"Senator Skywalker, are you alright?" Anakin lifted his head to see Bail, who was standing at the doorway by Threepio. He nodded, trying to desperately ignore how close he had been to catching a little bit of extra sleep. "Are you sure, sleeping in your office isn't normal behavior."
"I'm fine, Bail." Anakin stretched slightly, trying to force himself to wake up. Ever since Padmé had started having nightmares, he'd found himself having them as well. At first, he'd been determined to get full nights sleep afterwards, but as it got harder to reassure her that he wasn't dead and he was fine and nothing was happening to their unborn child and her 'visions' meant nothing, he'd found himself getting less sleep afterwards. "Just tired."
"Worrying about the baby?" Anakin had told Bail about his child with Padmé, using the same excuse she had. He was going to need an explanation when Anakin suddenly showed up to Delegation meetings with a baby strapped to his chest.
Still, the baby (Leia, he was sure she was a girl and would be his Leia) wasn't what had him worried. "Their mother, actually. Padmé hasn't slept well since she returned to Coruscant. I'm worried about how that could affect the baby, but that's not the biggest deal."
"Do you want me to come back another time? I can leave you to your nap."
Anakin shook his head. "No please, stay. Anything you're coming in here for is bound to be important. I'd rather not wait to hear it."
Bail nodded. "I believe it's time the delegation becomes more than just a group of signatures. Palpatine's newest act is doing far more than just simply increasing his power in the Senate this time."
It took a moment for Anakin to remember just what the newest bill the Moffs had insisted on presenting was before he closed his eyes, attempting to calm down.
The Moffs had passed a bill that allowed the Chancellor and Moffs to immediately intervene in Jedi business when deemed necessary by the Republic (the Republic being the Moffs and Chancellor). The Chancellor had passed a bill that allowed him to begin to take over the Jedi.
That sleemo Tarkin had suggested it.
Anakin let out a curse. "I think you're right. We'll need to start coming up with a plan soon." He pulled out his schedule, trying to find a free block of time during the week he hadn't planned on using to catch a nap after everything with Padmé kept him up far too late. "Can you and Mon bring a few other delegation members and meet then." He pointed to an empty space on his calendar a few days from now.
"I'll see what I can do." Bail nodded, turning to Anakin. "While we're discussing, have you heard anything from Obi-Wan, or Padmé?"
Anakin shook his head. "No. The Jedi are still spread out all across the outer rim trying to hunt down Grievous." Unfortunately, meaning the war was still going on. Not that it was easy to come across this information. Padmé hadn't been told a thing by the council.
That had been another thing that was most definitely bringing down Padmé's mood. Since she was stuck on planet until the baby came, the council had been less open about the war effort with her, leaving her with more questions than she could get answers to as she found herself treated more like a civilian than she ever had been before. While Anakin assumed it was most likely due to the council attempting to avoid putting more undo stress on her, neither of them was sure what the case really was.
"So then the situation has hardly changed." Bail let out a sigh, pulling Anakin from his distracted thoughts. "I'd hoped that when we were ready to act, the war would be over. Forcing another leader to take the seat to broker peace in the middle of a war does not sound like a popular option."
"It won't be." Anakin clenched his fist. "But if things continue as they are, it's unlikely that we'll have any other choice."
Palpatine had to step down. If he wouldn't do it by choice, then the delegation would just have to do it by force.
At this point, Padmé was starting to grow numb to the nightmare, or rather she would have been if she wasn't fully convinced at this point it was a vision that could come true at any moment.
Well, that wasn't a complete truth, if it was likely to come true at any moment it would first require Anakin to be somewhere there was an active volcano and her to at least no longer be pregnant so there was a fair amount of time before the nightmare became a reality, but as of right now, there wasn't any sense of rhyme or reason as Padmé sat in bed with her husband as she clung to his bare chest, sobbing both from fear of losing him and the relief that he was still alive.
"Padmé. Padmé it's okay. I'm not dead yet, we can take care of this." She wasn't sure if Anakin believed her visions were more than just dreams, the Chancellor had proven time and time again that it was difficult for others to understand the consequences of the Force without the Jedi's training, even somebody who was as Force Sensitive as Anakin, but right now Padmé didn't care. Just hearing him speak and having him hold her was enough.
She focused on the feeling of his hands on her back, and distantly, she thought of how her upset emotions probably weren't good for the baby. She needed to calm down, she needed to think logically. She needed to release her emotions into the Force.
She was so tired she wasn't sure that she could think well enough to do that. So she went with her next best option.
"Ani...Ani I'm so scared. I can't lose you and the baby both."
"You won't." Anakin reassured her, and dimly she was aware of how tired her body was and how just being held by Anakin was starting to help her go back to sleep. "I'm not going anywhere Angel, and I would never let something happen to our child." He opened his mouth, but quickly shut it, perhaps realizing a joke wouldn't be helpful in the moment.
