Chapter 39

Padme looked at her daughter in horror. She was covered in blood and burn marks from the blasters.

"Leah!" She gasped as she ran to her daughter "Are you alright?"

Laetitia didn't say anything and just let her mother hold her. She never took her eyes off the other person present in the room.

Obi-wan just stared at the mother and daughter.

Dad?! Laetitia doesn't have a father. Unless …

The realization hit him. his worst fears have come true. Anakin IS Laetitia's father and all this time, he had lied to the council. They all had.

He was about to say something but he just couldn't find the right words. He frowned. He felt something in the Force. There weren't 3 people in the room. There were 4. Padme was pregnant with Anakin's child again.

Under the normal circumstances, he would be happy for his brother but they weren't in a normal situation. Anakin had turned to the dark side and if got his hands on either of his children, he would destroy them by turning them to the dark side.

Obi-wan rubbed his chin and sighed. This was not good.

"Anakin is the father, isn't he?" He asked as he turned to look at Padme. "Both of them?"

Padme and Laetitia just looked at each other but Obi-wan already knew the answer.

"I'm so sorry." He said and left.

As soon as they were alone, Laetitia asked her mother "Why was he here?"

"He just … said some things … about your father."

"What things?"

"Impossible things. Now, I need you to stay here."

"What? What are you talking about? Where are you going?"

"To find Anakin."

"Mom, maybe you … shouldn't."

Padme frowned in confusion "What do you mean?"

Leah let out a cry she had held in the entire day. She could not believe all these things were happening on her birthday.

"Mom, dad is … he's different. Maybe you shouldn't go look for him. It's not safe for you or the baby." She said looking down at her feet. She was ashamed and embarrassed of what she said or even thinking.

"Sweetie, I know you're worried about me and the baby, and I love you for that, but your dad would never hurt me or you. He loves us."

Leah still wasn't convinced but she decided to leave it be. If her mom was gonna do something dangerous, she wasn't gonna let her go alone.

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not."

"Mom, you know there is nothing you can say or do to stop me from doing something I wanna do. So how about we just stop wasting time and go to the ship?"

Laetitia landed the Nabooian ship on the lava planet. Mustafar. She had never been there before but only heard about it when Sidious kidnapped Force-sensitive children and had them brought here. She had a bad feeling about this. She could feel a lot of anger and sorrow was about to happen there.

Padme was about to leave but Leah stopped her by holding her arm. She didn't need to be a Force-sensitive to know when her daughter was worried.

She sat in front of her "Leah, I know you think it's dangerous but if what Obi-wan's saying is true, I need to know for myself. I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes. I still don't believe your dad did those things. He couldn't have."

Laetitia looked at her mother. She didn't know who she was trying to convince.

Padme continued "Now, I need you to promise me two things. If something happens to me …"

"Nothing's gonna happen to you!"

"If. If anything happens, I need you to promise me that you'll take care of you brother or sister. Make sure the baby lives a normal and happy life. I don't want either of you involved in this mess."

Leah shook her head crying.

"Now, the second thing. If … if Obi-wan was right and Anakin is really …" She didn't dare finish those thoughts "If I couldn't, I want you to bring him back. Don't give up on your dad. Believe and know that no matter what happens, he will always love you. Help him be the person you know him to be. He can't do it alone. He's stubborn. He won't want help but that doesn't mean he doesn't need it."

Leah just cried and looked down.

"I need to hear you say it."

She pulled herself together "I … promise."

"That's my girl." She said as she hugged her daughter "I love you."

Laetitia never got to say it back because they both saw Anakin coming out of a building. As soon as Padme saw him, she ran out of the ship.

Leah was about to follow her but she stayed back. Her parents needed to talk alone.

"You can come out now. She's gone." She suddenly said to no one.

Obi-wan slowly came in from the back.

Laetitia gave him a death glare. Obi-wan was embarrassed.

"My mom wouldn't give him up, so you decide to sneak in aboard? That was low, even for you. I thought the Jedi were supposed to be the noble ones." She said bitterly.

"Laetitia, I …"

"I don't care why you're here. Just stay here and don't create any more problems that we already do."

She stopped halfway and said without turning back to face him "Oh and Obi-wan? If you hurt my dad, I will kill you." She said bluntly and left.

Leah walked out of the ship and saw her parents. She thought it was best not to interrupt them. She heard her mother.

"Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else while we still can! Think about Leah." Padme begged.

"Don't you see? I'm doing this for Laetitia. And we don't have to run away anymore. I brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the chancellor. I can overthrow him. And together, you and I can rule the galaxy, make things the way we want them to be!" Anakin said, smiling. It was like he had no idea how wrong what he was saying was.

Padme slowly backed away from him. She looked at him and she didn't recognize the person standing in front of her. Obi-wan was right. Laetitia was right. He was … different. Just different.

Laetitia looked at him with tears in her eyes. she couldn't believe it was possible for a person to change that much. Especially her father, basically the warmest and kindest person she knew.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. Obi-wan was right. You've … changed."

Anakin was getting angry and annoyed. "I don't wanna hear more about Obi-wan." He threatened "The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me."

"I don't know you anymore!" Padme cried "Anakin! You're breaking my heart. You're going down a path I can't follow."

Laetitia frowned at what she felt. She slowly turned around and saw Obi-wan beside her.

"I thought I told you to stay back." She said through her teeth.

Obi-wan didn't say anything and just looked at Anakin.

"Because of Obi-wan?" Anakin asked suspiciously.

"Because of what you've done! What you plan to do."

Obi-wan closed his distance. Anakin was getting angrier.

"Stop! Stop now! Come back! I love you!" She begged, not knowing it was already too late.

Done :(

The next chapter, I'm gonna make some differences in Anakin's destiny. The outcome is the same. You'll notice but I thought it was better for my story.