Just came back from a week long camping trip with my family, and while I was out relaxing and surviving the heat, I managed to write the next chapter for this story.
In this chapter Padmé meets Cordé's family with surprising results, and Great Aunt Lydonia deals with the aftermath of little Fayé's death and also gets endangered again.
Enjoy ;)
Warning: be prepared to cry or get teary-eyed.
Chapter 21
The rains had stopped around the time of dawn, but many parts of the city of Theed were flooded from the ankles to the knees. In some parts that veered down, water rushed like the famous Virdugo Plunge down steps, making it hazardous for any pedestrians brave or foolish enough to venture out in this.
Such was Padmé Amidala-Skywalker's luck. The rain boots she had found in Eirtaé's closet were already filling up with icy cold water, and her jacket barely protected her from the elements as she trudged her way down the streets of Theed. Sabé had thought her crazy and asked if she was suicidal to want to go out in this weather.
Perhaps Padmé was a little crazy.
She had gotten on a public transport that her carried her to within a couple blocks from her old neighborhood, and from there she made her way over to the Greduns's jewelry and tea shop. On normal sunny days such a walk would be no difficult, but in flood-like weather the trek was dangerous. The slightest misstep could plunge Padmé into the cold water, and she would be swept off in the current. It took about two hours for Padmé to finally reach the shop.
It had been three-and-a-half years since the last time she had come for Cordé's memorial. She remembered Cordé's family, her parents Osco and Hara Gredun, her recently widowed sister Tifay, and her two little nieces, three-year-old Cordyn and two-month-old Fay. the Greduns were a merchant family that use to be in the plasma industry up until the Blockade when they switched to the mineral mining industry. Cordé used to tell Padmé that after Panaka removed her from the handmaiden candidacy, she would have joined the family business if the Trade Federation hadn't blockaded Naboo. Their days in the camps influenced her parents' decision to change their business, and Cordé instead helped her sister start her jewelry business, purchasing the old Naberrie home, remodeling it, and then designing jewelry. When Cordé became her handmaiden, Padmé
Got to meet Tifay Gredun who designed most of the jewelry she wore in the Senate. Broaches that doubled as listening devices or trackers in case Padmé was taken. Hair accessories that could become weapons or lock picks, and many other pieces of jewelry that were very useful in Padmé's line of work. But when Cordé was killed, Padmé didn't have the heart to keep asking for things from the Gredun family. She heard that Osco had retired because of his failing health, and that Hara had stepped down to care for her husband, and help Tifay run her business and raise her two daughters.
As Padmé neared the shop, she felt her nervousness grow, remembering when she last spoke with the Greduns. All of them had been emotional. Cordé's parents couldn't even look at Padmé, so strong was her resemblance to their deceased daughter. Tifay had kept a strong front, but although she never blamed Padmé, Padmé wondered if she secretly resented her for surviving while her sister didn't. Given the Empire's formation with everyone's loyalties shifting out of admiration or fear, it made Padmé's visit a huge gamble.
The water was ankle deep now in this section, so it was much easier to trek through. However, the water carried debris of trash, leaves, and even some pieces of outdoor furniture. There were a few people out on the streets, retrieving what furniture they could grab before it was swept away. Among those few was Tifay Gredun. The chairs and tables she used to serve her customers tea and caf, she was gathering them up and tying them next to the building.
Padmé swallowed her nervousness, and approached her handmaiden's sister. "Tifay?"
The woman stopped and turned to Padmé. Her face turned pale, and she glanced at her busy neighbors fearfully.
"You can't be here," she whispered.
"Tifay, I-"
"No!" The woman fiercely told her, keeping her voice low, so her neighbors wouldn't hear above the running water. She shook her head. "No!"
She was angry and scared. Padmé knew she had to approach this carefully. "Tifay, please, I need your help. I need to-"
"No! The Empire is looking for you! If they find out I helped you- Padmé, I have two small children, and my parents are elderly. You've already killed my sister. Please don't kill the rest of my family."
Her words cut into Padmé, and she couldn't speak as Tifay turned away from her. That's when a little girl, the same age as her niece Pooja stepped out of the shop's front door.
"Mama?"
"Stay inside with your sister, Cordyn," Today told her, climbing up the steps, out of the water, and tried to send her back in.
"But Grandpa's missing."
Today stopped, and that's when Padmé saw an older woman she recognized as Hara stepped out. "It's true, Tifay. I searched the entire house and shop, but I can't find your father."
Padmé watched as Tifay turned back to the neighborhood, fear and worry evident in her expression. She stepped back down into the water and called out to her father. Soon, the few people who were out, joined her, searching for Osco Gredun
Padmé joined the search. A voice in the back of her head was telling her how stupid this was, that she should stay out of this and not risk being recognized by one of the neightbors, but she ignored it. Floods even in Theed could become dangerous. Many died a year in Theed alone when the rains poured and caused flash floods. Padmé couldn't turn her back on someone who needed her help, especially when that person was her friend's father.
She trudged through the water, keeping close to Tifay as they searched. "Do you know why he would go out?" she asked.
"The doctors diagnosed him with severe Alzheimer's last year, and it's been getting worse. He'll get confused, forget where he's at, and mistake someone for someone else. He's already been mistaking my girls for me and my sister," Today answered as they left the block, looking in alleys and anywhere an old man could hide.
That didn't sound good to Padmé. Osco Gredun was in his late sixties, and on top of his Alzheimer's, Padmé suddenly remembered Cordé mentioning that his time in the Trade Federation camps had caused him to have respiratory ailment and that it had weakened his health. It was cold, their search had led them to knee depth water, and it looked like it was going to rain again soon.
They had to hurry.
They climbed a series of steps and that's when they heard the cry for help. Tifay picked up her pace up the pouring stairs with Padmé right behind her. When they made it to the level and looked down the stairs on the other side, Padmé felt horror at the sight she saw.
Osco Gredun clung to a stone pillar as a river of water ran down the street at waist length.
"Dad!" Tifay screamed.
"Help me!" the man cried out.
Several people had joined Padmé and Tifay, murmuring that he couldn't hold much longer, and wondered what to do.
