Assassin (A Star Wars Fan-Fiction) Book 1

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

I walked out of my room. Obi-Wan and I decided that we should leave at seperate times so that no one would get suspicious of our whereabouts. I walked down the long hallway, my destination being the maintenance room. I wanted to meet the droid that had saved all of our lives. The little astromech was a hero in my opinion, so I wanted to make his aquaintance. I pressed the sliver button on the control panel beside the door, causing it to slide open. I looked inside and saw the dirty droid being cleaned up by one of the Queen's hand-maidens.

"Hello." I said, making my presence clear.

The hand-maiden looked up, and I saw that she was very young. Her dark hair was hidden underneith her orange hooded cloak. She nodded respectfully to me, letting me know that she knew I was there, then continued to clean up the astromech droid.

"Greetings, Padawan Bleway. Is everything alright?" she asked. I nodded, looking down at the astromech. I kneeled beside the little droid, inspecting the damage that had been done while he was doing his heroic deed.

"Would you mind if I helped you?" I asked her. She gave me a thankful smile and handed me a rag to help clean the droid. I took the rag, returning a smile, and began to rub the side of the droid that the hand-maiden hadn't touched yet.

"I'm Padme." she said, extending her hand to me. I shook it firmly.

"I'm Denali." I said. "How old are you, Padme?"

"Fourteen. How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"I can imagine you started your training at a very young age." Padme said to me as we continued to wipe clean the droid, which I had found out was named R2-D2 from the name-plate it had screwed to its lid.

"Actually, I started training just four years ago."

"You were twelve? Aren't you suppost to be younger than that to be trained?"

"That's what I thought, but Master Jinn must've thought otherwise."

"Master Jinn?"

"He was the one who rescued me from a horrible fate. When I was little, my mother died and my father left my brother and I to fend for ourselves soon after her death on Alderaan." I said as we finished up washing R2.

"That's awful." she replied. I shrugged.

"It could've been worse. At least I had my brother for most of the time."

"Most of the time? What happened to him?" I was silent for a moment, trying to think of the best way to answer her question.

"He betrayed me. When I told him that I was leaving to become a Jedi, he....." I took a deep breath. "He punched me in the face." Padme covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

"Where was Master Jinn during this?" she asked quickly.

"He was starting up the ship and programming it to take us to Corasaunt. Thankfully Padawan Kenobi was there to protect me, otherwise I fear my brother, Danik,  would've done worse to me if he had gotten the chance." I said pretending as if it was no big deal. I tossed my rag over onto the counter and sat down across from Padme on the floor.

"I can imagine that must've been horrible." she said. I just shrugged.

"A Jedi isn't suppost to form attachments, so I guess the betrayal wasn't as hard on me as it would've been."

"No attachments? Doesn't that mean no friends either?" I shrugged again.

"I guess." I answered sadly.

"It must be pretty lonely being a Jedi, then." she said.

"Well, not really. I mean, I have my Master. And we're always there for eachother, so I guess it's kind of like having a friend." I told her. She nodded, staring at the floor. I could sense that she was feeling sorry for me, but I pretended not to notice. Many people over the years have felt sorry for me, but I learned to just let it slide. The droid suddenly beeped, and I could understand what it said perfectly.

"Good thing you're out of there."

"I agree, R2." I said to him. Padme looked at me strangely.

"You can understand him?" she asked. I nodded.

 "Finally, someone knows what I'm saying."

"I know how you feel, buddy." I said to him as I patted the metal ontop of his head, a smile on my face. Padme looked at me, amazed. I didn't see what the big deal was, Jedi could do alot of amazing things. Talking to and understanding droids were small things compared to the other stuff I could do, like lift objects by using the Force or by comunicating with Obi-Wan telepathically. After a moment of silence, I leaned back against the wall, my legs pulled up against my chest.

"I feel so sorry for Naboo. That blockade is terrible. You know, I've had a bad feeling about the Trade Federation for awhile now. It doesn't surprise me that they're pulling a stunt like this." I said. Padme nodded and slid over beside me, leaning her back against the wall as well.

"Hey, watch it, Padme. The Jedi's my friend, not yours." R2 beeped. I rolled my eyes.

"R2, relax. It's not a big deal." I said.

"What's not a big deal?" Padme asked as she looked over at R2.

"R2's just jealous that I'm hanging out with you. Since I'm the first being besides droids to understand him, he's feeling a little bit possesive." I explained. Padme chuckled, but then a grim look appeared on her face. I became concerned and waited for her to tell me what was bothering her, not wanting to pry. I could see tears forming in her eyes, I could sense her stress through the Force.

"It's so energy-draining, you know, watching all of the suffering. Naboo is my home, I don't want to watch it fall to people as awful as the Trade Federation." Padme said. I patted her shoulder supportively,knowing that she needed to let all of her feelings out.

"Don't worry, your Queen is strong. She'll know what to do. She's brave, smart, and confident. And with the help of the Republic, we'll get that blockade removed. Don't worry, everything is going to be alright. Your people will soon stop suffering, it's just a matter of time." I told her, trying to comfort her. She took a deep breath, wiping away her tears. She smiled softly at me, and I smiled back.

"See? From now on, everything is just going to get better. It can't get worse."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive."