant Panaka, wouldn't she?" Padme asked.

"I don't know," Sabe answered. "I always believed that the loss of Shon, Celestine, and so many of her friends destroyed her that I don't know if she would have kept in touch or not."

Both women were silent. Over the years they had known and lost many friends in the Blockade, the Clone Wars, and assasination attempts on Padme's life over the years. They had mourned and then they had moved on because their duties had demanded them to. In losing Celestine, Line Olnick lost her sense of duty. In losing her fiance, she had lost her future along with all of her friends.

The door to the library suddenly opened, and Elle came rushing in.

"Elle, what's wrong?" Padme asked. Elle looked winded and frightened.

"Stormtroopers… Eirtae told us to hide you, Anakin, and Ferus while she distracted them," Elle gasped.

Stormtroopers! Did they find them?

Sabe grabbed Padme's arm and pulled her towards one of the holobook shelves. She grabbed what seemed to be a random holobook, but the shelf slid open, revealing one of the secret passageways in Eirtae's house.

"Stay quiet," Sabe whispered before she shoved Padme inside.

Sabe tried to control the rapid beating of her heart as the shelf closed behind Padme, hiding her. She hoped that the others had hidden Anakin and Ferus by the time the stormtroopers would push past Eirtae and barge into her home. Sabe and Elle walked out of the library just in time to see the stormtroopers do just that.

Eirtae protested loudly enough to alert the whole house as the stormtroopers made their way down halls and into rooms. Inspector Divo came in right after the last Stormtrooper. Eirtae turned and glared furiously at him. "Inspector Divo, I hope you have a good explanation as to why you entered my home like this."

"Relax Madame Arthi, this is just an inspection," Divo's annoying voice assured her.

As they conversed, Sabe saw Motee, Yane, and Typho coming down the stairs as stormtroopers pushed their way up. Typho noticed Sabe and Elle near the end of the stairs and tilted his head. Sabe inwardly sighed with relief. Anakin and Ferus had been safely hidden.

As the stormtroopers searched upstairs, Sabe could hear the embarrassed and angry cries of the other girls upstairs.

"Shiraya!" that would be Vatie.

"What the kriffing hells?!" and that would be Sache.

"During the attack in the market yesterday, witnesses saw a woman help Skywalker evade arrest. The woman's description resembles that of Senator Padme Amidala," Divo explained.

"And you think that it was one of us who helped Skywalker, or that it was Padme herself?" Sabe accused.

Divo opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when Vatie and Sache came down the stairs, and Rabe and Dorme came down the hall from the kitchen, all still in their dressing gowns. Under normal circumstances, Sabe knew that her friends would all be blushing scarlet for being so indecently dressed in front of strange men, but in these circumstances there was too much at stake to be worrying about that.

Divo turned to Eirtae. "Quite the full house you've got," his comment almost made Sabe flinched. It had been convenient for all of them to stay here so that Anakin and Padme would have better protection while they searched for what Malorum was after and stop him. Now, Sabe felt it had been foolish to fall back into the habit of gathering around Padme to provide better protection.

Thankfully, it seemed that Eirtae was still a smooth liar as she had been since they were teenagers. "It's been a little lonely in my house with all my family being away, so I thought that inviting all my friends over for dinner would help cheer me up. We ended up talking later than we had expected and the curfew was up, so I thought that having them all spend the night here would cause less problems."

Sabe hoped that none of the stormtroopers would mention the extra toiletries or clothing in the bedrooms she knew they went through. The inspector would realize that everyone had been staying in this house longer than one night.

As luck would have it, Divo didn't press. Instead he looked at them, still addressing Eirtae as he spoke again. "In that case, everyone wouldn't mind if I spoke to each of them individually?"

Eirtae lead him to the parlor, closing the door.

Sabe looked at Rabe from the corner of her eye, and saw the barely concealed fear and worry she herself felt. As long as Divo was here, they couldn't do anything which meant that Padme, Anakin, and Ferus were stuck hiding inside the house's secret passageways without food and water. If they were lucky, the three of them would remain hidden without anyone suspecting anything.

