Padmé's POV

I ran into the ship with only one word, ringing through my head: Ani, Ani, Ani…

I knew where he was, he told me himself. Mustafar.

I had a little trouble while putting on my seatbelt due to my huge belly, caused by the baby inside. Anakin's baby.

Obi-Wan stayed on Coruscant, with a promise not to warn the Jedi Council of my Ani's whereabouts, at least until I have found out if he really has gone over to the Dark Side. I decided to take C-3PO and R2-D2 with me for protection.

I got really nervous, and the constant kicks to my stomachs, from the baby who kicked so much it felt like he had four legs, didn't help either. What if I can't get him back? What if he never agrees and I have to raise our kid on my own? He'll be killed, or he will kill everyone. I can't cry now. I need to be brave. God, this seemed so much easier when I thought about coming.

All too soon, I arrived in Mustafar. I gasped out loud at the horrible landscape: lava rivers, coal rocks, black mountains, and such a smell of sulfur my head hurt. Instantly, it was too hot for the clothes I picked. I instinctively put a hand over my swelled belly, trying to feel my baby. He was moving violently, perhaps because of the heavy heat. I started to walk, but I hadn't gotten even two yards away from the ship before a figure came out from behind a mountain and started running to me. I wanted to run, too, but the second I tried, horrible cramps consumed me. Instead, I let him run to me. He picked me up and it would feel amazing, if it weren't for the sense of darkness that surrounded him. I can't feel the Force, but even then, I knew something was wrong.

"Oh, Anakin."

"It's ok, Padmé. You're alright now," But I didn't feel alright.

"Obi-Wan told me of the terrible things you did. You killed younglings!" I felt him stiffen. So it's true, then. My Ani is now a monster.

"Obi-Wan doesn't care about us. He's just trying to turn you against me."

"No…" Before I could finish the sentence, the doors of my aircraft opened and Obi-Wan appeared. "Obi-Wan?!"

"I see now! You turned her against me already, didn't you?! You turned my beloved wife against me! And you led him here to me, didn't you?!" It took me a moment to process what he was saying, then I realized he was talking about me. I opened my mouth to tell him I would never, ever do such thing, but he raised his hand and, suddenly, it was as if there was a strong metallic hand around my throat, choking me. I tried to shake my head, but Anakin's Force trick was too strong.

How could he do this to me?!

That was my last thought before everything turned black and I fell onto the dark, hot, ground.

Anakin's POV

The moment the door opened I knew I had lost her.

The worst part was that I lost her to Obi-Wan.

Blinded rage consumed me and all I could think about were the promises of love and loyalty that we vowed to keep and how she'd broken it. A small part of me, the most annoying one that had kept me from being a Sith Lord all these years, told me to stop. I didn't want to listen, but I didn't want to do what I knew I intended. My hand raised and I thought: I'm mad.

She is a traitor, I think.

YOU ARE KILLING HER, the little voice says.

I think it through before unleashing the Force, and decide it's not worth it. I try to stop, for I can't seriously be doing it. Something doesn't let me stop, however, and before I know it, she is on the ground. Strange, the way I didn't have control over myself, the small part of me thinks. The other one, the one I listen to because it gives me power, tells me I did the right thing. She deserved it. Before I knew it, Obi-Wan was at her side, checking her pulse, and then up again. He took off his cloack, the same way I did. I thought, kill him. Then, I remember he was my brother. Then, I remembered he was my enemy.

"You turned her against me." I hissed. I want her back! I want my angel back! HOW DARE HE TAKE HER AWAY!

"Your anger already did that." No, no, no. it was HIM who had taken her, I tried to tell myself.

"Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, justice, freedom, and security to my new Empire."

"Your new Empire?!"

"Don't make me kill you." I can't do this. I can't kill him, he's the family I never had.

"Anakin, my allegiance is with the Republic, with democracy…" I have to. He is a traitor.

"If you're not with me, you're my enemy." I ignited my lightsaber at the same time he did.

My body took over and I let it, barely thinking about the calculated moves that Obi-Wan was using. We moved across the barren land, fighting and fighting, and yet, neither of us was gaining the upper hand. We used the Force sometimes, too, until we grew tired. We couldn't rest, though. Exhaust started catching up to us, but we kept going. Gradually, the thoughts of: do it for Padmé, disappeared and were replaced with a consuming sense of hatred for Obi-Wan.

We ran through Mustafar, desperately trying to kill one another. Years of fighting alongside him had taught me exactly what he was going to do and when. Sadly, he knew this about me as well, making him an impossible opponent. I'm better than this. I'm better than him, a voice in my brain told me.

We locked sabers, and made the mistake of attempting a Force-push. I tried with all my strength to push him away, but I wasn't strong enough and we were both blown apart.

After more fighting and running, I jumped on a stray piece of metal in the lava river. He followed suit, and we continued the battle from there; slashing at each other with lightsabers while trying to keep our balance. I don't know for how long this took place, but all of a sudden, Obi-Wan jumped onto the ground near the river. "It's over, Anakin! I have the upper hand!" I tried to make up my mind and made the mistake of looking back.

I was too far away to make out the details, but I could see a golden figure pick someone up from the ground. Padmé. Until now, I hadn't realized what I had done to her. All this lying and killing that I had done for her, and it was breaking her inside. And now, now I was breaking her from the outside. What had I done? I really lost myself, and I lost her along with me. It can't be too late. It can't be…

Without looking back at Obi-Wan, I jumped onto the nearest metal platform, then another, and another, until I had reached the bank of the 'river'. Then I ran. I ran as fast as my legs would take me towards her. I killed her, I killed her, I killed her, I killed her…

I could hear Obi-Wan, struggling to catch up to kill me, but I couldn't let him. I had to get to the ship.

