Note: This chapter has multiple segments from the perspective of a person dealing with a variety of postpartum complications. If this is something that will trigger you, it is possible to enjoy and understand the rest of the story without reading this chapter. Please take care of yourself.
Thank you again to Sethnakht for betaing this!
Sheev Palpatine was dead.
Mas Amedda watched the holonews in shock, watching as they replayed on a loop the footage of the Jedi general slaughtering the Chancellor at the opera.
Of course Amedda knew why Skywalker had done what he had, or at least part of the reason why, he was after all in on the plan to reform the Galactic Republic into a new and far more efficient Galactic Empire. He just had never anticipated that their plans would end in this way, Sheev had always seemed far too crafty to fail when this close to the power he had craved.
There was another banging knock at Mas' door. He'd turned the ringer on his holosystem off after the news had first broken, and turned off all his comms.
He needed to think of a way to spin this before he did anything.
He had served as Vice Chair for two Supreme Chancellors now, always the one doing the important work of maintaining order and decorum in the Senate as the older Humans stood and listened merely looking important. Finis Valorum, well he had been weak, but Palpatine had promised to change things, had actually been doing heavy lifting and was going to make things better. Bring the Galaxy in line.
It was a wonder both Valorum and Palpatine had been products of the same political party, that both had supported Supreme Chancellor Kalpana so completely in the past.
Mas itched to make sure the plans for the battle station were well protected, that the death of Palpatine at this critical juncture would not ruin everything they had set in motion. He feared doing so would just jeopardize them further.
Mas Amedda had been the Vice Chancellor for so long now. So very very long.
He needed to write a speech, figure out exactly what it was he was going to say.
The knocking on his door grew ever more insistent.
Soon he would answer it.
Soon he would face the reporters and politicians and bureaucrats on the other side.
Soon he would address the Galaxy, no longer as the Vice anything, no, but for the first time as the Chancellor.
He just had to figure out exactly what he was going to do first.
He had never actually been the one in charge before.
We are broadcasting live from right outside the home of Vice Chair Mas Amedda. Or should we say former Vice Chair Mas Amedda, as the rarely used Emergency Assassination Measures immediately granted him the office of the Chancellor when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was killed. There has been no statement from Amedda as of yet on the situation but we are expecting to hear one soon…
"...Support the neck! Yes, just like that Pooja, that's right."
Padmé was exhausted. It had been only a few days since the twins were born, and not only was she adjusting to motherhood, her entire family had insisted on staying on Coruscant to "help."
"Ryoo! You need to be gentle with your cousins, please sweetheart, gently."
It wasn't helping.
"Padmé, I'm sorry, I need to hand you one of them. The girls don't seem ready to hold their cousins quite yet it seems."
She looked up from the news report she was reading, detailing the freefall and chaos the Republic was going through, and for a moment she deeply resented her children.
She should not be here, lying down and resting in her apartment as her sister and nieces cooed over her babies, no, she should be in the Senate trying to end this foolish war once and for all, steering things back to how they should be.
One of her temples was stinging, and she rubbed at it with a sigh.
"Padmé? Did you hear me? Can I hand you one of your children?"
Padmé looked up at her sister's frowning face, and nodded slowly. She was used to being in demand, used to being needed, but never like this. The twins both just needed so much, and with Anakin still unable to leave the Temple…
Oh, if she could only get out there and do some work, she was sure she could turn this PR nightmare around and help her husband restore his good name. Then at the very least he could come home and help with his children.
Sola handed her a twin, and whichever one it was immediately began to make fussy sounds of hunger. Her family all seemed able to tell her babies apart already, but Padmé could not. She supposed that was yet another way she was already falling short as a mother.
If Anakin was there he'd scold her for thinking like this. She didn't even know what was wrong with her. After Sola had given birth, both times, she'd never mentioned feeling… almost resentful of the children. Of course unlike her Sola hadn't been surprised in the delivery room to learn she was carrying double the number of babies she had thought she'd have.
Not for the first time Padmé silently cursed the old Naboo traditions that had caused her to request her healer's total silence on these matters during her pregnancy.
Padmé wanted to feel the connection, the closeness of motherhood she'd been told about so often - that she had fantasized about for years - but mainly she just felt tired.
It seemed the two newborns had conspired to ensure that whenever one was sleeping the other would be screaming. Even with her entire family's aid in caring for the twins, Padmé had not been able to sleep much at all since the birth.
She was not only exhausted. She was also worried that she still looked as large as she had when she was 6 months pregnant, that the skin of her distended belly was slightly numb, wiggling strangely whenever she moved, burning when she touched it. Annoyed that she wasn't where she needed to be. That she was somehow supposed to care for these two tiny beings, and deal with her family hovering over her, and her husband's absence, and the freefall of the government after her husband had decided to assassinate the Chancellor, and her body felt so strange and unfamiliar and…
It was just all far too much.