Padmé knew what to do.
She reached into her jacket and pulled out her grapple gun, thanking her husband and friend for insisting that she bring it with her. She began pulling out the line of the grapple.
"What are you doing?" Tifay asked, panic in her tone.
Padmé tied the line around her waist and handed the gun to Tifay. "When I have him, hit the reverse button and that will pull us back out."
Tifay looked at her, surprised, but thankfully followed her instructions without question. Padmé handed her jacket to one of the ladies watching and turned to the rushing waters that stood between her and Osco. She loved swimming. She considered herself a strong swimmer ever since her parents taught her how in the rivers of Claines. She could do this, but she prayed to Shiraya and the Force to give her strength and to bring her and Osco back safely.
Taking a deep breath, she jumped in.
It felt like a thousand knives were stabbing her throughout her body. The water was so cold this time of year, and she could feel her teeth already beginning to chatter. She kept her focus on Osco though, wading through the filthy waters and carefully avoiding debris by the skin of her teeth.
The water was rising. It was halfway to her chest, and the string current threatened to pull her with it. Padmé didn't fight it, but allowed it to guide her to Osco. She prayed to Cordé's spirit that she would help Padmé save her father. Finally, after a fierce battle with the crossing, Padmé reached Osco. she had no idea exactly how long the man had been there, but he was shivering, his skin felt like ice, and his grip was beginning to slip.
"Give me your hand!" Padmé told him, over the current. She could tell that he was terrified to let go of the pillar, and scared of being swept away.
"Give me your hand!" she repeated, reaching out to him.
He shook his head.
Padmé moved closer, trying to reach him. "Give me your hand!"
Finally, he looked up at her, and his face morphed into shock. "C-C-Cordé?"
Padmé felt her heart being stabbed again and her eyes burning with tears. "Please, give me your hand."
At last, the old man reached out for her hand, and she wrapped her arms around him, telling him to hold on to her before she called out to Tifay. It felt weird, the sensation of being pulled through such a strong current, but Padmé held onto Osco as they were being pulled in. She could barely feel the grapple line digging around her waist thanks to the cold water beginning to numb her body, but she knew that she would have a nasty long bruise there.
When they were half-way through, Padmé felt a jerk, and then she was submerged with Osco on top of her. It was so cold, and Padmé had been taken by surprise, she hadn't been able to take a breath. Now, she struggled not to panic as her airways filled with water. Osco was so heavy, and Padmé's first instinct was to push him off so she could break the surface and breathe in air. But the image of Cordé dressed in the white gown, her face bloody and covered in soot flashed before her eyes. Despite her instincts, Padmé held on to her friend's father, and didn't let go.
As suddenly as they were submerged, they emerged out of the water, coughing up liquid and gasping for air. Padmé felt the grapple continuing to pull them until they finally made it to the stairs, to safety. They were swarmed by Tifay and the people with them. Many took off their coats and wrapped them around Padmé and Osco, or patted their backs to help them cough up the water they took in. Padmé's numbed fingers fumbled with the grapple line still tied around her waist until Tifay stepped in and undid it herself. Once that was done, Today wrapped her arms around Padmé.
"Thank you," she whispered in Padmé's ear, on the verge of tears.
"Cordé?"
Tifay and Padmé pulled away to look at Osco wrapped in people's cloaks. His face broke into the biggest smile Padmé had ever seen on him.
"Cordé!"
He flung his arms around her and pulled her into a hug so strong Padmé almost couldn't breathe. "My little girl. I knew you'd come home. I knew it! My beautiful, brave little girl!"
It was too much for Padmé. She broke into heaving sobs as she clung to the confused man she risked her life to save. She wished it was true. She wished Cordé was alive and here in her father's arms where she belonged. She wished she was in her own father's arms, soothing and comforting as she sobbed her heart out for the people she loved and lost.
"There, there. It's alright. It's going to be alright. We'll just go inside, get some hot chocolate, and tell your mother where you've been," Osco soothed. "Right, Tifay?"
"Yes Dad," Today answered, sounding on the verge of tears herself.
It was hard, but Padmé forced herself to stop crying so they could pull themselves back to their feet. She looked at the people surrounding them. Most of them seemed relieved that Osco had been rescued, yet heartbroken when he called his rescuer by his deceased daughter's name. However, some of them looked at Padmé with suspicion. Padmé felt her heart quickening. She had hoped that her bedraggled appearance made her unrecognizable. She had to look the exact opposite of her styled and collected public image.
"Do I know you?" one of the onlookers asked.
"She looks like-"
"She's my cousin, Nadié Corderrie," Today interrupted them. "That's why she looks like my sister, Cordé."
Padmé made certain her surprise didn't show. She was grateful to Tifay for covering her, but would it work? Everyone was staring at her now, analyzing her features. She used the mask she had worn in the Senate, refusing to reveal how scared she was.
"But-" the man protested, but Tifay interrupted him again.
"Remember when your business was failing, my father loaned you the credits that helped save it."
That shut him up. Tifay looked at all the people gathered around them. "She is my cousin who saved my father, your friend and neighbor, got it?" Her tone broke any argument anyone would have brought up.
Everybody nodded and Padmé realized that they all knew who she was, and yet they wouldn't say anything to anyone, even the ones who had looked at her suspiciously. Her gratitude towards Tifay increased.
Tifay turned to Padmé and her father, and her expression softened.
"Let's find some dry clothes and get you both warmed up."
000{{*}}000
Padmé learned that when Tifay had been reeling them in, the grapple had broken off the blaster, unable to stand against the strong current which was why Padmé and Osco were submerged and nearly taken by the current. Tifay had quickly grabbed the grapple before it was lost, but would have been taken in by the current herself if her neighbors hadn't stepped in to hold her and help pull Padmé and Osco out of the water. It helped restore Padmé's faith that not all of the people of Naboo had been taken in by the Empire's lies.
Now, she was sitting in the Gredun home, formerly Naberrie residence. She had changed into some old clothes Tifay had provided her, and she was now sitting next to the heater, sipping hot chocolate while her clothing was being dried.