When I finally, arrived, the doors were open, and I didn't even slow down. I simply burst in and found her lying peacefully on a mattress. She looked like she could be asleep. Before anything else, I closed the doors with the Force so that Obi-Wan couldn't interfere.

I checked her pulse and found her heart beating. It was going slowly, but it was beating.

Padmé's POV

I woke up suddenly from strange, wild, dreams. Dreams of little boys and angels, and dreams of young men who loved with all they had, even though they didn't have much, and of forbidden relationships and untold dangers, and betrayal and hope, and sadness and joy, and light and dark, and good and evil. And the first thing I saw when I woke up were the worried blue-green eyes of my Ani.

"Ani?" I asked. He nodded slowly. At first I didn't know where we were, and then the fit of coughing began.

"Padmé?!" Anakin sounded worried. I tried to stop coughing, but I couldn't and I was having a difficult time breathing. "Padmé!" He held on to me until I stopped coughing. I vaguely wondered where it had come from, but then Obi-Wan burst in, wielding a lightsaber. Anakin moved over me protectively as Obi-Wan eyed us suspiciously. "Keep away from her."

"I'm afraid I can't."

"You don't understand, she needs help!" Anakin tried to explain.

"SHE NEEDS HELP BECAUSE OF YOU!" And then I remembered. I shrunk away from Anakin, but the deep pain in his eyes told me he was truly sorry.

That's when I had my second fit of coughing.

Anakin cradled me in his arms like he used to in Naboo and Coruscant, but I couldn't stop.

After a minute or two, the cramps started. Right in my stomach was the worst pain I'd ever experienced. I doubled over in pain as the cramps got worse and worse.

"What is happening?!" Asked a very scared Obi-Wan.

"Baby!-" I managed to choke out. Even though Obi-Wan didn't look like he wanted Ani anywhere near me, he ran to the control room to get the ship started and call the robots to take care of me.

Meanwhile, the pain was receding, but my forehead was covered in sweat and I was exhausted.

"Padmé?" Ani whispered. I was half asleep by then, tired beyond comprehension.

"Mhm?"

"I'm so sorry…"

When I woke, I was at a hospital with drones surrounding me. My garments had been removed and, instead, I was wearing a hospital gown that didn't cover anything from the waist-down.

"Padmé, I am your doctor. My name is A2C-B3."

"Ani?" I asked him even though he probably wouldn't know what I was talking about. I just needed him right now.

"I'm here with you." Said a voice from my right. Anakin was staring at me kindly, as if he felt bad for me. The reasons as to why were revealed moments later when I got a terrible cramp in my stomach.

This one hurt more than the one on the ship. It was excruciating. Then they stopped suddenly, and started again, this time worse than the last.

It went on like that for half an hour until I started crying from the horrible pain that was now consuming my whole body. I was holding on to Anakin's hand as tightly as I could and I could tell from his eyes that he feared the worst.

I heard a doctor say:

"Push!"

I pushed.

The pushing only made it worse and I started to scream. Everything was a blur I pushed and screamed and I heard millions of voices around me as I struggled to stay conscious.

"Push!"

"I see it!"

"Come on!"

"Come on, Padmé, I can't lose you…"

"It's coming!"

"You're doing great!"

"Please, Padmé…" I let out a horrible scream and started sobbing, but I stopped abruptly when I heard faint cries. The pain had stopped and I lay back to rest. The doctor presented us with the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. It was perfect. Everything I'd ever wanted.

"It's a boy." Anakin observed. I remember an argument we had about whether it would be a boy or a girl, and I knew he was a boy, but he thought otherwise.

"I told you so- AAAH!" The pain started all over again. This time, it wasn't as bad, but the fact that I had already given birth to our baby made it worse to bear. I screamed again, and this time, the baby screamed with me. I tried to turn my head and through the tears, I saw a sobbing Anakin, telling me to hold on and five doctors running with machines fanatically, trying to save me.

"Come on, Padmé! Please! Don't leave me!" I knew I wasn't supposed to be in pain, and Ani knew too. I'm dying, I thought. I can't die. I can't leave Anakin alone again. I need to make it…

Then the pain left completely, and everything went quiet. Maybe it's just me. Maybe the Force is leaving me and that's why I can't feel or see anymore. That's impossible, I tell myself. I can still hear my baby. Only now, it sounds doubled.

"Padmé… We've had twins…" I heard a distant voice call. I can't make out the meaning of the sentence and I can't think anymore.

I can't die, a part of me says. The other part of me tells me of the peace I will find in death, no war, no politics, no evil.

"Stay, love! You can do it!" Is that the voice of death? I can't tell. "Please…" And then I remember one thing that I will never find in death.

Love.

"Anakin?" I ask, aware of my surroundings once more.

"I'm here. We've had twins!" Even through my slightly blurry vision, he looked the happiest I had seen him since our wedding day. "You need to name them!"

"Are they both boys?"

"No. One is a girl, so I suppose we can call it even." I chuckled weakly and held my arms up to get one of them. It turned out to be the boy.

"Luke. Luke Anakin Skywalker."

"I like it."

Luke was so smooth and cute. I fell in love with him instantly, and suddenly I understood what my mom had meant when she said there was no one who loved me more than she.

After I had fed Luke, Ani passed me the girl.

She was so beautiful. Her hair was dark as ebony, even as a newborn, and her features were symmetrical and delicate.

"Leia Amidala Skywalker." Anakin smiled in approval as I fed her milk.

"So this is what it feels like to have a family." Ani said.

"It's the best feeling in the world."