Chapter 10

Couresant

It had nearly been two years since Anakin had returned to her and his meeting with the Jedi Council is just days away. Padme knew that she may be losing her husband again soon; and, even though they'd hoped it would happen, she never became pregnant again. It saddened her deeply…She was hoping that perhaps a child would keep her going after losing Anakin. She loves Leia and Luke very much…but they're grown and have their own lives to lead. She wanted to have child…Anakin's child…to take care of, a child who she could bring up herself. That was something that she wasn't able to do with Luke and Leia.

Anakin was currently away on Honoghr with Luke, checking on the progress of the regeneration of the Noghri's home world. The Senate had approved aid for the planet and he had personally visited their leaders to deliver the news. So when it got close to the time when he had to face the Council, he decided to make one last visit to the Honoghr to see the progress for himself. He was expected back in a few days and promised her that he would be back in time to spend his last day with her.

Padme thought back over the past 2 years…all that had happened….all the people Anakin helped. She smiled to herself…how proud she was of him…of his accomplishments. Luke and Anakin had managed to get the Jedi Order going again. They took on a few young padawans and also some older ones. Currently, they're up to 10 Jedi. That's more than they could have hoped for in such a short time.

Eventually, the fact that Anakin had been Vader did leak out…Someone let it slip that Vader was the one that helped them and the news spread like wildfire. When Anakin was questioned about it, he decided to make a public holovid apology to the galaxy. But surprisingly, by the time this happened, Anakin had proven himself a true and honorable servant of the New Republic and a great hero. A majority of the people cheered him, instead of turning away from him. In fact, with the encouragement of the people, the courts declared Darth Vader legally dead, so no charges could be filed against Anakin by the few people who were appalled by the news.

An injection had never had to be filed against the Vader estate, because Betsy Starling, upon learning of the news about Vader, graciously turned over the Jedi records. She had accidentally stumbled upon them when exploring her newly acquired estate. After the leak, she had then understood why Anakin and Luke had been able to get into her home. In light of the court ruling, Anakin had also assured her that he would not be coming to take the estate back from her, of which she was also grateful.

A few months ago, Padme had ran for the Senate seat for Naboo and won, so now she spent her days actually representing a planet instead of just being an advisor, which gave her some sense of purpose again.

The next couple of days crawled by, but the day finally came when Anakin returned from Honoghr. The whole family was there to greet them. Padme and Anakin ran into each others arms, kissing each other, and then headed back to their apartment. The rest of the family went off to have dinner at the Solo's residence. They wanted to give their parents time alone on possibly their last day together. For tomorrow they would be seeing Anakin off on possibly his final journey in his mortal life. He was going back to Degobah to stand in front of the Jedi Council.

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When Padme and Anakin reached their apartment they had a quiet dinner, trying not to talk about Anakin's fate. They just laughed while they talked about all their wonderful memories they shared together. They spent one last magical night together, one that neither of them would ever forget.

Although, Padme was trying to put on a happy face for him, Anakin knew she was hurting inside. He heard her crying in the early morning hours, just before sunrise. How he wished they could have had another child. He or she could have given her so much comfort when he left. But perhaps it's not meant to be. She does have Luke and Leia.

The next morning, Padme and Anakin sat in silence as they ate breakfast. Neither one of them knew what to say. Finally Anakin spoke up…they had to talk about it sometime.

"Padme, it is possible that the Council will allow me to live out the rest of my life. You have to keep hope in that."

Padme couldn't look at him. She started to cry. Anakin seeing this rushed over to comfort her. He led her into the living room and they sat on the couch together. Anakin held her tight, while she continued to cry.

"I can't bear to lose you again, Ani."

"I don't want to lose you either. I'll do my best of convince the Council. I swear I will."

"I know you will."

The doorbell rang and Anakin got up to answer it. It was both their children and Han to say goodbye. They all went down to the hanger together. Anakin hugged and kissed Luke and Leia, shaked Han's hand and then turned to Padme who was still crying. They embraced and had one last kiss before Anakin turned and went to the X-Wing. He got in and put his helmet on. R2 got the ship ready and then he was gone.

They all went back with Padme to her apartment to try to comfort her…and each other. It was the saddest day in their lives.

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As Anakin headed for Dagobah, he tried to think about what he has going to say the Council. He knew if they had already made up their minds, there wasn't anything he could possibly say that would persuade them otherwise. But he had to try. When he finally arrived on Degobah, he thought he had some kind of idea what to say. He landed the X-Wing in the swamp, near the cave. He figured that's where he restarted his life, then that was probably where he'd end it.