She shifted the newborn in her arms, pulling her top aside and granting whichever one it was access to her breast, and returned her attention to the datapad in her hand. She hoped to return to work as soon as she could, and she wouldn't be able to do that if she didn't fully understand everything going on in the aftermath of Palpatine's death.
There was some noise behind her as someone - she didn't care to check which member of her family it was - leaned against the back of the couch Padmé was lying on.
Obviously whoever it was wanted Padmé's attention, but she really was not in the mood. She only had so much attention to give, so much time in one day, and she really wanted, no needed, to at least finish one article from the day's news reports.
A throat cleared somewhere vaguely above her, her mother, and with a sigh Padmé put the datapad down and looked up at Jobal.
"Sweetheart, your father and I were talking, and… Padmé, love, you need to rest." She held up her hand and shook her head as Padmé began to respond. "I know you think that is what you are doing, but you've been worrying yourself sick over the entire situation, and I don't blame you. But you owe it to yourself and your children to get away from all of this for a while. It's time you came home. You know we're happy to stay here with you for as long as you need, but at least consider returning to Naboo with us, please?"
"You can do the exact same fussing over the news as you are doing here, but do it with a beautiful view of the lake," Sola added. "I mean, you've always loved the house in Varykino, wouldn't you be happier there than here?"
Padmé could not help but smile as she thought of her family's second home. "I had wanted to give birth there, and it's where Anakin and I got married."
"If you're expecting me to ever forgive you for getting married and neither inviting nor telling me, you've got another thing coming." Sola's laughing tone and smile made it clear there really was nothing to forgive. In the days since giving birth Padmé had apologized to her family endlessly for keeping her relationship from them, and while there was still hurt there, they had made great strides towards repairing the damages to their relationship as a family.
Jobal reached over and took the baby in Padmé's arms - the baby had ceased suckling and had begun fussing once more. Jobal gave both of her daughters and all four of her grandchildren a fond smile. "Excellent. We'll be heading home soon then."
Padmé frowned. "I don't want to go anywhere while Ani is still unable to leave the Temple."
"Oh sweetie, I already spoke to Master Kenobi about all of this, and he thinks we might be able to bring that husband of yours with us. So long as we make sure this whole thing is as low profile as possible," said Jobal.
"Do you think that is even possible? That the press wouldn't notice Anakin and myself heading to Naboo? We've managed to sneak off before, yes, but I would not be comfortable asking someone to stand in for me in this time of crisis."
"Padmé, relax. The reporters have no time to focus on anything other than…" Sola stopped, aware that the situation in the government was a topic that only brought her sister stress. "Well… you know. The Chancellor's death and everything about him that has been exposed since then."
"Yes, but Sola, both Anakin and myself are central figures in all of this. I mean he's the one who killed Sheev!"
Sola pursed her lips in thought. "Padmé, do you think you can ask some of your friends to give a speech or something when we plan to go? That way we can be sure that the journalists would be distracted and-"
"Sola! I am a Senator! I can't ask other politicians to make speeches just for a getaway plan! No. The people need to be told where I am going, I work for them and can not just go off and do whatever I want. I have to be accountable." She worried tremendously that her past disregard for this fact had been Palpatine's influence on her political education. She would take care to do better from here on out.
"I'll ask my office to draft a statement about how I need to stabilize things back home in the wake of the revelations about Palpatine. He was a popular politician for a long time among the Naboo, and even if his policies as of late had been diverging further and further from what our people believe in, even if the recent allegations have been correct and he…" The enormity of what Palpatine had done overwhelmed her. "He was the one responsible for the entire Clone War, if what Anakin says is true and…"
Of course what her husband was saying was true, how could she doubt him in this? But if it was all true then… "Oh we are going to need to find a way to spin this. Sheev was a Sith! The most famous Naboo in the galaxy and he was… this is not good. Our planet and our people are going to carry a dark mark against us now thanks to him."
She gazed down at the datapad in her lap, "You are right. I really need to go home. There is so much work to be done, and much of it would best be done in Theed."
"Just promise that you will get some rest in."
"Mom! Honestly, I am 27 standard years old, I don't need you to tell me to rest." Jobal kept staring at her daughter, and finally Padmé sighed. "Yes mom, I promise I will rest up when we are home."
Jobal's attention shifted to the baby in her arms, "you hear that Leia? You're coming home with us. You ready to see your home planet? You and your brother are going to love Naboo, yes you are!"
"What I don't understand is why no one has done anything about the Jedi Order yet. Literally no one is talking about this anywhere but-"
"Hold on a moment Kastle, you've been saying that all week, you can't say no one is talking about it when you are right here on the HoloNet News every night saying it."
