Chapter Text
Coruscant Academy: a prestigious university famous for educating future politicians and captains of industry. Only students who are the best and brightest are allowed to enroll, meaning that only students who have rich parents with powerful connections can get in. At least that’s what Zam thinks to herself; the clawdite biker woman, currently in her blonde-haired human form, leans against her motorcycle as she waits in the parking lot of the academy. To her, this dump was nothing more than a daycare for a bunch of spoiled brats who will eventually just inherit their family’s wealth and position. Most of those kids are probably idiots who only get their fancy degrees because their parents paid for them in advance so that their family legacy can be continued. Zam takes another drag from her cigarette, thinking of all the poor students who study hard and work harder because they believe they have a chance to enroll. The poor fools either don’t know-- or don’t want to believe-- that places like Coruscant Academy are exclusive clubs where only certain people are allowed.
Zam holds nothing but disdain for all the rich brats that come to this academy… Okay, maybe not all. There are a few good kids in there; in fact, she has the privilege of being in a relationship with one such kid. Well, Zam calls her a kid, but she’s really only one year older than her. Her name is Padme, a bright and charming young woman with a kind soul-- in other words, the complete opposite of Zam. She still doesn’t know what Padme sees in her; maybe the kid will wisen up and dump her ass to find someone better. Of course, until then, Zam is going to enjoy their relationship while it lasts… Or, at least, that’s what her plan is. Only problem is that Padme seems to be taking her sweet time in there! Zam usually comes to the university to pick her up at around this hour when Padme’s friends are too busy to drive her but she hasn’t arrived yet. Just what was she doing in there?
Zam let out a long sigh as she dropped her cigarette onto the pavement and stamped it out with her boot. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone and turned it on to see if there were any messages from Padme that would explain why she was running late. All Zam saw on her phone’s screen was just the home screen wallpaper of her and Padme taking a selfie together while they were at the beach, but no messages. She was tempted to just walk into the campus and start looking for Padme, but she didn’t want to have to deal with snobby professors and faculty asking her why she was there. “She’s probably just talking to her professors…” Zam told herself. Unlike most of the other brats who came to this university, Padme cared about her education and was willing to work for it. Zam found Padme’s dedication to be quite admirable, if a little annoying. More than once, Padme declined a few dates in order to study for a big test she’d had that was a week away. So yeah, Padme is definitely the type to spend half an hour after class just so she can talk to her professor. If she wasn’t talking to them about classwork, she might have been volunteering for some extra curricular activities. In other words, she was a nerd.
~
Padme hid behind a wall, pulling out her phone from her pocket and using the camera to take a peek around the corner to see if Professor Palpatine was there. Her friend, Dorme, had warned her that he was looking for her to ask her to volunteer to moderate a debate for the political science club. Usually Padme would agree, albeit reluctantly, but she had been neglecting her girlfriend for long enough. She had made a promise to Zam that she’d go with her on a date tonight, and nothing was going to get in the way of that! …plus, she really hated debates; they always descended into shouting matches.
Padme scanned the hallway a few times with her phone; it was a rather narrow hallway with doors to classrooms on the sides, but at the end was the door that led to the exit. From there, it was nothing more than hop, skip, and a jump to the parking lot. An Ithorian walked by Padme, giving the young woman an odd glance as he saw her kneeling by the wall and using her phone to peer over the edge. Padme blushed a little in embarrassment and she put her phone away and began to fast-walk to the exit after seeing no signs of Palpatine. Suddenly ,the door to the exit opened up and Padme’s heart dropped. She gasped as her mind went into overdrive, calculating all the possible scenarios that she could take. Hide in the bathroom? There were none around she could quickly hide in! Run back to her hiding spot? No time, he’d see her! Pray that one of the classroom doors is unlocked and hide there? Too risky! Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, a petite figure emerged from the door with a face that looked almost like Padme’s.
“Corde!” Padme found herself saying in relief. She had sent her friend to scout ahead and make sure the way was clear. “Bad news,” Corde spoke, “Palps is hanging around the parking lot. No doubt looking for you.” Corde looked a little out of breath, she was huffing a little and had a few beads of sweat on her brow. She wanted to make it to Padme as quickly as she could to warn her. “Damn.” Padme put her finger to her chin as she began to formulate a Plan B. “Hm, okay, okay… If we can make it to the science building without being seen, we can use the side exit there to make it to Zam.” The Science building was a large rectangular structure and flanked the parking lot, allowing them to completely circumvent Palpatine all together.
