Chapter 9

A/N: Haha, the bitch is back In action after going MIA (again). I deeply apologize for ditching you all. I just finished writing a couple of chapters (which I decided to do before publishing this chapter) so it would help me have a couple of chapters in the pipeline, but also not get stuck again. (So plenty of new chapters coming soon! OMAGA YAY!!!) Do not worry my patient friends.

As you all might have noticed, I have been very active and inspired here on AO3 lately (but in the Avatar fandom, because I, just like everyone else at the moment have gone and gotten obsessed with Avatar due to the release of the new movie.

Because of that my writers block literally dropped dead, and I'm so inspired that I'm essentially writing on one thing or another daily. Alas, this story being updated (YAY!)

Timeline wise, about 2 weeks have passed since the last chapter… And we have finally reached the point where most of the world building is done, and the story is actually picking up speed for real!

Anyway, I'm not going to blabber more right now.

Enjoy this Chapter!

Content warning: Drug dealing…

The ballroom was filled with noise and movement; people talking and laughing at the plenty of dining tables spread out across the room, situated to the side of the dance floor were people were dancing together joyfully.

The Theed law firm were her dad had only so recently started working at, was holding its annual work conference gala function which had finished just short of an hour earlier. It was always a fun opportunity for the employees (some filthy rich) too show of their families, dress up in beautiful gowns and smokings, and dance upon the smooth marble floor until long past midnight. The building hired by the firm each year was a fancy one; with the said marble floors, and similar columns and staircases. Built in the 1920's, before the great depression had hit the country like a mercilessly sharp bullet, it today stood grand and beautiful, although heavily renovated due to the the despair it had fallen into as the former owners money had bled out (along with everyone else in the 30's).

Theed Law like many other grand companies in the state of California, be it other lawyer firms, or other money maker businesses, had a great fondness of the place. One of its leading clients had been the one to build the place. They had built it, almost lost it completely, and had impossibly in the end managed to rise up from the ashes and start over again (a feat not many had succeeded in doing).

Therefore, impressed with the perseverance of driven people, Theed Law hired the place annually for all its functions as a favor of continued friendship, and collaboration.

At the moment the dancing floor was filled with people swishing about the room, and waiters were running around the room (practically flying) as they carried around trays, and trays and trays of different edibles, and handing numerous flutes of champagne to the attendees in reach (being exaggeratingly mindful of not accidentally giving any minors anything they weren't supposed to have…).

Padmé and Sola, like many others had also found themselves on the dance floor, and they were delightedly laughing together, relieved to be able to stretch out their legs and backs after restlessly sitting through hours of speeches talking about numbers,figures, and procents which really didn't say much to them.

Their parents were somewhere in the middle of the thick crowd that consisted of middle aged people, (clad in gowns, grey suits, and ties), who stood off to the side of the dance floor, people who didn't fancy dancing as much as the younger ones. (Many jokes about prematurely aged knees included).

Padmé, dressed in a shimmery, midnight blue, A-line dress, with off shoulder sleeves, and Sola, dressed in a flowy, maroon colored slip dress, took turns in spinning each other around. Both were currently very happy to be sisters, because that meant they did not (for most part) need to be harassed by either stuttering, or arrogant, teenage boys their age who probably were just as thrilled as them to be at the gala function (which wasn't especially excited at all). At times they might be biting each other's heads of, but often they came to the conclusion that sister benefits could be endless at times.

"So how did your new date with Lover boy the other day go baby sis?" Sola asked her with a devilish grin on her face.

"Shut up!" Padmé bit back offensively. "It wasn't a date Sola." Shrugging her shoulders, she continued, "We just went to a drive in cinema!"

Two weeks had passed since her and Anakin's milkshake ("non") date, and since then they had spent as much time as possible together. The event in question that Sola had brought up was a thing that had taken place a couple day's earlier. They had driven to a drive in cinema, and that day they had played Forrest Gump, and they had had a great time together.

"Right," her sister said, nodding skeptically, voice filled with ill concealed amusement.

"Try convincing mom with that line as well, will you," she continued, which caused Padmé to groan at her. An annoyed frown marred her pretty face.

"You're insufferable," Padmé said. "And tell me about it. She literally used the same line on me the other day, Sola. And I'm. Not. Bending. For either of you!"

"Whatever you say sissy." Sola paused, considered the timing, considered it some more, and then decided to shoot anyway. There would come a time when the two of them wouldn't constantly be by each other's side, so Sola was for sure as hell going to make use of the time she had left (to tease her baby sister mercilessly).