Osco, after a hot bath and some warm drinks, had been laid down to rest, much to Padmé's relief. She didn't think she could handle him mistaking her for his dead daughter again.
She looked around the parlor, remembering nights she and her sister would play games after completing their homework while their father studied blueprints for work, their mother sipped her tea, and her Grandma Winama worked on her lacemaking. She remembered her Grandma Winama, sweet, kind, and resilient with her hands always busy making lace. Her father once told Padmé that she used to make clothing for the upperclassmen when he was a boy until his father's death when she got tired of dealing with snobby, rich people and decided to make lace that everyone could buy. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer while Padmé had been Princess of Theed, and had died shortly after she had been elected Queen. Her death had devastated Padmé. She hadn't been able to see her grandma in her last moments, but she had taken a couple days off, leaving to attend the funeral with Sabé and having Eirtaé fill in her stead, much to Panaka's grief.
Padmé's thoughts then shifted to her grandfather Luke Naberrie. She remembered the stories her grandma use to tell her of him. How they met. How they fell in love. How they supported one another's dreams: his to serve in the palace as a representative of the people, and her's to open her own business, making things for people to wear. The way her grandma had portrayed her grandfather in the stories, it made Padmé wish that she could have met him. She knew her grandma had missed him, and prayed that when she died, her grandma had reunited with her love and found peace.
Tifay entered the parlor, interrupting Padmé's thoughts.
"Emergency services won't be able to come until the floods have receded in a few hours, but Mom thinks as long as we keep him warm and a close eye, we'll prevent him from catching pneumonia. It could have been a lot worse,"she said as she sat down in a chair next to Padmé.
"Thank you," she whispered, seeming on the verge of crying again.
"It was the least I could do. For Cordé. For your family," Padmé told her.
Tifay shook her head. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier: saying that you killed Cordé. I shouldn't have said that. Cordé always felt like she could never amount enough, especially when Panaka dismissed her from the handmaiden program. Personally, I think Mom and Dad were relieved, especially when they heard about the Yelnina girl being killed, Councilor Aeyinson being tortured during the Occupation, and the many assassination attempts made against you over the years. Cordé, though, never felt as confident about herself until Saché contacted her, asking if she wanted to serve you in the Senate. I had never seen her so happy as she was serving as your handmaiden. She admired and respected you, and considered you her friend."
Padmé moved to wipe the tears shedding from her eyes. "She was my friend too."
They were silent for a moment, remembering the woman they both loved and missed.
"You said you needed my help?" Tifay asked.
"Yes." Padmé explained to her what brought her back to Naboo, the search for her great-aunt's comb, and now the search for the diary that possibly had the clues as to who had caused the Celestine Bombing forty-seven years ago.
"I suspect my aunt possibly hid the diary somewhere in this building. I was hoping that I could search and look for it."
tifay was silent for a moment before she stood up. "I'll be back with my mother. I think you'll want to hear what she has to say."
She left the room, leaving Padmé surprised.
She tried to remember what she knew about Hara Gredun which wasn't much. Did she know something about the bombing?
Tifay returned with her mother in tow. Padmé saw that she was carrying a holo to her chest and was suddenly reminded of Liné.
"Tell her what you told me," Tifay said to her.
Padmé repeated the story and watched as Hara tightened her grip on the holo in her hands. She was a few years older than Padmé's parents, old enough to remember the bombing with much more clarity. Did she lose someone in the bombing?
"Mom, it's okay," Tifay soothed, resting a hand on her mother's shoulders.
Hara sighed then she turned the holo around and turned it on.
Padmé saw a man in a Refugee Relief uniform they used to have decades ago. In front of the man were two girls, one who looked to be the same age as Padmé's nieces while the other looked to be twelve years old, and in her arms was a toddler who stared at the camera.
"I was the youngest of three girls. My mother died when I was a baby, and my father was President of the Refugee Relief Movement. I was mostly raised by my eldest sister Tifaya who was the closest thing I had to a mother. She and my other sister Nadié both entered public service while I was in school. Tifaya served as Senator Joaquin Mar's aid and had tried to become senator herself when he died, but Maddox was chosen instead by the Royal Council at that time. She married Secretary Bowen and was very happy. My other sister was elected as Queen Celestine."
Padmé was surprised by this information, so unexpected it was. Cordé never told her.
Hara continued talking. "I was seven when Nadié was elected, and I had no interest in joining politics. I was old enough for my father to take me on his trips and I rarely saw my sisters. That is until Tifaya became pregnant. We were all excited, until her due date when she had severe cramp issues. The birthing was hard on her, but she managed to give birth to a baby girl we named Fayé. Then she kept bleeding no matter what the doctors did, and she didn't make it."
Hara had to stop for a moment to gather her emotions before continuing. "We were all devastated. At twelve years old I blamed Bowen for getting my sister pregnant, and poor little Fayé for causing her death. I was angry at everyone, so I attended school off planet on Coruscant. I didn't come back until I heard that Fayé had been poisoned and died. She was three years old."
Padmé her heart aching, imagining her little Luke or Leia in Fayé's place. "Why would someone poison her?"
"It had been an attack on Nadié. Fayé just happened to eat it before she did. When I came for the funeral, Nadié told me that they had caught the assassin, but were investigating who had sent her."
"Did they find out who did?" Padmé asked, already suspecting the answer.
Hara shook her head. "No, when the bombing happened, whatever information they had was lost and the case went cold."
Padmé was saddened by the news, but pressed on. "Did you ever meet my great-aunt, Padmé Lydonia?"
"Once," Hara admitted. "It was right after the funeral. People in the palace called her the 'Queen's Pet', but Nadié considered her a good and loyal friend, and she was kind to our family during that difficult time. She had asked me questions about Tifaya's death." Hara looked ashamed. "I might have snapped at her at the time, but I later realized that she had asked because of the rumors going around that Tifaya's death had not been natural. I learned after the bombing from Nadié's handmaiden Liné, that Lydonia had been spying for Nadié, trying to uncover how deep the corruption in the governement went and how to take those people down."
