#spcewrs

the masquerade had ended with substantial more chaos than iden would have ever predicted –– it had been so easy to hightail it out of there after vader had announced himself. she had kept the address of the blonde that she had met on her person, but it had been far too pressing to get the information back to the rebellion so that they could figure out what to do next. the scar from his lightsaber had burned that night in a way that it hadn’t before. a psychosomatic response. she’d looked it up. it didn’t matter now, she had to keep pushing forward and that meant following through on the lead that had come up during the masquerade. it was dark out when she arrived at the address that she’d been giving, knocking on the entrance and awaiting the door to open. “i think now might be a better time to talk.”

there was some relief to be found in knowing that this was how she remembered, that the suspicion around her death had not ruined it. naboo was an extraordinarily private culture –– she was sure that she owed some credit to that, too. things like her pregnancy hadn’t been made out to be a scandal. “you read my mind,” she smiled, her words careful and precise. “obviously i will do whatever i can in the political arena to offer my support in efforts to dismantle a dictatorship. but i’m not opposed to more... personal methods of support, as well.”

it had been a quick and vague contact, giving him a location and time to meet. she sat in the back corner of the cantina after some suggestion to the occupants before her that they leave, an untouched drink in front of her. din was obvious to spot, impossible to blend with that armor. “i was starting to wonder if you’d show.”

but after the initial shock had passed, she tried to find herself once more, “i - i was informed that you take jobs.” she said, trying to regain her composure.

“have you heard from him?” padmé already knew the answer before she asked, yet she can’t save herself from the pain of not asking about anakin. he was gone, alive but disappeared. it was driving her mad, every resource that she had tapped into had come up short. aayla understood her pain, had seen her pain –– they were one of the few that she trusted and did not feel as though she needed to hide so much of herself from them.

“okay, we’re never doing that again.” her hair was still gently dripping wet from the fresher after intensely trying to scrub out mud ( and kriff knew what else ) from it. messy was normal, to be expected, even –– but in her book, it usually had to do more with blood than anything else. the mission had been a bust: no sign of the imperial that they were hunting down, just pissed off locals and a small crime ring that wanted no sign of the rebellion or new republic on their planet. had it not been so swampy, it wouldn’t have been a problem. “maybe i should take a page out of your book and go full-coverage.”

“master secura ! “ meetra called when she saw the twi’lek pass, offering the other jedi a slight smile, tinged with apology. “hi, i’m meetra surik. do you have a minute ? “