Danni is eight years old, or she will be in six weeks anyway. She smiles brightly at Palpatine, swinging her legs below the table, too short to reach the floor. She doesn't have many thoughts about the politics of podrace teams, but she definitely has opinions about the pilots, their level of technical expertise, and their fashion sense. Maybe Palpatine will be more willing to hear her pontificate (read: babble) than the other beings at the table?

Sure. (She's avoiding offering any particularly substantive opinions here, anyways, and she can fairly deftly flip between offering polite non-opinions to the politicians and offering actual opinions to the child. And if Danni ends up insulting or complimenting certain people at certain times and volumes... Well, Danni's not quite eight. A loose tongue is to be expected.)

Did Danni enjoy the races?

She did! Here is what she thought the best parts were, and these are the best crashes according to her objective measure (which she will also explain). (There's some overlap in these categories, but that just means she tells the story twice.)

Palpatine has some very insightful feedback on tweaking her crash rating system, but mostly seems content to listen with only mild nudges to control Danni's energy levels and volume and topic.

Though, there's something here with how Danni is describing things, what she noticed, that's wiggling in the back of Palpatine's mind...

So, she nudges Danni to higher excitement, more volume, until offering to take Danni to look at the gardens brings clear flashes of relief across the faces of everyone around them.

She stands and holds out her hand to Danni. "Shall we, my lady?"

Oh we're being dignified now. Danni takes a moment to try to smooth out her face and hops up, only stumbling against the chair a little. She reaches up to take Palpatine's hand. "Let us go," she says gravely, and manages to hold that for almost three full seconds before giggling.

To the gardens, then! They're very lovely, and rather extensive, and full of littles nooks and crannies, only some of which are private.

Palpatine doesn't take Danni to one of those. She knows where the embassy here sticks their microphones. She instead takes Danni over to some fountains, massive faux waterfalls with 'natural' stone and crystals and hanging plants. They're a popular spot, in full view of much of the gardens and of the ballroom where Danni's father is, but Palpatine can tell whether people are paying attention, so.

"Do you spot things others don't a lot?" she asks.

"Kinda sometimes? It feels like other people just don't look as hard as they could."

"They really don't."

She glances around the gardens, and starts asking Danni questions about the guests in their line of sight - ones requiring steadily more intuition. She keeps up a playful tone, throwing in silly questions here and there, makes it a game, and stays with questions relevant to Danni's normal interests. (She knows the answers to her questions, but Danni shouldn't - but the girl's made insightful guesses before.)

She's got about a seventy percent success rate, once the questions that she wouldn't require any special knowledge to answer are factored out.

Pretty high.

Palpatine doles out her acknowledgements of Danni's successes carefully; the girl's already spoiled. No need to make it worse.

Then, relaxing some of the shadows around her own self, briefly, just to Danni - a gamble, but - 

"Have you noticed anything about me that no one else has?"

"You're special," Eridani informs her. "Daddy thinks you're a politician like him, that where you are now is where he used to be, but you're different."

Grin.

"You're pretty special too, you know."

"I know!"

"Oh, do you?"

"Mhm! Daddy always says so."

"Does he say why?"

"Not really. Or, he has a lot of reasons."

"They make you more special added all together?"

"Guess so!"

"Has he ever told you that you can do things others can't?"

"Nnnooo....?"

"I think you can," she shares, tone conspiratorial. 

Danni's eyes get very wide.

"Really?"

"Really. All sorts of things."

"Wow..."

"What do you want to do?"

"Like, when I grow up?"

"I don't think you need to wait to grow up to start doing things, though some things will take a lot of practice to get good at."

"I'm good at everything, though."

"Except humility?"

"Daddy tells me not to lie to friends!"

"Oh, so it's honesty you're good at instead, then?"

Nod nod. "Yeah!"

"What would you want to become, then, if you could become anything in the galaxy?"

Danni gives the question serious consideration.

"Hmmm...."

She gives Danni some space, then opens her mouth to start nudging her thoughts along -

And the door into the ballroom slams open, and Danni's father comes running out, face pale and clammy. He breathes a sigh when he spots Palpatine and Danni, then hurries over.

