A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far Away

Chapter 149

"What were you two doing there?"

Luna almost decided right then and there she had made the wrong decision in following Padmé. Almost.

Getting out of Sidious's presence was still better than getting grilled by the Senator.

"Well, Palpatine's worried you're in cahoots with the Council to overthrow him and wanted Anakin to ease his mind. According to Anakin. And Anakin didn't want to leave me alone anywhere so he convinced Palpatine to let me come and proceed to force me to come."

"I see. And Anakin?"

"Discussing things with the Chancellor I'd guess," Luna replied as Padmé sunk into the chair behind her desk. "He told me to go, and I was all too happy to oblige."

"I see...." she muttered. "Do you know how he took it?"

"I think he agrees with you."

"You think; you don't know."

"Padmé, you have nothing to worry about I'm sure he'll understand your reasoning."

The Senator didn't appear to be listening, more like breaking from the inside out as she rested her head in her hands.

And Luna already knew what Padmé was thinking, a fact alone that was, metaphorically, ripping Luna's heart out of her chest, cutting it into small pieces with a blunt knife, and somehow forcing her body to continue to pump now poisoned blood while she watched.

In other words, it was killing her.

Luna moved to Padmé's side, resting a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"I'm sure everything will turn out alright." The lie tasted like venom in Luna's mouth, yet it came out as reassuring as ever.

"I don't know...." Padmé muttered.

Not really knowing what else to do, Luna gently hugged the woman. It wasn't long until they were both embracing each other. The girl could feel Padmé's silent tears soaking her tunic but didn't say anything, knowing that if it weren't for the pregnancy, the Senator probably would have had better control....

After all, Luna was managing through pure effort of will to not let her own tears fall....

Because that would give away the fact that she wasn't sure....

And whether or not she liked it, Luna knew that she was one of the very few rays of hope around. Her certainly was their certainty. If she believe they could change things, they would believe it.

And if she showed any doubt, they would doubt....

And if they doubted anything, Sidious was bound to win.

***

By the time Anakin came to Padmé's office, the Senator had pulled herself back together, and Luna was entertaining her with the story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, because Force knew she need to find some way to get both their minds off of what was happening and Harry Potter was one of the few book series she had read all the way through that had nothing to do with Star Wars.

Of course, said story came to a grinding halt when Anakin entered.

Both of them just stared at him for several moments.

"Just to be clear, when Obi-Wan visited you this morning, it had nothing to do with politics, right?" Anakin asked as he rubbed his face.

"Of course not, he just wanted to know how I was doing after....everything," Padmé replied after a moment.