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(a/n): I know I've already said this but I just want to reiterate that for a lot of aspects in this story like the planets, government systems, and characters; I'm going to be doing a lot of improvising to make it all more interesting and fitting with the plot. Hope that's okay :)

(y/n) POV:

"Hello, my sweet girl. You look as beautiful as ever." My mother greeted with a warm smile on her face.

My heart burst with happiness to see her again; aside from my sister, my Mom was my motivation, my support, and the main reason that I've gotten to where I am today. She's decorated her life to leading my planet and teaching me everything I need to know about being a fair and bold leader, just like my father was.

Oh, how I wish I could see both of them in person, just once. Listening to stories of when they ruled together was nice, but it could never compare to actually experiencing it.

A wave of emotion washed over me as I remembered why I needed to talk to her, and for a moment I felt as if I was a little kid complaining to her about bruising my knees. If only my problems were that simple and innocent, but they sadly aren't. Instead, I'm coming to her with threats from our biggest enemy, and a decision that could cost everyone's lives and freedom.

I swallowed back my prying emotions, "As much as I wish we could talk more about non-political matters, I have to tell you that I've made a decision.....about King Alastair's request." I began, attempting my best confident voice.

She nodded and softened her cheerful gaze into one that said "I support whatever you choose."

Though I knew that was true, I also knew that my choice will impact her greatly, since she'll have to do twice as much work to protect the palace.

I sighed and held my head high, making it clear that my decision was final, "I will not marry him. If I did that, everything we've worked so hard for over the years will be for nothing. And if we give in so easily, then what kind of kingdom would we be? Even if we go down, at least we'll go down fighting." I believed what I was saying but my optimism sounded slightly forced, which it was considering my fear of the unknown.

We didn't know the extent of King Alastair's power, all we knew for sure was that his kingdom on Dantooine wasn't as strong as ours. But I didn't want to get cocky just yet, because something I've learned over the years is that an enemy is always full of unexpected surprises.

She closed her eyes and nodded, taking in my decision and the new gravity of this situation. I quickly glanced left and right to reassure myself that no one else was here. I locked the door and inspected every stall before calling my mother, but someone like me can never be too safe. And though I knew it was still too early in the morning for anyone to be awake—with the exception of Obi-Wan, for some reason—I had to keep my voice down in case any Jedi in the halls could hear me while passing by. One advantage of being a Jedi, though, was that I could sense if someone was close enough where I knew they were about to walk in on my calls.

As much as I disliked doing this in a public washroom, it's the best available space where I'm least likely to be interrupted.

My mother sighed, which caused my attention to snap back to her, and I saw that she was giving me a sad smile, "You have this fire inside of you that I haven't seen since your father was alive. You really are just like him."

My heart leapt to my throat as I felt another wave of emotion flood in my chest. I almost wanted to cry, because I was both happy and sad from her words, and I could tell she was too. I blinked back tears that were about to form at my eyes and took a deep breath.

"I wish I could've known him." I admitted.

We never really talked about him that much, because it was still a touchy subject even after all of these years. Though I was too young to remember, I know that losing a loved one changes everything. And for my Mom, nothing was ever the same for her. The same goes for Alderaan; when my father died, the world was off its axis for a while. The people weren't prepared to lose one of their beloved leaders so quickly and in such a cruel way.

She nodded and grabbed a tissue to wipe one of her eyes, "Me too, my love. You two would have adored each other." She smiled into the distance for a moment, as if she was remembering simpler times before her life fell apart.

But the moment ended as she cleared her throat, leaving the nostalgic trance she was in, "Now," she brought her hands together, "What do you plan to do for this next month? Time is of the essence and Alastair is not the naive little boy he once was all those years ago. We hardly know what he'll do; And when I inform him of your choice as soon as the month is over, I wouldn't be surprised if he finds a way to discover your location and identity."

I could tell she was starting to get stressed again, so I held my hand up to let her know that she didn't have to continue. "I know you're worried, and you have every right to be. But right now I'm asking you to have faith in yourselves and in me. In every bad situation, there is always some good. You just have to know where to look for it. And in this case," I gestured around myself, "I have all of Alderaan and the Jedi Order ready to defend me."

I hoped I did, at least. If this situation comes down to it, I may have to reveal my identity to everyone here. I personally doubt that will happen, but I know I have to be prepared for every possible situation.

What would everyone say if I told them? Obi-Wan? Anakin?

I don't think I've actually heard their theories about me, or anyone on the Council. I began to wonder if they thought I was dead like everyone else, or if they had other assumptions. It would definitely be interesting to know.

