"Father and Son"
By EsmeAmelia
AN: Thank you for reviewing! Sorry this chapter took a little while to get up.
Chapter 6
"Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY!!"
Anakin slowly opened his eyes to see the sole of Han's foot just inches in front of his face, which was the only thing his bleary eyes could make out in the darkness of early dawn. A slight turn of the head revealed that the boy was on his knees, trying to shake Padme awake.
"Mommy!" Han shouted, his voice increasing in desperation.
"Uuugghh..." Padme groaned, her eyes still closed. "Han...Mommy's pregnant...Mommy needs sleep."
Han pushed her shoulder again, unwavered by his mother's request. "Mommy, are you okay?"
Padme's right eye opened. "Han, I'm fine...I'm just tired."
"You pwomise?" said Han.
Padme's other eye opened as she grunted and pushed her head off the pillow. "Han, listen to me." She reached up and squeezed his arm. "Daddy had a very bad dream, but that's all it was. I'm not going to die when the baby comes. You understand?"
Han gave a sharp nod.
"Yes," said Padme. "Now Han, it's really early in the morning, and both your father and I have a very busy day ahead of us. You don't want us to be tired and grouchy when we work, do you?"
Han shook his head with the same sharpness.
"Right," the mother continued. "We should all get a little more sleep before it's time to get up. Okay?"
"Okay," Han sighed, shifting the mattress as he settled back under the covers.
Anakin quickly shut his eyes, pretending that he had been asleep the whole time, though his stomach was churning yet again. He felt a stab of envy for his wife and son. They could live in the illusion that it was indeed only a dream. They could abandon it to be nothing except the subconscious mind playing with his fears.
Of course, there might be a possibility that they were right, but Anakin grasped that in the same way that he would grasp the possibility that humans could fly without any assistance. It was only the vaguest idea to him, lacking any real plausibility. The Force had given him another glimpse of the future - of that he was certain.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"The chair now recognizes Senator Amidala, representative of the sovereign system of Naboo."
Chancellor Palpatine's deep voice echoing around the meeting room reminded Padme of a king demanding attention, who always wanted to remind his subjects that he outranked them. Why was she even bothering with this proposal? She had made several similar motions before, all of which were rejected without discussion. However, now that Count Dooku was dead, perhaps the senate would be more open about ending the war.
"Fellow members of the Galactic Senate," she began as her box hovered toward the center of the room, "this is a difficult time for us, I am perfectly aware of that. For five long years, we have been struggling in our battle against the Separatists. Many of us wonder if it will ever end. However, we are not powerless in answering this question for ourselves."
A loud murmur surrounded Padme's ears, sounding full of disapproval. She tried not to let it flow into her head. "As some of you know," she continued, "I have a young son named Han. He was a baby when I adopted him, which was soon after the war began. Now he is a rapidly-growing five-year-old. Every day he serves as a reminder of how long we have been fighting."
"Indeed," said Palpatine, cold humor in his voice. "I believe we are all aware that the war has lasted five years, Senator."
Padme ignored his statement. "When I look at my little boy, I often wonder if the war will still be going on when he is old enough to fight in it. And furthermore, what state will the galaxy be in when he reaches that age? What sort of world are we leaving for our children?"
"A safer one, Senator," a voice said.
"Are we sure of that?" Padme snapped, whipping her head in the general direction the voice seemed to be coming from. "With every victory against the Separatists, we could be creating more enemies bent on revenge against our future generations." Before anyone had time to respond to that, she increased her volume. "Fellow senators, yesterday the Jedi killed the dangerous Separatist leader Count Dooku. They have now made it their top priority to locate General Grievous - and I believe they will find him any day now.
"It is clear that the war will end soon. In fact, the Jedi may very well end the war for us. Yet we must also remember what we are fighting for." She pointed her glare at the chancellor. "We are fighting to maintain security, yes, but we are also fighting to preserve the principles of democracy and equality on which this Republic was built. Now that the war is nearing its end, it is high time to return to those principles." Her eyebrows lowered. "I propose that the chancellor lay down his emergency powers and allow democracy to resume."
Even from this distance, Padme was sure she saw the chancellor smirk. "Quite a bold proposal, Senator," he said. "Certainly understandable, but at the same time unrealistic. Your statement that the war will be over soon is based on nothing more than your misguided faith in the Jedi." His voice grew so loud that Padme thought he wouldn't need amplifiers to be heard around the room. "General Grievous is on the loose, commanding the droid army to kill all they can, and nobody can say where he is. The Jedi may be looking for him, but they are stretched thin all over the galaxy. It could take months or even years before they even have the slightest idea on where Grievous is." His voice suddenly relaxed, speaking like a father explaining something difficult to his child. "You all know that I care deeply for the ways of the Republic, which is exactly why I have these emergency powers in the first place."
"Hear hear!" a voice called, after which several more voices echoed those words. As the enthusiasm for stronger emergency powers rose, Padme's box floated back to its place, the senator in it defeated once again.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Padme returned home to shouts of glee that completely contrasted with her mood. Once she stepped into the living room she saw Anakin and Han sitting on the floor, Han in his father's lap, neither of whom seemed to notice her. Han was waving the toy Corellian freighter he had gotten for his birthday in the air.
"Brrrrrrrrrruuuuuummmmm," Han sputtered.
"All right, you ready for the jump to light speed?" said Anakin.
"Yup!" Han shouted.
"Okay!" said Anakin. "One...two...three..."
"LIGHT SPEED!" they both screamed together, leaning back as far as they could go without tumbling over.
Padme found herself smiling in spite of what had happened at the meeting.
"Uh-oh!" shouted Han. "Dere's a Sepwatist ship!"
Anakin began leaning forward. "Oh no, they're pulling us into their tractor beam!" He began shaking, causing his son to giggle loudly.
"What we gonna do?" Han said with pretend fear.
"We're gonna have to fight the battle driods!" said Anakin.
Han began pointing his pudgy fingers like blasters. "Go away, battle dwoids!"
Padme started laughing at her son's antics, finally causing her family to take notice of her.
"Mommy!" Han exclaimed, still waving the toy ship above him.
"Hey honey," Anakin said with a large grin. "We were just playing."
"I can see that," said Padme, stepping up to her husband and son until she was towering over them.
Han flew to his feet and wrapped his arms around his mother's legs. "Mommy, I was a piwot!"
"I know," Padme said in a high voice, ruffling her son's tangled hair. "It looked like you were a very brave pilot."
"Yeah!" said Han. "Daddy's my co-piwot!"
Anakin pushed himself off the floor so he could grab his wife's face and kiss her lips. "So how was your meeting?"
Padme sighed, the cynicism she felt during the meeting returning. "The senate voted more emergency power to the chancellor."
Anakin squeezed her shoulder. "That's great!"
"Great??" Padme shouted.
Anakin's eyes widened at his wife's sudden fierceness. "Well...doesn't it mean that the war will end quicker?"
Padme wanted to scream in frustration. Did no one understand this? "Ani, it might mean the war will end quicker, but it also means that the chancellor almost has absolute power over the senate." She pushed a lock of her husband's hair behind his ear. "The principles of democracy are falling before our eyes and no one seems willing to do anything about it."
Anakin ran his gloved hand through her hair. "Padme, the chancellor knows what he's doing. Once the war ends he'll lay down his emergency powers and democracy will return, you'll see."
Padme sighed again, glancing down at Han's smiling face. "I hope you're right, Ani."