Did Palpatine enjoy watching horror HoloShows? Of course. Did he ever want to live one? Certainly not. Was he living one right now? Yes.
He dropped and rolled out of the way of the impending demonic thing on his ceiling. Palpatine stood up, swiping the lightsaber wildly.
Whatever it was, was gone. The room was splashed with the light of his lightsaber, nothing could hide in the darkness. "Do you flee so soon?" he whispered. Palpatine circled the center of the room, watching every shadow at all angles. Waiting for it to jump out at him.
"I do not flee. You shall. You shall flee in fear. In the fear you shall share the same fate as your family." It hissed. Palpatine swiveled towards his bedroom door.
"You will not touch them." He spat. "The stars above as my witness. You will not."
It let out a guttural laugh. "Such strong words sprouting from a place of indifference." It went on, a bite in its voice. "You are not like them. You are an outsider. Why should you care whether they live or die?"
Palpatine ignored its words and plowed ahead, slamming open his bedroom door. "Hold your forked tongue, demon."
It laughed again. "You know I speak the truth."
Palpatine didn't answer that. Surely, he felt some sort of love for his family. He should. Of course, he did. Yet he did feel…distant. That's the only word he could use to describe it. Was he supposed to feel distant from his family members?
"Where are you?!" he demanded.
A scream was his reply. A voice, a very familiar voice which made his blood run cold.
"Mairda?" He paused as only silence responded.
"MAIRDA!" he cried as he tore through the hall.
Mairda. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I won't let this happen. I'll get you for this, you good for nothing…
Just as Palpatine ran past Predune's door, the bedroom door creaked open. Predune poked his head out of the door and frowned, "What in Naboo's name are you doing, Sheevy?" Predune watched as his brother rounded the bend and kept running.
Hearth peered down the hall from over his husband's shoulder, "What's he doing?"
Predune shrugged, "Sleep-running I call it. I thought he grew out of it. Apparently not."
Hearth creased his brow as Predune shut the bedroom door behind them. "Should we check on him?" Hearth paused, "Are you sure he's sleepwalking…I mean sleep running as you say?
"Its fine, my love." Predune waved a dismissive hand as he lay down on the bed. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Let's rest."
Hearth crawled into bed, curling up and looping his arms around Predune. "Okay, if you say so." He sighed contentedly, "I love you."
Predune whispered, "I know." He planted a kiss on his husband's hand and held it close to his chest as they dozed off to sleep.
Palpatine crept down the hall nearing his sister's bedroom door, step by step. His breath was heavy, the hilt of the lightsaber slippery in his hands. All was still. All was silent. All was too still and silent.
"Mairda?" He turned the doorknob slowly then slammed it open.
"AAAAAH!" Palpatine jumped as he heard another scream. The room was dark then all of a sudden it was full of light.
Jim withdrew his hand from the lamp while Mairda stared at Palpatine. They were both snuggled under the sheets, looking very much annoyed at their rude awakening.
"Sheev? What are you doing?" Mairda demanded.
Palpatine furrowed his brows. "You screamed. What happened?"
Mairda scoffed. "It was just a shadow." She dismissed it, "Its nothing. Go back to bed, Sheev."
"A shadow you say." Palpatine's gaze skimmed the room. Then he saw it. Something, someone in the corner, watching, waiting. His grasp on his lightsaber was firm yet he still held it behind his back, hidden from view.
"Mairda…" Palpatine said. "I want you to exit the room…slowly." He added on as a second thought. "You too, Jim."
Mairda laughed, "What now, Sheev?" she peered at the place Palpatine was staring intently at.
Jim's eyes widen in fear as he saw it too, "Mairda, do as he says." He tore off the sheets and edged out of bed, standing by Palpatine's side.
A long and guttural laugh rang out. "Children. Children, do not fret." It spoke. Palpatine almost ignited his lightsaber but wavered as the shadow stepped into the light.
"STAY BACK!" Palpatine shouted, stepping in front of his sister and soon to be brother-in-law.
Mairda stared at the figure as it emerged into the light, "Grandmother?" she said, "Wha—what are you doing in my room?"
Their grandmother scoffed as though it was obvious, "I was simply ensuring that my granddaughter would not engage in any sort of funny business before her marriage." Their grandmother arched an eyebrow at her, "I did not see anything of note."
"GRANDMOTHER!" Mairda uttered in horror, her face screwed up with rage. She leapt from the sheets and pointed to her door, "Out. Get out now." She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists. "EVERYONE OUT NOW!"
Palpatine didn't sleep at all that week. Even with his guard outside his door, it did not cease his restless sleep. He spent the night occasionally glancing up to his ceiling. Palpatine noticed that as the week's nights went on his nighttime antics became more radical.
