Last Chapter before The Last Jedi is out! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I am dying with excitement, I can't wait to see it.
Thank you as always to my beta Sethnakht.
As with the previous interludes, this chapter has discussion of post-partum medical nonsense. If this is triggering for you, please take care of yourself!
Breaking news! The Confederacy of Separatist Systems, in their first true communication with the Galactic Republic since the start of the Clone Wars, delivered to the Republic today a massive amount of evidence supporting the claim of the Jedi Order that Sheev Palpatine was in fact a Sith Lord known as Darth Sidious. Several Separatist leaders are offering testimony about Sidious' deeds in exchange for amnesty in any future War Crimes tribunals. But can one in fact trust anything the Separatists say?
Bail was worried about their line of defense.
Oh, he did not question that Sheev Palpatine had manipulated them all into passing laws and making decisions they never should have, but could they successfully prove Anakin's innocence on this alone?
Mon seemed to think so, but every time Bail spoke with Obi-Wan, or Anakin himself, the conversation always seemed to circle back to the identity of Darth Sidious. They kept talking about the ancient war between the Jedi and the Sith, how trying to tempt Anakin to the Dark Side had been a direct attack on his person.
Bail understood enough theology to appreciate how serious these accusations were. The Sith were, to the best of his understanding, evil Jedi locked in a war with the actual Jedi. If Palpatine were really a Sith...
Not to mention that the name Sidious was appearing in a lot of the Separatists' records. Not only in the official documents being sent to the Republic as a whole, but also within messages Bail was now receiving from old friends of his. Friends he had not spoken to since they had defected from the Republic three years prior.
Palpatine was the head of the dragon, and if this trial helped Bail fully destroy this evil and seal it away, then it would be of benefit to every being in the galaxy, whether they hailed from a Republic world, or a Separatist one.
He knew introducing the Sith accusation into the trial would complicate things, but surely when the man who stood accused was a Jedi it would be remiss to leave theology out of the case completely. If nothing else it would strengthen the argument that, current state of the investigation into Palpatine aside, Anakin had believed himself to be acting in self-defense.
More importantly, however, connecting Palpatine to this Darth Sidious strengthened his connection to the Confederacy, firming up the argument that Palpatine had been acting against the Republic when Anakin had struck.
His datapad pinged with an incoming message, and he was not surprised to find it was from Mon. She had been absorbed in researching legal codes since this nightmare had started, set on figuring out exactly how they could use this trial to not just save the young Jedi's life, but also build a stronger argument for peace.
What did surprise him was the message's level of encoding, flagged in a way that let him know it contained discussion of materials the Republic had deemed classified. It was to be for his eyes only.
He read the message quickly, curious about what if could possibly contain.
Bail, have you seen this footage yet? The slicers working on the investigation just pulled it from the Trade Federation's drives. It seems they thought they had deleted the data, but it was still stored on their systems. It's of this "Darth Sidious" figure giving them instruction. You can't see his face, and his voice seems garbled and different, but I swear it's recognizable as Palpatine. More importantly the information he is giving them, it's stuff only the Chancellor could have known. Bail, I think we've got him!
And there, attached, was the source of all the classification warnings. Holofootage direct from the investigation, to be viewed for official purposes only. Bail settled back into his seat, eager to see "Darth Sidious" himself.
"We know from some of the Republic's best Slicers that the footage is real, and that previous Senate footage was dramatically tampered with. It's hard not to draw conclusions about Palpatine manipulating events surrounding the war."
"Yes, but there hasn't been any actual proof yet, has there?"
"With this much smoke there has to be fire."
"You want to determine an individual's innocence or guilt on circumstantial evidence? I thought that wasn't how we do things here in the Galactic Republic."
The first thing Padmé asked upon waking was for her datapad. She scoured various news channels, and poured over her personal communications, before dropping the device and turning to her mother in despair.
"Not only did they fail to get Anakin off of Coruscant, he's now being subjected to a rather lengthy trial!"
"I know sweetheart. From what I see however your friends are acting as his defense. They seem like good people." Jobal smiled, squeezing Padmé's hand. "He'll be fine."
Padmé could see there was more her mother wanted to say, but she turned her attention back to her datapad, unable to focus on anything but the events taking place in on Coruscant.