Danni is concerned! "Daddy?"

He scoops her up in a fierce, desperate hug. "My girl, my baby girl - "

Hugs!

"What happened?"

"Everyone - they're dead - your mother, Alar, Tedir - "

He squeezes her tighter, sobbing.

"No!" Danni starts crying too.

...Shit.

Palpatine -

Starts trying to get privacy for the grieving family. Arranges for Kim and Danni to be taken back to their hotel, soothes ruffled feathers from Kim's departure, makes sure nothing gets lost in the shuffle -

And then - sits with them, tries to keep them from spiraling too deeply into grief, and wonders if she feels sad.

(She hadn't clicked with Vidar Kim the same way she did with Hego Damask. Hadn't clung to him quite as tightly, quite as desperately - had never tried to make herself his daughter in all but name. But she's known all of Kim's children since before they were born. The family's sheltered her more than once.)

(Wonders if she feels angry, maybe. Arranging the funeral will take a while, keeping the Kims afloat will keep her even busier, keep her from stopping and thinking things through, from doing her own investigations as promptly as she'd like - but, well. That's all very convenient, isn't it?)

Palpatine becomes even more of a fixture than she'd already been in the Kim household, in the days after.

Danni is very clingy, afterwards. More with Palpatine than her father, when she's around and available. Being with Daddy just makes her more sad because he's sad, a lot of the time.

If Palpatine's sad, it's the sort of thing no one else will see.

She's pretty around, and somehow more available than Danni's parents were even when both of them were alive (her daddy had been basically glued to her, but - Palpatine feels present, in a way he never actually has. Like she sees Danni, and not a girl in a princess dress). She ends up making all of Danni's meals (Kim's, too, leaving them in the fridge when Kim is withdrawn; she pushes her way into his room if he hasn't eaten in a while. She does the dishes, after). Makes sure Danni's clothes are washed, and her room's clean enough. Gathers her makeup work from her school and tutors, and uses school as a pretty decent distraction from Danni's grief. Takes her for walks when her daddy's mood is sour, and to Palpatine's office on days Palpatine has work (which is nearly all of them; Danni ends up falling asleep there more than once, since Palpatine has to work so late. She always wakes back up in her own bed). She lets Danni cling.

The funeral was enormous and solemn, and Vidar Kim broke down at the cremation of his family - and his depression has only worsened, taking on shades of desperation and a mercurially shifting paranoia.

Palpatine keeps Danni isolated from it, as best she can, but... Danni still hears about a lot of it. There's murmurs of removing Kim from his post, if he doesn't improve by the time his bereavement leave is over. There's talk that Palpatine is basically already Naboo's acting Senator. There's a rumor Kim met with his only surviving son, the one given to the Jedi - that the teen refused to leave the Jedi to rejoin Kim on Naboo - that Kim's been speaking as if Ronhar, his son, is his only heir.

...That's a little bit not fair of Daddy. Danni's still here.

"Your father's very scared and sad right now," Palpatine says to her, softly. "Because his entire world changed suddenly, and because you both lost so much, and now he's terrified he'll lose what he has left. He's trying to reunite your family and keep you all safe, as best he can, but..."

"Fear and grief make us into people we aren't, if we let them control us."

"He shouldn't let it do that, then."

"He shouldn't," she agrees, plainly. "Most people do, though."

Sadface.

Hug?

Hug's always good.

"You'll get through this," she says, "One way or another."

"...Yeah..."

She pets Danni's hair. "This hurt will make you stronger, so long as you don't allow it to break you."

"I won't. I won't let it break me."

"Good."

Firm hug.

Snuggle.

"Do you want to stay over with me a bit more?"

"That'd be good."

Her apartment's not exactly set up for two people, but - kids don't take up a lot of space, and Palpatine barely sleeps, anyways. (...Okay, rich kids take up a lot of space. But even as Danni spends more and more time over - Palpatine puts her foot down about more than a few items drifting their way over. Essentials and basics. A few sentimental items. Anything educational. Not much more.)

