We're in the home stretch - only a couple more chapters left after this one! Realistically the political situation would probably be way more complicated than I've shown it in this chapter, and I probably tied up those loose ends much too neatly. But tbh my primary interest in this fic was always Anakin and Padme's relationship, with the Political Things and the Actual Plot as sort of an afterthought (and I suspect many of you readers may feel the same way lmao), not to mention that I don't know anywhere near enough about regular politics, let alone intergalactic politics, to spend much time on or go into much detail about it. So hopefully you won't mind if I've wrapped the Political Things up too quickly (although a fair amount of time DOES pass within this chapter even if the narrative moves quickly through it)

The galaxy's news outlets were in an uproar as news of Padmé's kidnapping and rescue, Luke and Leia's birth, and Palpatine's death all broke at the same time. The official statement was that Palpatine had died of natural causes. Most people believed it because he had been quite old, and the ones who suspected foul play were too frightened of the new empress to accuse her of anything.

They burned Palpatine's body, ostensibly because it was tradition on his home planet of Naboo, but really it was so that nobody would see the grotesque, hollowed-out husk he'd become when Anakin had drained all the life force out of him and left nothing but Darkness behind.

He explained everything to Padmé a several days later, once she'd rested up and they had a moment's peace among all the political turmoil she had to handle. They were sitting in the brand-new nursery within the royal apartments, Luke in Anakin's arms and Leia in Padmé's. Padmé and the twins had been kept in the medbay for monitoring for a few days, and all three of them had been released that morning with clean bills of health. Not that Padmé being confined to the medbay had prevented her from dealing with important imperial business.

"So…Palpatine's life force is inside me now?" Padmé said, looking revolted, after she'd heard Anakin's tale.

"Yes, but it's not like that," Anakin said. "It's the exact same Living Force that runs through every sentient being in the galaxy, every living thing. The Living Force inside Palpatine was the same as what was already inside you, I just borrowed some of it."

Padmé thought about this for a few minutes. "Will I have Force powers or something now?" she asked. "Because he did?"

Anakin paused. Would Palpatine's high midichlorian count have transferred over to Padmé, or did Anakin keep that out along with the Darkness inside him? He reached out for Padmé in the Force, trying to sense if anything was different. "You feel the same to me in the Force as you did before," he said. "But I don't know what might happen. I don't know of any situation like this that's happened before. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

They were quiet for a little while. "The handmaidens really wanted to sacrifice themselves for me?" Padmé said eventually.

Anakin nodded. "Every single one of them."

She shook her head in amazement, looking a little tearful. "They're too loyal for their own good."

Anakin shrugged. "You're just someone that anybody would consider themselves lucky to die for," he said without thinking. He immediately felt his cheeks heat up, and Padmé looked a little pink too.

"You saved my life," she said next. "Me and the twins, you saved all of us."

"Sabé and Rex—"

"Have told me that all three of us would certainly be dead without you," Padmé interrupted, her expression open as she gazed at him. "Thank you, Anakin. I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"You don't need to thank me," Anakin said, blushing harder and looking down at Luke to avoid her eyes. Then he thought of something. "Would it be possible…do you know where Palpatine kept my lightsaber? And if so, could I have it back? When we were rescuing you I was wishing I had it with me the whole time, I'd feel so much better if I could have it by my side at all times in case I need to protect you and the twins again."

"Yes, I know where it is," Padmé said. "And of course you can have it back. I trust you not to murder me with it now." They both smiled. "That reminds me, I just told Rex this morning to remove the Stormtroopers from Tatooine who were watching Owen and Beru. They're safe now, and free to go anywhere in the galaxy. If you'd like to send them a message—"

"I might go visit them instead," Anakin said. "Explaining everything in person is the least I can do after I put them in danger."

Padmé nodded, and they fell into another silence as they watched Leia sleeping and Luke clutching tightly onto Anakin's index finger. "Which one of them is your heir, technically?" Anakin asked. "I mean, which would inherit the throne after you?"

