The ride from the landing strip to the Senate Dome was only a few minutes, but to Padmé as she sat on the transport taking her and Obi-Wan back to speak to the politicians, it felt as though it might have been hours. She looked out the windows, watching the buildings of Coruscant fly by, unable to ignore the anxiety that was starting to build as she finally would get to see her husband after so long away.

"Padmé?" She looked up towards Obi-Wan, who had chosen to stand while she simply sat hunched over, in her Jedi robes. He waited patiently for a moment, but sighed when she didn't respond. "Padmé, are you alright?"

"Physically or mentally?" The answer to both might have been a no, if she was honest. The excitement of the day combined with the strain of her turbulent pregnancy had left Padmé in a worse state of exhaustion than even the war had, and mentally...telling your husband you haven't seen in six months you've been pregnant with his child while fighting in a war was not bound to win her any empathy. Obi-Wan gave her a look, so she sighed. "I don't know how I'm going to tell Anakin. It wasn't supposed to happen."

Her master thought they had a one night stand, a stupid mistake where some alcohol had reminded them of some feelings they'd long since abandoned and a mistake had been made, but that didn't make the truth any less real. She already loved the baby growing inside of her, but they never should have happened.

"Just tell him. He's Anakin. He'd be no more capable of hating you or that child than I was when you told me." She still remembered that night well. At first Obi-Wan had been upset, she'd felt it in the Force, but it had quickly melted away for concern and a desire to help her through those weeks when Anakin couldn't, and a claim on one of her child as his next Padawan. "You're both too close to let something like this destroy your friendship, there's no sense in denying that."

Padmé hugged him. "Thank you, Master. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'll always be here." He helped her up, and she made sure to adjust her robes to hide her stomach, so as not to attract any attention from the Senate as they docked. "Unless, of course, you want help dealing with politicians."

She held back a laugh. "Still not a fan?"

"Anakin might be one of the only politicians I can remotely tolerate, and that's just because he's Anakin." Obi-Wan smiled. "Still though, you are the hero for the day, and somebody will need to report to the Jedi Council, and I'm willing to bet you'd like to avoid that as long as possible."

"Oh, so that's the favor I get for dealing with politicians." Not that she minded, it just meant lots of attention she didn't particularly want when there was only one politician she wanted to see. "Do I get another one for saving your life for the tenth time as well?"

"Ninth Padmé, it's only been nine times. The business on Cato Neimoidia doesn't count." He waved as she got off the transport. Normally, she would argue that it totally did, but she could still feel the butterflies flying around in her. She could let him have that one, at least. "I'll see you at the temple tomorrow morning for when we get our next assignment?"

"I'll be there." Whether Obi-Wan knew the blessing he was giving her by letting her stay the night at Anakin's, Padmé wasn't sure, but she appreciated him either way for it more than ever as she merged into the crowd of politicians, her eyes skimming for Anakin as she listened in on the conversations.

"Chancellor Palpatine, are you alright?" The Mace bowed as Palpatine approached, a smile on his face.

"Yes, thanks to your two Jedi Knights." She could hear the smile in his voice momentarily before it fell, and unbidden, Padmé remembered the point he had brought up on the Invisible Hand. Was he only faking his happiness to avoid revealing his suspicions as to the fact that Dooku had a sympathetic ear among the Jedi? "They killed Count Dooku but General Grievous has escaped once again."

"General Grievous will run and hide as he always does. He's a coward."

"But with Count Dooku dead, he is the leader of the Droid Army." With her limited knowledge of politics, even Padmé could pick up the underlying threat in Palpatine's words. "And I assure you the Senate will vote to continue the war as long as Grievous is alive."

Mace began walking away, following after the Chancellor. "Then the Jedi Council will make finding Grievous our top priority as long as he is alive."

She went to follow after them when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Senator Bail Organa. "General Naberrie."

"Senator Organa. I'm happy to see you." She smiled back at him, truly relieved to see one of Anakin's friends. "It's been too long since I've been on Coruscant."

"So it has, I'm assuming you'll be busy for quite some time?" he asked, watching her with a mild interest.

