The battle above Coruscant had been raging for several days. Anakin was surprised that the Separatist forces were getting that bold, or maybe they were sure that the Jedi were weak enough to let an attack on the planet through. Both were a possibility. He hadn't heard from Padmé in almost a month and a half, maybe more, and she'd been distressed over the state of the outer rim and already beyond tired. It was likely the other Jedi were in similar states.
If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't just the Jedi who needed a break. Everybody was tired, and it was why the Senate meeting today was so important. For once, it seemed as though the Republic Senate was finally getting its act together to discuss restarting peace talks, a goal Anakin had tried several times over the course of the war to get going if for no other reason than to bring his wife home.
Despite the importance of the meeting today, Anakin was finding it difficult to focus on what was going on in the Senate. He was worried for Padmé and Obi-Wan, and his meetings with members of the delegation to discuss knocking Palpatine off his seat as Chancellor were keeping him too busy to try to take naps to catch up on the sleep he was missing while worrying when there wasn't work to keep his mind off everything.
"Ani?" He was pulled from his distracted thoughts by his mother's hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention back to the world around him as opposed to his distracted thoughts. "Ani, you should rest."
"I have to be here." Not a lie. "But if you could meet with Bail later about..." he let his voice trail off, Shmi knew exactly what he was going for, the treasonous words that could not be spoken in the Senate Hall. "I'd appreciate it." Sleep was off the table, but he could come up with some small amount of rest at least.
Shmi nodded, and Anakin almost collapsed there in relief, almost. "See if you can get in contact with Padmé and Obi-Wan, an update on the war situation would be helpful, and I know you must be worried."
"Senator Skywalker, we know you're the face of the peace talks, perhaps you have an idea for all this?" Anakin turned back from his mother to face the Chancellor. Perhaps paying attention would have been beneficial. The entire Senate knew that Anakin, Bail, and Mon were the center of the talks for peace, him knowing exactly what was being discussed would've been nice.
"My mother and I have been discussing which Senators in the Separatist council might be most open to peace talks." Something he had researched earlier in the war, back when Senator Bonterri had still been alive. His focus may have been elsewhere at the moment when it came to the inner workings of the Senate, but peace was still a part of his goal. He could only hope that it was somewhat relevant to the conversation at hand. "We're still coming to conclusions ourselves who might be willing to open channels after our last attempt."
Palpatine nodded, and Anakin almost let out a sigh of relief. "An important task, I agree. Perhaps you can come to my office afterwards, and we can go over your list."
Even now, years after Anakin had turned down his tutelage in politics and instead turned towards others like Bail, Palpatine was still trying to get Anakin alone to speak to him. It made his skin crawl, but there was nothing more he could do. "Of course, Chancellor." He would have to attempt to pay more attention for now to the discussion, rather than simply be present in the meeting.
"If that is settled, I believe-" Before anybody else could react, the ground shook beneath them all, a possible stray attack from the battle in space hitting the ground near Coruscant, and an ill omen.
It didn't take long for any feelings of dread Anakin had been feeling to come to a head, as within moments the Senate Dome flooded with Battle Droids, with General Grievous leading the attack. "I believe your talks of peace won't be happening today."
Anakin turned behind him at the sound of a click in the Senate Pod to see one of the battle droids at the exit, a blaster aimed at him and his mother. He stood in between the two of them, his hand going for the blaster he kept on his belt.
"This is madness." Shock and disgust colored Palpatine's tone, though Anakin couldn't help but wonder just how much of it was faked.
After all, an interruption of the talks of peace would just make the war go on longer, and that seemed to be all that Palpatine wanted.
More battles. More war. More power for him to sink his claws into.
"Chancellor Palpatine, if you wish to protect your senators, you will come with us."
The sound of a lightsaber igniting brought Anakin's attention back to the pod. One of the Jedi Masters on the council, Shaak Ti if he remembered her name, was pulling out her lightsaber, ready to defend the Chancellor. "The Chancellor won't be going anywhere."
"Very well." Grievous let out something that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a cough as he indicated the droids. "Take out the Jedi, so she understands just how serious our threat is."
Red blaster fire rained down from the pods, aiming for Jedi Master Ti. She started off blocking the blasts, but it wasn't long before even she couldn't keep up with the attacks, and she fell to the ground. Anakin was unsure if she was alive or not. The blaster fire stopped as soon as she hit the ground.
"Next time, each of those blasters will be trained on the senators if you do not come with." For a moment, there was silence. Most of the Senators were aware of the Moffs that Palpatine had put into place only a few weeks prior as military leaders (or replacements for the Senate, a small voice whispered in his mind). It was possible they could be released with no lasting harm to the chain of command. It was entirely possible that Palpatine could decide to...
"I do not need another demonstration, General Grievous." Palpatine lowered his pod, and Anakin almost let out a sigh of relief. "I understand the threat you pose is quite serious. I will come with you. I trust in the Jedi to be able to come to my aid before it is too late."
And with that, Palpatine was gone, the droids following after him and Grievous. The Senate was quiet, as though they couldn't quite believe what had happened.
Before Anakin was aware of what was happening, he'd already taken several steps forward, and it was only his mother grabbing hold of his arm that stopped him. "Anakin..."
"We don't know when the Jedi will get here. We can't afford to wait." It wasn't that he didn't trust the Jedi, he might've been one of the few supporters they had left, it was that he knew that they were spread thin if even Padmé and Obi-Wan hadn't been able to escape from the front in months. "I'm going to see what I can do in the air."
"Right now, you're needed here." Shmi insisted. "We need to notify the Jedi of the attack so they can mobilize a clone squadron. Going out there alone would be suicide."
Anakin frowned. "Then I'll let the Jedi know, and then I'll join in the battle."
His mother hugged him, and Anakin knew she wasn't happy with his decision. "Don't do anything stupid."
"I never do." Although both mother and son knew it was a lie, he waved to her before running out of his pod, ready to start taking out the Droids as they came. It wouldn't be a long drive to the Jedi Temple, so he just had to hope it'd be alright.
"Senator Skywalker, we're surprised to see you here and not in the Senate Building?" Anakin was relieved to find Master Windu at the entrance to the temple, heading out. "I'm guessing you're here about what happened?"
Anakin nodded. "The Chancellor's been kidnapped by General Grievous. He managed to get into the Senate somehow." Somehow...that was something that would be bothering Anakin for a while. Security was tight there, and the clone battalion stationed on Coruscant were top recruits, with only Padmé's own 501st coming even close to their skill levels. There was no chance that they just managed to get through that easily...
Still, Anakin couldn't focus on that for now. "I came to request Jedi help in rescuing the Chancellor."
"We're already taking care of it. We've called in several clone battalions from the front. Two of our finest generals will hopefully be here soon."
Anakin dared to let himself hope for a moment that those two generals being summoned were Padmé and Obi-Wan, but for now held off on asking. Instead, he simply nodded again. "Do you have enough ships in the sky until they arrive?"
Master Windu nodded. "Enough to keep further landing parties from Coruscant and to hold the battle."
"Got room for one more?"
"Senator Skywalker, I don't think-"
Anakin shook his head. "I'm a trained pilot. I can fly those ships and give cover until the Jedi come back from the front." And he was a powerful force sensitive, but holding that over Master Windu's head didn't seem fair, not at the moment. War had been a powerful driving factor in making peace with the fact that they wouldn't train him. "I've helped the Jedi in air battles in the past whenever my ship ends up in the area, and I already know how to fly around in any ship you've got in that temple."
Master Windu seemed to hesitate for a moment, as though appraising Anakin in front of him for the first time. "You have fifteen minutes to find the hanger. After that I notify the guards of a break-in in the temple."
Anakin grinned. Even if the Jedi had thought him to be unteachable, they still trusted him, at least in that regard. He was grateful that his piloting skills spoke for themselves. "Thank you, Master Windu."
"Don't get yourself hurt. Explaining why I let a Senator steal one of our ships to join in the battle is going to be enough work if you do come back alive, let alone if you don't."
Anakin saluted him. "Sir." And with that, he entered into the temple, noticing the small smile on Master Windu's face.
When the war was over, he was really going to have to address his grudge against the Jedi once and for all. Perhaps he'd find that some of his anger and blame towards them was incorrect after all.
The sound of fire all around her alerted Padmé to the fact that they had finally left hyperspace and arrived in the space around Coruscant. She heard Artoo's beeps behind her as the light speed ring detached, allowing her greater mobility as she began taking aim at the enemy fighters in front of her, shooting down the droids to keep what remained of the 501st with her from taking too much heavy fire.
A small holographic projection of Obi-Wan appeared on her dashboard. "Padmé, the Chancellor is located on General Grievous's ship. We'll need to fight our way through quickly if we want to ensure he doesn't escape into Separatist space."
"Always one to deliver easy tasks." Padmé smiled. Admittedly, she was a bit nervous to be involved in an intense battle. Even six months pregnant, Droids in a space battle were no challenge. General Grievous however would be significantly more difficult. "Any other news?"
"Some preliminary reports say that Dooku should be on the ship as well." Padmé tightened her grip around the ship's controls, trying not to let that news bother her given all he'd put her through throughout the war. She needed to release those emotions to the Force and a battle was not the time or place. Maybe later.
"Well, we don't have much time, we'd better get going before the skies become worse." Padmé smiled. She and Obi-Wan flew straight into the battle in front of them, firing at the enemy ships without much thought, letting the Force guide her as it always had and letting Artoo focus on the flying around them. Thankfully, the droids weren't advanced, and it was easy flying. The challenge, of course, would come from the ship in front of them.
After a few minutes, Artoo started beeping quickly at her. She'd never gotten as good at understanding binary as her husband, but she did have a basic grasp. "What is it Artoo?"
"I believe we're getting a signal from...the Twilight?" So Obi-Wan was getting it too?
Padmé stared for a moment. "That can't be. I know that ship's still in the Temple. Anakin would've killed me if I took his pet project while we were in the sieges." Though the ship was legally in the possession of the Jedi, Anakin had liked to work on it with Ahsoka back during the war. It rarely saw combat, but it saw his tools sometimes even when she wasn't home on Coruscant. "Patch it through Artoo."
A new voice appeared through the headset, one achingly familiar and alarming to be sending a signal from the battlefield like that. "About time you showed up. I was beginning to doubt that the reinforcements Master Windu sent for weren't going to show."
"Anakin?" both she and Obi-Wan said at the same time.
"Padmé? Obi-Wan!?" Padmé could practically hear the grin in his voice.
"Anakin, what are you doing in the sky like this? You're a civilian. You're in danger up here."
Anakin laughed. "Don't worry Obi-Wan, I'll be fine. Master Ti was injured in the Senate building and unless you wanted Master Windu or Master Yoda in the air-" Both of which Padmé wanted to argue were fully capable of fighting this battle, "-then there was nobody skilled enough to pilot one of these things to help keep things under control."
"And they approved?" Padmé pulled her ship out of the way of the fire, attempting to keep her focus on the battle rather than her reckless husband.
"My record precedes me. Master Windu was willing to let me with a little bit of persuasion." That was almost as hard to believe. Mace Windu letting the Senator pilot any ship in the Jedi's fleet in a battle was unlikely. Then again, the war had been taking a toll and if there really wasn't anybody else available at that moment...
What was the war even leading the Jedi to become? Padmé wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Anakin, I'm pretty sure Padmé and I will both be having it out with you after this. You're going to-"
"Obi-Wan!" Padmé hissed. Anakin didn't know about the child yet. Obi-Wan shouldn't have even known about the baby growing in her and if she hadn't found out in a panic while they were in the other rim he still wouldn't know. Telling Anakin about this in the middle of a battle was not the way she wanted her husband to learn about his future son or daughter. "I think Anakin's aware he's in trouble. Right now, we need to focus on the battle ahead."
Obi-Wan sighed. "Very well, but Senator Skywalker please hold some regard for your own safety in the future."
Obi-Wan closed the communication channel, likely to give the two of them an ounce of privacy so she could tell Anakin about their child. Anakin, at least, was willing to take full advantage of it. "You're really here."
Padmé smiled slightly. "I'm really here Ani. I missed you."
"I missed you too." She could hear the smile in his voice, followed by a curse moments later. "Sorry, thought the droid was farther away."
Padmé shook her head. "Anakin."
"I know." He chuckled, embarrassed. "I'll see you back on the surface, let's end this." Anakin closed the channel as well, leaving her to focus on the battle, but unable to ignore how much lighter her heart felt even after that brief exchange. Six months away from Coruscant was longer than she ever wanted to take ever again.
But for now, there were more pressing issues than her time away from her husband. She fired off at a ship tailing Obi-Wan.
"Thank you, my Padawan." Obi-Wan's voice meant he'd opened back up the channel.
"Thank me by staying alive." That was really all she wanted, the two most important people to her to come home safely. Before they could say anything more, Artoo spun her starfighter (much to her annoyance. Going upside down was not good for developing humans and it was only by the Force she had a chance at protecting them) just in time to help her avoid two rockets chasing after her as the two smashed into each other.
"Hey Artoo! No fancy flying. Baby, remember." The droid beeped back in response and Padmé sighed, just knowing that he was complaining for her not appreciating him saving her life. "Thank you, Artoo."
Finally, there was an opening in front of them. "We can get through!"
"I see our opportunity as well." Obi-Wan started flying towards the ship, only to miss the cluster of buzz droids heading towards him.
"Master!" Padmé shouted, but her warning came too late as the droids attached themselves to the side of Obi-Wan's ship, beginning to work their way through the metal. "Master are you alright?"
"Get to the ship Padmé. We need to get in and rescue the Chancellor." He was right, of course he was. Padmé knew she needed to get into the ship as quickly as possible, but that meant leaving her friend...
She shook her head. "Not without you." She rammed into the ship, attempting to take off some of the buzz droids. Which had minimal impact and no positive effect as rather than take out the buzz droids on Obi-Wan's ship, it simply allowed them onto hers. She watched Artoo push one off with one of his tools, thankfully keeping her and the ship safe from harm.
"Padmé, you're going to get yourself killed too. I'm already done for, just head to Grievous's ship." Obi-Wan was determined to get her moving, but Padmé frowned as she pulled back, there had to be something she could do...
"I've got this." Anakin's voice came back over as the Twilight swooped in, firing a singular beam at each of the droids, taking them out one by one. "Padmé, you need to shoot as well."
"If this kills Obi-Wan, it's your fault." But she did as she was asked, and before long she and Anakin had gotten the remaining buzz droids off the Starfighter.
"I'll cover you until you get on that ship. Afterwards, I'll return to Coruscant to let Master Windu know."
"Anakin, are you certain?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It's our best move. I may be good here, but in the ship itself I'll slow you both down." Anakin was right about that. He was gifted with a blaster, but going up against a Sith and a cyborg who made it a habit to steal as many lightsabers as possible would make even his skills near useless, and this time there was no lightsaber for Anakin to steal. "Besides, I know you both can handle it."
Padmé smiled at the vote of confidence. "Thank you, Ani."
"I'll see you both after you finish this mission." Anakin shut off the channel, and Padmé and Obi-Wan began their flight towards the hanger. Without a second thought, Padmé shot at the sides, disabling the shields so she and Obi-Wan could get through the door, their ships crashing to the ground and running over the battle droids within the ship's hanger.
Obi-Wan launched out of his ship, lightsaber already lit as he began slicing through the droids, and Padmé followed suit, and before long they were deflecting blaster bolts left and right until only the two of them remained and Artoo remained. "Artoo, see if you can locate the Chancellor." The droid beeped a confirmation of understanding his orders in response that neither of them needed a translation to understand. "While he searches, we should get going."
"You sense it too?" That cold feeling that only came from the dark side of the Force, from a Sith, pervaded the room and everywhere that Padmé could feel. "It looks like your info was correct."
Obi-Wan nodded, a frown on his face. "Dooku's here. This is probably a trap." She agreed with the assessment, but before she could ask anything further, Obi-Wan spoke up again. "Are you sure you want to continue with the mission. I'm sure I can handle Grievous or Dooku alone." Ahsoka had wondered the same thing too when they'd rushed off towards the mission while she had gone to Mandalore.
"Master, I know you're good, but I'm not sure you can face Count Dooku alone." Padmé smiled, though she had the same thoughts herself. Her fear for Obi-Wan facing the Sith alone was far greater. He was a gifted duelist, and had had little trouble defeating herself and Obi-Wan in the past. "I won't let anything happen to you."
"It's not just you fighting this if you come with me."
"I know. And he's important too." Her hand briefly rested on her stomach to focus on the life growing inside, the large glow of light. "But I'm not about to let you fight Dooku without me." For all his faults and any fights they may have had, Obi-Wan was her best friend. "You won't be able to talk me out of this."
Obi-Wan sighed, shaking his head. "Honestly, you're just as reckless as Anakin." He tossed a comm unit to Artoo who caught it before starting to head off into the ship. "If I can't convince you to stay, then you'd better stay close. After all, we have a trap to spring."
With that, Padmé followed after Obi-Wan with a smile, and the two entered into the main halls of the ship.
Their mission to rescue the Chancellor had begun.
With Artoo safely watching the Starfighters (Padmé had a feeling that Obi-Wan's would not be flying his off the ship, just another checkmark of things that went wrong on this mission that she wouldn't be on if it wasn't absolutely necessary), Padmé and Obi-Wan began to make their way through the Separatist ship, watching each other's back as they advanced through the hallway, attempting to use the Force to find the Chancellor and Dooku.
"This is getting nowhere fast." Obi-Wan frowned as they came to an elevator. Padmé was inclined to agree, which meant requesting a little bit of assistance.
She pulled out the comm, calling her Droid for guidance. "Artoo? Do you have a map we can use?" The Droid beeped at them moments later. "He says that Dooku should be in the control deck."
"Good job, Artoo, always reliable." Obi-Wan smiled. Padmé shook her head, though she knew he appreciated the Droid just as much as she did. "You may have faith in him, but he was still reprogrammed by Anakin."
"And Anakin did a very good job programming him." Even if it meant the little droid inherited some of Anakin's more...erratic tendencies and risky flight maneuvers. "Besides, he got us the info we needed, right?"
"Yes, I suppose he did. Now are we going to be debating the merits of your droid's ability to read maps or go after the Sith Lord holding the Chancellor captive." Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow as though he was expecting this to be a cover for something more.
"Be my guest, somebody needs to summon the elevator if we want to keep going." Padmé waited for Obi-Wan to press the button, but before the elevator opened up, a single bolt of energy fired at the two of them, causing them both to turn around.
"Destroyers." Without so much as a second thought, Padmé immediately took to defending Obi-Wan from the blasts, reflecting them with her lightsaber as her former master started banging on the metal doors. "Obi-Wan, that's not going to work."
"Do you know of any other way to summon the elevator to us, my Padawan?" Before she could answer his question, the elevator doors opened, and Obi-Wan indicated for her to enter. She ran in, Obi-Wan behind her as he deflected some blaster bolts back at the droids until the elevator closed and started its rapid ascent.
"Halt." Padmé turned around, her eyes locking on a small group of B1 Battle Droids, their blasters raised. "Drop your weapons." Without so much as a shared glance, she and Obi-Wan fell into sync with one another slashing through the droids nearby them and making quick work of them, and it wasn't long before they were turned into scrap metal littering the floor of the elevator.
They were silent for a moment before Padmé laughed under her breath. "Roger." Followed by Obi-Wan calling back, a smile on his face. With nothing but the elevator ride up to focus on, it felt nice to at least break some of the tension that was building up, to find a moment to breathe even in the coming battle ahead.
But then again, that was why Padmé had enjoyed fighting with Ahsoka so much, and with Obi-Wan. Even in the darkest of moments, they still found a reason to smile. It made the battles just a little more bearable in all of this.
Before they could enjoy the joking atmosphere, the elevator stopped midway to their destination. "It stopped?" she asked, looking at Obi-Wan.
"I didn't stop it." He frowned. They waited a few minutes, though it quickly became clear they weren't going to be moving anytime soon. Or at all, at this rate.
"Should I check outside, see if I can find what caused us to stop?" she asked.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, if the elevator moves while you're in your current condition and outside...Artoo, I need you to get the elevator moving again." He attempted to reach Artoo, although the droid failed to respond. "Artoo."
Padmé shook her head. "Artoo please, we're stuck in the elevator and need to get moving." There was still no response, and after another minute, it was seeming more and more likely that they wouldn't get one and Padmé's initial investigation suggestion would be necessary. Just as she was about to suggest again to go around outside, the elevator suddenly dropped down and began plummeting beneath them. "Artoo up! We need to go up!" She was practically pleading with her Astromech, Obi-Wan shouting things of the same sentiment before finally, the elevator stopped its free fall and began moving up, albeit at a slightly accelerated pace.
"Still going to blame Anakin's programming of him?" Padmé smiled.
Obi-Wan sighed. "If you and that Senator aren't the death of me, your droid will be." He pressed the button on the door, opening it as soon as the elevator stopped once more. "Shall we?" He indicated for them to go, and Padmé left, shortly followed by Obi-Wan into the control deck of the ship. Unlike what they were used to on Republic ships, the room was empty with the exception of Chancellor Palpatine, bound to the chair in front of them.
Despite knowing it was a trap, both Obi-Wan and Padmé ran to the chair immediately. Obi-Wan bowed in respect while Padmé knelt down to try to work at the bindings holding him. "Are you alright, Chancellor?"
"Count Dooku." There was no need for them to ask what he meant. Padmé and Obi-Wan turned around to the entry, where Dooku stood, a droid on either side. Without a word, the leader of the Separatists jumped from his position, leaving the droids behind him.
Neither Padmé nor Obi-Wan spoke, knowing each other well enough to have already run through the strategy they would need, and simply waiting for an opportunity to strike. "Get help. You're no match for him, he's a Sith Lord." Palpatine's comment was unhelpful, simply confirming what the Jedi had suspected since the battle on Geonosis.
"Not to worry, Chancellor, Sith Lords are our specialty." Obi-Wan smiled at her, and Padmé turned to face Dooku, finally opening up the exchange.
"Count Dooku." Padmé smiled, her metallic hand clenching around her lightsaber. "It's been a while."
"General Naberrie, General Kenobi, a pleasure to see you both again." She felt Obi-Wan's Force presence brush up against her mind, attempting to give her reassurance through the bond between them. "Won't you come sit, we could have a little chat about all this."
"We aren't here to talk." Obi-Wan stood next to her. "We came to rescue the Chancellor."
"And rescue him you shall, can we not negotiate his freedom, it is your name, after all? The Great Negotiator." In any other circumstance, had the need been less dire, Padmé might have agreed to that, but she remembered what a negotiation with Dooku meant, the last time he'd tried to debate with anybody, she had almost paid the price.
"Padmé, General Kenobi, he's not to be trusted." Palpatine called out to him, echoing her very own thoughts.
Obi-Wan smiled. "Not to worry Chancellor. We already know." He pulled out his lightsaber, calling out the blade and indicating for Padmé to follow suit. "We've both been through this enough times to know better than to trust him. This ends now."
No more words were exchanged, as Dooku lit his lightsaber as well, the red blade casting its light everywhere around them, and then the battle began, Obi-Wan running in to immediately strike with Padmé close on his heels. Lightsaber met lightsaber as the trio clashed, Dooku working overtime to protect against the surprisingly aggressive strikes from the two Soresu users, who took advantage of their defensive style to block on the rare times Dooku launched a strike as he was forced to parry and evade, staying on the defensive against their attacks. He blocked another strike from Obi-Wan before ducking out from under the blade, escaping their assault.
"I've been looking forward to this." A surprising grin appeared on Dooku's face. "Though I admit, when I finally engaged the two of you together once again, I did not expect for one of you to be with child. Against the Jedi code to form bonds like that, isn't it?"
Padmé's eyes widened ever so slightly, but otherwise didn't react. She was definitely struggling to hide her future child as of late, but she'd hoped Dooku at least wouldn't notice. "My affairs aren't your concern Dooku. Focus on the battle."
"Very well." He pushed Obi-Wan away from the two of them before lunging once more at Padmé. Distantly, she was aware of the fact that Obi-Wan was taking care of the two droids that Dooku had brought in with him, but at the moment her primary focus had to be on the battle with Dooku as she continually found herself blocking each of his strikes and unable to find any openings.
Her constant blocking didn't last, as Obi-Wan returned to the battle, coming down with his lightsaber in an attempt to slice through Dooku, but found himself blocked as Obi-Wan was caught by Dooku in midair and thrown to the side to be trapped underneath a platform, unconscious. Unable to handle the idea of her Master being hurt for her sake, Padmé took advantage of the situation and charged, throwing herself into every strike as she began to dodge each of his strikes. Though her pregnancy made it difficult to move around as Ataru demanded, she began falling back into its patterns of rapid movements, looking for any opening she could find to catch Dooku off guard.
"Upset I hurt your Master, Naberrie? Or perhaps you're upset that I'm threatening to end the little fantasy you built with Skywalker as you dodge all the rules?" Dooku asked, and Padmé swallowed her anger, unable to release it into the Force mid battle. "I can feel your anger...your hatred. Why don't you use it?"
She knew he was taunting her, trying to provoke a reaction to make her sloppy, or perhaps testing her resolve to see if she would make a good Sith apprentice. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, Padmé felt her anger spike and all she saw was red as she continued going through the motions, her moves continuing to get more aggressive as Dooku was forced into the defensive, blocking each one of her blows as he struggled to keep up before she made one final strike, cutting the lightsaber blade right through his wrists. She caught his lightsaber, igniting it and holding it and hers crossed against his neck, preventing Dooku from moving as he fell to his knees.
Padmé felt herself panting, the battle hard fought and the fact that she was pregnant making it even more difficult, but well earned. Dooku was finally defeated, she had him captured. The end of the war could come tonight if they took out General Grievous as well. "It's over Count Dooku."
"So it is." Dooku looked at her, waiting to observe her reaction, as though waiting for her to let him go.
"Very good Padmé." She smiled at the Chancellor, at his compliment of her fighting skills. "You know what needs to be done?"
She blinked, attempting to process his words. "Come again?"
"Padmé, my dear, do you not agree that Count Dooku has been a scourge on the galaxy for far too long. He's dangerous, and if you let him free now then he'll likely escape. There is only one fate left for him, death." Though it hardly showed, Padmé felt a spike of fear from Dooku's presence, and his eyes widened as he turned to face Palpatine. Had he not expected this?
She shook her head, however. "Chancellor, with all due respect, it would be better for Dooku to face trial for his actions. He may be able to give us intel on the Separatists. If we hold him in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, he'll be impossible for them to get. We could take away their leader and win the war. He's disarmed as well."
Palpatine shook his head. "I understand why you think that, but believe me, I've known him. He'll find friends in the temple-" Could Palpatine be implying that some of the Jedi...would side with a Sith? "And then he'll find a way to resume this war, he's dangerous."
She glanced over to Obi-Wan, trying to use him to ignore her own conflict at Palpatine's words. "It's not right, it's not what the Jedi do."
"Sometimes, we must make sacrifices for the greater good." Palpatine gave her a kindly smile, though it left her feeling cold. "Do you not trust me?"
Padmé closed her eyes. She had to trust in her training, but...
Dooku was dangerous, and whether he found allies within the temple or not didn't matter. He needed to be stopped before he could cause harm to anybody else.
She closed her eyes and disengaged her own blue Saber before lifting Dooku's red and stabbing it right into his chest. He fell forward, unmoving, unblinking, and Padmé turned off the saber before tossing it to the side. She couldn't help herself from staring at the body, as though she couldn't believe what she had done. "You've done well, Padmé. He was too dangerous to be left alive."
Palpatine was right. He was simply too dangerous to live.
The thought didn't make her feel better.
She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, jolting Padmé from her thoughts. "It's alright to feel regrets at your actions my dear, but you understand the importance of them, don't you?" She turned to face Palpatine and nodded.
"Of course, but..."
"Then there is no need to feel remorse. I doubt this is the first time you've taken a life to save countless others, and it likely won't be the last." Palpatine released her and patted her on the shoulders. "Come now Padmé, let's get out of here before security droids arrive."
"What about Obi-Wan?" She'd already run over to her Master, wanting to prevent at least one seemingly unnecessary death.
Palpatine shook his head. "We don't have time. If we stay to rescue him, then we will all perish."
"If it causes my death, then so be it. I'm not leaving without Obi-Wan." He'd been her closest friend for so long, her one source of stability after she found out she was pregnant and could no longer reach Anakin. Losing him wasn't something she was willing to face.
"Very well, then we should hurry."
With Palpatine's permission, Padmé picked up Obi-Wan (not an easy task) and led the way to the elevator, where she started hitting the button to no response. "Artoo, the elevator's not coming. We could use some help." There was a beeping on the other end, telling her that the message was received. "Thank you Artoo."
"Your Droid?" Palpatine asked.
"Anakin's, on loan from Tatooine, although he was originally from Naboo." She still remembered how she and Anakin had first met the droid and smiled. "He's very reliable, I've used him since the start of the Clone Wars."
"I should hope so, otherwise we may not get out of this." Within a moment, the elevator arrived, allowing Padmé, Obi-Wan (who was set gently on the floor), and Palpatine in as it started to descend. Like with before, it wasn't long before the elevator lurched, stopping in its tracks. Unlike before, alongside the stopping elevator was a rapid rotation of the room, as it was clear that the ship had turned on its side.
Padmé thanked the Force every day that she had it. She doubted rotations were good for the baby.
A soft thump came from the side, and Padmé turned to see Obi-Wan's head hit the ground as he started to stir. "Padmé?"
"Good morning Master, sleep well?" She smiled.
Obi-Wan chuckled. "Did I miss a lot? I seem to recall fighting Dooku last." Padmé didn't bother to explain, simply smiling.
"Dooku won't be a problem. Unfortunately getting out of this elevator might."
Obi-Wan put his fingers to his chin in thought. "Yes, well, the elevator being on its side might certainly pose an issue. Perhaps we can-" As though attempting to prove any attempt at a plan pointless, the ship started to right itself, and a loud snap came from above. Within moments the elevator started rapidly coming down.
"I don't suppose your miracle droid can get you out of this one?" Palpatine asked, but she knew better than to even suggest it.
Obi-Wan reached for his lightsaber from Padmé's hand as she offered it and ignited it. "Are we on the same page?"
"I believe we are." And both ignited their lightsaber, working quickly to cut an opening in the door to the elevator. Padmé grabbed Palpatine and the three of them made a jump out of the nearest opening in the elevator shaft, leaving the elevator to plummet behind without them as they dusted themselves off in the hallway.
"Close one." Obi-Wan grinned, and Padmé couldn't help herself from smiling back. "Come on, we'll have to get moving."
Padmé nodded and relayed their location to Artoo before turning to Obi-Wan. "Let's see if we can find any ships left in the hanger that aren't junk before this ship goes down with us on it."
Obi-Wan chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want a junky ship? I believe you and Anakin have a tendency for collecting them and fixing them up."
"Now that we're not facing Dooku, I'd really like to live tonight to continue fixing those ships with him." They set off down the hall, lightsabers still in hand, but it wasn't long before they were blocked by a thin white shield, preventing further progress.
"Ray Shield?"
Obi-Wan sighed. "How did we fall for this one? We're smarter than this?" They'd been generals for three years, this was the most obvious trap either of them could have fallen for, and yet here they were, stuck behind a ray shield. "Any plans, Padmé?"
"Artoo can help us, he can deactivate the shield and then we can get back to getting to the hanger and escap-" As if to prove her wrong, because of course more things had to go wrong over the course of their rescue, the little blue droid came running down the hall screaming as he fled from the army of Separatists droids behind him. He attempted to fight them off valiantly, but was quickly knocked off his wheels and onto his back where he could no longer move. "Artoo!"
Obi-Wan shook his head. "Any other ideas?" As she watched the battle droids start to surround them, Padmé just shook her head.
They had, unfortunately, been caught.
Clearly deciding it was more worthwhile not to keep their prizes trapped in a single hallway, the droids led Padmé, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, and Artoo into one of the rooms. Unlike the room where Palpatine had been held, the room was filled with active computers and droids, running around and keeping it fully operational. It was the true control center, and sitting at the center was a cyborg that Padmé had only seen in passing while near unconscious after getting captured by Dooku mid-war. Grievous looked over the three of them as though he were analyzing them as each one stood in a line. Padmé did her best to meet his eye.
"Ah, the famed Negotiator, General Kenobi. I'm pleased to see you on my ship tonight." He walked past Obi-Wan and ignored the Chancellor, instead putting his attention on her. "And the famed Padmé Naberrie-" He coughed, "-it's a pleasure to finally meet a general of your reputation. I'm glad to see you recovered from Dooku's treatment."
"General Grievous, the pleasure is all mine. I'm glad to see you're once again leading the Droid Army rather than Anakin's prisoner." She smiled.
"Jedi Scum." He walked away, coughing, while Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at the comment.
"Did you have to provoke him, Padmé?"
"If it stopped him from observing us like we were some kind of specimen, yes." Her comment may have been rude, but so had his first.
Grievous meanwhile, took hers and Obi-Wan's lightsabers to put them in his robe. "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection."
"Not this time, Grievous." Obi-Wan summoned his lightsaber with the Force, and seeing as this was a good time to act, Padmé turned to Artoo. The droid understood her request with no words necessary, and created a spark, allowing for Padmé to grab her lightsaber back as well and move in tandem with Obi-Wan, beginning to slice through the remaining droids in the room. They moved back to back, each one taking one of the two advanced droids and began blocking the electrically charged javelins, blocking each hit as it came.
As Obi-Wan took the head off of his, Padmé began chasing hers down, following it out into the hallway where she sliced it in half before taking out two weaker droids that had been trying to lead Palpatine out of the room. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, appeared to have finished with the weaker droid within and had cornered Grievous. Padmé jumped in afterwards, hoping to keep the Cyborg trapped. Rather than accept his defeat, he simply laughed. "You lose, General Kenobi." And without further thought, Grievous stabbed the window of the ship, creating a vacuum and flying out while both Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine all grabbed onto the console, allowing the three of them to stay in until the hole was sealed.
With Grievous gone, there was no time left to continue to plan. They needed out of the ship before things got worse. Immediately, she and Obi-Wan began taking out the droids, hoping to clear a path to get towards one of the escape pods. Before they could plan further, the console to Padmé's right started beeping.
"The escape pods were launched." Not good.
"Grievous." There was no time to discuss the situation they were in further as both Padmé and Obi-Wan ran to the controls. "Padmé, can you fly this."
She shook her head. "No, but Anakin could."
"Well we don't have Anakin, we have you. Surely he must have taught you something of how to do it if he can." It was clear Obi-Wan had wanted to say more, and had only stopped himself because of the presence of the Chancellor.
"...I'll see what I can do." She had flown dozens of ships before, and this wasn't even flying, this was just making sure they didn't die in the crash. "It's going to be rough."
"I'll buckle up." Obi-Wan joked, and she appreciated the attempt to make a joke out of the situation at least, a little levity went a long way and it did manage to get a small laugh, if nothing else.
She turned back to the control panel. "We need to slow this thing down, that means opening as many flaps as possible. Artoo, I need your help too." The droid beeped back in response and attached himself to the console, working on the systems from the inside using Anakin's teaching while she and Obi-Wan flipped as many slips as they could to open the flaps. The ship jolted, and Padmé looked at the readings. "The back half is gone."
"We can't worry about that now, focus on landing the half we do have." Obi-Wan was right, unfortunately, she doubted even Anakin had landed a ship missing half of its components.
If she survived this with both her and the baby in tact, she would gladly hold this over her husband's head when they arrived back in Coruscant. Maybe. She pulled on the steering wheel, attempting to pull up to slow it down. "We don't have enough drag, we're moving too fast."
"We'll just have to make do. Artoo, see if you can navigate the ship and keep it level." Obi-Wan may not have been an expert, but she agreed with his assessment on the situation. And if Artoo handled flying it around, then she and Obi-Wan could focus on their descent as they continued through the atmosphere. To either side of them, clones emerged, spraying the ship to put out the flames and attempting to slow down their fall. "I see the landing strip."
"Guide us there Artoo." The ship continued its trajectory, moving too fast for a full safe landing, Padmé held on tight to the wheel that she had, attempting to help Artoo with the landing.
Moments later, the ship jolted as it hit the ground, skidding down the landing strip until it stopped with one final jolt.
For a moment, the cockpit was silent. Then she and Obi-Wan burst out laughing as they realized during this mission they'd not only survived every possible thing that could go wrong, but they had succeeded. The Chancellor was rescued, Dooku was dead.
They were alive and unhurt, and the war would be over soon. Really, with her child soon to come into the world, there wasn't anything more that she could hope for.
The ride from the landing strip to the Senate Dome was only a few minutes, but to Padmé as she sat on the transport taking her and Obi-Wan back to speak to the politicians, it felt as though it might have been hours. She looked out the windows, watching the buildings of Coruscant fly by, unable to ignore the anxiety that was starting to build as she finally would get to see her husband after so long away.
"Padmé?" She looked up towards Obi-Wan, who had chosen to stand while she simply sat hunched over, in her Jedi robes. He waited patiently for a moment, but sighed when she didn't respond. "Padmé, are you alright?"
"Physically or mentally?" The answer to both might have been a no, if she was honest. The excitement of the day combined with the strain of her turbulent pregnancy had left Padmé in a worse state of exhaustion than even the war had, and mentally...telling your husband you haven't seen in six months you've been pregnant with his child while fighting in a war was not bound to win her any empathy. Obi-Wan gave her a look, so she sighed. "I don't know how I'm going to tell Anakin. It wasn't supposed to happen."
Her master thought they had a one night stand, a stupid mistake where some alcohol had reminded them of some feelings they'd long since abandoned and a mistake had been made, but that didn't make the truth any less real. She already loved the baby growing inside of her, but they never should have happened.
"Just tell him. He's Anakin. He'd be no more capable of hating you or that child than I was when you told me." She still remembered that night well. At first Obi-Wan had been upset, she'd felt it in the Force, but it had quickly melted away for concern and a desire to help her through those weeks when Anakin couldn't, and a claim on one of her child as his next Padawan. "You're both too close to let something like this destroy your friendship, there's no sense in denying that."
Padmé hugged him. "Thank you, Master. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"I'll always be here." He helped her up, and she made sure to adjust her robes to hide her stomach, so as not to attract any attention from the Senate as they docked. "Unless, of course, you want help dealing with politicians."
She held back a laugh. "Still not a fan?"
"Anakin might be one of the only politicians I can remotely tolerate, and that's just because he's Anakin." Obi-Wan smiled. "Still though, you are the hero for the day, and somebody will need to report to the Jedi Council, and I'm willing to bet you'd like to avoid that as long as possible."
"Oh, so that's the favor I get for dealing with politicians." Not that she minded, it just meant lots of attention she didn't particularly want when there was only one politician she wanted to see. "Do I get another one for saving your life for the tenth time as well?"
"Ninth Padmé, it's only been nine times. The business on Cato Neimoidia doesn't count." He waved as she got off the transport. Normally, she would argue that it totally did, but she could still feel the butterflies flying around in her. She could let him have that one, at least. "I'll see you at the temple tomorrow morning for when we get our next assignment?"
"I'll be there." Whether Obi-Wan knew the blessing he was giving her by letting her stay the night at Anakin's, Padmé wasn't sure, but she appreciated him either way for it more than ever as she merged into the crowd of politicians, her eyes skimming for Anakin as she listened in on the conversations.
"Chancellor Palpatine, are you alright?" Mace bowed as Palpatine approached, a smile on his face.
"Yes, thanks to your two Jedi Knights." She could hear the smile in his voice momentarily before it fell, and unbidden, Padmé remembered the point he had brought up on the Invisible Hand. Was he only faking his happiness to avoid revealing his suspicions as to the fact that Dooku had a sympathetic ear among the Jedi? "They killed Count Dooku but General Grievous has escaped once again."
"General Grievous will run and hide as he always does. He's a coward."
"But with Count Dooku dead, he is the leader of the Droid Army." With her limited knowledge of politics, even Padmé could pick up the underlying threat in Palpatine's words. "And I assure you the Senate will vote to continue the war as long as Grievous is alive."
Mace began walking away, following after the Chancellor. "Then the Jedi Council will make finding Grievous our top priority as long as he is alive."
She went to follow after them when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Senator Bail Organa. "General Naberrie."
"Senator Organa. I'm happy to see you." She smiled back at him, truly relieved to see one of Anakin's friends. "It's been too long since I've been on Coruscant."
"So it has, I'm assuming you'll be busy for quite some time?" he asked, watching her with a mild interest.
Padmé shook her head. "I'm hoping to be posted on Coruscant, at least at the moment. It's been a while since I was away from the front, and while I don't need too much rest, Obi-Wan and I could both use a few nights of peace. That is, if the war continues for much longer." Bail looked at her, surprised. "If we kill General Grievous, there won't be any commanders skilled enough to lead their army. It'll fall apart, and leave the Separatists open for peace talks once and for all."
"Of course. I hope your predictions are correct, this war has gone on too long." For all of them, even the Senators in their lofty dome, the war had become taxing, and at times it was difficult to remember why she was even fighting in it. She understood what Bail was saying all too well.
"Senator Organa." Anakin's voice as he was standing there, smiling at the two of them, pulled Padmé's attention away from the conversation. "Would you mind if I have a word with Knight Naberrie?"
Bail smiled. "Not at all. Senator Skywalker, I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing her as well." Bail left without another word, and the moment they were alone, Padmé couldn't stop herself. She ran to meet Anakin as he lifted her into the air with a spin. Six months was definitely too long a period of time. More than anything else, she missed him. She missed getting to hug her husband.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Anakin tucked her head under his chin, holding onto her as though nothing else mattered and like he never wanted to let go. She let him hold her as she just enjoyed the moment, saying nothing. "I missed you." For a moment, she wasn't sure if she had heard him, though she realized quickly what he had said.
"I missed you too." And she had, more than she could ever say. "I thought I'd never get to come back to Coruscant."
"It doesn't matter what you thought, what matters is you're back, and you're okay, even if it's for only a minute it's all I care about." And he kissed her, and for a moment she let herself get carried away in it. It was just them, it could be another stolen moment like so many they'd had in the war, and Padmé didn't ever want to leave that moment.
But it wasn't like all the others, their relationship already had a consequence, a wonderful, dangerous consequence, and so she pulled away, and rather than question he simply held her close, expecting her to speak when she was ready.
"Ani, I..." She trailed off, unable to continue.
"Padmé, what's wrong? You're trembling." He let go of her, and she found herself lost in the intensity of his gaze. "Did something happen?"
"It's not wrong, I'm just scared." She took a deep breath and attempted to release her fear into the force, but it was lodged deep in her heart. Anakin meant too much to her now; to lose him would destroy her.
Anakin kissed her forehead. "I'm not going anywhere. Whatever it is, no matter how bad it is, we'll get through it together."
Padmé nodded. "It's not bad, if...if I wasn't a Jedi, it'd be good." She needed to stop beating around the bush, but she needed to at least keep Anakin from worrying first. He looked at her, hesitant, but at least less concerned than he had been previously. "I'm pregnant."
The word hung in the air between them for a moment. Anakin seemed to have frozen solid trying to understand, and it was hard not to blame him given he was going to be a father at twenty-three. Still, the fact that he didn't answer began to worry her as the silence started to drag out.
Before she could question his feelings on it, however, he burst into a smile, bigger than any he'd given her except perhaps on their wedding night after they'd exchanged their vows to belong to each other, and she felt nothing but pure happiness. "That's...that's wonderful."
She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face in response as he pulled her in close.
Anakin being supportive of their child was already one problem off of Padmé's list and maybe, things might finally start to really look up.
It hadn't taken long for Anakin to rush them out of the Senate upon learning Padmé was pregnant. He'd scarcely had time to tell his mother to handle any requests from Bail if they came and to cancel the rest of his meetings before running to his speeder to go home, where he sat now in his apartment with Padmé beside him, telling him about her missions and everything that had changed since they'd last been able to call.
"That day was awful." She stifled a yawn, clearly tired. "We'd just finished up another battle against some battle droids and then I threw up. Rex was so worried and I had to explain to him it was because of the baby and not something to be worried about."
Anakin wanted to ask about the pregnancy. He'd missed so much of it because of the war, but whenever he'd tried to broach it and their child in an attempt to figure out what was going on, she'd skirt the subject, probably sensing his regret and guilt. Why hadn't he ended the war sooner, or convinced the Jedi to bring Padmé home when he knew she had been doing awful during their last call? Why hadn't she tried to come home sooner?
It wasn't worth asking right now. He didn't want to risk upsetting her. Tonight was all about a break from their stressful lives, and Anakin was happy to both give her that break and take one himself. "Where is Rex anyways? I didn't hear anything from him during the battle."
"I hadn't gotten to that yet." She let out a small laugh. "Ahsoka contacted us while we were in the Outer Rim. She and Rex are leading part of the 501st on Mandalore to deal with Maul."
"Snips?" Anakin sat up as she said that. "She's alright?" He remembered how hurt Padmé had been when Ahsoka had left, how she'd felt that she'd failed her Padawan in not protecting her enough during everything. To hear that she was okay...
But rather than give a full answer, Padmé simply shrugged. "She was in a rush to deal with what happened on Mandalore, we didn't talk long for me to know much more. She...wasn't happy we went to Coruscant to help."
Anakin simply held her. "She came to you for help, and you gave it to her. When you guys see each other again, you can catch up." Knowing where her misplaced guilt was coming from, he added, "She doesn't blame you, Angel. You did everything you could."
"I know." Padmé nodded, though whether she believed him or not he couldn't say. "I've been thinking about the baby...about what I should do."
The fact that she'd changed the subject to the pregnancy and their responsibility involving it to avoid speaking of Ahsoka spoke volumes for how much she wanted to avoid the topic, and how much she needed to talk about it, but Anakin wouldn't press. "About sending them to the Temple to become Jedi?"
Padmé nodded. "And other things. If I remain with the Jedi, I won't be able to claim them as my own. They'll know I'm their mother, and they'll know you're their father, but..."
But she wouldn't be able to be their mother so long as she remained there. If they were raised with the Jedi, she could teach them while they were still in the creche, perhaps even become their Jedi Master, but never more than that. If they stayed with him, then she would possibly be even less. "You could leave the Order."
"You know I can't. Once the war's over, the Jedi will go back to being peacekeepers, everything I've always wanted to be." With the title of general that Padmé had taken to as the war went on, sometimes it was hard for Anakin to remember how much she hated all the fighting. "But I want you to raise them, Anakin. If our child wants to become a Jedi, then they can make that choice, but I want you to be a part of their life no matter what."
"You want...?" She...
"They'll be the first freeborn Skywalker." Padmé smiled at him, and Anakin tried to open his mouth before shutting it. Even with how tired she was, pregnant with their child, she knew just how much that would mean. "I don't want to take that from you just because they're gifted with the Force. No matter what, I want them to have a choice in what happens to them." Before Anakin could kiss her, Padmé ended up laughing. "Although I may have to fight Obi-Wan on that."
Anakin laughed at that, mostly because he was startled. "Obi-Wan?"
"He already claimed the baby as his next Padawan." There was an amused smile on Padmé's face. "He said I was an easy first Padawan, he can't imagine any child of ours to be any different."
"I'll have to raise her to be just like me then, just so Obi-Wan has a hard time." He kissed the crown of Padmé's head. "So he knows?"
"Not everything, but yes Anakin. Somebody had to help me out on the battlefield." Padmé smiled, though something about it felt empty.
Anakin didn't have to guess what bothered her. "You hate that you had to lie to him about how this happened."
"I can't tell him. He wouldn't understand." Given Obi-Wan's love for his Padawan, Anakin doubted that was the case, but he let her voice it anyways, unable to refute it with little more than the gut feelings he had.
So Anakin did what he did best whenever something upset his wife, he kissed her, pulling her close and serving as the best distraction he could. "Let's worry about that later. We're supposed to be celebrating, aren't we?"
"You're right." Padmé gave him another smile, this one more genuine. "I shouldn't be so focusing on things like this, we have time."
Though Anakin smiled right alongside her and began working his magic to pull his wife's attention away from all their troubles, he couldn't help focusing on his own.
We have time.
He repeated her comment in his head, hoping that if he told himself it enough times that the war, and all of their problems, would end, and that he would be able to believe it.
It was hot. The temperature around them was boiling, and like the world was ready to burn. She couldn't see. She couldn't feel anything, just the air around her.
There was crying, and a ship was leaving. And despite everything she felt she had to get to that ship. She had to be there. Something important was on it.
But even more important was the figure in front of her. In this hot place, lying on the ground, unmoving, was Anakin.
Padmé bolted awake, unable to focus for a moment as she felt the cool air of the apartment in contrast to the super heated air of her dreams, trying to process what had happened. She closed her eyes, immediately releasing her fear into the Force before it took her over. A nightmare. That was all it was. A nightmare.
Before she could get up to do something to clear her head and focus on the nightmare, she felt arms wrap around her torso and turned to look at Anakin, who had likely been woken up by the sudden movement. Before she could ask anything, he spoke. "I felt your fear in the Force, but I wasn't sleeping."
Oh. "You weren't?"
Anakin shook his head. "No." He didn't elaborate. He just knew she wasn't okay and held her, letting her take her time to breathe. It was difficult to process, the last time she'd felt a fear like this was back at the start of the Clone Wars, when Obi-Wan...
She remembered what Anakin had told her on the flight to Geonosis that day, when he'd listened to her fears about her master. It had helped her work through her emotions then...maybe it'd help now? "I had a nightmare."
Anakin sat up, as though realizing this would be a long conversation, and pulled her into him. "What happened?"
"I'm..." She frowned, unsure of what happened in the dream. "I don't know. It was disjointed and...difficult to understand."
"But definitely a nightmare?" Padmé nodded to answer his question. "Do you remember anything?"
"I heard a baby crying." It wasn't difficult to imagine where that part of the dream had come from. She put her hand on her growing stomach, feeling the bright light of the life inside. She was nervous about everything to do with the baby. "And I saw you...you were..." That one, she was less certain as to why. She knew Anakin was safe on Coruscant, and he could take care of himself as he'd proven over the course of the war. Anakin dying wasn't a fear that she normally had to wrestle with at all.
Anakin kissed the top of her head as a show of support. "It was fake, I'm right here."
Padmé smiled. "I know." The reassurance did little to make her feel better, she was still on edge. "I'm just...worried."
"You have a lot to be worried about." He held her hand. "And I'll be with you for every step of it."
"I know." She locked her hands in his, and they both sat in silence, unable to stop thinking about her dream. "I might talk to Obi-Wan tomorrow."
"Using him as a therapist?" Anakin teased.
"He is older and wiser." She was grateful for the momentary change in focus. "He might be able to figure something out about it if we can't."
Anakin nodded, letting her figure out what else she may have wanted to say, but she didn't want to think about her nightmare, at least not tonight as she instead rested her head on him, listening to his heartbeat and letting it calm her down, more than her attempts to release her emotions into the Force and their conversation had at any rate. It was definitive proof that he was alive.
"Why were you awake?" Padmé asked. Anakin remained silent. "Ani?"
"It's nothing."
"Anakin." Was it possible she was using his problems to ignore her own? That was entirely possible, but she wasn't acknowledging that for the moment, instead wanting to know what was wrong.
"I had a nightmare, don't worry about it." He shook his head.
"After you pressured me to reveal mine?" Padmé asked. Anakin remained silent for a moment before finally answering.
"I don't remember much, just a lot of heat, like I was burning alive."
Normally, Padmé wouldn't have thought twice about that nightmare. It wasn't super uncommon and it wasn't the first time Anakin had woken up in the night from some kind of terrible dream.
But all she could think about was the fire and heat from her dream as she watched Anakin burn alive.
"Padmé?" Him calling her name shook her out of her worry and dread. This wasn't something to worry about. It couldn't be something to worry about. "Is there something else?"
She shook her head. "No, it's...it's nothing. Let's just go back to sleep." As though he could sense her unwillingness to talk about it, Anakin nodded, pulling her back into bed so she could get some rest.
She relaxed into his arms, listening to his breathing as it evened out and sleep came to him.
She only wished it had come to her as well.
It was later than he'd expected when Padmé had arrived at the temple before the meeting with the Council. She still had a few hours before they would be needed to explain what happened in the mission to rescue the Chancellor, but when her call had come well into the morning he was surprised. Had Senator Skywalker taken that long to leave?
While he'd kept their secret as long as possible, Obi-Wan had to admit that he wasn't surprised when Padmé had told him she was pregnant with Anakin's child. He knew she had never moved past the romantic feelings that had developed during their time on Naboo, and knew it was unlikely for Anakin to have ever done so as well. He'd only expected she would have waited until after the war to act on those feelings.
Still though, what was done was done, and while he had to admit he was a little stung that Padmé had either thought he wouldn't realize when two of his closest friends were interested in each other and still seeing each other (he wasn't blind) or hadn't trusted him enough with the information that it went well beyond a drunken one night stand, it wasn't worth getting on her case for when there were much more pressing issues.
That was especially so when she looked like she stumbled into their shared apartment in the Temple, looking like she'd been run over by a wild bantha. "You look terrible."
"Nice to see you too, Obi-Wan." If nothing else, he was relieved to know her sense of humor hadn't suffered from whatever had her looking so exhausted.
He sighed. "That's not what I meant and you know it. I figured a night with Anakin would be a good break from the war, and for the two of you to discuss everything. Instead you come back looking more tired than you were during the war."
Padmé sat down across from him. "It was a nice night, don't think it wasn't." Obi-Wan frowned, waiting for her to continue. "I had a hard time sleeping last night, that's all."
"I'd ask if it was from sharing the bed, but clearly you've done that before." Padmé cast him another glare. "I'm worried."
"I had a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep." She rested her head on the table. "I talked to Anakin about it, we both think it might just be because I'm worried about everything that could happen when the baby comes."
"That's all you think it was?" Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. It wasn't that he didn't believe it, but if it had Padmé looking more run down than any of the battles in the war, that was not good.
"..." She hesitated for a moment. "Anakin had a nightmare as well. He was awake when I woke up too. Some of the details of his dream matched my own..."
"So you're worried there's a chance it's more than just a simple dream." He put his hand to his chin in thought. It was entirely possible that what Padmé was experiencing was a vision. While she'd never had one before, they weren't uncommon among the Jedi and Force Sensitive, and it was possible Anakin could have been experiencing an echo of the vision Padmé had had if that was the case, or possibly his own. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Somebody took the baby, and Anakin was dead." It was clear Padmé had chosen not to beat around the bush with her explanation. Obi-Wan remained silent for a moment, considering the dream. He could see why they'd dismissed it at first. If she was simply anxious about her child and their fate, then it wasn't hard to believe that that was all it was.
Still, Obi-Wan wasn't going to just dismiss it like that. "I can see why you're concerned. If it is a vision, then it's a troubling one. Perhaps it might pay to request leave from the front lines until the baby comes. If nothing else, it may put your mind at ease, and if you're less stressed the nightmare may vanish."
"And if it doesn't and it's a vision?" Padmé asked.
Obi-Wan thought over the answer for a moment. In a normal circumstance, he would warn her not to act hastily, but Padmé already knew that. With the exception of her relationship with Anakin, she had proven herself to be level headed, and while like most of the Jedi, the war had not done Padmé any favors for her mental health or stability, he had the utmost faith in her to do what was right and try to stay calm in handling this. "If it is, then we'll face it together."
