The Fate of Angels

3. Birds of a Feather

"“The past is never where you think you left it.” 

- Katherine Ann Porter

There's something about sleep that makes all our worries and negative emotions slide off, leaving us with a refreshed and cleansed state of mind when we awake the next morning. For once, I wake up with my own accord, without Luke and Leia chortling and bouncing around on the bed in the early hours of the morning. I peek my head into their room to find them fast asleep even though the sun has already risen. Usually the twin's pride themselves on being out of bed before the sun is in the sky, a race of sorts that they almost always win, it seems the sun wins this round. 

I close their bedroom door quietly and slip into the kitchen, making sure not to make any noise as I begin to fix them breakfast. The two have a ravenous appetite that never seems to be satisfied and usually one breakfast item is never enough to satisfy them so I always end up adding things in as they chow through each course. Today, they're going to be having panna cakes with a fruit medley, hopefully the latter item will balance out the unhealthy factors in the hotcakes. The silence in the house is rather comforting as I slice up fruit and prepare the cakes, setting a plate of the steaming food on the table along with plates and small bowls. I'm about halfway to the table with the bowl of fruit when shrieks of laughter split through the room and before I can react, a small bundle crashes into me and the bowl of fruit goes flying. Leia has her arms wrapped around my waist, an impish grin on her face while Luke is standing a little farther away, smashed bowl at his feet, arms crossed his chest, and absolutely splattered with berry juice. Leia is laughing so hard that she breaks into a coughing fit and has to run and get water. 

"It's not funny Leia, want to see what it's like? I'll give you a complimentary berry treatment myself" Luke threatens, his eyes narrowed with childish menace.

"No thanks, I'm good" She retorts indignantly between sips of water.

I roll my eyes at their banter and shoo the twins away from the glass before picking Luke up and setting him on the counter, wetting a cloth. "What exactly were you two thinking?".

"It was Leia's idea mom, she thought it would be funny to see your reaction" He admitted innocently.

I gently wiped his arms and his face clean before setting him down, watching him scamper off to the table before turning around to face Leia who was watching with nervous eyes. "It was only 1/2 my idea, it was both of our ideas, we came up with it together, like at the same time" Leia frowned as she made her way to the table, reaching her hand out greedily for a hotcake. I didn't completely buy her answer but in the grand scheme of things did it really matter? I followed her to the table and served them each a cake with a generous helping of fruit on the side before sitting down and serving myself fruit as well as half a cake. I couldn't help but notice the way Luke and Leia were staring at each other intently and once again I became suspicious of their nature. It wasn't uncommon for them to do this and often times I couldn't help but wonder if they were having silent conversations while other times they seemed as if they could sense each other and it wasn't beyond my thinking to gather that they could be force-sensitive although there was no way to currently validate the fact and they were safer if it stayed that way.

I leave them to finish their breakfast as I close myself off in the little library I've commandeered into my workspace. I check my messages and download a report sent by Bail, a weaponry report, not my specialty but for inventory sakes I have to at least browse over it. After glimpsing it over, I send back a detailed transmission back but before I can make sure the proper security barriers are on it, a wail sounds from the kitchen. I blanch and quickly send it off before darting out of the room and into the kitchen where Luke and Leia are prancing about the living room.

"What exactly are you two doing? What is with all the noise?"

"Uhh we're playing imperial versus wampa, I'm the wampa and Luke is the imperial, that was Luke making the noise, I killed him three times in a row" Leia giggled.

If only everything was as trivial as this game.

"Alright well I think it's time for the imperial and the wampa to go play outside" I admonish lightly, the sooner they go play outside the better because with this much energy they're going to tear up the place.

They smirk and bounce out the door and I follow them.

___

Vader

Alderaan is a pleasant planet and I'm rather pleased to find that it hasn't changed all that much since I was here last time. Well actually, this is my first time here but Anakin Skywalker has been here before many times, not as many times as Naboo but still enough to get around. The planet was a lot like Naboo, a bit more industrial, but still much the same, to the point where it was rather painful. I knew Padmé loved Alderaan and it was always one of her favorite planets to visit because of it's similarities to Naboo and it's mountains. My men and I have been here for several days and our plans have not come to fruition and everyone is getting restless. 

"Sir, we've tracked a transmission from the outskirts of the city, in the grassland territories, it could be a possible rebel sympathizer" An officer explains, looking scared out of his skin, apprehensive.

"Get the speeders ready" I order, waving my hand to dismiss him, wishing that the air was a little cooler or that I could take off this wretched suit but neither is possible.  The officer proves to be decently competent because he manages to gather a good number of transports in a good amount of time. The ride there is shorter then expected and I can't help but feel that I've brought too many men because the place looks small, a home for a small family or an artisan. It's rather secluded, they probably thought they'd be safe from prying eyes but obviously someone had made a mistake in not properly coding the transmission. I motion for only a few men to accompany me as we disembark and survey the area. We all freeze when the sound of laughter splits the air and two small figures come hurtling towards us. It's a little brown-haired girl and a blonde-haired boy, maybe five or six? They look to be about the same age, twins? Or maybe one is a year older. The girl skids to a halt and grabs her brother's arm, yanking him back as they assess us with wide eyes.

Another figure rounds the corner and for a brief minute, everything stops. It's a young woman with brown curls and brown eyes and she's absolutely breathtaking, like an Angel. She's obviously their mother as she darts forward to pull them backwards, pushing them behind her protectively. My brain is stuck, I know who she is but at the same time I don't, I'm terrified that this is a terrible trick, she's dead, I killed her. But I know it is her, it's hard to deny the fact as she raises her chin defiantly, murmuring comforting words to the little children.

It's Padmé, she's alive.

A/N: Aw geez now what's gonna happen? well we'll just have to see x3 I was planning on updating this sooner but had to put my stories and role-plays on hold because I got sick but I'm fine now and getting back into the swing of things. I saw the preview for Star Wars in Imax (while watching Jupiter Ascending which I definitely recommend) and it was amazing! So yep, happy reading <3 votes and comments make my day ^^