Second Chances: Chapter One


Padmé Naberrie

"Luke! Let's go or we're going to be late!"

"Coming!"

I hear Luke's footsteps above me as he runs down the hall and down the stairs to meet me in the kitchen. Leia is sitting down in the dining room with my mom doing her homework. Luke already did his in school just so he could go to the meet and greet tonight, he wanted to meet his idol and I wasn't going to stand in his way, even if his idol is a man that I haven't seen in over a decade. It hurts just to see him on TV every Sunday when he's playing but Luke loves football and loves the San Francisco 49ers even more.

"I'm ready," Luke declares looking at me dressed in a pair of blue jeans and his scarlet 49ers jersey with the number 17 with the name Skywalker on the back arching over the number. If I didn't push him away, it could've been the surname of Luke and Leia, instead of them having my late husband's...

The front door opens and I turn to see Luke waiting impatiently, "are we going or what?" He asks, I nod and walk to the dining room to say bye to Leia and mom.

"We're out of here," I kiss Leia's cheek and say bye to mom, who tells me to have fun with a knowing smile on her face before I turn and follow Luke outside to our minivan. Luke hops in the passenger seat and buckles up, as I sit in the driver seat and start up the van. It isn't anything great but it runs and is big enough to carry Luke's football equipment in the back and to get us around the city. "You're not excited are you?" Luke's pretty much jumping in his seat in excitement, rolling his eyes at me, like usual nowadays.

He sighs, "I am but I'm also... nervous..." he lets his words trail off and presses the buttons on the radio to change the station.

"Nervous?" What is there to be nervous about? If anyone should be nervous, it should be me and I am but Luke can't know that and if I have any luck, Anakin won't even recognize me after all these years. Luke doesn't know that his idol and his mother were once more than friends back when we were kids. We were too young then and wanted totally different things, he was always great at football and wanted to go to Arizona State where he had a full athletic scholarship to attend while dad wanted me to go to Harvard just like he and my mother did. When I was pregnant with the twins at only 18... I've never seen my father so disappointed in me, it hurt but not as bad as it hurt to break up with Anakin. It felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly but even that didn't hurt as much as seeing the hurt expression on his face. He looked so crestfallen, like he had his future ripped violently away from him. He just didn't understand why we could never work out but we were just in two very different worlds and they couldn't coincide with one another and it was easier to end the relationship then and there instead of later during the school year when he would've found out that I was pregnant and didn't go to Harvard like I told him I was.

"Are you listening?" Luke says looking at me, accusingly with his bright blue eyes narrowing down onto mine. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

"Sorry. Why are you nervous?"

"Why wouldn't I be?! He's like the best quarterback in the NFL! Why wouldn't I be nervous?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." Trailing off, I give him a look. "Relax, he is just another guy-"

"Just another guy?!" Luke interrupts, throwing his hands in the air in emphasis. "How can you say that?! He's the best- did you hear that? The best quarterback in the NFL. I would hardly say he's just another guy."

This isn't going to be easy, why did I agree to this? Everything that I worked so hard to leave in the past is suddenly returning like a slap in the face and there is nothing I could do to stop it. I did the best under the circumstances at the time, that is all anyone could expect of me.

The rest of the car ride is met with silence as we listen to the music and arrive at the stadium where they're having the meet and greet between players and kids from around the area that are attending the summer's mini-camp. Every kid signed up for the mini-camp gets to meet the players, get their autographs and take pictures with them. They also get a tour of the stadium, including a behind-the-scene's tour of the locker room, training room and other rooms throughout the stadium that are usually off limits to the public. Luke's Pop Warner coach told him about the annual week-long mini-camp hosted by the 49ers and Luke just had to go. Why did he have to play the one sport that I can't bear to watch, only because another blond haired, blue eyed boy used to play it too and he used to play it extremely well, obviously.

Finding a parking spot, I try and pull myself together. If anyone is nervous, it should appear to be Luke but really be me because today will be the first time that I'm within reach of the man that I let go. I am glad to see that he was able to achieve his dreams and become the great professional football player we both knew he'd be, but that feeling in the back of my mind always shouts at me that I should've told him the truth for why I broke things off. All of my reasons were lies and we both knew it, he tried to get the truth from me but I hurt him by telling him that I cheated on him. I would never do that to him, I loved him too much, still do but I wouldn't let him give up everything he worked so hard for because of my own careless mistake. We were both drunk and we both knew it, he said that he didn't have a condom but I was drunk and clearly not thinking straight and told him that it didn't matter. Well... nine months later-

"Mom, you coming?"

I nod, turning the keys in the ignition to turn it off and open my door to get out. Taking my purse, I lock the doors and walk with Luke to the front doors of the stadium where other kids and their parents are waiting in line to get through security.

It doesn't take long and we're in, we're broken into four groups of ten with ten kids and their parents in each group and brought to different parts of the stadium. We're the first ones to get a behind-the-scenes look at the locker room, training room, exercise room, media room and their dining hall, among other rooms.

I have to say that the locker room is a lot bigger and nicer than I thought it'd be, and Luke was mostly just eyeing his idol's locker even though it was empty. He just saw the name above the locker: Anakin Skywalker and his eyes grew wide. Its only June and training has yet to begin, as such the lockers were empty and no players were in the locker room. They were all out on the field for the meet and greet and Luke is growing more and more impatient as the tour guide continues to shows us around. He doesn't care about any of this, he only wants to meet the man who's hanging up all over his room.

"Now," the tour guide says, stopping and turning to face us. He's wearing a scarlet 49ers polo shirt and tan pants, he's just under six feet tall with short brown hair and brown eyes. Luke doesn't know who he is, so clearly he is just a tour guide and not a player or anyone important for the team. If he was, then surely Luke would've recognized him and the name- James Kelsey didn't ring any bells in Luke's head or he would've told me about it and he didn't. "We're going to rotate now and its our turn to take the field. We're going to head out through the tunnel just like the 49ers do in the beginning of a home game. Once we're out there, we'll move to the center of the field where tables and stands are set up along with drill exercise equipment where you can run some drills- if you so wish, with some of the players. Other players may have their own drills they'll run with you, we'll have thirty minutes total and then we'll need to move on. Therefore, if you want any autographs and pictures with the players and coaching staff then I suggest you get them first."

He looks us all over, looking like he's waiting to see if there are any questions. No one raises any and he nods, obviously satisfied that everyone understands what he explained. "Very well, let's move out!"

We move out, Luke practically jumping in excitement. His blue eyes are bright and wide-eyed like a kid on Christmas morning and his eyes take in everything. We've never been to an NFL game before, Luke has been begging me to buy tickets to a game but I've managed to come up with excuses for not buying them. I'm running out of excuses and considering Luke managed to con my father into paying for this mini-camp, I couldn't squeeze my way out of it and here I am... walking through the scarlet and white 49ers tunnel just like the players do during game day. San Francisco 49ers is written in scarlet on the white wall with the lower half of the wall being painted scarlet, the team color.

A sudden sharp inhale from Luke catches my attention, I look to him and his eyes are brighter, wider and bigger than ever. Looking to where his eyes are glued, there stands the man who's heart I broke and I feel my own heart break all over again. He's bigger than I remember and bigger than he is on TV. Back when we were eighteen, the last time that I saw him face to face, he was tall and lanky, still growing into his skin. Now, he's taller, bigger and more handsome than ever before. His shoulders are broader than before, his arms more muscular. His face is more chiseled, more defined. His eyes, though are just like I remember. At least, until I ripped his heart out of his chest.

It is nice to see his eyes light up the way that I remember, the way that I loved. His eyes always told a story, always told me exactly how he was feeling and they had this way of transfixing me every time I looked at him. Right now, he's talking with one of his teammates, a man that I remember used to go to high school with us. Mike Gray and he's also bigger than I remember but that is to be expected after almost twelve years. Mike Gray and Anakin were always best friends, they were inseparable and always together, they were party animals and its nice to see that hasn't changed. Gray and Anakin are always on the news, ESPN, or TMZ at various clubs or parties and they always look like they're having the time of their lives, something I remember us having when life was just about getting good grades in high school to get into a good college.

Oh, how things have changed.

For me, it was having twins and putting my plans on hold in order to take care of and raise them. For Anakin, it was going to college under his full athletic scholarship, pursuing his dream of becoming the great football player that he is today. I wouldn't change anything, I may have had to make sacrifices for my children and made some tough decisions but they were mine to make. It may not be fair or right, but they were the decisions that I thought were best at the time and there is no changing that now. Palo knew there was a good chance that the baby, then babies (when we found out that I was pregnant with twins) weren't his but he didn't care, he just wanted me and I needed someone to claim them. He suggested we get married before they were born and I agreed, it was stupid and thoughtless but I needed a man to be their father and he was the best option on such short notice. We also did have sex, rebound sex and it was within the right time-frame, they could've been his but then Luke opened his eyes and it was clear who the father was. Anakin may have blue eyes but they're unique blue eyes and they don't run in my family and they don't run in Palo's either.

Luke tugs at my arm, pulling me out of my mind and I shake my head to shake off the past. I've made many mistakes in life, I've even considered the twins a mistake but they were one mistake that I'm happy I made. It doesn't matter if Palo is somehow the father or Anakin, having children at eighteen wasn't something I wanted and yet it is something that I would never regret or change, even if I had the power to do so.

They're the lights of my life and nothing will ever change that. Even if I have to face the man who may be their father, whom doesn't know that he may be a father and hopefully won't until I know for sure. Even if their personality's, eyes and hair color are the same along with their love of football, it doesn't mean they share DNA. It could be pure coincidence, after all, how many people have an outgoing, outspoken personality, blue eyes, blond hair and a love for football? Many people I assume.

Or, at least, that is what I tell myself even if they do share other physical traits like their noses and cleft chins.

Luke is pulling me to the center of the field and I let him, his football is tucked into the crook of his right arm and his eyes are still glued on the man who may be, or rather more than likely is, his father. That will be a fun conversation to have with Anakin, hopefully he won't notice the similarities between the two of them or recognize me- for that matter. But for as much that has changed, I've no doubt he'll recognize me. For as much as he has changed in appearance, I haven't changed much except I'm a little heavier now than I was then and obviously older.

"There he is!" Luke squeals, like he just noticed him. He lets me go and his left hand starts to travel to his mouth, I stop his hand in its tracks knowing that he bites his fingernails when he's nervous. It is the same habit that I have.

"I see," his eyes find mine. "Relax. Breathe, and everything will be okay. We'll walk over to him, you'll politely ask him to sign your ball and jersey and then ask for a picture. Everything will be okay." He nods, and I see the tension leave his body. He gets all wound up just like Anakin used to before a game back in high school, yet when he was on the field, he didn't look nervous at all. He looked like he owned the field, like a general commanding an army. It was just pregame jitters and Luke is no different when he plays football. If that isn't a father-son thing, then I don't know what is. The only question is, how do I break it to them? It is way past time, but how can I prevent my children and Anakin from hating me (or Anakin from hating me even more) when all is revealed? How can I look any of them in the face after that? It is something that I won't have to do today at least, I have some time to figure this out and when the time is right, I will face it head on.

Until then, I just need to push it out of my mind.

"Right," Luke says, taking deep breaths until he's as calm as can be expected.

I look at him amused, then look at Anakin. A few kids and their parents are talking to him now but there are a slew of other players standing around. Gray also has a few kids standing around him getting autographs and pictures and he's clearly enjoying himself, Anakin is too. "Let's go get some autographs and pictures, calm down some more and then you can meet your... hero." Father, is more like it but I don't say that.

Luke nods and we move to get some autographs and pictures. Players sign his ball and his jersey and he gets some pictures with them, he knows all of their names and what positions they play. Yet, he doesn't seem nervous around any of them. Its like he's seen them all before and is comfortable around them, he's just nervous to meet the man who's poster is over his bed, across from his bed, hanging on the back of his door and who's picture is hanging up on his walls. Luke also owns his autobiography which was surprisingly well written, not that he wasn't a good writer or smart, he really was but I didn't expect him- of all people, to be able to write so well. In high school, he only wrote what was required of him, no more and no less in order to get good grades and to stay on the football team. When junior year came around, he pushed himself more and got better grades, grades that he needed to get in order to get into a good college and to get the athletic scholarship that he needed to get into college. He couldn't afford it otherwise, which is probably why he pushed himself as hard as he did and is exactly why I broke up with him. I wasn't going to ruin the bright future ahead of him, he worked his ass off for everything he had, it wouldn't be right of me to take that away from him by my own reckless decision. He wanted to stop, he didn't really want to... but he did, I told him that it didn't matter, I didn't want him to stop and he didn't disappoint.

It is hard to put these thoughts of my mind, before I worked myself to death and kept busy to keep these thoughts from entering my mind especially whenever I looked at Luke because of how much he reminds me of Anakin but now that we're here and he is less than fifty feet away (and closing), they're all crashing into me and won't leave me alone. Every excuse I told him now sounds more hollow, not that it didn't sound that way before but now it only makes it seem that much more- I don't even know the word, it just makes me see things in a new light. It makes me see things like how he must've seen them, they were weak and we both knew it and if I didn't use the cheat card, then he no doubt would've seen right through me, just like he did anyway. He was pissed, rightfully so but he still refused to give up on us, he was making a commitment to me that I couldn't keep, that I couldn't allow him to keep. I may never have cheated on him, but I did cheat him away from seeing his children grow up and I cheated my children from knowing their biological father. As much as I would like to say that its a fifty/fifty shot of him being the father of the twins, I know without a doubt, that he is.

"Hey, little man." The words cut through me like a sharp blade, I know that voice and know its directed at Luke. "What's your name?"

"Luke," my little man says and those pregame jitters are gone. He's speaking with confidence, like he was to every other football player we met so far and like how he normally speaks to his teammates during a game.

"Luke, huh?" Anakin says with his smiling voice. He hasn't noticed me yet, or at least doesn't seem to acknowledge my presence. "Its nice to meet you." I turn to look at Luke and he shakes hands with Anakin, putting his little hand in Anakin's large one. This isn't right, them meeting for the first time and as strangers at that. But I can't say anything, the timing isn't right. I'm not prepared for it and neither are they.

