A/N: YHELLOW! Hope everyone I enjoying this lovely winter as much as I am (sarcasm). It's just not healthy to spend so much time indoors. But hey, it gives me time to write this fic. ANYWAYSSS….

Thanks Heaven's prayers for reviewing. You are soo nice!

Also thank you JourneyRocks13. And yes, there should have been these kinds of scenes in the movies.

Lusitana, thank you as well. It did disturb their relationship, but the loss gives them an opportunity to be even closer now that they've both lost a parent.

And thank you dragonball256.

Okay, enough rambling. Update time.


Chapter Fifty-four

Our Dreams are Over

They hadn't been safe on Coruscant and after all that had happened, Anakin and Padmé were definitely not safe on Naboo.

Anakin didn't know who Ventress's master was, but he knew that although she failed to kill either of them didn't mean their worries were over. Someone was still hell-bent on getting rid of Padmé.

It was just a matter of where to go.

They packed the last of their things.

"We can go to Tatooine." Anakin said.

"You don't think the assassins would figure out we're there? It seems so obvious, your homeland."

"If they're going to find us, they'll find us. It doesn't matter where we go. We're just buying ourselves time."

"How long can we buy time before they catch up with us, Anakin?"

"I won't let that happen. I told you before we ever went to Naboo, before I was assigned to be your bodyguard. I told you, I would protect you. And I'm going to."

"At what cost?"

He looked at her wordlessly.

"You would pay with your life?"

"I hope it doesn't come to that. But yes."

She looked away from him. "I don't think we're equipped to be good parents for our children."

"Why?"

"With someone always trying to assassinate me? And you having to risk your life to protect me? That is not an easy life for a child. It's not one I want for my children."

"So what do we do, Padmé? Tell me, because I have no idea."

"I think we should give them up for adoption."

He looked stricken. "How could you ever say that? We deserve better than that. We deserve to raise them like normal parents."

"We're not normal! And it isn't about us and what we want or deserve anymore, Ani. It's about our babies. We can't subject them to such a life. It's not fair. They never asked for this."

"Who is going to accept that kind of burden? You have no friends. Sola already has her hands full."

"Owen and Beru."

"I could never ask them to do that. I barely know them."

"They're the only family you have, Anakin."

He shut his eyes for a moment. "I…I need some time to think this through."

He walked out of the room and Padmé followed.

"Leave me alone. Just for a little while. Please."

She stepped back, her voice was soft. "Okay."

She sat down on the edge of her bed, staring silently off into the air.

She tried to be strong. Come to terms with the decision she had made.

The wise, intelligent side of her told her she was doing the right thing. But in her heart, she couldn't justify her choice.

She started to weep.

She lay down on the bed, her tears soaking the pillow underneath her head. She fell asleep eventually.


When Padmé woke up from a deep sleep, she was lying on one of the Naboo Cruiser's cots.

Anakin was sitting by her bedside.

She looked at him as she sat up.

"I'll ask them once we get there."

"I'm sorry, Anakin. I never wanted it to be this way."

"I know you didn't." he hesitated.

"I was so selfish."

"Ani, you are not selfish."

"I shouldn't have let my personal feelings get in the way. Obi-wan warned me. Ruwee was angry at me during the Naboo conflict. He said you'd be better with some wealthy dignitary. He was right. You'd get to be the mother you always wanted to be. I stole that from you."

"No. I would be very unhappy if I didn't have you in my life."

"I'd still be a part of your life. As your friend."

"But I didn't want you as my friend, Anakin. You are the only person I could ever devote myself to. I'd be living a lie if I married someone else. How could I ever look another man in the eyes and tell them I love them the way I love you?"

He didn't answer.

"We had our happiness. Our dream. It's over now. But I would rather have those beautiful small moments on Naboo than an entire life with a man I don't love to live a comfortable life."

He smiled sadly. "You're stupid, Padmé."

"I learn from the very best."

They both laughed weakly.

He took her hands in his, his kiss gentle on her lips.

She laughed when she felt his hands settle over her belly.

He looked focused and she wondered why.

"I'm sending my love through the force."

She covered his hands with hers.

"I want them to remember how much I love them."

"Anakin, they can't form memory yet. They're not developed enough."

"Well, let's just ignore the basic laws of biology for a moment. Let's pretend they can."

She kissed his forehead.

For a moment she forgot that Ruwee had died. That she wouldn't get to watch her children grow up. To see their first set of teeth. To watch them as they learned to walk. Or speak.

She forget that one day after the war had ended and her son and daughter were grown she would look into their eyes and they would look back at the stranger staring at them.

That they would hate her for leaving them behind.

Ask her why she didn't want them.

And that she would tell them with tears in her eyes and pain in her heart and tell them she wanted them more than anything. That she had longed for them before they existed, before Anakin gave them to her.

Those thoughts were distant. All she could feel was the peace of the moment.