"Anora Fair, you're just trying to distract from the important point here! The Jedi are clearly mad with power! Here one of them, General Skywalker, feels comfortable assassinating the Chancellor himself in public, and they closed ranks around him, they're keeping him from answering for his crimes, and we're just letting that happen! It is an absolute galactic disaster and the people of the Republic should NOT stand for it!"
Chaos.
Utter chaos.
Among the many many senators who worked to maintain the legislature, there was nothing even approaching agreement.
Some believed that everything the Jedi had come forward with about the Chancellor was true, some did not believe any of it, and the chamber echoed with beings shouting every possible stance between those two and beyond.
Sheev Palpatine was the Sith Lord responsible for everything, he was an enemy of the state chipping away at the very foundations of democracy, he was a good man working to preserve the Republic in a time of crisis, he was a politician just like any other, he was unjustly killed and the Sith explanation was concocted to exonerate his murderer, he wasn't dead at all… Mon was starting to feel that every single person in the Senate chambers was residing in their very own personal reality. Realities where Palpatine was an entirely different man than she had ever known him to be.
The senator reflected, not for the first time this week, nor the last, on the winter when she had as a teenager decided she had wanted to be a historian rather than a politician. She wondered how this moment would come to be known in the years to come. How she herself would be cast. She could only hope she would be remembered as being on the right side of history.
They were fortunate. Thanks to the Loyalists forming their Delegation of 2,000 just prior to this chaos forming, their voting block was more united than any other. Of the countless political factions that made up the Senate, they alone as a party knew exactly where they stood in regards to Sheev Palpatine, and what sort of policy they would like to advance now in this time when everything the Senate had been working towards was in question. Their hard stance against his policies and support of the Jedi claim that he was a Sith was ironic, given he had once claimed membership in their ranks as well.
Unfortunately despite their current unity they were lacking the presence of their most popular and charismatic speaker.
Fortunately their second most charismatic member was still there. Bail was going to address the Senate, tell them of the concerns the Loyalists had about the policies Palpatine had put forth when he was alive.
Mon read over his speech one final time, adding some last moment tweaks and edits to the copy she had just received from Padmé, en route to Naboo but still remaining engaged in the process.
Kriff, Padmé. Mon couldn't even imagine what her friend was dealing with.
Padmé and Anakin hadn't gone public yet with their relationship, but Bail had confirmed all of Mon's suspicious just the day before. He had handed over the credits she had bet him, and informed her that their friend had given birth to twins. Twins!
Mon hoped Padmé would take a full and long parental leave, and wondered if this was to be her moment. The moment where she changed the direction of her career and stood her ground and gave voice to her convictions before the Senate. This could be when she went from just yet another in a long line of her family serving in the Senate, to a senator who defined and made history.
Following the current had never been what she had gone into politics for. Sure in part she was here because it was simply what people in her family did, but she had actively chosen politics over history, and she had done so because she had believed she could make a difference.
Yet she also felt that she might best serve her cause supporting her fellow senators, lending them her strength and adding her voice to theirs… but not making herself the center of attention.
In another world Mon Mothma reacted to the end of the Republic, to the death of democracy and all she believed in and held dear, by speaking out. She became a vocal presence in the Senate against Palpatine's policies, willing to risk it all to speak truth to power. In time it would be her impassioned speeches on the Senate floor that defined her place in history.
Here the woman who in countless worlds would be known as the leader of the Rebel Alliance, the first and best Chancellor of the New Republic, contented herself with the research and policy work she loved most.
This was her moment, the moment where, had she chosen to take the reigns on this crisis, she would have risen to the same heights she knew in all those other worlds. The most popular and competent leader almost every dimension had ever known.
Yet Padmé Amidala was alive, and could be counted on to be the charismatic speaker Mon had always known her to be. Bail Organa was here on the Senate floor with her, not at home on parental leave with his newly adopted daughter. Mon Mothma did not need to speak out, did not need to become her party's backbone in a time of crisis, and so, she did not.
Bail Organa delivered a speech today reaffirming his faith in the Jedi Order, as well as calling for the Senate to use this time of uncertainty to reach out to the Separatists and negotiate for peace. While the Senate did move to open channels of communication with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, is this time of crisis where we have no clear strong and centralized leadership truly the time for these talks to begin…
She had requested a meeting with Queen Apailana as soon as she landed, and the swiftness with which her request was met spoke to how dire the Naboo saw the situation. Padmé knew from both of her two terms as queen, and her many years serving in the Senate, just how long these sort of meetings - outside of her regularly scheduled calls with the queen of course - normally took to get.