"You know Liné?" Padmé asked, surprised that the former handmaiden hadn't mentioned it.
Hara nodded. "Yes, after the bombing, friends and family would get together to honor those who died in it once a year for several years. It was difficult. Many of the victims didn't have much family. Nadié's handmaiden, Patté, had none at least sober enough to realize she was dead. Handmaiden Sagé wasn't close with her father's family and only had her mother to mourn her until she died of heart failure ten years after the bombing. Handmaiden Veta's mother had lost both of her daughters within a couple months of each other, and focused on raising her granddaughter, only coming every few years until her health prevented her. Captain Blantyre and Princess Blantyre's step-family only showed up for publicity as long as it was convenient, but they obviously didn't care for them. Governor Toun Tapalo's wife and children came every year until we couldn't do it anymore. The same for the families of Treasurer Mikael Excenil, Councilor Tie Bibble, Councilor Suya Tonsort, and Councilor Luke Naberrie. Actually, your Grandmother Winama Naberrie was the one who helped organize the memorials every year. Wonderful woman."
Padmé smiled sadly, agreeing.
"However, there were some like your Grandmother Ryoo Thule who didn't come because it was too painful for them. Most of the guards who died were single and only had parents and siblings to mourn them. We tried inviting the survivors to the memorials. One of them died right before the first memorial, Handmaiden Pooja's mother would bring her in a hover chair until she passed away, Lieutenant Gregor Panaka always came and he was good as long as he wasn't in his cups yet, and Liné always led the memorial. Out of all my sister's followers, Liné had been the most devoted to her, and her words about Nadié and all the men and women who had died because they had supported her dream of a free and better Naboo always led us to tears."
Hara had to stop again and wipe the tears from her eyes. "I wasn't a good sister to Nadié when she was still alive. I use to blame her for allowing men like Bon Tapalo and Ars Veruna rise to power and ruin Naboo from the inside out. Only now when I look at the Empire do I realize the trouble she had. Corruption is like a cancer. Even if you catch it, it can spread no matter how you treat it."
Her words were disheartening. Padmé used to hear the same words when she was in the Senate, and fought against corruption for the welfare of the people.
"We can't give up," she said.
Hara shook her head slowly. "No, we cannot. So many lives and dreams were destroyed that day. Nadié wanted to step down from politics, she wanted to teach law, and marry Blantyre, and have a family. Tifaya's death hurt my father, Fayé's crippled him, but it was Nadié's death who destroyed him. My brother-in-law resigned as secretary shortly before the bombing and cared for my father for the rest of his days. Many of the victims' families, including myself, lived in fear for decades, terrified that the people responsible would come after us. All the while, people like Tapalo, Veruna, and Maddox lived in luxury and power. Many of the families have died off without knowing who had taken our loved ones from us," Hara's voice grew more fierce and there was a fire in it.
She looked straight into Padmé's eyes. "My Cordé believed in you, and that's why I will help you on one condition."
Padmé nodded, feeling determined. "Name it."
"I understand the Empire will never allow such information from the diary to be published in public, but when this Empire is gone it will be. When you find the diary, and uncover its secrets, you will share them with the remaining family members of the all the bombing victims so they can finally have that closure before they die, and when the Empire is finally gone, the diary will be published for all of Naboo to know the truth behind the curruption and murders behind the Celestine Bombing and beyond," Hara told her.
Padmé nodded. Palpatine would ensure the diary was never made public, but when he was dead and couldn't stop them, the diary would be published, and the truth revealed. Until then, she could at least give the victims' families the answers they had sought for decades. "I will. I swear on Cordé, and the lives and graves of my family, I will do that."
Hara nodded, looking relieved and a bit hopeful. "Thank you. Now, come on. We'll help you search."
While the shop level down below had been remodeled from a clothing store to a jewelry shop and café, the home floors above had remained unchanged. There were four bedrooms and a nursery, a study, two front parlors, two freshers, and a large kitchen. The building itself was three levels with most of the bedrooms on the top floor.
Pamdé remembered Grandma Winama telling her how the building pre-dated to the Gungan Wars. her great-grandfather had bought it when he was newly married with hopes of turning it into a restaurant, but by the time her Grandfather Luke had married her Grandma Winama, the business had begun to fail, so Winama had changed it into her fashion shop with better success. There were so many memories in this building for Padmé. She remembered how heartbroken she was when her parents told her that they were moving along the outer edges of Theed in a house Padmé's father had built himself. However, since Grandma Winama had died, the shop had remained closed and was heavily damaged during the Occupation when the droids had forced the Naberries into the camps. Instead of repairing the damage, Ruwee Naberrie felt that it was time for a change in the Naberrie family and had moved them so they could have a new start.
Padmé recognized the paintings on the stone walls dictating stories from Naboo mythology. She remembered running her hands over the heroes' faces, imagining them fighting battles and monsters, and rescuing damsels in distress. There were carvings in the stone as well as symbols of Naboo's religion, houses, trees, flowers, and even some fish and animals. Padmé kept an eye at every sculpture or painted image of a flower she saw. "Behind the red flower," but she wasn't having any luck finding a secret passageway or hole.
Grandma Winama had told them there were hidden hideaways throughout the home, but she could only remember where a couple of them were and how to open them. Padmé and her sister Sola would spend hours searching for them when they were bored, and had even managed to find one in the kitchen pantry. During the invasion, Padmé's mother had tried to hide in it, but when she heard her husband and daughter in trouble, she had rushed out and was captured by the droids.
They felt, twisted, and knocked anywhere they believed a hidden pocket could be.
Eventually, Tifay's girls joined in the search. The idea of finding a hidden hiding place and finding treasure was so exciting to them their mother and grandmother didn't have the heart to refuse them. Little Cordyn had been named after her aunt and great-grandmother's maiden name, and was considered a tomboy by her mother. Fay was so beautiful and looked so much like her Aunt Cordé and her great-aunts in Hara's holo, Padmé sent a silent prayer to Shiraya that she would have a happier life than them.