"I'm not sure yet," Padmé said. "I was thinking I'd wait until they're older to decide, that way I can see who would have a better mind for it. Ruling the galaxy isn't easy, you know."

Anakin chuckled. "Oh, I know."

"I, Padmé Naberrie Amidala, Empress of the First Galactic Empire, hereby declare that from this day forth, slavery is outlawed on every planet under the Empire's jurisdiction. At this very moment, all slaves are now free and citizens of the Empire. A former slave may continue working for their former master for a fair wage if they both wish it, otherwise the master must give the slave a stipend of money so that they will be able to support themselves until they find a paying job elsewhere. If a master cannot afford to give the stipend to their slave, both parties should seek an audience with an imperial official in their community to discuss the matter. The Empire is willing and able to provide financial support to former slaves when necessary.

"Any being in the Empire who is found to own slaves or to participate in the buying or selling of them after one month from today will be fined and sentenced to prison for up to five years. After six months or more from today, the fine will be double and the prison sentence up to ten years. Though I do not have the authority to dictate what happens on planets outside the Empire's jurisdiction, know that starting today, the Empire has a strict anti-slavery policy and will not deal kindly with outside planets who continue to participate in the slave market."

Anakin was spending the flight to Tatooine by watching a holorecording of Padmé's recent speech in the Senate for the dozenth time. Though nothing could quite compare to the exhilaration of watching it in person the first time, all the subsequent times rewatching recordings of it brought a wide smile to his face. True to her word, this had been the very first thing she'd done after she'd finished dealing with the fallout of Palpatine's death and her ascension to the throne. Palpatine's former advisors had been aghast and insisted the economy would collapse, so Padmé had gotten rid of them all and replaced them with a new set of her own choosing. Advisors of multiple species from all over the Empire rather than Palpatine's council of Core World humans.

Artoo chirped at Anakin, interrupting his thoughts. "All right, thanks, buddy," Anakin said, and he moved back to the pilot's seat to drop out of hyperspace.

It wasn't long before Anakin was landing outside the Lars moisture farm. He had let Owen and Beru know he would be coming so they wouldn't be alarmed to see an imperial ship landing in their front yard, and they were both outside waiting to greet him when he disembarked from the ship, Artoo following behind him.

Without a word, Anakin strode over to them and enveloped them both in a hug. "You're all right," he said. "You're both all right."

"'Course we're all right," Owen said, sounding surprised. "It's you we've been worried about. Once we heard the Empire'd got you—"

"Everything's fine now," Anakin said. "Palpatine's dead, and Padmé wants to do right by the galaxy. You have nothing to fear from the Empire anymore."

They led him inside and the three of them sat down with glasses of blue milk to talk. Anakin explained to them everything that had happened to him since he'd last seen them, which took quite a while—including the fact that they'd had Stormtroopers watching them for the better part of two years.

"We didn't even know," Beru said, eyes wide. "The Empire was watching us this whole time?"

"Yes," Anakin said. He was relieved to know they hadn't known about it, hadn't been living in constant fear, but he still felt horribly guilty. "And I am so sorry. I put you both in danger, if I'd made even the tiniest slip-up you could've been killed—"

"It's not your fault," Owen said, shaking his head. "It was Amidala who was threatening you and us. But I thought you said you supported her as empress?"

Anakin nodded, and he continued on with the rest of his tale. How Padmé had only kidnapped him because she wanted his help assassinating Palpatine, how she was already working hard to right all his wrongs and make the galaxy a safe place to live again, how she had removed all imperial surveillance from the moisture farm. How he trusted her now.

"But obviously I understand if you don't feel the same way about her as I do," Anakin finished. "Which is why I came to give you some credits so that you could leave Tatooine if you wanted, go somewhere far away where the Empire won't know where you are. I won't tell Padmé where you've gone, I swear it. You don't even have to tell me if you don't want to."