"It's, uh, nice to meet you too." Luke's face is lighting up, turning from its normal light tan to red like a fire hydrant. "You're nicer than I thought you'd be," he reaches back and scratches the back of his neck at a loss for words.

"Is that so?" Anakin's amused, as he takes Luke's ball and signs it with a sharpie. "You didn't think I'd be nice?"

Luke looks down, deciding how to respond. "He's your biggest fan," I intercede on his behalf. Seeing Anakin freeze, in the middle of signing Luke's ball. He obviously remembers my voice, yet his eyes are still frozen on the pigskin, even if a football isn't made of actual pigskin. "He was nervous about meeting you, he looks up to you, watches your every game and didn't know what to expect. After all, how you are on TV and on the field isn't always the same as you are off the field."

He snorts. "You would know, wouldn't you, Padmé?" The tone isn't the same light-hearted tone he used with Luke, he sounds hurt. The same way he sounded just under twelve years ago...

"You know him?!"

"Better than anyone else, at least she did... once upon a time, kid." Anakin finishes signing the ball and hands it back to Luke. Luke keeps looking between Anakin and myself, obviously wanting to know how we know each other and why I never told him. "But things change, and people... move on."

If his first words sliced through me like a sharp blade, these words finished me off. Was he really over me? Did he really move on? If all of the stories about him on the news, TMZ and ESPN are anything to go by, he isn't or he would've been in a real relationship instead of being known as the most eligible bachelor in the sports world and he wouldn't have said that he isn't the relationship kind of guy during an interview when he was asked if he was in a relationship or if he just liked to be the playboy he's portrayed to be. He was the first man-boy, really- I ever had a real relationship with, and he wanted to be more than just boyfriend and girlfriend after we graduated high school. He isn't afraid of making commitments, his last contract that he made last year with the 49ers for six years and exceeding one hundred and twenty million dollars proves that, it also proves that things may change, people may move on but obviously not by much. He may not want to be in a relationship with me, not that I can blame him, but he is the relationship kind of guy and as much as people may change, he hasn't changed by much. As far as I can tell, anyway.

"Mom?"

Luke looks up at me, waiting for his explanation but I don't have one to give him. It would take too long and this isn't the place for that. "We went to high school together." It isn't a lie, but it also isn't close to the truth. We did go to high school together, we were high school sweethearts but Luke doesn't need to know the exact nature of our relationship, or their relationship.

Not yet.

Anakin makes a noise, a sound of disbelief. "Is that what kids these days call it?" He crouches down and signs Luke's jersey and looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. We were much more than that but my eleven year old son doesn't need to know, he's a little young for that and I try to convey that to Anakin with a look but he doesn't even look my way. "It was nice meeting you Luke," he pats him on the shoulder and walks by me. "Padmé," he says in that same pained expression he did when he said bye to me the last time. Now instead of me walking away with a broken heart and knowing that I broke his, this time he's the one doing it to me. Seeing him again, hearing him speak, seeing his expression go from happy to pained, hurts me more than I thought it would and this was not how I wanted this to happen.

Coming here was a bad idea, something that I knew from the beginning but it was necessary. I pushed things off for too long and now it is time to come to terms with everything I did and set them right.

One step at a time...


A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading chapter one! As you may have noticed, on the top of this page before the story begins it said Padmé Naberrie and that is because it was in her point of view. These chapters will alternate between her first person pov and that of Anakin's. Next chapter will be in his pov and we'll shed some light into his mind and some more of their past and it will show some more characters along with Mike Gray, an original that will be a big part of the story to come. Its been nearly twelve years since he last saw the love of his life and now she comes back... and has a son, apparently.

Chapter two should be fully written and posted by the weekend.

This is a different type of story, I always saw Anakin as a bit of a player, on and off the field but we also know how he felt about Padmé. This was my way of combining the two, and if you're a Leia fan, don't worry, we'll see a lot of her and a lot more of Luke. But I want to take this slow, it is no surprise that Luke and Leia are the children of Anakin and Padmé, everyone knows that (us readers and writers that is, which is why I didn't bother hiding that) but Padmé hid the identity of their father even when she knew who the real father was which is why I'm making this a secret baby story. She may have made some bad decisions and may have really screwed things up but this is a drama and there will be plenty of drama in this story, as well as romance, adventure and family. This is an Anidala story and the title of this story refers to that, Second Chances for Padmé and Anakin, that is and even for the kids to know their real father.

I hope you stick around to read more! Also keep in mind that while this is currently rated T, it'll definitely be M rated in the future. Please follow, favorite and review! Thank you for reading!