"I know." It wasn't the first time somebody had had a vision of Anakin dying in the war. Ahsoka had managed to thwart one a little over a year in. Perhaps this one would be able to be averted. "I know, but I just…"
"I know." Anakin let go of her and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "I know you're scared, but we'll make sure of it. Have you talked to Obi-Wan again about this?"
"No he...I know he won't understand." He hadn't before. He'd convinced her to view it as a nightmare, but even she knew deep down at this was a vision. He was her mentor and closest friend. Shouldn't he have known about all this?
...No, that wasn't the right attitude. Obi-Wan had done nothing wrong and Padmé knew that. She just didn't want to bring it to Obi-Wan. His advice wouldn't work. She knew it wouldn't stop this from happening. Wouldn't save her kids and Anakin.
Anakin nodded, although she could tell he wasn't happy with her decision. "Alright, then we'll figure this out just the two of us. We're both smart and powerful. One of us is bound to come up with something. We can look again tomorrow night."
Padmé nodded, her eyes closed as the need for sleep started to pull her under as her physical and mental exhaustion kicked in. "I might talk to Obi-Wan anyways...just in case…" If there was one plus, at least she was beginning to be able to sleep afterwards.
Anakin chuckled, laying down and pulling Padmé down with him. "Good night, Angel."
"Good night, Anakin."
It wasn't long after that she was out once more.
It wasn't long before she could feel the heat of the lava on her skin.
Padmé finished her explanation of the dreams once more, causing Obi-Wan to sigh as he attempted to figure this out. Anakin dying on a lava world while her children were taken from her being entirely consistent meant that it was unlikely these were anxieties of a new mother worrying for how she'd do. "Obi-Wan, I really just don't know what to do anymore." She took a sip of the tea (not caf, Obi-Wan had made sure she wouldn't have caffeine whenever she came to him.) "If these nightmares keep coming, then I…" She buried her head in her arms. "I feel like I can barely sleep before I start to have the visions again, and the fact that I could lose them…"
"A stressful time, I know." Obi-Wan frowned. In truth, short of keeping Anakin locked on Coruscant (something the senator would never agree to) or keeping the baby somewhere Padmé could be with them at all times, there wasn't really an easy option.
"Do you Obi-Wan? You never–"
He stopped her, not letting her finish that thought. "Satine." Padmé quieted down immediately. Whether she'd forgotten his relationship with the duchess Obi-Wan wasn't sure, but it did cause Padmé to quiet her protests, at least for now. "Padmé, have you tried meditating to figure this out."
"I have, but…" She shook her head. "None of it makes sense."
"You will get through this Padmé, I have faith." She glanced down, and Obi-Wan had a feeling she was thinking of the deception she was currently right in the middle of. Her relationship with Anakin was, of course, a problem, but it did make her happy, even if she wouldn't tell him yet just how far it had progressed.
Padmé looked up at him, and in that moment he didn't see a confident twenty-eight year old, but a scared fourteen year old, receiving her Padawan braid and being officially set on the path of the Jedi.
She was in turmoil, she was hurting, and there was nothing that he could do to help her through it as he had so many times before. He couldn't stop the visions until the time they were meant to occur had passed. He could only help her try to understand, and do what he could to help her stop the terrible future she and Anakin both were seeing, were experiencing.
"If something happens to Anakin, and somebody does take the baby...please, promise you'll be there to help me." Padmé looked away.
Obi-Wan put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, my Padawan. I'll do my best to stay on Coruscant until we're sure the danger has passed."
And Obi-Wan meant his word. Short of the discovery of where General Grievous was hiding, he would stay with Padmé and make sure she was okay. He loved her, and there was no denying that. Somehow Anakin and Padmé had become two of the most important people in his life, and it would take something terrible to turn him away from them on a normal day, let alone as they became more and more desperate to stop this nightmare.
In the back of his mind, Obi-Wan thought back to Mortis, and everything Padmé had said when she'd been shown the future by the Son. When she'd fallen to the Dark Side after hurting and losing them.
He wouldn't let this nightmarish vision lead her to that end point. Not if there was anything he could do to stop it.
The foreboding feeling he had was just that, a feeling. He wouldn't let it be anything else.
Sidious watched Padmé as she sat in the chair near his door, largely to intimidate any who tried to come after her. As the weeks had passed, she was becoming more and more unsteady. He'd known there was something going on with her beyond just the pregnancy of course, she'd seemed more tired than usual when she'd stepped into his office the first time after revealing that she was to be his guard, but she'd simply become increasingly unsteady the more and more time passed.
Though right now she seemed slightly better than what had become the new normal for her, it was easy to tell from her demeanor she wasn't holding up any better than she had been before. He knew her too well to think she was. "Padmé, would you come over here for a minute?"
Padmé jumped and smiled, approaching his desk. "Of course Chancellor, is something the matter?"
"No, nothing at all, nothing at all." Sidious smiled. It was time to truly start pushing the wedge between her and the council, now that she may have been willing to listen. "I was simply wondering how long you'll be staying on as my guard."
