Author's Note: The final chapter to this fanfic. I'm sorry about the delay in getting it up, but this was a particularly difficult chapter to write and I just couldn't quite get it to sound the way that I wanted it to. Beginnings are always the toughest to write, but I find that how to end a story is so complicated too – how to say good-bye and close a story?
Anyway, enough of my rambling. Hope you all enjoyed this fanfic, and thank you so much for reading and especially for your reviews! All of your comments were much appreciated, and have been much of what has motivated me to finish this fanfic. I plan to write at least 1 sequel to this fanfic, titled "Star Wars: The Sith Lord", which will be set mainly during Luke's time as a padawan under the training of Anakin, and when he makes friends with a mysterious new senator, one which seems to know many ways in the dark side of the force… Don't want to give off too many spoilers, but that is what the basic concept will be about to give you an idea of what's coming. I have another fanfic that I've committed myself to at the moment, so it will be awhile before I venture into writing the sequel. But rest assured, it will come… eventually.
Thank you all so much~
Chapter Nine:
"Thank you, Chancellor Plimishki. We have a little unfinished business to attend to while we're still here on Naboo, then we'll make our way back to Coruscant." Obi-Wan said to the newly elected Chancellor.
It had been three months since the encounter with Palpatine and the Republic was finally being put back in order. A new chancellor had been elected by the senate, and new regulations were placed on his access to power and how long he could remain in office. Although these things could end up being tampered with and altered by senators, they decided to worry about that in the future – And anyway, it was less likely that this new chancellor happened to be a Sith lord.
Obi-Wan, Anakin, the chancellor and a new Jedi named Kieran had come to Naboo on republic affairs. Some things had been needed to be fulfilled with the Queen. After a week of a rendezvous, they were on their way back to Coruscant. Although Obi-Wan had sent Chancellor Plimishki and Kieran home, he had one last thing to discuss with Anakin before they departed.
"No, thank you Master Kenobi. You have been very helpful with all of your negotiations." Chancellor Plimishki frowned. "Will your business here take long? I would be more than happy to wait for you so that way you may ride on my ship."
"It's alright, Chancellor. Go on ahead. I'm not sure how long this might take, and I'd hate to keep you waiting." Obi-Wan reassured him.
Chancellor Plimishki then turned to Anakin.
"Are you coming, Master Skywalker?"
Anakin shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. But thank you, it's been a pleasure working with you, your Excellency." Anakin then turned to the young jedi. "Kieran, go on ahead with him. We'll catch a flight later."
"Yes, master." Kieran said with a nod.
"Very well, then. We'd best be off. Take care." The chancellor said, then he and Kieran got aboard the spaceship.
Silence reigned among the two Jedi Masters a moment as the engine of the ship started up. Then Anakin spoke.
"There was something you wanted to tell me, master?"
Obi-Wan was quiet a moment as he smiled and waved to the chancellor, he then focused his attention on Anakin, as though he only just remembered he was there.
"Oh, yes there was something I wanted to mention. I've been trying to all morning but I couldn't break away from them to get to you."
Anakin waited patiently as Obi-Wan took his time gathering his things, then asked a clerk for tickets for an afternoon flight to Coruscant that day.
"With the new republic being formed, I have no idea when we'll get the chance to come back to Naboo." Obi-Wan said at last.
"I know." Anakin agreed, considering his former master.
"Well, I assumed you probably wanted to see Padme… And the twins. Considering I doubt she'll be returning to Coruscant anytime soon as she is no longer a senator, not to mention this is her home planet and she has her hands very full."
Anakin looked over at Obi-Wan with mild surprise.
"I thought there wouldn't be any time." Anakin replied quietly.
"Right, yes and there wasn't. That's why I held us back and rescheduled a new flight." Obi-Wan said.
Anakin frowned.
"But isn't that against our mandate? Don't we need to return immediately?"
Obi-Wan looked as though he were growing impatient, as he sighed and walked away. Anakin took on the notion to follow if he were to continue this conversation with him.
"Anakin, I'm almost getting the impression you don't want to see her." Obi-Wan said sardonically.
"No, master. I do." Anakin said quickly. "It's just that I've never seen you go against a direct order before."
Obi-Wan slowed down his pace as his forehead creased into a frown.
"Some orders are stronger than others." Obi-Wan said slowly. "Considering the circumstances, I think we can bend this one barely. I already have an excuse to give Master Yoda of our absence."
Anakin got the picture. Obi-Wan would rather not discuss his newest venture into breaking a mandate. He nodded.
"Really, Obi-Wan, I'm very grateful, thank you."
