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Aerrik's heart was in his throat. The streets surrounding the Senate District were heaving with foot and air traffic, people stopping to stare at the smoke trailing from 500 Republica. It was that day again: nine years ago on Naboo when his life fell apart for the first time. Aerrik found it in himself to be grateful for living so close by. Even though the streets of Coruscant were haunted by his memories, there were people who mattered far more than his fear. (His daughter. His sister. His wife.) He would drop anything for his girls, his son too if Aerrik was able to reach him one last time. And now Alana needed him and it was the only thing in the galaxy that mattered.
Kaldani Spires was heavily guarded and he barely managed to squeeze through as he sprinted into the foyer. Aerrik slammed into the reception desk, his breath ragged. The droid behind the desk turned to look at him. "Sir, this building has been closed off to the public."
Aerrik brushed his dark hair out of his face and pushed his glasses up his nose. "My sister. Al–uh, Elia. She's with Senator Amidala. I need to see her."
"Name please."
"Aerrik Uttara." He could barely hear himself speak above the pounding of his heart. He was always sure and well-spoken until he was stressed or nervous.
"And you're here to see?"
"Senator Amidala."
"I don't see you listed in her emergency contacts–"
"Then find my sister — Elia Valarys–" (Aerrik hated saying her other name. Just another reminder of how everything had been taken from his family.) "I'm her brother. Her first contact."
Aerrik was glad droids didn't have facial expressions. He probably looked crazy. One more minute and the guards would probably throw him out for trying to break in. But it was far from his first time at Kaldani Spires, and he did know every secret and quiet exit. (The memory quelled the tension squirming in his body, if only for a moment. Fallon always had a habit of doing that to him, calming every worry he had, even when she wasn't by his side.)
"You're down as her fourth contact," the droid said. Fourth contact? Aerrik thought, That's mean. "But everything seems to be in order. They're in Apartment 325."
Aerrik wasted no time, hurtling up the building until he reached the right floor. Resisting the compulsion to break into a run, he found the apartment and knocked on the door as calmly as he could. The door was opened moments later by a blonde mirror of Aerrik's past. Athena Palpatine looked startlingly like her parents. She looked at him with a guarded expression, keeping the door half closed. So familiar and yet completely unknown, her every move sent Aerrik's stomach plummeting through the floor. But she didn't know who he was, didn't remember — and he couldn't tell her.
