Doing this for fun...nothing more. I simply am asking myself...what if?
Padme deserved better…
Padme sat next to the stasis pod in her apartments on Coruscant trying to reconcile what had just happened. The Jedi temple was on fire. To thunderous applause Chancellor Palpatine had just become Emperor Palpatine. Just before he called the emergency session he had sent Mas Amedda with the pod to her apartment bearing the dead body of her beloved Anakin. The official story was that he had given his life to protect the chancellor from a traitorous assassination attempt by the Jedi. Palpatine had pronounced him a hero, the first hero of the new and glorious Galactic Empire. But she knew that was a lie…
'You killed him!' she raged to herself alone in her apartment thinking murderous thoughts of Palpatine. Stroking her pregnant belly she understood now Anakin's vision. Their baby was in mortal peril now. Her beautiful and powerful husband… was gone! She had to be careful now. She needed to protect her baby! Anakin was not the boy of the Chosen One prophecy but now there was every chance her baby was, if she was right then her baby was next on Palpatine's murderous agenda.
Captain Typho interrupted her thoughts softly announcing the arrival of a visitor. She didn't want to see anyone but when she turned to let the captain know that, her heart leapt with relief. Obi-Wan stood next to him, a very tired and sad look on his face. She let her grief out then in quiet tears streaming down her face. Obi-Wan hurried towards her but came to a sudden stop as he caught sight of the stasis pod.
"Anakin! Anakin no!" he cried hurrying to the side of the capsule and collapsing on the floor next to the pod. Through the transparent cover Anakin just looked like he was sleeping but the pods were used only to transport the dead. Obi-Wan draped his arms around the floating pod and wept disconsolately.
"I failed you Anakin! I have failed you!" he wept in despair. Padme grabbed Obi-Wan's hand and pulled it hard to get his attention.
"Pull yourself together! We need your help Obi-Wan!" she commanded tears still flowing freely down her face. He looked up as Padme stood from the couch. He realized she was wearing one of Anakin's brown robes. She tossed it down to the ground and his eyes went wide. She stood there in a soft long light blue night gown. Her very pregnant belly was now easy for him to see.
"Anakin is the father…I am so sorry Padme," he said softly.
"We have no time for sorrows! My baby is in danger Obi-Wan! You are my only hope!" she retorted despair and anger battling in her tone and her pretty face. Obi-Wan took a deep breath and nodded.
"You're right! Palpatine is the Sith lord we've been looking for. If Anakin isn't the chosen one then there is a good chance your baby is. We have to get you to safety," he added getting to his feet slowly, feeling suddenly like he was 1000 years old.
"I have a plan. It's risky but it can work. I will need your help. Are you with me Obi-Wan?" she asked, her arms wrapped protectively around her belly as her baby stretched and shifted inside. Sometimes it felt like her baby had four arms and four legs with how active he was.
"I am with you Padme," he asserted. He looked down at the face in the stasis pod.
"Whatever you need…" he added determined not to fail anymore…
A couple days later in the infirmary of an abandoned mining station…
Pain was somehow comforting to Padme right now. This pain meant life! Her baby had come but she was not alone. Padme had been carrying twins all along. She barely managed a groan of pain as she pushed once more. The med droid pronounced finally the birth of her son. She wept with joy and grief. Anakin was not here to hold their son or their daughter. Obi-Wan smiled sadly with tiny Luke bundled in his arms as the med droid put Leia in hers.
As the med droid moved away to begin sterilizing the infirmary, Bail Organa came forward to help Padme. Padme had made her plans with Sabe and her old friend Bail. She handed little Leia carefully to her friend Bail and watched him hold Leia smiling tenderly at the tiny baby in his arms. This made the next part of her plan a little easier.
"Bail, my old friend… I need another favor of you and it's a big one," Padme began tiredly.
"Rest my friend. There is time enough for that…"
"No! No time! We must act quickly!" Padme countered pushing herself up to a sitting position. She took a deep breath stealing herself for the next words. Words born of desperation and love for her children…true selfless love… Obi-Wan's arm came up behind her helping her steady herself. He gave her a resolute nod, letting her know he was with her.
"Listen, I want you and Breha to take Leia and raise her as your own, please…you're the best hope she has to live safely and anonymous," Padme pleaded desperately. Bail's eyes went wide and a tear escaped him. He looked down at the tiny human that would now fulfill his and Breha's dream of being parents.
"That's not a favor you ask but I great gift I can never thank you enough for," said Bail tears of joy on his face. "Leia will be loved with us," he assured her with all the strength of character Padme had known him for. Padme stroked little Leia's face and smiled sadly, tears running freely down her face.
"Goodbye my little princess. Your mama loves you," she began "Go now Bail! As fast as you can! Take her to Alderaan and keep her safe!" Overcome with emotion Bail hugged Padme promising her to love Leia with all of his heart and protect her with everything he had. It was all Padme could hope for.
"Master Kenobi, Master Yoda…no matter what happens or what you see please remember I am your friend," Bail assured him. On his way out he stopped in front of Sabe – who was standing strong and determined as ever – watching by the door. A tear rolled down her face as Bail stopped so her stalwart bodyguard could say goodbye to Leia. Sabe smiled sadly and held Leia's tiny hand for a moment then released her. Her face set hard with determination again. She gave Senator Organa a determined nod.
"Bail take R2! Take R2 and Threepio!" Padme called out. R2 beep a vehement objection.
"Please R2, look out for Leia and Bail for me will you? Please?" Padme asked looking at her and Anakin's little faithful companion. R2 made a sad beep but moved away towards Bail Organa. Threepio looked from Padme to Bail confused. Padme gave him a sad look.
"I'm sorry Threepio, go with R2," she began sadly then turned to Bail with conviction renewed and gave him only a nod. He knew what would need to be done. The little astromech R2-D2 would be an asset to Bail in the fight to come but Threepio would be a liability to Padme. His memory would need to be wiped and Threepio could simply blend in with Bail's many other protocol droids. There were at least a dozen other droids just like Threepio on Bail's flagship alone to say nothing of R2 units! Looking confused the golden droid said his goodbye sadly and shuffled away with Bail Organa unknowing of the fate that awaited him.
Padme held her tears in check once more. Her job wasn't done yet. Sabe moved in quick to help her queen to her feet. Obi-Wan and Master Yoda moved with little Luke outside of the infirmary to wait while Sabe helped Padme get dressed. Padme had been right about the plan being risky. Sabe had lured a separatist attack force to Padme's ship. The ships attacked Padme. Having Obi-Wan on board her ship meant they made short work of the separatists.
Padme got away but the plan had cost brave Capt. Typho's life. His body now lay next to Anakin's. The next part was critical. The med droid had been instructed not to treat her injuries and to induce labor only. Sabe had gathered some of the blood expelled from her body during delivery and made it look as if she gave birth on the ship.
She had also altered the logs to ensure it did not look like they ever came near her children's true birth place, she made it look as if her ship never landed anywhere other than the enemy ship that briefly took them hostage. Padme had suffered several burns and a couple of broken bones. Obi-Wan had treated the wounds with her med kit on her ship as best he could on their way here where they would rendezvous with her friend Bail. This part of the ruse was critical; she needed to arrive on Naboo injured and with dead bodies in tow.
With Sabe's help she finally got off her bed and got dressed. First they turned off the old med droid once it finished cleaning, wiped its memory and then limped out to Obi-Wan and Yoda. Both Masters waited patiently as Luke slept peacefully in Obi-Wan's arms. Padme let go of Sabe and limped towards Obi-Wan. She smiled at her baby but as Obi-Wan offered Luke back she shook her head.
"No Obi-Wan…you know what you have to do. You have to keep Luke safe! No matter what!" she ordered sounding every bit the Queen she had once been on Naboo.
"Padme no! You're baby needs you! I can protect you!"
"Stop! I have to make it back to Naboo or Luke and Leia will never be safe! You know that!" Padme commanded.
"Wise you are…and brave," said Master Yoda, a sad look on his ancient face.