Owen and Beru turned to look at each other, considering it. "We have always wanted to get out of here," Beru admitted. "It's a hard life."

"But Tatooine is our home," Owen added. "We grew up here, we met here, we got married here. My father and Shmi are both buried here."

"You don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to. I promise you you'll be safe here," Anakin said. He pulled the bag of credits out of his pocket and pushed it across the table towards them. "But I want you to have this anyway, in case you change your minds."

Beru opened the bag and her eyes widened. "Anakin, this is far too much, we can't possibly accept—"

"Please," Anakin said. "I insist. Consider it a very belated repayment for everything you did for me when I first came here after the Jedi purge."

They talked all day and evening and Anakin spent the night there. After Owen and Beru had gone to bed, Anakin wandered outside and over towards Shmi's grave. He knelt down in front of it.

"Hi, Mom. I miss you," he said softly. "You probably already know this, but you have two grandchildren now. Their names are Luke and Leia, and they're just perfect…"

He spent a long time talking to her about the twins, about everything that had happened to him. He didn't know if she could hear him, wherever she was, but it felt good to get everything off his chest like this.

"I'm not that same little boy I was when I left Tatooine, or even the Jedi I was when I came back for you," Anakin said at last. "But…I think you would be proud of me if you saw me today. Or at least, I hope you would. I love you, Mom."

Owen and Beru offered to have him stay for a few days, but Anakin didn't want to spend any more time away from Luke and Leia, so he prepared to leave the next morning. "Before you go, there's an old friend of yours around here somewhere," Owen said, going back into the house.

Anakin waited outside, puzzled, but he broke out into a smile when Owen reemerged followed by— "C-3PO!"

"Master Ani?" the droid said, waddling over to him and looking as shocked as a droid could look. "Oh, my! The Maker has returned at last!"

"Shmi wouldn't hear of us getting rid of him, I think because he reminded her of you, and we didn't have the heart to do it after she died either," Owen said. "But he's been powered down and away in storage for years now. I gotta be honest, he's more of a hindrance around here than anything."

Threepio seemed to swell indignantly. "A hindrance? Sir, I am fluent in over six million forms of communication—"

"Which isn't something we really need on a moisture farm," Owen interrupted, grinning. "But I thought maybe you could use him back on Coruscant, since you're a politician and all now."

"I'm not a politician," Anakin said with a laugh. "But I think my wife would like him, she's been saying she needs a protocol droid to help with all her work nowadays."

Anakin and Artoo spent the flight back getting to know Threepio, and by the time they finally reached Coruscant, Anakin had admitted to himself that he may not have known exactly what he was doing as a child when he gave Threepio the personality of a fussy old grandmother. But still, it was nice to have something that reminded him of Shmi.

When he arrived, Padmé was in the nursery playing with the twins. "How was Tatooine?" she asked.

Anakin approached to give both twins a kiss. For a second some impulse made him want to kiss Padmé too, but he quickly squashed it down. "It was good," he said. "I brought you something." He beckoned Threepio over. "This is C-3PO, a protocol droid who is fluent in over six million forms of communication. Threepio, this is my wife Padmé Naberrie Amidala, Empress of the First Galactic Empire."

"Empress?!" Threepio said, sounding aghast. "Master Ani, you neglected to tell me I would be presented to such fine company today! Oh, My Lady, I do apologize profusely for my appearance, it is most unbecoming—"

"It's nice to meet you, Threepio," Padmé said, looking like she was suppressing a laugh. "Don't worry about your appearance, I'm sure you're a fine droid who will be a valuable assistant to me. But if it bothers you that much, how would you feel about…hmm…maybe gold plating?"

"Gold plating? It would be an honor, My Lady, nothing less would be fitting of a servant of the Empress."

"That's settled, then. Wherever did you find him?" she asked Anakin.

"I made him, actually," he said. "When I was nine. Owen and Beru kept him for me all these years."

