Chapter 28

Rebellions in Conflict

Mon Mothma was not used to traveling this way. She was inside the cargo hold of a freighter, or rather in a hidden compartment in the cargo hold of a freighter, with nothing to sit on but a chair that literally folded out and which rattled on the floor if she wasn't sitting on it, and slid across the floor when she was. Eventually she had given up and folded the chair up to stow it in one of the bins to avoid the sound of metal tapping on or sliding on metal. It didn't make much difference anyway, as there was no room to do anything but lean against one of the walls or lay down on the floor.

The trip from the base on Dantooine to Atollon had taken most of a week. Imperial Interdictor ships patrolled the most commonly used hyperspace paths, pulling ships out of hyperspace for inspection. That required the rebels to either risk getting searched or using old, or more frighteningly new, hyperspace paths to get around the patrols. Many of the paths they used had not quite linked up, which is why people hadn't used them before. The first five days of the trip had been spent on a much more pleasant ship, which had a room with a bed. This last day, given that the plan did not call for her to sleep on the ship, had involved this old freighter. What it lacked in sleeping quarters it made up for in secret compartments. And speed apparently. Or so the captain of the vessel said. Mothma had thought him quite young to be so trusted, but Luthen had sworn by him. She wondered whether his expressions of trust were genuine or just something he thought she needed to hear to get her to take part in a mission he thought vital. The Rebellions had to be brought together, or back together Mon supposed, and Luthen thought that as much as anyone.

"She is the only one who can do it. She is the only one he will listen to, and you are the one who can convince her," Luthen had said to her just over a week before.

"She was closer with Bail Organa. Send him," Mon had replied.

"He is being watched too closely. There have been slip ups lately. This is what I'm talking about. We need a unified approach so that we don't keep running into these problems," Luthen said.

"Whereas I am a nobody," Mothma said.

"Of course not. But as far as Imperial Intelligence is concerned you are just an annoying politician. We've covered our tracks well. If you disappear for a while on some mercy mission, they aren't going to think twice about it," Luthen had reassured her.

"You are certain about what Imperial intelligence thinks of me?" she asked skeptically.

"Reasonably certain," Luthen answered.

"And how much of this is due to the fact that Skywalker doesn't take your calls anymore?" Mothma said, realizing now she had given away too much.

"That's an exaggeration," Luthen said.

"He doesn't like that you still work with us," Mothma declared.

"He doesn't like anything, but I worked with him long enough to know what will bring him to the table. At this point, she is the only thing. And we can't carry on this way. I don't care what Thrawn thinks, they are stirring up too much trouble for them to survive it. And the rest of us will fall with them," Luthen said. "It's this or we give up on the whole thing."

Mothma had given in, as she always seemed to do with Luthen Rael. "This smuggler of yours, the one on the last leg of the journey, why do we need him?"

"The Empire has increased its presence in the sector. Atollon is still secure, but we can't even keep a base on Lothal at this point. The man I have taking you most of the way doesn't want to do the last leg. But the smuggler is good, reliable. His ship is perfect for this kind of thing."

"A recent recruit?" Mothma asked. "I don't remember hearing that name before."

"Well, about that…," Luthen said, looking somewhat sheepish.

"You're paying him?" Mothma said.

"How else would I get him to work for us?" Luthen answered.

"How do you know he won't take the Empire's money, which will certainly be greater, and sell us all out?" Mothma said.

"He has no love for the Empire, him or his copilot. We need men like him. Not everyone can be a true believer. The Empire can sniff out the true believers. They have practice identifying such men, hunting them. This man? He roams around the Outer Rim just trying to make some money. There are millions like him across the galaxy," Luthen said.

"What makes this one special then?" Mothma asked.

"Well he's got a fast ship," Luthen said.

And there she was, locked away behind a false wall in that ship, regretting trusting Luthen to make these arrangements. To distract herself from her discomfort she tried to think about what she was going to say once they landed. She had not seen Padme in years. She had heard she was alive from Bail, but it had been years after the fall of the Republic before he had felt safe sharing that bit of news with her.