"At least until the baby comes." Her answer was immediate. "After I've recovered from their birth, I'll likely be on the front lines again. If they're willing to take me from my son."
"So you've gotten your child tested?" A son...a boy powerful in the Force if he was right about who the father that Padmé was so desperate to keep under wraps was.
"No, I just have a feeling he is." She smiled, putting one hand on her stomach. In that moment, despite her clear worry, her Force presence became more even and calm, more like the Jedi she had been at the start of the war.
That most definitely wasn't acceptable. "Surely you must be worried to be away from your son for so long then."
Padmé nodded. "Of course, but I trust An-the father to watch over him until the war is over." She paused, as though trying to figure out where she wanted to go. "Afterwards, I think I might start helping Master Nu in the archives for a while, so I can stay on Coruscant to watch him grow up."
She would most definitely be on Coruscant with her son if Sidious had any control over the situation, but right now, he couldn't let her think that. He had to make her want to go back in the field. "Of course, I'd imagine the Jedi wouldn't want to waste somebody of your power by keeping you here any longer than necessary."
Padmé nodded. "No, they wouldn't. It's why Obi-Wan and I have been away for so long." She laughed slightly. "I don't mean to make your kidnapping sound like a good thing Chancellor, but without it, I'm unsure if I ever would've been pulled back from the rim, not unless something truly terrible happened."
"Of course not." Sidious gave her a kindly smile. "And I would never accuse you of thinking so positively of my kidnapping for no reason either. But I do have to wonder, what if they don't send you out because of all this."
"I think I'd be relieved." Padmé sighed. "Not having to go out and fight in the war would be nice."
"I can understand the sentiment, but...wouldn't that mean they no longer trust you enough to lead? Forgive me for asking since I know you claim to have broken the Jedi Code, but if they no longer trust you out on the field I can't imagine they would ever let you in on the council or any other position of importance, or perhaps they'd simply be worried you could no longer handle yourself out in the field."
Sidious watched as the gears in Padmé's head began turning, as she took in what he said and began putting all the pieces together.
Because the answer was simple, if the theory he was telling was true, the Jedi keeping her from battle so she could heal from birth and recover would become something much more sinister.
When he felt a flare of anger from her, and her previously calm Force presence spike, Sidious knew he had succeeded in having convinced her of what he wanted. "Of course, I might be wrong. Perhaps they will let you stay on Coruscant so you'll have the chance to know your child, although you did say family attachments were forbidden among the Jedi."
Padmé visibly deflated, exhausted and angry. "Perhaps you're right, Chancellor, but it's what I deserve."
She didn't believe that, or else she wouldn't have been hiding her relationship under everybody's nose. Sidious knew that right away. "I apologize for prying my dear, perhaps you're right. I suppose I'm just not as trusting of the Jedi as I used to be?"
Padmé seemed to weigh his words. "You mentioned on the Invisible Hand that some Jedi might aid Dooku?"
"Of course, there's been rumors of a Separatist plot to manage to win over multiple Jedi after the likes of Krell proved that some Jedi could be won over to their side when properly motivated." This was, of course, a lie, but Padmé didn't need to know that. "It's why I had accepted Governor Tarkin's proposition of a law to allow me to influence the Jedi. I didn't want to, of course, but until we can be sure that they didn't succeed in winning over some council members, I figured it would be easier to err on the side of caution."
There was a time when Padmé would have defended the council to her grave, but with her Padawan having been expelled (he still had to figure out what to do with Padawan Tano now that she was no longer a member of the Jedi Order. The chips weren't prepared for non-Jedi who posed a threat, just Jedi) and General Kenobi's betrayal in faking his own death to stop an earlier attempt at the kidnapping over Coruscant, he knew Padmé was significantly less trusting of the council, even if she didn't admit it. Instead she remained silent, neither contributing nor talking about the decision.
"Of course, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I'm sure it's nothing, and once the war is over, the Jedi will be able to resume their own pursuits to aid the Republic, though I have been putting some thought on putting my own representative onto the council, but I wouldn't want to press too far at once." He saw Padmé perk up at that.
"Of course, Chancellor, the Jedi wouldn't be happy with that." She gave him a tired smile. He noted her wording, and had to fight a smile. The Jedi wouldn't be happy with that, but he saw the hope that appeared at her desire for a council seat, just as he'd instilled in her the ambition and desire years ago to take over the Jedi.
"Of course not, perhaps soon, but not now." He stopped. "You would, however, make for a wonderful council member, but thoughts for another day. I'm sure you don't want to talk about the state of the council and the Jedi. I called you over simply for an easy question, and perhaps to learn more about your child. You'll have to forgive me for going so off topic. There's a lot weighing down my mind."
"I don't mind at all." She gave a tired smile, one that he could tell was only half faked. "Besides, I'm perfectly fine discussing politics. I have a knack for it, as you said."
"Of course." Sidious smiled once more. He'd need to out Grievous's position soon, it was just a little more time.
Padmé was falling for his bait without much prompting or difficulty on his end.
Everything was going exactly as he'd planned it.