My mother nodded approvingly and waited for me to continue, and say my plan. I sighed and crossed my arms, "Honestly as far as my plan goes, I think it's best if we start with adding extra protection to the palace. Like you said, we hardly know what will happen, but the palace can never be too safe. Before we do anything else, I want our best soldiers to guard every room day and night, as well as the outside like the gardens and courtyard. I also think it would be good for our newer soldiers to began guarding the towns in case of any surprise attacks on the citizens."

I bit my fingernails as I anxiously thought of anything else we could begin with. Really, there wasn't much we could do with the little information we have. All we know is that supposedly my rejection will cause consequences for Alderaan. I decided to go easy on myself, and approved in my head that extra protection was a good first step. A Queen can only do so much, which is something I constantly have to remind myself of.

My mother sighed and nodded her head in agreement while straightening out her dress, "You're right. That would be an ideal starting point. I'll be sure that all of our newer soldiers are trained and ready for battle, which is hopefully the worst-case scenario. Is that all you need me to do right now?" She looked at me with curious eyes; though I could hardly determine the rest of her features through the hologram.

I nodded sadly, "Yes. I would love nothing more than to keep talking with you but, I can only stay in here for so long. It's a wonder how we've managed to do this for so many years without anyone seeing." I chuckled and played with the ends of my ponytail. It was true, I've been lucky enough on my calls that surprisingly no one has discovered them.

My mother waved her hand at me dismissively, "I realize you have other duties with your Jedi friends. Have you happened to take a liking to any boys yet?" She bluntly asked with a hopeful smile. "That sister of yours already has the younger soldiers swooning over her."

I tilted my head back and groaned at the question. Though she'd never force me to do anything I didn't want to, my mother in fact does want me to get married at some point. It's not like I've had to think about that topic as a whole until yesterday so I didn't know yet if marriage was something I even wanted.

"No. And the boys here aren't exactly likeable." I muttered, specifically thinking of one arrogant person.

She sighed at my apparent pettiness; she knows that I haven't exactly had much luck in the friend department here, mainly because I haven't made a full effort to do so much to her annoyance. "Well, that's something you can work on, then." She said cheerfully, as if it would be the simplest thing ever. "And I want grandkids! Take advantage of all the things your young and energetic body can do right now." She gestured up and down at me.

I gasped and tried to contain my laughter at how unapologetically blunt she was, "Hanging up now." I rolled my eyes humorously and made her hologram form disappear with the click of a button.

I found it funny how my mother doesn't quite understand the Jedi Code, even though I've tried telling her that we can't form attachments here. But to be fair, many people don't necessarily follow that rule anyways.

Feeling the fatigue settle in my bones from how early it was, I trudged out of the washroom and squinted as the rising sun shone through the windows of the halls. It was a harsh contrast compared to the dim lights of the washroom, and now all I wanted to do was go back to the comfort of my bed in my dark room.

I sighed tiredly and took step inside of my quarters, leaving the door open as I examined the room. I jumped slightly when I noticed Anakin on the other side of our living room, already up and dressed. His back was turned to me and it looked like he was occupied with rummaging through some scattered boxes in the corner.

Why is he up earlier than usual?

I didn't want to stick around to find out. Since he didn't acknowledge my presence, I assumed that he didn't know I was even here, so I turned around to leave as if I never came in.

But as soon as I turned around, the door immediately shut in my face on its own.

Alright, I guess he did know I was here.

I closed my eyes and sucked in my teeth, slowly turning back towards Anakin. This time his body was fully turned in my direction, and his eyes were narrowed suspiciously, "Where were you?" He asked.

I shrugged and decided to tell him the same thing I told Obi-Wan, "I had a lady problem."

Technically it was true, in a way. I had a Queen problem which I also consider to be a lady problem.

I moved to walk to my room so that I could hopefully get another hour of sleep, but Anakin stepped in front of me to block my path. I looked up at him with a 'What gives?' expression. "Why didn't you deal with that in here?" He asked, and I started to feel like I was being interrogated.

Why is he acting like I've committed a crime?

Beginning to get annoyed, I decided to sass him, "Would you like a synopsis of how I changed my tampon? Or better yet, should I go back and grab it from the trash for you to see?"

His features twisted into one of disgust, and I couldn't help but laugh even though I was still annoyed. Right as he was about to respond, I held my hand up and spoke again, "Now it's my turn to ask you a question. Why are you up earlier than usual?" I was genuinely curious to know.

He blinked in surprise at my question and then huffed in vexation, "I don't have to answer that." He gave me a stern gaze which only made my blood start to boil again.

He's going to pull the superior card out now? It amazes me how often he feels the need to assert his position in power. He thinks he can just freely ask me all the questions but when I ask him one thing, he decides that it's okay for him to shut down on me.