Bail had been playing a very careful game, and for the first few years of his involvement in the Jedi wing of the Rebellion he did not disclose his role to anyone else in the Senate. Mon Mothma had actually made contact with Luthen on her own and only through him found out that Organa had been involved since the beginning. This had been simultaneously a shock but also not surprising. In the more than a decade since the fall of the Republic the Senator from Alderaan had retreated more and more into the background of the Senate. His prominent role in the Delegation of 2000 had led many to assume he would be the center of anti-Imperial action in the Senate. But he had stayed quiet, and had eventually stopped even voting against Palpatine's measures, becoming one of the silent rubber-stamping Senators and being rewarded for it. The Imperial coffers had opened up for economic and security development on Alderaan. But Mothma had noticed that the projects kept hitting snags, running short on supplies and manpower, and busting deadlines. When she found out that skimming off these huge Imperial accounts had been one of the primary ways the Jedi fleet had been funded over the years she had been impressed. She had moved her own money around to fund Luthen's initiatives, but Bail had stolen money from the Emperor to fund the Rebellion.

Mon's thoughts about the past were interrupted when the wall of her little cell pulled away, and the light from the cargo hold streamed in, framing the young pilot of the Millennium Falcon. He had a mop of unruly hair, a brown leather jacket and a gun at his hip. The light behind his head prevented her from getting a good look at his face, but she was sure there was a smirk on his lips as he said, "Senator, you enjoy the trip?"

"I am sure I will enjoy its end," Mothma said smoothly as she stepped out of the compartment. "I take it we were not stopped?"

"They've got a Star Destroyer or two hanging around Lothal, but their patrols don't go out this far, and we gave Lothal a wide berth. There were no problems, just like I promised," Solo said. Mon thought his preening self-assuredness only needed a touch of irony to be endearing, and that without it he was simply obnoxious.

"Are we on Atollon?" Mothma asked.

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I know the contract says to stay with you, but I thought there wouldn't be any harm in Chewie and I having a look around the sector while you had your meeting, see what there is to see," Han said with what he clearly thought was a roguish smile.

"Rest assured Captain Solo I will be reporting every aspect of this mission back to the man who contracted you for this job. You just have to decide what it is you want him to be told," Mon said.

"Well there's no need to bring him into this right? I just figured, you being a big important Senator and all that, he was just the middleman, and I was talking to the big boss of your outfit," Han said.

"He has my complete confidence when it comes to arranging our affairs," Mon said, smiling coldly.

"Why wouldn't he?" Han said under his breath as he turned around to head back to the cockpit. "We'll be down in just a few minutes."

"Thank you, Captain Solo," Mon said while betraying none of her amusement.

The Millenium Falcon had no windows for her to look out of, other than in the cockpit where she felt she was unlikely to be welcome, so Mon Mothma sat down at the bench curving around the dejarik table. There were some bumps and shimmies on the way through the atmosphere but it did not take long before she felt the ship touch down. She met Solo and his Wookie copilot as she made her way to the ramp. There was an awkward moment where each tried to let the other go first. Eventually Mon Mothma descended the ramp with the two smugglers following behind. In the distance she could see a slim and graceful silhouette of her old friend. It had been almost 15 years since they had last seen each other. 15 years without her slightly younger friend's advice, 15 years without her courage to inspire Mon and countless others. As she walked towards Padme, Mon could see two children run up behind her. Mon had been told about them, but it seemed to her they were both small for their age. But then again Padme herself was a rather small woman, at least in her physical stature if not in her character or impact on the galactic stage.

They reached each other and embraced. "It has been far, far too long my old friend," Mon said.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Padme responded without letting her go.

"Well stuck on this rock, I would bet you would be happy to see anyone," Solo said without seeming to realize how he was stepping on their moment. Or perhaps, Mon thought to herself, it was simply that he did not care.

"If that were all it was I would be just as happy to see you, Captain…?" Padme replied as she and Mon let go of each other..

"Han Solo," he said. "This is Chewbacca." The Wookie hooted his acknowledgement.

"Are you good with children, Captain Solo?" Padme asked.

"Uh, children? I, uh, well I don't…I haven't had much experience with children since I was one, is the thing," Han said. "And even then, I wasn't a fan."

"Well I am sure you will find mine perfectly engaging, and they will no doubt want to hear all about your adventures while I catch up with my friend here," Padme said.

"I thought I might stick to my…," Han began to say before being cut off.

