Long-Term Decisions
I pace along the monotone grey corridors of the Polis Massa medical centre. Padmé is carrying twins. Anakin's twins. Damn it! If she'd just had one then she could have buggered off with it and I would have no reminders of him. With twins, I'm bound to end up with at least one of them. At least. Obi Wan is in there with her. I punch a wall and cringe as the pain rocks through my arm. A crack appears in the wall where my fist connected to it.
"Ratha. Calmer, you should be." Yoda's voice jumps out of nowhere.
"Sorry master. I just don't know what I should be doing. I'm reaching out to the force but there's nothing but darkness." He nods understandingly.
"A great disturbance in the force, there has been. Mm?"
"Master Yoda. He's still alive, isn't he? I can sense him yet he is invisible to me."
"Yes. Alive, your brother is. Come, meditate, we shall." I follow the small green man without delay. Yoda knows what's best for me, probably. We meditate together, unable to find peace in a galaxy that has turned so much darker so suddenly. After a while we give up trying. The lights of the galaxy are dying out, and it's my fault. If I'd just stabbed him instead of leaving him to die then this would not be happening. We could find Palpatine and take him ourselves. Surely with Master Yoda and two other Jedi he couldn't fight back. I go back to the medical bay where Padmé was being kept. Looking through the glass I see Obi Wan holding two babies in his arms, looking dumbstruck. I enter the room quietly.
"Ratha... She died..." I glare at the woman on the operating table.
"So who gets the babies? I don't kriffing want them. Where do you think Vader would look first?"
"Shush. We will discuss this later. For now, at least hold one of them." I grab the one in the blue cloth and gently make a place for it to rest between my arm and my chest. He coo's gently and a small grin crawls along my face. "His name is Luke." I look at the tiny infant, how could something so innocent be the spawn of the strongest Sith in the galaxy? Surely it's impossible. Luke yawns again and I chuckle to myself.
"We can't tell them who they are. Not yet anyway." I hear a commotion outside.
"Come, let's see what's happening." I hand the nurse droid Luke and start to leave the room. When I get out I see a face I certainly was not expecting.
"TOBI!" I cry in joy, leaping at him. "You're alive, thank the force!"
"Of course I'm alive. Although not many others are. I heard about what you just had to do. Are you alright? Are you hurt? Is there anyone else here?"
"Obi Wan is right behind me, isn't he? Well I'm safe and unharmed apart from a few minor burns."
"There's nobody here." I turn around to validate what he says and it's true, we're along. I take the opportunity to kiss him, a sign to show how much I wanted him to live and I think I get my point across. Leading him to the others, I realise that they're all gathered in the conference room. We take our seats and start to listen to the conversation.
"We must take them somewhere the Sith will not sense their presence." Obi Wan suggests.
"Split up, they should be."
"My wife and I will take the girl. We've always talked of adopting a baby girl. She will be loved with us." I honestly find Bail's words reassuring. In a palace she will be treated like a princess, she won't have to worry about where her next meal is coming from and the world would be her oyster. It's better this way.
"And what of the boy?"
"Raised under his family name, he will be, with Ratha."
"With all due respect master, I think that being with me will be the first place he would look. If Vader finds me, surely he can find Luke also. Avoiding Vader is our top priority if we wants these kids to be safe."
"As their only living relative that is not a Sith, I think you should have some influence in their lives."
"That is a fair point, Bail. I can take them both on as apprentices' when they turn 15. I think that if Vader hasn't found me by that point, he will have given up on finding me. Therefore I can focus on training them. I know that it's a late age to start Jedi training but this is the best alternative."
"Then to Tatooine, with his family, he should go."
"I will take the child and watch over him, then Ratha will collect each twin from both of us on the day of their 15th birthday. Master Yoda, do you think Anakin's twins will be able to defeat Darth Sidious?"
"Strong the Force runs, in the Skywalker line. Hope, we can . . . Done, it is. Until the time is right, disappear we will. Ratha, when to collect the children you come, tell them they are adopted, Obi Wan and Bail will." We all agree and disband. The next few years of avoiding Vader will be difficult, but with Tobi at my side I feel that I can do anything. I will train the twins when they come of age and then, with both of them and Tobi at my side, we can take down Vader. Maybe even Sidious. We're going to hide it out for as long as possible and maybe we can just about survive this whole incident. There is a hole in my heart where Anakin used to belong. I no longer care for him as the brother I used to and next time, I will not fail in delivering the final blow.