"Sir, Senators Organa and Mothma are here." Anakin looked up from the papers on his desk to see Threepio standing at the door. While the two had briefly met with his mother yesterday in his place while he'd taken care of more personal matters (read: celebrating his wife's pregnancy) he knew they would be reaching out today to try to plan once more. Figuring out who in the Senate would side with them in taking Palpatine out of his seat was an exhausting plan, but a necessary one.
Chancellor Palpatine had too much power, by this point, and while he didn't believe secession or all out war was the best option (after everything with the Separatists, he was too tired to want another war, and he couldn't imagine going against the Republic if it meant fighting the Jedi and Padmé) he did believe something had to be done, and after some whispers from Bail, the three had made regular meetings to discuss both peace at the end of the war and a way to remove Palpatine from office for good,
Anakin nodded to the droid. "Thank you Threepio. Let them in, and if anybody besides Padmé or Mom show up tell them I'm busy." Admittedly, he probably shouldn't have even let them in, but Shmi was as much a part of this as he was and Padmé wouldn't be coming anyways unless it really was an emergency.
"Of course." Threepio opened the door, and Bail and Mon sat down across from him.
"Good morning, Senator Skywalker."
"Senator Organa, Senator Mothma." Anakin nodded to them before pulling out a single sheet of paper. The petition, slowly being signed around the Senate that he, Bail, and Mon had been advocating for.
"You've been busy," Bail noted, looking over the document with interest.
Anakin smiled. This had been his primary goal after all. "I wanted to ensure as many signatures as possible. It's important that this seems as unanimous as possible if we want the Chancellor to take it seriously." With the signature of Meena Tills, he'd gotten to almost two thousand signatures, and it would only be a few more until they were beyond that as well.
"And he will, you managed to get Senator Binks and Senator Naberrie, right?" Mon asked. Anakin hesitated for a moment at the name of the Nabian senators. He'd almost forgotten that his wife's sister was the current senator of Naboo. "Senator Skywalker?"
After a moment, Anakin nodded. "Sola was willing to pledge her support, so was Jar Jar." He hadn't been surprised by the Gungan's willingness to help, they'd known each other since he was a kid. It had been Sola that had surprised him. She, like her sister, was close to Palpatine..
"Good, with any luck we'll be able to start making a motion to remove the Chancellor from power soon." Mon smiled before indicating Bail.
"Anakin, you still have close connection with several Jedi, correct?" Anakin nodded at the question. "Do you think you can get information on how much longer until the war might end? I spoke briefly to General Naberrie last night, but she seemed uncertain on how long it would take for the Jedi to hunt Grievous down."
"With luck, it'll be soon." Then again, when had luck ever been on their side in this entire war. Everytime it felt like the Republic made it one step forward, it felt like somebody else had managed to push them two steps back, like the Separatists knew exactly what to expect. "But if I hear anything from Padmé or Obi-Wan, I'll let you know." Idly, he thought about his wife and close friend. Would they be willing to get involved in the delegation? Perhaps it would be worth investigating.
"Thank you." Bail turned to Mon. "You had something you wanted to ask as well I'm assuming?"
Mon smiled. "Nothing quite so serious as what we were currently discussing." And with that, the conversation turned towards lighter subjects as Mon began to talk about the current committee they were all officially on.
Soon they would be able to take their petition to the Chancellor, it was only a little bit longer to go.
"Knight Naberrie, I believe we should be formally welcoming you back to Coruscant." Padmé smiled nervously as Mace bowed to her, welcoming her into the council's chambers. Despite the fact that it was meant to be a simple debrief to discuss what had happened in the battle the prior day, the knowledge of her coming confession made Padmé's chest constrict. She looked to Obi-Wan, sitting in his chair in the corner as he gave her a reassuring smile. He would be looking out for her in this meeting.
She took a deep breath. "Master Windu, it's great to be back on Coruscant."
"Much has happened, since you were here last, hmm?" There was a certain glimmer in Yoda's eye, as though he already knew the secret that Padmé carried with her, and was simply waiting for the right moment to reveal it. Still, she decided she wouldn't open with it, her child would come up in time.
"It has. Did Master Kenobi fill you in on what happened over Coruscant?" She pulled at her sleeves, but couldn't help the feeling of relief as the council members present nodded. "In that case, where would you like me to begin."
"We didn't call you in for a debriefing, Padmé." She froze as she attempted to focus. They knew. Obi-Wan had told them. He'd lied to her and- "We're here talk to you about General Grievous."
What? "General Grievous?" Padmé asked, her face scrunching in confusion. "I've only met him once. I couldn't tell you much more than what happened aboard the Invisible Hand."
"We are well aware, Padmé." Mace turned to Obi-Wan, as though waiting for him to explain.
Her master sighed. "Padmé, they want us to lead the attack on General Grievous once he's located."
"Does that mean we'll be searching for him as well?" she asked, hesitant. Obi-Wan shook his head. "So we're going back to the outer rims?"
"Wrong you are," Yoda said, bringing Padmé's attention back towards him. "To Mandalore, you will be sent. Aid your former Padawan, you will in the capture of Maul. Answers to the Sith's plans, he will have."
As far as assignments went, being tasked with helping with the Siege of Mandalore might have been the best one she'd received since the Outer Rim sieges began, unfortunately, even she knew her time as a member of the GAR was coming to an end. "I'm afraid before I accept this assignment, there's something you need to be made aware of." She took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves as she remembered the story she had crafted with Obi-Wan. "Last time I was on Coruscant, I spent a night with Senator Skywalker in order to catch up on what had happened since my last visit. Things went out of control and..." She felt like a Padawan, standing in front of the council as she admitted to what had happened. "There were consequences."
"Consequences?" Padmé kept her head down, unable to meet Plo's eyes. They all had to know where she was going, right?
"Anakin and I slept together." She attempted to ignore any judgement that might come. "I'm pregnant."
There was silence in the council. It seemed as though none of the council members had been expecting the reveal. She couldn't blame them. If she wasn't the one carrying a child, if she had been a council member, she would've been just as surprised to see one of their best knights had done something so careless.
Luminara spoke up first. "How far along?"
"Six months." Six months pregnant, almost seven. Too far along to continue fighting on the front lines. Too far along to take a chance at one of the only missions that she would willingly leave Coruscant for, to help Ahsoka.
"You do understand the position this puts us in, correct?" Mace asked. Padmé remained silent. "In your current state, it would be unwise to send you to Mandalore. Even with the Force, it won't be long before you're unable to handle the battlefield, let alone against a Sith." She didn't deny that either. "We will need to discuss what will happen in the future. Assuming we find Grievous after the child is born, we will still keep you on the mission."
"A mistake you have made, Knight Naberrie, but brought harm it has not." Yoda smiled at her, though it hardly made her feel any better. She had absolutely destroyed any chance she had at gaining the council's favor for the time being. "Find another position for you, the council shall. Until then, on standby you will be."
"I understand, thank you for being understanding." Padmé bowed to the council. She could only be thankful none of them had guessed at the true nature of hers and Anakin's relationship. She could still be a Jedi, at least until all this was over. "If I can be excused."
"Of course, my Padawan." Obi-Wan spoke up before any of the other Jedi had a chance. The feeling of endearment she normally felt from being reminded of who trained her faded into bitterness. It felt like he was scolding her. She walked out. She knew Obi-Wan would be by to visit her later, but right now, she didn't want to see or talk to him.
She just wanted to be alone.
It was about an hour later that Obi-Wan entered Padmé's room in the temple. She had been trying to meditate, release her emotions into the Force and find peace with the consequences that were only starting to come from her relationship with Anakin, but it wasn't an easy task. She knew she was wrong, and was lucky to get away with such a light warning and no investigation, the council hadn't been cruel, yet she still felt betrayed and hurt and angry, so angry...
"Do you mind if I join you?" Obi-Wan asked.
Padmé shook her head. "You're more than welcome to, but I was just finishing up my meditation anyways." Hormones were her current blame for why she was having difficulty in comprehending her emotions. Maybe the baby was to blame for why she felt so emotionally unbalanced in general.
...Yeah, that was as unlikely as it sounded in her head.
"Are you doing alright then?" Obi-Wan asked, Padmé hesitated on the answer, which seemed to be all the answers Obi-Wan had needed as he sighed. "It could have been much worse."
"I know that." Padmé looked away. "I'm grateful they're not taking any action, but..." She couldn't figure out how to phrase it, so she gave up. "Maybe I'm just tired."
"Perhaps." Obi-Wan's answer was noncommittal. It was as much as Padmé could expect from him. "I'm afraid that's for you to figure out for yourself."
She'd expected as much. "Did the council come to a decision on what they'd like for me to do?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "You and I will both remain on Coruscant. We'll be serving as a contact for if anything changes with the situation on Mandalore." Before Padmé could ask what that entailed, he continued. "It's also been decided that you will be assigned to guard Chancellor Palpatine, as a replacement for Master Ti."
A pang of sadness flooded Padmé. In all of the chaos and reunions, she'd forgotten to ask how the Togruttan master had faired. It seemed she hadn't survived the attack on the Senate after all. "Are they sure it will be safe?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "The position is more of a formality at this point. I doubt another attack will come on the Senate Building this soon after the last one, not with Dooku gone." Padmé almost let out a sigh of relief. She, and the baby, would be fine. Nobody would be attacking or giving them harm. "Regardless, it still is important. We can never rule out another attack knowing Grievous, and if he does, you need to be ready."
"I will be. Compared to the battles in the Outer Rim, this can't be that hard." She ignored that during over half of those she'd been fighting morning sickness.
"I don't doubt it, I imagine being confined to Coruscant will be rather dull for the both of us." Obi-Wan gave a joking smile, and Padmé found herself grinning back in spite of the negative emotions she'd been trapped in earlier. "But I'm sure you'll find something to keep us both busy until we can leave."
Padmé laughed slightly. "That's easy, all we have to do is stay in Anakin's office. I doubt he's ever had a peaceful day."
"No, I doubt the Senator ever has." Obi-Wan stood up. "You'll be starting guard duty tomorrow. I'd recommend you get some rest for now, perhaps make up for the nightmare from last night."
She nodded, although hesitated for a moment. As tired as she was, her mind couldn't stop wandering to her dream, and what it would mean if it did return.
...No, for now she couldn't think about that. "Thank you, Obi-Wan." He gave her one last smile, and Padmé decided it would be worth a shot to try and take Obi-Wan's suggestion of rest.
The moment she fell asleep, all she could see was a red heat.
Another sleepless night had been all that had awaited Padmé at the temple, bothering her beyond words. Two nights wasn't enough to make a vision Obi-Wan had said, so she wasn't assuming the worst yet, but she still would've liked to have more than a couple hours of troubled sleep as she walked in the Senate doors.
"Knight Naberrie?" She turned around to see Anakin behind her, arriving the same time as her. While the sight of him had made her feel better, the fact that he looked just as tired as she was wasn't much of a consolation. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Translation: Are you here to visit me or for Jedi business?
"Nothing today, Senator Skywalker." She could feel his mood drop at her answer. She could understand why. She desperately wanted nothing more than to curl into his arms and have him hold her until she got some sleep and the nightmares stopped, but it wasn't the case. "I've been assigned to replace Master Ti as the Chancellor's guard."
Anakin remained silent. "I'm sorry for the Jedi's loss. I know she was a good Jedi."
"The clones are the ones hurting the most. They loved her." She could only imagine what the reaction would be when the news reached Kamino. She'd hate to see the devastation among the clones based there, who had worked closely with her, and she was suddenly relieved that Echo had found his place among the Bad Batch now. Domino Squad appreciated her more than words, and given Echo was the only surviving member of his training squad, he'd be devastated when the news reached him and have very few people able to offer him comfort.
"I hope they'll have a chance to mourn her, before the war resumes." Anakin looked like he wanted to say more, but seemed to have held himself back as instead he turned towards the Senate dome. "I'll be in my office most of the day today. If you find some time away from the Chancellor, don't be afraid to stop by."
"I'll be sure to visit." Padmé smiled. Had they been in a less public place, she would have done so much more, but instead she simply waved. "I'll see you, Senator."
"You as well." With that, Anakin left for his office, and Padmé began in the direction of the Chancellor's office. It wasn't a far walk from the elevator, and so she entered with a smile on her face. Maybe Anakin would have been the person she would have liked to spend the day with most, but Chancellor Palpatine was a close friend of hers and she couldn't complain about her assigned task.
"Padmé my dear, come in, come in." Palpatine gave her a wide smile. 'When I heard the Jedi were assigning you to be my new guard, I couldn't believe how fortunate I was to have such a brilliant Jedi ensuring my protection."
"Thank you." She smiled, taking a seat. "Although I'm afraid I'm not so much a 'brilliant Jedi' right now."
Palpatine looked at her, almost surprised. "Are you alright? I certainly can't imagine your skills have become worse in a single day."
"It's not a big deal." Padmé shook her head. "I'm just unable to be involved in active combat. I'm mostly here to scare people away in case they get the idea to hurt you." Palpatine waited for an elaboration. Had it been most anybody else, Padmé would have lied, but Palpatine was her friend, and while he didn't know about her and Anakin (nobody did) she didn't see the harm in telling him about this. "I'm pregnant."
Palpatine seemed frozen for a moment. "I see. I suppose congratulations are in order then. Might I ask who the father is?"
"I'd rather not answer. The baby will be staying with him until they're old enough to enter the creche. Afterwards, they'll be trained as a Jedi." She lied. If it was just her reputation at risk that would be one thing, but Anakin's was too. Explaining that he'd married a Jedi might have worse repercussions for him than it did her.
"I presume you'll be the one teaching them when the time comes?" Palpatine asked. Padmé shook her head. "Why not? Surely the Jedi must see the value in having one of their best teaching her own child. They're bound to be as strong as you."
"It would foster a strong attachment between myself and the child." Padmé's answer was automatic. "Not to mention, it would be rewarding me for going against the code."
He looked at Padmé in disbelief. "That seems unfair."
There wasn't much for her to say. While she hadn't planned on taking on her own child as a Padawan anyways (if they did become a Jedi, Obi-Wan was the only choice for that position in her mind) it truly hadn't occurred to her that the Jedi potentially preventing her from forming a bond with her child as their Jedi Master was unfair. She had broken their rules by acting on her feelings for Anakin in such a way, and she knew that was a fact, but why was it so important that she had? "I can understand why that might seem that way from the outside, but the Code exists for a reason."
"I do apologize then for the assumption." Palpatine smiled at her. Despite it being a kindly smile, she felt ill at ease. "I'm sure it seems much more reasonable from the perspective of being a Jedi."
"It's alright Chancellor." Padmé pushed the feelings of unfairness away for now that Palpatine had brought it up. She had broken the rules. She was lucky she hadn't been punished for it. She just had to remember that. "I'd rather not discuss the baby right now, if I'm honest. For now what happens with them is between me and the father."
"That's quite understandable, though you will have to take the child to me once they're born. I would love to meet them." Palpatine pulled out some documents, likely new legislative bills he was working on. "I'm afraid I won't be able to be too social most of the time you're here. I do have work to do still, but I also hope it won't be too boring for you my dear. I know you're used to the front, but I assure you your position is still plenty important."
Padmé nodded. "Of course." And honestly, quiet was what she needed. She could focus on meditating until the Chancellor dismissed her for the night. It would finally give her the chance she needed to reflect on the vision and process her emotions that had become increasingly unstable since the war had begun.
Anakin was just putting away the last of his datapads for the night when he saw a sight for sore eyes enter the room. Padmé was in the doorway, smiling. "Padmé."
"I came to see if you were still here." She walked in, closing the door behind her as she sat on his desk. "I wanted to escort you back home."
Anakin smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "You're more than welcome to stay the night assuming the Jedi don't need you. It's only been a day, but I keep worrying you'll be sent back to the front before I can say goodbye."
"I wouldn't leave before you had the chance." Not that that had ever been either of their choices whether Padmé could or couldn't. There had been a number of nights where their goodbyes to each other had been brief calls before she was pulled away for the war. "And besides, I'm on Coruscant until the baby's born."
At that, Anakin's attention was pulled away towards his wife's stomach, and he put his head on it, ignoring how ridiculous he'd look if any of his fellow senators walked in at that moment. "Hey there. Can you hear me?"
He heard Padmé laugh, a sound that made his heart soar as he realized just how long it had been since his wife had had a reason to laugh about anything. "I asked Kix about their development, he said that by now the baby should be able to hear some things, not a lot though."
Anakin's grin grew wider. "Hi then. It's me, Daddy." She laughed again, and her smile was so warm it made all of his stress feel so far away. "I want our daughter to be able to recognize the sound of her father's voice when she first meets me."
"What makes you so sure they're going to be a girl? They could be a boy." She teased.
"The Force told me."
"What? It did not." Padmé shook her head. "You haven't even had time to ask it, let alone meditate on the answer."
"Being the Chosen One has its perks, even when your training amounts to a few late nights with your wife." He put his hand on hers, squeezing it tightly. "What do you think she'll be then, or did Kix tell you that too?"
In truth, Anakin wasn't actually sure the baby Padmé was carrying was going to be a girl, but he wanted them to be more than anything. He'd love any child that came from the two of them, but a girl who looked just like her mother...nothing would win him over faster.
"A boy." Padmé decided. "What I think he'll be, not what Kix told me. I refused to let him do any tests. I wanted you there for whatever I could." Rather than let the unfortunate reminder of just how much of the pregnancy he had missed floating in the air, Padmé immediately continued. "But if I need to have a reason, you can thank both the Force and motherly intuition."
Anakin laughed, lifting his wife off the desk before bringing her in for a kiss. "Then if he is a son, I'll be just as proud of him as I would be a daughter."
"I know you will be." She clasped her hands in his and led the way back to the apartment.
Maybe, just maybe, things would be alright.
In a hidden chamber, deep within the Senate halls, a cloaked figure stood above a projector, having just told Grievous where to remain on standby until the war effort could resume, Sidious had other, more important items to deal with.
Such as the loss of his apprentice.
Admittedly, Tyrannus had always been expendable to Sidious. The former Jedi had grown disgruntled with the order due to the seeds that had been planted before Plagueis had died, and when Tyrannus had left the Jedi Order it was easy enough for Sidious to swoop in, in need of an apprentice and a mind to mold. He was useful as well, eager to please and desperate for more power from the Dark Side. An apprentice any Sith would have been proud of.
But Sidious wanted a longer legacy, an apprentice bound to him completely and willing to follow his every command. At first, that choice had been Senator Skywalker. The Senator was a beacon in the Force because of his power, and even at thirteen as he had been when he'd first shown up on Coruscant, the boy had been powerful. Unfortunately, he was harder to get a hold of than expected. The boy avoided him at every chance he got as he got older, as though sensing that there was another motive to Sidious's attempts to befriend him. Still, Sidious had hoped that as he grew older, the boy's mind could be bent. It was clear now, however, that the Senator would be little more than a tool to finally push his second choice over the edge.
His ability to reach out to the young Padawan had been what had brought Padmé to Sidious's attention during the attack on Naboo. She was fairly strong in the Force and eager to learn everything the Jedi could teach her, a bright shining beacon of hope, and at the time she had been his first choice, as he had not yet known of Senator Skywalker. Unfortunately, she was also an innate force of good. He had never met somebody so willing to help others. Even among the Jedi, she was more self sacrificing than most. It was difficult to believe she wasn't born knowing right from wrong right from the beginning.
It was because of those reasons that he had decided he would need to bring her down. And after years of earning her trust, of slowly tearing apart the bonds she had with her fellow Jedi and even Senator Skywalker himself, he could feel it in her. Something had finally caused her to crack, her murder of Tyrannus in cold blood was proof of that. She was willing to follow him no matter what he asked, willing to forsake her values and defer to his judgement.
It was only a little more stress he needed to pile on, something small that could finally push her over the edge and into the waiting arms of the Sith. It was only a little longer until she would become his apprentice, and he could form his empire.
And after this long, a little bit wouldn't be much harder to wait.
"Senator Skywalker, are you alright?" Anakin lifted his head to see Bail, who was standing at the doorway by Threepio. He nodded, trying to desperately ignore how close he had been to catching a little bit of extra sleep. "Are you sure, sleeping in your office isn't normal behavior."
"I'm fine, Bail." Anakin stretched slightly, trying to force himself to wake up. Ever since Padmé had started having nightmares, he'd found himself having them as well. At first, he'd been determined to get full nights sleep afterwards, but as it got harder to reassure her that he wasn't dead and he was fine and nothing was happening to their unborn child and her 'visions' meant nothing, he'd found himself getting less sleep afterwards. "Just tired."
"Worrying about the baby?" Anakin had told Bail about his child with Padmé, using the same excuse she had. He was going to need an explanation when Anakin suddenly showed up to Delegation meetings with a baby strapped to his chest.
Still, the baby (Leia, he was sure she was a girl and would be his Leia) wasn't what had him worried. "Their mother, actually. Padmé hasn't slept well since she returned to Coruscant. I'm worried about how that could affect the baby, but that's not the biggest deal."
"Do you want me to come back another time? I can leave you to your nap."
Anakin shook his head. "No please, stay. Anything you're coming in here for is bound to be important. I'd rather not wait to hear it."
Bail nodded. "I believe it's time the delegation becomes more than just a group of signatures. Palpatine's newest act is doing far more than just simply increasing his power in the Senate this time."
It took a moment for Anakin to remember just what the newest bill the Moffs had insisted on presenting was before he closed his eyes, attempting to calm down.
The Moffs had passed a bill that allowed the Chancellor and Moffs to immediately intervene in Jedi business when deemed necessary by the Republic (the Republic being the Moffs and Chancellor). The Chancellor had passed a bill that allowed him to begin to take over the Jedi.
That sleemo Tarkin had suggested it.
Anakin let out a curse. "I think you're right. We'll need to start coming up with a plan soon." He pulled out his schedule, trying to find a free block of time during the week he hadn't planned on using to catch a nap after everything with Padmé kept him up far too late. "Can you and Mon bring a few other delegation members and meet then." He pointed to an empty space on his calendar a few days from now.
"I'll see what I can do." Bail nodded, turning to Anakin. "While we're discussing, have you heard anything from Obi-Wan, or Padmé?"
Anakin shook his head. "No. The Jedi are still spread out all across the outer rim trying to hunt down Grievous." Unfortunately, meaning the war was still going on. Not that it was easy to come across this information. Padmé hadn't been told a thing by the council.
That had been another thing that was most definitely bringing down Padmé's mood. Since she was stuck on planet until the baby came, the council had been less open about the war effort with her, leaving her with more questions than she could get answers to as she found herself treated more like a civilian than she ever had been before. While Anakin assumed it was most likely due to the council attempting to avoid putting more undo stress on her, neither of them was sure what the case really was.
"So then the situation has hardly changed." Bail let out a sigh, pulling Anakin from his distracted thoughts. "I'd hoped that when we were ready to act, the war would be over. Forcing another leader to take the seat to broker peace in the middle of a war does not sound like a popular option."
"It won't be." Anakin clenched his fist. "But if things continue as they are, it's unlikely that we'll have any other choice."
Palpatine had to step down. If he wouldn't do it by choice, then the delegation would just have to do it by force.
At this point, Padmé was starting to grow numb to the nightmare, or rather she would have been if she wasn't fully convinced at this point it was a vision that could come true at any moment.
Well, that wasn't a complete truth, if it was likely to come true at any moment it would first require Anakin to be somewhere there was an active volcano and her to at least no longer be pregnant so there was a fair amount of time before the nightmare became a reality, but as of right now, there wasn't any sense of rhyme or reason as Padmé sat in bed with her husband as she clung to his bare chest, sobbing both from fear of losing him and the relief that he was still alive.
"Padmé. Padmé it's okay. I'm not dead yet, we can take care of this." She wasn't sure if Anakin believed her visions were more than just dreams, the Chancellor had proven time and time again that it was difficult for others to understand the consequences of the Force without the Jedi's training, even somebody who was as Force Sensitive as Anakin, but right now Padmé didn't care. Just hearing him speak and having him hold her was enough.
She focused on the feeling of his hands on her back, and distantly, she thought of how her upset emotions probably weren't good for the baby. She needed to calm down, she needed to think logically. She needed to release her emotions into the Force.
She was so tired she wasn't sure that she could think well enough to do that. So she went with her next best option.
"Ani...Ani I'm so scared. I can't lose you and the baby both."
"You won't." Anakin reassured her, and dimly she was aware of how tired her body was and how just being held by Anakin was starting to help her go back to sleep. "I'm not going anywhere Angel, and I would never let something happen to our child." He opened his mouth, but quickly shut it, perhaps realizing a joke wouldn't be helpful in the moment.
"I know." It wasn't the first time somebody had had a vision of Anakin dying in the war. Ahsoka had managed to thwart one a little over a year in. Perhaps this one would be able to be averted. "I know, but I just..."
"I know." Anakin let go of her and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "I know you're scared, but we'll make sure of it. Have you talked to Obi-Wan again about this?"
"No he...I know he won't understand." He hadn't before. He'd convinced her to view it as a nightmare, but even she knew deep down at this was a vision. He was her mentor and closest friend. Shouldn't he have known about all this?
...No, that wasn't the right attitude. Obi-Wan had done nothing wrong and Padmé knew that. She just didn't want to bring it to Obi-Wan. His advice wouldn't work. She knew it wouldn't stop this from happening. Wouldn't save her kids and Anakin.
Anakin nodded, although she could tell he wasn't happy with her decision. "Alright, then we'll figure this out just the two of us. We're both smart and powerful. One of us is bound to come up with something. We can look again tomorrow night."
Padmé nodded, her eyes closed as the need for sleep started to pull her under as her physical and mental exhaustion kicked in. "I might talk to Obi-Wan anyways...just in case..." If there was one plus, at least she was beginning to be able to sleep afterwards.
Anakin chuckled, laying down and pulling Padmé down with him. "Good night, Angel."
"Good night, Anakin."
It wasn't long after that she was out once more.
It wasn't long before she could feel the heat of the lava on her skin.
Padmé finished her explanation of the dreams once more, causing Obi-Wan to sigh as he attempted to figure this out. Anakin dying on a lava world while her children were taken from her being entirely consistent meant that it was unlikely these were anxieties of a new mother worrying for how she'd do. "Obi-Wan, I really just don't know what to do anymore." She took a sip of the tea (not caf, Obi-Wan had made sure she wouldn't have caffeine whenever she came to him.) "If these nightmares keep coming, then I..." She buried her head in her arms. "I feel like I can barely sleep before I start to have the visions again, and the fact that I could lose them..."
"A stressful time, I know." Obi-Wan frowned. In truth, short of keeping Anakin locked on Coruscant (something the senator would never agree to) or keeping the baby somewhere Padmé could be with them at all times, there wasn't really an easy option.
"Do you Obi-Wan? You never-"
He stopped her, not letting her finish that thought. "Satine." Padmé quieted down immediately. Whether she'd forgotten his relationship with the duchess Obi-Wan wasn't sure, but it did cause Padmé to quiet her protests, at least for now. "Padmé, have you tried meditating to figure this out."
"I have, but..." She shook her head. "None of it makes sense."
"You will get through this Padmé, I have faith." She glanced down, and Obi-Wan had a feeling she was thinking of the deception she was currently right in the middle of. Her relationship with Anakin was, of course, a problem, but it did make her happy, even if she wouldn't tell him yet just how far it had progressed.
Padmé looked up at him, and in that moment he didn't see a confident twenty-eight year old, but a scared fourteen year old, receiving her Padawan braid and being officially set on the path of the Jedi.
She was in turmoil, she was hurting, and there was nothing that he could do to help her through it as he had so many times before. He couldn't stop the visions until the time they were meant to occur had passed. He could only help her try to understand, and do what he could to help her stop the terrible future she and Anakin both were seeing, were experiencing.
"If something happens to Anakin, and somebody does take the baby...please, promise you'll be there to help me." Padmé looked away.
