Hey guys. No I am not dead. It's been a busy summer and I haven't spent much time writing. So I do owe you an apology. I know I have some very faithful readers and a bunch of other heartfelt stuff because I don't want to further hinder you reading this long overdo chapter.
Anakin paced nervously from one end of the room to the other. He had never faced something like this before. Never had it crossed his mind that he would have to; not even when he was told that he would face this day did reality sink in until just now. She was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. He did not know how he knew- he just knew. "Anakin, you're cutting a trail into the carpet. Sit down." He whirled around and glared at Obi-Wan who- ever so calmly- was sitting on the couch, reading some novel.
"How can you be so calm?"
Obi-Wan sighed as he looked up and laid the book in his lap. "For one, it's not my wife who's having a baby. And-"
"Do you know how many women die in childbirth?"
Obi-Wan smirked at him. "No. why don't you tell me?"
Anakin stuttered. "Well... enough!"
"Anakin come here."
"No!"
"See, this is why they won't let you back there. You need to calm down."
Anakin bit his lower lip and shut his eyes. Taking a deep breath he slowly walked over to Obi-Wan and sat down beside him. "If I lose her-"
"You won't." Obi-Wan cut him off before he could dig himself into a pit of depressing thoughts. He knew that look in Obi-Wan's eyes. It was coming. Wait for it- "Anakin, you know what I think is really going on here?" The speech.
"I have a feeling you're going to tell me."
"You are about to become a father, and that's a big thing. A huge amount of responsibility is about to be place on your shoulders and you don't know what to do with it."
"No, I don't think that's it." He was worried about his wife. How hard could it be to raise children?
'I wasn't finished."
Anakin sighed. There was no use in correcting him. "I'm sorry. Continue."
"Now I may have never been a biological father to someone, but I do consider you to be like a son."
"Thanks."
"And knowing how much trouble you get into-"
"I do not!"
"- Let's just say I know what an overwhelming responsibility it is to raise someone."
"I'm an adult you know."
"Sometimes you feel like you can't do it and yet, every time you find yourself in a position where you might as well give up, you make it through. And do you know why?"
"Because you exaggerate and think you know everything?"
"No. You make it through because they depend on you." Anakin was sure that Obi-Wan had not heard a word he had said. "Physically, emotionally. You do the impossible because you have to."
Anakin shut his eyes and hoped for a miracle to rescue him from this. "Mr. Skywalker, your children would like to meet you." Yes! Freedom! Anakin jumped up and started off to follow the nurse. He stopped just before they turned the corner and looked back at Obi-Wan.
"Aren't you coming?"
Obi-Wan smiled. "Go be with your family, Anakin."
He smiled a little. "But you're part of my family." His chest hurt with the words. Emotional expression still did not come easily to him. Being a Jedi now did not help any either.
"I know. I'll be there in few minutes."
Anakin relented and followed the nurse. Relief hit him when he stepped into the room and saw his wife in the hospital bed alive, breathing, and feeding a baby. She looked awful, and yet she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. She smiled as Anakin sat down beside her and kissed the side of her head. "Oh, Anakin, look. Isn't he the most wonderful thing you ever saw?" He silently agreed and trembled involuntarily as he brushed his fingers against his son's tinny hand. "Would you like to hold you daughter?"
Anakin could not help but look at his smiling wife like she was crazy. "Uh, Angel, that's a boy."
She laughed. Why was she laughing? "Surprise."
Anakin looked up at the doctor who had come to stand beside him. He had another baby in his arms. There were two. Two. Two babies. There was more than one baby. Because there were two of them. "Are they both ours?" His wife laughed and the doctor placed the little girl in his arms.
She was so light, and yet the weight was so heavy. He brown eyes- her mother's eyes- looked into his and she smiled. Her hand grasped against his shirt. Anakin smiled when she stuck her little tongue out at him. She was so wonderful. He carefully bent his head down and kissed the soft skin on her forehead.
Two babies. What was he supposed to do with them? His heart missed a beat. These children were his. He and his sweet darling had created two wonder little lives. What were they thinking? What if something happened to them? They could get hurt. What if they crashed or burnt up in the atmosphere? What if his boy got into a fight? What if his daughter wanted to date some idiot? What if a heartless girl stole his son's heart?
Tears rolled down his face. The most precious things he had ever seen laid in the arms of his angel, and in his own. He was holding his baby. Never could he have imagined being able to create a child- to embrace his very own was like a dream. A glorious dream from which he never wished to awake. They were his life now. Maybe Obi-Wan knew what he was talking about after all. Amidst his fear grew determination."I will never let anything happen to you. Any of you." Anakin looked over at his wife and son. So long as he had them, nothing could hurt him anymore...