There were a number of messages from both Bail and Mon about the case and the roles they were assuming for Anakin's trial. Mon had been doing research, not at all surprising since the woman absolutely adored reading old texts, looking for any and all legal codes that would support Anakin's side. Bail, being the master orator that he was, had agreed to argue before the tribunal in Anakin's favor.
She shouldn't be here.
She needed to be there.
She trusted Bail and Mon to get Anakin through this, to argue his case in the best way possible, but she should never have allowed herself to be moved home to the Mid-Rim when he needed her with him in the Core!
To make matters worse, her collapse had somehow gotten back to the press, and when the reporters weren't sensationalizing Anakin's trial, they were speculating on her health and mental state. Her office had gone ahead and told the journalists about the twins, but new and ridiculous claims about her health kept cropping up on every channel.
The only positive she could really find was that the people of the galaxy had, by and large, come to accept that Palpatine had been evil. Once contact with the Confederacy of Separatist Systems had finally been established, they had provided an outpouring of evidence not only linking Palpatine to the mysterious Darth Sidious but possibly even proving they were the same person.
Mon's messages assured her that this provided the best avenue for Anakin's defense. What Anakin had done in the Opera House could be considered an act in defense of the Republic, if Palpatine had indeed been a traitor.
Bail added in his messages that the Jedi also believed Anakin's action had been in self-defense. They were throwing the weight of the entire Order behind Anakin.
It was as Padmé had always assumed. Anakin's belief that the Jedi did not value him was pure imagination, much like his worries about her cheating on him. A strange paranoid impulse that he somehow kept convincing himself was real.
Or, and as she considered the possibility it occurred to her how close they had come to true disaster, Anakin's belief that no one truly cared about him could have been an invention of Palpatine's imagination.
How many times had Anakin ranted to her at length about how the Jedi did not value him? How many times had he read the worst into every mission, some of which she had been involved in the intelligence briefings behind, and she had known full well why they were necessary? She knew he'd often spent time alone with Sheev, she had even approved of and encouraged their friendship!
She wasn't alone in having been influenced by Sheev for the worst, her husband was probably caught in the same trap.
She could see these paranoid impulses as having been carefully suggested to Anakin over the years until he believed it too. An effective isolation tactic to draw him ever closer to that evil man, while pushing everyone else away.
"Senator Amidala has been in politics for over a decade! Just because she is now a mother, there is no reason to assume she is incapable of performing her duties."
"Are you really ok with the way she went about this? Keeping this news secret from the public?"
"Do we expect every politician in office to announce whenever they or one of their partners is expecting? I don't remember anyone ever growing concerned before now when a politician became a parent while in office without informing the public of the expected birth. So what is the difference? Why do you feel the public is owed that sort of access to Senator Amidala's life and body?"
"She lied to the public! She could be lying about any number of other things!"
"It is her life and her body, so long as she hasn't harmed another being, I fail to see what keeping her personal life to her herself has to do with her job! Besides, she most assuredly did not lie. At no point did she ever directly state she was not pregnant, nor did anyone ask her to make a statement on the matter. Lack of comment, especially on a matter outside of her professional life, is not a lie."
"Do you really think there won't be a strain on her ability to do her job as a result of having to care for these babies?"
"Are you kidding me? Do you ask this of all new parents who work in politics or just new mothers?"
"You are avoiding the question."
"You know what? If you are so convinced it's impossible to both take care of a child and work in this job, the question shouldn't be if the person trying to do both shouldn't be doing one or the other. The question should be how their place of employment can adapt to best enable a person to do both. If the task before the Senator is so impossible in your opinion, then what are the systemic changes you suggest we need to make to how the Senate is run? If you have identified a problem with the system, please make that clear so we can work to fix it! The burden of responsibility should not fall on a single individual, but rather the institutions as a whole."
"You're still dodging the question. Will this impact the Senator's job performance?"
"You really need to stop seeing pregnancy or child-rearing or lack of pregnancy or lack of desire to have kids as barriers in terms of what beings choose to do in their lives. Perhaps start by challenging the notion you can only do one thing at a time - or that pregnancy - regardless of if a being chooses to carry to term or not - derails the course of your life."
"Yes or No Ma'am, will this influence her ability to do her job?"
"I am not dignifying that ridiculous question with a direct response."
"Finally I have to ask you, where did these babies come from? The Senator is, to the best of our knowledge, single."
"This is sick. You are sick, you know that? Who cares? I have not asked the Senator nor has anyone else in our office. It doesn't matter. There are thousands of reproductive decisions any being can make, and none of them are ever, ever, required to be broadcast to the public. Maybe she has a partner, maybe she visited a sperm bank, or had a casual arrangement with a friend. The possibilities are endless, and not a single one of them is anyone's business but her own."
"Right. That was a representative from Senator Amidala's office, essentially admitting that no one knows where these children came from, or how they will impact how Senator Amidala does the job the Queen of Naboo has appointed her to do. Now coming up next on this program…"
It seemed Padmé was lucky she had collapsed when she had.
Sola wasn't exactly sure how her little sister could even pass out in the middle of the street in a fortunate way, but if anyone could it would be her.
According to the medics, one of the twin's placentas had not been fully delivered, and it had gotten infected. The medcenter performed a dilation and curettage, removing the infected tissue.
Unfortunately, her sister didn't seem to care what the healers had to say about her condition.
Her sister just kept staring at her datapad as if her health was secondary to whatever scandal was occupying the Senate's attention this time. She didn't even seem to care that their mother was having a very emotional reaction to Padmé's condition!
Which meant the tasks of actually writing down and keeping track of what was going on with Padmé now fell to Sola. She really hoped her sister would do a better job taking care of her children than she was doing taking care of herself.
The healers on Coruscant had thought they had gotten both of the placentas out during postpartum procedures. From Padmé's medical records it seemed the contractions during the birth had ended in a clenched position, which had caused both placentas to be held in place within her. For all their scanning and efforts, the healers had still missed a large chunk of the second placenta in their efforts to remove them.
Sola made sure to take down every detail, to write out medical terms like "pitocin-induced contractions" nice and large. She recorded exactly what sort of scans the healers on Coruscant had done before clearing her sister, asked the doctors to clarify exactly which ones they had missed. Sola knew as soon as she calmed down her mother would want to read them all, and that eventually Padmé probably would too, so Sola did not even use any shorthand in her notation.
Had Padmé not collapsed when she had, a side effect of pushing herself so hard right after birth and not following adequate nutrition routines, they never would have discovered there was still placenta in there.
Sola nodded as they explained that heavy bleeding after giving birth was the very definition of normal. They would only have started to suspect anything wrong had the bleeding continued after six weeks, and even then they might have doubted that anything of any particular note was going on, even with the fever the infection was causing. None of that surprised Sola at all. She'd bled for well over two months after Ryoo was born. Pooja had been easier - although she wasn't sure how much of that was because she'd known what to expect when she had her second child.
Sola had learned her lessons from her own experiences giving birth well. As soon as she as she heard about the pregnancy and everything, she had run out to buy her sister vital supplies, like adult diapers and other comfortable solutions, just to be extra sure her sister wouldn't ruin any of her expensive clothes in the weeks following the arrival of the new baby.
From what Sola could tell, her sister hadn't made use of anything Sola had bought her.
Padmé was acting as if now that the babies were born, her body would just go back to acting as it normally would.
So really, it was a very good thing Padmé had collapsed. Not only would the incident hopefully force Padmé to take notice of the fact she needed to recover, it had caused the healers to really investigate and find the infected tissue before further complications, like sepsis, set in.
They still had the infection, hemorrhaging, and a host of other medical concerns to look out for, but the healers were hopeful that with the infected issue removed the likelihood Padmé would develop any of these possible conditions was minimal.
Sola's mother had gasped over every new bit of news. The shock of finding out about Padmé's secret life had left her emotionally vulnerable, and this hospitalization was not helping.
(This also led the Doctors to assure Jobal that Padmé would have probably noticed calcified and rock like bits of placenta falling out of her body and come to a medcenter for help before sepsis set in. Sola didn't find that very reassuring. She wrote it down though, just in case it still happened. She didn't trust that this would be their last trip to the medcenter, not with how Padmé kept pushing herself.)
Padmé clearly was not paying any attention to any of it. Sola knew how her little sister looked when she was tuning something out, and that was exactly how she was reacting then. The cautious tones in their voices as they told her to rest, the stern serious warnings about how she needed to take nutritional supplements were all clearly washing over her and failing to be of interest.