Danni's father has periods of stability, over the next two years. Fewer and fewer, though, and he seems to sink ever deeper into depression. The few times he stirs - paranoia, only, and he becomes increasingly convinced his family was killed by enemies of his.

(...Force sensitivity can run in families a bit, Sidious knows. Not always strongly, but...)

(Sidious takes the time she has Danni to start exploring the girl's Force sensitivity. Using the dark side is immensely dangerous, so Sidious doesn't want to push her into it - but she nudges Danni into the sort of exercises that'll prepare her mind. Meditation. Self awareness, and self control. Focus. Hesitantly - she needs to teach Danni tolerance for pain. Deprivation. Suffering.)

(She wouldn't with Shmi, not confidently. She can't, here.)

(She signs Danni up for martial arts. Seems... More useful, anyways. She tells Danni 'no' over things like large purchases, not food and water and warmth. Practices walking away, rather than raising her hand or voice. Tries for pointing out reality to Danni, without tearing her down. It's the hardest thing she's ever done, and she doesn't always succeed, and she's not even sure which failure of a father figure she learned all her complete inability to parent from. (She has a breakdown at Shmi, and then starts figuring out how to apologize. She hates Shmi, sometimes, even when the woman - who's been flying through her schoolwork - is being incredibly useful.))

Two years pass, and Danni's father becomes more and more detached from the reality everyone else lives in. (Sidious stays busy, but not always with Sith business - she turns down several of Plagueis's effectively-bribes for interesting places to visit. They'll take too much time, and arranging someone to care for a child without letting anyone know where you're going is apparently hard, actually. She mostly keeps up with Plagueis's errands.)

Two years pass, and Sidious has a meeting with Plagueis -

Plagueis said nothing for a long moment, then continued: "The circumstances will be different for you. You won't have the satisfaction of seeing your opponent die in person, because we want to ensure your deniability. A public assassination on Coruscant would be best for sending a message."

"Senator Pax Teem," Sidious said in a raspy voice, tinged with residual anger.

Plagueis shook his head. "Teem may yet prove useful. I'm referring to Senator Vidar Kim. His sentiments have made him a liability. More important, his death will allow us to position you where you've long yearned to be."

"And a chance," Plagueis said after a short pause, "To rid ourselves of unnecessary baggage."

(It's strange, isn't it, that Sidious can hide even the worst, most all consuming rage from a Sith Lord, but sometimes screams at a child over minor annoyances?)

It's Darth Sidious that contacts a mercenary to arrange a staged kidnapping -

And somebody else who makes the actual arrangements.

"So let me get this straight," the mercenary says, face hidden behind a stylized helmet in the ancient Mandalorian style. "You want the kid alive- but the Senator dead. You do understand how a ransom ploy typically works, right?"

"Sure I do."

"We want," she says, "Nobody outside of us to know the kid is alive."

"...Twenty percent surcharge. Weirdness fee."

...Snort.

"Deal." Not like it's her money she's spending.

"Right. I'll need three weeks for recon. We can move at any time after that."

"Acceptable."

"You have my comm frequency. When the payment transfers, I'll start."

She nods.

There's some further details to clarify, but - 

The payment goes through with no problems, after.

Then Fett will start work. She gets a feel for the Senator's routine, his security, weaknesses therein...

And Sidious has Danni come sit beside her one night after dinner. "I have something important to tell you," she says.

"What is it?"

...She should - disassemble. Just get Danni to obey her instructions. 

Should just have planned the entire thing around Danni being unaware, honestly, but.

"There's a very powerful person who wants to harm you," she says, evenly.

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't care." (Except, sometimes, Sidious is terrified Plagueis cares about her.) "Not about you. He's decided your father is a liability, and - "

Deep breath. "He dislikes that I'm focusing on you, and not on working for him," she says, voice tight. "I'm - sorry."

"Oh." Palpatine seems like she needs a hug. Danni gives her a hug.

"What do we do?"

Hug.

"We're going to fake your death."

That seems kinda cool.