"Have fun lying to yourself while you're at it!" She continued with a innocent but cheeky smile.

Rolling her eyes, Padmé huffed before saying: "Whatever. I'm going to go grab us some punch. Have fun dancing a-lo-one," dragging out syllables towards the end, throwing the words over her shoulder as she started walking away towards the drink and buffet table.

•••

Sola watched her sister walk away and laughed once more.

These lawyer functions were probably one of the worst things Sola knew. Stiff people. Stiff jokes… At least the food was good.

She didn't want to seem like a entitled brat, because she knew that there were many people who had it much, much worse than her. She had a lovable and unproblematic family, decent grades, a (very) nice house… The list goes on…

She really shouldn't have been complaining, but Sola was extremely bored out of her god damn mind.

She envied Padmé who could at least tolerate these things, and actually get along with people (even if they weren't really her cup of tea). That girl just had the peoples touch. Could turn anything bad to positive with her silver tongue; be it conversations or situations. Despite her "perfections", Padmé did have one flaw, and that was that she often didn't know,or at least didn't respect her own boundaries. She practically didn't have the words no and impossible in her vocabulary, and she was always putting others needs before her own. That might have worked so far for her sister, but Sola knew that sooner or later, it was bound to backfire epically. Selflessness was a good, and a beautiful trait to have, but everything had a limit.

Suddenly something, or rather someone (since they were on a dance floor filled with people) walked into her from behind. She turned around and was about to start complaining loudly about the other person's apparent lack of manners, but stopped in her tracks and quickly closed her mouth as she met the gaze of a brunette man, perhaps around her age, who was already apologizing vehemently.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't watch were I was going at all." He rambled on quickly, mouth going at the speed of light. "I would blame it on me having two left feet, but that's kinda lame, I guess…"

"Oh. Oh, no no. It's alright," Sola replied, a small smile washing over her face at the adorable stuttering of the man.

"I was committing the horrendously offensive crime of standing still on a dance floor," she said with a wink, voice thick with mild sarcasm.

"I'm just as much at fault as you Mr…?"

He stood silent for a moment, just looking at her before he snapped himself back to the current situation.

"Uhh, Darred," he answered as he extended his right hand politely towards her (which she amusedly took hold of). "Darred Janren," he finished, now with a much more self assured smile thrown at her.

"I'm Sola. Sola Naberrie," she answered, and smiled back at him.

Not afraid to take initiative, Sola then extending her hand and asked "You want to dance a bit?"

•••

As Padmé started pouring punch into the two cups, she suddenly got a strange physical feeling which caused the hairs on her neck to raise slightly. It wasn't exactly déjà vu, but something like that. It felt like she was being watched (which obviously wasn't a impossibility, since she was in a room full of people after all).

She looked over her right shoulder, but saw nothing of interest and turned back to the bowl which was filled with the reddish liquid she had come over to the table for.

Deciding that it probably was just her mind playing games with her, Padmé pushed the irrational thoughts away. She was just getting tired, she tried to tell herself (not exactly succeeding in her attempt at doing so, since the eerie feeling stayed were it had initially begun in her head).

However, a few moments later a few taps on her left shoulder, and a low, clearly male voice saying "Hi," which violently snapped her out of her thoughts, and made her jump back slightly in surprise. She didn't yelp, but such a verbal reaction wasn't far off at hand.

"Hi," he said again, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, did I scare you? I saw you jump slightly when I tapped your shoulder."

"Ehh, no it's fine," Padmé answered, plastering on a polite smile over her face while she shook her head.

"You just surprised me. That's all," she said with a kind smile.

"Good. Good," he said, growing silent for a moment as he contemplated his words, which left Padmé in a great, curious suspense. The man looked like he really had something important to say, but Padmé could not even guess or imagine what it was he wanted. Or who the heck he was, for that matter.

The man in front of her was tall, but not extremely so. She guess he was around 185 centimeters tall. He was slim, but bordering on the bigger and stockier side. His eyes were green, skin a sallow olive tone, and the hair straight and black. He wasn't unattractive, per say, but perhaps not the typical sort of attractive either. She was sure plenty would find him appealing, but Padmé had to say that he wasn't really her type, and her mind quickly and unconsciously moved towards two sooth-smeared blue eyes, and small dark curls who fell down over the side of a smooth forehead.

After a few moments he said, "I saw you dancing with the other girl earlier, and I just… You really captivated me, and I decided that if I just happened to run into you, I would tell you this. And what I wanted to say was: I think you are really beautiful. You probably hear that all the time, but I just wanted you to know."