So Sola made sure to write the medical advice down multiple times. Underline it. Write it several sizes larger than the rest of the text.
Her stubborn baby sister was going to follow these professionals' advice, so she could get better and actually care for her children, or so help her…
How much did Naboo know? When had they found out about Palpatine's hidden agenda?
Surely no one expected the Galaxy to believe that Palpatine, their representative for so many decades, had been acting alone without the knowledge of a single person on the planet?
That is what the newest statement from the Office of the Queen is hoping the Galaxy will buy.
She points to Palpatine's 37% approval rating on the planet, as well as Senator Amidala's voting record in the Senate, as proof that the people and interests of Naboo were in opposition to Palpatine's legislative legacy.
This is what is supposed to exonerate the Naboo people? Random polling data? A couple of votes? Absurd.
Let's not forget that it was Amidala herself who first called for a vote of no confidence in Supreme Chancellor Valorum, or that Representative Binks was the one to call for Palpatine to be granted Emergency Powers!
Every single time the man made a grab for power, there was someone from the Naboo system propping him up, assisting him in his ploys.
There is no escaping this, everything in Palatine's history points to his home government being fully culpable in his plot to take over, and their current attempts to distance themselves from the situation should be challenged as the lies they are!
When Padmé finally left the medcenter, her family sent her and her children with her to Varykino.
It was nice being at her family's lake house once more, everything seemed so much better here than it had in Theed.
She had even started to be able to tell her children apart, some of the time at the very least.
Not everything was suddenly better. Since leaving the medcenter, her mother's hovering had become a near constant, as had the strange looks her mom would send her way when she thought her daughter was not looking.
Then there was the private healer her mother had hired to come to Varykino with them.
While it was nice to know that many of the things she was experiencing were normal, she hated how the healer kept claiming that every single parenting guide Padmé had read while pregnant was wrong, simply because she had birthed twins.
Of course some of the healer's advice made sense, such as increasing her caloric intake even more than the amount her doctors had recommended so her body could accommodate the extra milk production, but for the most part the woman simply... hovered and critiqued. Constantly.
Padmé was used to being monitored. She was used to being closely followed. For about half of her life now, she'd had a litany of guards and Handmaidens. Yet there was something about this particular woman's brand of hovering she simply detested.
It probably had to do with the fact she was so good at pointing out when Padmé displayed her ignorance when it came to handling newborns. Padmé was certain she received disapproving looks whenever she delegated tasks related to the twins to members of her staff.
Sure, the healer was kind about it, never daring to say anything that even hinted at disapproving of Padmé's behavior, but Padmé was certain the woman never forgot how bad Padmé was at all of this, focusing on her family as opposed to her work, to being a mother.
Still, it was nice to have someone help identify potential problems. Such as that milk production tip. Padmé would have kept on trying to breastfeed her children herself had the healer not explained that producing milk for two was the source of her newfound dizziness. So she had taken that advice and hired a wet nurse. With the arrival of the new member of staff, there to ensure her children were fed and taken care of, she was recovering so much faster.
Padmé really couldn't wait for the healer to leave.
She looked forward to the healer's departure almost as much as she did her husband's inevitable arrival.
She refused to imagine his trial could result in anything other than their reunion.
Truly she wasn't sure she could do this without him. Hell, she wasn't even certain she could do it with him by her side. It was impossible enough with her entire family on hand.
Every time she turned on the holonews she was reminded that her children had truly picked the worst possible time to enter the world. Even as she let herself relax here, in her most favorite of places, she felt a restless itch that this was not where she was supposed to be. She was needed in the Senate, and the idea of relaxing by the lake when events of such galactic importance were taking place was absurd.
Increasingly she fantasized about simply strapping the babies to her and taking them with her onto the Senate floor.
(Or perhaps far more realistically having her handmaidens care for them in her apartment while she did the work that needed to be done.)
She shifted in her seat, barely having to adjust the child she held in her arms. She had gotten rather good at balancing a baby and her datapad and had even figured out the trick to holding two at once.
Maybe that fantasy of bringing her babies onto the Senate floor with her wasn't too unrealistic. That thought made her smile, content in the reminder that she would not be kept from her work forever, and that she could and eventually would be able to balance childcare and governing. She did not have to choose one or the other, and with time and experience, she was suddenly certain she would figure out the ideal method of fulfilling all of the most important spheres of her life.