With years of experience, Sabe gathered everyone into the kitchen where Dorme and Elle assisted Rabe in making breakfast. Normally, everyone would all be chatting as they waited to eat, but today everyone was solemnly silent with stormtroopers stationed by the kitchen doorway and the door leading out to the gardens. The air was so tense it would have taken a lightsaber to cut it. Sabe grabbed a piece of fruit from the table and rolled it in her hands as she observed her sister handmaidens and Typho. They were all trying to give off a relaxed, nonchalant attitude, but some of them failed, especially Dorme and Elle.

Dorme looked pale and ragged, so unlike the stylish girl who first became a handmaiden, always making sure that everything was put together whether it'd be doing a switch in disguises between Padme and one of the handmaidens or herself, even when she was in the middle of a firefight. These past few days she hadn't been herself, and today, Sabe swore she heard Dorme retching in the fresher while she waited to use it.

As for Elle, the young girl (because that's what she was, a kid) kept looking up towards the hall as if she was expecting Divo to be leading Eirtae out in cuffs then ordering the rest of them to be arrested as well. Sabe wanted to shake her and scold her for being so obvious but that would have been mean and a way of deflecting her own fear as well. She watched as Elle smoothed the butter unto the toast with trembling hands, and wished that she could hold them and comfort her without the stormtroopers watching them.

After an eternity, but was really only twenty minutes according to the chrono, Eirtae finally stepped out of the parlor followed by Divo. Sabe felt little relief when she saw how pale Eirtae was, and Divo called Typho in.

Sabe took the plate Rabe offered her and a cup of tea before she moved to a seat near the back of the kitchen, away from the stormtroopers as one could be, and waited for Eirtae to join her. She did, and already knew what Sabe was going to ask her. "He was asking me where I was during the attack in the market, when my family was coming back, what I think of the Empire, my friendship with Padme, and…" Eirtae leaned closer to Sabe, lowering her voice even more. "He asked me about the house."

Sabe felt her blood freeze. He knew. Divo had to know that there were secret passageways in the Lasara Home, and that it was possible to hide two Jedi and a missing senator in one of them. During the Gungan Wars, many citizens in Theed installed these passageways to hide in. in the last year, many of the homes were destroyed in the final conflict. Those that were undamaged, were kept secret from most people until the Blockade when the passageways became useful again in helping refugees hide from the droids. In the Lasara Home however, Sabe would never have expected it to have any until Eirtae showed her and their friends them these last several months since the Empire formed. How could Divo have known about them?

"We'll just have to keep our mouths shut, and pray that Divo doesn't find anything," Sabe whispered.

Her toast and nuna eggs looked delicious, but Sabe didn't feel hungry with the knots she felt in her stomach. As she allowed her breakfast to grow cold, she watched her friends play with their food, but didn't eat either. Sache looked worriedly at the chrono while Motee held Elle's hand in comfort. Sabe looked at Vatie, and saw that the redhead had a death grip on her computer hidden in her dressing gown under the table. She was lucky Divo or any of the stormtroopers hadn't found it, because if they did they would have concrete evidence of them consulting against the Empire. After

Divo was done "questioning" Typho, he continued on through the handmaidens. Sometimes he would mix up their names which would have been humorous if not for the situation they were in right now. Sabe was the last person to be brought in for questioning.

As she took a seat in the parlor, Sabe wondered how much Inspector Divo knew about Naboo customs and about each of the handmaidens who had served Padme Amidala individually.

"Miss... Andierre isn't it?" Divo asked.

Sabe nodded. Even after six years of no longer being a handmaiden it felt odd using her surname instead of just Sabe.

Divo continued, "We already know you have a solid alibi at around the time the suspect was first seen helping Skywalker. You were training up at the palace that even if Skywalker contacted you before the attack it would have been impossible for you to get there at the time of the attack."

Sabe narrowed her eyes. "Then why am I here?"

"According to my research, you and Amidala were extremely close: from the time she was elected as queen to her last months as senator of Naboo. If there is anyone who knew her so well, who better than the woman who served her as her bodyguard and best decoy?" Divo asked.

Ah, so it was information on Padme he wanted. It seemed he didn't do his research on the duties of being a handmaiden as well as he thought. If he did then he would know that handmaidens carry their mistress's secrets to their graves even after they're no longer in their service. If Divo thought that he would be able to pry information on Padme from Sabe he chose the wrong handmaiden.