"Kay."

Soft smile. "You can't stay with me, after, but I've arranged for someone to watch you for a while. She's going to teach you to protect yourself."

Hmmm.

"Is she nice?"

"Yes. She's stern, but the way Mister Zin is." (That being Danni's usual martial arts instructor.) "So you'll learn a lot from her, and she'll keep you safe. You might need to work on your charm to get very many extra desserts out of her, though."

"Uh-oh."

She laughs. 

Then: "Pulling this off is going to be complicated, though, and you need to listen to me very carefully, and do exactly what I tell you, okay?"

Nod nod. "I can do that."

"Good."

She explains, then, what she wants Danni to do. 

Danni carefully commits everything to memory. She won't let Palpatine down.

She's a good kid.

She's doing her best. And her best is pretty good.

It is.

"It'll be a few years before I can see you again, once we do this."

"I'll miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too." Squeeze.

She'd better stock up on hugs, then.

Yeah. (Hug.)

And - they can't let on that anything's more off than it should be, but they can get away with a few visits to Danni's favorite places. Use up some of her vacation days.

Yay! Can they go to the water park?

Absolutely.

Danni, for one, has a grand time.

Palpatine does too, actually. (And she even joins Danni properly this time, rather than sitting outside of the splash zone with a data pad like she usually does.)

Whee!!

And, three weeks later, Vidar Kim and his young daughter are kidnapped and held for ransom, taken from the safety of their apartment on Coruscant while Danni visits her father - a media storm builds up fast - Naboo doesn't negotiate with terrorists, and security forces have been caught off guard - 

And a group of vigilantes who think they're doing the right thing try to rescue the two.

The ensuing firefight leaves some scraps. Enough for Coruscant's better forensic teams to identify at least somewhat of who was on scene, but the ships are effectively slag, and one of them burst apart while trying to jump to hyperspace, and they can't reconstruct more than that. And the Jedi's best for psychometry get only jumbles - Vidar and Danni Kim were on the ship at some point - 

Nothing else. There's a moody cloud over the wrecks, a storm of fear and anger in the Force. 

Palpatine is appointed Senator in a rush, sent into a Senate quaking in its seats. The funeral for the Kims is well attended, despite Vidar Kim's many enemies, and the sensationalist coverage - which, some tabloid reporter or another figures out Palpatine was Danni's guardian - creates uncertainty that can be easily taken advantage of.

Neither Danni nor Fett are on the ship when it's destroyed, of course. 

Starkiller rendezvous with them shortly after the last time Fett needs to confirm the Kims are still alive. The schedule's tight - 

But they're professionals, or close enough, and Danni has her script.

Vidar Kim is left on board with a clouded mind and a ship full of very, very carefully placed explosives, and Starkiller never sets foot on the condemned ship. She's in the airlock between the two, though, and welcomes Danni and Fett to her ship.

Palpatine had shown Danni a holo of her. She looks and feels - different, in person. Sturdier. Quieter.

She doesn't feel dangerous, not really. (Not imminently, at least.)

"Hi, miss Starkiller," Danni says quietly.

"Hi, miss Danni." She holds her hand out. "Let's get you strapped in."

"Kay." She takes Starkiller's hand.

And she takes her into the cockpit. Starkiller and Fett will be in the pilots' seats, but there's a seat near the door, out of the way, where she'll still be able to watch what's going on. 

"Don't look back," Starkiller advises her, softly, and starts the process of separating from the condemned ship.

She doesn't look back. She still knows when the explosives go off, when her father dies.

She's not sure what to feel about that.

Once they're free - 

Starkiller will be available at least some of the time, if Danni wants to talk. About this, or other things. 

"...I don't have any family left."

"By blood?"

"Yeah..."

"Are there other kinds of family?"

Danni squints suspiciously.

"-You're doing the ask questions to make me realize I know the answer thing."

"Possibly."

Hrm.

"I guess... friends are kind of like family?"

"Depends on what part of it matters most to you."

"The- being there. Loving each other."