Padmé was extremely flabbergasted now. It was very sweet of him, obviously, but the whole situation; him, a complete stranger, walking up to her without presenting himself first, then telling her that he had been watching her, and that he thought she was beautiful… While his words had been well intended and very flattering, Padmé just couldn't help but be slightly unnerved, and very uncomfortable. He looked like he could be around her age, but one could never quite know; for all she knew, he could be plenty of years older than her. Looks could be deceiving at times, after all.

She turned towards him, facing away from the table where she had stayed for a few additional minutes, trying to calm her nerve and adrenaline filled body down some first. She was facing him fully now, head craned up towards his (as usual because of her short height) eyes moving up and down for a moment, before she looked over his shoulder, sneaking a peak at her sister to see if she was were she had left her. She was in fact where Padmé had left her, but to her great surprise, Sola was dancing (and happily) with another boy. Crap, there went her immediate escape route, she thought quietly to herself. It's diplomacy then.

"Oh, umm. Thank you. That's kind of you to say… And that girl I was dancing with was my sister," Padmé answered.

She bit her bottom lip and paused cautiously for a moment. Eventually she broke the awkward silence between them by asking, "Excuse me for asking… I don't want to be impolite… but who are you?"

"Oh! That was bad of me! I do apologize, fair lady," he said, which just icked her even more at the over worked attempt at flattery.

"My name is Rush Clovis," he said as he extended his hand.

"I'm Padmé Naberrie," she answered politely as she gave his hand a few short shakes before she threw her hand back down to her side.

"Hello, Padmé," he said smoothly, her name practically flowing of his tongue.

"Our dad's work together," he suddenly said, almost out of nowhere. "My dad, adopted dad, for that matter, is Sheev Palpatine," Rush added, smirking slightly.

"Ah, you're a Palpatine!" Padmé replied. "So that's why you are here," she said with an attempted wink, trying to not seem as on edge as she actually was.

The Palpatine family, and Sheev himself especially, was notorious in law and business circles, and also one of the original founders for Theed Law, so Padmé felt some puzzle pieces fall into place as Rush gradually emitted more information. Her dad and Sheev had been in much contact (he was the branch overseer after all) since it had become official that the Naberrie's were leaving New York for California, so by now Padmé knew one thing or another about the elderly man. She did however, not know that he had an adopted son. Sheev Palpatine didn't really emit family man vibes, so that realization took her a bit by surprise.

"I honestly did not know Sheev had children," she then stated honestly.

Rush laughed and replied, "Oh, not many do. I've heard that one plenty of times before."

Pursing her lips and nodding her head, Padmé said, "Well, it was nice meeting you Rush. I'll guess I will see you around," before she quickly walked away from the table and the man, two cups of punch in hand, not stopping, or looking back. She didn't want to be mean or impolite, but she had grown way to uncomfortable for continuing the conversation with Rush.

Quickly and straight forward, she walked towards her sister and her new companion, and let out a loud sigh. Oy vey. Some people…

•••

The gravel crunched underneath the car as it drove into the wood clearing. It was slowing down, and eventually the engine stopped sounding altogether as the engine was killed, and the headlights were turned of.

While the place itself seemed calm and innocent enough to the unknowing and untrained eye, with tall mighty trees, lush shrubs and plenty of flowers in different colors covering the ground, what happened at the place after darkness has fallen is neither good or wholesome. It is a beautiful place, but it is tainted by it's bad reputation.

Anakin stays inside the car for a few moments, closes his eyes, leans his head back against the seat, and takes a few deep breaths. His fingers unconsciously clench and unclench the still steering wheel.

This isn't the part of addiction that is fun; the buying.

If anything it's anxiety causing, and disgusting, but quitting ain't so easy when you have started in the first place. He's only got himself to blame for it though. Anakin isn't one to do things halfheartedly, so if it means that he has to go out the hard way, with a bang or whatever, then he would do it. Life was shitty and worthless anyway, and no one would care if he was gone. Right?

He rationally knew that those statements were untrue, deep down inside somewhere. Knew that his family loved, and cared so much about him. He just chose not to acknowledge the facts, because if he did, then how could he justify this? All the shit that he did that his friends and family didn't know about… It would break their hearts, so he decided that the lest they knew, the less he would hurt them. But that was also the depressive, intrusive thoughts talking; telling him he that he was beyond hope, and worthless, and that they (his family) deserved better. So, so much better than him; the forever fuck up.