R2 beeped at Anakin in a sad tone. He wanted to go with him.

"No R2, stay here. You know the plan, if I don't return within 2 days, you must take the X-Wing back to Couresant."

R2 beeped a reluctant affirmative. Anakin sighed. Even R2 didn't think this was fair.

"Anakin, are you ready?" It was Qui-Gon.

"I am."

"Obi-Wan and I have been talking with the Council. They have seen all the good you've done in the galaxy and they are willing to listen to your arguments."

"That means your chances have greatly improved, Anakin." Obi-Wan added.

The next thing Anakin knew he was standing in what looked like the Council Chambers on Couresant. Master Yoda, Master Windu and the rest of the Council were all there. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon took their seats off to side, leaving Anakin standing in the middle of the circle to stand judgment.

"Master Yoda, may I speak?"

"Speak, young Skywalker, you may."

"I know many of you believe that I shouldn't be able to live beyond the 2 years you have granted me. And I want to tell you, personally, how gratefully I am to all of you for allowing me those 2 years to spend with my family and to put right some of the many wrongs I caused as Vader. And I humbly ask for your forgiveness for my actions that led to the destruction of the Jedi Order."

"As you know, I have been working with Luke to restore the Order. We already have 10 Jedi and padawans. I've enjoyed teaching them and helping Luke grow stronger in the Force. If you let me live out the course of a normal life, I know we could get the Jedi Order back to its former glory. I was hoping I might see that and be more of a part of that before I die."

"Then there is my family to consider. My wife, Padme, is grieving for her husband again. I know that none of you approve of me having a wife and a family…but I love her and my children so much. How could that be wrong?"

"Anakin…We do not disapprove of your marriage." Master Windu said.

"What?" Anakin looked at him with shock.

"Right you are. Wrong it isn't to want to love someone." Yoda added.

"But…but the code."

"The Council has taken under consideration the fact that your son, Luke, was very instrumental in re-establishing the Jedi Order. If you had never married, there may have never been any Jedi left in the galaxy. And who's to say, even if you hadn't intervened, if I could have stopped Palpatine; and you could have been killed like the rest of us." Master Windu explained.

Even Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon seemed a little baffled by this response.

"So what exactly are you say?" Anakin asked.

'The Council agrees with you, it does. Rejoin your family, you must."

"Ok…What's the catch?"

"There's no catch, Anakin. We have seen the good you've done in the 2 years we gave you. You have been completely unselfish, level-headed, and thought only of others. These are qualities of a true Jedi. You've proven yourself to be the Jedi we all hoped you'd become. One worthy of being called 'The Chosen One' Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were very persuasive." Windu said.

"A long life, you will live." Yoda added.

Anakin looked at them in shock and happiness. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan walked over to him.

"Congratulations, Anakin. You've exceeded all of our expectations." Obi-Wan told him.

"Now go back to your wife and family and continue to make us all proud." Qui-Gon said.

"Thank you." Anakin turned to the rest of the Council. "Thank you all."

Then the Jedi Council Chambers vanished and he was standing back in the swamp on Degobah. R2 was still there with X-Wing. He'd been gone less than 2 hours.

R2 beeped excitedly and a feeling of déjà vu swept over Anakin. He ran over to the X-Wing and ran up the ladder, getting into the cockpit.

"Yes, R2, I'm here to stay. Get us ready to take off. We're going back to Couresant."

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Anakin woke up the X-Wing being jolted. The X-Wing's hyper drive had malfunctioned again.

"Again! Ugh!"

But this time, instead of seeing Star Destroyers staring him down, he saw TIE fighters coming at him, trying to blast him out of the sky. He fired back and tried to maneuver in between them, under then and then spun around to strike as many as he could. Apparently, they thought he was with the freighter they were trying to attack. Why would they be attacking a freighter?

Suddenly, he felt another jolt and Anakin saw smoke coming out of the one of the engines. It came from a Star Destroyer that had just appeared out of hyper space He was hit. Luckily, they were over a planet…Tantoinee.

"R2, we're going in…be prepared for a hard landing."

The X-Wing spun out of control and headed towards the planet. Anakin did his best to keep them from burning up in the atmosphere and managed to get some flight controls back.

"Hang on, R2! Oh Force…This is gonna hurt!"