"You and your friend will find refreshments in the house. Thank you Captain Solo. I will feel so much better with two strong and able protectors watching over my children," Padme said. Then she turned her back on Han, took Mon Mothma's arm and walked away without giving him a chance to answer.

"Yeah sure," Han said and then, in an attempt to regain some sense of independence, shouted after the two Senators, "I would love to." This gesture elicited laughter from Chewbacca, which in turn drew a scowl from Han. He turned back to the two children who were staring at him. He guessed they were about 12.

"Come on," the boy said. "We can show you around."

"Around what?" Han asked dismissively while looking out over the bleak landscape of Atollon.

"Around the house of course," the girl answered.

The twins ran ahead of him and Han eventually had to yell at them to slow down, a command that also drew Chewbacca's laughter. Han followed the children and as he did so he thought of all the other jobs he could be doing at that moment. But he came back around to the same thought which had led him to accept the job in the first place. The work from the Rebels was fairly regular and usually pretty easy. It was mostly courier work which would end up taking him to worlds where more lucrative work could be found, and usually involved getting in touch with just the kind of people who could throw him that work. Plus there were planets in the Outer Rim where you risked your life if you were even suspected of being Imperial, and the more of those he visited while doing work for the Rebels, the better it was for him. So when the old man he called Jocrant brought him this boring job, he took it. Of course he knew the white haired man's name was not Jocrant, and that it would probably be hazardous to his health if he learned Jocrant's real name, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was the regular income he represented. So Han resolved to grin and bear the babysitting duty. It's not like there was anything more diverting on this world.

He reached the house and found the twins in the kitchen. As he entered, they put two bowls down on the table. Chewbacca pushed roughly past him to get at them. When Han sat down he pushed at the thick soup with the spoon he found already in the bowl.

"Our mother made that soup, it would be rude not to eat it," the girl said.

"Would it?" Han asked sarcastically. "What is your name?"

"Leia Amidala…," she said. Han noted the strange way she said her name, as though she was about to say something more but stopped herself. When he turned to look at her brother Leia said, "He's Luke."

"Just Luke?" Han asked.

"Obviously he is also an Amidala," Leia said, annoyed.

"I can tell him my own name," Luke said.

"How old are you?" Han asked Luke, intentionally not directing his question at Leia, in the hopes being ignored would bring her attitude in line a bit.

"We're almost 14," Leia said while Han ate a spoonful of his soup.

"14 standard years," Luke said. "In Atollon years we are 19."

"Everyone uses standard years," Leia said with frustration.

"Why are you acting like you know more than me? We have met the exact same people and been to all the same places," Luke said.

"You tell her kid," Han said, barely paying attention to their disagreement. "Anything to drink?"

"It says so in the books which you don't read," Leia said, ignoring Han's question. "Everyone uses the years on Coruscant, no matter what their planetary orbit is."

"Not everybody. Places that were never in the Republic sometimes don't use standard years," Han corrected her. "Now about that drink. Doesn't need to be anything fancy, it's just that your mom's soup is a little salty."

"I can read!" Luke snapped at Leia.

"I didn't say you can't read. I said you don't read. Probably because you are too busy climbing rocks or coral trees, or going into the caves you aren't supposed to go in," Leia said.

"Never had much use for books myself either," Hand said. "But about that drink, it can be anything really. Water works." Chewie grunted his agreement.

"Uggh," Leia groaned and then held out her hand. A carafe flew off a nearby counter and into her hand. She dropped it on the table while Luke pulled some cups from a cupboard and Han stared at the two of them, dumbfounded. "Is that why you ended up as a smuggler, because you didn't have much use for books?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

"So, much as I would love to simply have a visit from an old friend, I know the layers of security you had to go through just to get to me. Why don't you tell me what this visit is for?" Padme said. They had walked together for a while, sharing details about their lives as mothers. Mon had tried to broach the subject of their respective marriages, and was relieved when Padme redirected the conversation to the matter at hand.

"I didn't even know where you were for the longest time. I knew you were alive, but this planet is kept quite secret. They only told me so that I could bring this offer," Mon Mothma said.

"They," Padme said coldly. "They get to decide who comes to Atollon, who goes, what information comes in and out. And who are they?"

"Associates of some mutual friends of ours. Some of whom wish an end to your exile here," Mon said.

