The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight

Chapter Twenty-Four: Staying In Character/ Planning Betrayal

PADME AMIDALA

Padme sat crouched on her knees in a small, nearly invisible balcony, Princess Leia at her side. The girl's eyes were glued to the scene below, taking everything in as attendants bustled around, dusting corners or setting up tables. After three days of preparation, the Ballroom of the Royal Palace looked very festive.

"Sabi, can we go down?" Leia asked in a whisper for the seventh time in the last standard fifteen minutes.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but no," she replied, matching her charge's volume. "Remember that we aren't supposed to be here. Your father and mother think that you're in the Great Library, studying Galactic History."

She understood completely how a girl on the cusp of turning six years old would want to be in the middle of the action. But, sadly, even a princess wouldn't get everything she wanted. Padme was already risking her station by taking Leia out of her studies like this anyways to watch the party prep.

"Please?" Leia shot her an innocent, pleading look, her face dripping with the fruit spread from the bread she was eating.

"No, Princess. I can't do that..." she said, trailing off. Her attention had been stolen by a ship, made out of a familiar shiny metal, landing on one of the upper levels. There was a transparent landing platform and skylight at the very top of this particular part of the palace, with floors making rings around it. Then, the form branched out to its base, which was the Ballroom, which had a few little balconies, the least visible of which she had chosen to let the Princess watch from.

Suddenly the door to the balcony slid open, making both Padme and her young student jump. But it turned out to be none other than Winter, Leia's best friend and Padme's other student.

"Milady, you shouldn't be here!" she whispered, coming to sit gracefully beside her friend. She had always been able to move with an almost regal poise, which made little sense for a girl her age. "You have to continue with your studies!"

Padme looked over at the other girl, particularly her lovely white hair, which was up in two elaborately braided coils, one on the top of her head and one just above her neck. "We'll be going soon, Winter. You have no reason to worry."

Leia pouted, crossing her arms. With the jam all over her fingers and face, the effect was actually quite comical. "Because after all, you have to get ready for the big, fancy party, girls," she amended.

Two pairs of eyes fairly lit up at the word 'party'.

"So I'll tell you what. You go review the Military Creation Act like your father wanted, and I'll come to help you get to know some of the people that are going to be there with the holo, all right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Winter said. She, unlike her adopted sister, didn't have a nickname for her. Leia had created the pet name 'Sabi' when she had been too young to pronounce 'Sabe' properly. "Come, princess."

Hand in hand, the two girls left the balcony. Padme smiled. Free of her two students, she headed for the repulsorlift. It was time to see just who was arriving in a Nubian starship.

DARTH BANE

Far away on Moraband, the conscience of Darth Bane laughed from the echoing halls of his tomb. It had all been so easy.

Darth Maul was smart, Bane could give him that, but he was really ignorant to the powers of persuasion. And he was forgetting the first and foremost rule of the Sith: to never trust another Sith. Betrayal was inevitable, be it by the Master or the apprentice.

He was only pretending to go along with the Dathomirian's ideals, sugarcoating his words to make Maul believe that he was the new Sith'ari, encouraging him to destroy all those who had wronged him. He really didn't care if the Jedi or Darth Sidious lived or died while he was trapped in here.

But then again, he wouldn't be trapped here for long. And that was Darth Maul's greatest mistake.

*Who could the owner of the Nubian ship be? Is it a friend or a foe? And what will Padme's nurturing of her daughter Leia and her friend Winder lead to? And what could Darth Bane be planning in secret? You'll find out in the next amazing chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

A couple of things about this chapter:

Yesterday, when I was writing it, I was on Winter's page on Wookieepedia (my bible and reference for everything in this story), because I had decided to use her in this story, and I saw the name 'Sabe'. It turns out that Sabe (although the last name was my idea) actually DID mentor Leia and Winter, particularly in fighting and self-defence! I went CRAZY!!! 

It was a total fluke. I had no idea that Sabe had actually taught them and that it was in fact cannon, I just wanted to give Padme a secret identity! And who better than her old bodyguard? SO AWESOME!!! I love it when stuff like this happens, like in the SWR trailer where you saw Rex, Wolffe, and (I THINK but I'm not sure) Cody! I wrote about that FIRST, so booyah!!!

You'll see what Darth Bane is planning in future chapters, and somehow, I have a feeling that you're all going to LOVE who's arriving in that ship.

Wish to be the first pilot to visit every star in the galaxy and may the Force be with you,

Sharron