Obi-Wan put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, my Padawan. I'll do my best to stay on Coruscant until we're sure the danger has passed."
And Obi-Wan meant his word. Short of the discovery of where General Grievous was hiding, he would stay with Padmé and make sure she was okay. He loved her, and there was no denying that. Somehow Anakin and Padmé had become two of the most important people in his life, and it would take something terrible to turn him away from them on a normal day, let alone as they became more and more desperate to stop this nightmare.
In the back of his mind, Obi-Wan thought back to Mortis, and everything Padmé had said when she'd been shown the future by the Son. When she'd fallen to the Dark Side after hurting and losing them.
He wouldn't let this nightmarish vision lead her to that end point. Not if there was anything he could do to stop it.
The foreboding feeling he had was just that, a feeling. He wouldn't let it be anything else.
Sidious watched Padmé as she sat in the chair near his door, largely to intimidate any who tried to come after her. As the weeks had passed, she was becoming more and more unsteady. He'd known there was something going on with her beyond just the pregnancy of course, she'd seemed more tired than usual when she'd stepped into his office the first time after revealing that she was to be his guard, but she'd simply become increasingly unsteady the more and more time passed.
Though right now she seemed slightly better than what had become the new normal for her, it was easy to tell from her demeanor she wasn't holding up any better than she had been before. He knew her too well to think she was. "Padmé, would you come over here for a minute?"
Padmé jumped and smiled, approaching his desk. "Of course Chancellor, is something the matter?"
"No, nothing at all, nothing at all." Sidious smiled. It was time to truly start pushing the wedge between her and the council, now that she may have been willing to listen. "I was simply wondering how long you'll be staying on as my guard."
"At least until the baby comes." Her answer was immediate. "After I've recovered from their birth, I'll likely be on the front lines again. If they're willing to take me from my son."
"So you've gotten your child tested?" A son...a boy powerful in the Force if he was right about who the father that Padmé was so desperate to keep under wraps was.
"No, I just have a feeling he is." She smiled, putting one hand on her stomach. In that moment, despite her clear worry, her Force presence became more even and calm, more like the Jedi she had been at the start of the war.
That most definitely wasn't acceptable. "Surely you must be worried to be away from your son for so long then."
Padmé nodded. "Of course, but I trust An-the father to watch over him until the war is over." She paused, as though trying to figure out where she wanted to go. "Afterwards, I think I might start helping Master Nu in the archives for a while, so I can stay on Coruscant to watch him grow up."
She would most definitely be on Coruscant with her son if Sidious had any control over the situation, but right now, he couldn't let her think that. He had to make her want to go back in the field. "Of course, I'd imagine the Jedi wouldn't want to waste somebody of your power by keeping you here any longer than necessary."
Padmé nodded. "No, they wouldn't. It's why Obi-Wan and I have been away for so long." She laughed slightly. "I don't mean to make your kidnapping sound like a good thing Chancellor, but without it, I'm unsure if I ever would've been pulled back from the rim, not unless something truly terrible happened."
"Of course not." Sidious gave her a kindly smile. "And I would never accuse you of thinking so positively of my kidnapping for no reason either. But I do have to wonder, what if they don't send you out because of all this."
"I think I'd be relieved." Padmé sighed. "Not having to go out and fight in the war would be nice."
"I can understand the sentiment, but...wouldn't that mean they no longer trust you enough to lead? Forgive me for asking since I know you claim to have broken the Jedi Code, but if they no longer trust you out on the field I can't imagine they would ever let you in on the council or any other position of importance, or perhaps they'd simply be worried you could no longer handle yourself out in the field."
Sidious watched as the gears in Padmé's head began turning, as she took in what he said and began putting all the pieces together.
Because the answer was simple, if the theory he was telling was true, the Jedi keeping her from battle so she could heal from birth and recover would become something much more sinister.
When he felt a flare of anger from her, and her previously calm Force presence spike, Sidious knew he had succeeded in having convinced her of what he wanted. "Of course, I might be wrong. Perhaps they will let you stay on Coruscant so you'll have the chance to know your child, although you did say family attachments were forbidden among the Jedi."
Padmé visibly deflated, exhausted and angry. "Perhaps you're right, Chancellor, but it's what I deserve."
She didn't believe that, or else she wouldn't have been hiding her relationship under everybody's nose. Sidious knew that right away. "I apologize for prying my dear, perhaps you're right. I suppose I'm just not as trusting of the Jedi as I used to be?"
Padmé seemed to weigh his words. "You mentioned on the Invisible Hand that some Jedi might aid Dooku?"
"Of course, there's been rumors of a Separatist plot to manage to win over multiple Jedi after the likes of Krell proved that some Jedi could be won over to their side when properly motivated." This was, of course, a lie, but Padmé didn't need to know that. "It's why I had accepted Governor Tarkin's proposition of a law to allow me to influence the Jedi. I didn't want to, of course, but until we can be sure that they didn't succeed in winning over some council members, I figured it would be easier to err on the side of caution."
There was a time when Padmé would have defended the council to her grave, but with her Padawan having been expelled (he still had to figure out what to do with Padawan Tano now that she was no longer a member of the Jedi Order. The chips weren't prepared for non-Jedi who posed a threat, just Jedi) and General Kenobi's betrayal in faking his own death to stop an earlier attempt at the kidnapping over Coruscant, he knew Padmé was significantly less trusting of the council, even if she didn't admit it. Instead she remained silent, neither contributing nor talking about the decision.
"Of course, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I'm sure it's nothing, and once the war is over, the Jedi will be able to resume their own pursuits to aid the Republic, though I have been putting some thought on putting my own representative onto the council, but I wouldn't want to press too far at once." He saw Padmé perk up at that.
"Of course, Chancellor, the Jedi wouldn't be happy with that." She gave him a tired smile. He noted her wording, and had to fight a smile. The Jedi wouldn't be happy with that, but he saw the hope that appeared at her desire for a council seat, just as he'd instilled in her the ambition and desire years ago to take over the Jedi.
"Of course not, perhaps soon, but not now." He stopped. "You would, however, make for a wonderful council member, but thoughts for another day. I'm sure you don't want to talk about the state of the council and the Jedi. I called you over simply for an easy question, and perhaps to learn more about your child. You'll have to forgive me for going so off topic. There's a lot weighing down my mind."
"I don't mind at all." She gave a tired smile, one that he could tell was only half faked. "Besides, I'm perfectly fine discussing politics. I have a knack for it, as you said."
"Of course." Sidious smiled once more. He'd need to out Grievous's position soon, it was just a little more time.
Padmé was falling for his bait without much prompting or difficulty on his end.
Everything was going exactly as he'd planned it.
Padmé hadn't meant to arrive so late to the Chancellor's office. She'd spent the night at the Jedi Temple and had been caught on her way out by Obi-Wan and she was still trying to process how that conversation had gone so wrong.
"Padmé, please be careful. I know you consider the Chancellor a great friend, but every day you return more angry and upset than the last. I'm getting worried."
Obi-Wan was wrong, and she knew that and was almost hurt by how little he trusted her to act in her best interest and recognize the Chancellor as a threat, but for now she was trying to push that out of her mind. "I'm sorry I'm late, Obi-Wan caught me on the way out from the temple, and it's difficult to move quickly when..." She indicated her stomach, which was considerably larger than she expected to be in her seventh month. It wouldn't be much longer until the Force failed her in her ability to keep herself looking and moving like she was vaguely not pregnant. It was likely she'd need to be removed from her mission soon.
"That's quite alright my dear." Palpatine offered her a chair, which Padmé gladly took. "I do have something I wish to talk to you about today, but I am in no rush if it means putting your own health at risk."
"Thank you for the concern, but I'm fine." She smiled, truly appreciative for all the concern he'd given her. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Do I have your trust, Padmé?"
She looked at him abruptly, her distracted thoughts now fully focused just on him. That hadn't been the direction she'd expected this conversation to go towards. Once more, Obi-Wan's warning played in her head, but just as she'd dismissed it when he'd first given it, she dismissed it now. "Of course I do." He'd given her advice, taught her about Naboo, and shown her so much kindness over the years. It was difficult for her to distrust him.
"I need your help." The look of distress on Palpatine's face...whatever he needed help for was a task he didn't want to ask, and something he wasn't fond of requesting. "I'm depending on you to be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic."
It took a moment for the Chancellor's request to process in her mind. Why would he want her to be all that? "Your Excellency, with all due respect, are you sure I'm the right choice for this position? I'm not..." She struggled for a moment to explain her thought process. "I'm a Jedi. While I have an interest in politics, it's not a field I'm trained to be a part of. The voice of the Republic should be somebody with much more experience."
"You misunderstand me, Padmé. I'm not looking for a Senator or representative of the government." Palpatine shook his head. "Perhaps, I should simply continue. Padmé, I would like for you to serve as my personal representative on the Jedi Council."
"Chancellor, I..." She was honored, truly. Being on the council had been a goal of hers for years, so to finally have the opportunity was a blessing, but that didn't mean she thought it would go over well with the Jedi. She expected the opposite, if she was being honest. None of the Jedi would be happy with Palpatine stepping in as he was by putting her on the council, and the few days would do nothing to reassure them that Palpatine wasn't trying to take over. "I'm grateful, truly I am, but they won't want this. Members on the council have always been an internal affair. To suddenly just put me on it..."
"I am aware of how this will look to the Jedi." The pleading look at her to accept his offer made Padmé falter for a moment. "But I'm afraid I don't have much of another option."
She remembered the theory he had shared about how Separatists may have invaded the Jedi and even found their way onto the council, and she hesitated for a moment when it came to rejecting his proposal again.
"Please, Padmé. I do not intend to overstep by doing so. You're a gifted Jedi and deserve that council spot already, and if not for the fact that they seem so insistent on punishing you for your..." Palpatine paused for a moment, as though trying to come up with the proper word, "Dalliances, I don't doubt you would be their choice on who to replace Master Ti. I'm only ensuring that's the case."
A part of her wanted to argue that that was unlikely to be the case, that she wasn't qualified to be a council member and that there were any older and more wise Jedi who might have gotten the spot instead of her.
But what if it wasn't? What if the Jedi really were so intent on punishing her over the fact that she had gotten pregnant that they were planning on keeping her off the council, a position that due to her experiences in the war she clearly deserved.
"If the council is willing to grant the position, I'll accept it." But if they weren't even she would not be able to override their will. Palpatine would have to understand.
"I'm sure they will, my dear. And I could not thank you enough for doing this." Palpatine turned to head back towards his desk, likely to resume his work.
Padmé smiled. "It's nothing. I'm glad I can help do something while I'm on Coruscant rather than do so little."
Palpatine nodded. "Of course, but do not sell yourself short, Padmé. I need you, far more than you know."
The meeting with the heads of the Delegation of 2000 couldn't have come at a worse time, if Anakin was honest. His wife's tendencies towards anger that reminded him scarily of himself were beginning to scare him, and he was starting to lose hope that it was simply a lack of sleep and pregnancy getting to her when he felt cold around her in the Force.
But the meeting couldn't be avoided. Bail and he had agreed shortly afterwards that the Chancellor had been taking on too much power, far too much power, and taking direct control away from the Jedi was definitely a step too far. Despite how close they were to ending the war, no attempts at finding peace with the Separatists had been made, and they had enough people in their party to stand a chance. It meant it was time to meet. Anakin had offered up his apartment and the seven of them had met up.
"If things continue as they are, then it may become more difficult to take Palpatine from power. He may very well succeed in transforming the galaxy from a democracy into something much worse." Mon sighed.
There was an oppressive silence in the room. After spending three years constantly fighting in a war, nobody here wanted another one as soon as the Clone Wars finished, yet that seemed to be the only way things could turn. "We can't afford another war." Bail spoke up. Of every one of them, he was the most insistent on peace. It was unsurprising he was so against another fight.
"We may not have a choice." Anakin banged his hands on the table, causing the glasses set upon it to shake. "I know all of us were against the formation of a military, let alone another war, but you can't tell me letting Palpatine continue to get away with this is the answer either."
No, it absolutely couldn't be. Anakin had always had a desire for a more streamlined government (a desire that had been made even stronger based on how much he had to fight in the Senate just to get Tatooine's voice even heard) but a dictatorship, let alone one under Palpatine, wasn't the answer. "The government is failing, and if we sit here and do nothing, we'll be just as much a problem as those that are trying to bring it down. If Palpatine won't listen to us, then we get ready to stand and fight."
Anakin's statement rang in the air. They were all suddenly aware of the fact that Anakin was a boy who at fourteen had led the slaves of Tatooine to take the planet, rather than just another senator like them. He was unafraid to fight another war, because another war would guarantee them what they wanted.
"Perhaps, rather than immediately jump into battle, we should focus on our cause now, and prepare for a battle only if Palpatine rejects the proposal." Bail compromise seemed to placate the Senators, for now.
Sola shook her head, but didn't say anything. "When will we be ready to confront him."
"Assuming nothing comes up, I've scheduled a meeting for us in a few days." The nothing Anakin was assuming coming up had everything to do with his wife going into labor early given she'd recently entered her seventh month and that was always possible, not that he could bring that up right now. "We'll have to be ready by then."
"Very well." Bail looked over the group. "Senator Skywalker, do you have anything planned?"
Anakin nodded. "I'd like to talk to a Jedi first, get a second opinion to make sure we aren't imagining things."
One of the other senators there frowned. "Are you sure we can trust the Jedi? They've been the lead fighters in the war, and they serve Palpatine loyally."
"You shouldn't have to be alone on Mandalore, Snips."
"Well, it's not like I had a choice, Padmé and Obi-Wan had to run back to Coruscant to rescue the Chancellor. They did what they could."
Anakin tried not to think about the brief conversation he'd had with Ahsoka when considering where the Jedi's allegiance lay. He knew they still stood for peace and justice, but it was clear that that opinion didn't hold the majority opinion, and some days, there were times that he even questioned it. How much had the war had turned the Jedi towards a group of military leaders rather than the peacekeepers they were supposed to be? Still, he knew that wasn't the case. "I know the Jedi aren't happy. I'm friends with them, and I've seen just how badly the war has been affecting them. They've had to watch their own suffer, watch friends and family die while we sit cozy in the Senate. They will not take the Chancellor's side." For now though, Anakin knew to concede the point. "That doesn't matter though, I don't want to talk to the whole council, I'm only asking one Jedi for an opinion, one I'd trust over all others to stand with us."
One who knew that the Chancellor had gone too far, that the powers he was giving himself were likely to destroy the Republic from the inside out. A loyal and trustworthy friend.
"Anakin, for now, we're best off not including the Jedi. If we bring them in, then we are asking them to get involved in a conflict they are not yet ready for and may not yet come to pass. We are best keeping this among ourselves for now, and if things get bad, then perhaps consulting with Padmé would be a good idea."
Anakin sighed. Bail was right, of course. "You're right, Bail. I'm probably getting too far ahead of...myself." He hoped his stumble didn't clue the Senators into the conflict he was suffering from as Anakin fell silent, letting the delegation continue their discussion.
When he'd been thinking of a Jedi he trusted, he hadn't been thinking about his wife at that moment, he'd wanted to keep her out of this altogether for more reasons than just the pregnancy.
The person he'd thought of to help the delegation make their plea was Obi-Wan.
If Obi-Wan had been told that this would be the Chancellor's plan for Padmé when he'd watched her go to the Senate Building this morning, he would have thought the person who did so was mad. It wasn't that he didn't think Padmé deserved a spot on the council, it was quite the opposite and he was sure that once she'd trained a Padawan into a Jedi Knight, Mace would be the first in line to offer it to her, but the idea that Palpatine would choose to force his will onto the Jedi Council in the first place was so unbelievable that there was just no possible way that he would do it.
Which, unfortunately, meant that despite having known about the request he would have to make of Padmé for a reason, he was completely blindsided when she'd come before the council and relayed his nomination and message for the council. Obi-Wan was sure he wasn't the only one either, given how silent the council fell. It was almost as though they were trying to comprehend the information they had been told.
"Allow this appointment lightly, the council does not." Yoda was the one to break the silence, to discuss just what they had learned. "Disturbing is this move by Chancellor Palpatine."
Obi-Wan watched as Padmé closed her eyes. "I understand. I was just as surprised when he'd nominated me as well." It was a small reassurance that Padmé hadn't wanted this.
"We do not accept this lightly, but you will be accepted among our ranks." Mace nodded to Padmé, who looked at them almost in numb shock. "But you will not be granted the rank of Master."
"What?" she mumbled under her breath, and it looked like she had so much more to say. Obi-Wan could see based on the way she'd stiffened that she felt sleighted, even though she had not expected the nomination to go through herself. Despite this and her tumultuous Force presence (an increasingly common occurrence) she still managed to keep an outwardly calm facade.
"Knight Naberrie, if you would take a seat, we have much to discuss." Made indicated the empty chair that had formerly belonged to Master Ti, and Padmé followed his direction to sit down. She caught Obi-Wan's eyes, and the look she gave felt piercing, as though she was upset with him for not attempting to remedy the sleight she was experiencing.
"We have surveyed all systems in the Republic, but have found no signs of General Grievous." Master Mundi began from wherever his mission had taken him, Ryloth if Obi-Wan remembered correctly.
"Hiding in the Outer Rim, Grievous is," Yoda responded. The news from Master Mundi certainly had not been a surprise. "The outlying systems you must sweep."
Padmé spoke up, something that surprised Obi-Wan greatly given how upset she was. "The fact that Grievous has been quiet for this long worries me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's taking so long to act for a reason. He's preparing something..."
"All the more reason for when we find him to be ready with our best Jedi prepared to take him into custody." Mace looked around at the group for a moment. "Master Mundi, please prepare ships to begin searching all worlds between Separatist and Republic space."
"A sweep like that will be difficult." Obi-Wan frowned, attempting to take into account the information Mace and Master Mundi were saying. "We do not have many ships to spare."
"What about the droid attack on the Wookies?" Master Mundi asked. Another concern they had. While Grievous had been quiet, a few worlds had been attacked by splinter groups of droids of Separatist cells.
"It is critical we send an attack group there immediately."
Obi-Wan nodded in agreement with Mace, more reasons why a scan for Grievous would be difficult. "He's right, it's a system we cannot afford to lose."
Yoda nodded. "Go, I will. Good relations with the Wookies, I have."
One by one, each member of the council (Padmé included) voiced their assent to allow for Yoda to leave. Once it was agreed upon, Mace nodded. "It's settled then. Yoda will take a battalion of clones to reinforce the Wookies on Kashyyyk. The rest of us will continue the search for Grievous as best as we can."
"The siege on Mandalore." Padmé's voice was quiet as she brought up her concern, but the Jedi still turned to face her anyway. "Are we planning to do anything to help them?"
Mace shook his head. "Padmé, by dividing the 501st to leave under Commander Rex's and the former Padawan Tano's command we've done all that we can. Have faith in your Padawan, I'm sure she'll be able to handle Maul, and Obi-Wan will let us know if the situation there gets worse so long as he's in contact with her." She nodded, satisfied by the answer. "If there are no other complaints, then we all have our missions. May the Force be with us all."
With that, the various Jedi of the council stood up from their chairs to follow the mission. Padmé smiled at Obi-Wan as he approached her, and his stomach filled with dread at the knowledge of what he would have to do. "Master."
"Walk with me, my Padawan, I do believe you have some things you'd need to get out." And Obi-Wan himself had a request to pass on to Padmé from the council. It would work.
They left the council room behind them, Padmé smiling uneasily, though it wasn't long before they stepped outside and her anger began, an uncomfortable feeling for Obi-Wan given how much more calm she had been before the war, and something he hoped was only due to her pregnancy. "I can't believe they denied me the rank of Master!"
"Padmé-"
"I get it, I broke the code by getting pregnant, but to just sit there in front of the whole council and tell me I can't be a Master when the only reason I don't have a Padawan as a Jedi Knight right now is because of their actions."
"Padmé-"
"I shouldn't be this upset, and I know I shouldn't be, but it's not fair to punish me over something so small. Jedi can have sex. Me being pregnant shouldn't make it that much more of a big deal. I didn't know-"
"Padmé!" Thankfully, Padmé stopped her frustrated ranting to listen to what he had to say. "Padmé, I understand you are upset, but being on the council is still a great honor."
Padmé sighed, and looked away, her cheeks flushed due to her embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Master, I just..."
"I know, but this is only temporary." Obi-Wan put a hand on her shoulders. "This wasn't done out of malice as a punishment, but rather because it's the only way in this situation that they can have some control over what's happened." That was a lie, but for now, it was the best reason he could come up with. Judging by Padmé's glance, she didn't buy it, but wouldn't push either.
Padmé sighed. "Just forget I said anything..."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Of course." Conversation between them fell silent. It was clear to Obi-Wan Padmé's sleep had not gotten easier, and she wasn't going to be able to handle small talk nearly as well as she once had.
There was a lot she couldn't handle as she once had...perhaps it was time to finally talk to Anakin for his support in helping Padmé. If there was anybody who knew his Padawan better than he did, it was Anakin.
Rather than wait for a conversation to resume, Obi-Wan decided to take advantage of the tsilence to tell her about the mission the council had. "The council wasn't happy about Palpatine's intervention in the council. They don't like it."
Padmé sighed. "I don't either." Obi-Wan gave her a startled glance, why would she dislike it? "I benefit from it, and I know I've done more than enough to earn the position, but..." She indicated her stomach. "I'm not in a position to be taking on any more responsibilities. I want this Obi-Wan, but I'm about to have a child. And that child is going to have to be my priority, at least until Anakin can take over full responsibility."
Above the council and above her job with the Chancellor, having known his Padawan so well, Obi-Wan would have been surprised if she thought anything less. He'd watched as Ahsoka had become one of the people she most cherished, a member of the family the two of them had patched together. It was true that Padmé would always choose her ideals over her family, but there was little else that meant as much as he, Ahsoka, and Anakin would. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by that, it just makes the mission I'm about to give you much harder to face."
Padmé showed no external reaction, but he could tell she was caught off guard by the request. "Mission? Obi-Wan, I'm supposed to stay on Coruscant until the baby is born. I can't leave before then in case something goes wrong."
"I know, and this mission will not take you off of Coruscant." Obi-Wan sighed. "I truly apologize for what I'm going to have to ask of you."
"Clearly if it's that bad that it couldn't be given officially during the council meeting." Padmé was on guard. "Obi-Wan, what's the mission?"
"The council wants you to spy on the Chancellor." She went tense, though didn't externally react. "We're worried that he might have something planned with how much power he's consolidating, we don't know if he's doing this maliciously."
"But you believe that if he's not doing this to overtake the Republic, that he's doing it because somebody else is and they're trying to force him to give them the power." Never before had Obi-Wan been so grateful for Padmé's political skills as he was in this moment, it saved Obi-Wan so much time in his explanations, and he could see the gears working in her head.
Obi-Wan nodded. "At Geonosis, Count Dooku told me of a Sith in the Republic Senate, we believe that they might be finally making their move."
Padmé remained silent, digesting this information. "Why me Obi-Wan? I'm not at my best, you know I'm not."
Obi-Wan put a hand on her shoulder. "I know, Padmé. If I had any other choice for somebody to send on this mission, I would." He hated that the council was putting her in this position. He didn't like the Chancellor, but he knew that Padmé placed some level of value in their friendship. Even if she did believe the council's motives, it wouldn't be easy. "But you're the only person among the Jedi that the Chancellor still trusts."
Obi-Wan had expected surprise at the statement, but instead found simply a quiet resignation. She had known that the Chancellor didn't trust the Jedi, or perhaps that the council no longer trusted the Chancellor to lead the Republic, something they had kept well under wraps.
It brought about several questions Obi-Wan was scared to ask. How much did she know, and how did she know it? He could address those concerns later, as Padmé simply bowed her head in acceptance of the mission. "I understand Obi-Wan, I'll do what I can."
Padmé left with a yawn, leaving Obi-Wan to wonder how it had come to this.
There was much of this conversation that had left him more worried than not for his Padawan's fate.
He would need to talk to Anakin.
With Padmé's nightmares (visions?) and Anakin's as well, it had been rare for himself and Padmé to find a moment to breathe, a moment of respite. But here, tonight, they found it. Padmé was lightly dozing, not asleep though heading for there, and he himself was comfortable as he found his fingers running through her hair, playing with her dark curls.
He knew nightmares were too likely lately, so perhaps it was selfish when he opened his mouth to provide her with a little bit more chances of rest, and himself from having to see her once more in tears. "I've been thinking about what to name our baby."
It took a moment for her to respond. "Oh?"
Anakin nodded. "Were you going to think of one for her?"
Padmé snorted, and Anakin marveled at the fact that he had managed to make her smile when everything around them felt like it was falling apart. "What makes you so sure it's a girl?"
"You've felt her kick." He smiled. "With a kick that hard, it has to be a girl." He may have slightly been projecting how much he wanted a daddy's girl at that moment, but he didn't care.
Despite the fact that he couldn't see her face, he could only imagine the grin Padmé was wearing. "Well, my motherly intuition still says he's a boy, and since I'm the one of us with the Force, I think that means I'm right."
"I have it too." Anakin shook his head. "Just because I'm not a Jedi doesn't mean it won't tell me things either."
"If you're so sure of that fact, then you can name her if she's a girl. And I'll name him if he's a boy." He could hear the smug tone in his wife's voice. She was proud of herself for coming up with that pseudo compromise to a nonexistent fight, and he let her be. They deserved something to smile about in all this stress.
Anakin moved one of his hands to her stomach, attempting to feel for the baby once more. "Leia. If she's a girl, she'll be Leia." The name had Padmé humming in approval the moment she heard it. "Did you have one in mind?"
Padmé nodded. "An old Nabian name, Luke. It means light."
Anakin laughed. He was sure that Luke would be the light of his life once he was born. The name was fitting. "Perfect. I couldn't imagine a better name for him." Not that he would ever concede that point to Padmé, their baby was totally a girl.
They lapsed into silence after that. Despite the brief moment of cheer, Anakin could sense that Padmé was thinking, even now as they attempted to find a moment to just be happy. "What is it, Angel?"
"Ani..." Padmé sighed, realizing very quickly this wasn't a conversation he'd let her back out of. "I'm worried. Not just about the dreams, but what if...do you think our baby will be raised in a war?"
Saying yes was unimaginable. Saying no felt like a lie. "I have faith in the Jedi, and you, to end this war. Once Grievous is captured, we'll have peace." Anakin tried to ignore the guilt he felt at the war he was planning on starting himself.
Padmé started tracing patterns in his hand. "Just the Jedi?"
Anakin sighed. "I'm worried, I'm not going to lie. The Separatists are on the run, but...the Chancellor still hasn't called peace talks." He weighed his next words carefully before adding on. "And there are some of us in the Senate...we don't like how the Chancellor is handling things. He was careful not to name names. Only he would be implicated in the delegation if his wife told anybody. "I don't trust Chancellor Palpatine to do what's right even after we capture Grievous."
Padmé remained silent. He almost thought she might've fallen asleep but then she rolled over in his arms, turning to face him, her expression unreadable. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
Her evasive answer was enough for Anakin to know that she wasn't on his side when it came to matters of Chancellor Palpatine, enough for him to know that maybe his feelings earlier were right. "Then let's talk about something else. Or, we can talk about nothing at all."
He gave her a kiss as a distraction before holding his wife in his arms.
He might have been able to convince her for a brief moment that things were okay, but his own promises were starting to ring false to his own ears as he tried to ignore what his wife might become.
When Obi-Wan had come to Anakin's rooftop apartment, he'd expected the Senator to come right to the door to greet him. Instead, he ended up seeing the gold plated protocol droid the boy had built as a child. "Oh, General Kenobi, was Master Ani expecting you. He does seem to be out of sorts lately so it's possible he might have forgotten to mention it to me. I do worry for him, you know"
"Hello Threepio." He tried to smile. It wasn't his fault that Anakin had programmed the droid to be a neurotic mess. "He won't be, but I'm sure he'll be willing to take the time."
