tushanshu_logs | [Open] Friends May Come, Friends May Go

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[Open] Friends May Come, Friends May Go

Characters: Padmé Amidala

angelofnaboo and you
Date: The month of April
Location: The Midnight Hotel, the Sky Sector, the Wood Sector, general walking around
Situation: April catch-all
Warnings/Rating: some talk of politics, some food talk with Raine?

Midnight Hotel
With so many things happening in such a short time, Padmé has been frustrated with her inability to actively do anything to help the situation between the Foreigners and the Kedan. As such, she'd spent more time cooking and baking and thinking while she did so.

It wasn't that she didn't like her position there. It paid for her room and board. She was good at it. She was able to use a skill that had sadly been neglected for the most part back home. But, in all honesty, she was restless.

Being a Senator, a politician, had been her goal in life and she'd done it so well. Even with the Separatists hounding her and trying to kill her multiple times, the times where she felt the most alive were when she was interacting with people and fighting for those who couldn't do so for themselves.

Which was probably why she was so frustrated in the first place. But she'd managed to put her extra energy to good use. She'd perfected a few dishes that she memorized from her mother and mastered a few of the local dishes as well.

After cooking the meals, she could be found sitting in the dining hall, eating thoughtfully and taking notes.

Sky Sector - Closed to Anakin
When she wasn't in the Hotel, Padmé enjoyed strolling through the gardens of the old Palace, trying to talk to the Kedan and learn as much she could about this strange city from the people itself. The fact that the buildings reminded her of Theed helped, letting her feel right at home.

While she knew that most of the Kedan behaved in the Sky Sector due to both the College and the high Foreigner population, she still walked with her trusty blaster pistol in either her dress pocket or in the basket she used when shopping. It was only common sense. But just then, she was enjoying the flowers, taking in the smell and reminiscing about the fields on Naboo and a certain young Jedi Knight.

"This reminds me so much of home that I almost expect to see Shaak walking around."

Wood Sector

Since her last talk with the man who was her grandson, a lot of things had happened, but she was determined to find him to speak again. Everyday, she headed out in the afternoons to the Wood Sector, her strides more purposeful than her time in any other sector. She started with the trees and left him messages on the console. After a few days, she started asking people she saw in the district.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a young man who dresses in all black and stays in the trees of this district? I can't seem to find him?"

Other
(Feel free to stop her in a few of the other sectors or to make something up. I can be reached at

makotos to plot something out!)

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For his part, Starkiller liked spending time in the Wood Sector. Something about it reminded him of what little he could remember of his childhood. Just being among trees, and more natural-looking environs put him at ease. He hears Padmé questioning the locals, and casually strolls over, curious. He's seen the man in black at different times, but hasn't had the courage to approach him, himself.

"I think I've seen him, but not recently. I've been trying not to seek out more trouble than I need to, and he...he seems like trouble to me."

Kylo Ren wasn't as strong in the Dark Side as Galen himself was, but his desire for it was greater. He was trying to keep his distance from things that might tempt him into becoming "Starkiller" again.

She could see the appeal of this sector. The verdant plant life and the quaint buildings were warm and welcoming, but she would choose the Sky Sector over all the others for herself. When she was turned away for a fourth time, she heard the man speak out to her.

She turned and recognized him almost immediately. "Jedi Marek! I didn't know you were here."

His answer was discouraging however. "I've been looking for him for over a week. Trouble or not, he appears to be my responsibility."

Galen rubbed the back of his head. He couldn't help but feel pulled to this place, his encounter with Padmé a happy coincidence. He was considering making it his home, the peaceful nature of the inhabitants, and his own love of trees and nature seeming a perfect fit.

"I...I like this place. It reminds me of home. I've been looking for a vacant hut in the trees the locals wouldn't miss, that I could maybe move into. It'd make me feel like less of a vagrant, if nothing else."

He smiles. Under Vader, he'd spent most of his life on the Rogue Shadow, never really having a real "home", or anything to call his own beyond his lightsaber. It wasn't very Jedi of him, but Galen likes the idea of having a place to put down roots.

"Not any more, I think. If he was still here, I'd be able to sense him in the Force. He's not as strong in the Dark Side as he liked to tell himself he was, but he was strong enough that he stood out. I'm sorry, Senator Amidala."

