[At some point, she needs to learn just to say I love him and let it rest there. In the meantime, he can suffer being a friend--it's not like Padmé won't see the truth if she meets him.

She can't, exactly, bring herself to refer to Father and Mother as such in front of Padmé. It seems cruel, somehow, as if she's rubbing in the fact that the woman who gave birth to her couldn't see her grow up. Though she gives Padmé a nod, she thinks privately that it might be easiest to avoid the subject for now.

Besides, there are so many other things to talk about.]

You can see how convenient it was. [What years those were--exhilarating, frightening, without the certainty she has now. She was safer then, in some ways, but she was also constantly in danger of being found out as a traitor to the Empire.

There's a sort of comfort, comparatively, in being a known rebel. While it still involves sneaking around sometimes, she doesn't have to lie about who she is on a daily basis.] The Empire did, too. But it was a good place to start--and now we're doing greater things. I really think we have a chance.

[Some days, her hope is stronger than others, but overall, they've been succeeding. They have to win this fight--she's sure of it.] But I'll have to get home if I'm going to see it, and they're awfully coy about their ETAs here.