"Of course, let me wake him up. It'll be just a moment." C-3PO began to head for a room in the back, and Obi-Wan watched him go in confusion. Wake Anakin up?
The Senator appeared moments later, letting out a yawn as he moved out of the way. The dark bags under his eyes were no more reassuring than Padmé's behavior had. "Obi-Wan, good morning."
"It's long passed morning." Obi-Wan shook his head. "Are you alright, Anakin?" The fact that Anakin had been at home and not in the Senate should have been the first sign that something was wrong, if he was honest.
Anakin nodded, but given he yawned again seconds later, it wasn't reassuring. "It's nothing important."
"Anakin."
"Really, Obi-Wan, I'm fine." Anakin smiled, and though he sensed Anakin was lying, three was little more he could do about it. He seemed unwilling to discuss it further, therefore it was better to discuss his actual reason for visiting instead.
"Very well, I'll leave you to your being alright for now then." Obi-Wan shook his head. "I didn't come here to nag you about your health anyways." Though it might be on his list of tasks in the future. Leave it to his Padawan to fall in love with somebody who had as little ability to care for himself as she did.
"That's a shame, I was enjoying the lectures." Anakin, as though sensing this would be a while, chose to sit down on the couch. "What is it that you wanted?"
"It's about Padmé."
The moment the words left Obi-Wan's mouth, Anakin immediately bolted upright with alarm, his posture becoming stiff and unyielding. "Why would you be coming here about Padmé? We're close friends and I know she's pregnant with my child but the baby doesn't mean anything like that. It was one night, we were-"
"Anakin, please don't tell me the same story that Padmé did." Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose at the boy's protests. "I know that isn't why the two of you were with each other that particular night."
The way Anakin looked at Obi-Wan reminded him of a frightened animal, and Obi-Wan didn't blame him. There was no way this had been the conversation Anakin had been expecting. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You and Padmé both have feelings for each other." He'd known from when Padmé had told him in Geonosis, and he had a feeling that they had chosen to continue acting on them after all. "It's obvious in how you both act. Whenever she's in the room it's like nobody else matters, and Padmé...whenever your name is mentioned her eyes light up." It was painfully obvious for anybody who knew these two to see exactly how they felt, and unfortunately for both of them, he knew them very well. "For her sake and yours, I've pretended I didn't know. She deserved something...someone, who made her smile during the war. And if Padmé decided not to end things with you, I trusted both of you to make the right decision."
Anakin frowned, as though really taking in what Obi-Wan said. "So you just...ignored us the entire time."
"I wouldn't take away her happiness. That wouldn't be right of me. So long as I kept pretending not to know, the Council couldn't do anything, and I wouldn't have to report it to anybody." Not that he would, even now. Obi-Wan wasn't visiting Anakin as Master Kenobi, he was visiting as Obi-Wan, an old friend.
"What changed then?" Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan sighed. This was the difficult part. "Padmé did." Anakin shifted forward, both interested in what Obi-Wan had to say and terrified to learn more. "She's been angry and terrified over her dreams, and I fear I've only done something that could make it worse." Obi-Wan hesitated on the next part. What he was about to reveal to Anakin was council business, not something for the Senate. Could he even reveal it?
The choice was taken out of his hands by Anakin's question. "What did you ask her to do, Obi-Wan?"
"Spy on the Chancellor." Once the words were out, there was no taking them back. Anakin sat in silence, a surprisingly lack of judgement on his part as he let Obi-Wan continue. "The Jedi suspect that he may not be nearly as innocent in all of this as he lets on, and Padmé's the only one close enough to him that we could ask."
Anakin was silent, struggling to come up with the words to ask what he needed to know and taking in what the council had asked. "You're worried this could push her over the brink."
"You've noticed as well?"
Anakin shook his head. "Of course I noticed. She's been doing terribly since returning back to Coruscant, especially with those dreams. She isn't going to be in the right mental space to take on a task like this." Obi-Wan remained silent, weighing his words, but before he could respond, Anakin spoke up again. "But I don't disagree with the council...something had to be done."
"But you wish it didn't involve her?" Obi-Wan could tell exactly where he was going, and Anakin nodded.
"I'm worried about her too, but I have faith in her to do what's right. Don't count Padmé out just because she's not doing well, Obi-Wan, she's strong."
"Oh I don't doubt that." Obi-Wan chuckled, seeing how fast Anakin went to jump to Padmé's defense. "But that doesn't do anything to make me less worried. I told you before that Padmé's...different now. Normally I'd trust her to do exactly as you say, but I can't help but think that if she doesn't get the help she needs...she'll become something unrecognizable."
Anakin shook his head. "I'm sorry Obi-Wan, but I don't want to talk about this."
Obi-Wan figured as much. "I'm sorry as well. I didn't mean to upset you. Both you and Padmé have been going through a stressful time. I don't need to add more to it."
Anakin let out something that looked like a cross between a sigh and a yawn. "Thank you, Obi-Wan. I'll walk you out."
Obi-Wan smiled. "No need, I can see myself out." He paused for a moment. "Do not think I wish to destroy what you have with Padmé, Anakin. If I had, I would have acted long ago." Whenever he saw the two of them, he saw himself and Satine. To ask them to break it off would be unfair.
"I know you wouldn't do that, because you love her too." Obi-Wan turned back, startled, and for a moment found himself held in place by Anakin's tired, blue gaze.
It was something that Obi-Wan had long since stopped denying. His Padawan was his closest friend, his daughter, and, eventually, sister as they grew closer. He couldn't bear to lose her, just like Anakin couldn't. Anakin would be right, he couldn't lose sight of that.
Padmé walked into the uppermost box in the Opera House with a feeling of foreboding that she couldn't ignore as she attempted to kneel next to the Chancellor. "You wanted to see me, Chancellor?"
Palpatine gave her a smile. "Of course, it won't take long. I do apologize for the venue. The news came at the most inopportune time. I'd already bought my tickets." He turned to the other Senators in the box. "If you could excuse us for a minute. And Padmé dear, do sit down. I won't take long, but a woman in your condition shouldn't be on her feet for very long."
Padmé nodded, taking a seat next to him. "What was it that you wanted to ask about?"
"It's good news, something we could all use a little more of." She perked up the moment Palpatine answered that. "Our clone intelligence units have discovered the location of General Grievous. He's hiding in the Utapau system."
Perhaps it had been that she had been talking to Anakin about the war's end, or maybe it was that she'd been so tired, but she let out a sigh of relief. "We...we can capture him. We can end the war." Her child would be born to a world where the final days of the Clone Wars were coming. Nobody could threaten her family if the war was over, nobody would want to.
"We can." Palpatine nodded. "Normally, I would ask the council to select you for this assignment, but given you are indisposed..." He trailed off. "Well, I hope they can find a Jedi as skilled as you on such short notice."
Immediately, Padmé would have suggested Obi-Wan, her master being as skilled as her, but despite how likely it was for him to go...she couldn't have it be him. She needed him here for as long as he could be. "I'm sure whoever they pick will be strong. Many Jedi have faced off against Grievous in the past. They'll be successful now too."
"I'm less certain. You know I'm not able to rely on the Jedi Council." And she did. Her mind went back to their last conversation in his office, where the Chancellor had told her of his misgivings. Then the council and Anakin shared theirs in return and she...no, she couldn't think of that right now. "If they haven't included you in their plot, they soon will."
Padmé shook her head. "Their plot?"
"You must sense what I have come to suspect. The Jedi Council want control of the Republic. They're planning to betray me."
Every word Palpatine said felt like a punch to the stomach. "The Jedi don't want power, Chancellor. They just want peace. It's what we're all taught since the creche, to provide peace wherever possible and follow the Force's will."
"Padmé, search your feelings. You know, don't you?" Despite Palpatine asking for an answer, Padmé didn't respond. How could she respond. No matter how much what he said lined up with how the Jedi Council was acting, it couldn't be right. Yoda, Mace, Luminara, Obi-Wan. They were her friends and family. They couldn't be planning a betrayal of the Republic like that. It seemed he took her silence as confirmation, for Palpatine continued. "They don't trust me, or the Senate. Or the Republic or democracy for that matter."
Padmé stayed silent for a moment, finally figuring out precisely the conclusion Palpatine had come to. "This is why you thought the Separatists might have invaded the Jedi."
He nodded. "It is. And you agree with me."
"I..." Padmé sighed. "I don't disagree. It just...it can't be the entirety of the council who are acting only in self interest. Some of them must be good."
"Some of them are, I'm sure." She wasn't sure whether she was happy or not that he was willing to concede that point. "But remember back to your early teachings. All who gain power are afraid to lose it. Even the Jedi."
"The Jedi use their power for good. They try to bring peace to the galaxy."
"And yet, all they have done is participate in this war. A war that brought them right into power in the Senate" Palpatine didn't flinch, didn't even hesitate as he answered. "Good is a point of view, Padmé. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power."
"Even if Jedi are gaining power, they do it to protect the people." Even Padmé could admit her argument sounded weak to her own ears. "The Sith only want that power for themselves."
"And the Jedi don't?" Once more, Padmé couldn't argue. The two fell quiet, Padmé trying to ignore the nervous feeling that built up the more they talked.
"Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?" She shook her head. She'd never heard of it before. "I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a dark lord of the Sith so powerful and wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life."
A Sith Lord...a Sith Lord creating life? It went against everything they'd been taught at the Temple, that Sith Lords could only destroy. It didn't make sense. Before she could ask for elaboration, however, Palpatine continued. "He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."
"I don't understand." Padmé shook her head. Why would that kind of power be on the dark side? She knew the importance of letting go like all good Jedi, but wouldn't something like this be good? "That's...it's not possible."
"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural." It wasn't an answer, but...
"If he could do something so powerful...what happened?" There had to be a catch to it. It was too good.
"He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power." Just like the Jedi. "Which, eventually of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. It's ironic, he could save others from death, but not himself."
Padmé remained silent. She had a lot to think about and she wasn't sure...she couldn't...
"Tomorrow night, I'd like to request you to come to my office, Padmé. I have some things I need to take care of that I could use your protection for. Some Senators, who may wish me harm."
Padmé shook her head, taking her out of her distracted thoughts. She could attend the meeting. She nodded, "Of course."
"Very good, then you should go get some rest. I'm sure this is no place for a woman in your condition."
She stood up from the chair, but paused as she went to exit, a moment of hesitation. That ability...and given her nightmares. "Where would you go about learning something like this."
There was something deliberate in Palpatine's answer as he turned to face her, the first time in their entire conversation. "Not from a Jedi."
It had taken only hours after learning of Grievous's location for the council meeting to come together. Padmé had called them for an emergency, and no matter what the time, they were to come. While Palpatine's warnings remained on her mind, she tried to ignore them, instead focusing exclusively on the positives. They had to be fake, she just needed to remind herself of that.
"Knight Naberrie." As Mace addressed her, the title one she normally wore with pride now leaving her filled with a bitterness she quickly swallowed. She had to really find time to meditate. Lack of sleep and everything else was pushing her to have difficulty processing her emotions already and this was not helping. "You said the Chancellor had information for us?"
"Yes Master Windu." She nodded. "Some of the Chancellor's spies have found General Grievous's location. He is currently in the Utapau system."
There was silence for a moment, before Yoda spoke up. "Though found the general may be. Cautious we must remain, a trap this could be."
It was possible that General Grievous being found might have been a purposeful move on the cyborg's part, but Padmé found that unlikely. Why reveal himself now? It may have been a few weeks since his loss on the Invisible Hand, but that meant little in regards to the Separatist fleet rebuilding. Reports on the front had indicated that the Separatists forces were finally running out. Before she could bring it up to the council, however, the conversation had already changed.
"Even if that is the case, we cannot ignore that he's there." Obi-Wan put his hand to his chin, thinking for a moment. "It just means that we will have to send somebody cautious."
"Did the Chancellor have anybody in mind when he requested the mission?" Mace's question caught her off guard. The tensions between Palpatine and the Jedi Council were high, so it felt odd that he would ask now. Perhaps it was an olive branch, or an attempt to get a feel for who the Palpatine trusted.
Still, Padmé swallowed and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. He mentioned he would have liked to have asked me, but I think as we've all agreed..." Her voice trailed off. "Well, I'm not in the best condition to be fighting any more intense battles like the one against Grievous until the baby's been delivered."
"Correct you are." Yoda frowned. "Somebody wise we must consider. Master Kenobi, we shall send."
A spike of fear flooded Padmé. She remembered a while back that Obi-Wan had been selected to fight against Grievous, but she hadn't thought they'd actually send him. She needed him. He'd been the only one who'd been able to even vaguely get her into a meditative state and he was helping her with the visions. "Master Yoda, surely there must be somebody better for the job?"
"Are you implying that your master isn't good enough, Knight Naberrie?" Mace asked, an eyebrow raised.
Padmé shook her head. "No, nothing like that at all. I just..."
How could she admit to needing him without coming off as too attached, or revealing just how much things had gone awry to people who she barely trusted herself. "Obi-Wan and I are a team. I don't like the idea of him going out without his partner."
There was a moment of consideration among the council as they thought over Padmé's argument. "Agree we do that you and Master Kenobi work best together. Needed to be together, however, you are not." With Yoda's words, it seemed as though the decision was decided. "Of the Jedi we can spare, the only one who can take on Grievous alone, Obi-Wan is."
The look Obi-Wan gave her implied a conversation he would want to have later, and she definitely wanted to talk to him as well. She could wait a few more minutes to have it. "Your point's been made. I concede."
And with Padmé's reluctant consent given one by one the rest of the council agreed to the same choice. Obi-Wan was the best choice, he would be the one to go to Utapau to confront General Grievous.
"Very well, I accept this mission." There was a hint of reluctance in Obi-Wan's voice that made Padmé feel slightly better, as though he didn't want to leave her either.
"If that is all, then I'll call this council meeting to a close." Mace stood up. "May the Force be with you." And with that, he left, causing the Jedi still here to leave and those calling from other planets to close communications for now.
Obi-Wan's mission was set.
Padmé could only hope it would go okay.
It had taken Obi-Wan a few hours to get himself together, and so it had taken a few hours before he could find the time to talk to his former Padawan. He'd checked in with Ahsoka one final time before going to Utapau (and she'd given him rather concerning news about the battle against Maul and his thoughts on Padmé) and had a few other things to take care of, but now here he was, time to face her as she sat on a bench near the hanger room, looking positively miserable.
If he was honest, seeing her so defeated was terrifying, but she'd had so much to risk losing. He sat down on the bench next to her. "I apologize for keeping you waiting so long." Padmé bolted up immediately, her eyes wide and startled.
"Master. I..." She looked like she'd wanted to give him a reassuring smile, but instead almost seemed like she didn't have the energy. She just looked so drained and tired that it came out as a half smile instead. "Please...don't go to Utapau. They can find somebody else. Anybody else."
Obi-Wan shook his head. "It has to be me, the council decided."
"What if you don't come back?" Padmé asked, and Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment before deciding to allow his Padawan to continue. "I'm scared. I'm scared of everything and I don't know what I'd do if I lose him, lose them." It was, perhaps, the closest Padmé would ever get to acknowledging to him just how close she and Anakin really were. "I keep thinking I would do anything to keep them safe, no matter what it took and I...Obi-Wan I'm scared of what I'll do to keep my child from being hurt, to keep my...to keep Anakin alive."
Perhaps, if he were braver, he might have told Padmé of Ahsoka's warning, given her time to process that Maul thinks she's somehow significant and that perhaps, she should get off planet and run away from all of this until her children were born and she'd found some form of safety with Anakin. He also knew that Padmé's sense of duty would never let her perform those very self-serving actions, and there was a risk that even this knowledge could push Padmé over the edge she was so precariously on and into a place that would destroy her. "No matter what, you would never go too far. It's not in your nature. You're a Jedi, Padmé, you must remember that."
"I shouldn't be." Normally, he would protest, but in this case, Obi-Wan was inclined to agree. Had Padmé not been a Jedi, this could have been a happy occasion for her, and there would be less threat to her children and lover. Then again, had she not been a Jedi, then Anakin would have been, and perhaps the only thing different was which half of the couple he would be comforting. "I broke the code, I've killed so many, and I..." Her voice fell quiet. Whatever she was about to say had been lost to her thoughts.
"Come now Padmé, you aren't perfect, but none of us are." He stood up, and offered her a hand, which she reluctantly took as she stood. "Padmé, you are a wonderful Jedi, and I could not be more proud of who you have become, but if you decide that after the child comes you would rather be a mother, I would be just as proud."
Padmé pulled him in for another hug, almost as though she couldn't believe that he would be. "Thank you, Obi-Wan."
"Is there something else?" Despite the fact that for a moment she seemed infinitely more calm, he could still sense an unfamiliar tenseness in the Force surrounding her.
"I wish you didn't have to go." The honest answer surprised him. "I'd feel better having anybody else I could trust here with me to help keep them safe."
"Padmé, your child and Anakin will be fine. I doubt I'll be on Utapau for long, it's probably a false alarm anyways." It was a lie, but one he felt might be the only thing to keep Padmé calm. "If I return after the baby is born, I expect to meet my next Padawan, and if I arrive before, then I'll do everything I can to help you solve the mystery of this nightmare. We will not let your dreams come to pass." With Grievous out of the way, perhaps Sidious would finally need to emerge from the shadows, the final enemy they would have. With the Sith gone, there would be no more threats to Anakin's life, nobody looking to kidnap Force sensitive children, and Padmé could live her happy life she so desired. "I would expect you to have a little faith, we've fought worse together before."
Padmé stayed silent for a short amount of time, but when she did finally speak, she gave him a genuine smile. "I know." Though Obi-Wan was unsure which instance she was thinking of at that moment, it wasn't hard to come up with anything the four of them had been through together.
"Sir." Behind the two Jedi was Cody. It seemed as though the time for conversation had passed. "Are you ready to leave?"
"I will be in a moment." With that, the clone nodded and left, leaving the two of them alone. "No matter what happens Padmé, know that I will never stop looking out for you and Anakin, and I will never stop being proud of the fine young woman you have become."
Padmé smiled, and nodded. "I know."
Obi-Wan turned away and started towards the hanger, but stopped as he heard his Padawan call his name. "May the Force be with you."
Obi-Wan smiled. "And with you, my friend."
As he left the Coruscanti atmosphere only a short while later, Obi-Wan couldn't ignore the feeling he had that their conversation was a final goodbye.
"I understand your reservations completely, Senator. And I assure you the appointment of governors will in no way interfere with the duties of the Senate." Though the Chancellor's words said he was listening to Anakin's and the rest of the Delegation's fears, it felt unlikely that Palpatine actually was given how dismissive his tone was, and how readily he dismissed the rest of their concerns ranging from his interference with the Jedi to his long overdue stay in power.
Anakin shook his head. "But you won't stop changing things, or taking away our power, or putting your nose in where it doesn't belong." He could feel the reproachful glares for the other senators present, but they had invited him. Anybody who knew Anakin knew he wouldn't back down from a confrontation if he felt one was truly warranted.
"I want this terrible conflict to end, just as much as you do. When it does, I expect an immediate return to democracy." Anakin didn't need any of his skills in the Force to know that at best, that that was stretching the truth. Or maybe it was just his distrust of the man coloring his judgement. Regardless, the promise rang false.
"So you're going to end this war then? Because the way I see it, you're the only one who's benefited from-"
"Senator Skywalker." Anakin closed his mouth at Bail's reproach. Insulting Palpatine wouldn't get him anywhere, except maybe thrown out of the office. (Although at least that point seemed unlikely, Padmé was the guard serving on duty at the moment if her position behind Palpatine's desk was anything to go by.) "I apologize, Chancellor. What Anakin means to say is he wishes to ask if you wish to pursue a diplomatic solution to the end of this war."
"You must trust me to do the right thing. That is why I am here."
It was a dismissal if Anakin had ever heard one, and for a moment, he saw red. "You can't really think-"
"I said I'll do what is right. That should be enough for your committee." The disdain in Palpatine's voice was clear as day. He didn't care what the delegation thought. He didn't care about right or wrong, or democracy, or any of it. All he cared about was his power.
Yes despite all that, in all of it, it wasn't the Chancellor's blatantly careless attitude that had Anakin bothered. He'd expected that, and it was why he'd been pushing for the start of their own rebellion from an unjust government.
What bothered him more than anything else was his wife. He remembered back in the early days of their marriage when he and Padmé had intense political debates on the finer points of their views. While in most cases they agreed, her sharp mine and strong sense oftentimes helped Anakin along and shaped some of his stronger arguments to take to the Senate. In a situation like this, he knew her, he knew she'd speak up. She'd be with him, defending democracy to Palpatine and demanding for more reproach.
Yet instead, it almost felt like she was disconnected from the situation. Like she didn't care about the political debate going on around her, or worse, that she agreed with Palpatine's handling of everything, or didn't see what was wrong with his handling of their concerns, at least.
As he stared at her behind Palpatine, with her dull, brown eyes looking back, Anakin couldn't shake the feeling that she was standing against him.
It was clear Anakin didn't have any more patience for Palpatine, as in that moment, he stood up from his chair, giving a glare at Palpatine. "On behalf of the Delegation of 2000, I would like to thank you for your kriffing time." The use of the curse made it clear, even to those who may not have known him, that Anakin was done respecting the Chancellor.
Though Padmé couldn't say she was surprised by his actions, she was bothered by them. Almost as though just by doing so it felt like the two of them were on opposite sides. She didn't react, instead just standing still, observing and guarding the Chancellor.
Palpatine smiled. "I thank you, Senator, for bringing this to my attention." It was a clear dismissal, and yet while the rest of the senators started to leave, Anakin hesitated for a moment, looking at her, and she found herself averting her gaze. She felt as though she had betrayed his trust somehow, and his look made her feel uncomfortable.
"General Naberrie, would you mind coming with me for a moment?" She winced at his cold tone and as a false contraction hit her body (something she'd ignored for now, she'd been feeling them since Obi-Wan had left but it was definitely too early for the baby to be coming now.) Even down to the name, he knew it would get under her skin.
Padmé turned to Palpatine, who nodded. "I believe you should be resting, my dear. I've probably kept you here for far too long given your condition."
"Good night then, Chancellor." She followed Anakin out, attempting to feel anything off of him than the anger and embarrassment from his meeting with the Chancellor.
When they were out of earshot of the Chancellor's office, Anakin finally turned to face her. "Why the hell were you standing with Palpatine?"
There was an anger in his tone, like he couldn't believe what he'd seen. "Excuse me?"
"You have to know that what he's saying and how he's acting are wrong." Anakin crossed his arms. He was definitely upset. "You're smarter than this, you know he was dismissing me because he didn't care about my concerns. You're the one who taught me to look for things like that."
"He wasn't dismissing you, and your concerns are unreasonable. The Chancellor already said he plans on returning power to the Senate as soon as the war is over, his word should be enough." She didn't like where this was going. She also didn't want to fight.
"He could've fooled me then." Anakin shook his head, and it was clear he was trying to avoid making a scene by keeping his voice down. "He's acting like a dictator and if we don't do something about it, who knows what the galaxy will be like."
"Anakin, please." Padmé frowned. "I'm tired and don't want to do this, especially not here." She didn't, not now. Right now, all she wanted to do was lay down and try to catch any amount of rest before the visions returned, and have those false contractions stop.
"No, we're having this conversation." Anakin wasn't having it, and she winced as his voice got slightly louder. "What's gotten into you. I know things are bad right now, but when did you just give up on fighting for everything you believe in. The Padmé I know never would have let Palpatine do what he did back there, and definitely not to me."
"What you're fighting for is treason!" She finally snapped. "You want me to go in there and stand up against the Republic when that's what I've been fighting for this entire war?"
"I want you to stand up for what's right! You were never afraid to before!" She winced at how angry he was. She didn't want to have this conversation. She really didn't because she no longer knew just what was right. Everything was confusing, everything and everyone were wrong, everything was-
Padmé's thoughts froze as she felt something change within her, and had the very terrifying realization of just what it meant. Anakin must have sensed it too, because he stopped yelling. "Padmé?"
"We really need to have this conversation another time, Ani. We need to get to a hospital."
Anakin gave her a confused stare, still clearly thrown off. "What?"
"My water just broke. The baby is coming."
It had been several hours since their fight in the Senate building, and while Anakin hadn't wanted to let it go, it didn't matter. Right now, none of it mattered. Democracy, the Chancellor, the Delegation, it was all unimportant when compared to the sound of his wife crying in pain. Despite how late at night it was (early morning now?) he hadn't bothered to get any sleep. He needed to be there for Padmé, for anything she might need. "You're doing great Angel, just a little bit more." He continued to try to speak calming reassurances, even if he was anything but calm. This was too early. They should have had more time.
"The dilation is finished. She is ready to deliver." The med droid got Anakin's attention, and he could have almost sighed in relief. "Miss Naberrie, you're going to need to push now."
It was clear she was exhausted and in more pain than she possibly ever had, but she pushed. Anakin would have looked, but right now his attention was on Padmé and only her. He needed to make sure she was alright. After only a few short moments, the droid called out, "It's a boy!"
Anakin walked over, in order to hold his son in his arms with a look of wonder. He was wrinkly, and red and puffy and absolutely perfect. He handed the baby to Padmé, who looked at him with such a tender look as she whispered. "Hi Luke."
His heart swelled with joy, though it only lasted for a moment before she let out another pained groan. "Is everything alright?"
"Of course. Miss Naberrie is simply getting ready to push out the other." For a moment, Anakin and Padmé looked at each other, startled at those words. Other?
That second was interrupted of course, by another round of pain, and Padmé began pushing once more, and it wasn't long before the second child was in the arms of the droid. "A girl!"
A boy and a girl, they were both right.
Anakin grabbed the girl as well and cradled her in his arms. She was so small, and he lowered himself down so she could be level with her mother as well, who gave her the exact same look as well. "Leia, meet your mommy."
Padmé laughed slightly, and his anger and disappointment was forgotten as he simply lived in the moment. "Twins."
"Twins." Anakin confirmed, something that was almost unfathomable to imagine, if he was honest.
There was so much to worry about in the coming days, but in that moment, none of them mattered.
All that mattered to Anakin was this small room, and the four people in it.
It had taken a day, but Padmé had managed to get the permission she needed to leave the hospital on Coruscant with her two that night she had managed to sleep peacefully (were the nightmares over? She could only hope that maybe that really was all they were) and while she knew she could use the Force to allow her to leave house arrest and return home within a few hours, right now after everything she'd been through, she wanted to enjoy her night on Coruscant with her family, the Jedi Council could wait until tomorrow.
Family. She had a family. While it wasn't a foreign concept for Jedi (her lineage was her family, she knew that) having children of her own was a magical and wondrous thing she'd never imagined. While Luke quietly slept in her arms, having been crying only moments ago, she held him close, unwilling to let him go.
If something planned on taking her children, it would be from her cold, dead hands.
Anakin sat down on the couch a few moments later, holding Leia in his arms. "I still can't believe they're ours, and that they're here."
Padmé laughed. "And that there's two." Two children. There was so much about this situation that she couldn't wrap her head around. She imagined Anakin was similar.
"And that there's two." Anakin chuckled as well, the look of wonder never leaving his face as he once more looked at the babies.
She leaned against Anakin, her head resting on his shoulder as Anakin reached under her arms to grab Luke from her. "Get some rest Padmé, you've been up for a few hours."
"You're the one who's going to be taking care of them until they're old enough to decide if they want to be a Jedi." Padmé shook her head. "That means all the late nights of taking care of a kid. Shouldn't you be the one getting sleep now."
Anakin shook his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You're the one who just gave birth and hasn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks." He managed to steal the sleeping baby from her arms, now holding both the twins. "If I need you, I'll wake you up. Take advantage of the lack of nightmares. Get some rest. Luke and Leia agree with me. Don't you?"
