A/N. Nope, Star Wars ain't mine.

o0o

Anakin's feverish yellow eyes, the radiating heat of the lava, and Obi Wan's shout turned into a swirl of loud, colorful confusion before everything went black. She could still feel the flutter of two small heartbeats inside her, could almost hear two tiny, soundless voices sob her name: Mommy!

But she couldn't answer. The invisible fingers that gripped her throat had ripped away her consciousness.

Mommy, Mommy, help us!

Padme Amidala Skywalker bolted upright in bed, panting and running her fingers through her sweat-soaked hair. Her heart beat to a rapid rhythm, which pounded even harder as she saw the face of the man lying beside her. She could almost still feel his fingers around her throat, see his eyes staring at her through an impenetrable haze of anger. It wasn't the only Force vision she had experienced recently, and the ones she had seen had been prone to fluctuation; In some, she had seen Anakin killing her after the twins' birth and taking them to train in the Dark Side. In others, like the one she had just experienced, her unborn children died with her. No hesitation existed in Padme's heart, however, that one of the premonitions would come true because they all shared a common factor: Anakin betrayed her for the Dark Side. There was a quiver in her stomach that wasn't entirely the result of the tension created by the dream, and she reached down to rub it.

Mommy.

My little ones. I won't let that happen to you. I won't!

"Padme?" Anakin's voice, soft with sleep, interrupted her thoughts. "Are you okay, angel?"

Padme forced an almost even breath from her chest. "Yes, Ani," she said roughly, the memory of the yellow eyes haunting her. "It's nothing."

o0o

The lingering sense of apprehension from her vision was still affecting her the next morning. Padme rolled her shoulders, trying to dissipate the tension in her mind and muscles as she reached out to the Force. Finding she was barely able to touch it, she gritted her teeth. It would be so much easier to abandon her attempts to achieve an inward peace and simply channel her frustration into the task, but that was not the Jedi way.

"Focus, Padme. Clear your mind, and allow the Force to move through you," Obi Wan's voice encouraged, sounding vague and distant through the fog of her concentration.

She took a deep breath, slowly examining each of her thoughts and releasing them one by one into the Force. Some of them took several attempts before she was able to empty them from her mind into the absorbing sponge of the Force. She took a deep breath and tried again; Across the room, the sofa wobbled and rose. Padme held it up for almost a full minute before lowering it back down.

"Very good!" Obi-Wan said. "You are progressing very quickly. Are you sure we shouldn't speak to the Council about your training? It doesn't feel right for me to train you without their knowledge."

"No, Obi-Wan, please don't tell them," Padme begged. "They thought Anakin was too old at nine; They couldn't possibly approve of me starting training at my age. What would we do if they forbid it?"

Obi-Wan hesitated, running his fingers through his hair. "I see your point, but I just don't know, Padme."

Feeling as if she were striking below the belt, she asked softly, "What would Qui-Gon say?"

A fond, melancholy smile crossed Obi Wan's face. "To follow the lead of the living Force." The Jedi snorted and added, "And to do what needs to be done, no matter what the Council thinks."

"Well, then, what does the Force tell you? What needs to be done?"

Obi-Wan paused and thought, then shook his head. "It feels as confused as I do, Padme. The Dark Side is clouding our vision of the Light: Even Master Yoda has struggled to discern what should be done."

"That's why we need to do something!" Padme exclaimed. "We can't let our fear of the Dark Side immobilize us. We have to prepare, so we can fight it when the time comes." She sighed and rubbed her stomach, the intensity in her eyes fading to weariness. "I don't want my children to grow up in the galaxy I have been seeing in my visions, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan reached over to touch her shoulder. The brush of his fingers was hesitant, but it grew into a gentle, soothing rub. He sighed. "I don't either. I want to prevent Anakin's fall just as much as you do. He is as close to me as a brother, and you're like a sister to me, Padme."

"So, you'll beat up anyone who tries to hurt me?" Padme asked with a grin.

"I think you could do that well enough yourself," Obi-Wan replied. "I just wish I could give you better training than an occasional session of meditation or levitation. You could do so much more with the proper time, resources, and teaching."

Padme allowed her lips to tug themselves upwards in a small smile. "Being a Jedi isn't my calling, anyway." But being a mother is. That was why she practiced using the Force every day when no one was around and the blinds were closed; When the day the events in her Force visions came true, she wasn't about to allow Anakin to harm her beautiful children. He hadn't even sensed there were two babies growing inside of her instead of one; She had, and a small whisper inside of her, whether it was a nudge from the Force or simply a mother's instinct, advised her not to tell him.

And speaking of Anakin-

"He's coming!" Obi-Wan said, jumping up as he felt his former padawan's Force signature. "Anakin's almost here."

"You have to go, Obi-Wan," Padme said, hastily reorganizing her living room. Force-lifting the furniture had turned it into a disaster zone. She grabbed a cushion that had fallen on the floor with the Force and tossed it onto the sofa. Feeling Obi Wan's eyes on her, she said, "I'm guessing this is a frivolous use of the Force."

Obi-Wan nodded, grabbed his things, and headed for the door. "Nonetheless, you did well today, Padme. I'm surprised at how quickly you've mastered these exercises. You are strong in the Force." He turned around slowly and hesitated. "Padme, if there is any possibility that Anakin could have such a future, we need to warn the Council."

"Please, Obi-Wan, keep my secret a little longer. I'll figure something out. If Anakin knows I'm Force sensitive…" her voice trailed off, and she shook her head. "He'll only work to become stronger, and I'll never be able to stop him."

The Jedi was silent for a moment. "You don't have to carry the whole galaxy on your shoulders," he said softly. "Please, allow us to help."

"I'm allowing you to," Padme said. "I trust you, Obi-Wan."

"But not the rest of the Jedi?"

"If the Chosen One isn't immune to the Dark Side," she said with a sigh, "who is?"

o0o

A/N So, just so you know what to expect from this fic, I'm not planning to write every day and hour of Padme's life during the time of RotS, just the moments that I think would be the most important if she were Force sensitive and the way events would then differ from what we see in Episode 3. Thanks for reading, and a special shoutout to those who followed or favorited!