"Okay, but you don't have long now." Obi-Wan said, shaking a finger at him as though he were a young boy being set loose in a town square. "I'm going into town to shop for a few things, parts to a pod mainly, then we'll meet back here at the spaceport by 2:30. That should give us plenty of time to get settled and be on our flight that's taking off at 3:15 –"
"Master," Anakin interrupted. "why don't you come with me?"
"What?"
"Come with me," Anakin repeated. "I know you'd like to meet them. Besides, what are you really going to do in town for two hours? I know you hate shopping and crowds, so it's not exactly like you're going to have the time of your life out there."
Obi-Wan remained silent a moment as he looked down.
"No, I'll just get in the way. Go on ahead, you deserve to meet your children, as God knows when your next opportunity will arise."
"Obi-Wan, I want you to meet them." Anakin insisted. "You'll be fine. You can't get in the way any more than her bodyguards can."
Obi-Wan considered his offer for a moment, then smiled.
"Okay, then lets hurry. We mustn't take long."
The two Jedi didn't travel a long distance before arriving in the lake country of Naboo. They boarded a small canoe to get to the island which held Padme's grand mansion. Upon their arrival a bodyguard greeted them.
"Hello, we're here to see Padme. We're old friends and would like to greet her new young ones." Obi-Wan said with a smile.
The bodyguard nodded and stepped aside.
"Of course, Master Jedi. Senator Amidala should be just inside. I'll escort you."
"Thank you."
The two followed the bodyguard up the steps into the house, which hadn't changed a bit since Anakin had last seen it.
Anakin was both nervous and excited, which in result gave him a very odd sensation of nerves. Him, a father. Although he had all this time to think about it, the thought still hadn't adjusted to him yet. He wasn't quite sure how to react. But after seeing Padme's warm smile as they entered the room melted all of his fears as she moved forward to greet them.
"Oh, Master Obi-Wan!" She exclaimed cheerfully as they exchanged the traditional greeting of old friends. "It's so good to see you!"
"Good to see you too, Padme." Obi-Wan said, meeting her eye and smiling.
Padme broke away from him and moved on to Anakin, and while he expected the traditional greeting and was about to return it, Padme threw her arms around him in a full embrace, which he returned awkwardly.
"Ani," Padme whispered into his shoulder. "I'm so relieved to see that you're alright."
"You too," Anakin said softly, burying his face into her dark curls. She slowly pulled away and turned to her bodyguard.
"Thank you, Captain Dalton. If you'll excuse us now." She said with a nod. "Of course, milady." The captain said, bowing his head casually. He then made his way out of the room.
Padme continued to offer them warm smiles.
"It's so good to see you both. But what are you doing here on Naboo?" She asked them.
"The new chancellor had some things to discuss with Queen Jamillia, and we came just as an extra precaution." Anakin explained.
"Although, I don't think we were very needed, all seemed to go along smoothly without us." Obi-Wan added.
Padme stepped back and gestured towards the living room.
"Please, come in. Make yourselves at home. I'll ask Shila to prepare tea for us, and perhaps we can all have lunch in an hour or so. Do you have time for that? Do you have long?" Padme offered.
"The two Jedi entered the living area. Obi-Wan took a glance towards a baby swing near the fireplace, then turned toward Padme.
"Unfortunately, we can't stay long. We have a flight to catch back to Coruscant at 3:15 –" Obi-Wan began.
"So, we should have plenty of time if we leave here around 2:45 or so." Anakin cut him off.
Obi-Wan turned a sharp gaze towards the young Jedi Master.
"Anakin, our flight is leaving at 3:15, that's not the time that we need to be there by. We should be there by 2:30 so we have time to –"
"But Obi-Wan, that's overkill. We don't need forty-five minutes just to seat ourselves, and the spaceport is not far from here, you said it yourself –" Anakin argued.
"Don't be ridiculous. If we left as you said there never would be enough time to get on the flight before it leaves. We'll be leaving here by 2." Obi-Wan said very matter-of-factly.
Padme nodded. "I understand. We'll skip the tea and lunch then, and we'll just visit for as long as we can." She said.
Anakin wasn't happy about Obi-Wan's ridiculous time allowance, but he said all he could – Obi-Wan's decision was final, there was no point in further arguing it with him.
As they moved their way towards the couch, Obi-Wan noticed a baby lying silently on a blanket on the floor, watching a mobile hanging above its head.
Obi-Wan silently pointed at it, catching Anakin's attention to look over too. His expression was unreadable, but inside he was beaming – he had never been happier. Padme glanced over too.
"Oh, silly me. I'm being too selfish by keeping all of your attention to myself. There's someone I'd like you to meet."
Padme went forward and picked up the tiny infant off the ground. The two Jedi watched with great enthusiasm.
"This is Luke." Padme told them. "My tiny boy. He's smaller than his sister. Here, hold him a minute while I go get her."