"You made a droid when you were nine? What else don't I know about you?"

Anakin grinned. "You'll find I'm full of surprises."

Padmé's official coronation took place a few weeks later. A huge number of guests was invited, mostly diplomats but Padmé's family was there as well, and the throne room was packed full during the ceremony. Anakin sat right up front with one twin in each arm and all the handmaidens sitting on either side of him, and he felt like he could burst with pride as he watched Padmé being crowned Empress.

Once all the dust had settled from the transition of power, Padmé set about negotiating peace with the Rebels. At first they wouldn't hear of it, but as Padmé did more and more to undo all the damage Palpatine had caused the galaxy and as she implemented reforms to make the Senate more powerful and more democratic, they started coming around. At last Rebel leaders Bail Organa and Mon Mothma agreed to meet with Padmé on Coruscant to discuss a peace treaty.

"I can't believe you're trying to negotiate with the people who almost killed you and the twins," Anakin muttered.

Padmé gave him a stern look. "An end to this constant warfare is in the people's best interests. I don't want our citizens to be living in fear of Rebel attacks any more than I want them to be living in fear of exploitation and abuse by the Empire," she said. "The Rebels' personal slights to me don't matter."

"I'd call nearly torturing you to death a lot more than a personal slight, but I suppose as only Emperor Consort my input doesn't matter." In all honesty Anakin was relieved to not be the actual Emperor—he hated politics and all Padmé's Empress duties and responsibilities seemed like a nightmare—but the title of Emperor Consort made him feel like a bit of a trophy husband. Which, he supposed, he really was.

"Oh, hush, you know I value your advice," Padmé said. "It's just that in this instance you're wrong."

Negotiating peace was a long, arduous process. Anakin wasn't involved—he spent most of his time in the royal apartments looking after the twins—but Padmé would update him about their progress when she came home every night. There were many days when she left in the morning before he was awake and didn't return until long after he'd fallen asleep.

But finally, after months of discussions had gone by, they settled on terms and the end of the negotiations was in sight. For appearances' sake, Padmé brought Anakin along to the official signing of the treaty. Anakin stepped into the conference room and froze as he saw who was there among the Rebel delegation: Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

How long had they been on Coruscant? How had he not sensed their presence? Why hadn't Padmé told him they were here? Anakin locked eyes with both of them, but then Padmé was glancing over her shoulder to look for him and he hastily followed her to her seat at the head of the table.

Many HoloNet reporters were there to cover the momentous occasion, some filming and others furiously taking notes on holopads. "The signing of this treaty marks an end to all hostilities between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance," Padmé said solemnly. "May we henceforth work together to make the galaxy a better place, rather than fighting against each other."

She signed first. There was a digital copy on a holopad as well as a more ceremonial copy on a piece of flimsi. Bail Organa and Mon Mothma signed too, and with that, with such a simple gesture, the war was over.

Padmé formally invited the Rebel delegation to a feast in their honor that evening in the palace, and then everyone dispersed. Anakin glanced at her, silently asking permission to leave without her, and she nodded.

He darted out into the corridor, hoping to catch Obi-Wan and Ahsoka before they left. He spotted them just turning the corner at the far end, and he hurried after them. "Ahsoka!" he called. "Obi-Wan!"

They turned and saw him, and to his relief they stopped to wait for him. Once he reached them, Anakin realized he didn't know what to say. "I didn't realize you've been here this whole time," he said after an awkward moment. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't think you would want to see us," Ahsoka said. She, at least, looked tentatively happy to see him, but Obi-Wan was carefully staring at a point over Anakin's head.

"Of course I would've. You're my best friends. Still," Anakin said. He took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry about—what happened the last time we saw each other. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just…lost control—"

Obi-Wan finally looked at him. "You used the Dark Side, Anakin," he said.

"I know, and that time I didn't mean to, but since then I've realized something," Anakin said. "The Jedi always said that if you opened yourself up to the Dark Side, you'd never be able to return. But that's not true. It's possible to use the Dark Side without letting it control you, I've done it."

