The next morning, Padmé was furiously working to complete a giant checklist. Preparing for a battle had an endless list of tasks, and she had at least a third of them (with the other two thirds going to Bail and Mon). The most important thing was to ensure that everyone in the base had enough supplies to do their job during the battle. In order to do that, Padmé had to talk to several people, including the head mechanic, the hangar manager, and the head physician. After talking to those three people, she headed over to the office she shared with Bail and Mon.
"You're back quickly," Bail remarked, glancing up from his messy desk.
"Well, my checklist isn't complete yet," Padmé admitted, smiling. "But I thought I'd come in and report a few things immediately. I've talked with the mechanics, pilots and doctors. Mon, the head doctor would like to speak with you. He needs some funding for supplies from the local hospital."
Mon nodded and silently typed some things onto a datapad. She was the manager of finances at the Rebel Base, so anyone's money questions went to her.
"And," Padmé went on, "the mechanics need some supplies too, and they don't have time to go out and get them. I could make sure someone takes care of that."
"I'll send someone," Bail said.
Mon stood up, holding her datapad. "How about the pilots?"
"They have enough supplies, so they don't need anything from us. But I did tell the hangar director to run two or even three safety inspections on every ship that will be used."
"Good," Mon said. "I guess I'll go talk to the doctors, then." She walked out and closed the door behind her.
Padmé was about to leave too, but Bail stood up and approached her, and pulled a handful of credits out of his wallet.
She blinked at him in surprise. "What's this, Bail?"
"For you," he replied, with a hint of a smile.
"Whatever for?" She stared at him pointedly. Sometimes the generosity of other people almost embarrassed her, especially when she had plenty enough of her own money.
"It's so you can go out and do something with your son. Take a break, enjoy yourself."
"But... I can't! I still have a lot to do." Padmé gestured to her checklist. "I'm not halfway done for the day."
Bail shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it. Talking to the pilots and everything was the brunt of it, and the only other thing we'll really need you for is the strategy meeting tonight. The rest of these tasks can be delegated to other people. Padmé, relax! You've worked nonstop since the Rebel Alliance first started."
"I just don't feel that this is fair.... You and Mon have worked nonstop too!"
"Yes, but... you have a son. He deserves some time with you. Do this for him, if anything."
Padmé sighed. How could she refuse a gift that would technically help her be a better mother?
"All right." She reluctantly accepted the credits. "Thank you, Bail. You really don't have to do this!"
"I know," he said with a warm smile. "But I don't need that money. Have fun with Luke!"
"I certainly will." Padmé returned his smile and headed out of the office.
She felt almost giddy as she walked down to the children's center. Bail had no reason to go out of his way to do something so kind for her and Luke. They had been friends for a while, but they weren't too terribly close... were they? Part of her wondered if Bail had some greater motivation for this. But then again, Padmé knew she was prone to overanalyzing people. Bail is just being nice, she thought. He cares about Luke. That's all.
Before she could excuse Luke from his classes, she had to wait a few minutes for a lesson to end. Then he was hers for the rest of the afternoon.
He was immediately full of questions as they got into a speeder and drove out of the Rebel Base. "Mommy, why did I get to leave so early? Where are we going? Is something bad happening?"
"No, Luke," Padmé said with a laugh. "We get to have some fun. I have time off today, so we get to go see the city!"
Luke scrunched up his tiny little nose in confusion. "Why is the city fun?"
"Because there's a lot to do. Good places to eat and shop, and lots and lots of interesting people to see."
"Yuck, shopping," Luke grumbled.
"So, you wouldn't even enjoy shopping for toys?"
His blue eyes widened. "You can shop for toys?"
"Of course!" Padmé grinned in amusement. "Where else do you get them?"
"I thought shopping was for boring stuff like clothes."
"Oh, no.... You can shop for anything." Padmé was particularly excited to get Luke a new outfit. She felt that clothes for children were the cutest things in the galaxy, aside from children themselves.
The nearest town wasn't terribly big, because Dantooine was sparsely populated, and the Rebel Base was rather remote. But the town was charming and quaint; it would be the perfect place to see during a day off.
As they drove past the small, nicely-decorated buildings, one restaurant immediately caught Padmé's attention- one that advertised Naboo-style food. Of course, that became their first stop. She only wished Luke could taste the real food from Naboo.
They took a seat inside and placed an order. Luke would not stop fidgeting and glancing around at everything.