"Being there is hard, sometimes, for friends or family. And love isn't always enough, and sharing blood doesn't guarantee love will exist. And sometimes we're wrong about who we love, or who loves us."

"But you do have someone risking a lot to keep you safe, right now. That's not a guarantee either, of course, especially not in the galaxy we live in, but..."

She pauses, gathering her thoughts.

"Things are hard."

"They are."

Small girl, big sigh.

"'M gonna miss everyone."

"I know."

"They'll miss you, too."

Is Starkiller available for snuggles?

Sure.

Snuggles always help Danni feel better.

They're good for that.

Yeah!

There's a decently long trip to the safe house - but, they're putting Danni near enough to where Starkiller usually works that she can stop by without major issues.

They've prepared it with some things, but - is there anything Danni wants Starkiller to try to bring next time she visits?

She thinks she'll be okay for now. Maybe next time she'll have discovered she wants something.

"Alright."

"See you later, then?"

"See you."

And she takes her leave.

"Well kid," Fett says, stepping up to Danni and putting a hand on her shoulder, "let's get started, huh?"

She smiles up at the armored mercenary.

"Looking forward to it."

It's six years until she sees Palpatine again. A decent amount of news reaches Danni - Palpatine wants her to stay abreast of current events and politics - but not much of Palpatine's personal life. Danni knows she was appointed Senator after Vidar Kim's death. Knows from brief asides from Starkiller that Palpatine has befriended Ronhar Kim, Danni's Jedi brother, and that she's found her way back into Plagueis's good graces.

(Danni knows much more about who Plagueis is, now.)

Palpatine arrives on a quiet day not very long after Danni turns sixteen, in a small, fast ship that looks like it should belong to a smuggler, not a politician. She's dressed to match, and would look unremarkable if Danni didn't know better.

Danni's grown about four inches since Palpatine saw her last and has switched to wearing her hair braided back, out of the way. She wears a synthleather vest over a cream tube top, loose pants tucked into sturdy boots, and is currently beating the hell out of a training dummy with a pair of tonfa.

She stops at the edge of the training grounds to watch.

It doesn't take Danni long to notice her.

"You're back!!" she shouts, bounding over with a big grin.

"I am," she says, with her own soft smile. "Sorry it's taken me this long."

"I haven't been wasting my time, but I've missed you." Hug?

Hug! "Same."

"What've you been up to?"

"Lots of training. Kayra says that if I'm on the run from a Sith Lord, I should know how to fight one, just in case."

"Well, then."

"Up for a spar?"

"Show me what you've got."

Smirk.

And then she flips Danni, pinning her to the mat.

She's very, very fast. 

Hah. "Nice."

She responds with a complicated twist and scissor that ends with Danni free back on her feet several yards away.

She waves a hand, almost idly, and a wave of force slams into Danni, trying to throw her back, as Sidious's lightsaber jumps into her hand. 

She rolls with it scooping up her (wooden) tonfa.

"Playing dangerous?"

"It has a practice setting." She flicks it onto that; it'll scald, but not burn. (Plagueis never taught her how to make a training saber. Figuring it out herself had been... Interesting, to say the least.) She takes a wide stance then, apparently content to let Danni come to her this round. 

Danni spins her tonfa around a couple times, then closes. She's light on her feet, darting from side to side then lashing out quickly.

Sidious defends herself with as little effort as possible at each strike, lightsaber flicking to block - and then she twists instead of blocking, aiming to create an opening in Danni's guard she can push into. 

She flips her grip and pushes the blade aside with a crossing sweep, jabbing with the other weapon.

She catches it with the Force, like a cheating cheater who cheats, and brings her lightsaber back in - flicking it off and then back on to avoid Danni's next block. 

Dodge! And dip down to sweep the leg.

She jumps higher than should be possible, sweeping down at Danni's head.

Right hand to block high, left to threaten Palpatine's landing.

She twists to land behind Danni.

She rolls forward and regains her footing.

Sidious isn't giving her much time for that, pressing her attack fairly aggressively. 

Danni's pretty good. Better than most people, even. She puts up a fight.

