Anakin & Ahsoka: Two Souls - A Star Wars Fan Fiction

Sunrise

It was just another night on Coruscant. Ships, speeders and trains rushed by, their headlights illuminating the black skies, and the sound of their engines keeping the fatigued citizens awake.

Padmé Amidala was no exception. She had given up trying to sleep, and had gone into the living room in her robe. She'd developed a worrying, time-consuming habit. She would sit down, think for a minute, before starting to itch and shiver, then she'd get up, pace up and down the balcony of her beautiful apartment up to ten times, walk back to the sofa, repeat. But it wasn't the outdoor noise that was keeping her awake, it was fear. A fear that plagued her every night, and yet never got any easier. It was the all-consuming worry that tonight might be the night, the night her husband didn't come home.

It wasn't the first time she'd felt this way, Anakin was a Jedi after all, putting himself in danger was his greatest talent, and she was well accustomed to him coming home late, but this was different, something didn't feel right.

Padmé had begun her day much like any other, until a negative shadow was cast on it by the news of Ahsoka's departure. She could only begin to imagine how deeply this would affect Anakin, and she made a great effort to keep her schedule clear. He would need her comfort, her love, and she would do everything in her power to give it.

This was until she was called in, suspiciously impromptu, by the office of the Supreme Chancellor. Upon arriving there, she was greeted Chancellor Palpatine himself, who informed her that there had been a serious trade dispute among various Republic diplomats on Malastare, and that only his best senator could be trusted to find a peaceful solution. She wanted to decline, to be there for her husband, but she knew she couldn't. She had a duty, just like him. She wouldn't like it if he abandoned his commitments for her, so she did as she would wish to be done by, and followed her orders.

She returned to her apartment and asked her bodyguard, Captain Typho, to prepare her ship. While she was waiting, she ran into her protocol droid, C3-PO, who despite being a generally worrisome individual, was clearly more on edge than normal. He hadn't heard from his faithful friend R2-D2 for quite some time, and was concerned for his safety. He had a real soft spot for that old astromech, although he would never admit it.

Padmé was forced to brush these worries aside, for the sake of her mission. Once her ship was ready, she rendezvoused with Typho at Docking Bay 13, and they took off, bound for Malastare.

It was a good thing she wasn't in charge of flying the ship. Such a task required one's full focus and concentration, and Padmé's was elsewhere. All she could think about was Anakin. Where was he? How was he feeling? What could he possibly be going through? She felt terrible. Her husband was going through hell, in dire need of care and attention, and here she was, running some trivial errand for the Chancellor!

Their journey lasted them far too long; Malastare was light years away from Coruscant. Even in hyperspace, this old ship wouldn't get them there anytime soon. It was at least three hours before they finally entered the appropriate star system. Given the time difference, three hours for her must have been days for Anakin, she dreaded to think how long he'd been waiting.

Finally, they touched down on Malastare. She was less than enthusiastic about negotiating with its inhabitants, the Dugs, for she'd had a bad experience with one of them herself many years earlier. However, upon beginning discussions with their representative, Nakha Urus, it became apparent that the so-called "serious trade dispute" was not nearly as "serious" as the Supreme Chancellor had made it out to be, and coincidentally enough, it had only arose today; nothing more than a simple argument over shipping routes. The argument was put to rest within minutes, and Padmé couldn't help wondering why Palpatine claimed that "only his best senator" would be up to the task.