They searched the main floor with Cordyn happily finding a hidden nook in the east front parlor behind one of the sofas. Nothing in there, so they moved up to the bedroom floor. They started with the nursery room. There were images of the Pixie Padmé and several other pixies helping the settlers' children painted on the walls.
Padmé loved this room when she came to live here as a child, even when Sola used to call it the baby's room. There was a hidden cupboard in the room, big enough for a little Padmé to sit in comfortably while she read her sister's books she wasn't supposed to have and nobody could disturb her. The cushions she used to lay on were still there as well as the romantic holo novel Sola used to read back then. Of course, Padmé made certain Tifay's girls didn't see it while she tucked it in her pocket with a silent promise to return it to her sister fifteen years later.
There was still no sign of the diary.
Padmé tried to think. The master bedroom was where her grandparents used to sleep back at that time until Padmé's own parents moved in and Grandma Winama gave it to them, so her great-aunt would have no reason to be in there. Besides, Padmé remembered the room being painted with an ocean at sunset and a ship sailing into it. No flowers.
There was a side bedroom her Grandma Winama had moved into, and if she remembered correctly, Grandmamma Ryoo had stayed in it back then. Padmé used to call it the deity room, because it was painted with the image of Shiraya. In the painting, Shiraya was officiating the marriage of a pixie prince and a nymph princess with all the forest creatures in attendance, even the human child Sola from the Pixie Padmé's story had been invited to bless the marriage because of her growing friendship with the pixies. Padmé remembered Sola loving the room because of that story. She decided to start looking in that room next.
Tifay lived in there now. It took a long time for the women to search the room. Because it was a forest wedding there were flowers painted everywhere. They knocked on stone, felt around the images, and twisted every carved flower, but nothing.
Padmé was getting frustrated then her head lit up. Of course! She felt like such an idiot. There was a smaller bedroom down the hall. Sola had stayed in it and called it her big girl's room, and when Grandma Winama first opened her shop, her assistant had stayed in that room until she got married. Padmé's Great-Aunt Lydonia had also stayed in that room!
Padmé hurried over to it and felt around. The room was painted of the immortal Veré and her mortal lover Set. Veré was painted looking down her tower window longingly to Set who held up a bouquet of exquisite wild flowers to her. Among those flowers was a vibrant red flower. Padmé ran her hand over it nervously when she felt it. It was barely covered by the sandpaint, but she could feel the dents around one of the flower petals.
A switch!
Padmé felt excitement welling within her. She pressed the button. There was a loud groan in the room before a whoosh was released and some dust swept the room and everybody coughed, waving the dust away. Padmé looked and saw a loose stone at the head of the bed with an old light to be used as a handle. She reached out and grasped the light and pulled. The stone slid sideways, revealing a large hole in the wall. Padmé looked in and found… fabric. Dusty and moth bitten fabric. Padmé took them out. They were probably once fine fabric materials, lovingly stitched by skilled hands, but years hidden in a dark hole in the wall had allowed them to become ruined. The material was also made heavier when compared to modern clothing. Padmé took the rest of the fabric out and shook them out in the hopes that they hid something. Nothing but dust. There was nothing else in the secret hole.
"Is that it?" Cordyn asked, her tone echoing everyone's disappointment.
"Could Pooja have been wrong?" Tifay asked, more gently.
Was Pooja wrong? Had she made it up when she told Lieutenant Panaka? Padmé shook her head. "No. no it has to be here somewhere. Where else could she have hidden it? What about the guest room?"
Hara shook her head sadly. "After we bought the building, we had to renovate that room because the walls had begun to crumble. We didn't find anything."
Padmé slumped on the bed, her hope beginning to shatter. "No. No. No, it has to be in this house. Anywhere else it would have been found a long time ago. Maybe we need to double check everything, make sure we didn't miss anything. We should-"
"Padmé!" Tifay startled her.
She knelt down in front of Padmé and gently took her arms. "Is it possible that the diary had been lost in the fires? That maybe your great-aunt had it with her when she died?"
It… It was possible. But if it was then what was the point of all this? Had her grandmamma been murdered over a melted old comb? Was this all just a messed up game to lure her and Anakin into a trap? Padmé wasn't Force-sensitive, but she strongly felt that the diary still existed, but where did her great-aunt hide it?
A loud bang caused them all to jump.
"Open up! Open up in the name of the Emperor!"
Padmé felt herself grow cold as did Hara and Tifay. Fay began to cry. In a flash, Tifay grabbed all the old fabric and pushed them back into the wall. "Quickly, you must hide!"
She helped Padmé climb into the hole in the wall before sealing it. It was a tight fit, but by pulling her knees up to her chest, Padmé was able to fit in the secret hole, but with limited space she felt claustrophobic. She could hear Hara and Tifay running downstairs, and felt so alone. She could feel her heart beating faster, sweat pouring down her neck, and she tried to take slow breaths. She remembered the stories she read about the Gungan Wars. In order to survive a Gungan invasion, citizens hid in secret hideaways they instilled in case of such an event. Padmé wondered if anybody who hid in this hole felt like she did now: scared of being caught, having trouble breathing, and terrified of being stuck in here.
She heard footsteps stomping upstairs, and knew that it wasn't Tifay, Hara, or either of the little girls.
"Search up here!" She recognized the voice of one of the clones. She held her breath as she heard them searching through the bedrooms.
"Make sure to search under the beds. My daughters swear there's a furry monster hiding under one of them," she heard Tifay tell them, sarcasm heavy in her voice.
"We're just doing our job, Madame Gredun," one of the clones, the leader of the team said, obviously annoyed by her. "We got a call saying that you were seen with the fugitive Padmé Amidala. That's a serious allegation."
"A call from who?" Tifay demanded. "Captain, I am a businesswoman and a widow with two small children and two elderly parents to take care of. I don't have the time nor desire to get into trouble by hanging around with any fugitives. I have enough on my mind today with my store beginning to flood, my girls staying home from school, and my alzheimic father deciding to take a walk around the flooded neighborhood. If one of my crazy neighbors decides to denounce me based on little evidence there will be real trouble."