Actually, Sabe realized, she could have some fun with this. An inward, wicked smile bloomed behind Sabe's stoic face.

000{{*}}000

65 bby

Padme was silent as she followed Captain Blantyre. They passed servants and guards who were doing their final rounds before they would leave for the night.

Padme on the other hand was a little terrified as she mentally prepared herself to meet with Queen Celestine herself. Captain Blantyre had remained silent the whole walk, refusing to tell Padme as to tell Padme as to why the Queen would send for her, so Padme was left to thinking all kinds of scenarios. The only plausible one she could think of was the Veruna/Costil argument she had told Pooja. Pooja must have told her about it. What if the Queen ordered Padme to just ignore it? What if Celestine made Padme quit her career and move on to something else? Padme didn't know what she would do if Celestine ordered her to do one or both of those things.

Padme and Captain Blantyre passed through several security guards, all of whom nodded in respect of him. Blantyre lead Padme up through corridors few had the privilege to go up through, and she realized that he was taking her to the Queen's private quarters. Her nervousness grew tenfold. Luke had told her that even the Queen's most trusted advisors were rarely allowed up there. The Queen's quarters were her private sanctuary, allowing only her handmaidens and head of security to be up there at any convenience. The fact that Celestine was having Padme meet her in them raised a lot of questions.

Blantyre took her to a parlor room where the Queen most likely greeted her visitors. He left Padme in there and told her to wait for the Queen to come in herself.

Alone, Padme couldn't help but look around the room. The walls were painted a soft green, and there were paintings of Naboo's landscape spread out on them. Padme recognized some of them of Theed and many other cities of Naboo, but her favorites were the ones of the Lake Country. Luke and Winama had a lake house in the Lake Country called Varykino that had been in the Naberrie family for generations, and they were planning on taking Ryoo, Padme, Jobal, and maybe Mammy and their father with them this summer when the council would be on recess. The paintings were beautiful and exquisite, obviously done by a very skilled professional painter. They were so detailed and life like that it made Padme want to go to these places captured in paint.

She turned around when she heard the door she come in open. It was the Queen surrounded by her five principle handmaidens dressed in light blue gowns. The Queen herself wore a beautiful gown made of silk that started as a pale yellow at the top that faded to a golden yellow until it turned into a sky blue near the bottom of her dress. Instead of the usual elaborate headdress she usually wore, Celestine wore a simple diamond tiara with her hair pulled back with pink ribbons down her back. She reminded Padme of a golden water lily growing in the lake like a jewel.

Padme remembered her etiquette lessons and curtsied before the Queen. "Your Highness."

"Good evening, Miss Lydonia. Thank you for coming in so suddenly. I understand that you have other obligations to attend to, so I will try to be quick about this," Celestine said to her.

Padme looked up from her curtsy and saw the gentleness in Celestine even under all that pale makeup.

The Queen motioned Padme to sit on one of the sofas before sitting down in one opposite of Padme. The Queen made another motion and three of her handmaidens left, leaving two to stand behind her, guarding her but as silent and invisible. Padme thought she recognized Pooja and Line under their hoods, but she couldn't be certain as she focused her attention on the Queen.

"I suppose you're wondering why I asked you up here?" she asked.

"I am yes, my Lady," Padme responded.

Celestine's dark eyes were focused on her, and Padme found it hard to look away. "I understand that you have been privy to some private information concerning Ars Veruna and Reggie Costil?" Celestine asked.

Padme felt her cheeks flush, but she didn't look away from the Queen's eyes as she responded. "It was an accident, Your Highness. It was during the last dinner you had with the Royal Council. During the coffee hour, I decided that I needed some air, so I sought my way to the palace greenhouse. On my way, I heard voices and found myself behind a pillar. When I looked, I recognized Veruna and Costil…"

As Padme continued with her story, she observed Celestine. Her lips were frowning as Padme told her of the secrets both Veruna and Costil spat at each other. When Padme finished, the Queen's eyes shifted off of her, and Padme realized that she was thinking.

"If you'll forgive me, Your Highness, but what will be done?" she couldn't help but ask.

