--------------------
AnakinsBabe
"Bittersweet"
Submitted October 2007
Rated PG
Summary: In this companion piece to "Summer of Shattered Promises" Padmè reflects on her Anniversary. Response to the July Fanfic Challenge.
--------------------
Gently, she rested her head against the pillows, listening to the sounds of the med-center. She looked down at her twins who were resting peacefully in her arms, feeling a twinge of despair, for she remembered what day this was.
Our anniversary, she thought, tears welling in her eyes. Yes, fate could be so cruel sometimes.
Her breath caught, as she began to reminisce…
"Are you an angel?"
"I'm haunted by the kiss you never should have given me."
"You love me?"
"I missed you Padmè."
"Love won't save you, Padmè! Only my new powers can do that!"
She instantly hated herself for remembering. This was a day that called for celebration, not for tears. And yet it was all too bittersweet, and horribly ironic that her children would be born on their anniversary.
The newborns in her arms began to squirm, no doubt picking up on their mother's sorrow with their already powerful Force signatures.
Yet another thing to worry about.
Anakin knew she was pregnant. Together they had rejoiced in the upcoming birth of their baby. And though he was no expert on pregnancy, he knew that nine months was how long a human pregnancy generally lasted. And since he knew that she had been five months pregnant upon his return from the Outer Rim Sieges, he had to have guessed that she was close to delivery by now.
Luckily for Padmè, Luke, and Leia, Padmè had gone into early labor, which hopefully would buy some time to get far away from Coruscant. Unless Anakin immediately felt their presence.
The very thought left Padmè in despair. She still loved her husband so much, and the thought that she was running away from him broke her heart. But she did not love the person whom he had become, and she knew that in order to protect Luke and Leia, she had to keep them hidden.
And yet how her heart ached at the prospect of her children growing up without a father. Oh, how her Ani would have been such a wonderful father.
It hurt to be reminded that he was Anakin no longer. Now replaced by the fearsome Darth Vader, who had killed his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, having almost killed Padmè too.
The funeral was staged very well, a life-like model of herself having been placed into the casket, leaving the galaxy to watch as Senator Amidala was carried to her eternal resting place. Leaving Padmè to flee.
In a sense, Padmè was glad that she was no longer imprisoned by the façade of the Senator she once was. But Senator Amidala was her mask, her way of appearing to the galaxy. Being Senator Amidala meant that she didn't have to show feeling. Now she was free to feel whatever she wanted.
She shook her head, desperately trying to clear her head, while trying not to jostle Luke and Leia. Her children. Something good that had come out of hers and Anakin's union.
She had to admit, she and her husband had had a good three and a half years together. What burned was that the marking of the fourth was cemented in fear and sadness.
Carefully putting her twins into the bassinettes by her hospital beds, Padmè gently rested her head on the pillow, tears falling down her face as she looked out the window and up at the sky.