"It isn't an exile. I chose this," Padme said. She thought for a moment and then asked, "For what purpose?"

"The resistance to Palpatine has been growing. There are cells everywhere, but we don't have the level of coordination we would like. We have been able to put together a network of cells committed to restoring the Republic, but it is not complete, and there is a stumbling block."

"Who is 'we'?" Padme asked.

"There are many people, but Bail and I have been working closely on the project for the last couple of years. We each had our own and then we made contact with one another," Mon said.

"You each had your own network of rebel cells and didn't tell the other?" Padme asked, somewhat amused.

"He has to be very careful, because he is the one working closely with the Jedi. Most of Palpatine's efforts were, until recently, focused on capturing them, so Bail was hesitant about expanding his reach too quickly. He kept everything fairly self-contained until a few years ago," Mon said, a touch wrong-footed by her friend's question.

"And now your network has intersected with his. That sounds good. What do you need more for? I don't actually have any experience with this kind of thing," Padme said.

"You were active in the Clone Wars as I recall," Mon said.

"As a representative of the Republic. It wasn't very cloak and dagger. It didn't need to be. I am a diplomat, not a spy," Padme said.

"A diplomat is precisely what we need," Mon said. "We have spies, we have soldiers, what we don't have is leadership that all will accept."

"And I am supposed to provide that leadership?" Padme asked skeptically.

"Yes," Mon said.

"And these spies and soldiers, who have been fighting and spying for over ten years without hearing one word from me, they will accept me as their leader because…what? Because I was a Senator once when most of the young people you and Bail have been able to recruit were children?" Padme said.

Mon Mothma did not answer right away. She seemed to Padme to be searching for the right words, so Padme found them for her. "Why don't we just discuss what this is really about? Anakin."

"What was that?" Han yelled after taking a moment to reassure himself that he had actually seen the carafe fly across the room.

"Have you never seen anyone do that?" Luke asked, clearly puzzled.

"I don't even know what that was!" Han yelled.

"Wuuhn errrn werrr," Chewie said.

"Oh you've seen it?" Han said, turning to give his friend an angry glare.

"Haven't you seen the Jedi do things like that?" Leia asked.

"I've never even seen a Jedi!" Han yelled as he failed to calm himself down.

"Aren't you with the Rebellion?" Luke asked.

"The Rebellion?" Han asked, dumbfounded at this latest change of topic.

"He isn't," Leia said, suddenly worried.

"Look, I do jobs for those that pay. Someone paid me to bring a stuffy lady in a fancy dress to this middle of nowhere scrub world. That's it! That's all!" Han shouted as he stood up.

"Why aren't you part of the Rebellion?" Luke asked.

"Why would I be?" Han said, the pitch of his voice increasing with his exasperation.

"Are you with the Empire?" Leia asked.

"What do I look like? Some moron backberther from the Core? No. I am with me, just me," Han said. Chewie moaned a grumble and Han followed with, "And Chewie."

"So you are a mercenary?" Luke asked, confused about how to categorize Han.

"No, he's a coward," Leia said angrily.

"Excuse me little girl, that's a real tough word coming from someone hiding in the ass end of the galaxy on a world with literally no one else on it," Han said.

"If you aren't a coward then why don't you fight?" Luke asked indignantly.

"Fight what? Something that can't be beaten? The Empire has thousands of worlds. The Rebellion has zero worlds, zero that can admit it anyway, except this one I guess, and some ships that it has to beg, borrow and steal to keep supplied. Staying out of that isn't cowardly, it's just smart," Han said.

"The Empire is going to lose!" Leia insisted.

"Oh really? Well they better hurry up and get to that losing because they've been doing nothing but winning for a while," Han said while standing up from his chair.

"That's not true!" Luke shouted.

"Oh really?" Han asked.

"Yes! The Rebellion has won lots of victories," Leia said.

"Yeah, they win a battle here and there, and for every battle they win, every planet they peel off from the Empire, the Imperials add five more elsewhere in the galaxy. But please tell me more about the state of the galaxy I travel while you sit here on this nameless rock playing with dirt," Han said, waving his hand dismissively at the pair of them.

"Our father tells us all about it, and he knows more than you," Luke said. "He is fighting the Empire while you fly around doing whatever it is you do."