Padmé shook her head. "I'm hoping to be posted on Coruscant, at least at the moment. It's been a while since I was away from the front, and while I don't need too much rest, Obi-Wan and I could both use a few nights of peace. That is, if the war continues for much longer." Bail looked at her, surprised. "If we kill General Grievous, there won't be any commanders skilled enough to lead their army. It'll fall apart, and leave the Separatists open for peace talks once and for all."

"Of course. I hope your predictions are correct, this war has gone on too long." For all of them, even the Senators in their lofty dome, the war had become taxing, and at times it was difficult to remember why she was even fighting in it. She understood what Bail was saying all too well.

"Senator Organa." Anakin's voice as he was standing there, smiling at the two of them, pulled Padmé's attention away from the conversation. "Would you mind if I have a word with Knight Naberrie?"

Bail smiled. "Not at all. Senator Skywalker, I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing her as well." Bail left without another word, and the moment they were alone, Padmé couldn't stop herself. She ran to meet Anakin as he lifted her into the air with a spin. Six months was definitely too long a period of time. More than anything else, she missed him. She missed getting to hug her husband.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Anakin tucked her head under his chin, holding onto her as though nothing else mattered and like he never wanted to let go. She let him hold her as she just enjoyed the moment, saying nothing. "I missed you." For a moment, she wasn't sure if she had heard him, though she realized quickly what he had said.

"I missed you too." And she had, more than she could ever say. "I thought I'd never get to come back to Coruscant."

"It doesn't matter what you thought, what matters is you're back, and you're okay, even if it's for only a minute it's all I care about." And he kissed her, and for a moment she let herself get carried away in it. It was just them, it could be another stolen moment like so many they'd had in the war, and Padmé didn't ever want to leave that moment.

But it wasn't like all the others, their relationship already had a consequence, a wonderful, dangerous consequence, and so she pulled away, and rather than question he simply held her close, expecting her to speak when she was ready.

"Ani, I…" She trailed off, unable to continue.

"Padmé, what's wrong? You're trembling." He let go of her, and she found herself lost in the intensity of his gaze. "Did something happen?"

"It's not wrong, I'm just scared." She took a deep breath and attempted to release her fear into the force, but it was lodged deep in her heart. Anakin meant too much to her now; to lose him would destroy her.

Anakin kissed her forehead. "I'm not going anywhere. Whatever it is, no matter how bad it is, we'll get through it together."

Padmé nodded. "It's not bad, if...if I wasn't a Jedi, it'd be good." She needed to stop beating around the bush, but she needed to at least keep Anakin from worrying first. He looked at her, hesitant, but at least less concerned than he had been previously. "I'm pregnant."

The word hung in the air between them for a moment. Anakin seemed to have frozen solid trying to understand, and it was hard not to blame him given he was going to be a father at twenty-three. Still, the fact that he didn't answer began to worry her as the silence started to drag out.

Before she could question his feelings on it, however, he burst into a smile, bigger than any he'd given her except perhaps on their wedding night after they'd exchanged their vows to belong to each other, and she felt nothing but pure happiness. "That's...that's wonderful."

She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face in response as he pulled her in close.

Anakin being supportive of their child was already one problem off of Padmé's list and maybe, things might finally start to really look up.

It hadn't taken long for Anakin to rush them out of the Senate upon learning Padmé was pregnant. He'd scarcely had time to tell his mother to handle any requests from Bail if they came and to cancel the rest of his meetings before running to his speeder to go home, where he sat now in his apartment with Padmé beside him, telling him about her missions and everything that had changed since they'd last been able to call.

"That day was awful." She stifled a yawn, clearly tired. "We'd just finished up another battle against some battle droids and then I threw up. Rex was so worried and I had to explain to him it was because of the baby and not something to be worried about."

Anakin wanted to ask about the pregnancy. He'd missed so much of it because of the war, but whenever he'd tried to broach it and their child in an attempt to figure out what was going on, she'd skirt the subject, probably sensing his regret and guilt. Why hadn't he ended the war sooner, or convinced the Jedi to bring Padmé home when he knew she had been doing awful during their last call? Why hadn't she tried to come home sooner?