I didn't have time for this. The longer I stood here, the longer I wasted time that I could be sleeping. I scoffed through my nose and shook my head, "Fine, be a child and don't tell me. I won't beg and boost your ego." I muttered and walked around him.

I heard him growl softly from behind me as I felt my bicep being pulled backwards as I stumbled back to my spot in front of him. I was pissed that he grabbed me like that and was about to yell at him when he held a hand up for me to stop.

He sighed and released my arm, "If you must know, I woke up from another nightmare and couldn't fall back asleep." He looked away from my eyes and down to the floor, as if he was ashamed to tell me that.

My heart clenched unexpectedly at how dejected he suddenly sounded. I began to wonder, how often does this happen? Is this the reason he's always up so early, and usually in a bad mood? I mean, his arrogance and bravado is one thing; one very irritating thing. But I never bothered to ask why he constantly has a stick up his ass.

"Have you ever had nightmares about your Dad?" He asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. His eyes were once again curious instead of spiteful as they bore into mine.

No.

Seeing as I never knew my Dad, I had no memories that could be transformed into nightmares. Anakin didn't know that though; there was a lot he didn't know about me, I realized. I don't know why I said the next word that came out of my mouth, but it came out before I could think about it.

"Yes."

I swallowed nervously and curled my toes, knowing that I couldn't turn back from this now.

Anakin's eyes now held intrigue in them. He crossed his arms, "Well, what did you do to stop them?" He asked with a shocking amount of interest in his tone.

It was weird to be having a genuine conversation with him, but I wasn't complaining. This was much less exhausting compared to our usual fighting and arguing. A thought came to my head suddenly; if I help Anakin with making his nightmares go away, then maybe he'll only be an asshole half of the time. That might not sound like something to be very excited about, but considering how often we have to deal with each other, it is pretty exciting.

"I...Well, sometimes Master Yoda would read me stories at night. It usually worked, because then I'll have fallen asleep with the reality of the story fresh in my mind."

What am I even saying?

I hope that all makes sense to Anakin, it was the only believable thing I could think of on the spot. It must've made sense to him, though, because he nodded in understanding, "I can see how that would work." He stroked his chin as he thought about it, and I began rocking on my heels as I thought of what to say next.

"I know that you're not a toddler, but if you want," I began, regaining his attention as he looked back at me, "I could try helping your nightmares go away by telling you a story before you sleep. If it's not too weird for you." I quickly added the last sentence, in case he did think it was too weird.

I mean, reading bedtime stories to your Master isn't exactly the best ice breaker, but I'm willing to do that if it means his contemptuous attitude will dissipate.

He rose an eyebrow at my suggestion and I could tell he was considering it. He didn't say anything for a couple of moments, but just stared at me as he chewed his lip in thought. I refrained from rolling my eyes; another one of the many things he did that annoyed me was that whenever he thought deeply about anything, he for some reason had to take long dramatic pauses.

But I reminded myself that this was supposed to help us to not be as annoyed with each other, and I had to pull my own weight as well. I still hated Anakin though, so I wasn't doing this because I care about him or anything. I was simply just trying to make my life easier.

Although, I didn't know why hearing him so sad made my heart break so much. As much as I hated to admit it, I did empathize with him for losing his mother. I didn't want to but my heart couldn't help it. Maybe this was just the Queen in me, but I also felt like I had to help even though I despised him all the same. If this works, it may also get Yoda and Obi-Wan off of our backs too. It would be nice for them if they didn't have to worry so much about us fighting all of the time.

Anakin finally sighed and nodded, "Fine. But no funny business." He eyed me skeptically as if he thought I was just going to end up tricking him and not actually helping.

This time I rolled my eyes without hesitation, "Oh please, not everything I do revolves around plotting against you."

He smirked at my response and stepped closer to me, "So that means that you do plot against me sometimes?"

I scoffed and held back a smile as I walked around him to get to my room, "No. But as always, you're finding a way to make everything about yourself."

I entered my room and before I closed my door, I heard him chuckle amusedly from behind me. I sighed as I flopped down onto my bed to get that extra hour of sleep that I've wanted since I got back. As I slowly began to drift off, I thought about what would happen if my plan for Anakin worked. Maybe we could actually work together on missions and tasks, and start seeing eye to eye on strategies and ideas.

Not that I want to become best friends with him, but it would be ideal if we could co-exist together without always being at each other's throats.

It seems like a long shot to get there, but we'll never know unless we try. Getting his nightmares to stop might hopefully cause some changes for the better.

(a/n): I hope this chapter was good, I honestly didn't plan for the story to go that way at the end but I thought that the idea would be a good start to get their relationship from enemies to friends. Let me know what you think!💕

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