padmé remembers the cold and before that , pain. they’re the only things in the gap between now and then -- a lifetime ago. or so she believes. she overheard troopers ( clones ? maybe , but they’re wrong. everything is wrong ) talk of hoth and rebels and a bunch of things she can’t quite place. she longs for something familiar -- a face or name that can ground her. instead , she’s held prisoner on an imperial ship. is this the future of palpatine ? the fungus that grew on liberty’s corpse ? she wishes to stand tall and peak with the voice of amidala , but she’s still so weak , mind not quite as sharp as usual.
so she waits in the cell , a prisoner to time more than anything else. eyes closed , she thinks of anakin. not as she left him , but as he was. that shifting softness in his eyes , the smiles reserved just for her. is he dead ? is obi-wan ? what of her children ? is this the only galaxy they’ve ever knowns ? but the questions tear at her heart , bringing tears she dare not shed. it’s foolish to grieve for what she does not know.
eyes , bright as they were twenty-two years ago , open and refocus on the sterile cell before her. how many assassination attempts has she overcome ? how many times has padmé amidala stood against a sea of skeptics and war profiteers , only to come out ahead ? even now , imprisoned on this ship , she’s not helpless. she’s determined. answers will come -- this she’s sure of.
@lightabandoned enter darth daddy