At the end of a very long day, Kanan was finally receiving credits for the droids. Their master, a woman who had an expensive and elegant taste in fashion, made the payment. "That's very generous, ma'am," he noted.

"Well, I'm quite fond of these droids," she explained simply, smiling.

"Then I'm glad we can return them."

The woman smiled, stroking R2-D2's head. "The simplest gesture of kindness can fill a galaxy with hope."

"Isn't that a Jedi saying?" Kanan blurted out, right before realizing the question could further jeopardize his identity.

She didn't seem fazed, though. She didn't even answer the question but instead bowed slightly at him. "Safe travels, my friend."

He wanted to ask, he wanted to investigate further, but this was an anonymous transaction. His crew needed him to keep it that way. If this woman had any idea about who he was, it could stay that way, so long as no one else did. "Safe travels," he replied, walking off to board his ship.

Aboard the transport, she watched as the young man left her. When he was out of earshot, she leaned over to C-3PO. "You didn't tell them my name," she confirmed, and the protocol droid agreed.

"Of course, I didn't, Senator Amidala. But this entire ordeal has rather stressed every one of my circuits," he complained, forgetting immediately about the man walking away from them. "Permission to shut down?"

"Yes, Threepio," she assured him, and Padme smiled as he walked off to his compartment in the ship. It was for the better. The droid had a horrible habit of letting things slip, and he would need his memory wiped before long. It was easier to do when he was already powered down.

Kneeling next to the astromech, she asked, "You recorded everything, Artoo?" The daredevil droid confirmed, wobbling back and forth in excitement. He told Padme he could handle this mission. "Then forget the Imperials, we can deal with that later. Let's get everything you got on those rebels so we can get you back to where you're supposed to be." She handed him a small drive and let him copy the data over. She could go through it later.

The droid wheeled alongside her and accompanied Padme to her chambers. Activating the necessary encryptions, she made a call to the ship Rogue using the Fulcrum frequency.

It took a few seconds, but a hooded figure appeared projected in front of her. She didn't bother with a greeting, now was not the time. "The mission was a success, your droid has gathered the intel and copied it out of his system."

"And the rebels?" Agent Fulcrum asked, his voice masked by the cloaking features activated.

"Paid and sent on their way. I will have the drive with the data ready for you when you come to collect your droid."

"Perfect," Fulcrum decided, nodding before deciding to ask: "What do you think of them?"

Padme resisted the urge to look over her shoulder before answering. There was no one else on her ship that might betray her. She was safe to say this. "Spectre-1 matches the description of one of the possible survivors you've given. The data collected will confirm it."

She couldn't see Fulcrum's face, but she knew he was happy about this. News of any survivors was good news. "I'll meet you at the rendezvous." Nodding, she watched as the agent turned to Artoo. "Nice work, buddy."

Artoo beeped happily before the call was discontinued. Fulcrum's flickering image disappeared, and Padme sat in her chair next to the droid. A small whistle came from him, and he ejected the drive she had given him for the rebel data.

She took it and turned it over in her hands. "Make sure to wipe your memory," she instructed, looking up at him. "You know the protocol."

Indeed he did. Artoo rolled away after confirming the order, going to shut down with Threepio until his other master arrived on board. They had a few hours until Agent Fulcrum would be able to be present.

Once completely alone, Padme inserted the drive into her reader and opened the video files. Artoo had been eyes and ears for the Rebellion during their mission and had performed beautifully. She opened the recording with the man she had met in the hallway and played it.

There was only so much information, as the rebels had been cautious enough to mask their identities verbally, but that man was exactly the person Fulcrum had suspected might be in play. She watched him fight stormtroopers on the ground, keeping the disruptors out of the hands of Agent Kallus and his stormtroopers. He did quite well, but the Lasat who was fighting the Imperial agent was doing less so.

It was understandable. Padme couldn't imagine the trauma seeing those weapons must have caused him. Kallus had trained well with the staff he had stolen and was prepared to fight the Lasat. At one point Kallus had forced him to his knees, and for a moment Padme feared he had been lost in the fight.