Palpatine spent the first night reading the entirety of the Lord of the Pings. Which almost bored him to tears despite all the praise given to it. And they walked, and they walked, and they walked! At least he had something to talk about with others.
Second night, rearranging his room. Palpatine hoped his parents couldn't hear the scraping of his furniture.
Third night, read the first book in a tetralogy. Its name was one scorned for years: the Dusk Saga. His sister had recommended it a few weeks ago. She probably expected he wouldn't read it because he wouldn't be that utterly bored, but he was. Palpatine peered at the words, "Sparkle? They sparkle? Vimpares sparkle?!" He slammed the book shut and threw it across the room.
Fourth night, he opened a HoloDoc on his HoloComputer and wrote half of the title of a novel he started writing before giving up: "the Tragedy of…" Palpatine moved on to stare at the ceiling until dawn rose.
Fifth night, he spent his time on his balcony, sipping tea and watching a HoloShow on his computer. It was named Space Wars. It was honestly a drag, unnecessarily complicated yet simple. Apparently, its recent sequels had been received badly. He thought the fans were whiny. He'd heard enough times that no one hated Space Wars more than Space Wars fans.
Palpatine sighed deeply as he looked out to the Naboo night. The three moons traced the outlines of slumbering homes. The wind ran its fingers through the canopy of vines. Its whisper brushed past his ear. He had forgotten how much he longed for the scent of the Naboo ocean. That night he fell into an uneasy sleep in his chair with the hum of Space Wars in the background.
The Dicei Spaceport XXI was what Palpatine could only describe as a breeding ground for tomfoolery. First, it was too crowded for his liking, and second, although he liked darkness, it was far too dim. As the Palpatine family descended down the ramp of their family ship: the S. S. Palpatine, they stared in awe. The crowd was a mass of blurred shapes, brushing and rushing past without a care, droid or alien, Palpatine couldn't tell. Perhaps it was designed to be that way.
Mairda took the lead in the Palpatine family, she seemed to know her way around this place better than anyone. Even though Palpatine had memorized a map of the place, he knew the likelihood of getting lost in the bowels of this extensive hub was probable.
Mairda dropped a few credits into one of the six hands of the masked alien who would be taking care of their ship. "Thanks, Ku." She turned to her family and gave them a half smile, "Get comfy. We're going to be here for a while…"
Jim cut into the conversation, "Should I unload our race-ship, Mairda?"
"No. Let's unload it at the last second. We don't want someone stealing it ahead of time." Mairda told her fiancée. Jim nodded. Mairda turned to the ship's caretaker, Ku. She asked in a hushed voice, "Do you know if Veicre's here?"
Ku responded in an alien language that Palpatine recognized was from the Outer Rim. He was able to put together what the alien was saying. It seemed like Ku hadn't seen that nuisance loitering about. Palpatine had heard enough about Veicre to know that her name was trouble.
Palpatine's mother sighed deeply as her eyes set upon a food stand nearby, "That journey was quite tiresome. We should revitalize ourselves, shouldn't we, Aronder?"
Aronder nodded and smiled down at his wife, "Yes, of course." He took his wife's hand in his own and looked to Mairda. "Do you think the food here is safe?"
Mairda glanced at the food stand nearby with a dubious gaze before nodding slowly. She withdrew something from her pocket and tossed it to her mother who caught it single handedly. "Scan your food before you eat it…just in case." Her parents nodded before ushering along Hearth, Predune, and Bratte. Deivé, her husband and Lady Palpatine had stayed on the ship.
After Mairda haggled over prices with Ku they finally reached an agreement. Ku grumbled as he hobbled away jingling his satchel of credits.
Palpatine turned to his sister, "So, Veicre? I heard something about her being wanted in thirteen systems?"
Mairda corrected him, "Fourteen systems," she paused as they began striding through the crowd. "Yes, indeed she is. I also heard something else…she's settled down with a family…somewhat. She's got a kid which is wild."
Palpatine furrowed his brows, "Veicre Ohnaka? A kid? That's hard to imagine." He agreed with her.
Mairda scoffed. "I know." She inhaled deeply, "But you know what. Let's not talk about her. She's out of my life. Today is my happy day."
"Mairda Palpatine, long time no see!" a haughty voice called from behind them.
Mairda's eyes went wide, and she slowly spun around. Palpatine saw a band of Weequays behind them with phony grins. Front and center was an imposing Weequay with an eccentric hat drawn over her eyes. Her hand was on her belt, a blaster hung casually from it. A Weequay child with a wicked smile stood beside her.
"Veicre Ohnaka…" Mairda seethed. She utter the name as though it was the foulest swear word in the galaxy.
"Yours truly," Veicre swept off her hat and bowed deeply. She tilted her head and smirked, "Did you miss me, my friend?"