Celestine focused her attention back onto her. "Did you say neither Veruna nor Costil noticed you?"

"No, I don't think so." The corridor had been dark, and Padme had been wearing black. She had also made certain that nobody could hear her breathing, although she doubted Veruna and Costil could have heard her over their argument.

Padme watched as Celestine thought for another moment before speaking. "We hadn't been able to come up with any plausible suspects as to why funds had been misplaced in the Royal treasury. Now, it seems possible that Costil could be responsible, but without any concrete evidence it will make things difficult to counter an investigation on him. You're certain that there wasn't anything else said between them?"

Padme shook her head. "No, My Lady, after that Costil brought up the lady Veruna was supposedly seeing."

Celestine nodded, though Padme could see the pain and frustration within her. "Amazingly, I'm not as surprised of Veruna seeing a woman under the legal age as I should be."

Padme looked at her surprised, but Celestine continued. "When she was still alive, my sister, Tifaya and Ars Veruna took classes together at the Legislative Youth Program. He was a notorious playboy back then, and it was rumored that two of his classmates became pregnant by him. One of them being thirteen years old, and the other betrothed to a Bibble. It was also rumored that his mother paid to keep it hushed up, so the girls could… "deal with the problem" while Veruna pursued his career in politics without a scratch on his record."

Padme was shocked. She knew that Lady Veruna loved her son despite all their animosity towards one another. Now, she knew why. To cover up her son's despicable actions had to be sickening for her.

"I know Ars Veruna to know that he desires only what he cannot attained forever, and when he has it and has had his fun, he'll toss it aside like an old toy," Celestine finished.

As Padme looked upon her, she saw all the pain, stress, and burden Celestine had carried within her for almost eight years since the day she had been elected and crowned as Queen of the Naboo at sixteen years old. She could also see the strain and worry as well as fear within Celestine as time grew shorter, but there still being so much to do before her terms ended and a new monarch was elected in her place. There were eight months left, but if that was all the time Celestine had left before she would step down, Padme was determined to help her make the most of it. She sat up straight with her chin up. No more was she that naive farm girl all those months ago, now she would have to be a strong woman, a servant to the Queen and to the people of Naboo.

"Tell me what you want me to do." Was it her imagination, or did she see a proud smile on one of the handmaidens underneath their hood?

Celestine smiled, and Padme was nearly struck by the beauty of it. "Before my term has ended, I need to make certain that the Naboo are prepared to face the Trade Federation when that dark day comes. In order to do that I need to make certain that our government is not overrun by corrupt officials who seek to pursue their own greedy ambitions with no thought to what the people really need. There are officials who need ousted from office and replaced with good, honest hardworking people. In order to do that, I need someone I can trust." Celestine turned to the two handmaidens behind her. "From everything Line and Pooja have told me about you, and from what Councilor Naberrie has said, you are that type of person. As much as I trust my handmaidens and their skills, there's only so much they can do while they protect me. I need someone who can listen in on members of the Royal Council without drawing suspicion, and gather information on them. I hope that person can be you."

Padme was stunned, but deep down she had known that it would come to this ever since Captain Blantyre had brought her up to this room.

One of the handmaidens- Pooja, Padme realized- took a step towards her. "It's a hard and dangerous task being asked of you, Padme. If the councilors catch you, there will be serious repercussions for you and Celestine if the find out that you were investigating under her orders. You need to know that if you accept this task, you're in it with everything you have for good," Pooja warned Padme. "Do you understand?"

Padme did understand. She turned to Celestine. Steel and determination burned within her as she gave her answer to her Queen. "I won't fail you."

000{{*}}000

One week later, Padme was sitting in her political science class, and instead of writing her notes, she was writing in her diary.

Since she had accepted the Queen's task, Padme had been keeping her eyes and ears open in court. There had been nothing as big as to what she had heard between Veruna and Costil, but enough for her to write down notes to analyze at a later date. Since that fateful meeting, every night after Padme had completed her intern hours, she would meet with Pooja, Line, or one of Celestine's handmaidens and they would teach her how to listen to other people's conversations without looking like it. They had even turned her pixie comb into a listening device. They had replaced the ruby to put in a tiny recording device then placed the ruby on top to cover it. If she needed to record a conversation all she needed to do was reach out as if she was pulling a strand of hair back and touch the ruby, and the device would record. Padme had also discovered that she could hide the recordings in the pages of her diary so nobody could see them. It was all so new and exciting, but Padme always remembered what was at stake.