Padmé listened as Tifay and the clone argued while also listening to the other clones search the rooms. She felt her heart in her throat as she heard the tapping on the stone walls, checking to see if they were hollowed or not. She'd read and heard about the clones' equipment being able to scan for lifeforms and prayed that the wall was thick enough to hide.
It felt like forever before they finally stopped and moved out, Tifay's voice fading in the distance. Padmé prayed that was it. Prayed that they were satisfied and that they wouldn't take Tifay or any of her family in. After another eternity, but was really ten minutes, she heard Tifay's footsteps rushing back to her, heard the loud groan of the switch being pushed, and felt the swoosh of cold, fresh air of the door being released. When Tifay slid the hidden door open, Padmé tumbled out, gasping for air, relieved to be out of the dark cramped hole, and even more relieved that the clones didn't find her or arrest Tifay and her family.
"That was too close," Tifay said. "One of my neighbors must have decided to denounce me when they saw you with me. You have to leave as soon as possible."
Padmé nodded, catching her breath. "I will. Thank you for the help you've given me. For everything. But what will you do with the person who denounced you?"
Tifay grinned, darkly. "Oh don't worry. Those of us who haven't fallen for the Empire's lies, know exactly what to do with denouncers."
Padmé decided to leave it at that. She had already risked Tifay and Cordé's family enough by coming here, and being seen with Tifay.
She hadn't amnaged to find her great-aunt's diary here as she'd hoped, but she had to keep looking. Hopefully, Anakin and Sabé had more luck finding the traitor than she had in her search.
000{{*}}000
65 BBY
A somber air covered the entire castle. The death of Fayé Bowen, Queen Celestine's three-year-old niece had sent the entire planet into mourning. Many sympathized with the Queen and her family while others blamed her for putting the little girl in harm's way in the first place. The latter infuriated Padmé. It wasn't like Celestine took her on a mountain cliff or a swamp land, it was supposed to be a simple family luncheon in a place they should have been safe.
The funeral had been yesterday, and a very public affair. Dignitaries had come from all over the Chommell Sector to pay their respects as well as family members who had been offworld.
That's how Padmé met the third Cesare sister, Hara, a young lady a little younger than Padmé herself who had been studying abroad these past few years. The impression Padmé had gotten was that of a very angry woman. She had been close to her sister Tifaya and her death had been very painful for her, she never got to look at her niece in the three years she had lived. Despite never meeting her niece, Padmé could see that Hara was deeply aggrieved at the loss of her sister's child.
The rest of the Cesare family had been struck even harder. During the funeral, President Cesare had to have two of his assistants help him walk beside his granddaughter's coffin, and was now abed, sick with grief. Celestine had publicly held herself together with envious strength, but Padmé knew from Pooja that Nadié cried often in the privacy of her chambers.
It was Bowen who worried Padmé the most. He had gone through Fayé's funeral as if he was in a daze, like he was still in shock. Padmé had been forced to take up his secretary duties because he hadn't come back to the palace since that horrible day. She made sure to check up on him everyday, once in the morning before she went to work, and once when she left and was on her way home.. She would make him food to eat, but he would stare out into space, not even acknowledging her.
It broke Padmé's heart. It also filled her with rage.
Investigators had been working to find out who had sent Tullu to kill the Queen, and how she had managed to get into the Palace. The Head Chef had been questioned, saying that Tullu had been recommended by one of her cooks who had grown up in Lake Paongo with her, saying that Tullu had fallen on hard times and needed a place to work. That cook had been arrested and was being questioned. As to how Tullu came to serve the Queen's luncheon that day, the servants said that the person in charge couldn't be found and Tullu had offered a hand to help them since they were running behind schedule. They later found that missing person dead and hidden in a cleaning closet. As for Tullu, she had been found dead in her cell the morning of Fayé's funeral. They were never able to find who had ordered the hit out of her.
While the investigators searched for the person who ordered the hit and most likely Tullu's death, Padmé's new responsibilities lead her to investigating the food stores in the palace kitchens. The head chef had been complaining about food shortages, and according to the list of orders in Bowen's file, something wasn't adding up. According to Bowen's list, there should have been more than enough supplies. Before her mother passed away and her father's mind was still intact, they taught Padmé how to keep track of everything they sold and bought on the farm back in Claines. Those skills had come in handy when Padmé helped Ryoo and Winama at the shop. They had to keep track of every needle and thread they purchased and the credits they earned in the items they sold. If Padmé's suspicions were true, then someone in the palace was pilfering the kitchen's food supplies.
Padmé didn't believe it was the head chef. She was an excellent cook, but a hard taskmaster, and she considered the kitchens her home. However, Padmé couldn't be certain until she went down and went through the storage rooms herself. That's why she reported her suspicions to Celestine when she was available to see her. She had loaned Padmé her handmaiden Patté to help her in the investigation.
Patté was the youngest of Celestine's handmaidens, having joined her services at the age of twelve years old and was now twenty. She was nice if a little rough around the edges due to growing up on the streets compared to her colleagues' upbringings. She once told Padmé she had been found by Blantyre, then a sergeant when she had been caught trying to pickpocket him when he tackled her as she was trying to run off. Impressed by her quick hand and street smarts, Blantyre put her in the handmaiden training program where she scored with impressive results, and was able to become one of Celestine's handmaidens in her first election. In her years of service she had also developed a great deal of knowledge of the palace kitchens which was why she was sent to help Padmé in her investigation.
She met Patté in the royal dining hall. The handmaiden wore black robes with hints of lavender mixed in the fabric in honor of the Queen's niece. Almost everyone in the palace wore black, including the servants and guards who wore black armbands over their uniform in memory of Fayé Bowen. Padmé herself had dug up her black and lavender dresses in mourning for her mother, and now wore them in Fayé's memory, and respect for Celestine's grief.
"Are you ready?" Patté asked Padmé.
She nodded. "Let's go."
Patté nodded at the guard standing by the fireplace and he hit the switch next to him. The floor under and around the dining table shifted down. It was a recent redesign to help the kitchen staff carry and serve food to the Queen and Royal Council faster and easier. Ingenious in Padmé's opinion. It also provided a quicker way into the kitchens.
