Her small frame, held so proudly and gracefully in days past, was slumped by the weight of worlds. Her soft hands, cradling a sleeping babe, trembled with the effort of having to support herself and her children. But it was her eyes – her earnest and kind eyes, once full of life and vigour – that struck me to my core. Instead of fiery determination and sweet compassion, the heavy mist of heartbreak and weariness clouded her beautiful brown irises.
"Hello, Padmé," I greeted the young lady quietly, feeling a warmth of familiarity inside. "How are you?"
A sad smile graced her tight lips, and I hoped this wasn't the first time in a while that she had done so. "I'm coping, thank you. I'm so happy to see you, Obi-Wan. How are you doing?"
"I'm better than I was," I responded calmly but kept my voice low in case Satine heard me. I didn't want her to pick up on my implied, "better than I was on Mandalore," meaning. She was unhappy enough already. Then I smiled, very gently brushing the cheek of the child in her arms. "How is your little one?"
A glimmer of light sparkled in her eyes, and she kissed her baby softly. "Luke is doing well. He fusses less than Leia, but he's more work," she ended with the smallest laugh.
My eyebrows went up as I peered over her shoulder where Lux carefully rocked another infant. She puckered her face and squirmed but didn't wake up, much to the young man's relief.
"You had twins, Padmé," I breathed, everything suddenly clicking into place. "Of course you did. I couldn't figure out whose was the other child."
She smiled happily and nodded before growing serious again. "I wouldn't have been able to look after these two without the help of everyone here, though. I'm very grateful to them."
Ahsoka joined us in the archway, squeezing Padmé's arm affectionately. "It's our pleasure. Now, where is ...?" she trailed off, glancing toward the door leading to the hallway from which stemmed all of the bedrooms, barring mine and Satine's. Our room was through a door on the opposite side of the kitchen, away from the rest of the noise and bustle.
"He was just getting up," Lux offered.
"He was up in the night helping me with the twins, though," Padmé added, "so don't expect him to emerge any time soon."
"Expect who?" a male's voice interrupted our conversation, and we all looked across to see none other than Rush Clovis entering the room. A pleasant smile rested on his tired face, and his green eyes flicked across each of us in turn. He stopped when he noticed me, his smile faltering momentarily. But he was quick to replace it, extending his hand towards me cordially. "I didn't know we were having guests," he said lightly, shaking my hand firmly. "If I'd had some warning, I might have dressed myself more properly!" he laughed, indicating to his around-the-home style of brown pants and loose, white shirt.
The others laughed, but I found it difficult to join in. Standing in front of me was twenty-eight-year-old Rush Clovis, senator to the planet Scipio and man who, at some point in the past, held strong feelings and a solid friendship with Padmé. At least, he had been a senator; considering he was here, I wasn't certain. But what had happened between Padmé and ... and Anakin? Why was Clovis here? What was going on?
"Obi-Wan?"
I jerked my head up, snapping out of my thoughts, feeling the whirl of confusion attempting to drag me back into them. "I'm sorry, did I miss something?"
"I was just asking if you would introduce me to your friend," Clovis said patiently, that smile ever present on his face. I tried desperately to believe it was genuine.
I glanced at Satine, who was now standing at my side, her arm slipped under mine. "Excuse my manners," I apologized politely. "This is Satine Kryze, Duchess of Mandalore. Satine, this is Rush Clovis. He is the senator to the Outer Rim planet, Scipio." My eyes flicked to Clovis for confirmation or correction of my final statement.
"I am still the senator there," he provided, but I didn't miss the way his gaze rested on Padmé. "However, I'm not sure for how long."
"I see," Satine responded with nothing but stiff civility. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine." He didn't quite gush it.
The door creaking alerted us to yet another addition to our party, and I was starting to wonder how many people this little home could possibly house. A very sleepy Mirialan teen wandered into the room, yawning and tugging her green fingers through her slightly tangled brown tufts. She froze, blue eyes wide, when she saw the kitchen was full and would have retreated if Ahsoka hadn't grabbed her.
"Barriss! Come and say hi to our guests." The Togruta dragged her friend over to us, keeping the awkward girl in place long enough to exchange pleasantries.
"Hello, Barriss," I greeted her quietly, bending slightly to get into her field of view.
She kept her gaze fixed to the floor, opening and closing her free hand nervously. "Hello, Master Kenobi."
I suddenly understood her discomfort, and my heart panged strangely because of it. Barriss Offee was responsible for bombing the Jedi Temple a few months back, and her actions caused Ahsoka, who had been blamed for the bombing, to be unjustly expelled from the order. But Anakin had figured out what had really happened and had exposed Barriss for her crime.
"You needn't be afraid of me, young one," I told her gently. "I've left the Order."
She looked up quickly, a frown of confusion passing her face, but then the smallest smile eased the lines of worry, and she allowed herself to relax.
"Even if I hadn't," I continued, "if Ahsoka trusts you, then I do, too. Are we friends?" I offered my hand to her.
Her smile widened a little, and she took it. "Friends."
I glanced at Ahsoka. "How did your party grow so much?"
Ahsoka, who I was rapidly beginning to think was the "mother" of the household, started pointing to people as she spoke. "You won't have forgotten that Padmé asked for our help in hiding from Vader. She had the twins with her, which made our party four. Clovis was helping Padmé, so she asked if he could come, which makes five. Lux found me when I was trying to decide where to go and offered his planet as an option. He had Barriss with him, and she wasn't sure what to do next, so we took her in as well, ending us up with seven." She did another mental tally to ascertain she hadn't missed anyone, then nodded.
I laughed softly. "It's just as well you have so many friends, isn't it, Little One?"
She returned my smile briefly. "Yeah – friends."
I suppressed my sigh, acutely aware of her meaning but unwilling to voice it. I missed him, too.
But then a shudder crawled down my spine, chilling the air and sucking the oxygen from the room. A bucket's worth of icy nerves were deposited in my stomach, and I suddenly realized I may not have to miss him for much longer. We were not alone.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Uh oh. Guess who it is? :/
We got to see a bunch more friendys in this chapter (does Clovis count as a friendy? Hm, not sure). So that's what the lot of them are doing on Onderon. Padmé is hiding, Clovis was lonely, Lux was helpful, and Barriss was lost. And Ahsoka is there holding them all together. Come on, Ahsoka! :)
We'll pop over to Vader next chapter, I'm thinking. Yeah ....
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Fears
Fanfiction"They will suffer - all of them. I will not be satisfied until I have revenge." **THIS IS BOOK no. 4 in my series "The Sting of Time!" If you haven't read the last ones, this may not make much sense!** Everything that Anakin Skywalker has fought for...