The twelve year old queen betrayed none of her emotions as she sat on the throne, under all that heavy makeup and royal robes and wig. Padmé did not miss that makeup. Removing it at night had always taken so very very long, and no matter how hard she had scrubbed there always seemed to be some still stuck to her neck or mashed into her pillows in the morning.
It was odd standing in the throne room in person once more, as opposed to phoning in from Coruscant on a holosystem.
"Senator Amidala, the news we have heard about Sheev Palpatine has been most distressing. What of it can you confirm?"
"Your Majesty, I have long suspected that he had turned away from the values we Naboo hold dear. However I had not been aware of how far he had fallen. The Jedi say he was a Sith Lord, and while I can not confirm this to be fact, I am inclined to believe them."
"The Jedi who killed him, it was one of the Jedi who saved our planet during the Trade Federation Invasion, when you held this throne, was it not?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, it was Anakin Skywalker."
"Do you trust Master Skywalker?"
"Your Majesty.. I…" Padmé swallowed and gathered her thoughts. "Yes, Your Majesty. I trust Master Skywalker is telling the truth, he and Sheev Palpatine were always close, ever since Anakin's heroics here on Naboo. If he says that Sheev was a Sith, then I take him at his word."
It didn't feel right, holding the rest of the pertinent info back from her queen. She glanced around at the many individuals gathered around the throne room. She had worked with all of them for so many years, known many since she was a girl. "For the sake of full disclosure you should know Master Skywalker and I are married." She had said it outloud. She had never done that before, claimed Anakin as her husband while she was acting in an official role.
She half expected the world would end.
It didn't.
"Senator Amidala, as you know we need to have an official position on this soon. Sheev Palpatine was not just a member of the Naboo, he was a man we trusted to represent us in Galactic Politics for decades on end. He occupied your very seat in the Senate before you. The possibility that one as respected and known as he was in fact a Sith, it calls into question everything that Naboo has done on the Galactic stage for countless years. It even throws doubt on the judgement of every Monarch he had served, yourself included. None of us are untouched by the stain of association, and we must start immediately to counter this before Naboo falls from its privileged and respected place in the Galaxy. We are inclined to trust and believe the Jedi. Yet in doing so, we must confront the fact that the Naboo trusted a Sith Lord for so long."
Coming up next on this holonews broadcast, we will be taking a closer look at whether General Skywalker's actions were treason or an act of self defense. Joining us to discuss this issue will be Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin, Senator Bail Organa, Jedi Master Kit Fisto and from the Office of the now deceased Supreme Chancellor Palpatine we will be joined by Sate Pestage. This is sure to be a conversation you won't want to miss.
Stepping out of the Royal Palace of Theed, Padmé could not help but reflect on how young Apailana was. She hadn't even been born yet when the Trade Federation had invaded Naboo!
Where would Padmé's own children be in twelve years time?
She didn't want this for them. The heavy costumes, the heavier expectations. She wanted them to able to enjoy their childhoods, not feel confined by duty at so young an age.
She had not thought of her children's future since she had given birth, the surprising reality of twins putting a temporary halt to all her many imagined plans. She sighed, feeling some of the tension she had been holding since she had become a parent drain out. Perhaps her ability to be a mother was not damaged after all.
Padmé walked the familiar path to her parents' home from the palace in a bit of a daze. She still had yet to see her husband, and she was worried that her father and Obi-Wan had misjudged their plan to sneak Anakin off of Coruscant.
She was comforted that she and the queen had hashed out a response and official position for Naboo to take, and that she now knew her political way forward. Yet she could not start putting that plan into action, she was confined by her family to 'relaxing' here on Naboo.
Couldn't they see that not doing her job was far more stressful for her than anything else? How could she possibly relax when the government was in crisis and she was not there to help put things right?
Without thinking she headed down a stairway that she knew would allow her to reach home in less time. Her body protested the action, sharp shooting pain emanating through her, somehow more intense and painful than the worst menstrual cramps she had ever experienced, or even the pangs of labor. She sunk over, her body sliding down a few of the steps as she dealt with the incredible pain.
Oh, why had she fought against her mother so hard when she had wanted to come to the palace with her?
There was a shout from someone on the street, and Padmé could hear people running. She pried open her eyes, she had clenched them shut so tight all she saw at first were red streaks of light. Finally her vision cleared, revealing that she was the focus of the commotion. Someone was shouting about getting her to a medic.
Great, just what she needed, a public incident. She could just see the news headlines now: Senator collapses while taking a short and simple walk, half a galaxy away from the Senate where dire conversations are taking place.
She struggled to speak, to tell someone that her home was close, that she would be able to make it there, there was no need to take her to a medical center, her family was waiting for her, but another wave of pain drove the words from her.
As she lost consciousness, Padmé was never even aware of the blood soaking through her dress and onto the ground below her.