It came down where they stored, cut, and cooked the meat. Next to the meat section was a pot large enough to feed all of Theed over a roaring fire with meat already stewing for tonight's supper. Padmé could also see giant slabs of meat twice her size hanging in the side coolers.
The Head Chef was waiting for them, a scowl on her face as Padmé and Patté approached her and her two assistants.
"Head Chef," Padmé greeted.
"Miss Lydonia, Handmaiden. If you'll follow me please."
She was obviously upset between the investigations on the Tullu case, and Padmé's investigations into the kitchen's food supplies. It couldn't be helped though.
Padmé and Patté followed her into the main kitchen where cooks were cutting, cooking, and mixing foods together, and servants were washing and peeling vegetables, and setting plates down. The Head Chef cleared her throat and everybody looked up at her, then put down their work and hurried over to line up before the Head Chef, Padmé, and Patté.
"I know you all have been a little tense and stressed lately," the Head Chef said to them. "With Madame To's death, Fayé Bowen's death, and the attack on the Queen. Miss Lydonia and Queen Celestine's handmaiden are here to ensure that nothing is amiss. Answer any questions they ask and show them anything they wish to see. The sooner we get through this without any struggle, the sooner we can get back to normal."
Many of them nodded.
Padmé observed their expressions. Many of them were nervous while several others managed to keep their expressions blank.
She spoke next. "I understand you all have been thoroughly questioned about Ceramé Tullu. We will be investigating anything that was missed in the original investigation. In the meantime, please return to your tasks. When we have questions we will ask you, but if any of you have information on any suspicious activities, we ask that you come forward to us."
Nobody came forward, not that Padmé was surprised. Eventually, everyone returned to their work.
Padmé turned to the Head Chef. "I want access to all your menus and supply records, as well as any keys and access codes to your pantries and storage lockers."
The Head Chef sighed, but gave Padmé everything she requested. When they were finally alone, Padmé turned to Patté. "Any thoughts?"
"Somebody knows something. Whether they're hiding because they're scared or are a part of it is another question. You look through the records and storages. I'll stay close and keep an eye on everyone else," Patté suggested.
Padmé agreed and got to work. She looked through the menus, calculating the amount of ingredients used in the dishes and matching them up to the records. So far they matched, but Padmé wanted to look into the pantries and see what ingredients were left. So she headed towards them with Patté shadowing her. As they looked through them, Patté told Padmé her observations and assessments so far.
"We should definitely be on our guard. There are many different kinds of people who come to work in the palace, especially the servants. Some come to work here to learn and improve their work experience outside. Others come here to escape their past. Runaways from a strict or broken home or even an arranged marriage. Whatever the reason, they all have their secrets," Patté told her.
Padmé observed her.
Out of all the handmaidens, Patté was the one Padmé knew the least about in concerns of personal history. She knew Patté had grown up on the streets, but almost nothing about her own family background. Not even Pooja had told her about it. Did Patté accept Blantyre's offer to become a handmaiden to escape her own past?
They searched the pantry where the fruits and vegetables were kept.
"There's definitely less vegetables here than there should be," Padmé commented, noticing a bunch of crates were empty than there should have been.
"Or they could have gone bad and been thrown away," Patté suggested.
"Possibly," Padmé conceded. She made a mental note to ask the Head Chef.
They continued on, moving to the wine cellar. There were very expensive wines stored here from Naboo to the different planets in the Chommell Sector, dating back all the way to the Gungan Wars. Padmé paid close attention to the bottles' labels, marking the ones on the list, and checking the missing ones off the menu. Everything was organized by year which was very helpful. The cellar itself was very big, expanding at half of the kitchen's level up above. There were other servants coming down and bringing fresh wine to be either served to drink or used in the cooking. Padmé felt like she was down here for hours searching through so many bottles that she swore to never enter a wine cellar again if she could help it. Maybe she should have asked Celestine for a droid to help her and Patté's search go quicker and easier, but oh well. Their search did come up with fruitful results, however. Between Padmé and Patté, they discovered dozens of bottles, maybe up to fifty were unaccounted for.
"These are very expensive bottles. This one here dates back nearly eighty years during the reign of Queen Votorina. It's worth at least thirty thousand credits," Padmé listed off, for once grateful for all the boring wine stories her father used to tell her during harvest season back when she was still a child.
"What about this one?" Patté asked, pointing to another missing wine bottle on the list.
"That's the most valuable one on the list," Padmé explained. "It was made in the last year right before the Gungan Wars right before Queen Gradana died. The harvest had been so plentiful and so sweet they were all nearly drunk up before the war started. It's worth nearly two hundred thousand credits."
Patté's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "For a bottle of wine?"
She then looked at the list with different eyes.
"If my calculations are correct, we're missing over a million credits worth of rare wine," Padmé summed. "And we haven't even gone through the other pantries. Like the ones with expensive spices and herbs."
Patté's eyes widened in alarm. "That's highway robbery. Someone could be selling these things on the blacked market."
Padmé nodded. "I'd like to complete a full inventory of everything missing in the palace kitchens before I present the case to the Queen."
She didn't see it coming, but Patté did.
She screamed. "Watch out!"
The next thing Padmé knew was being shoved on the ground by Padmé, arm covering over her head as a ton of wine bottles on a shelf fell on top of her. She felt a piercing pain, as if somebody had slammed a sledge hammer on her right hand before she blacked out.
000{{*}}000
The first thing Padmé registered was the smell of bacta and kolto. The next thing was the dull ache in her head, the numbness in her right hand, and the soreness throughout her whole body. She had to be in a hospital. Padmé slowly opened her eyes, thankfully realizing that the normal bright lights in the hospital had been dimmed.
She looked down at her body, or tried to due to the neck brace she was wearing. She had been changed into a whote hospital gown. There were bandages up her left arm, but her right hand was thickly bandaged. The doctors must have numbed her hand so she wouldn't feel the pain. Sje remembered it feeling like it had been crushed before she blacked out.
Patté!
