The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Sixty-Four: The Convor's Message

PADME AMIDALA

The brilliant orange of twilight was beginning to fade into a dull gold as the cloud cover from one of the first snowfalls of winter crept over the mountains overshadowing the Aldera Royal Palace and down towards the valley.

In this light, the shimmering snowflakes looked almost like falling stars.

Padme Naberrie Amidala-Skywalker watched the tiny flecks of white made gold twist and turn on the breeze outside the windows into her quarters with a wistful gaze. It was heartbreaking to know that something as simply beautiful as a snowfall at dusk was soon to be no more on this planet, but she knew there was nothing she could do. There were many possible outcomes to the circumstances that were unfolding before her, but all but a few led into cold, unforgiving darkness.

And with every day that passed, another one of the few paths for the planet Alderaan that still extended far into the future was washed away.

Padme shook the thought away with a sigh. It was not her place to pry into the future, especially considering she was still an actor in the present. Though she had a feeling that was about to change.

She rose to her feet and headed towards the mirror set into her vanity, pulling the pins from her hair as she did so. Her tight bun loosened, she grabbed a hairbrush and began pulling it through her long dark curls.

Padme's eyes found those of her reflection in the mirror, and what she saw there made her furrow her brow. The image in the glass was that of a woman who was getting on in years, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and a fading complexion. Her hair was still a rich chestnut brown, but it had lost some of its luster, and was even streaked here and there with grey.

But then, she blinked, and the mask of wrinkles and greyness was gone, leaving her face as smooth and unlined as it had been sixteen years ago, long before any of this had happened. She smiled, because if she looked into the mirror just so, she could almost imagine she was back in her old apartment on Coruscant, waiting for Anakin to return home.

It was then that she noticed the little convor sitting on her reflection's shoulder, its beak bent under one wing to preen its green, white and gold feathers. Padme glanced down at her own shoulder to confirm what she already knew; that the bird was an image in the mirror and nothing more.

Padme, it said, you must go.

Padme's gaze fell, and, for a lack of something better to do, she started brushing her hair again. "So soon? I thought I would have more time..."

You have had as much time as you could. Your daughter is nearly grown, and her path and yours will soon diverge to lead on into completely different directions. You must go now, or you risk contaminating the timeline.

"I can't leave her," Padme whispered. "I can't let her face everything alone."

She will not be alone, the convor reminded her. Your son will be joining her soon, too. She already knows her purpose in this galaxy – everything else she will discover for herself.

"Please, don't make me do this. I can't leave her, not now that I know what's going to happen. When Alderaan is gone and the Rebellion is all she has left, she'll need me to be there for her."

Your time here is nearly spent. You must move on if you wish for the Force – and the galaxy in all its entirety – to ever have hope for balance. You are all that separates the Light from the Dark, and if you refuse your destiny–