But she is, in the end, not quite at Palpatine's level.

She gets a painful scald across her side as Sidious's lightsaber finally gets through her guard - 

And that ends the spar.

Sidious turns her lightsaber off, and: "Good fight."

Hiss.

"It was. You're really good."

"I've practiced. A lot."

Hand up?

She takes it.

"Fett says you've been improving quickly." Small smile. "I can see why."

"It's not just because of my pretty face."

"I'd be very disappointed in her if your pretty face affected Fett's evaluation of your skills."

"Nah, she's a real hardass. Plus, you're paying her too much to lie."

"Many people will lie more often for money. But I hired her because she's honest with her employers, as well as competent."

"I think she's worth it."

"You're satisfied with her, then?"

Nod.

"Yeah, it's been good."

"Then she's been worth it."

"Good that you think so."

Nod.

"So- why're you here?"

"I wanted to see you again," she says, "And I was able to make an opportunity."

"And Fett has reported you're likely ready to begin training to use the Force."

"-Train me to what."

"Did she not pass that on to you, then?"

"Uh. No."

"Well, let me be the one to give you the good news, then - you're Force sensitive."

"Oh."

"Cool."

Grin. "It is, and it's a powerful destiny. One I'm going to prepare you to seize."

"Sounds like fun."

"If you think incredibly hard work is fun, sure."

"You'll be teaching me, though. So I'll get through it."

"...I'll try to be - "

Not worthy. That's - the wrong thought here.

"The teacher you need."

(But maybe she does mean worthy of Danni's trust. How the fuck are you supposed to teach children the world will kill them if it can, without killing them yourself?)

Hug.

Hug.

"...It's really good to see you again."

"Same."

"I'm - sorry it's been so long."

"Some hunts you need to prepare the ground for."

"True. And this is one I don't want to make mistakes in."

Serious nod.

"Everything's going to be harder and more dangerous from here on out, for a very, very long time."

"But you'll improve faster, now, if you dedicate yourself. You'll be one of the powerful, and not one of the weak."

"I want that."

"Then I'll show you the path to it."

"I know you will."

Smile. 

"I have some more tests for you first, though."

"What kind of tests?"

"I want to see if you're ready to start training in full. So - tests of concentration, memory, reactions, endurance, and the like."

"Makes sense."

"Good."

"The Dark Side of the Force is immensely dangerous, far more so than any weapon you've wielded before now, and even more so than any weapon I know of. It will twist you. It will try to sweep you away in its currents, and it will try to break you until you're nothing more than a vessel for it."

"Plagueis would tell you to surrender to this. To embrace your breaking, and let it reshape you into its embodiment. I believed that, for a very long time. I was a fool."

"I'm telling you now to not let it, to hold on to who you are until the bitter end - and that is galaxies more difficult than releasing your grip."

Slow nod.

Sigh.

"I don't want you experimenting without a spotter, not yet. Eventually you'll be better able to supervise yourself, but, well - "

"I'm sure you've already experienced what can go wrong with pushing yourself too hard even just physically without someone there to catch you."

"I don't mean to hold you back, and I want you to grow powerful as quickly as sustainably possible. I want to be there to patch you up if you fall."

"Force is dangerous, got it."

Soft smile. "Starkiller's method is safer for some people, though not entirely risk free, and I think the Dark Side will suit you much better."

"And I want you as my apprentice, not hers. I can get a bit possessive, you know."

"I've noticed that about you."

"Obvious even when you were a child?"

"More in retrospect."

"Fair enough."

"Hindsight has a way of revealing things to us."

Giggle. "Yeah."

Smile. "Anything else interesting it's shown you?" she asks, tone almost teasing.

"Ma~aybe..."

"Feel like sharing?"

"Not just yet."

"Alright."

Hum.

"So are we starting now?"

"What we can."

"Have you kept up with your meditations?"

"Yeah. Kayra has me do it too."

"Good." She asks a few more increasingly in depth questions about what Danni has been learning or doing.

