Card of Heart

Chapter 7 - Clovis

Author's Note: Ahsoka is amazing. :)

WARNING: Mentions of sexual harassment (forcing a kiss on someone), and references to rape/non-con (which did not actually happen, or if it did, no one knows).

~ Amina Gila

It's been a little over a month since she left the Order, and Ahsoka is proud to say that she has finally succeeded in finding some semblance of a life. She's sitting on the couch looking through some documents that Padme had asked her to go through, when Anakin arrives. "Did you hear what happened?" he asks, dropping down beside her with a sigh.

"What?" Ahsoka asks with a frown.

"Apparently, Padme's been arrested on Scipio."

"What?!" she yelps.

"I don't know how it happened," he tells her, rubbing his face tiredly, "But it was under charges of espionage. I didn't hear all the details, but it sounds like she was doing something in the vaults where she shouldn't have been, and around the same time there was an explosion that caused a power outage. Teckla was found dead near the area of the incident."

Wait, Teckla's dead?! Ahsoka didn't know her well, but she'd seen her after leaving the Order since she worked for Padme.

Just what has Padme gotten herself into now?! She was supposed to be going on a diplomatic mission to Scipio on behest of the Chancellor. How did that end with her getting accused of espionage? Knowing the things Padme does sometimes, Ahsoka gets the feeling she was probably trying to do some sort of investigation or something that the Muuns clearly didn't appreciate.

"Do we know where she is?" Ahsoka queries.

"Yeah," Anakin confirms, "I offered to go bail her out."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

***

"Maybe try not to get arrested again," Ahsoka chirps as she and Anakin are shown to the prison cell. Padme is lying on her side on a padded bench next to the wall. She immediately sits up as they enter. Ahsoka is silently relieved to see that at least Padme is alright, even if she's been in prison for a while now.

"What exactly is going on here?" Anakin queries, something akin to anger in his tone.

"Ani, Ahsoka, I'm so glad to see both of you," Padme greets.

"I guess I'm not only useful for fighting wars after all," he quips, crossing the room and taking a seat next to her.

Padme ignores the comment and instead wearily asks, "How long have I been in here?"

"A few days. And I'd really like to know what you were doing that got you arrested in the first place," Ahsoka tells her, raising an eye marking.

"They say Teckla is dead. Is it true?"

Anakin sighs. "Yes. She was found shot at the bombsite."

"By who?" Padme asks, looking stricken.

"No one knows. They say she sabotaged the power grid. What happened?"

Padme looks down and pauses. "You have to get me out of here. Clovis –"

Anakin stands abruptly, expression darkening slightly. "What exactly does Clovis have to do with this?"

"Wait, wasn't he the Senator who nearly killed you?" Ahsoka objects, frowning at Padme. Back before the second battle of Geonosis, she remembers hearing something about how Padme and Anakin were able to find the plans for the factory when they were on some mission with Clovis. And Padme had nearly died from poisoning.