Neither baby actually backed up their father, they likely didn't even understand what he was saying, but she couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face at the sentiment anyways. "Alright Ani, you win."
"Good night, Angel." Anakin walked out of the room and Padmé rested her head on the armrest, unwilling to bother to move to her shared bed with Anakin, and before long, she was asleep.
The heat hardly bothered Padmé as she saw Anakin resting on the ground. The world around her swirled in darkness, the babies were crying everywhere, but she couldn't find them. She tried to call out but her voice couldn't reach Luke or Leia.
And standing above Anakin was a dark figure with a glowing blue lightsaber.
She couldn't have been asleep for more than a half hour before her vision woke her up. Vision, she was sure that's what they were now that the anxiety of pregnancy had passed, but why now, why expand.
Why was somebody with a blue lightsaber hurting her family? Why would a Jedi?
She curled in on herself, and felt an arm wrap around her moments later. "Do you want to talk about it?" He already knew the dream, but it wouldn't stop him from asking anyways. He never stopped asking.
"There was a blue lightsaber..." She was still trying to process that when her mind went back to the Chancellor's words, was he right about the Jedi? Were they not to be trusted?
"Stop." She wasn't looking at him, but she could feel his worry in the Force. "Padmé, don't do this to yourself. This wasn't the Jedi. I know that's where you're thinking but the Jedi have no reason to do this. If you start suspecting them, you won't have anybody else to go to."
She'd have him, and the Chancellor, not that she voiced either of those thoughts out loud. Right now she just soaked in the comfort of his presence. He was still alive, there was time to figure this out, time to find the power in question to stop this. And until then, she would just simply enjoy being held by her husband.
While she was pregnant, she would have started crying into Anakin's shoulder at the nightmares that she faced.
Now, she just felt numb.
Obi-Wan's ship docked on Utapau only a few days after leaving. He knew the importance of making this mission as quickly as possible. Not only would it allow him to get back in contact with Ahsoka and her siege faster, but it would bring an end to this war and have him back on Coruscant with Anakin and Padmé sooner.
Hopefully, the situation would be much the same as it was when he left. So long as it was, he still had time to deal with his Padawan's vision and help her find balance once more. While he trusted Anakin to watch out for her, it worried him to leave Padmé alone with only Anakin for help. Anakin was about as uncontrollable as they came, and he only had whatever knowledge he'd picked up on from Obi-Wan and Padmé.
Still, there was nothing more to be done for now. He nodded to one of the locals who approached him with a greeting.
"Greetings, young Jedi." There was something...off about his aura, almost as though he was unprepared for what was coming. "What brings you to our remote sanctuary?"
"Unfortunately, the war-"
Before Obi-Wan could continue, the man interrupted. "There's no war here-unless you brought it with you."
That was...suspicious given the circumstances, but it was possible Utapau was neutral. For now, he would just try to get the information and get out as quickly as possible. If it was a waste of time, he could return home after all. "With your permission, I should like some fuel and to use your city as a base as I search nearby for General Grievous."
The man turned to some of the locals to get them to start refueling Obi-Wan's Starfighter, but then walked right up to Obi-Wan. It was uncomfortable to say the least. "He is here. We are being held hostage. They are watching us."
Obi-Wan nodded, and attempted to figure out what to say. "I understand." And he did. If Grievous caught wind that the residents of Utapau were helping him, it could be a problem for them.
"Tenth level. Thousands of battle droids."
Great odds. He needed the place evacuated so he could lead in the clones. "Tell your people to take shelter. If you have warriors, now is the time." Anybody who could fight would be of use. Thousands of droids. Those were some odds for Obi-Wan to think about. They bowed to each other, and Obi-Wan returned to his Starfighter before whispering to the astromech inside. "Take the fighter back to the ship, tell Cody I've made contact."
He jumped out, and the Starfighter left to return to the Negotiator to inform Cody.
It was time.
He snuck around on the bottom side of the cliff, taming one of the local fauna (a strange mix between a reptile and a bird) he jumped on top and pointed towards a building on the side of a cliff. The creature scaled rapidly, running up the wall and jumping from cliff to cliff as Obi-Wan held on tightly, and it wasn't long before they reached the building. They crawled in one of the windows, and along the rafters above, watching to discover a meeting of what looked like the final leadership of the Separatists movement, led by General Grievous in the absence of Dooku.
"Safe!" Obi-Wan heard one of the leaders scoff, Nute Gunray by the sound of it. "Hmph! Chancellor Palpatine managed to escape your grip, General! Without Count Dooku, I have doubts about your ability to keep us safe."
Obi-Wan walked off his ride as Grievous responded, "Be thankful, Viceroy, you have not found yourself in my grip. Your ship is waiting."
The Separatists leaders started to file out of the room, and Obi-Wan chose that moment to strike. He removed his cloak and jumped down with a smile. "Hello there."
Within seconds he was surrounded by a variety of battle droids, likely the last of Grievous's forces as the cyborg gave a chuckle. "General Kenobi. You are a bold one." Four magnaguards came forward, their javelins sparking with electricity. "Kill him."
Obi-Wan pulled out his lightsaber, ready to defend, but decided against it within moments, instead using the Force to drop part of the building on the Droids. He sliced the survivor with his lightsaber and came forward. Taking this as exactly the challenge it was, Grievous stood up taller. "Keep away. I'll deal with this Jedi slime myself."
"Your move." Obi-Wan nodded.
Grievous simply brushed his shoulder, like he wasn't bothered by Obi-Wan's threat at all. "You fool. I've been trained in your Jedi arts by Count Dooku. He shrugged off his cloak before revealing two more arms, each one igniting a lightsaber.
Obi-Wan couldn't stop his smile. Oh, this would be fun.
Grievous began spinning his sabers like a saw, running at Obi-Wan, who lunged forward to meet them with his saber in order to stop the blades. Before long, he was constantly blocking, raising his saber to keep it from hitting him as blue and green clashed, forcing Obi-Wan back. But Grievous was sloppy, and improperly trained, and it wasn't long before an opening presented itself, and Obi-Wan cut off one of his hands. Grievous charged again, and Obi-Wan jumped, soaring over the cyborg in a flip and making another strike to make him drop the second weapon. A good start, but not enough as the two remaining lightsabers came closer to him.
As Obi-Wan began to prepare for another strike, a blaster went off, and a beam flew by his head, narrowly missing himself and Grievous, and the familiar gold armored clones of the 212th filed in.
Help had arrived.
Padmé was back at the Jedi Temple. She had decided for now to use the Force to sustain her, and she knew her break at Anakin's was destined to come to an end no matter how much she wanted it to continue. She stayed silent, hoping to avoid any undue attention.
"There are a few things we'll need to discuss today." Mace turned to Padmé and nodded. She did so in return, she'd told him about her children's births with hope to get it brought up today. "Knight Naberrie's children were born two days ago. As we all know, they're also the children of Senator Skywalker."
"Children?" Luminara asked.
"Twins." Padmé answered, hardly a whisper. "I know I should not be, that I'm showing attachment by saying so, but I'm worried for them. They're the children of the Chosen One, and they'll be powerful in the Force. I want them to stay at the Jedi Temple."
"Unfortunately, you're not the parent who's opinion on this matters." Despite that she'd expected this response, Mace's unwillingness to even entertain the idea still stung. "Senator Skywalker is the parent who isn't a Jedi, therefore he should be the one to make the decision until they are old enough to do so for themselves."
"Ani-Anakin and I have talked about it." Padmé took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. She couldn't believe she'd almost called him by his nickname in front of the council. "We did agree on them staying with him at first, but I believe they'll be safer here until the war's over. Besides, if they're here I'll be able to take care of them easier, and travel between here and the father's home can be reduced to prevent-"
"No means no, Padmé. If Anakin wanted the children here, then he would have-" Master Windu was interrupted by an incoming clone from one of the many clones in the 212th, Cody.
"General Kenobi has made contact with General Grievous, and we have begun our attack." He vanished moments later, likely to return to the battle. Padmé attempted to ignore the spike in anxiety she felt as to Obi-Wan's fate.
"We'll continue the discussion of your twins later." Master Windu turned to face Padmé. "For now, we need you to report this to the Chancellor. His reactions will give us a clue to his intentions."
This wasn't what she wanted to do. There were so many things that she still needed discussed. "I-"
"That's an order, Knight Naberrie."
Padmé winced, but bowed to hide it. "Of course, Master Windu." She left the meeting to report to the chancellor, unable to stop thinking about the conversation they'd had at the opera the other night.
The war effort was taking precedence over the safety of two newborn infants.
Perhaps, there was something foul taking root in the Jedi after all.
Padmé stepped into the Chancellor's office, taking the moment to interrupt whatever information he was looking over at the moment. "Chancellor Palpatine?"
"Oh Padmé, come in, come in." He gave her a smile. "I hear some congratulations are in order. I apologize for keeping you here. I hadn't realized you were that close to giving birth, otherwise I never would have had you attend the meeting with the Delegation." He paused. "Are you sure you should be on your feet so soon?"
Padmé gave a tired half smile at his concern, though it felt more like a grimace if she was honest. "I'll be fine. I spent most of the time using the Force to help me heal from birth. Their father's willing to take a few days to look after them while I help the Jedi finish with the war. Thank you though, for your congratulations and concern."
"Of course my dear, you're quite-babies?" Palpatine stopped, and she could've sworn she saw his smile grow marginally wider at the mention of the twins. It wasn't a surprise, the birth of twins would normally be a happy occasion.
"Twins." Padmé responded. "Two mostly healthy twins, a boy and a girl." Before the Chancellor could ask more, she stopped him. "I'm afraid this isn't a social visit, however."
"It isn't?" Palpatine asked. "Whatever could have happened then?"
"Master Kenobi has successfully found General Grievous, and has engaged him."
Immediately, Palpatine's demeanor changed as he became more serious with the apparent nature of the visit, a change from his previously open and friendly actions. "We can only hope that Master Kenobi is up to the challenge."
Padmé nodded. "It's all we can do." She wished he was here. "I'd...I'd wanted him to stay. I wanted him here. He's practically family to my...to the babies' father and I. He should have been here with us both."
"I'm sorry that he wasn't." Palpatine nodded sympathetically. "But he'll be here to meet them when he returns."
Padmé hesitated. "If...if they're here, I mean." This was the Chancellor, if there was anybody that she could trust, it would be him. He was one of her oldest friends, and he'd served as a mentor through much of the Clone Wars. She...maybe he could help.
"If they're here...whyever would they not be?"
"I'm worried..." Padmé sighed, and before she knew it, all her fears were tumbling out. "I'm worried for the fate of my children. While their father isn't a Jedi, he is powerful in the Force, and an influential figure. I...all three of them are in danger, I know it, but the Jedi won't do anything to help them, and I can't leave the Jedi to help because I'm needed here." She was rambling. She knew she was. "And I don't want to believe it but it has to be a Jedi who's attempting to hurt my children and I...I know the council is hiding things from me. It's why they refused me the rank of Master. What if they're hiding an attempt to get rid of them because they and my husband are so powerful."
It logically didn't make sense. Padmé had practically thrown her children at Master Windu and he'd still refused, but if it wasn't that, then why did she see a lightsaber in her visions? The lightsaber was blue. It had a pure Kyber Crystal. It had to belong to a Jedi. It could have been another fallen Jedi, but if so many Jedi were falling then wasn't the council behind it? Something had to be rotten at the very core of the order at this point. There was no other explanation.
"It's because they don't trust you, Padmé." She jolted up, startled. But the moment Palpatine said it, it made too much sense. Why would they trust her with whatever plan they were cooking up? She had broken the code, and was clearly close to the Chancellor, they had no reason to. "The Jedi know that you no longer believe in them, that you've seen the truth of what they're like, and so they wish to keep both your children and their father away without knowing that they would be in much more danger without you there."
Padmé nodded. That meant the Jedi would be behind the attempt on her husband's life. "What can I do? How can I protect them?"
"You will have to learn something even the Jedi cannot predict you to know." Palpatine put a hand on her shoulder. "Force techniques, unknown to the Jedi. Of course, I would be happy to teach you everything I know."
Everything he... "Chancellor, what do you know of the Force?"
"My mentor taught me everything about the Force I could want to know." Padmé froze as Palpatine continued. "Even the nature of the dark side."
The dark side? Palpatine knew the dark side. The air around her felt cold, and Padmé felt like she couldn't breathe. Palpatine knew the dark side. Normal people don't just know about the Force well enough to know the dark side. Force nulls most certainly didn't.
She remembered the mission that Obi-Wan had told her the council had requested when she'd been put on, and suddenly everything made sense. The darkness, the never ending war, how the Separatists were always ten steps ahead of them. How Palpatine always seemed to have the information from the Separatists whenever they needed it most.
"No." She shook her head, taking a step back. "No this isn't right."
"Padmé my dear, I know how things seem, but you must break free of the manipulation of the Jedi." Palpatine gave her a twisted smile, and her heart felt like it sunk into her chest. "You've been following their dogmatic beliefs for far too long, but you must understand, the dark side is not inherently bad. It is simply stronger, more powerful than anything the Jedi have taught you. It's why they refuse to let anyone learn of its power." He smiled at her, and Padmé felt cold and scared and terrified. "Let me teach you my power. Use it to protect your husband, your children, where the Jedi won't."
She pulled out her lightsaber, her eyes narrowing as she tried to focus on what she knew. Not what Palpatine said. What he promised. "Don't take another step closer."
"Padmé-"
"You're a Sith Lord!" No, not just a Sith Lord. He was the Sith Lord. The master who taught Dooku and Maul. The one the Republic was looking for.
Despite the lightsaber pulled on him, Palpatine remained calm. "I know what troubles you Padmé, I can help you. Don't continue to be a pawn of the Jedi Council. You can be so much more than what the Jedi are letting you be, yet you continue to let them hold you back."
Padmé wanted to argue back. The Jedi weren't holding her back. Obi-Wan wouldn't let them, but they withheld mastery from her. They refused to let her do things the right way to keep her children safe. She wanted to take Palpatine's offer, his hand, and learn the dark side of the Force to keep her family safe from harm where the Jedi refused. With the power of the dark side she could do it. She knew she could.
She didn't know who was right. She didn't know what was right. All she knew was that she was scared, so scared.
"I feel your fear, Padmé. Your worry. As a Jedi you are forced to get rid of it, but you could channel that fear into anger, become far more powerful than anybody before you."
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Padmé shouted. She needed to think, to get away. "I...I'm turning you in." He was the Sith. Master Windu needed to know. The Council needed to know.
Palpatine nodded, still not reacting, as though he wasn't surprised. "As you should. But do you understand what they want, what they would do with me should you turn me in?"
"It doesn't matter, you're a Sith. Whatever they do with you, you'll deserve."
Palpatine wasn't phased, and that was something that scared her even more. "As you say, Padmé. Just remember, the power of the dark side is the only way you'll be able to protect the children, and Anakin."
Padmé practically ran up the steps to the temple two at a time as she left her speeder. She had to tell somebody, anybody, what she knew. They'd be able to help, to take care of Palpatine. They'd be able to stop the Sith and save the Republic.
Possibly, they'd be able to stop her.
"Padmé, you're just in time. Obi-Wan has just defeated General Grievous. We're on our way to notify the-" She heard Master Windu's voice, but was unable to stop herself from crashing into the other Jedi. "Padmé, are you alright?"
"I know who the Sith Lord is." She looked up at him, and perhaps he sensed how great her fear was, as Master Windu kept a calm expression despite the sudden surprise she sensed coming from her. He wanted her to remain calm.
Given how little sleep she had and how overwhelmed she felt, she needed calm herself. "You know who the Sith is?"
Padmé took a deep breath. "Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord the council has been looking for." She tried to steady herself. "He told me, he...he wanted me to join him." She felt sick, sick that she had considered a dark lord of the Sith her friend.
Sick that she was still considering his offer despite everything he was doing, was saying.
"He's the one behind the whole war, he's the one behind everything."
"The Chancellor..." Master Windu put a hand on her shoulder after a moment of thought. "I understand, and I thank you for coming forth with this information. I'll assemble a team to take care of him."
"Let me come with you." She could hear the desperation in her voice, which meant Master Windu could too. "Please, I have to go."
"What you need is rest." He gave her a kind look. "Padmé, you've been through a lot in the past few days, more than most would be able to handle, but you are not infallible. There is much confusion and fear in you, and going to confront Chancellor Palpatine would not be in your best interest. You've done the hard part, the council can handle the rest."
She tried to protest, but before she could get out another word, Master Windu had sat her down. "Meditate, find your balance Knight Naberrie. You're afraid, and rightly so, but we don't need you afraid. If you fight him as you are now, you'll be careless. It will cost you."
She nodded, trying to process. "What happens now?"
"Now, we capture the Sith, and ensure that he can't do anymore harm than he already has." He smiled. "You have done a great deal for the Galaxy, let us take it from here."
And with that, Padmé was alone once more, still desperate to process what was going on. She knew with the room to herself, it would be the perfect moment to meditate, but her mind kept flashing back to her conversation with Palpatine, and to her nightmares.
She needed to take the time to rest, to collect herself, to find some kind of peace, but she couldn't. Even as she tried to use the Force to steady her nerves, she found herself overwhelmed by her fear. What would happen to Luke and Leia? To Anakin? What would happen to Palpatine?
No, she had to stop worrying about Palpatine, that wasn't her concern. He wasn't her concern. He was evil, he was a Sith Lord.
He was the key to saving her husband, her children.
She stepped over to the window, trying to take a deep breath to steady herself.
She needed Anakin.
When Padmé arrived at the apartment that she considered home, she saw Anakin holding Luke and Leia, cooing as they looked at him with confusion, likely only feeling him through the Force. He looked up, sensing her as he held his children. "Padmé?"
"Anakin!" He set the twins down and ran to her, catching her as she crashed into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulders, as though she could hide from everything she feared.
They pulled apart. "Are you alright? You're trembling."
She shook her head. Alright was about the state she was furthest from at the moment as she buried her face in his shoulder once more, as though she could hide from everything that was about to happen. "No, I'm...I'm scared Ani."
"Of what?" Anakin held her tightly.
"Everything." She shook her head, her mouth opening before shutting, as though she couldn't voice her thoughts aloud. "I..."
"Padmé if this is about your dreams-"
She shook her head. It was and it wasn't and Anakin didn't need to know that. Not right now. "Things...something terrible is happening, and I...I don't..."
"Slow down, what's going on." At that moment, probably sensing her fear, Luke and Leia began crying, and Anakin let out a curse. "Help me calm down Luke and Leia, then we can figure this out."
Padmé shook her head. She didn't have time. "I can't, I..." She took a step back. "I'm sorry, I should go. I'm the reason they're upset. I just...I need help. I don't know what to do."
Anakin frowned slightly. The babies were crying in the background and she was such a terrible mother for making them cry and not being able to console them, she knew that. And yet... "Padmé, what's going on?"
"I found a way to save you, and Luke, and Leia. So we won't be separated, and so you won't..." Her voice died. She couldn't say it. "But if I do, it...it might not end well. So much could go wrong, and Ani...I'm so scared." He hugged her tighter, trying to help her stay calm. "If...If it were me at risk, and you were the one having all these dreams..."
"I'd do anything I could to protect you." Anakin kissed the top of her head. "Nothing means more to me than our children, than you."
Padmé knew that wasn't entirely true, though he was willing to leave work on a moment's notice for her, it didn't mean that she was more important to him than his work in the Senate. They'd had dozens of conversations in the past about how bringing an end to this war so they could be together was the most important thing to both of them, but no matter how she chose tonight, that would be what she would do.
For a moment, hearing what Anakin said helped her feel like she wasn't drifting, lost and scared, and she pulled him down to her level and kissed him. It was desperate and needy, but so was she. It was a reassurance and a promise to return, that they'd be okay. That they'd be together. That this was almost over.
Leia's cries caused her to pull away. That was right, both of the babies were still crying. "Are you sure you can't stay and help me settle them down?"
"It's...I don't have the time." There were tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Anakin. I'll be back soon."
He grabbed her arm. "Whatever you're doing, be careful."
"I will be."
Padmé boarded her speeder and then went towards the Chancellor's office. She'd made her choice.
Things were not going well for Obi-Wan.
After the 212th had shown up to save him (again, Cody was never going to let him hear the end over how many times he'd saved him from Grievous, just like Padmé) Grievous had decided to board a vehicle in an escape attempt and while Obi-Wan was back on the varactyl he'd befriended earlier, he'd dropped his lightsaber in the process and while he was giving chase to the best of his ability, he had no weapon to defeat the general with.
Which was why right now, he was simply trying to survive as he had the varactyl ram into the side of Grievous's strange wheel bike repeatedly to knock him off balance. Grievous responded in turn, though instead of simply ramming into him he started stabbing at him with an electric powered javelin. He ducked out of the way of the first hit before grabbing the javelin on the second hit and pulling it out of Grievous's hand.
Now with a weapon, Obi-Wan attempted to stop the wheel to slow Grievous down. He placed it in front, but found there was no sign of slowing. He attempted again, this time stabbing at Grievous, who followed Obi-Wan's tactic as he grabbed the javelin and pulled, bringing Obi-Wan off the varactyl and onto the bike behind Grievous.
They began wrestling for control, desperately trying to take it and redirect where the wheel was going when it gave a lurch as once more the javelin went into the ground, causing both himself and Grievous to fly out of the vehicle and onto the balcony.
Obi-Wan picked up the javelin, Grievous picked up a blaster he must have had in the vehicle, and for a moment, the two simply stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
Grievous made the first move and fired the blaster at Obi-Wan, who dodged the blast before swiping at the hand holding it with the javelin and knocking the weapon out of Grievous's hand. He stabbed at Grievous's chest plate, then swung the javelin at him repeatedly until he knocked the cyborg onto his back and once more stabbed the javelin. He aimed under the breastplate and gave him a small electric shock, but it wasn't long before Obi-Wan was kicked backwards and off Grievous. He landed on the ground with a grunt. Grievous tossed him into a nearby speeder and pinned Obi-Wan back against the wall.
He needed to get out of the situation quickly, if he was going to stand a chance. Grievous punched, and Obi-Wan ducked before peeling back the armor. It was time to see what powered General Grievous.
He had to admit, he hadn't been expecting a still beating heart underneath all that metal. For a moment, Obi-Wan couldn't help but wonder just what Grievous had gone through that made him more droid than the man he once was. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to wonder for long as Grievous backhanded him, tossing Obi-Wan across the balcony. Stuck on the ground, Obi-Wan was forced to roll as he avoided Grievous's kicks on the floor, desperate for some measure of safety. It didn't last, and Grievous kicked him hard, hard enough to send Obi-Wan flying across the balcony where he peeked his head up above the floor. He looked around. Grievous had the electric javelin now, so that left...
He used the Force to bring the blaster to his hand, and as Grievous went to knock Obi-Wan off the balcony he raised it and fired right into Grievous's heart. Once. Twice. He sent several blaster beams right into the heart of the general, watching as he caught on fire, and an explosion erupted, causing Grievous to fall to the ground.
And Obi-Wan couldn't stop himself from smiling.
At long last, General Grievous was dead.
The war was finally, finally over.
Sidious sat in his chair, waiting for the moment his apprentice arrived. He'd watched as Padmé fell apart in his office. He'd long since taken her confidence in her ability to make decisions, and now she no longer trusted the Jedi as well. There was, of course, a chance that Anakin would suggest to her the wrong choice, but somehow, that felt unlikely. Sooner or later, she would come, and the final phases of his and his old master's plan would finally be able to begin.
But of course, there was one final nuisance that he had to deal with first, in the form of four Jedi Masters who entered into his office. Sidious turned around in his chair and smiled. "Master Windu. I take it General Grievous has been destroyed then." He had, of course, been hoping for the news that Kenobi had died, making it that much easier to hold onto Padmé with one less tie to the light side holding her back, but if Kenobi lived, it wouldn't be that hard to work around. "I must say you're here sooner than expected."
Windu pulled out his lightsaber, followed by the other three Jedi Masters. "In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you're under arrest Chancellor."
So Padmé did tell them. Sidious wasn't surprised. One last act for the light before she joined him. "Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" For now, it was best to bait the Jedi so they attacked first. He'd need the proof later, for after Padmé kneeled.
"The Senate will decide your fate."
Sidious grabbed his armrest, his grip tightening as he began to channel his anger to prepare for the coming fight. "I am the Senate."
"Not yet."
Sidious, of course, expected this. The Jedi would never accept a Sith Lord as their future emperor. It was a large part of the reason why it was so crucial they were removed from the equation before he declared his empire. "It's treason, then." Sidious brought his lightsaber to his hand and, for the first time in so long, summoned its bright red blade. He jumped after them and swung, and with a few quick strikes, all but one Jedi fell.
He needed Windu alive only for a few moments. Once his apprentice arrived, he would play his part quite well.
When she finally walked into the Chancellor's office, Padmé wasn't sure what to believe, or what she was seeing. Master Windu had Palpatine backed up into a corner on the window, purple lightsaber out right at his throat. "You're under arrest, my lord."
"Padmé, I warned you of this." Palpatine looked at her desperately, like she was his only hope, and in all likelihood, she was. "I was right, the Jedi are taking over."
"You wanted to bring about a Sith Empire." Master Windu didn't break his glance towards the fallen Sith Lord. "You could never be allowed to win."
Palpatine shook his head. "I'm afraid, Master Jedi, it's you who will lose!" Bright blue lightning erupted from Palpatine's fingertips, flying at Master Windu, who blocked the strike with his lightsaber.
In that moment, it became clear to Padmé that she would be the one who would decide the fate of this encounter, whether to let Palpatine die, or save him from Master Windu. The consequences of her choice here would have galaxy wide repercussions, and it was a choice she didn't want to face. She stood paralyzed, as they argued back and forth. Despite the fact that they were both arguing for her to listen to them, she couldn't process anything of what was said. It was all a background static playing in her ears.
Suddenly the lightning stopped. "Enough of this, your reign ends here."
"Master Windu!" Both turned for a moment. "You have to stop! He's defenseless, you can't kill him like this."
"Padmé, he's a Sith, he needs to be stopped."
"It's not the Jedi way! The Jedi don't kill in cold blood." But she had killed in cold blood, with Dooku, on Palpatine's behalf.
But she already knew she was a terrible Jedi. She'd violated the code for years by marrying Anakin, by loving him.
"There are exceptions." As Windu went to swing his lightsaber down at Palpatine, Padmé closed her eyes.
The Jedi were had their rules, and those rules only applied when it benefited them and nobody else. She'd spent three years hiding a marriage that brought her happiness and life because it went against rules Windu wasn't even following. No Jedi did.
If the Jedi code wasn't what she would live by, then there was only one individual else that she would follow, and Anakin had told her he would do whatever it took to keep his family safe. So, she did. She swung her saber off and cut off Windu's saber arm. "No!"
She watched as the now deformed Palpatine smiled at her decision, despite the fact that he had been pleading for his life, he'd barely registered on her focus once the lightning went away. She watched him stand up and electrocute Windu, causing him to fall out the window and plummet hundreds of thousands of feet down.
There was no surviving that.
Windu had been right, Palpatine had been too dangerous to live. And now, he had. She'd insured it.
She fell to her knees, tears in her eyes. "How could I have just..."
Palpatine walked over to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You did well, Padmé. Now, it is time to fulfill your destiny, and become my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force.
"I..." Padmé bowed her head. If she didn't, they were all dead. There was nothing more that could be done. "I will become your apprentice." Her voice sounded dead, even to her. And perhaps she was. She had just...
Palpatine smiled. It wasn't a kind smile as she'd seen for decades, but instead it was cold. "Good."
"Just please...help me protect Anakin and my children...don't let the Jedi take them away."
"Of course, of course. The Jedi won't be a problem, once we finish." She didn't understand what Palpatine meant by that.
