- CASTLES CRUMBLING (A.S.) -

- 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 -

i can't help but be destructive right now.

SHMI'S FUNERAL WAS a somber one. Both Skywalker and Cliegg spoke, saying their final goodbyes. The party stood near the Lars family graveyard and everyone had gathered around a brand new tombstone engraved with Shmi's name. Regina and Padmé had hung toward the back, watching the family pay their respects to the dead. Both of them felt that they should be there to support Skywalker, but neither had the right to impede on the family, even if Padmé had known Shmi herself. To both of them, their presence was intrusive.

Standing silently together, Regina and Padmé gazed on as Skywalker stepped forward and knelt in front of his mother's grave, quietly talking to her for the last time. Regina watched him sorrowfully, feeling that she should provide more comfort for him. But then she remembered that she'd done that already; she'd literally been his shoulder to cry on. But she knew she was willing to be that person again. Anytime he needed her.

A sharp whistle snapped Regina's attention away from Skywalker. She turned her head to see R2-D2 and C-3P0 standing in front of her.

"Artoo?" Regina said sharply. He was supposed to be staying with the ship. That caught Padmé's attention. The Senator turned—her white cloak billowing in the wind in the process—to see her droid roll toward them, along with the protocol droid.

"What are you doing here?" Padmé questioned a beat after Regina.

R2-D2 replied in a series of clicks and whistles that got his point across: a transmission had been sent to them by none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi. Regina could sense Skywalker moving toward them, curious about what the droid had to say.

"...It seems that he is carrying a message from an Obi-Wan Kenobi," C-3P0's translation finished. Skywalker came to halt at Regina's elbow. "Master Ani, does that name mean anything to you?"

Regina nearly smiled at the irony of that question.

Regina turned her head so she was looking up at Skywalker. She could see the concerned look written all over his face.

"We have to see that message," Regina said to him. All he did was nod.

"What are we waiting for?" Padmé questioned, taking the lead and following after both droids to her ship. Regina and Skywalker exchanged another look before following close behind.

As Padmé boarded with R2 and 3P0, Regina paused, causing Skywalker to stop as well. She turned her body so they were facing each other. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Skywalker's new family had gone inside; the funeral was officially over.

"Skywalker..."

He cut her off by shaking his head.

"I don't need sympathy right now, Regina," he said slowly, carefully pronouncing her name. "We have a mission to complete together. We had better be keeping track of it." Regina automatically knew that he was referencing Padmé. And she knew that he was right. Without another word; the pair entered the ship.

"Did you get the transmission?"

Skywalker was looking at Padmé. She was seated in the copilot's seat, near the hologram message transmitter. She glanced over at the duo and gave a nod. Regina and Skywalker walked further into the ship, closer to Padmé. Both droids had to move out of the way as they approached. Both Jedi remained standing near the window, side-by-side. Padmé clicked a button and suddenly a hologram of Master Kenobi flickered into view.

"Anakin," Kenoni's voice was muffled and distorted by the weak transmutation, but it was enough to play the recorded message. "My long-range transmitter has been knocked out. Retrasmit this message to Coruscant."