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Chapter 9
Acacia sat in the ship beside Anakin as he flew down to Padme's house. She'd begged him to tell her what it was they were going to talk about the first 15 minutes of the ride, but he'd remained silent and resolute, insisting that Padme had to be there. When all of her needling had failed to gain her any information, she'd succumbed to reading his mind, even though she knew how much it would annoy him. But, he'd kept himself from thinking about... well whatever it was that was such a big deal. So she'd contented herself with sending her brother random suggestions for the meeting, hoping that one of them would rattle him enough to at least give her a hint.
Nothing worked.
They finally alighted on the small platform right outside her sister-in-law's apartment and climbed out. Padme must've been awaiting their arrival, for she arose from the couch, hurried over and kissed her husband on the lips, an embrace which he returned passionately.
Darn. So much for that one. One of her many ideas had been that her brother and his wife had finally decided to break up and go their separate ways. She'd almost been hoping for it. It would mean no secret, after all and that would make her life a whole lot less complicated.
But clearly, this was not this case.
When she grew tired of watching the couple chew on each other's faces, the Jedi padawan clapped her hands together and said, "So, what's the big secret? Obi-Wan's in session with the Council, but if we don't get back soon, he's gonna wonder where I am." As she spoke, she invited herself inside, sitting down cross-legged on the multicolored rug and pushing her long, dark bangs away from her eyes. Anakin and Padme sat down beside each other on the couch facing her.
"Well, Acacia," Her brother's wife began. "We have something to tell you."
"You're joking." She muttered dryly, examining her fingernails to accentuate her lack of interest.
But the older woman's follow-up statement did a brilliant job of regaining her attention."Well, I'm pregnant."
Acacia's whole body jerked, her head snapping up to stare at the two of them. "What? You're kidding, right? I mean, you've got to be kidding."
To her grave disappointment, Anakin shook his head. "C'mon, Caish. You know even I wouldn't joke about something this serious."
For several seconds following her brother's affirmation, Acacia could only stare at the two in front of her. How could they have possibly been so stupid? How could her brother have been such an idiot? Getting Padme freaking pregnant! For Force's sake, were they insane?!
An uncomfortable pause permeated the atmosphere as she processed the revolutionary information, meanwhile trying to keep Anakin out of her head so she could figure this all out.
"Acacia?" Padme called her name after 3 full minutes of absolute silence. "Nothing to say?"
The younger girl's violet eyes met her own, boiling with fury. "What's there to say? You've put everything out there haven't you?"
"Acacia." Anakin's voice was quiet, but warning. She heard, and completely refused to heed it.
"Don't Acacia me! I can't believe you two would do this. Are you crazy! I mean, do you even know what this means?"
The married duo exchanged a glance. "Um, yeah." Anakin nodded. "We're fully aware of all the possible ramifications."
"Are you really? I mean, do you fully realize what this is going to mean for us?"
"Well, yes. But Acacia," Padme touched her rather round middle that Acacia hadn't noticed until now and her and Anakin gave each other lovey-dovey looks. "It's our baby."
The new aunt stared at them for several seconds, something blocked-off, distant and cold in her eyes. "Fine then. I'm happy for you. Anakin, we've gotta go." She stood stiffly and walked to the door, her brother and sister-in-law's eyes on her the whole way.
"Acacia," he called. "We're not going anywhere until you tell us what you're thinking so we can talk about it. That is what this meeting is for, after all."
"Honestly?" She hadn't turned around, but her voice carried easily over her hunched shoulders.
They both nodded. "Honestly."
Acacia sighed, turning back to face them. "Honestly, I am kind of happy for you guys. Kids are great and everything, but what about happens next?"
"Next?"
She snorted. "Yeah, next. After the Council finds out, we're both kicked out of the Order, Padme's out of the Senate, and we get to go to Naboo with your baby," She stressed the last word in a sarcastic rendition of their loving use of the name, "And live out the rest of our lives far away from everything that we know and that we've worked so hard for. That I've worked so hard for."
Anakin raised an eyebrow, annoyance flaring up inside him at his sister's inclinations. "You think I haven't worked at all to get to where I am right now? That Padme hasn't?"
"It's your kid." She replied. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"The only thing wrong right now is your attitude, Acacia Denaiah. You know, you could try to think past yourself for once-"
"Past myself-!"
"Would you both just stop it!" Padme, the forever-diplomat, put up her hands to hold off the fighting siblings. "Acacia, I understand that this is... difficult for you to hear. But it might not end nearly as bad as you think."
"Oh yeah?"
She ignored her challenging tone, replying calmly, "Yes. We have some idea of a plan."
The Jedi padawan laughed without any humor. "Really? You two have a plan?"
"You sound incredibly surprised."
The annoyed note in her brother's voice should've stopped her, but it didn't, instead doing the opposite and encouraging the girl to continue. "Sith, yeah. You two are like the king and queen of No-Plan-Land. I mean, for Force's sake that's why you're married, because you couldn't come up with a better 'plan.' And the reason your kid is gonna ruin all of your lives, is because your wait-to-have-kids-till-after-the-clone-wars plan epically failed. And every other genius idea you've ever had, has pretty much always gone... completely awry. So tell me," She concluded with a sarcastic smirk to her brother's ticked-off expression, "What is your next brilliant plan that was destined from conception to go up in flames?"