He really was, too. Galen had come here with a single thought on his mind, to find and be with Juno. Here, he wass permanently separated from the only person who had ever believed he could be more than what Vader made of him. To say that he missed her, and felt lost without her was an understatement.

"It reminds me of a few worlds I've traveled to. They were all green and peaceful like this. I can see the appeal, but," she gave a slight laugh, "the Sky Sector reminds me of Theed. Especially the gardens around the old Palace."

Perhaps even one day, she could find some employment here in Keeliai that wasn't attached to the Midnight Hotel and then she could find a small house for herself and Anakin. But that was for another time to think about.

When he confirmed her fear, she let out a low sigh. "I will have to take your word on that. I noticed a sense of sadness in him, but if he's gone, I suppose that he's returned home." She shook her head. "No, that's quite all right, Jedi Marek. I prefer to know the truth than to keep wondering if he's just avoiding me."

Galen nods, understanding. It was carving out a little slice of home, no matter where you could find it. "Peace is something I've been needing for a long time, so it fits me well, I think."

Galen, for the most part, was trying to let the Force provide him what he needed. He'd rescued a few errant pets, threatened a few shopkeepers. Anything that would get him the currency he needed to eat. It felt different in the Wood Sector, though. All he wanted to do was protect, and keep the people who lived here safe. He'd work the rest out later.

"The Dark Side tends to do that. You don't go there if you don't have to...most of the time."

And he nods.

"Glad I could help. If he returns, I'll be sure to let you know, if he doesn't seek you out first."

"I think peace is something we've all needed for a while. And if you find it here, there's no reason you shouldn't enjoy it."

She wasn't a woman who could sit still for long. While what she was currently doing was find for the present, it wasn't the kind of thing that truly fulfilled her.

She'd find a way to get into politics, she supposed. Even if she had to build the system herself, which was pretty much her current state of affairs.

"I somehow doubt that he will seek me out a second time. Our previous meetings were always by chance, I think." She gave him a slight turn of the lips. "Much like the ones I share with you around this strange city."

That makes Galen smile. All of his life has been conflict, both on the insie and out. He knows that his status as a former Sith Lord will catch up to him eventually, but for now, he just wants to live peacefully.

"I know I'll probably get dragged into some conflict or another eventually, but for now, I'm not gonna go looking for it."

Galen had been hearing rumblings of some kind of peacekeeping force on the horizon, something organized by Foreigners, which he'll probably end up being a part of, if Obi-Wan had any say in the matter.

"No such thing as chance, Senator. If he comes back, it's the will of the Force. I...honestly think I keep bumping into you for the same reason."

A pause. Galen might as well come clean on some things, if he's going to cultivate even a working relationship with Padmé, he was going to have to be honest with her.

"Has Obi-Wan told you much about the future? He got a taste of it, helping me out after I landed here."

"Well, it's been my experience that one doesn't need to find trouble if you're a Jedi. Or connected to any Jedi. It will find you on its own."

There's nothing wrong with being a peacekeeper. A true peacekeeper. It would probably do him some good.

"I'll admit that even after all this time, I still think that the Force relies on luck a good deal to do the things it wants. But that's probably because I'm not connected to it in the same way."

She tilts her head to the side in thought. That's an interesting question and a way of phrasing his arrival.

"He's told me about the future that Anakin and I face, and that of our two children. I'll admit that I'm still coming to terms with some of it, but beyond that, I'm in the dark. He's not the type to tell tales that aren't his own, you know, so if there's something you'd like for me to know, you should just tell me yourself."

"That's true enough. I suppose it's one of the most common things in any universe."

That's what Galen is hoping for. To use his strength to do some good. He's trying, but still hasn't quite found his place.

"I think you're on the right track with that. I mean...we can push for things to go our way, but the Force will have it's way regardless of anything we might want."

Galen takes a deep breath, mentally readying himself for what he was about to say.

"When I told you I was a Jedi...I wasn't entirely honest. I'm...training to become a Jedi, but up until recently, I was a Sith Apprentice. Specifically...I was your husband's Apprentice. It's...why I haven't been able to face Anakin here. I know they're not the same person, but Darth Vader made me do things I'll regret for the rest of my life."

Galen coughs. He's got more to say, but he's still figuring out how to say it.

"I just...I didn't want to hide the truth, I just didn't want anyone to think less of me. Not when I'm trying to be better than he made me."

