VENDETTA [ kylo ren ]

thirty-one

31. respect

VADA WAS LEFT UTTERLY speechless. It couldn't be true. He must've lied. But why would he lie? About something like this? Why would he make the fact that the General of the Resistance, a war hero and a princess, is his mother, up?

Her mind raced with confusion and questions and it left her with a lack of words. Kylo glanced over at her frowning face. He didn't say anything either, he'd already said too much. He knew he wasn't supposed to be telling her this, Snoke would surely have them punished if he'd found out. But he didn't intend on telling him.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Vada's mind settled on a single question. "Right before we crashed the ship..." she said softly, leaning back against the table, "...you told me your mother didn't know where you were." He nodded as he remembered the memory, he remembered how she'd put her hand on his in comfort. "Does she know who you are?"

"Yes."

And she was left speechless once more. Vada turned her back to Kylo and leaned her bawled fists on the table. She closed her eyes and trued to stop her mind from racing. Why would Leia do this? Leia and Vada's father, the King, had made the arrangements for Vada's infiltration. Though Vada had never met the General in person, she still felt like she knew her to be a decent woman. So why would she withhold such important information from Vada? Did she think she wouldn't ever find out, or did she think she would and is that why she didn't say anything? The questions in Vada's mind were overwhelming.

"I uh..." she muttered, slowly turning around again, "I'm going to sleep." Kylo nodded silently and walked out the door, looking back at her once while she had already turned her back to him again. He wondered if telling her was the right thing, or if he had just made a grave mistake.

・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。★・。・

Morning came and Vada and Kylo ate breakfast without exchanging a word. Their host, Broca, talked enough to keep the silence from barging in and they were both eager to let him speak.

Vada wasn't angry with him, she was just confused and conflicted. She wondered why Leia hadn't told her that the Commander of the First Order was her son. It also made her question the way she saw Kylo, knowing who his mother was, how did he become the man he was now?

Kylo wasn't angry with her either. He still wasn't sure if he should've confided in her or not, and he was almost certain that she was angry with him, though he didn't know why. Or perhaps, a part of him did know, but he just didn't want to admit it.

He had made arrangements for them to be picked up by a First Order transport today, and they would leave in the afternoon.

After breakfast they got all their belongings, which wasn't much. Kylo's helmet was hidden in a sack, along with the box that contained Vada's kyber crystal. The rest of their stuff was just torn up clothes they wouldn't be able to wear anymore, so they didn't need to take that.

As they walked out the door Broca offered them some water for their way to the rendezvous point. "Oh, that's not necessary, Broca," Vada told him politely while Kylo waited a few steps in front of her, eager to leave. "You've already done enough for us."

"Please Miss Vada, take it," he gently pushed the container into her hands with a smile.

"Alright," she gave in. "Thank you," she then said with a genuine smile, "for everything."

After a short goodbye, they made their way through the small village to a more crowded area. They were both cloaked, Naboo was part of the Republic and they didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.

As they neared the edge of the populated area, Vada stopped in front of a large archway. Kylo noticed she hadn't been following him and looked back at her, "what is it?" he asked.

She sighed and looked at him with pleading eyes, "there's something we need to do before we leave."

He looked through the archway but couldn't make out what she was talking about. He then shook his head, "no. We don't have time to play tourist."

"It won't take long," she insisted.

He shook his head again, "no, Vada." She clenched her jaw, looked back and forth between him and the archway, and then walked through it, ignoring what he had said. "Vada!"

She didn't stop though, and he had no choice but to follow her. It made his blood boil, and if she were anyone else she would've been dead for disobeying him. But she wasn't just anybody, she was Vada.

"Where are we going?" he asked irritably after they'd been walking for a few minutes.

"You'll see," was her only answer.

A couple more minutes later, his eyes suddenly fell on what looked like a marble carving of a woman, laying down. His eyes found many more who looked like it, but were all unique in their own way. He realized he was looking at their graves.

Suddenly Vada stopped in front of one of the last ones. "What are you doing?" he asked, though he really already knew what she was doing.

Vada quietly walked up the steps to the tombstone, and admired the fine sculpture of the former Queen's body. It looked so realistic, she was marveled by it.

"When I was young my mother told me stories of the Queens of Naboo," Vada told Kylo softly, not to disturb the peace of this final resting place. "Padmé Amidala was a recurring heroine in most of them. I couldn't leave here without paying my respects." After one last look at the grave she turned back to Kylo, "and I don't think you should, either."

He gulped. He didn't know what to say. He looked past her to the grave and looked away again. This brought up too many memories. He too, had heard stories of Padmé Naberrie, his grandmother.

Vada waited patiently behind him as he looked at the sculpture, unsure what to do. Taking a deep breath he walked up the steps and looked at her face. He realized the late Queen would be horrified to know what had come of her offspring, but then he also realized he had left that life behind, and not even his apprentice would bring him back to it. So he turned around after a few seconds and walked past Vada, en route to the rendezvous point, "let's go." Vada sighed, but followed him, leaving Padmé Amidala in the past.