Although, perhaps she should have expected the Jedi to intervene. Kallus went flying backward, his head hitting the ground and knocking him out. Artoo turned to see who had Force-pushed him, and Padme anticipated to see the man with his hand outstretched in Kallus' direction, but that wasn't what Artoo had seen.

It was a kid, a blue-haired, bright-eyed kid, who had thrown the agent back away from the Lasat. The man had been lying on the ground at the time, and he was staring at the same kid.

Padme fought the urge to call Fulcrum again and inform him about the boy. This was even more than they had hoped for. There wasn't just a survivor of the Jedi Purge but a Youngling as well! It wasn't the first time it had happened, but it was a rare occasion and a welcome one. They would have to wait to reach out, as per protocol, but it was just another source of hope and there was never enough of that.

She decided to wait until Fulcrum arrived, though. It would be better for them to talk in person, as it always was. There was a smaller chance of being overheard and there was just nothing like a face-to-face conversation. That she knew from experience.

Forming a Rebellion had taken so much time away from her family. Padmé wholeheartedly believed in the cause and knew how important it was, but she also knew how important her loved ones were. Very rarely did she ever take the time she had with them for granted anymore if she ever had because if her role in the Imperial Senate didn't take up her time, her role on the Rebel council did. Between the two of those, she was constantly running around the galaxy advocating both against and 'for' the Empire. She did have work friends, such as her staff and the other senators who were secretly working for the Rebellion, but it wasn't the same as being home. As close as she was with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma, they weren't family.

The Empire had a habit of searching her ship, so she didn't dare bring a picture of them, but she could still see the shining faces she associated with home. Her parents popped in and out often, although they had retired the family mansion to her and had moved to a small cottage along the beach. Her sister ran the household while she was gone, but she had her hands full with Padme's twin children, a teenage boy and girl not much older than the blue-haired Jedi apprentice, and her husband's brother who had been adopted into the family when the two of them had nowhere else to go.

Her husband wasn't at home often either, leaving Padme's sister and brother-in-law to watch over their niece and nephew. It tore the parents apart to not be with their children all the time, but her husband was in the Rebellion too and both kids understood how important their jobs were. The twins wanted to join the Rebellion and had expressed interest in doing so ever since they had been taught about what it was. She chuckled as she remembered them talking about it. They would turn sixteen in about a year and would undoubtedly ask to join at that time. Padmé wasn't sure she was ready to allow that, but she also knew she couldn't hold them back forever. Her daughter, in particular, was much like her father and was itching to fight, and her son had a very strong moral compass. The two of them were perfect rebel material.

She, her husband, her sister, and her brother-in-law had all begun seeking out alternatives that might satisfy the twins' desire. It was a delicate thing, finding a way to expose them to the outside world while also trying to ease them into it. Padmé highly respected the Ghost crew and how the teenagers were willing to join the fight, but she suspected it was for all the wrong reasons. What horrors had they survived that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good against the Empire at such a young age? Just because it was inspiring and uplifting didn't mean it was right. Children didn't need to be strong, they needed to be protected. The two teenagers in Captain Syndulla's crew were probably at the age where they could begin fighting for a cause, but this wasn't a recent development. They could have been fighting for years by now.

You couldn't protect people forever, as Padmé had learned. Especially children. When they started to transition into adults, it was time to show them the world they would inherit in the hopes that they could be the ones to change it. They had to learn how to get hurt and get back up, how to defend themselves and defend others. Despite her protective instincts, Padmé knew the time for her children to leave home was coming.

For now, though, they were safe but not doing nothing. Her brother-in-law, much like her husband, was a master of martial arts and had taken on the responsibility of training the twins while they were home. Just because her children didn't have some tragic backstory didn't mean they couldn't be experienced. The emotional strain was off in the future, but she knew for a fact that they were being pushed physically just fine. Padmé pulled up the recording of the Ghost crew and watched the apprentice Force-push again.

Smiling, she leaned back in her chair before shutting it off one more time. The Lothalian had experience with the harsh world of the Empire, but he had looked surprised at his strength in the Force. Her children may not know the cruelty the Empire was capable of, but they were well aware of their own capabilities.

Then again, given who their father was, that didn't exactly come as a surprise.