"Oh your father is some big deal I guess? Some big hero?" Han said. "Or is he really some engine room tech on some semi-functional thousand year old ship that they found in a trash pile because it wasn't spaceworthy enough to haul the trash pile?"

"His name is Anakin Skywalker! He's a Jedi and the leader of the Rebellion, and he is going to win. He is going to defeat the Empire and when he does we will leave this place and go back to Coruscant with him," Luke said passionately and hurriedly.

When Luke said Anakin's name two things happened. Leia's eyes went wide and she gave her brother a frantic, disbelieving look. The other thing is that Han's mouth fell open as he tried and failed to think of something to say. Chewbacca let out a long low moan that turned into an angry yell at Han accompanied by several stout blows to the table.

"An…Anakin Skywalker? The General? The Rebel General?" Han said while fidgeting with a button on his jacket.

"That's right!" Luke said proudly as Leia grabbed at his harm to pull him around to look at her.

"The Butcher of Boz Pity? That Anakin Skywalker?" Han said as he sat back down.

"The Hero of Boz Pity," Luke said, his triumphant tone quickly replaced with one of uncertainty.

"You say Jawa I say thief," Han muttered nervously, still fidgeting with his jacket. Then, suddenly, he stood up and said, "Ok, I have to go. I'm gonna go. Please tell your mom that I had a great time. I really appreciated all the hospitality and the…soup, but I really have to get going."

Luke and Leia were looking at each other and not Han as he said this, but they were not, Solo noticed, actually speaking to each other. Nonetheless their hand motions and their facial expressions looked like they were in the middle of a charged conversation. Han would have normally found this disturbing, but after finding out whose house he was in, the bizarre behavior of these preteens was the least of his worries.

Chewbacca, who had followed Han out of the house, called out to him. Han looked over his shoulder and said, "I know we're in trouble. Let's just get off this rock and see if we can find another galaxy to smuggle in."

Chewie barked out an objection and Han said, "I think they can get someone to pick up the Senator. Besides, I don't want to talk to that antique dealer ever again."

"Wait!" Han heard the call from behind him and turned around to see the twins emerging from the house. They looked at him with worry in their eyes. Then they turned to each other and exchanged another wordless communication. Finally Leia turned back to him and said, somberly, "You can't leave."

"Alright," Mon said sheepishly. "It's about Anakin."

"He's causing problems?" Padme asked. Her tone left no doubt in Mon's mind that the answer was not going to be a surprise.

"We can't even get him to talk to us," Mon said.

"Sounds about right," Padme said.

"Have you discussed this with him?" Mon asked.

Padme stopped walking and looked out at the horizon of the strange world that had become her home. Tall coral trees dotted the landscape that otherwise was nothing but rocky outcroppings. The afternoon sun was warm on her skin. No doubt to Mon it felt oppressively hot. Padme remembered how hard it had been to adjust in the early years, but she had done it. She had adjusted to this quiet life. It had been easier in the beginning, when Anakin was there more than not, when his excursions were brief and infrequent. This one had lasted more than a year, with no end in sight, not with the way they had left things.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Padme had yelled.

"Victory, that is what I am trying to accomplish! I am sorry it doesn't fit with your principles, but your principles aren't made to topple dictatorships!" Anakin yelled back. They were outside, far from the house where the twins were sleeping. It had been a long, tense and awkward day. Anakin had arrived late the night before not expecting Padme to be so well informed about the recent moves of his forces.

"Victory for who? People are starving on the Outer Rim and you are making it worse!" Padme shouted.

"I am weakening the Empire. Disrupting the trade routes they depend on to supply their industrial base in the Core is vital to that. I wish there wasn't food going the other way. I wish we had the manpower to inspect ships to see if they were carrying food or fuel, but we don't. So we either let them build their ships and their space stations and let them rampage all over the galaxy, or we stop them," Anakin said. "Obi-Wan and his kids show can go deliver relief to the planets that are losing food."

"There is no way for them to bring enough! You know that!" Padme replied.

"There are costs to war, Padme! We are losing people, yes. Just like we lost people throughout the Clone Wars, because we had to," Anakin said.

"You act like the Clone Wars are some great moment in history to emulate, and not the thing that destroyed the Republic. And can I remind you that these are civilians dying?" Padme said.