“Take the long way around, huh? But isn’t your girlfriend waiting on you?” Corde pointed out. Realization struck Padme and she quickly pulled out her phone to check the time. Damn! She was already ten minutes late! Corde just rolled her eyes. “You know, you could just tell him no…” Corde didn’t really like Zam, so she didn’t see the point of all this effort Padme was putting into this. “I don’t want to be rude…” Padme said in a quiet tone. She hated disappointing people. Corde just smiled. Padme really was too kind for her own good. “Alright, let’s go.”
They leave through the side exit of the building they were in and hugged the wall as they inched closer to the edge. Corde took point, taking a quick peak over the side and gasped and looked to Padme. “Palps is coming!!!” She whispered harshly. Padme’s eyes widened, and she turned around to return to the door they just left but Corde grabbed her arm. “No time!” Padme panicked, was the jig finally up?
Corde didn’t like Zam, and wasn’t exactly crazy about her dating Padme. Even when they were children, Zam had a crush on Padme that manifested in the form of teasing her. Only issue? Corde looked like Padme, meaning that she was unfortunately the victim of the Clawdite’s teasing like when she threw water balloons at her after school. Hell, the first time Zam had the courage to ask Padme out, she made that mistake again and made her proposition to CORDE!!! The poor girl secretly dreads the day Zam gets the courage to propose to Padme, because she’s damn sure that Zam will mess up again and propose to HER and not Padme. But Corde saw how happy Zam made Padme…and her friend’s happiness made it all worth it. Padme was such a good friend to her, always helping her whenever she needed help with her studies, always giving her advice, and always giving her a shoulder to cry on. Padme deserved to be happy, and if Zam could give it to her? Then she’d do everything in her power to help her maintain their relationship.
“I’ll distract him.” Corde said with a confident smirk. “Really? Thank you, Corde!” She hugged her friend. “Don’t mention it, but you better have a great time tonight you hear me?” Corde hugs her back quickly before adjusting her dress and walking out to meet Professor Palpatine. The elderly man looked at Corde, thankfully unlike a certain Zam he knew this was Corde since her and Padme were students in his class and he could differentiate the two of them after seeing what clothes they have on. “Oh! Professor!” Corde said as she stopped in front of Palpatine. “Ah, Corde. Do you need something?” Meanwhile, Padme peaked out from the cover and waited for the right moment… “Yes, can we walk and talk? I want to talk to you about getting a letter of recommendation from you.” She said as she walked forward, hoping Palpatine would follow her and thus turning his gaze so as to give Padme the window she needed! “Oh, well I’d be honored but I’d need to know a few details first.” He takes the bait and turns around to walk with Corde. Success!!!
“Thank you, Corde.” Padme said under her breath, before she rushed to the science building. Quickly opening the door and rushing down the long hallway before going out through the side exit. She didn’t stop running, narrowly dodging parked cars and students walking to their cars. Thankfully she wore shoes and pants today! She then spotted a familiar figure in a purple leather jacket. “Zam!!!” Padme shouted as she rushed at her, Zam’s head quickly turned to see her girlfriend and smiled. Padme slowed down enough to hug onto Zam, the biker gal just chuckled as she hugged her back. “There you are! You big nerd, I thought I’d have to walk into your classroom and drag you out.” Zam jokes, wanting to not tell her how worried she was. “Hah…sorry for the delay, long story. We still on for tonight?” Zam smirked as she reached into her pocket and pulled out two movie tickets. “Still on~” Padme’s hands clasped together as she giggled.
Zam handed Padme her helmet, a pink open face helmet with a few chibi animal stickers to decorate it. Padme took hold of it and placed it on her head as Zam grabbed her purple full face helmet and put it on as the two mounted her motorcycles. Zam on the driver seat, while Padme sat behind with her arms wrapped around her girlfriend. The clawdite kicked her bike into high gear as the two of them left the parking lot and sped down the road and drove to Padme’s apartment.
When they first started dating, Padme was unsure of riding as a passenger on a motorcycle. The first time she rode with Zam, she held onto her so tight that Zam had some issues making turns. As they went on more bike rides, she became more comfortable riding with Zam and her grip loosened considerably. Now, she embraced Zam whenever they rode together. Arms lovingly wrapped around her torso as her own body was pressed against Zam’s back. Zam always found herself blushing whenever Padme held onto her like that, thankfully they never had to drive far. Padme’s apartment was five minutes away from the university, while Zam’s apartment was seven minutes away. Usually Padme went with her friends in their car to the university but every now and then she’d ask Zam for a ride whenever her friends were busy with practice, work, had to stay at the library for some late night studying, or when she felt like driving with her girlfriend. Zam didn’t mind, in fact she loved driving around her girlfriend wherever she wanted.