She had shielded her when the shelf of wine had fallen on top of them. Padmé turned her head, trying to figure out where she could find her when she realized that she wasn't alone.
Ryoo was asleep in a chair next to Padmé's hospital bed, and was beginning to wake up. She blinked blurrily, but when she saw Padmé looking at her, she became fully awake.
"Oh thank Shiraya!"
She took Padmé's left hand and kissed it. The action was too similar to that day she had woken up, surviving the Plague.
"Ryoo, where's Patté?" Padmé asked urgently before her mind fell into those painful memories.
"I'm over here, Padmé," came a voice from her right.
A curtain was pushed aside, revealing a very bruised, but alive Patté. The entire right side of her face was swollen with black, blue, and purple bruising, there were cuts and scratches along her exposed skin, and her right arm was in a sling.
Patté smiled painfully. "'Bout time you woke up."
About time?
"How long was I out? What happened?"
Ryoo answered Padmé's questions. "Yesterday, you and Patté were in the royal cellar when a shelf of wine accidentally fell on top of you. The doctors said that your right hand had been crushed, and that you got a concussion, but if Patté hadn't protected you, you would have fallen into a coma."
Padmé looked at Patté alarmed, who waved off her concerns. "I'll be fine. Just some bruising, bruising, swelling, and a broken arm. I've got a thicker skull than yours. A couple more baths in bacta and I'll be good as new."
Padmé slumped in her bed, a little relieved by Patté's carefree attitude. She turned to Ryoo. "You didn't comm and tell Mammy, did you?"
"Of course not. She's still shaken from that attack at the Lake Country. I chose not to tell her when the doctors said that you were out of danger."
Padmé was relieved even though she felt guilty. Mammy cared and treated Padmé and Ryoo like her own flesh and blood, but she was getting older, and caring for their confused father already put enough stress on her.
Padmé looked at her sister and realized something. "Have you been here since yesterday?"
Ryoo nodded tiredly. "Yes. They called me while Winama and I were dealing with a customer, and Luke managed to leave the palace early to pick the children up from a friend's house."
The accident must have happened early afternoon yesterday and it was early morning today. Padmé felt so guilty at the stress and worry she must have caused on her older sister.
"Ryoo, go home and get some rest. I'll be fine, and I have Patté here to keep me entertained."
Ryoo looked reluctant, but she was obviously tired. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," Padmé reassured her. "If I need anything I'll contact you at the shop."
"Alright, but I'll be back around lunch," Ryoo agreed. She sighed and stood up, her black mourning clothes giving her the appearance of a wraith. "I don't know what you're doing for the Queen, Padmé, but I wish you'd be more careful. I hate seeing you get hurt like this."
Padmé's guilt increased tenfold, at all the lies and secrets she was forced to keep from Ryoo.
Once Ryoo left, Patté turned to Padmé. "It was no accident. That shelf was too heavy for someone to just bump into it. It was pushed down on purpose."
"Did they catch the person who did it?" Padmé asked.
"They did, despite his claims of it being an accident."
Padmé frowned thoughtfully. "There's definitely more to this. We must be on the right track. Were any of the records I was holding damaged in the fall?"
"Amazingly, no." Patté carefully got up and leaned on her IV pole as she went over to the pile of folded and cleaned clothing, and the bag Padmé had gotten into the habit of carrying her diary in. Patté carried the bag over to Padmé where she found the datapads carrying the menus and list of supplies accounted for and missing.
"Your body managed to protect the records from impact, and your clothes managed to protect them from the spilled wine."
Padmé wrinkled her nose. "I will never drink wine again."
"You and me both," Patté agreed.
Celestine and the other handmaidens planned to visit them as soon as they got out of the last meeting for the day, so Padmé and Patté got to work. Based on the few places they had managed to visit in the royal kitchens alone, they had enough evidence to mount a full investigation. Despite the attempt on her life, Padmé wanted to go back into those kitchens herself. The doctors however, wanted to keep her in the hospital a little longer. They planned on doing another surgery on her hand, and submerged her for several bacta treatments before even thinking of releasing her. But this was Padmé's investigation, her responsibility.
Patté told her about all the people who had come to visit her: Ryoo, Jobal, the Naberries, and of course all their friends from the palace.
"You're lucky to have so many people who care about you," Patté told her.
Padmé noticed the sadness in her eyes and wondered if Patté had anyone to visit her.
Patté read the question in her eyes. "I don't have any family. At least none who are alive or care to keep track of me. My parents used to run a restaurant until my father's business partner took the money and ran off. We were forced to sell everything to pay the taxpayers. We ended up becoming homeless. My father lost himself in whatever bottle he could get his hands on, and began begging for scraps. My mother sold her body to buy glitterism and whatever substance that would take her mind off reality. My brother and I only had each other to rely on. He died two years ago in a hit and run. Authorities never caught the being responsible."
Padmé's eyes teared up and her heart went out to Patté. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. I promised my brother that when my service to Celestine ended, I would rebuild our family restaurant, and I would never let anyone push me down again," Patté told her. "If it hadn't been for Blantyre taking a chance on me, I would never have the opportunities I have now compared to what I had then, and I would never have the friends I have now."
Padmé squeezed Patté's good hand with her own. They continued their work.
Eventually Patté mentioned Sheev. "I think he would have punched his way through the doctors, despite the family only policy." She then warned Padmé to be careful with Sheev. "He reminds me of some of the criminals I've seen growing up on the street. The ones that can be volatile, but knows they're in control. Those are the most dangerous."
Padmé protested. Sure, Sheev had a temper, but he would never hurt Padmé. However, she couldn't shake off Patté's warning.
000{{*}}000
I'm not going to comment on this for very long because as I was finishing up, I got sick last night. I'm hoping my doctors arranged for me to see a specialist soon so we can figure out what's going on in my stomach.
Anyway, I hope you all have been enjoying this story and liked the suspense and anxiety in this. Where did Great-Aunt hide her diary? What did you guys think of the Greduns? And Great-Aunt Lydonia becoming more and more involved in her investigations and getting into greater danger?
Feel free to comment and let me know what you guys think.