Vader's eyes slowly opened. He sat up in bed, pulled the covers off, and glanced out the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun was only just starting to rise in Coruscant's sky. Vader ran his fingers through his hair and slid out of bed. There was no point in going back to sleep now- though he doubted he would be able to do so.
He grabbed his clothes and headed for the shower. Of all the dreams he had ever had, this one was certainly the strangest. They were almost always prophetic, but this one made no sense. Obi-Wan was the enemy, and who what that lady? Besides, he could never kiss someone or hold a baby. As he turned on the water, Vader concluded that it must have been just a dream. And yet it had been so clear.
"Good morning, Master." Obi-Wan turned just enough glance at Qui-Gon out of the corner of his eye, and reminded himself to be nice.
"Good morning." Qui-Gon came and stood by his side. "Is that breakfast?"
Obi-Wan handed a plate to Qui-Gon and sat down at the table. "Don't get used it."
"Don't worry I won't." He sat down across from his former padawan and dug in. "Mhh- Obi-Wan, you're a terrible cook."
Obi-Wan took a bite and immediately spat it out into his napkin. "Agreed." He slid the plate away from him and leaned back. Normally he was not this bad at cooking, but he was distracted. With a glance at the ingredients he had left out on the counter, Obi-Wan realized that he must have used powdered sugar instead of flower in the pancakes. He had thought the batter was a little runny.
He had gotten little sleep last night. Obi-Wan's mind would not stop running; not even meditation had helped. It was all Vader's fault- really, it was. Something about that boy bothered him. Whether it was a feeling in the Force, or his mind playing tricks on him, he could not tell. He intently watched the dust play in the stream of sunlight that showered the living area, as if all the answers would come to him if he looked it long enough. Maybe this war was driving him insane. Obi-Wan glanced back at Qui-Gon and watched him unsuccessfully attempt to eat the breakfast before him. Perhaps it was driving both of them insane. "Master?"
"Hmm?" Qui-Gon took a drink of coffee. His face seemed to indicate that it was also terrible.
"Doesn't it bother you at all? About what happened yesterday?"
"Which part? The part where the Chancellor almost died, the part where I almost died, the part where we all almost died, the part where Count Dooku strangely died, the part where-"
"No. I mean, what is with that Vader kid?" Obi-Wan stood and tossed his breakfast, plate and all, into the trash. "Who behaves like that?"
"So, all this death and war- and you're worried about a kid with a few manner problems?"
Obi-Wan stood his ground. "There is something really odd about him."
"Maybe he doesn't get out much."
"But-"
"Look, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon threw his breakfast in the trash and handed the plate to Obi-Wan, "if it bothers you that much, do something about it."
"Oh, that would work great. 'Hi, Vader, you're rude. You should fix that.'"
"Invite him to do something. Get to know him a little better."
Obi-Wan shook his head and started to clean up his culinary mess. "For some reason, I just can't see him agreeing to that."
"Put your foot down. Don't take no for an answer." Qui-Gon grabbed his cloak that had been hanging of the chair and threw it over his shoulders.
"Where are you going?"
"Healers are doing an autopsy on Dooku. I'll see you later tonight." Obi-Wan watched the Jedi leave and shook his head in amazement. Vader was not the only one with problems around here.
Vader rushed through the halls of the Senate, strait for the chancellor's office. Sidious would not be pleased with his tardiness. And yet the officer had not seem pleased with the rapid rate he was flying to get here. There was no way to win.
Reflexively, he avoided running into several people. He decided that he might have been going too fast when he tripped over the train of someone's dress. "Oh! Are you all right?" Anakin rolled over onto his back and looked up at the Senator leaning over him with a mix of concern and amusement written on her face. His heart stopped. It was her- the lady in his dream. The light from the window behind her glowed around her, giving her an angelic appearance. The loose brown hairs that lay on her head were lit up like a crown of gold. His mind went blank on him. "Um, Sir?" She started to reach down.
"Oh, no! I'm fine!" He picked himself up and straightened out his robes. And hair. And resisted the urge to check his breath. "I'm fine. Sorry." People were staring at them, but he could not blame them. She was breathtaking.
"No, no. I should be the one apologizing. These dresses nowadays can be rather cumbersome." She smiled at him. Her teeth were so perfect and framed by the most beautiful mouth that he had ever seen. Wait, she was joking, right?