Lots of physical training. Running, lifting, martial arts unarmed and with a weapon. A lot of miscellaneous technical and survival skills. Piloting, camping, tracking, slicing, electronics repair. Her book learning is mostly through the materials Starkiller brings when she visits. (Danni hasn't been slacking on that, exactly, but she's overall less enthusiastic about it.)

She transitions fairly smoothly into quizzing Danni, looking for her understanding of material and her ability to think about it, rather than her recall. 

She understands pretty well, though she doesn't always know she does.

Sidious draws that out, too, fairly relentlessly. 

This might count as an endurance test all on its own. Sidious lets her get food and water, but doesn't stop making her think.

It's surprisingly hard work.

And it's something she'll need to get better at.

Yeah...

Which is what she has a teacher for.

Good point.

"You're already doing far better than most."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Most sixteen year olds would have hit a mental wall about an hour ago."

"...Huh."

"You're doing well. And you've improved pretty dramatically over the last six years."

Smile.

She ruffles Danni's hair. "Now, you need to keep it up."

"I'll do my best."

Nod.

"Time for a break," she decides. "Let's see what else you can do physically."

"Sounds good to me."

To a more familiar sort of exhaustive testing, then. 

Danni's gonna do so good.

She does.

Sidious responds by pushing her harder and harder, until she collapses in a panting heap. (Or asks to stop, but, well. Sidious clearly expects her to go to her limits.)

Danni collapses before she gives up.

Good. 

She at least clearly knows how to handle overexertion, bringing the stuff Danni typically uses after an intense workout over. 

Ahh, delicious fortified sports drink.

She sits next to Danni while she recovers. 

Eventually she recovers enough breath to talk.

"Haven't had a day like that in a couple weeks."

"It's not going to be every day, but..."

"This sort of day is going to get more common."

Nod.

"I can take it."

"I know you can."

"Your faith is reassuring."

"I have a very discerning eye for these things."

Hee.

Heh.

"Now... I'm not always going to want you to push yourself, either. You need to learn to go to your limits, and you need to learn how to not go there - the point of collapse is a dangerous place to live."

"Recovery is important," nod nod.

"And getting out of a threatening situation before you're in over your head."

"Okay."

"Like I said. It'll be hard work."

Bump. "I'm good for it."

Smile.

And - off to dinner with them. They're done for the day. 

It has been a long day. But fun, too.

Yeah.

And, over dinner: "You're ready to begin training in the Force."

"Does that mean I get to leave with you?"

"Yes. Though you won't always stay with me, and sometimes you'll be with Fett or Starkiller, or even on your own - your survival is still secret."

Nod.

"Will I be able to come out ever?"

"Not until Plagueis is dead. After that..."

"I don't know."

"Do you have a plan to kill him?"

"...Not a specific one."

"He's stronger than me, and he's often delusional, but he's also smart and entrenched. He has extensive political connections, and enough wealth to grease whatever wheels he wants. I'm building up networks I think he doesn't know about, which... Might allow me to arrange an opportunity, especially through people he would tend to overlook."

"I might also be able to take advantage of opportunities someone else creates - he has very many enemies - but I need to be somewhat cautious with those."

"Let me know what I can do to help."

"I will."

"That'll be much of your life when you're away from me - I'll have missions for you, and goals to work toward."

"Love a good goal."

"Then your life will contain plenty of things you love, in with the getting repeatedly run into the ground."

Laugh.

Hee.

"There's a bit of a ceremony around formally becoming my apprentice," she says. Then, with a soft smile: "And I expect Fett will want to mark your passage from her tuition."

"A vigil, I bet."

She nods. "I'll ask you to swear yourself as my apprentice - to heed me as your teacher and not work against my goals so long as you remain under my tutelage. I'll swear to guide and support you for the same duration."

It's a far cry from what she swore to Plagueis - to forever bind her will to him and to his Order - and he had sworn nothing in turn to her.

Sidious has been thinking, lately, about her desire to have an apprentice who won't stab her in the back. How to actually create that relationship, and not merely demand it. 