All pleasantries are gone when she hears the phrases "Sith", "Apprentice" and "Darth Vader". Her genial smile fades and she takes a step back. It's not exactly fear, but there's a level of apprehension that she hadn't had around him before now.

Her eyes are hooded when she looks at him again. Really looks at him. He doesn't really remind her of anything she remembers of Darth Maul or Dooku. Not even Grevious. All she sees before her is a man struggling with himself all the time, a man that regrets so much in his life and wants to prove his worth once more.

A man much like Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Why lie to me? If it's true that you were once a Sith apprentice, it would have been after my death. I didn't know anything about them, aside from the few run ins I had with two of the Emperor's earlier apprentices."

She steps forward, voice quiet and hard.

"Why tell me now? It's true that I might have been angrier later when the lie came to light, but why do you care what I think?"

The look on Padmé's face reminds Galen so much of Juno that it physically hurts him. "You're still loyal to Vader! After he branded me a traitor, and tried to kill you!" The words ring in his mind, reminding him of why he was fighting so hard.

"Because the Rebellion I created to fight the Emperor? You started it. You are the reason I was able to convince Bail and the others to give me their support. I figured you deserved to know why I fight. Because Vader and the Emperor took everything from me."

Galen scrubs a hand over his face, trying to hold back the rage he felt even talking about his "benefactors".

"They made me a monster, and took the one person I care about to try and get me back."

Edited 2016-04-29 04:27 (UTC)

She won't back down from this man at all and she wants to know his reasons. They are important and they both know it.

"I start a rebellion? When? From what I've been told, I've spent the last twelve years of my life in the dark, unable to see the darkness closing in around myself, my husband, my people and my galaxy. So, please tell me how I accomplish such a thing if I'm such a fool."

And there's the crux of the situation. It's something she hasn't even told Anakin or Obi-Wan. The truth that she'd coerced from her friend has nearly broken her. And doesn't want to hope that she can fix such a vast mistake.

"From what I understand, Palpatine lived to take the things that mattered from people. The fact that he continues well after my death is not surprising." Her voice softens however. She can tell that he's boiling on the inside with hatred, much like Anakin had been after his mother's death. "But you have my sympathies nonetheless."

Galen rubs at his head, thinking of the time Bail Organa spent on the Rogue Shadow, talking about how the thought of rebelling had started with his old friend in the Senate.

"From what Bail told me, it was after Palpatine declared himself Emperor. You met with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and a few others. Talked about how flagrant Palpatine's abuse of power was. You wanted to do something, but you didn't know what or how." Galen laughs, now realizing why Bail had insisted on him leading the Rebellion. "I gave him the how, and the Emperor gave him the what. All Bail had to do was get in touch with some old friends, and we had an Alliance. All because you stuck to your belief in the Republic."

Thinking back on it, it was a small miracle that everything worked out as well as it had. Except for Vader interrupting the Corellian Treaty that was supposed to kickstart the Rebellion, everything else had worked out such that the Rebellion hadn't really needed Galen, though his "sacrifice" on the Death Star had certainly helped.

"All I did was show them that the Empire was weak, and...died to inspire them to keep going."

Galen clutches a hand over his chest, feeling the scar that Vader had left him with, after impaling him with his lightsaber aboard the Executor.

She gives a shaky laugh at his answer, not at all sure how to reply to that. Bail Organa and Mon Mothma were her closest allies in the Senate. If she were to talk of uneasiness, of dissent, it would be with those two and their other allies. She can only imagine.

"Don't call him emperor. He doesn't deserve that title. He was a cruel, petty man and nothing so grandiose as that word implies."

She looks at him again, and feels a sort of sympathy for him, definitely. "Then, I suppose we are far more alike than you give yourself credit for. Dying for an ideal is underwhelming, isn't it?"

Galen shakes his head, smiling. "I definitely don't recommend it. I'd do it again, though. Palpatine had captured Bail and the others, and I fought to free them. I died to keep them safe."

The fact though that Padme agreed with him about Palpatine made him happy, though. Galen called him "Emperor" more out of habit than respect.

"It's true what they say, though. You don't know how powerful the Dark Side is, until it's turned against you. Gave me a lot of perspective on the person I used to be."

"In light of what I've learned, I don't see a way to do anything differently, even with this knowledge. Most of it relies on Anakin." She gives a strained smile. "I'm glad to know that Bail can still make friends with anyone he wants. It's always been one of his strongest traits."