"Uh, I guess..."
Her laugh ringed in his ears, and there was such a lovely gleam in her soft eyes. Like a sea of chocolate. He did not really like chocolate, but it was absolutely beautiful anyway. "I'm Padmé." He nodded. It was fitting name for someone like her- he thought anyway. He did not know what it meant. Vader did not even know her. "And you are?"
"Oh!" Vader mentally chided himself. Of course he should have introduced himself to her. "I'm..." What was his name again? "I don't know. I mean-" What was happening to him? "I'm, uh-" She giggled. Was that good or bad? "I- I'm, uh- I'm... late." He rushed past her. Leaving her standing there was terribly rude, but he could not think. Vader stopped just outside the office doors and tried to gather his composure. He felt awful about running of like that, but why should he? She was only some senator. A beautiful, charming senator with a long, stupid train that got in his way. And yet, as far as he was concerned, she could trip him anytime she so desired. "Stop." He whispered to himself. Entering Sidious's presences with such incapacitating emotions was inconceivably unwise. Vader buried the fantasies that had subconsciously started running through his head and steeled his emotions. There was no room for love in his life. There never would be.
He lightly touched the panel on the wall and the doors slid open. Sidious did not acknowledge Vader as he entered. The Sith was staring out the enormous window with his hands folded behind his back. As soon as Vader was within a few feet, he fell to his knees and bowed his head to the floor. "Good morning, Master."
"You're late." Sidious did not turn around.
"I'm sorry, Master. I have no excuse." Actually, he had several very good excuses, but giving them would have made no difference.
Sidious turned. Vader could feel his gaze. "Look at me." He titled his head up and met Sidious's yellowed eyes. "I saved your life. You don't think you could afford to be on time?" Vader could not think of a response that would not make things worse, so he kept silent. "Unfortunately, I have a meeting with some senators in few minutes. I'll deal with your punishment later." Vader inwardly cringed. That was never good. "And stand up. You look ridiculous."
He rose to his feet and followed Sidious over to the desk. "What is it you wanted to see me about?"
"I have someone I need you to keep an eye on." Sidious rummaged through the files lying out on his desk, organizing them. "She may be of some use still so don't kill her, but she is not to be trusted."
"What would you like me to do?"
"Watch her. See if she starts doing anything out of the ordinary. Anything that might seem like a threat. I'm sure I'll have you dispose of her eventually, if I decide not to do it myself."
"Yes, Master."
"Senator Amidala. Her office number is 4729." Vader took it that he was dismissed and turned around to leave. "Vader." He stopped right at the door. "How was your sleep last night?"
"Uneventful." It would not have been the first time he had lied to Sidious.
"You can tell me about it later." Unfortunately, he did not always get away with it.
Obi-Wan grumbled inwardly. If he wanted to find an assassin, or an informant, or a separatist, he had jump through hoops and be shot at in order to do it. But if he starts looking for a kid- that he does not even like- who he only met once and knows nothing about, he finds him in the first place he looks. "Hey, Vader!" The young man stopped and looked up at the sound of his name. Obi-Wan quickened his pace and caught up to him. "How are you?"
Vader stared at him in bewilderment. "What are you doing?" No manners whatsoever.
"I just wanted to say hello."
"Uh huh."
Obi-Wan's well practiced conversation with Vader was ruined by the boy's lack of social skills. He might have been willing to deviate from it some had Vader decided to talk, but that suddenly seemed unlikely. He should have supposed it would happen though. "So, one of my friends in the Senate asked me to come to a little get-together they're having and I thought you might like to go with me."
Vader's expression was blank. "Why?"
"Well I thought you might enjoy it." Obi-Wan was lying through his teeth now.
"I don't think so." Vader smiled. "I don't socialize."
"Well, then it is about time you started." Not really. In Obi-Wan's opinion, the galaxy was not ready for Vader's "social skills." It was for the common good, he reminded himself.
"No thank you."
Obi-Wan took Qui-Gon's advice and put his foot down. "You're staying in the Chancellor's apartment at 500 Republica, correct?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Good. I'll come by and pick you up around six."
"But-"
"Well, it was nice to see you again." Obi-Wan started to rush off before Vader could get a word in. "Oh, and a bit of advice-" he called back, "don't wear so much black." Obi-Wan stopped and leaned up against the wall as soon as he was out of sight. At least he had succeeded in inviting him. As for actually getting Vader anywhere- it would take a miracle. "What am I doing?"