And he launched into an explanation of how he'd used the Dark Side to save Padmé's life. Both of them looked astonished when he finished. "But that's—no one's ever done that before," Ahsoka said in a hushed voice. "Have they?"

"Not that I know of," said Obi-Wan, who also looked warily impressed. "Bringing someone back from the brink of death…I always thought that was no more than a Sith legend. I didn't think it was possible."

"Neither did I, but I did it," Anakin said. "And I think it's because it's not a Dark Side power, not fully anyway, and it's not a Light one either. I had to use both. No Jedi would kill someone to save a person they care about, but no Sith would love anyone but themselves enough to want to save them from dying. It's both selfish and selfless. Dark and Light. Balance. That's what the prophecy about the Chosen One meant. There can't continue to be Jedi and Sith opposing each other, there has to be a—some sort of new order, where people learn to use the Light Side and the Dark Side of the Force together, in harmony with each other."

Obi-Wan looked alarmed, Ahsoka intrigued. "What are you saying?" he asked.

"I'm saying that I want to start that new order," Anakin said boldly. It was something he'd been thinking about for months now, but had never said out loud before. "Think about it. Obviously the Sith had the wrong idea, but you both know the Jedi Order had its flaws too. I think—I think everyone has both the Dark and the Light inside them, and a true Force user ought to learn to control both of them. I've felt so much more at peace with myself now that I've done that, instead of when I was a Jedi always terrified of the Darkness I felt inside me."

"A new order…" Ahsoka murmured, looking thoughtful. She glanced at Obi-Wan a little guiltily and said, "You know…I think I might have left the Jedi Order if things had been different. Before the Jedi purge, I was starting to realize that I didn't feel like I belonged there. That I didn't agree with everything the Order stood for. So…I think I agree with you, Skyguy. We can't go back to the old ways, they've been proven not to work. We have to try something new."

Anakin smiled at her, relieved. "So you'll help me?"

Ahsoka took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes," she said. "I will."

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin said tentatively, looking over at his former master.

Obi-Wan was frowning, though he seemed more conflicted than genuinely unhappy. "I don't know," he said. "I don't know if I agree with you about training a new generation of Force users in the Dark Side as well as the Light, that seems like it can only end badly."

"Not if we teach them to control it from a young age," Anakin argued. "You can't Fall if the Dark Side has always been a part of you that you understand how to deal with. It's only when people who've had no experience with the Dark Side are exposed to it all at once that they become consumed by it."

"You might be right. Or you might be wrong," Obi-Wan said. "Though…perhaps the Order's old way of doing things could be improved. Qui-Gon always thought the Council was…rather antiquated in their methods."

"I'm going to try," Anakin said determinedly. "And if you change your mind someday and decide you want to help, you know where to find me."

Obi-Wan nodded. And then, he gave Anakin the smallest of smiles. "I'm glad you're alive," he said simply. "After everything that's happened."

Anakin smiled back. "I'm glad you're alive too."

During the feast that night, Anakin was seated beside Padmé for dinner, with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma on her other side. The three leaders spent most of the meal discussing plans for the future while Anakin was quiet; he was relieved, and more than a little surprised, to see that the three of them appeared to get on quite well. Unless they were just really good at keeping up the pretense of diplomacy.

But towards the end of the meal, the conversation took a more personal turn. "My Lady, I would like to sincerely apologize for the attempt on your life many months ago," Bail said. "In the interest of our new alliance—and, I hope, friendship—I want you to know that your kidnapping was unauthorized by Senator Mothma or myself and carried out without our knowledge. We'd always wanted to fight this war cleanly and honorably, but there were some among the Rebel Alliance who felt differently."

Anakin raised his eyebrows. He couldn't tell if Bail was being sincere in his sorrow over the event or just trying to suck up to Padmé and cover his own ass. "Thank you for saying that, Senator," Padmé said with a small smile. "Those Rebels who felt differently…are you referring to the extremist faction you mentioned during negotiations?"