Zam’s motorcycle parked itself outside Padme’s apartment, the two women walking hand in hand inside. Padme’s apartment was rather small but well decorated with posh furniture and paintings mounted to the wall. “I need to take a shower, but feel free to make yourself at home!” Padme said to Zam as the clawdite removed her leather jacket and hung it on Padme’s coat rack. “Thanks, ya got anything to drink?” Zam asked as she went to the fridge and opened it. “Just water.” Padem told her before entering her bedroom and closing the door behind her. Zam sighed a little disappointingly, she liked coming over to Padme’s place but the only downside was that, unlike Zam, Padme maintained a healthy diet.
Zam poured herself a cup of water as she went to the couch to sit down, the plan for their date was to essentially have dinner then watch a movie together. It was going to be a very relaxed date as opposed to dressing up and going to a fancy restaurant while paying an arm and a leg just to get a plate with a small bit of food on top of a leaf. Zam grabbed the remote as she kicked off her boots and turned the TV on, the TV screen flicked on to show the news. Zam rolled her eyes, she never quite understood why Padme was so into politics. She flipped through the channels till she landed on some game show channel, she smirked as she sat back and watched as contestants scrambled around in the dark to find some key.
Finally, after about half an hour, Padme finally emerges from her bedroom. She had let her hair down and was wearing one of the shirts that Zam had gifted to her, it was a simple light blue t-shirt that Padme found to be comfortable to wear. In addition to the shirt, she was also wearing a pair of shorts and slippers. Her appearance seemed more casual than her usual university student appearance, when she was around Zam she never felt like she had to prove anything. “Sorry for the wait, Zam.” Padme smiled as she made her way to the kitchen, already grabbing ingredients from the cupboard for their dinner.
Zam padded her way to the kitchen with the intent of helping her girlfriend. “So, what’s on the menu tonight?” She asked as she perused the ingredients that Padme had laid out on the kitchen counter, it seemed to be just a wide array of vegetables. “Nothing too fancy, just salad.” Padme began cleaning the vegetables before cutting them up. “Mind helping me?” Padme gave Zam a smile as she asked. The clawdite nodded as she grabbed another knife and began cutting as well. Within a few minutes, the two had finished and were now enjoying the fruits of their labor.
Zam was never the biggest fan of salads, but the ingredients Padme had were of high quality so at least the taste was alright. Still, she ate pretty slowly compared to Padme who was digging in after a long day of studying and writing papers. “Don’t like the Salad?” Padme asked as she noticed that Zam was taking her time with each bite. “Hm? Oh! No no, it’s good. I’m just like…not a salad kind of person. It’s alright though, it still tastes nice.” At least she thought it tasted nice for a salad. If nothing else, Zam can just buy herself a burger on the way back. That’s what she usually did anyway, Zam believed that she wasn’t as sophisticated or as mature as Padme.
“Something wrong Zam?” Padme tilted her head to the side slightly, sensing that Zam was feeling a little down. “Hm? Oh. It’s uh…it’s nothing.” Zam said as she stopped eating and leaned back onto her chair. “...well actually,” Zam said before sighing, “...are you happy with me?” Zam braced herself for the worst, fully expecting Padme to tell her that ‘We need to talk’ and then have Padme break up with her. Meanwhile, Padme looked a little confused. “To be honest,” Padme began and Zam could feel her heart beating rapidly, “I’ve had a great time with you Zam! You’re cool, understanding, and fun. You accept me for who I am without demanding anything from me.” Padme was smiling as she sighed wistfully, meanwhile Zam was looking at her girlfriend with an almost stunned expression. She did not expect this response from her. “You make me feel at ease, Zam. So of course I’m happy with you.”
Zam felt warmth growing in her chest. Damn, this kid really knew how to turn this hardened bounty hunter into a mushy mess of feelings. “Well shit…kinda at a loss as to what I should say now.” Zam just laughed. “So, I guess you won’t hate me if I said I ain’t the biggest fan of salads and kinda prefer meatier dishes.” Padme just laughed as well upon hearing that.
“Oh I wouldn’t mind, in fact? I wouldn’t mind diversifying my own diet.” Padme saw students at the university eating food like pizza and she always wanted to try it. “Feel like ordering a pizza?” Padme offered, and this seemed to make Zam grow positively giddy. “Now we’re talking! I know of a good pizza joint that delivers! What kind of pie you want?” Zam said as she pulled out her cellphone. Padme gave it some thought before saying, “Hm…why don’t you order for me?” Zam just nodded. “Sure! I think I know just the thing to order.” Zam then went to go sit on the couch, plopping herself down and putting her feet on the coffee table as Padme sat next to her. Padme leaned against her as Zam talked into the phone. If you would have told Padme that she would be in love with a bounty hunter, she’d probably laugh it off. But now? She couldn’t imagine life without her Zam.