Padme's thoughts were interrupted when a piece of flimsi fluttered onto her diary pages. She looked up in front of her desk to Sheev casually leaning on the back of his chair, listening or at least pretending to listen to the professor's teachings. While Padme felt bad at disrespecting the professor, she knew the lesson by heart already, so she grabbed the piece of flimsi, closed her diary, hearing the click of the lock, and opened Sheev's message.

"Credit for your thoughts?"

Padme couldn't help but smile before writing down her reply.

"The future."

She placed it where his hands were resting and he took it. A few seconds later, he stretched out towards her, holding a new piece of flimsi in his hands,

When Padme read it, it said, "What do you see?"

She replied, "You'll just have to wait after class, during lunch to find out."

She nearly giggled when she saw him suppress a moan.

After class, Padme and Sheev walked together to a nearby restaurant. Now that the weather was warm today and most of the snow had melted away, Padme had Sheev agree to eat outside in one of the restaurant's patio tables. While they waited for their food, Sheev asked again what Padme was thinking.

"I told you, the future. Preparing for the finals, finishing up paperwork, and having Lady Veruna sign a letter of approval to my advisor. Then graduation and hopefully obtaining a position in the palace," Padme answered him. "Why do you ask?"

"You've seemed… distracted lately," Sheev answered.

Padme felt a stab of guilt. She had been distracted, but she couldn't tell Sheev the real reason why she had been so. "I've been in the Legislative Youth Program for over three years, studying, and working to earn my place as soon as I can, and now that it's so near, it's nerve wracking and thrilling." That was the truth. Now, that a new chapter was about to begin in her life, Padme felt that she was on the verge of jumping to either fly or fall.

"What do you plan to become one day? Become Queen, Senator, or Chancellor of the Republic?" Sheev asked.

Padme laughed, shaking her head as the waiter came and set their food on the table. "No, maybe Princess or Governor of Theed for a couple of terms at most. I haven't really thought that far ahead."

Padme sipped her surra juice and ate her fried nuna. Would she stay and serve in the palace all her life, working in politics? Would she become a respected council member like Luke or Tie Bibble? Or would the years of dealing with corruption and the constant fighting get to her and pull her down as it was beginning to for Celestine?

It was a few minutes before she spoke again. "Maybe after so many years I'll retire, start up my own law firm, and have a family of my own someday. Hopefully inspire other children in my area to try and reach for the stars like I have." Padme smiled and Sheev smiled back, but there was something off about it. Almost as if he were… sad.

"What about you?" Padme asked, taking a sip of her drink. "When you graduate the LYP, do you plan on becoming King, Senator, or Chancellor of the Republic?" She smiled teasingly, but Sheev looked serious as he thought for a minute.

"I have no desire to go into politics," he answered.

What? Padme put down her drink. "But think of all the wonderful things you could do. For your planet, for the galaxy-"

"And deal with insufferable politicians all day long? Being pulled by one side and then being pulled by another when you really just want to plow your way through? You have no idea how insufferable that is," he rebuked her.

Padme turned her head away from him. "I may have an idea," she muttered, thinking back on all those council meetings she had attended with Lady Veruna.

"Really?" Padme looked at Sheev and saw the challenge in his eyes, and yet the need to know what she thought.

"Opportunity is based on what position a person is put in. They must choose whether they must take it and with it the chance to improve life. You were born into a position that can allow you to touch the stars and change life everywhere in the galaxy," Padme explained.

Sheev stared at her, and Padme felt herself blush with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I know you said that you don't want to, but I believe that you can-" she didn't get to finish because Sheev suddenly attached his lips to hers.

Padme couldn't help but kiss him back, moaning as he deepened the kiss. She should feel ashamed for such public display of affection, but she didn't. She enjoyed the taste of spices and something that made her think of storms when she was with him.

Lightning storms.

000{{*}}000

So what do you guys think? I wasn't expecting to do a Sabe's POV, but it just happened and I couldn't stop. Please review and let me know.