She wasn't sure she wanted to.
"I..." Padmé's voice fell for a moment. "I pledge myself to you, to your teachings." She bowed her head, unsure if she could bring herself to look up. Unsure if she wanted to see Palpatine's pride in her fall.
She could see another master of hers expression clear as day, filled with disappointment at the choices she had made..
"A powerful Sith you will become." Sidious's voice caused her to look up, though she was sure she looked as dead as she felt when she met his gaze. "Henceforth, you will be known as Darth Amidala."
Padmé (or was she Amidala?) averted her eyes. "Thank you, master."
"Rise." With no choice, she did as Sidious asked. She had devoted herself to him now. This was the path she had chosen. "My apprentice, as it stands right now, you are the only Jedi I can say with one hundred percent certainty was not involved in this plot." Of course she was, she wasn't a Jedi anymore. "As such, when they learn of what happened here, they will kill us, and the Senators." She nodded. She didn't believe so, but they...they needed a reason to do this, didn't they?
Could she really go through with this? Could she bring herself to kill people like Plo, who mattered to Ahsoka so much? Could she bring herself, if it came down to it, to kill Obi-Wan? "The council will move against the Senate after they failed to take us down here."
"Every single Jedi, including your friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, is now an enemy of the Republic." He didn't wait for her to respond, clearly deciding to let her stay silent as she took that in. "We must move quickly, if they are not all destroyed, then they will bring a new civil war to the galaxy."
"Go to the Jedi Temple. We will catch them unguarded." Sidious nodded to her. "Do what must be done, Lady Amidala. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy." His voice became quieter, after a moment. "Only then will you be strong enough in the dark side to protect your family."
"What about the other Jedi? The ones across the galaxy?" Padmé asked. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan...maybe they could escape, she could just turn a blind eye to them. Nobody had to know.
"Leave them to me." He paused for a moment, as though considering his next point of action. "After the Jedi are taken care of, go to the Mustafar system. There, you will find the Separatist leaders. You know what needs to be done." Of course she did, and it might have been the only task she had been given by Sidious that might have given her an ounce of pleasure. "The Sith shall rule the galaxy, and we shall have...peace."
As she left to ready the 501st for the march on the Temple, she heard Sidious pull out a comm unit to utter three simple words.
"Execute Order 66."
The battle was still going on around Obi-Wan. Even with Grievous dead in what would likely be the final battle of the Clone Wars, the battle droids still needed to be taken care of and the remaining Separatist leaders found. He made a note to check the computers to see if the systems had been wiped as he arrived back to the center of the fight, where the 212th stood.
"Sir." Cody gave him a salute.
"Get the troops to the higher levels."
Cody nodded to the command and turned around to leave, but stopped after a moment. "Sir, I think you'll be needing this." He reached into armor and pulled out Obi-Wan's lightsaber, which was a relief.
Obi-Wan grabbed it with a smile. "Thank you, Cody. Now, let's get a move on. We've got a battle to win." A war, actually, but there was no guarantee this would be the end quite yet. He pushed the Varactyl to start climbing up the wall to get to the upper floors. Hopefully, it wouldn't be long before he found everything he was looking for.
As they were climbing, there was a shift in the Force, and something was terribly wrong.
Before he could contemplate it further, try to figure out what was wrong, something hit the rock face next to him, and he and Boga lost grip of the rocky face of the cliff.
The droids wouldn't have had a chance to fire. The only thing that could have fired on him was the clones, his clones, his friends.
The betrayal of the clones was the only thought Obi-Wan had as he plunged into the watery depths below.
It was sudden all over the galaxy. The Jedi had been surrounded by clones, their trusted allies, their friends. Perhaps they had been on the ground, leading an assault on the forces as they charged on the Separatists on the ground, or maybe they were in the air, soaring shooting at the unnamed forces around them. Some weren't even fighting, some were sitting at a campfire, discussing their latest victory or finding a moment's respite from the fighting around them. But it did not matter where they were.
On the battlefield on Felucia, Jedi Knight Aayla Secura was marching with her clones when the Force changed behind her. She'd died thinking it was a droid who had managed to sneak into her lines, but it was her trusted commander Bly who'd pulled the trigger, gunning her down.
Plo Koon had been flying, taking aim at Separatists pilots when the Wolf Pack took aim and shot, sending the Kel Door's ship spiraling downward and into the ground, where he would die in the explosion moments later.
Depa Billaba and her Padawan, Caleb Dume, were both relaxing and trading battle stories with their clones when the call came. Caleb would make it out, his master sacrificing herself so that he might have a chance to live.
On a Star Destroyer hurtling through deep space, Ahsoka Tano had been racing to Coruscant with the renegade Sith Lord Maul, hoping to return to the Jedi to rejoin them and her master Padmé, to save Padmé from the plotting of Sidious, when the call had come. Her trusted commander and close friend, Rex, suddenly took aim, unable to stop himself from firing on his closest friend, only able to warn her and direct her where to look.
The Force sung in pain as thousands of Jedi met their fates.
There wasn't a soul with even an ounce of Force Sensitivity who couldn't feel it.
"Master Ani, I'm afraid that Padmé has gone to the Jedi Temple." Threepio's words echoed across the room alongside the baby's cries. He didn't want to hear them. He couldn't process them right. They had to be wrong.
Anakin was no stranger to fear. He was used to long stretches of time where he just didn't know what was going on with Padmé, whether she was alright, whether she was dead. It was a fact of war and when there was an extended period between calls he was always worried they wouldn't reunite once more.
None of those moments were anything compared to the one he was living in at this moment. Shortly after Padmé had fled his apartment, the Jedi Temple had caught fire, and he had been hit with such a terrible pain. Luke and Leia had been crying no matter what his efforts, and his head hurt more than he could ever imagine.
"Daddy's here, don't worry. It's going to be okay." He held the twins in his arms, attempting to soothe them despite the pain he was in himself.
Something was very wrong in the Force, and not just in the Force. Something was happening to the Jedi. Something awful. Something that nobody could predict. He wanted to run to the temple now, to find out what was wrong.
But he couldn't. The twins needed him more. He kept bouncing them up and down, trying to soothe them. He couldn't even try to figure out how to send them emotions through the Force to try to calm them, not when he knew it was the Force that had set all three of them off like this.
He just had to hope that even with all of this, she'd be okay. He couldn't let anything else happen.
He didn't want to let anything else happen.
Padmé marched up the Temple steps, the 501st following behind her. They met with little resistance, about what she had been expecting, if she was honest. The Force around her screamed in agony with the deaths of the Jedi off world, and yet it felt like nothing. She could hear it, but not feel it. That was concerning. It wasn't her concern. Perhaps it was the dark side protecting her from it all, but she couldn't be sure.
With the war, the temple was mostly empty, but regardless of that fact, each Jedi she met fell to her saber with a quick strike. They were focused on defense, if even that, but she didn't care, she just kept swinging. She heard the firing of blasters aimed at any knights and masters she didn't fell.
She needed to embrace the dark side. It didn't matter that, at one point, these people here had been friends, they were plotting to destroy the Republic. They were in the way of her protecting the people who really mattered. The only Jedi who still mattered to her was Obi-Wan, and he wasn't here. He was ending the war. (She tried not to think about the fact that Obi-Wan was likely dealing with whatever Sidious was doing. She couldn't think about that.)
By the time she was finished, there wouldn't be a single Jedi on Coruscant left.
If it saved her family, then that was what mattered most.
Obi-Wan had emerged from the surface of the water, still unsure of what had happened.
It had been fortunate he'd been above water when the shot had been fired, but it just didn't make sense. How could Cody of all people have ordered for the clones to fire on him? They'd been working together since the Clone Wars had started. He was Obi-Wan's most trusted commander, a good friend. And he'd fired on him.
Whatever the case was, he knew he wouldn't be finding the answers on Utapau. Even if this was a Separatist plot (and he wasn't entirely sure that it wasn't, he remembered Tup and Fives from Padmé's own unit) it didn't make sense why it only launched after Grievous was dead.
It also didn't explain the sudden emptiness in the Force. The Separatists may have been able to get to the 212th, but they never would have been able to cause what felt like that much destruction.
Or perhaps the lack of Jedi, the deadness and pain he felt, was unrelated to what had happened here.
No, he knew it wasn't.
He was getting lost in his own head again. Obi-Wan released his worries and fear of this to the Force for now. He could attempt to figure it out when he was somewhere safe, where the clones couldn't get him.
How ironic, he was hiding from his own men.
He climbed up, avoiding any scouting droids that may have passed by his location as he jumped into his Starfighter, heading for anywhere but here at the moment.
As soon as he was far enough away, he opened as many channels as possible, wanting to reach anybody who would be available. "Emergency Code 913. I have no contact on any frequency."
As he left the Utapau atmosphere, a blue figure appeared on the comm, staticky and hard to understand. "Repeat. You're unclear."
"General Kenobi." In front of him, much to Obi-Wan's relief, stood the figure of Senator Organa. While Obi-Wan was far from any politician's biggest fan (even Anakin, one of his closest friends, had that spot filled by Padmé, who he was trying not to think about as he wondered if this might have been a part of her visions, her nightmares, and whether or not she was possibly pregnant trying to survive this nightmare) he had to admit that Bail was one of the few he did actually like.
If nothing else, he was one of the few who were sympathetic to the Jedi, that counted for a lot right now. "Senator Organa. My clone troops turned on me. I need help."
"We have just rescued Master Yoda." That was at least a small bit of good news from the senator, that Yoda was alive, if nothing else. "It appears this ambush has happened everywhere."
Everywhere meant Padmé was in danger. Everywhere meant Ahsoka was in danger. Everywhere meant that every Jedi was in danger. It wasn't a good thought.
Before Obi-Wan could ask anything more, Bail spoke up again. "We're sending you our coordinates." And with that, he vanished, likely wanting to not say anything more on a line neither of them could verify was secure.
He looked at the coordinates Bail sent and took a deep breath.
It was time to go.
It had taken about an hour after the Jedi Temple had caught fire for Anakin to manage to get the babies to settle down. Luke and Leia were sleeping, and although it still felt like a darkness or void was permeating the Force around him, it hurt less. He could breathe again and not feel like the world was crashing down on him because things wouldn't stop hurting.
That, of course, did not mean that things were okay. While things in his apartment were no longer at meltdown level, Padmé still wasn't back yet, and that only meant bad things. Because the first thing she would have done had she been okay was come back to him. Because that was what they did. They made sure the other was alright no matter-
Before his thoughts could continue to spiral, Anakin heard the sound of a ship on his balcony. He ran outside to see Padmé, hardly looking more composed than she had before she'd run off.
"Padmé!" They ran to each other, and he held her. If it was up to him, he'd have never let her go either. She'd been in danger tonight. Real, tangible, danger, and there wasn't a thing he could have done about it. "What happened? Threepio said you went to the temple and there was a fire and I kept hearing that it was attacked..." He wasn't going to cry. Not now. Not when it was obvious she was still shaken too.
"I'm sorry I worried you." He tried to process Padmé's response. She was sorry she worried him? "I was...I had to go to the Temple, for the Chancellor."
"What?"
"The Jedi were plotting against the Republic." That was impossible. The Jedi had no interest in politics, and anybody who managed to spend five minutes talking to any of the council members could have confirmed that fact. Padmé, who was most definitely a Jedi if the past three years of secrecy meant anything to her, arguing that this was an attack on the Republic didn't make sense.
"Padmé, I don't..." He shook his head. "That's impossible, the Jedi wouldn't-"
"Mace was standing over the Chancellor, Anakin." She snapped at him briefly, and he remained silent, letting her continue. "He was going to try to kill him unless I stepped in and I..."
Padmé didn't say anything more, and he didn't need her to. While he doubted she'd had the full picture, she'd probably acted as best as she could.
Besides, she'd just watched her childhood home be destroyed by whoever was attacking the Temple. It was hard for Anakin to believe that Padmé was doing very well at all.
"Is that why the temple was attacked?" Anakin asked, trying to make sense of all this, and everything that happened. Padmé nodded. "Are you okay? Are you going to be attacked next?"
Perhaps this was her vision. He could get her and the twins off Coruscant now and then it wouldn't come to pass. They wouldn't end up on a lava planet.
"No." Padmé shot down his questions, which answered his theory quickly. "I'm...I'm standing with the Chancellor." She squeezed his hands. "The only person I'm more loyal to than him is you."
"And Obi-Wan? Ahsoka?" Anakin asked. She had to care about her master and closest friend. He had been here only a few days ago just to make sure that she was alright. (Had that really been a few days ago? Had things spiraled out of control that quickly?) And her Padawan...Ahsoka was practically her daughter, she couldn't just be okay with her death.
Padmé shook her head. "I...I don't even know if they're alive. But if they are, and both of them are loyal to the Republic as well, then I'd put my faith in Obi-wan and Ahsoka too."
It was a sobering thought. It also wouldn't be the first time that Obi-Wan had escaped death, or Ahsoka for that matter. Perhaps the two of them would be alright.
They stayed silent for a moment, Anakin attempting to hold Padmé together while not losing himself in grief for his friends who may have gotten hurt, or worse, in all this. Padmé spoke again. "The Chancellor gave me one more assignment. The Separatist leadership are all on Mustafar. I'm supposed to end this war."
Anakin looked up at her, startled. "So you came here?"
"You needed to know I was okay, and I needed to know that too." That her visions hadn't come true. "I needed to check on Luke and Leia."
If he was honest, he didn't feel okay. He felt tired and he was still terrified for Padmé's fate, even if the mission she was departing on wasn't hard. "We're holding up. I just got them to go to sleep. You can stay until they wake up, say goodbye to all of us, not just me." The offer wasn't just an offer. He had the worst feeling that if he didn't have her stay, then it wouldn't be good.
Padmé shook her head. "I can't. I have to complete my mission, and the sooner, the better."
"But Pad-"
"Anakin, I don't have time for this." She snapped at him again, causing Anakin to wince. "I'm sorry, Ani, but I have to do this."
She started returning to the ship. "Stay on Coruscant until I come back, please. Then, I can keep you safe."
There wasn't anything more he could do. He released Padmé, watching as she entered the ship she'd arrived in. "I love you, Angel."
"I love you too."
The ship left the balcony behind, taking Padmé off to Mustafar.
Anakin tried to ignore the fact that his wife felt so cold.
Obi-Wan had arrived on the ship feeling nothing but dread. The Jedi Temple had burned, and there were so many on Coruscant who might be in danger, so many Jedi in the world that he couldn't feel. His bond with Padmé felt strained, and he could barely sense his Padawan at all, which didn't bode well.
If he was honest, the only thing that kept him going was a small hope that maybe, there were more survivors than Yoda. He had to hope as he finally met with Bail and Yoda for any answers they could give. "How many other Jedi have managed to survive? Have you heard from any survivors?"
"Heard from no one have we." Yoda shook his head, and Obi-Wan felt his heart sink. So many Jedi had been alive only hours ago, and now, almost none remained.
Bail frowned. "I saw thousands of troops attack the Jedi Temple. That's why I went looking for Yoda." He indicated the small green Jedi before he continued.
"Have we had any contact from the Temple?" Obi-Wan asked.
Yoda nodded, although he didn't sound particularly assured over it. "Received a coded message of retreat we have."
"It requests all Jedi to return to the Temple." Bail added, which explained Yoda's reluctance. It was obviously a trap for the few Jedi who managed to survive the clones' attack. Lure them back, and then have whatever unit was stationed at the Temple kill them. "It says the war is over."
"Then we must go back. If there are any stragglers, they'll fall into the trap and be killed." Which was the last thing Obi-Wan wanted. He'd rather never learn if any more Jedi besides him and Yoda survived than learn that by letting them return, he was responsible for their demise.
Yoda took it under consideration for a moment before nodding. "Suggest dismantling the coded system, do you?"
"Yes, master. There is too much at stake." Too many lives had already been lost to this war, to this moment. There wasn't a reason to risk anymore.
"I agree. And a little more knowledge might light our way."
A little more...Obi-Wan took that under consideration for a moment before he realized what Yoda implied. They might be able to learn who was responsible for the attack. Even the identity of the Clone Battalion might tell them more of who led the clones on the temple.
They went to the cockpit of the ship as it began towards Coruscant, leaving the two Jedi time to reflect. It was but a moment's reprieve in the grand scheme of everything, but Obi-Wan took advantage of it to meditate, to try to find some kind of peace in what felt like such an empty galaxy.
He poked at the bond with his apprentice, trying to reach Padmé and let her know that he was alright, but like before, despite knowing that she was still alive, it felt distant, like nothing he was doing was able to reach her. Was she comatose? Dying? Was that why he couldn't reach her? Maybe it had to do with her children? There were too many variables and not knowing was driving him to worry.
Still, he let that worry go once more. Anakin was definitely still alive, the Force would truly feel empty without the bright spot that was his Force presence, and if he was alive, that meant there was somebody who could give answers as to what happened to Padmé. He wouldn't be left wondering for long and until he could get answers, continuing to fixate and worry would do him no good.
As they neared closer to the planet, the pilot turned to Bail. "There's a message from the Chancellor."
"Sent it through." Bail nodded.
"Yes, sir."
The screen flashed on, and Obi-Wan and Yoda ducked behind chairs so as not to be seen by whomever was on screen. The blue form of Mas Amedda appeared on screen. "Senator Organa, the Chancellor requests your presence as a special session of Congress."
Bail nodded. "I will be there."
"He'll be expecting you." Amedda vanished from the screen, and a tension filled the air.
It was well known that Bail was working against the Chancellor, and given the move on the Jedi, and the fact that everybody knew that...
"Could be a trap." Bail voiced the thought aloud that everybody had thought. But would Palpatine make a move that risky right now?
No, that didn't make sense. Bail was the Senator of Alderaan. If he tried to take him out now, it'd put Coruscant in too precarious of a position given whatever...this was. "I don't think so. The Chancellor will not be able to control the thousands of star systems without keeping the Senate intact."
Yoda nodded in agreement. "If a special session of Congress there is, easier for us to enter the Jedi Temple it will be."
Then that would be when they'd do it. That'd be when they'd arrive to protect the remaining Jedi.
Anakin had been reluctant to leave the twins behind in the apartment without either him or Padmé there to watch them, but Shmi had been insistent he show up at the special session. It had made sense, if he wasn't here to support Palpatine, there was a very real danger given how he'd treated the Jedi. His mother would be able to keep an eye on them, and if she desperately needed help, then she could take care of them fine.
Still, the applause as Palpatine told the Senate of his actions against the Jedi left Anakin feeling sick. He knew these were lies. Palpatine had to have lied to Padmé just as he was lying to the Senate now. There was something missing. There had to be.
"And the Jedi rebellion has been foiled."
Anakin looked to the side as he watched Bail slide in. "What's happened?"
"Palpatine's telling us all about some kriffing plot the Jedi have been hatching to overthrow the Senate, and him." The meaning of Anakin's words were clear, and Bail picked up on them right away, thankfully.
They both knew this speech was nothing but lies.
"The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated." There was applause all around them, and Anakin could only think of Padmé.
She believed in the Chancellor, she was doing what he asked, why would he even condemn her. Obi-Wan, Padmé, possibly even Ahsoka, they were all in danger because of this order, but none of them had done anything wrong. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed to hear the whole story, he might have punched the Chancellor now.
He was still sorely tempted to do so. But even he knew there was a time to be silent, and the applause surrounding them reassured Anakin that now was that time.
"The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed." Palpatine's voice continued to echo around the Senate chambers. "But I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger!"
"In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the First Galactic Empire!" The applause became deafening, drowning out the rest of Palpatine's speech. Anakin looked over to Bail.
It wasn't a secret that if the person creating the empire were somebody decent, who would push to get things done that would help others, Anakin may have been among those cheering. Somebody like Bail or Mon running the system could fix many of the problems he had.
Bail or Mon would, however, never be the type of person to push to create an empire in the first place.
Palpatine was creating a dictatorship, and the Senate building was filled with nothing but loud celebration and cheers. People were giving a round of applause louder than any he had ever heard in exchange for their freedom. Anakin was glad he'd shown up now, if for no other reason than to know exactly how far their government had fallen, how far everything had fallen. His thoughts on forming an army to take down Palpatine seemed to be paying off, given this was exactly what the delegation had formed to stop, what they had all feared.
He turned to face Bail to see an equally dismayed look upon his face.
At this moment, sitting in the Senate would just be a further waste of time. They had to do something to stop this empire, no matter what the cost.
Blue. Of course the clones in the temple were that familiar shade of blue. Obi-Wan closed his eyes as he sliced through the last of the clones guarding the entrance. Appo, Dogma, and so many others from Padmé's battalion. He recognized these clones, and while they weren't his men specifically, it hurt no less to be killing them.
He retracted the blade of his lightsaber alongside Yoda, and he continued to ignore the foreboding feeling as he entered the temple.
It had to be coincidence. It could not be because Padmé had betrayed them. There was just no way.
They walked the halls in silence as the bodies of Jedi of all ages and clones littered the floor. Children with blaster wounds, Padawans with lightsaber burns, full Jedi Knights with both and more. He couldn't believe this was real, that they were really dead. That there were so many...
The lightsaber wounds...he desperately tried not to think about what they meant, the implications when combined with the blue armored soldiers outside. "Who? Who could've done this?"
It wasn't Padmé. It couldn't be Padmé. She would never be able to do something like this. He couldn't face the idea if she could.
"Come, answers we'll find farther in the Temple." Yoda led the way through the temple as they continued to pass by body after body, until finally they arrived at the chamber where the signal would be broadcast. Obi-Wan approached the terminal and started changing the signal. A recording box popped up. It was time to send their message. "This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order, and the Republic, have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning, and a reminder, for any surviving Jedi: Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple, that time has passed. Our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust, our faith, our friendships, but we must persevere, and in time, a new hope will emerge."
"May the Force be with you, always." He signed off from the terminal, turning off the recording. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep the Jedi away.
In the meantime, he turned to Yoda. "I have changed the code, warning all surviving Jedi to stay away."
Yoda looked away for a moment. "For the clones to discover the recalibration, a long time it will take." Hopefully, long enough for all Jedi to know to stay as far away from Coruscant as possible so they'd stay safe. He started to walk away, and Obi-Wan closed the control panel to follow Yoda out.
"Wait, master. There is something I must know." He needed the information. He needed to believe that Padmé was innocent of this. That the blue armor of the clones, the strange distance in their bond, the lightsaber wounds...that it was all a coincidence. He walked to the security terminal, trying to ignore the warnings in the Force, the feelings of dread building.
"If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find."
Deep down, Obi-Wan knew that. He also knew he needed to see for himself the truth. "I must know the truth, master." He turned on the recordings, watching with dismay as Padmé appeared in them, wielding her lightsaber against the Jedi in the temple, the Padawans, the Masters, the Knights. Every single one of them fell to her lightsaber with ease.
"It can't be..." Obi-Wan had known it was a possibility. He knew that, but to see it himself...tears started to form in his eyes, tears he was rapidly blinking back, refusing to shed. So much had happened today, and to see his best friend, his sister, standing there taking down so many of the Jedi. "It can't be..."
The video went forward, to another projection, where Padmé kneeled before a dark lord of the Sith. "You have done well, my new apprentice. Now, Lady Amidala, go and bring peace to our new empire."
Lady Amidala, hearing the name made him feel sick as he turned off the recording. "I can't watch any more." He couldn't. That was Padmé. How could she...?
"Destroy the Sith we must." Obi-Wan shook his head at Yoda's words. Destroy them? Destroy Padmé? How could he?
No, there was only one Sith he could take out. He would gladly take out. "Send me to kill the Chancellor. I will not kill Padmé."
"To fight this Lord Sidious, strong enough you are not." No, that wasn't acceptable, he had to be strong enough.
"She is like my sister. I cannot do it." Obi-Wan shook his head. He loved her too much. And then there was how much it would hurt Anakin.
How did they let this happen, how did they not realize just how distressed Padmé was that she'd be willing to fall. She'd made mistakes before, but she was so light. She was always so light.
"Twisted by the dark side, young Naberrie has become." Yoda turned away. "The girl you trained, gone she is, consumed by Darth Amidala."
Obi-Wan frowned, unwilling to face any of this. "I do not know where the Emperor has sent her... I don't know where to look." It was a poor excuse, even for him, but he just couldn't face this. He didn't want to face this.
Yoda turned back to face him. "Use your feelings Obi-Wan, and find her you will."
Anakin lowered the ship to the ground gently, trying to focus on piloting safely over anything else. Padmé was here. He could reach her. He just had to remember those two facts. They had to be true.
If they weren't, he wasn't sure what he would do. She was his everything, and the only thing that even possibly rivaled that was Luke and Leia.
This was for their sake. He could remember that.
"Anakin, are you sure you want to..." Obi-Wan let the sentence fall as he sensed the determination coming off of the Senator. "Very well, but please, be careful. I can't lose you too."
Anakin gave a grin, hoping to appear much more confident than he felt. "Don't worry, if things get out of control, that's what you're here for."
Distantly, Anakin was aware that he was arriving on a planet covered in lava, going to meet a Jedi who had very recently fallen, and likely still had a normal Lightsaber rather than the glowing red of the Sith and thus could be confused for a Jedi in any visions Padmé may have had. But that fact didn't matter. Reaching her was more important.
He stepped down the ramp slowly at first, exiting the ship, only to pick up his pace as he saw Padmé. He pulled her into a hug, and it was jarring to even vaguely feel her in the Force. It wasn't just cold, everything about her Force signature felt wrong, felt so unlike Padmé as he'd known her.
Palpatine would pay for doing this to her. Anakin was sure of that.
They pulled apart moments later. "Ani, what are you doing here? You were supposed to stay on Coruscant."
Anakin shook his head. "I couldn't stay." He had to pick his arguments carefully, at least for now. "Obi-Wan came by to visit."
"Obi-Wan's alive?" Padmé's voice softened, and for a moment, even if her Force presence was clouded by darkness Anakin could feel her deep in there. She was still his wife, somewhere. He just had to reach for that glimmer of light and pull.
"He is. He survived an attack from his clones and returned to Coruscant." Anakin frowned. "He said that you led the attack on the Jedi Temple." He waited for a response, a denial he knew wouldn't come. "He told me that I can't trust you Padmé."
A flicker of hurt appeared on Padmé's face, but it was quickly buried as her face hardened. "Then he was with the Jedi." She shook her head, as though she were disappointed. "Anakin, you can't trust Obi-Wan, he's turning you against me, against the Republic."
"He's not trying to turn me against you." Anakin shook his head. "He was trying to find you. He doesn't want to hurt you."
"Then why would he tell you that?" Padmé shook her head. "If he was with me, he would've known that the Jedi were wrong. He would be joining me in trying to stop them, he wouldn't have mentioned me killing them like it was a bad thing."
Anakin wanted to protest, but right now, he just needed to get through to her. His wife had to be in there somewhere. "I don't care that you did it." Padmé looked at him, startled. "I've never cared what you've done. Nothing short of hurting Luke or Leia could ever make me stop loving you." She remained silent, so he continued. "We need to go, we can hide out anywhere, just you, me, Luke, and Leia. We can raise them as a family. No Sith. No Jedi. No anybody but us."
Padmé shook her head, and grabbed one of Anakin's hands. "I need to stay here. I need to learn how to protect you from the Emperor."
"Protect us from what?" Anakin asked. "The Jedi? Well you took care of that problem when you killed all of them. Obi-Wan wouldn't kill me, that's clear." He shook his head, disappointed by how she just accepted all of this. "There are no more threats. You don't have to learn anything anymore."
"There's always a threat." Padmé argued. "You're powerful in the Force. Our children are powerful in the Force. Somebody will want them. We will never be able to run far enough."