To Obi-Wan's surprise, Padme was addressing him and moved forward to lay the baby in his arms. Obi-Wan hesitated at first, he had never really held a baby before, and was certain he wouldn't do a good job of it. For all he knew the baby would hate him and probably cry. Padme noticed Obi-Wan's hesitancy and laughed softly.
"It's okay, he likes pretty much everyone. Here, take him."
Slowly and gently, Padme slid the baby boy into Obi-Wan's arms. Obi-Wan had adjusted quickly, and even braved stroking Luke's cheek with his finger. Anakin smiled at the sight of them. It was truly precious to see the inexperienced Jedi Master holding his son with such care and precision.
As he studied them more carefully, Padme returned from a crib in the corner of the room, with a baby all dressed in pink in her arms.
"And this is Leia." Padme introduced, then she went alongside Anakin so he could get a better view of her.
"She's beautiful." Anakin said, with a grin from ear to ear.
Obi-Wan half-glanced up and smiled as Padme transferred Leia into Anakin's arms. Anakin seemed to take Leia with much more ease that Obi-Wan had. But then again, Anakin hadn't grown up in quite the same environment as Obi-Wan had, perhaps that was why.
"They both are precious, Padme." Obi-Wan said at last, breaking up the prolonged silence. "And Anakin, this boy looks just like you."
"Really?" Anakin asked, glancing over. "I was under the impression that he looked just like his mother."
"No, he definitely looks just like you." Padme stopped suddenly, her expression growing a bit more serious. "But Anakin, do the Jedi know…?"
Anakin painfully met Padme's eye.
"Other than Obi-Wan, no. The Jedi are oblivious to the fact that we're married."
"So, they can't know you're the twins' father." Padme said, her voice showing much disappointment.
"Not really, no. I definitely wouldn't recommend it right now." Obi-Wan agreed. "Anakin's already done enough to shake up the order. Something like this might ruin it for him."
Padme frowned. "But what will we do? Oh Ani… What will we tell the twins?"
"What?" Anakin couldn't fully understand what Padme was getting at.
"The twins." Padme repeated. "How can we tell them that you're their father without everyone else finding out?"
Anakin stiffened. He hadn't really thought of that. Or perhaps he had, only he preferred to shove that thought away and not think about it. Anakin had a way of shoving things aside for later that at that specific moment didn't concern him – then they'd turn around to bite him later in the future.
"I don't know. Let's not worry about that right now. Right now they're little and they don't know anything." Anakin offered her a reassuring smile. "Let's just enjoy our time together as much as we can. We'll figure something out when the time comes."
"That time will come faster than you think, Ani." Padme said, clearly unconvinced. "They'll need answers. How will they know who you are –"
"We'll figure it out." Anakin said firmly, trying to suppress Padme's questioning farther.
Padme looked troubled, yet she nodded and turned her attention back to the twins. Obi-Wan and Anakin had switched off so that they could better observe the other twin.
As Padme watched Obi-Wan with Leia, a thought suddenly struck her.
"Obi-Wan, I'd like to make you the twins' Godfather." She said.
Obi-Wan looked up in surprise.
"You'd want to make me be their Godfather?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Anakin agreed, grinning at Obi-Wan. "I couldn't think of anyone I'd want more as their Godfather than you. I trust that if anything happened to us, you would take good care of them."
"I – But I – I might not be very reliable – I am a Jedi, first and foremost. But, well… I would be honored to be their Godfather."
Obi-Wan looked down upon the twins. Even though Obi-Wan knew he would never be a father, this was close enough. There would still be children he could love, take care of and help raise – even though they were not his own. They were Anakin's; and that made them special in Obi-Wan's heart.
After some time of passing the twins around and discussing them and a few things about the new republic, Obi-Wan glanced up and nearly jumped had he not been holding one of the twins. It was a quarter 'till three, long after the time that they should've left. He glanced over at Anakin, and gauging by the look on his face, he guessed that he probably had known what time it was all along. Obi-Wan rose.
"I'm sorry, Anakin. Padme. But we really must be going. Already we'll be hard pressed to get on our flight in time."
"Don't worry, we'll make it." Anakin said confidently, a bit too confident for Obi-Wan's liking.
Anakin gently lay Luke down in Obi-Wan's free arm as he turned to embrace Padme one last time.
"I'm so glad you came." Padme said softly.
"Me too," Anakin said, his eyes slowly beginning to water. "I'll come back again soon. I promise."
As Obi-Wan and Anakin walked away from the shore to the spaceport, they left with a new motivation in their careers and in their lives. They had a new obligation in their hearts. A new commitment that they would have to live up to and a whole new world to start living in: A new beginning.