"We are brave your highness!" Sabe reiterated and her conviction was infectious, Padme felt some of her strength returned to her. Sabe stepped in and explained the next part of the plan. Two small ships waited outside for them one of them was the small ship Master Yoda had used to escape from the Wookie home world during order 66. The other was a small very old freighter. It would not get the two Masters and their tiny charge far but there were a number of places where they could sell the ship discreetly and book passage elsewhere.
"We can't know where you are going. That is essential for Luke's safety," Sabe concluded.
"Take me to my final destination, this ship will," Master Yoda said looking at the tiny ship he had used to escape Kashyyk. Sabe exchanged a worried look with Padme.
"Into exile, I will go. In a different direction Obi-Wan and Luke must head. Brave and strong you must continue to be Padme and Sabe. Long and difficult, is your road," Yoda added solemnly to both women.
"Master Yoda, please understand that unless you land on a spaceport you will be stranded! You won't even be able to send out for help in that tiny thing," Sabe argued. Yoda smiled sadly at her.
"Wait I will, until needed again I am, that is my destiny. Find me Luke will, when he is ready for training," he concluded very solemnly. With great effort Padme ignored the pain in her body as she bent down.
"Master…" she began unable to find words to comfort the tiny ancient teacher. He looked sadly at her and as he put his tiny arms around her she felt her pain ease considerably.
"Darkest is the night before the sun rises, joy you will find again, of this I am sure," he said softly in her ear and some of her pain ebbed. She wondered if he was using the Force somehow to help her with the pain.
"Thank you," she whispered back and with Sabe's strong and steady hand she rose once more. Obi-Wan looked at her with despair. Padme summoned every ounce of confidence she had.
"Obi-Wan, Anakin loved you like a father! He was afraid of disappointing you and that was really why he never said anything to you about us. Please forgive him for that," these were things she knew could not be left unsaid. She handed Obi-Wan Anakin's lightsaber, with a tear running down his face Obi-Wan reluctantly took it.
"Padme I always knew. I knew all along. But I preferred to be blind. I was blind to so many things and Palpatine took advantage of us all for it," he said guilt and despair on his face.
"I'm not angry at him. How can I be? I failed him because I was blind…"
"Blind we all were Obi-Wan," Yoda interjected solemnly.
"Learn from this we must and pass it on to Luke and the future generations or true failures we will be," he pronounced ominously. With a tear on his face Obi-Wan agreed. He hugged Padme once more and hurried to his vessel. He needed to get to Ord Mantel first and sell the ship, he had a solid untraceable plan and his eventual destination was the last place the Emperor would ever think to look for Anakin's son…
Master Yoda headed to his ship after watching Obi-Wan leave with his tiny charge. Only Yoda knew where Master Kenobi was going and he was certain Luke and Obi-Wan would be safe there. Sabe helped Padme limped to her ship and Yoda watched her get on their ship and depart. He stood for a moment on the platform searching the force to ensure their plans could not be tracked. Satisfied, he climbed on to his tiny ship and set course for Dagobah…
Sabe lowered her queen to the cot behind the pilot seat then hurried to the pilot seat. Padme finally allowed herself to succumb to grief and pain. The med droid was instructed not to help her. It was supposed to look like she gave birth on her tiny ship in distress. Capt. Typho's body was in a black bag next to Anakin's stasis pod and she was glad for that. Looking at two dead dear faces was more than she could bear.
Anakin looked peaceful as if in sleep. In the crook of his left arm was placed a tiny bundle. This part of the plan had been tough on both women. Sabe had gone in to the lowest levels of Coruscant. Her mission was to find a stillborn human boy. It wasn't difficult to find what she was looking for in the slums of Coruscant.
Sabe checked the free clinics first and found a dying woman in an alley behind a crowded clinic, still bleeding clutching her dead baby. Moved by the girl's tragic situation, Sabe had briefly abandoned her mission and tried to take the woman to a better hospital but the poor young woman died before she got there. So she took the girl to the morgue, gave her a name and paid for her cremation. Her ashes were being shipped hidden in Padme's regular luggage from Coruscant. She would be buried on Naboo with her son.