The X-Wing hit the desert hard…Anakin had managed to level it out so it started to slide across the desert floor and kept going until it came within millimeters of slamming into a rock face. The dust settled and Anakin opened his eyes. He let out a sigh of relief and laid back, taking off his helmet.

"We made it R2…I don't believe we made it."

Anakin knew that the Empire would want to make sure he had truly perished in the crash, so he got his things out as quickly as possible. R2 managed to work his way out and then Anakin helped him down. He didn't dare make radio contact with anyone…He knew that the Emprie might pick it up and know for sure he'd survived. So he decided to keep radio silence.

He also knew that he had to blow the ship or they would be looking for him and R2, so he found the emergency flare in the storage compartment. Once he and R2 were far enough away, he used the Force to help him aim at the X-Wing's engines and blew it up. He and R2 would have to find another form of transportation. He just hoped it fooled them enough to allow them to get a safe distance.

Luckily, he knows this planet well and they crash landed right in the middle of the old pod racing course out near Boonta Eve. That means Mos Espa isn't far away and Kit Banai will be able to help again. Poor Kit, the last time I was here, he had to hide me and Piett while I worked on the X-Wing.

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Kit heard a knock on the door and went over to answer it. When he opened the door, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Anakin!"

"Hello, Kit. Can we come in?"

"Sure, sure. Anakin, I heard about the whole Darth Vader thing. Were you really, him?"

Anakin hung his head down in shame. "Yes. I hate to admit it…but I was."

"Wow! I'm just glad you're back to your old self again, Ani. Hey, you don't look so good. What happened?"

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call again, Kit. I was shot down by the Empire and the X-Wing I was flying was destroyed. I hate to ask this again, but I need your help."

Kit sighed. "Anakin, I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Of course, I'll help. But I must warn you. It's going to be more difficult for you to leave this time."

"Why is that?"

"The Empire has full occupation of Tantoinee. They have for months. All air traffic is screened and ships are searched before they can leave."

"Great! It sounds like we're going to be here for awhile, R2."

R2 let out a sad beeping noise.

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Couresant

It had been two months since Anakin flew off to Degobah. Padme and her family were sure that Anakin would never be returning and Padme had sunk into a state of depression, to the point that she was starting to feel physically sick. Leia convinced her that she should go to the doctor and Padme reluctantly agreed. The doctor ran all sorts of tests on her and Padme waited patiently for the results.

When the doctor came back into the room, he had a big smile on his face; and Padme looked at him suspiciously.

"So what's the news, doctor?"

"Senator Amidala, I'm pleased to be the one to tell you that you are suffering from a bad case of…morning sickness."

"Morning sickness? I'm pregnant!" Padme lit right up with a huge smile.

"Yes."

"Oh, this is wonderful news!" Padme began to cry for joy, and in sadness for Ani not being able to share this moment with her.

Padme kissed the doctor on the cheek and ran out of the doctor's office. She went directly to Leia's office, beaming.

"What's going on, Mother?" Leia asked as Padme rushed into her office and shut the door.

"Oh, Leia. I've got wonderful news….I'm pregnant!"

"Pregnant? That's wonderful, Mother!" Leia said with shock and happiness.

The whole family was happy to hear this news. At last, maybe Padme would have some happiness back in her life. They all hated seeing her so depressed all the time and when she found out she was going to have another child, she changed back into the woman they all knew.

Luke and Leia were also excited about having another sibling…but Leia also starting thinking about having children of her own and wondering why they hadn't yet. Of course, Han and she have only been married 3 years…There's plenty of time. She's been so busy with her duties as Chancellor, though, that she didn't know if she could handle having a family right away anyway. But she was happy for Mother.

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Three more months passed and Padme stood looking out window of her bedroom, rubbing and smiling down at her growing belly, when 3PO came running in.

"Miss Padme, Master Luke is here and he has some wonderful news!"

Padme went out to the living room and saw Luke standing there with a big grin on his face.

"What's going on?" Padme asked while Luke hugged her.

"Father is alive!"

Padme looked at her son with shock. "Alive! But..but…"

"He's been trapped on Tantoinee. The X-Wing crashed after he was attacked by the Empire and he had to hide out until the Imperial occupation of Tantoinee ended. He's on his way back here and will arrive in a couple of days."

"Oh Luke! I dreamed this would happen…but I never allowed myself to believe it would."

She threw her arms around Luke and hugged him tight.