...Connect the pieces and Palpatine's motivations start to really come together.
Before the war began, the Republic really understood the need for executive limitations and a diversity of opinions - yet watch any news debate from the weeks leading up to the attacks and you'll see - anyone who so much as disliked the robes Palpatine was wearing would be accused of secretly being a Separatist. Let's be honest - how often have we all heard "if you don't like how we are doing things go join the Confederacy" or "stop disrespecting the office of the Chancellor" in response to even the most basic differences in opinion. That isn't democracy. That isn't free civil debate!
Just look at the security bill Palpatine endorsed last year! Yes, the one I just can't stop harping on all the time on this show, but there's a reason for that. This thing made it legal for his agents to monitor civilian holocalls and messages if they so much as suspected citizens of Separatist activity. Before the war had someone suggested such an expansive breach of civil liberties riots would have broken out, yet that bill passed with only minor objection in the Senate.
Or the very literal militarization of Coruscant's security forces, the slow replacement of all officers of the peace with heavily armed troopers, patrolling as if this very planet was a war zone.
Under his leadership our democracy has been hollowed out from the inside, the institutions here to protect us slowly replaced by the tools of some new and unrecognizable form of government...
"What! What is it mom? You've obviously been holding something in for days now, what is it?"
Padmé's outburst started Jobal, who had been in the process of adjusting the blankets swaddling Luke. The loud voice of his mother combined with his grandmother's sudden tension caused the newborn to let out a wail, and for a moment the confrontation between mother and daughter was averted, as they both focused on soothing the distressed boy.
Once he had been calmed, and placed in his crib to sleep, Jobal turned to her daughter frowning deeply. "What was that about?" Her words were half whispered, but the force behind them still shone through.
"You've been watching me ever since we got to Varykino, mother. It's clear you want to say something, so just say it already."
Jobal did not respond immediately, instead gesturing for Padmé to follow her out of the nursery.
The two walked in silence for a bit, moving further and further away from where the twins slept, and the longer they went without speaking the more irritated Padmé became. What was with all this build up? If her mother wanted to say something to her, why couldn't she just say it?
They entered one of the estate's many parlors, and Jobal sat on a couch, watching Padmé as she crossed the room to sit down as well. Jobal sighed, nodding slightly as she did. "You are right, sweetheart, there is a lot I've been meaning to talk to you about."
Padmé waited expectantly for her mother to continue.
Yet even now that Padmé had brought things up with her directly, Jobal was uncomfortable, she had wished for a bit more time to think of how to phrase things before coming to her daughter with them.
Finally, Jobal met Padmé's eyes. "I feel as if I failed you. I wasn't there when you needed me to be, and I fear I was not even there when you were a child and needed me to teach you how to best lead a safe and fulfilling life."
"What? I am leading a very fulfilling life. Look at my career, at my family. What isn't fulfilling about all of that?" Padmé tried and failed to keep her voice calm, to prevent herself from yelling.
Jobal did not react to her daughter's shift in tone, she kept speaking in the same sad voice. "I'm not phrasing this right. Sweetie I just mean that I wish I had known some of what was going on, any of it, before this point. That I could have been there for you, helped you navigate your relationship, given you advice during your pregnancy." Jobal paused for a moment, turning away from her daughter, looking down at her lap. When she started to speak again her voice wavered with suppressed emotion. "You were going through so many major things and I didn't know about any of it."
"Mom, you just implied that my life isn't fulfilling and that I am putting myself in danger. That isn't just phrasing things wrong," Padmé said, frustrated and insulted.
"I worry about you. I see you hide your relationship from us, see you push yourself to keep working just days after you've given birth, you didn't even seem to process the news the medics were giving you, and I worry."
"Well stop. There is nothing for you to worry about."
"Do you know how much you scared me Padmé? First, you reject help, and then you collapse bleeding in the middle of the street? Yet even after that, even after I thought I could have lost you, you keep pushing yourself! I know how important your job is, but you are more important to me than anything else could possibly ever be!"