If that disgusting, manipulative old man shows his wrinkly face, she'll shoot him. Gladly. If it comes down to her and her family and that madman, there will be no hesitation.

"I cannot say how I feel about that statement. I've yet to live through the time where I see it face to face truly."

"That's assuming we could change anything, where the change would matter. For now, I'm just hoping to know Anakin as the Jedi he is, instead of the Sith Lord I've known."

For his part, Galen is learning that their new home was good for second chances. That counted for Anakin Skywalker as much as himself.

"I hope you never have to, Senator. I know it's a foolish thing to hope for, knowing what I do, but no one should have to suffer the way those twisted by the Dark Side suffer."

"Even if I could change things when I got home, I'm not so sure that I would try to do so after having met my son now. There's no telling what would change about him if his life was any differently growing up."

As much as she hates the idea of having children and being separated from them, they grow up to be wonderful people nonetheless.

"The same could be said for my daughter as well."

"As for Anakin, he has always been the master of his own destiny, whether he admits to that or not. Even in the time that we've known one another, he's changed a great deal. But he's remained the same as well."

As briefly as Galen had known both Leia and Luke, he couldn't help but agree.

"That's a good point. Leia's...she's as tough as you are. Tougher. I rescued her from Kashyyyk, and she flew herself off-planet while I had...other matters to attend to. The Empire had her as a hostage, but looking back on it, she probably could've gotten off of the planet without my help."

Galen smiles, thinking back to his first meeting with Leia. She was...not what he had been expecting, but in the best way possible.

"I'll take your word on that. I'm looking forward to working with him, when the opportunity presents itself."

She smiles, but there's a hint of danger to it.

"She sounds just like me. Is she headstrong and biting when she thinks someone's being stupid?"

If so, then she is very much like Padmé and she couldn't be prouder of her daughter. Her son, she already adores.

"I am biased, of course, when it comes to him. I can understand your reservations, considering what you've told me. All I ask is that you don't see him as the monster you think you know but as the man he is. It will make dealing with him vastly easier.

Galen laughs, remembering how stubborn Leia had been when he tried to "rescue" her.

"That's putting it mildly. I like to consider myself a pretty strong-willed person, and yet she roped me into destroying a Skyhook to save the Wookiees that were being transported off-planet for slave labor, as the condition for her 'rescue'. I probably would have done it anyway, but she insisted."

Really, there wasn't anyone Galen could have picked that would have led the Rebels better than she did. He was proud of her in his own way, just for that.

"I know, and I really am trying. Obi-Wan was as insistent about it as you are, and he knows what Vader did to me as well as I know it."

Padmé, despite her initial reason for coming to this part of the city, laughs. Bright and sweet.

"She sounds like the best and worst mixture of myself and Breha Organa. Good."

It's comforting to know that her daughter will be as formidable as she could wish her to be.

"I don't know what Vader does to you. I don't want to know, honestly." It's not just that she's afraid of that knowledge. She needs to be able to see Anakin as himself, without having any doubt hanging over them. More than they already have. "Knowing what I do of the future, I'm sure that it's horrible. And I'm sorry for that. But Anakin needs to know that people can look at him and still see him. That is my priority here."

"I'll take your word for it. I really admired her, from what little I got to see of her in action. Bail tried to keep her out of the spotlight as much as he could, but she still did everything she could to help the Rebellion."

Galen nods. He genuinely wanted to believe that Anakin Skywalker had been a good man, before Palpatine twisted him into Darth Vader. He's willing to give him the chance, at least.

"I know. I'm trying to put that part of my life behind me, but it's all still pretty recent. Before I came to this place, I had only seen Vader a few days before, when I escaped from Kamino. Being here has helped me put some distance on those memories."

"No offense, but even being raised by Bail Organa was guaranteed to bring her into the public arena. My old friend is anything but discreet in his public persona."

Despite what Anakin supposedly does, Padmé knows that her husband is a good man. There is too much potential in him to be all of one thing. He is too alive to be evil to the core, as Marek would like to think.

"I'm sorry for what's happened to you, Jedi Marek. There is nothing I can say or do to make it up to you, but neither can Anakin. Time and distance from our galaxy gives us all perspective. I truly hope that you take the time to get to see the goodness in him."

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[Open] Friends May Come, Friends May Go

Wood Sector

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