It wasn't worth asking right now. He didn't want to risk upsetting her. Tonight was all about a break from their stressful lives, and Anakin was happy to both give her that break and take one himself. "Where is Rex anyways? I didn't hear anything from him during the battle."

"I hadn't gotten to that yet." She let out a small laugh. "Ahsoka contacted us while we were in the Outer Rim. She and Rex are leading part of the 501st on Mandalore to deal with Maul."

"Snips?" Anakin sat up as she said that. "She's alright?" He remembered how hurt Padmé had been when Ahsoka had left, how she'd felt that she'd failed her Padawan in not protecting her enough during everything. To hear that she was okay…

But rather than give a full answer, Padmé simply shrugged. "She was in a rush to deal with what happened on Mandalore, we didn't talk long for me to know much more. She...wasn't happy we went to Coruscant to help."

Anakin simply held her. "She came to you for help, and you gave it to her. When you guys see each other again, you can catch up." Knowing where her misplaced guilt was coming from, he added, "She doesn't blame you, Angel. You did everything you could."

"I know." Padmé nodded, though whether she believed him or not he couldn't say. "I've been thinking about the baby...about what I should do."

The fact that she'd changed the subject to the pregnancy and their responsibility involving it to avoid speaking of Ahsoka spoke volumes for how much she wanted to avoid the topic, and how much she needed to talk about it, but Anakin wouldn't press. "About sending them to the Temple to become Jedi?"

Padmé nodded. "And other things. If I remain with the Jedi, I won't be able to claim them as my own. They'll know I'm their mother, and they'll know you're their father, but…"

But she wouldn't be able to be their mother so long as she remained there. If they were raised with the Jedi, she could teach them while they were still in the creche, perhaps even become their Jedi Master, but never more than that. If they stayed with him, then she would possibly be even less. "You could leave the Order."

"You know I can't. Once the war's over, the Jedi will go back to being peacekeepers, everything I've always wanted to be." With the title of general that Padmé had taken to as the war went on, sometimes it was hard for Anakin to remember how much she hated all the fighting. "But I want you to raise them, Anakin. If our child wants to become a Jedi, then they can make that choice, but I want you to be a part of their life no matter what."

"You want…?" She…

"They'll be the first freeborn Skywalker." Padmé smiled at him, and Anakin tried to open his mouth before shutting it. Even with how tired she was, pregnant with their child, she knew just how much that would mean. "I don't want to take that from you just because they're gifted with the Force. No matter what, I want them to have a choice in what happens to them." Before Anakin could kiss her, Padmé ended up laughing. "Although I may have to fight Obi-Wan on that."

Anakin laughed at that, mostly because he was startled. "Obi-Wan?"

"He already claimed the baby as his next Padawan." There was an amused smile on Padmé's face. "He said I was an easy first Padawan, he can't imagine any child of ours to be any different."

"I'll have to raise her to be just like me then, just so Obi-Wan has a hard time." He kissed the crown of Padmé's head. "So he knows?"

"Not everything, but yes Anakin. Somebody had to help me out on the battlefield." Padmé smiled, though something about it felt empty.

Anakin didn't have to guess what bothered her. "You hate that you had to lie to him about how this happened."

"I can't tell him. He wouldn't understand." Given Obi-Wan's love for his Padawan, Anakin doubted that was the case, but he let her voice it anyways, unable to refute it with little more than the gut feelings he had.

So Anakin did what he did best whenever something upset his wife, he kissed her, pulling her close and serving as the best distraction he could. "Let's worry about that later. We're supposed to be celebrating, aren't we?"

"You're right." Padmé gave him another smile, this one more genuine. "I shouldn't be so focusing on things like this, we have time."

Though Anakin smiled right alongside her and began working his magic to pull his wife's attention away from all their troubles, he couldn't help focusing on his own.

We have time.

He repeated her comment in his head, hoping that if he told himself it enough times that the war, and all of their problems, would end, and that he would be able to believe it.