"Saw Gerrera's faction, yes," Mon Mothma said, nodding. "They were the ones behind your kidnapping. And I fear they may continue to cause the galaxy trouble for a while longer, given that they splintered off when they found out that we planned to negotiate with you. They don't consider themselves bound by this peace treaty."

"But they are truly a small minority," Bail added. "With the vast majority of the Rebel Alliance agreeing that peace is in the galaxy's best interests, they have very little power now. I'm confident it won't be long until we are able to bring the last of them to justice, or until they simply give up the fight."

Padmé said something else then, but Anakin was too busy mulling over this new information he'd learned about her kidnapping. "What about the Jedi?" he said suddenly, speaking for only the fourth or fifth time in the entire conversation.

Mon turned to him. "Pardon, My Lord?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano. They were there, when I came to rescue Padmé," he said. "Were they part of the kidnapping attempt too?"

"No, they knew nothing about it either," Bail said. "We sent them to investigate the situation as soon as we got wind of what had happened."

Anakin got quiet again, and after dinner was over and he'd opened up the dancing with Padmé, he excused himself and went to find Obi-Wan and Ahsoka again. They were standing by themselves, with another small group of Rebels not too far away; the Rebels and imperials alike seemed uncertain about mingling with each other even though their leaders were doing their best to set a good example.

"You weren't behind the kidnapping," Anakin said without preamble when he reached them.

"What?" Ahsoka said.

"When Padmé was kidnapped. You weren't involved," he said. "Bail Organa told me he only sent you to investigate after the fact."

"Yes, that's right," Obi-Wan said rather uncertainly.

"Then why did you try to kill her?" Anakin said, speaking mostly to Obi-Wan. "If you were there to defuse the situation on behalf of someone who thought kidnapping Padmé was wrong, why did you try to kill her?"

Obi-Wan sighed and was quiet for a moment. "I had no intention of killing her at that moment, and I apologize if I made you think otherwise. Tensions were running high and we were both quick to assume the worst about each other's motives, I think," he said. "But…I did believe it would be foolish to let her go since she'd been captured. I planned to take her into custody and bring her back to Senators Organa and Mothma to be dealt with. And if they'd decided she merited execution, I would hardly have been upset about that."

Anakin considered this for a minute. He realized that although Obi-Wan had certainly been ready for a fight, and although he clearly hadn't wanted Anakin to escape with Padmé, and although he hadn't seemed bothered by the prospect of her death…he hadn't actually tried to kill her on the spot or said that he intended to, merely tried to prevent her escape. Perhaps Anakin had been too quick to assume he wanted to kill her, just as Obi-Wan had been too quick to assume that Anakin had been brainwashed by the Empire and the Dark Side.

"And now?" Anakin said finally. "Do you agree that this peace treaty was the right course of action? The senators were saying there's an extremist faction—"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Prolonging violence when there is a good opportunity for peace is not the Jedi way," he said. "And besides, now that the Empress is restoring freedom and justice to the galaxy…I can't say I see a reason to rebel against her the way we did against Palpatine."

At last Anakin's face relaxed into a smile. "I was trying to tell you that day that Padmé would be different—"

"I know," Obi-Wan said, looking a little sheepish. "I'm sorry that I refused to listen to your point of view, or give you a chance to explain."

"Me too," piped up Ahsoka, who had been keeping quiet thus far to allow Anakin and Obi-Wan to hash out the issue themselves. "I see now that you were right about her. Well, unless she's just lulling us all into a false sense of security and plans to pull a Palpatine later on."

"I highly doubt that," Anakin said. "But if she does then I give you both permission to say 'I told you so' as many times as you want."

He and Ahsoka laughed and even Obi-Wan gave a small chuckle, and Anakin spent the rest of the evening catching up properly with his old friends at last.