Anakin indeed didn't want to hurt his family, but he also knew that he was way to far gone to even successfully turn around and make amends. That he was doomed and bound to fail anyway. Alas, his buying and usage of drugs, bad and worthless attempts at numbing the aching wounds of his soul.

For a split second, the thought of Padmé finding out about his bad habits crossed his mind, and as he felt the tremors of shame starting to spread over his senses, he quickly blocked the thoughts away. Far, far away. Not now, he thought rigidly.

Opening his eyes again, he then opened the door and jumped out of the car. He looked down at the wristband clock on his left hand; 10:58. Perfect. Just before the clock was about to strike 11 (the said and designated time).

He walked towards the tree line, and passed through the small hole in the large shrubbery patch, and came into a small grove where Quinlan stood, waiting for him with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

The place was painted in darkness, the only light visible being the moonlight that feebly shines through the forest roof made up by thick tree branches.

Quinlan Vos, his dealer, who actually wasn't a complete asshole, had grown up in addiction thick circles. Both his parents were dealers, but had surprisingly never been caught. Anakin figured that they were really good at their business, because never getting caught, even once was damn impressive.

His dad had (unsurprisingly) overdosed a couple years ago, but toughened and born into that dark world as he was, Quinlan had still gone into the unholy field, as had his two older siblings, following in his parents footsteps. It was very tragic of course, but try to convince yourself that what you're doing is bad when you have never lived or done anything else in life.

"There you are, man," he said to Anakin as they fist bumped, then chest hugged like teenage boys usually do.

"Right. I sure am," Anakin stated, voice very unenthusiastic.

"I see someone's not in the mood for small talk tonight," Quinlan says with a grin.

Anakin rolls his eyes and huffs.

"Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too. I've run out of stuff, and I'm having shit abstinence at the moment man. Seriously, what do you have on you today?"

Anakin really didn't have the patience for this today. He wanted the stuff, go home, and get high. Quickly.

"Easy tiger," the other man said as he opened his jacket and held the sides open to the side.

"You want the regular?" He asked.

"Marijuana? Xanax…? Some more weed?"

"You know me too well douch," Anakin said with a grim wink.

Reaching into his back pocket, he plucked out his wallet and quickly started thumbing through the money, money he had rightfully earned from his part time job at a mechanic shop. He plucked out a few bills and handed them over towards his friend who hesitantly took them.

"You know… I always ask you this, but… are you sure?" Quinlan asked him, voice now a lot more somber.

Anakin sighed and gave the other man a long look.

"Don't. And yes I'm sure. You know I've gone to far to turn back now."

"Sure, but… I just care about you, okay? Your one of my best friends, and I don't want to loose you. I know we both have shit lives, but I just want you to be careful. Don't overdo it Anakin."

"I… I know Quinlan. I will," Anakin replied, just as somberly.

While one could argue that selling drugs to your friends wasn't a especially great way to be a good pal, Quinlan Vos really did have a good heart. Yes, everything about the whole situation was just wrong, but one could not help the family, or circumstances that they were born into.

The apprehension and sadness in his face made it clear how much Quinlan really cared about Anakin's well-being. The drug dealer hadn't

just lost his dad because of the vile business of the drug-underworld; he had lost both friends and other relatives as well. People who hadn't understood their limits. People who never knew when when to stop.

"Just promise me," he said again, almost pleading, and his voice sounding very tired as well.

"I promise," Anakin replied. "Promise."

Quinlan handed over the small carts and bags to Anakin, and soon the two friends parted ways, the both of them going home to their own respective places, neither really in especially good moods, and heads filled with bitter memories and thoughts.

A/N: Sola and Darren!!! Yay!!! If Padmé gets a Californian man, then so does big sis!!!

And ughhh… Yes, Rush Clovis… Barf. Don't worry, he ain't gonna get any love or affection from me. He's a creep, and a asshole. He will be the villain he is in this story, so do not worry. (And unlike in the movies/shows Padmé ain't going to be unconsciously playing with his feelings so much, since she ain't movie Padmé here…) #rushclovishateclub

And for the ones who don't get centimeter measurements, 185 cm tall is about 6'0 feet.

The last part of the chapter was just a big reference to that one scene is Life as a house where Sam goes to a wood clearing to buy more drugs, but without the highly unnerving pimping(?) that he does, because that just makes me so sad, and so uncomfortable.

Quinlan selling Anakin drugs isn't good, but he at least cares for Anakin's well being (even though drugs are bad…!)

Until next time…!