The tiny bundle in Anakin's pod was the mystery girl's dead baby who would pose as Padme's son during Anakin's funeral on Naboo. He was entered in the logs of the ship as having died of the injuries inflicted on his mother Padme. But looking at them in that coffin together now Padme wailed in grief and pain. Sinking in was the true realization that her babies were gone forever! She would never hold them; she would never hear their first words or watch them take their first steps. The pain in her broken body was nothing compared to that! She let grief overtake her and she screamed her rage and pain…
'My queen deserved better than this!' Sabe gritted her teeth against her grief and her rage! She wished there was some way she could shield her queen from this pain! That's what a bodyguard was supposed to do right? Protect their charge from harm! But all she could do was sit there and bear the burden of not being able to do a damn thing! Padme continued to scream in grief and rage until exhaustion finally claimed her and she fell into fitful sleep. Sabe got up then, pulled a blanket over her queen and returned to her seat. Only then did she allow herself to cry as their shipped limped towards Naboo…
Anakin was floating somewhere between death and sleep. Everything around him was dark and he couldn't feel his body. He felt so ashamed and angry at himself. How could he have trusted that vile treacherous snake? But trust he had and in doing so abandoned the people he should have been protecting. He realized now the trap of the dark side. Greed was the dark side's biggest pitfall. Now he was dead, his sweet angel Padme and their baby would soon join him. He understood the vision now; they would die because he wasn't there to protect them.
'It's too late…I failed,' he thought letting himself fall deeper into the darkness.
"Are you sure," said a deep compassionate voice in the darkness. A white light suddenly appeared behind him and with a bit of trouble Anakin turned towards it.
"Who's there?" he asked intrigued. The voice sounded so familiar!
"Are you sure you're not just too early? Maybe it's not time for you to be the chosen one. Maybe you have to wait for the right time,"
"Master Qui-Gon? Is that you?" he asked towards the distant white light struggling now to get closer to it, he heard a light chuckle.
"You were always in such a hurry to do everything. Patience is a Jedi's greatest virtue,"
"Master Qui-Gon I failed. Palpatine betrayed me, he used me! I'm such an idiot! And now I'm dead and I can't apologize to Obi-Wan and Padme!" he wept trying to get closer but the light seemed to be moving away.
"Are you?"
"Am I what? Dead? An idiot? A dead idiot? Yes!" he gave up struggling towards the light and surrendered himself to the coming darkness. Acceptance was always hard for Anakin but finally he had learned the hardest of lessons. It had taken the loss of everything he loved to finally understand.
"I'm sorry Obi-Wan…Padme…I'm so sorry…I love you both so much…" He said into the darkness and heard Master Qui-Gon sigh.
"I'm sorry too Anakin. I put so much on you and Obi-wan's shoulders. It was not fair," Qui-Gon said sadly. Anakin noticed the light growing closer now that he wasn't struggling.
"Just because you were the chosen one that doesn't mean you were meant to be alone…I am sorry that you felt that way. You, Obi-Wan and Padme deserved better,"
"Thank you Master…I am so sorry I messed up…I wish I could go back… I would do anything to make up for my mistakes…"
"Anything?"
"Yes…for Obi-Wan…for Padme…for our baby…Oh and sweet Ahsoka! I failed her! I would do anything…" Anakin replied his heart had let go of regret and was filled now only with love for his angel Padme and for his big brother Obi-Wan for his little sister Ahsoka. And for his son he was full of hope that Obi-Wan might live to save his baby and save Padme. His vision had shown him Obi-Wan would be with her…
"Anakin, I have an important task for you. You must learn the difference between being idle and waiting. And most importantly you must learn to let go and trust in the Force. When you return, I think you will find this to be your greatest challenge,"
"What do you mean? I'm going back!?" Anakin replied a spark of hope igniting that fiery passion he was famous for. He would find Obi-Wan and Padme and Ahsoka! He could tell them he was sorry. He would tell Ahsoka he should have left with her. She was right!