(She's been thinking about what she'd first hoped Plagueis would give her. What he'd denied her, and how he'd turned her from an ardent supporter to his deepest enemy. (She thinks, sometimes, that if he hadn't tried to force her to kill Danni, she'd still be his in some ways. Thinking about killing him from time to time, but - not actually working toward it. But there'd been cracks even before that, and an apprentice who'll impulsively try to kill her if given a good enough opening is in her mind worse than one steadily planning it.))

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Not what you were expecting?"

"No blood rituals or dancing around naked under a midnight sky, so."

"...You have a very active imagination."

"There's kind of a lot of old Sith legends floating around the galaxy. You know, if you look for them."

Snort. "I've looked."

"And I kind of," she waves a hand vaguely. "Filled in some gaps."

"Did you now?"

"Mhm!"

"Not sure I want all the details."

"Suit yourself."

Heh. "You think the details are worth hearing, then?"

"Seeing," Danni says. "I drew pictures."

"You've kept up with art, then?"

"Yeah. It's fun. And a good way to discreetly and quickly convey complicated information."

"I'd like to see some of your work, then."

"I can show you after dinner."

"Alright."

To finish that, then.

And then Danni fetches her datapad and scrolls through until she finds... cough- an appropriate gallery of her work.

She keeps a perfectly straight face, commenting only on such important parts as composition, symbolism, and anatomical accuracy.

Danni's definitely got an eye for how to evoke a particular emotion.

Shows quite a bit of potential. Maybe Sidious should make her Minister of Propaganda, once herself as Palpatine gets a stronger say in the government. 

"And by 'stronger say' you mean total control, right?"

"Well, I'll still take my advisors' input into consideration."

"An enlightened despot."

"One who will be adored by her every subject."

"Dunno how anyone couldn't."

Preen. "Even my enemies will love me."

"Them most of all."

"Oh? You don't think those directly under me will adore me most?"

"You can make it a competition. Have a public holiday for demonstrations."

"And the winner gets my close and personal attention for the day."

"Yeah!"

"Of course, some people wouldn't even need to participate for that prize."

"Apprentice people?"

"Of course. They've already beaten out all the competition in the galaxy."

Hee!

"Advisors, too, though the adoration requirements won't be as strict there."

"I guess an advisor might need to at least pretend objectivity sometimes."

"Every now and then."

"I also do actually want Starkiller as an advisor, and I think she might find the idea of her adoring people offensive."

"Yeah. She can be a bit... spiky."

"She's terrible for my self esteem and excellent for my reality testing."

"Good qualities to have in an advisor."

"You might have to stay my apprentice, then," she teases. 

"Play to my strengths."

"Spend eternity growing ever more impressive."

"As long as you can keep teaching me."

Hum.

"I want you to be able to stand beside me as an equal. So - as long as we have things to learn from one another."

Smile. "Cool."

"Though actually standing is optional," she teases. 

Giggleblush.

Smirk.

Hee.

...Yawn.

"Time for bed?"

"Must be."

"I'll let you sleep, then."

"Kay. G'night."

"Goodnight."

Once Danni's to bed, she goes to find Fett.

"Sidious."

"Fett."

A pause, then - "Danni's progressed well."

"She's got a lot of raw talent. Just needs- direction, mostly."

"You've done a good job of that, then."

"You taking her back, now?"

"For a time. She can't always stay with me - so, I'll ask you to accompany her on missions now and again."

"As long as you're willing to keep me on retainer."

"I am."

"Then I'll run your missions."

Nod. 

"There's a... rite. That the Mando'ade undergo at the end of their training. I'd like to put Danni through it."

"What does it involve?"

"We send them alone into the wilderness, with only a knife. If they're still alive at the end of a week, they're allowed to find their way back. The older cohort arranges attacks and challenges, if the planet's not hostile enough by itself."

"Not an unfamiliar concept. Alright."

"Would it be out of line with the normal rite if I joined in arranging challenges?"

"They need to be subtle. Natural."

Hum. "I can manage that."

And it then would have less resemblance to most of the training she did under Plagueis, which is probably good for her sanity.

...Though.