"Because you're working for the one person who would want to hurt us." The moment those words left his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. He felt her anger spike, but he didn't regret them. Palpatine was the only threat to them that could hurt him, that wanted Luke and Leia. He couldn't back down now. "The person you're working with? He'll want our power for himself. He'll take our children and he'll twist them until there's nothing left of them but his tools. Don't let him ruin them."
"You're lying! Palpatine would never!" Padmé defended the man, and that made Anakin see red. He'd attempted to try to see her reason, to avoid fighting her because that wouldn't bring her back to him, but her stalwart belief in Palpatine broke that. He had manipulated and turned her into something she would hate, and would do the same to her children if he had his way.
"He will, because that's exactly what he did to you."
Despite the magma around them, the hot environment around Anakin felt nothing but cold, and he looked up to see Padmé's normally warm brown eyes to be a cold, liquid gold. Despite himself, despite knowing that Padmé would never hurt him, he felt a flash of fear.
Because right now, whoever was in front of him might have worn her face, but she wasn't Padmé.
"Nobody ruined me, Anakin. I made this choice, I'm not the victim you seem to think I am." She was closing herself off, shutting him down. He needed to come up with something fast to reach her.
"Padmé, Angel, please. You don't have to do this. You don't have to become a Sith."
"You don't understand."
"Of course, I do, more than anything!" He was sure if he was in her position, he'd do the same thing to protect her.
"Then why are you trying to stop me?"
"Because this isn't you!" Anakin snapped. "I love you, more than else in this world, but right now I don't even know who you are!" His words hung in the air for a moment, and the tension that had built between them, the anger, was ready to overflow. "I don't know why I bothered to come here, I thought maybe there was a chance I could reach you, but I was wrong. Obi-Wan was right, you-"
Before he could keep talking, it felt like the air was suddenly rushing out of his lungs. Somebody was grabbing his throat, and he couldn't breathe. There was no air left. No way for him to get more. He was lifting in the air, and Padmé was the one causing it. She was Force choking him. Killing him.
As black spots filled his vision, he heard somebody shout, and Padmé let him drop to the ground.
His final thoughts before he lost consciousness were of how hot he was, and how it seemed as though their visions would come true after all.
Obi-Wan had entertained Anakin's request, no matter how ridiculous it seemed. Padmé was a Sith, there was no reaching her. Yet as they reunited, even he couldn't deny a small amount of hope for his Padawan. It was clear that she still cared about Anakin more than most. Maybe the Senator was right, maybe he could reach her, maybe he could save her.
It was only a few short minutes as he realized his hopes were dashed. Padmé's presence was getting darker, and darker with every passing second, and they were no longer embracing. He doubted either of them noticed, but Anakin had been slowly backing away from the very woman he claimed he loved.
There wasn't time to keep hoping, not if he wanted to save Anakin. He left the ship to arrive on the surface of Mustafar just in time to see Amidala holding up Anakin by the throat, the poor Senator scratching at his throat desperately in an attempt to get air. "Let him go!"
She released him, and for a moment, there was pure terror on her face at what she had done, but it hardened moments later into a cold mask. "You both were working together! You turned him against me! To kill me."
Obi-Wan let the devastation he felt seeing her like this show on his face, but this wasn't Padmé. Padmé would never hurt Anakin. This was Amidala, and Amidala was a Sith that needed to go. "I did no such thing. Anakin was here to try to save you. You're the one who pushed him away."
Amidala shook her head, and rage sparked in her eyes, seeped out of every facet of her. "You're lying, I wouldn't push him away if he wasn't trying to hurt me first."
Obi-Wan stepped around Anakin's unconscious body. He leaned down next to him to feel for a pulse. Anakin was still alive. That was good. "No. You've let the Sith turn you into something unrecognizable. Something you aren't." Something dark. Something evil. Something not Padmé.
He just had to keep reminding himself of that. Maybe if he thought it enough, it would become true.
Instead, Amidala just laughed. "If you really believe this isn't me, then maybe you didn't know me at all."
Obi-Wan winced, but in a way, she was right. He'd never thought that it would be possible for this to happen. It was only in his worst nightmares had he ever considered the possibility that Padmé would fall. "What would make it worth this?"
"You wouldn't understand." There was a sorrow in her voice, as though she genuinely believed that. And maybe she was right. Obi-Wan loved Satine, he loved Padmé, he loved Anakin, but despite how much he cared for them all, he would never have sacrificed himself, never would have fallen for them like this.
Obi-Wan simply shook his head. "Perhaps you're right. I couldn't imagine anything would push me to do this. I wouldn't want to put anybody through what I'm feeling right now."
For a moment, Amidala winced, as though his words had hurt her. Rather than react, she reached out. "Obi-Wan, we don't have to fight. We can work together to save them. All of them."
She would never know how tempting it was to join her. He wouldn't have to use the dark side, he could stay with her.
It was also just him lying to himself. Sidious would never let him near Amidala after this. He would never have a chance to save her. He'd be lucky to be alive until Amidala decided she no longer cared for his fate. "I can't do that, Padmé. You know that."
She didn't answer. "Then you're my enemy." He didn't have to be, but she wouldn't see it any other way. It wasn't in the Sith's nature to see things from another point of view.
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes." Obi-Wan took a breath to steady himself for what would come next. "I will do what I must." He pulled out his lightsaber, igniting it. There was only one way this confrontation could end, an inevitability from the start.
"As will I." She charged, her lightsaber in her hand, and the two glowing blue blades met. Amidala placed strike after strike, on a constant offense as she started to drive Obi-Wan back. It took all of his energy, his focus, his effort just to continue to keep up with her strikes. With the exception of how much more angry and violent she was, he could almost pretend that the two of them were simply sparring, practicing. The moves of the deadly dance were familiar, her fighting style might have been the only one he knew as well as his own. But her eyes were gold, and she wasn't slowing, she wasn't stopping. She wanted the kill. He wouldn't let her.
Slowly, as he moved backwards and away from Anakin's ship, he became aware that he was being forced into the building where the Separatists had been hiding, it was obvious they were there given the bodies littering the floor. Obi-Wan stepped over them as he blocked another of Amidala's relentless strikes before finally launching his first attack at her, a weak strike.
If he was honest, a part of him didn't want to return any of her attacks. Blocking was one thing, but if he attacked, then he'd be hurting Padmé. And while he knew she was gone, maybe he could keep stalling. If he could keep the fight going long enough, if she was tired out, then he could get her on the ship, he could try to reach her. He could do something.
Amidala struck again, Obi-Wan deflected the strike into the controls, and it sparked, causing them to separate to avoid the electrical surge. She lunged moments later, but rather than use her lightsaber, she kicked him, causing Obi-Wan to fall to the ground on the floor and his lightsaber to leave his hand. She raised her saber, preparing for the final blow, but he managed to pull his back to his hand and activate it just in time to block before standing back up. And then their lightsabers were locked again, constantly clashing against one another with no reprieve, no slowing, no stopping. Obi-Wan tried to push Amidala, she tried to push him, and they both flew backwards.
The moment Obi-Wan hit the wall, he heard an alarm start to blare in the building, but he didn't have time to contemplate it as once more he was forced to begin deflecting Amidala's strikes. He fell onto the balcony, giving up ground once more. He tried to put space between them, walking onto the pipes, but Amidala refused to stop for even a moment. She jumped after him, and the two continued trading blows, ignoring the steam that proved a distraction and made the fight worse. He jumped off onto a bridge, continuing to fall back, still doing all he could to avoid every single hit.
The magma from the planet exploded behind them, melting the bridge, and suddenly they were climbing up what was now a tower, desperately trying to avoid falling into the lava. Despite the fact that Amidala was only holding on with one hand, she continued trying to strike, and so Obi-Wan continued blocking, not allowing her to land a single hit. He looked behind him to see a waterfall of magma ahead, and he grabbed one of the disconnected ropes, swinging around while blocking more of Amidala's strikes, all the while desperately looking for a platform to land.
He saw one, and with a final swing on the rope, he landed on a sheet of metal in the river of lava. With Amidala still looking for somewhere to land, he took it as a moment's reprieve. (He hoped she wouldn't, that the magma would do her in. He wouldn't have to kill Padmé then.)
She jumped, and landed on a small droid nearby, and they were fighting again, lightsaber meeting lightsaber one after the other. "I'm so sorry, Padmé."
"No, no you're not." Her eyes narrowed, and all Obi-Wan could see was that sickly gold. But she didn't strike. Maybe she was too far, or maybe she was fighting regrets too. He could never know.
"It's not too late, you can stop serving Palpatine." He wanted her to take him up on his offer. He needed her to take him up on his offer. "You can come back with Anakin and I."
Amidala simply laughed. "I won't be able to have Anakin again until you're dead." She jumped onto the platform, striking at him once more, an attack that despite starting to feel fatigue, Obi-Wan managed to block as they started striking once more.
There was no saving her, this one exchange was just further proof. Padmé was gone.
He saw a bank with a hill to the side that he could arrive on and made the jump, landing on his feet as he looked at the piece of metal that he had been standing on earlier. Amidala stood there, a miasma of anger and rage in the Force. Neither moved. It would be a mistake for Amidala to make the strike, even as illogical as she was right now, she had to know that.
Then suddenly, she jumped, aiming to hit Obi-Wan by surprise. He'd planned on simply blocking her strike, but the suddenness gave him no time to think through his action, and he swung his lightsaber, slicing cleanly through her legs and forcing Amidala to tumble to the ground, now missing legs, her lightsaber fell to the ground as she used her two hands, one flesh and one metal, to keep herself on the slope and away from the lava.
Neither moved. Amidala had fallen behind him on the hill, and was using her metal arm to support her body as she looked him dead in the eyes, making it impossible for him to miss her anger at him. "Obi-Wan!"
"Please, Padmé! Come to your senses! You can't believe this is right." She couldn't, he wouldn't let her.
"It's the only way to protect my husband! My children!" And she thought that, she really did. And it just left Obi-Wan feeling numb, overcome by the feeling of loss as he looked at a face so familiar that he could no longer recognize. "You'll kill them, just like you are me!"
His voice fell quiet as he responded. "I didn't have to kill you Padmé, you did that to yourself." He walked to where her lightsaber lay and picked it up, beginning to return his trek to Anakin's ship, so they could leave this cursed system. This terrible place.
"I hate you!" Obi-Wan froze, and turned around to take one final look at Padmé. Though her glare was murderous, there were tears in her eyes. He didn't know whether she was crying because of potentially conflicted feelings towards him, or if she was crying for everything she'd lost. Perhaps she was simply goading him to try to get him to kill her? (he didn't have to, the planet would do it for him.)
Whatever the reason was, he didn't need to know Amidala's reasoning. Instead, held Padmé's lightsaber a little tighter in his hand. "You were my sister, Padmé! I loved you!" He still did, if he was honest, but Darth Amidala wasn't Padmé Naberrie, even if she wore his Padawan's face. And though she continued her screams of anger, he ignored them, walking away. He stopped by Anakin's still unconscious form to pick him up and load him onto the ship before setting the hyperdrive coordinates to Polis Massa, the space station Bail had set up as a rendezvous point for after their missions were complete.
As the ship shot off into hyperspace, Obi-Wan desperately tried to ignore the tears stinging in the corner of his eyes as he finally took the time to process everything he had just lost, and grieve.
The ride to Polis Massa, though only a couple hours, felt so much longer as Obi-Wan piloted the ship closer to the medical station. During all that time, Anakin hadn't stirred once, still out cold after he'd been attacked on Mustafar. While his Force presence hadn't weakened any, it wasn't reassuring for the Senator to be unconscious like this.
Especially since Obi-Wan remembered Padmé's visions of her husband's death.
R2-D2 hadn't left Anakin's side since they'd boarded the ship, but had come up to Obi-Wan now. Despite the fact that the Jedi didn't speak binary like Padmé had, he could hazard a guess at what the little droid was saying.
"Anakin will be alright." He would be so long as he was still breathing, so long as there was a small chance he could be alive. "He has to be."
If he wasn't there was so much that Obi-Wan had to worry about.
What would he even do with the children? If Palpatine knew who the father was, then there would be no way he could leave them with Shmi, and after all this if there was one thing Obi-Wan knew for certain, it was that in no way should he ever be allowed to raise another child.
The thought brought Obi-Wan back to where the true nature of his heartbreak began. He'd raised Padmé and failed her. He knew logically that it was Palpatine's fault that she had fallen, that he'd manipulated and groomed his bright Padawan until there was nothing left of her, but he couldn't help but blame himself. It was his fault. He was the one that failed her and let Padmé fall.
Or perhaps, that was the grief talking, and in time he'd be able to move past was no way for him to know. For now, there was still too much to be done. Anakin had to be the focus. When he was safe, Obi-Wan would release his guilt to the Force.
"Obi-Wan?" At the sound of Anakin's voice, Obi-Wan turned around. Anakin hadn't sat up, but had finally woken up. His voice was hoarse, but the fact that he was talking was the best news he'd had all day.
Obi-Wan quickly checked the computers to make sure that the autopilot was set before sitting by Anakin's side. "Are you alright, Anakin?"
He gave a weak laugh. "As alright as I can be." He still hadn't forced himself to sit up, but he did start looking around. "What happened? Where's Padmé?"
Obi-Wan couldn't stop himself from wincing. It wasn't a surprise that Anakin would ask about her after all, but it didn't make the incoming conversation any easier. "I'm sorry, Anakin."
Anakin didn't say anything, simply closed his eyes. Though his Force presence was still weak, Anakin's grief was like a storm, tearing through the entire ship, and making Obi-Wan feel worse about Padmé's fate. "So I didn't dream that."
"I'm afraid not." Obi-Wan shook his head, though Anakin couldn't see. "I left the ship when I saw her trying to kill you, and then..."
And then he'd attacked Padmé, and left her on the fiery plains of Mustafar to die. "We fought."
"You didn't have a choice." That was true, but it wasn't any easier to face. A silence fell over the ship. Anakin may have woken up, but it was clear he wasn't in the mood to talk. Obi-Wan let him stay silent, avoiding further conversation.
For now, the best thing he could let Anakin do would be to grieve.
Sidious was surprised at the condition that his apprentice was in. Amidala had failed to defeat Kenobi, and he'd expected her to be in a far worse state. Whether it was because the Jedi had gone soft because she was his former apprentice, or Padmé had been stronger than anticipated, it was undoubtedly a blessing only for his benefit. If she wasn't broken, she still had use for him, and that meant he had an apprentice. Of course, he'd had backup plans in mind had her state possibly been worse (as he predicted), but they'd proven unnecessary. He'd need to come up with a way to hide her identity when it came time to introduce Amidala has his apprentice and second, since a former Jedi would not be welcome given the state of the Senate, but that wouldn't be necessary to think about at least until she was used to her new legs, and he was sure he could come up with something.
A scream came from the operating table next to him as the process to attach new legs began. She was awake, of course, the pain would help her channel the dark side more readily. He looked over at the table from his window above the medical facility, admiring his work.
Thirteen years he'd watched over the young Jedi Padawan and tainted her thoughts, and here she was, his servant, loyal to nobody but him.
Kenobi was alive, but that was a trivial matter given how likely it was Amidala would kill her old master on sight. Her Padawan was now gone, the young Togruta's ship had crashed hours earlier, and while it was possible she may have escaped the clones with her, a crash like that would be impossible to survive.
Skywalker would perish soon from her attack on Mustafar. His Force presence had become difficult for Sidious to sense, and it was unlikely the Senator had the training necessary to purposefully suppress it. He was a thorn in Sidious's side as a Senator, and as the Jedi's Chosen one when he'd proven unwilling to turn his death became his best use, he would no longer be a tie for Amidala to latch onto to cling onto the light, but a motivation to power her continued fall.
And speaking of Skywalker, his and Amidala's children, likely the two individuals with the strongest ability to use the Force now that Skywalker was out of the equation, would make powerful apprentices in the future. He wasn't sure whether or not he would let Amidala raise them, or whether he would keep them from her until one of them killed her to take her place, but that could be decided when CT-1010 showed up with the two twins.
"Sir." Sidious turned to look at the red suited clone as he arrived, right on schedule.
"CT-1010, do you have the Skywalker twins?"
"I apologize, sir. When I arrived at Senator Skywalker's residence, the children were gone, along with his protocol droid. His mother was there, but she claimed that they were with Skywalker."
Sidious saw red. He was unsure whether he was angrier at CT-1010 for not bothering to question the woman, or at Skywalker for taking his children with him so that they would be unable to stay within his reach. He used the Force to strangle CT-1010, and the clone fell to the ground moments later, lifeless.
Very well, for now, he could use this to simply destroy Amidala further.
She would be a loyal apprentice, and he could worry about her replacement only if that ever changed.
Padmé sat on the table. The surgery to replace her legs had been horrible, and she'd been conscious through all of it, but now she had new, soon to be (mostly) functional legs ready for use. Ready to allow her to give chase to Obi-Wan, and find Anakin wherever he'd been taken.
She'd had no anesthetic, the pain she was in was still overwhelming, and made thinking difficult, but despite that even she could tell there was something very wrong with her bond with both of them. She couldn't feel them, and being alone in her head was more terrifying than anything else.
"Amidala, it's good to see you awake." Sidious entered the room, and Padmé ignored her pain in order to stand on her feet so she could kneel before her master. "You may sit, I understand this is not a particularly pleasant arrangement at the moment."
"Of course, Master." She shifted her body to take her weight off her legs, and fought the sigh of relief that threatened to escape. "You rescued me?"
Sidious nodded. "You are my apprentice, it wouldn't do me any good to leave you to die on the shores of Mustafar at the hand of your old master."
A spike of anger cut through Padmé at the mention of Obi-Wan. "What happened to him? Where did he take Anakin?"
Sidious was silent, and Padmé's anger turned into fear. "Master, what happened to Anakin? Is he alright?"
"I tried to do all I could." A cold dread settled in Padmé's silence. "But the damage was done. In your anger, you killed him."
"And the children?"
"Killed by the Jedi for their association to you."
It was only then that Padmé understood. The dreams they had been so afraid of, the dreams that had driven her to the dark side. They weren't a warning about the Jedi or anybody else. She'd been the reason her dreams had come true.
The Jedi may have killed them, but she'd caused the deaths of her husband and children.
She didn't respond. She couldn't respond. She couldn't even cry for fear of Sidious's wrath.
In that moment, she simply let go of her grief and buried herself in the anger and pain she felt at the Jedi, at Obi-Wan for turning Anakin against her.
At herself for destroying everybody and everything she had left.
And in that moment, Amidala felt nothing.
Anakin knew he should be thankful to be alive as he walked off the ship's docks to where Yoda and Bail would be meeting them. Padmé had almost killed him when she'd strangled him using the Force, and yet it took every ounce of his strength just to remain standing and not collapse from his grief.
Padmé was his everything. He loved her more than life itself, and the fact that she was gone destroyed him more than he'd ever be able to say.
"Relieved we are that you are alright, Senator." Yoda gave him a smile, like his survival might have been the only thing today that had gone according to plan.
That may have been the case, but Anakin wished that his survival had been one more failure.
"When your mother showed up, telling me that you and Obi-Wan had gone after General Naberrie, Master Yoda and I assumed the worst would come to pass." Bail's words shook Anakin from his grief enough to focus.
"Mom, is she here?"
"On Coruscant she is. Decided staying the best way to confuse Palpatine she did." While Anakin tried to figure out exactly what Yoda meant by that, he frowned. It didn't take long for Yoda to continue. "Here your children are."
All thoughts of mourning and of his mother no longer mattered as he focused on those words alone.
He couldn't mourn, he couldn't let himself fall apart, he didn't have the time. There were two children, now missing their mother, that were so much more of his concern. "Can you take me to them?" He needed to hold Luke and Leia, the last part of Padmé that he had.
"Of course." Bail nodded. "We'll talk once we're there. I can imagine you're rather anxious to see them."
Anxious was an understatement. His children felt like a lifeline that he would hold onto forever. His beautiful babies. They went further into the facility, going through the halls. As they proceeded, he heard Obi-Wan and Yoda whispering about something.
He should have asked what they were discussing, but right now, all he could think about were the twins.
They were awake when Anakin arrived, but thankfully calm, and he scooped them up, one in each arm and smiled at them. They didn't make his heart hurt any less, but they did still bring a smile to his face. He wanted to just put all his energy on them, ignore everything that was happening and bury his emotions in tending to his children, but it was unlikely that Bail, Yoda, or Obi-Wan would allow him to do that.
"Though Amidala is likely dead, Yoda informed me that Sidious is still alive." Obi-Wan was the first to bring up what was pressing on everybody's mind.
Anakin ignored how the mention of Padmé's death had brought him a fresh round of grief, and instead tried to focus on the conversation instead. It wasn't the first time he had ignored what he was feeling for the sake of what was important, it wouldn't be the last. "So we still have an Empire." The group around him nodded. "Then we don't have time to waste. Bail and I need to go to the Senate. We can start working-"
"Anakin." Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not sure your brand of politics right now is what we need." Anakin didn't respond to that. He knew how he could be at times and how he was just as prone to starting problems as he was stopping them. "Right now, if you go into the Senate building and try to threaten Palpatine, you might end up killed."
Anakin remained quiet. That was a point taken.
"We need a better plan. Outright attacking won't help us, but I think we can all agree the Senate will be nothing more than a sham." Nobody argued with Bail. "We'll need to start organizing, while using the Senate to prevent things from breaking down where we can."
"An organized Rebellion will be difficult to make. Right now, I doubt there's a lot of people who would even be willing to try to take down Sidious."
"But we are, I can organize something. The people on Tatooine stood up to one corrupt ruler already, what's one more? Besides, I'm the Chosen One. I'm supposed to kill all the Sith."
For a moment, it seemed as though Anakin's proposition was being considered, something he was glad for. Maybe he would be allowed to do something about Sidious after all.
It was Yoda, who spoke up. "No." His disapproval wasn't a surprise, nobody's would have been. "A suicide mission that would be. Destroy Tatooine Sidious would." Yoda fell silent, contemplating their next stage. "However, agree that Young Skywalker should lead the Rebellion, I do."
"You do?" Anakin was already running figures for how long he'd need to work to gather an army. He could put out calls in no time. He was popular, and stirring up a scene over comms would be easy. Sure it would be a bit more difficult with Luke and Leia, but he could work around that easily.
"Yes. A great advantage over us you have. Dead, Sidious thinks you are." Yoda smiled. "Expect you coming Sidious would not, but act in the shadows you must until ready we are."
A secret leader of the Rebellion...Anakin could do that. "I can start working as soon as we're ready, I'll just need to find some place safe for Luke and Leia to stay and-"
At that, the atmosphere in the room became tense, and Anakin fell silent. "You can't take them from me. They're all I have left."
His mother and the Lars family would have to be deceived until Tatooine was brought into the Rebellion, but there was no way to know how long that would be, and Padmé...
"Take them from you, we will not." Yoda shook his head. Anakin hid his relief, trying to figure out the plan.
"We need to discuss where they will be safe," Obi-Wan said. "Because so long as Sidious might even suspect they are alive, they will both be in danger."
Anakin took one look at the two children in his arms and pressed both of them tighter to him. The idea of losing them as he did their mother was already too much to bear. To have it actually happen would destroy what little of himself he still had. "What did you have in mind?"
Nobody answered, and Anakin understood why. There was only one answer to the problem in front of them, one he wouldn't, couldn't, accept. "You can't take them from me, they're all I have..."
"Only one." Yoda's answer was a small relief, but brought more issues.
"I discussed it with Yoda before you arrived," Bail said. "Breha and I have been discussing adopting a child for a while, it's only fair that I offer to take one. We would ensure they'd visit often as well. You will know both of your children."
Anakin shook his head. He couldn't choose between his children. Whichever one he didn't pick would hate him. They would think he abandoned them, that he loved the other one more.
He would have to give up a child who held a piece of Padmé in them. "I can't do that. You can't make me give one up."
Obi-Wan put a hand on his shoulder. "Anakin, they will understand." How could he be sure? "Bail promised you'll know your children, and I'll make sure of it as well."
Anakin looked at the children in his hand. There was no way that he could bring himself to choose between Leia and Luke, even with Obi-Wan and Bail promising they'd both be his. Anakin shook his head mutely. "There has to be another way..."
"No other way is there. A choice, you must make. In your hands, their safety is."
At Yoda's insistence, Anakin truly considered his options. He wanted them to stay with him desperately, so he could take care of them, but if he was found, there was no doubt what Palpatine would do to them. And if they were both with him, then they could both be hurt, or worse, forced to fall like their mother. No matter what, one of his children couldn't be with him. There wasn't another option. Not if he wanted to lead the rebellion, wanted to get revenge for Padmé.
"Don't forget, Daddy will always love you." He pressed a kiss to Luke's head, and gave his son over to Bail. "Take good care of him."
"We will."
And Anakin knew, in that moment, that Bail and Breha both would protect Luke until their dying breath if it came down to it.
"Decided, it has been." Yoda nodded, and somehow he felt Yoda's approval at Anakin's decision to take his daughter. "Go into hiding if we are to avoid Sidious's gaze, we must." After a moment, Yoda added. "And destroy your ship as well. Give no chance to Sidious of finding you through it."
"Where will you go?" Bail asked.
"The Dagobah system. Safe, I will be." Yoda didn't elaborate more before he went off, Bail following shortly after to avoid any connection being made.
That left Anakin and Obi-Wan alone, an uncomfortable silence between them. "You knew Yoda would separate them?"
"Not until we'd arrived. Yoda had told me on the way to take you to Luke and Leia. I'd wanted to argue against it, that you should have both of your children..." But when it came down to it, Obi-Wan had understood exactly what Anakin did. That it was truly their best chance. "I meant what I said Anakin, between any mission I can, I'll bring you to Luke, or him to you. He will still be your son."
"Thank you, Obi-Wan." Anakin reached into his pocket, his hand brushing against the crystal Padmé had given him on their wedding night so long ago. A reminder of his true destiny, and of what he can do. "There's...one more thing." Obi-Wan indicated for him to continue, and Anakin pulled it out, showing it to Obi-Wan.
"I want you to teach me how to be a Jedi."
On the desert planet of Tatooine, a funeral took place.
During his four years as Senator, Anakin Skywalker had been beloved. While the body was not recovered, Anakin was popular on the planet. It was natural his citizens would want to mourn him.
Nobody had known about his children but Shmi, and she knew better than to let the world know that they might be alive. Just like she knew better than to let the world know that she had hope for her son.
And so she publicly mourned, but she couldn't help but believe that her son was alive. One day, he would fulfill the prophecy Qui-Gon had mentioned when he'd first come to Tatooine so long ago. One day, he would return to her.
So she hoped.
On a metal space station, Darth Amidala approached her master, ignoring all the military personnel behind her as she stood at the viewport, looking at the planet destroying weapon in front of her.
One day, it would be an operational station, and while she didn't approve of it, she couldn't find it in her to care.
She had nothing left to live for, everyone she'd ever loved was gone or had let her behind, all except him. Every decision she'd made had cost her more than they'd ever let her game.
She stood under her mask, to serve her master's whim, a shadow of who she once was.
Of Padmé Naberrie, there was nothing left.
On the planet of Alderaan, Bail Organa returned to Alderaan, a beautiful baby in his arms as he brought Luke to Breha.
She took Luke from him and started playing with him. The boy was torn from his family, unable to truly be together until the emperor was dead, but he would know his father and sister for who they are.
Until that day could come, Bail and Breha shared a silent look, coming to an agreement they would never go back on.
They would do everything they could to ensure that Luke grew up happy.
Anakin Skywalker closed his eyes, the materials he and Obi-Wan had managed to gather were more than enough for Anakin to begin.
Leia was in her crib behind him, resting, which was why he had chosen now to do it.
The Kyber Crystal sang out to him, begging to be placed in a saber, and that was exactly what he would do.
Padmé was gone, she would never come back, but so long as he used her crystal, a part of her would always be with him.
And that same part of her would be the weapon that would destroy the one who made him lose her.
He would make sure of it.