"Mother, the integrity of Democracy itself has been compromised!" Padmé deflated, took a small breath and then continued in a smaller voice, "Mom, if this trial goes wrong Anakin could be-"
"No Padmé, I don't care what else is happening, or who is in danger, you have to take care of yourself! I worked too hard to ensure both you and Sola knew that reproductive knowledge is important, to take its power seriously, to watch you treat this like it isn't the major medical event that it is."
"I understand that that childbirth isn't a minor matter! Mom, you know that I understand that!"
"I know you do on an intellectual level. That is what makes this so hard to watch. You aren't endangering yourself out of ignorance, but out of some strange belief that somehow it doesn't apply to you!"
"Doesn't apply to - mother, I am perfectly aware of my limits!"
"Are you? I have heard you give advice to countless constituents seeking out information, by Shiraya you've even championed longer parental leave protections in the Senate. I shouldn't have to explain to you why it is important for you to get rest, you already know all the reasons, know them better than I do! Yet clearly you are incapable of following your own advice!"
"Mother, you are being ridiculous, my husband is on trial, you expect me to be able to… to… just rest up by the lake?" Padmé's emotions were rising up, blocking her throat and stealing her words.
"Yes, that marriage of yours. I worry about that too. I am so worried that you are playing pretend with him. Lost in a fantasy where you never had to cohabitate, never actually experienced each other at your worst as well as your best, never fought or compromised." Jobal let out a loud sigh and met Padmé's eye as she glared at her. "Please don't look at me like that, ever since you were young you've seen the best in everyone and everything, and I know that's been just fine for you, your job is so hard, it makes sense that you'd want to have a simple life outside of work. That's what made you such a great poet when you were younger, that idealism of yours. But dearest, you can't do that when you have children."
"Just what is that supposed to mean, mother? I understand if my keeping my marriage from you for so many years upset you, but Anakin and I have been married for almost four years now." Four years of struggling to maintain a relationship through a war.
Scattered moments where they could grab them, a lack of stability the only true constant.
Of needing to talk to her friends and family, to seek out advice or just share what she was experiencing, and yet having nowhere to turn.
Anakin's sickening terrible jealousy, how he'd just watched her ex fall to his death.
The many times Anakin had acted as if she should drop her work just because he was available.
The ridiculous ultimatums he would create, telling her if she did not prioritize him over bills and debates then she'd be proving she did not love him as much as he loved her.
They had gotten through all of that together, had committed to working through their issues.
She sighed, there was no way for her mother to know any of this of course. She had thought Padmé was single until just before the twins' birth.
Padmé took in a deep breath and nodded. "Of course our marriage isn't perfect. I have no delusions about that. We have our problems, like any other couple. Which is why we have agreed to go to counseling."
"You are in counseling? That is good to hear. When I heard you had a secret marriage, oh sweetheart, I was so scared. But if he is willing to accept help… Sweetheart, if not for yourself please promise me you will make sure your children have a good home life. They are depending on you, Padmé."
The two continued to argue, to share their frustrations and fears and hopes and joys. Exposing ways they had hurt one another, failures to share or listen or act. In the moment it was messy hurt and raw pain and the occasional raised voice.
In the end, Jobal was no more ready to trust her daughter to take care of herself, but well… maybe that was a good thing since Padmé had not walked away suddenly ready to focus on her own health and recovery. Jobal reassessed her opinion of the family her youngest child suddenly had, and Padmé her opinion of the one she'd had her entire life.
There were still new things to learn about each other, new ways to see and understand who they were. New parts of their relationship to negotiate, and renegotiate, and then perhaps negotiate once again - never perfect, but… truly, what family is?
With communication channels between the Separatists and the Republic now fully open for the first time in years, it seems as if the war may be over soon. How much of this can be attributed to the actions of General Skywalker will be debated at his upcoming trial, but things are looking good for the Hero With No Fear.
Yet even with Galactic polls showing a high rate of approval for the war finally coming to a close, not everyone is ready to pursue a ceasefire. On the Senate floor today debates raged on...
The debates raged away. More and more evidence of Palpatine's role as Sidious was uncovered, continued contact with the Separatist senators opening up whole new avenues of debate.
Through it all Mas Amedda occupied his new position of Chancellor and planned his way forward.
In time this chaos would be cured. In time things would be set on an ordered and neat path. Palpatine's death was a major setback, but it was not the end of his dream for a unified Galactic Empire.
Far from it.