It was hot. The temperature around them was boiling, and like the world was ready to burn. She couldn't see. She couldn't feel anything, just the air around her.

There was crying, and a ship was leaving. And despite everything she felt she had to get to that ship. She had to be there. Something important was on it.

But even more important was the figure in front of her. In this hot place, lying on the ground, unmoving, was Anakin.

Padmé bolted awake, unable to focus for a moment as she felt the cool air of the apartment in contrast to the super heated air of her dreams, trying to process what had happened. She closed her eyes, immediately releasing her fear into the Force before it took her over. A nightmare. That was all it was. A nightmare.

Before she could get up to do something to clear her head and focus on the nightmare, she felt arms wrap around her torso and turned to look at Anakin, who had likely been woken up by the sudden movement. Before she could ask anything, he spoke. "I felt your fear in the Force, but I wasn't sleeping."

Oh. "You weren't?"

Anakin shook his head. "No." He didn't elaborate. He just knew she wasn't okay and held her, letting her take her time to breathe. It was difficult to process, the last time she'd felt a fear like this was back at the start of the Clone Wars, when Obi-Wan…

She remembered what Anakin had told her on the flight to Geonosis that day, when he'd listened to her fears about her master. It had helped her work through her emotions then...maybe it'd help now? "I had a nightmare."

Anakin sat up, as though realizing this would be a long conversation, and pulled her into him. "What happened?"

"I'm…" She frowned, unsure of what happened in the dream. "I don't know. It was disjointed and...difficult to understand."

"But definitely a nightmare?" Padmé nodded to answer his question. "Do you remember anything?"

"I heard a baby crying." It wasn't difficult to imagine where that part of the dream had come from. She put her hand on her growing stomach, feeling the bright light of the life inside. She was nervous about everything to do with the baby. "And I saw you...you were…" That one, she was less certain as to why. She knew Anakin was safe on Coruscant, and he could take care of himself as he'd proven over the course of the war. Anakin dying wasn't a fear that she normally had to wrestle with at all.

Anakin kissed the top of her head as a show of support. "It was fake, I'm right here."

Padmé smiled. "I know." The reassurance did little to make her feel better, she was still on edge. "I'm just...worried."

"You have a lot to be worried about." He held her hand. "And I'll be with you for every step of it."

"I know." She locked her hands in his, and they both sat in silence, unable to stop thinking about her dream. "I might talk to Obi-Wan tomorrow."

"Using him as a therapist?" Anakin teased.

"He is older and wiser." She was grateful for the momentary change in focus. "He might be able to figure something out about it if we can't."

Anakin nodded, letting her figure out what else she may have wanted to say, but she didn't want to think about her nightmare, at least not tonight as she instead rested her head on him, listening to his heartbeat and letting it calm her down, more than her attempts to release her emotions into the Force and their conversation had at any rate. It was definitive proof that he was alive.

"Why were you awake?" Padmé asked. Anakin remained silent. "Ani?"

"It's nothing."

"Anakin." Was it possible she was using his problems to ignore her own? That was entirely possible, but she wasn't acknowledging that for the moment, instead wanting to know what was wrong.

"I had a nightmare, don't worry about it." He shook his head.

"After you pressured me to reveal mine?" Padmé asked. Anakin remained silent for a moment before finally answering.

"I don't remember much, just a lot of heat, like I was burning alive."

Normally, Padmé wouldn't have thought twice about that nightmare. It wasn't super uncommon and it wasn't the first time Anakin had woken up in the night from some kind of terrible dream.

But all she could think about was the fire and heat from her dream as she watched Anakin burn alive.

"Padmé?" Him calling her name shook her out of her worry and dread. This wasn't something to worry about. It couldn't be something to worry about. "Is there something else?"

She shook her head. "No, it's...it's nothing. Let's just go back to sleep." As though he could sense her unwillingness to talk about it, Anakin nodded, pulling her back into bed so she could get some rest.

She relaxed into his arms, listening to his breathing as it evened out and sleep came to him.

She only wished it had come to her as well.