Her Secret

-Seven-

Iris was desperate, she was running through the corridors of her home as if something or someone was chasing her. She felt tired, as if she had been running for a long time, and for the faint light gleaming through the windows Iris knew that it was almost night. Suddenly she saw the huge doors that led to her father's office, without thinking twice she opened the door and saw her father, wielding his red lightsaber attacking Obi-Wan. Anakin and Kira were on the floor, dead. Obi-Wan, even though he was severely wounded he was still up, trying to fight Palpatine. Swiftly in a moment of distraction from Obi-Wan, Palpatine stabbed him, making him fall to the ground.

Watching all this, the only thing Iris could do was scream, she was paralyzed, her limbs were stiff. Tears started to roll on her face, clouding her vision.

Slowly her father turned to face her, he wore a black gown and had an emaciated face, what had happened to him?

"Oh, Iris. Why didn't you tell me you were protected by two Jedi? You had one rule to follow, not get discovered, and look at us now, everybody will know that you killed two Jedi and one of the Amidala sisters." Palpatine said with a sinister voice, approaching Iris.

"It wasn't me who killed them, it was you!" Iris shouted, still unable to hold back her tears.

"Dear Iris, why would you care that much, what really happened while I sent you away? Did you fall in love with the pathetic Obi-Wan Kenobi? You thought I wouldn't notice. Iris you are a Sith you cannot be with a Jedi." Palpatine spoke loudly, provoking Iris.

"Father, I'm no Sith. I am not what you created." Iris angrily replied.

"So if that's what you chose I don't have any more options but to kill you." Palpatine ended, igniting his lightsaber, piercing it through Iris's body.

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The sun shone through the window, lighting up the room. Iris quickly woke up, processing everything that had just happened, the nightmare seemed so real. Slowly she removed the sweat from her forehead and decided to take a shower.

Her mind was flooded with thoughts and worries, how could her father do something like this? The vivid image of her friends dead, sprawled on the floor shocked Iris so much that she involuntarily shed some tears, to try to fix that she hopped into the shower and luckily the warm water brought her back to reality. Iris was never that attached to people, of course she loved her father and the Amidala sisters, but she had never felt such grief and sadness before.

After putting on an elegant dress for the meeting that was going to take place later in the day, she decided to go to the terrace of the palace. It was way too early to have breakfast and Iris doubted that anyone would be awake.

When Iris arrived as suspected no-one was there, maybe in the background you could hear some maids arranging seats and cleaning for the upcoming conference. And there she stood, on that grand terrace, overgrown with vines and plants, the wind was quietly blowing and the birds chirped. That was a great moment to think about everything, everything had changed so much in these few weeks, but she couldn't figure out if it was for the better or for the worse. Staying in Naboo now brought back many memories, the silly anecdotes she shared with the sisters, her school year in Naboo, her friends, Theo...

And there she was, almost ten years later, on the planet she thought she said goodbye to at the age of thirteen. Iris was no longer a child now, she had a great secret to keep and it was eating her alive, as if it was some kind of restraint that kept her from really enjoying her stay. All of a sudden she felt a hand on her back, she jumped suddenly startled, and there he was, Obi-Wan.