Padme broke in with her own explanation to keep Anakin from replying with equal venom. "I'm going to go early and set up the baby's room. Just before he or she is born, Anakin will come for a while, and you, too, if you can get away."
Who says I'd even want to be there? She was however, careful to guard her thoughts from her probing older brother.
"I might have to quit the Senate." Padme allowed, continuing. "But if I do, I'll probably still move back here to Coruscant with the baby so that Anakin can come see us more often."
Acacia glanced from Anakin to Padme, an incredulous expression on her face. "And then for the rest of our lives, we keep this secret? You hide from the paparazzi and Anakin and I just go around the Temple pretending he doesn't have a wife and a family?"
"Admittedly the plan has some holes in detailing-"
"It sucks." Acacia interrupted her flatly. "Someday, sometime, someone is going to find out and then the whole thing is just going to blow up in our faces."
"If that happens, the Council may make an exception." Anakin, who was calmer now, pointed out. "Like they did for Master Mundi"
But his sister only rolled her eyes. "His species was dying. There is absolutely no shortage of the human race in the Galaxy.
"And besides that, how do you think Anakin's even going to be able to get away? What if the Clone Wars isn't over? There's no possible way he'd be able to make it to Naboo unless there was a battle there."
"We haven't quite figured that part out yet." Padme conceded, at the same time as her husband replied defiantly. "The Clone Wars might be over."
"Well, good luck." Acacia replied, rolling her eyes once again. She shrugged, turning back to the ship. "I've said my piece and now you know what I think. We need to go before Obi-Wan misses us."
The husband and wife exchanged a glance. This was far from how they'd expected things to go when they revealed the news to his sister. "I'll, uh, talk to her some more." Anakin promised, before kissing his wife. He then climbed into his speeder and flew off, brooding sister in tow.
"You know," he began, "you're not the only one who sees the danger in all of this. We know the risks too."
"I know you do." She replied. "But this is your fault."
"You're saying it like my child is a bad thing."
Her dark eyes faced her brother's and she didn't have to speak the words. It is.
Her brother's hands gripped harder on the steering controls. "Acacia-"
"Don't get me wrong, Anakin. In my own way, I guess I almost am happy for you. But the fact of the matter is, I'm not one of the parents. And I don't think that either of you are fully realizing what this is going to mean for us."
The Jedi Knight sighed, facing all of the possible consequences he had formerly chosen to ignore. "We could get thrown out of the Order, Padme off the Senate, publicly ridiculed, and literally have to go hide out somewhere for the rest of our lives. No exaggeration. Did I leave anything out?"
"Well, no." She admitted. "But you're saying it like everything's gonna turn out ok. Like it's all gonna be worth it in the end."
"I know that for me it will. I'm sorry if it... messes things up for you, Acacia. I truly, honestly am. But this is my child. What would you have me do?"
His little sister exhaled in a long rush. "Nothing but what you are, I guess." She relented finally, after a period of silence. "I just... I wish things weren't so complicated. I wish I could just be happy for you and talk about baby rooms and clothes and remaking the house, or whatever it is you do when someone's about to have a kid. But I can't, Anakin. I just can't."
Ignoring the other driver shaking his fist at him as the ship swerved, Anakin reached a hand over to the young girl beside him and ruffled her dark hair, hoping to assuage the fear he'd heard dripping in every single one of her words. "I know, Caish. And I'm sorry I got you involved in all of this. But it'll all turn out OK. I promise."
Acacia allowed a tentative smile to grace her lips. "One, as sweet as this is, please keep your eyes on the sky and your hands on the controls, Anakin Skywalker." He chuckled, glad to be on better terms with his sister as he complied to her request. "And 2, you've never broken a promise to me before, so I guess I'll trust you now."
Anakin grinned. "Good. So you're ok with our kid now?"
She sighed dramatically. "I suppose I shall try to resign myself to the idea."
He laughed again, relishing the sound of her giggle beside him. "And we're OK, too?"
"Yeah, I guess I'm done arguing.. And I should probably apologize to Padme later, too huh?"
"You're worries were understandable. But it certainly wouldn't hurt anything."
"My brother being patient with me?" She shook her head. "This father thing must've really changed you."
"Ha ha. Very funny."
There were a few moments of quiet, before Acacia's voice sounded quietly in the small space. "Ani?"
"Huh?"
"I'm still scared."
Anakin docked the ship on the Temple's landing port and turned to full-on face his sister. "Me, too, Caish. All the time. But I really do think that this will all turn out alright. K?"
She took a shuddering inhale, before letting it out in a deep sigh. "OK."
Just before they exited, he wrapped his arms around his baby sister, pulling her into his embrace. She laid her nose against the shoulder of his leather tunic, breathing in the reckless, sweet scent that was her brother, indulging in the rare moment of sibling bonding. She adored her big brother with everything in her; he was the only real family she had other then her brother Owen, both of her parents having died around the beginning of the Clone Wars. "I love you, Ani."
He pulled back to kiss her gentle curls. "Love you, too, Caisha." He gave her a small smirk as he sensed Obi-Wan approaching. "Ready to try out your acting skills?"
She barked a short laugh. "Ready as I'll ever be."
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