"Anakin…the trials you face as you return will be the most difficult you have ever encountered. Are you sure you want to go back?" Master Qui-Gon retorted ominously. This gave Anakin pause. Of course if he returned he would have to deal with Palpatine but he had no way of knowing what his situation would be when he returned. How long had he been unconscious? Was he still in Palpatine's office? If he was, there was no doubt he would help Master Windu, but he got the feeling his time for that choice had passed.
"Yes Master Qui-Gon," he replied cautiously. Once he would have jumped in headless of dangers but Anakin had indeed learned this lesson well.
"When in doubt look to the Force…you will find me there," Qui-Gon replied as the world exploded in light and Anakin blinked as he returned to the world of the living. It was quiet, he could hear servos whirring somewhere in the room and noticed a coroner droid working at a console. He looked around testing his aching body. He had lost feeling in the right side of his body from his face down to his feet. He blinked several times and learned he could not see out of his right eye.
'Makes sense,' he thought taking a deep breath and allowing the Force to move through him. Master Windu had cornered the Sith lord. Palpatine had asked for Anakin's help but Anakin hesistate. Doubt in Palpatine's intentions had been eating at him as much as his doubts of the Jedi. In that moment of hesitation Palpatine had shot his lighting at Anakin's exposed metal hand. He had forgotten to put his leather glove back on and the surge had been intensified by the metal. Everything had gone dark after that.
He was in a morgue, which was obvious from the other pods around the room. He needed to get to Padme and he needed to warn Obi-Wan. Ahsoka was on Mandalore… he might still be able to warn her and Rex. He had to be patient though. He stayed very still allowing the Force to help him regain feeling in his leg. He tested again after several minutes and saw that he could move his leg now and his face though the stump of his right arm was still completely useless and his right eye was very blurry. He realized his lightsaber was gone.
'That could be problematic…' thought Anakin but once more he called on the Force. He needed to get out of the pod he was in and find out what was going on.
'One step at a time,' he advised himself. As he now tried to move his left arm he felt a small bundle there. He shifted his weight and finally managed to sit up. The shroud covering up the little bundle fell just enough to reveal a tiny face and Anakin stared, horror hitting him harder than the boulder he used to flatten the Tuskens.
NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO!
Somehow he managed to get out of the pod. The Force seemed to explode around him as did the morgue's attendant droid as it hit the alarm. He had felt crushing pain like this only once before but he felt helpless this time. The dark side did not come to him as it did then when his mother died. He wept and collapsed onto his knees. Master Qui-Gon had not been kidding! This was the hardest trial and Anakin wasn't sure he could survive it.
'I would've rather lost both my arms and legs and my life along with it than to lose you!' he thought looking at the tiny face bundled in his arm. Grief and pain making him scream incoherently. The door of the morgue opened his angel Padme came in. Her loyal friend and body guard tough as durasteel, Sabe helped her limp towards him. He stopped screaming and wept unreservedly as Padme knelt next to him and with both arms around his chest and her lips to his ear she released him from pain.
"That is not our baby," she whispered so softly Anakin was sure he had only hoped she said it. She pulled his weeping face towards her and kissed him. Then once more put her lips to his ear and repeated the phrase. Anakin's grief abated just enough to look at the tiny face once more and think. He let the Force be his guide.
"Padme, I'm so sorry,"
"You're alive! I thought I lost you! But you're here! We thought you were dead," Padme wept tears of joy for the first time in days.
'We?' thought Anakin in the haze of grief a ray of light shone through. Obi-Wan thought he was dead and she thought he was dead.
'So that means she sent our baby away into hiding with Obi-Wan!' he realized as relief suddenly flooded him. He collapsed exhausted into Padme's arms at peace with the knowledge that Obi-Wan would love Luke and take good care of him. A medic made it past Sabe and with deep reluctance he let go of the tiny being that in death would be keeping his baby safe. He realized that despite the knowledge that their son was alive he felt the deepest of grief. It was impossible to know if he would ever meet his son.
'Master you weren't kidding…this is hard,' He thought as he let himself get lifted onto a gurney…
So I don't know how often I will be updating this. I will certainly continue the story as I have a lot of what ifs in my head for this universe. Hopefully I can post something soon for Ahsoka and maybe Cal Kestis from Fallen Order. We'll see...