"Luke," Padmé said, breaking the silence, "who are your best friends at school? Who do you play with most?"
He shrugged and fixed his gaze on her. "I don't know. No one, I guess."
"No one?" This had never occurred to Padmé before. She knew Luke had never taken much of an interest in his classmates, but how could he have no friends?
He wasn't responding, so she prompted him further. "Are they mean to you? Do they tease you?"
"No, not really."
"Do you tease anyone else? Say mean things?"
"No," he snapped, with a defensive edge in his voice. "It's just... I leave them alone, and they leave me alone. And that's okay with me."
Padmé was at a loss for words. She understood that some people were just introverts, and Luke was clearly one of them. He spent a lot of time in his own head, and he seemed content to keep his distance from others. But Padmé had never been like that, and neither had Anakin, so she wasn't quite sure how to relate to Luke in this way. How could she make sure he had enough space to feel comfortable, and yet encourage him to develop healthy social skills?
As always, she would just have to be patient with him.
"It's okay to do some things by yourself," Padmé finally said. "But you also need to have one or two good friends, because they can help you."
"Help me what?"
"Well, they can stand up for you if something bad happens, and you can study and play games together. So, Luke, I have something I want you to try. Do you see anyone else in your class that sits by themselves a lot?"
Luke scrunched up his face in thought again. "I think so... There's this one kid. I don't know his name."
"Then go and ask him what his name is, and maybe offer to play a game with him or help him with a project. Do you think you can do that for me?"
"Sure," Luke said with an emphatic nod.
Hopefully he would actually take her advice to heart. Padmé found that Luke had a way of acting like he agreed or understood, and then completely forgetting about the subject later.
After they finished their lunch, Padmé dragged Luke into a clothing store to get him a new outfit, and then they headed to the toy store.
The two of them walked up to the display window, where the first thing that caught Luke's attention was a massive model of an Imperial Cruiser. The thing was almost as big as he was. "Look at that!" he exclaimed, with a gasp of delight.
As he spoke, an earsplitting crack pierced the air. For an instant, the glass window appeared undisturbed except for being lined with thousands of cracks- and then all the pieces crashed to the ground.
Padmé and Luke gaped at the scene. No tangible object had struck the window. They were the only people close to the store. The busy street fell silent, and passersby stopped and stared at them.
"Luke," Padmé whispered hoarsely, "did you just-"
"I didn't do anything!" he hissed back.
In the crowd, Padmé caught a glimpse of the impeccable white armor of Stormtroopers.
Since when had the Empire made its way to Dantooine?
"We're going to walk away quickly," she said quietly, taking his hand. "Don't let go of my hand. Come on."
Luke ran to keep up with Padmé's long strides, breathing in frantic little gasps. Padmé walked briskly down the street, away from the crowds and the Stormtroopers. Hopefully they hadn't been seen.
She glanced behind and saw the two Stormtroopers shoving through the crowd. Towards her and Luke.
"Quick, this way." Padmé pulled Luke in a sharp right turn onto the next street, behind a few buildings. They zigzagged down as many streets as they could in an effort to lose the Stormtroopers. The buildings provided sufficient coverage to keep her and Luke out of sight, but she could still hear the armored footsteps and the garbled noises of comlinks.
"This way!" one of the troopers yelled behind a helmet that modified his voice. He sounded so close to them...
Heart pounding and lungs burning, Padmé crouched down and told Luke to climb up on her back. Once she could feel his sweaty hands gripping her shoulders, she took off running.
Of all the ways for the Rebel Base to be discovered, she had never imagined it would be found this way!
Padmé eventually came to their speeder. She didn't even wait for Luke to buckle up before stepping on the gas and accelerating in a manner that would have made Anakin proud.
She couldn't relax until they were back on the rural roads, and no one was behind them. Still, her racing heart refused to slow down.
"Mommy," Luke whimpered, "maybe... I did do something... but it was an accident! I promise!"
His voice was quiet and shaky, as if he were about to cry.
"Shh..." Padmé whispered. "It's all right. I think you used something called the Force, and it's a special gift you have, like your father. It's a good thing, but the Empire doesn't like it. I suppose this just means we have to be much more careful, Luke. I knew you have the Force, but I never knew it was this strong in you."
(Author's Note: Luke's Force abilities are starting to reveal themselves at a very inconvenient time! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please comment with any feedback you may have! Thank you for all your votes and comments so far; please continue to vote and comment. Thanks for reading!)