"I guess it's easier to accept the carnage when you only have to imagine the one dead face," Anakin said.

In response Padme slapped him. For a few seconds neither of them said anything, as they absorbed what had just happened. He had been devoted to her for so long that she had been unprepared for the cruelty of what he had said.

"You aren't going to stand there and pretend I was the one who was fine with the clones being butchered. I was the one who tried to stop the war. I was the one who argued against adopting the clone army. You are the one who thought of them as disposable," Padme said.

"Yes," Anakin said as he rubbed his face. When he spoke again his voice was cold and distant. "They were disposable. That is what you failed to understand. And what you fail to understand now. The clones were disposable. The civilians on the Outer Rim worlds are disposable. That is how Palpatine looks at them. They are pieces to be used, to be sacrificed for advantage. And that is how we must look at them, or we will lose. And I am done losing so I can maintain some invented moral high ground."

"So everyone is disposable? Well what about us? Me? Our children?" Padme asked.

"Of course not," Anakin said with disgusted impatience.

"And why not? What makes us so special and all those people dying right now not?" Padme asked.

"Because you're mine," Anakin said.

The conversation had not lasted long after that. Anakin had stuck around for another couple of days to spend time with the children, but they could tell something was wrong. The pause between one of their parents speaking and the other responding. The careful way they chose their words. The focus each of their parents had on the children, to the exclusion of their partner. They had known that something was amiss, and hadn't even needed the power they shared with their father to detect it.

Anakin had left and not returned. He kept finding reasons to stay away. Who knew how much longer he would keep it up? She had spent much of the past year wondering whether he stayed away because he no longer wished to see her, or whether he was worried that more time together would bring such alienation.

"The Rebellion cannot continue as it is, split in two. Together we are strong enough to achieve real victories. With the right planning we could, with the resources at the disposal of a unified movement, begin to take real steps towards pushing the Empire back. Politically, Palpatine is weak. He has not been seen in public for years. His attention is pulled away from governing and it is starting to show. Corruption has found its way into even the military. But we aren't taking advantage of those weaknesses," Mon Mothma said.

"Because Anakin has the ships and the soldiers you need, but he doesn't know how to use them," Padme said. "Because he thinks the solution to every problem is fighting your opponent and beating him. Because he doesn't understand that he needs to build support and solidarity amongst the rebels. Not just the rebels who have already declared for us, but those who are rebels in their hearts already, but have not yet taken the plunge."

"I see you understand the situation," Mon said.

"Surprised?" Padme asked.

"I suppose a little. It must be hard to keep abreast of galactic news here," Mon said, looking around at the desolate planet.

"You think I can bring Anakin to the table, so that he will put his fleet at your disposal?" Padme said.

"I don't know. I know that we can't do it. Every connection we had to him has been systematically severed. The last connection we have left has to keep his involvement with our side of the Rebellion secret," Mon said.

"Luthen is not a secret," Padme said. "Anakin knows he still talks to you. He knows that Luthen keeps you informed about Anakin's activities."

Padme could tell that this revelation scared Mothma and took Mon's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry, Luthen is not in any danger. Anakin sees the benefit in having someone moving between both sides. But I agree we need more communication, more coordination. I am just not sure having me in the room will do the trick."

"Who else can convince him if not you? We can't even get him to have a meeting, Padme," Mon Mothma said.

"You think I have control over him?" Padme asked.

"No, we just think…he doesn't respect us Padme. He left the Jedi because they wouldn't fight the war his way. We just need someone he will listen to," Mon said.

"He doesn't listen. To anyone. He has been told since he was a child that he was special, that the whole galaxy depended on him. So he thinks what anyone would in that situation; that he alone knows the way, and everyone else needs to follow," Padme said. "And after all that has happened, can we really say he is wrong? Imagine he had killed Palpatine on Eriadu, and there was no Empire these last five years."

"The galaxy would be in chaos. You know that. We wouldn't have the Republic back if Palpatine died, we would just have a bunch of smaller Empires fighting each other and us. If we want a way back to the Republic we have to rebuild it while we tear the Empire down," Mon said.

"I know. I have tried before to get him to see," Padme said. "But he has other influences."

"Thrawn?" Mon asked, knowing the answer.

"Luthen told you about Thrawn?" Padme asked, surprised.

Mon nodded and said, "He has reservations about Thrawn and his strategies."

"He isn't the only one," Padme said. "Anakin and I have spoken about that too."

"Well maybe this will help…the two of you," Mon said.

"You think adding politics to a marriage is going to make the fights less horrible?" Padme said with a wry smile.

"Who knows?" Mon said with a little laugh. "I never talk politics with Perrin anymore."

"As I recall there was a time when it's all he wanted to talk about," Padme said.

"Yes, I suppose. I think once the Republic fell, it probably seemed to him there was no point anymore," Mon said.

"The thing is Anakin and I never agreed politically. He has always had this authoritarian streak. Always thought the answer was to give the right person power and then let them do what they felt was necessary," Padme said.

"Maybe he can be made to see that the right person is you, not him," Mon said.

"Maybe I don't want that. Maybe I just want to stay here with my children," Padme said.

Mon looked around at the dismal landscape and said, "No. You don't. Stay with your children, sure, but not here."

Padme laughed and said, "I was going to say it grows on you, but it really doesn't. You just learn to accept it."

Their long walk had taken them in a circle, bringing them back to a point where they could see both Padme's home and the Millennium Falcon. This allowed them to see the attempted escape of Han Solo from the planet, and its swift failure. He had turned to run away from Leia and Luke, but the pair reached out with the Force and grabbed his ankles. This sent the brash pilot to the ground, where he got a face full of dirt. Chewbacca growled something neither Padme nor Mon could make out, and would not have understood even if they had heard it clearly. But from Solo's annoyed response they could both tell the Wookie's comments were unwelcome and likely mocking.

Solo picked himself and dusted himself off before turning back to the children, who were walking steadily towards him.

"What was that?" he yelled.

"I said you couldn't leave!" Leia yelled back.

"You aren't in charge of me kid," Han said. He then picked up a clump of dirt and threw it in her direction. Leia, not used to employing her power, was too slow to react and it hit her in the face. She stood where she had been hit, paralyzed with shock. Her brother had done such things to her before, but never a stranger! Strangers were almost always clones who were loyal, respectful and dull.

Solo was also stunned into immobility. He had realized how childish his reaction had been as he was doing it, but had not thought the clod of dirt would travel so far. As he watched the child stand there shocked he grimaced and looked to see whether her brother was going to seek some kind of magical vengeance. Instead of that he found Luke trying to suppress his laughter.

"What is going on?" Padme yelled as she walked towards the scene.

"Hi there, ma'am. I just…I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. I'm ahh, you know, a little freaked out right now. Yeah," Han said nervously.

"Are you alright Leia?" Padme asked. When Leia made a sound between a growl and a scream while she wiped the sticky dirt from her face, Padme said, "I will take that as a yes."

"Tell me Captain Solo," Mon Mothma said, "what were you about to do?"

"He was trying to leave," Luke said, still giggling. "Then he did the greatest thing ever."

"I see," Mon said while clasping her hands together in front of her. "Now why were you trying to strand me here Captain Solo?"

"I was, uh…, going to come get you. I was going to get in the ship and come get you. Because we need to leave, right now," Han said.

"And why is that,…?" Padme started to say.

"Han," the captain said, completing her question. "No offense ma'am but I am not sure the Senator here knows who your husband is."

"Of course I know who her husband is Captain Solo, that is a large part of the reason I am here. The question I have is how do you know who her husband is?" Mon said coldly.

Padme turned to her children and locked a very motherly glare on them. Luke was nervously watching his feet shuffle, and Leia, after wiping more of the muck off her face said, "Luke got angry and told him."

"Also there is the weird magic!" Han said.

Padme sighed and said, "So you told them who your father is and you showed your abilities? The two things I told you not to do before our guests arrived?"

"Luke did it!" Leia shouted.

Luke looked up from his feet to yell at his sister, "You used the Force too!"

"Which only made him curious. He got scared when you mentioned dad!" Leia shot back.

"Enough," Padme said to her children, and the quiet word was enough to render them silent. Padme turned to her friend and said, "I don't want to have to call him for this."

"I will deal with it," Mon said. "I hope this doesn't change your mind."

"It does not. I will come," Padme said. "It's time."