Chapter IV: Twins
Padmé dragged herself across the halls trying to look for a switch. Obi-Wan's face being the only thing noticeable in the darkness made her shudder, especially since she knew why he was there, hiding in the shadows. She felt like an idiot for selling Anakin, because that's what she felt she had done; while she didn't reveal her husband's location, she told Obi-Wan of their relationship, and in doing so, she ensure the Jedi master's presence around their home.
He'd probably had been there this whole time, waiting for Anakin to come back to his wife.
But why was he so bent upon hurting his former best friend? Why didn't he just go into exile, hiding from the Empire he knows is after him? What can possibly possess Obi-Wan and make him so prone to revenge?
Suppose that since the order was gone, their code could be thrown out the window, too.
"Obi-Wan…" Anakin's voice was heard. "You're alive."
"Surprised?" the Jedi's voice was as calm and sarcastic as ever.
"Can you blame me?"
They both walked into each other's distance, till only a few meters could separate them.
"I was expecting you to look different. The face of the Sith hasn't truly changed you, then."
The lights went on, and Padmé's face was frozen in fear and shock. Anakin looked at her with sadness, then he gazed upon Obi-Wan with rage.
"Do not worry, she already knows," Obi-Wan said, unperturbed.
Anakin gave him a look of distrust.
"It's true, I've been here before you. We had a nice little chat, I told her everything you've done, yet she preferred to turn an eye blind and play dumb. Truly disappointing from a former queen of the Old Republic."
"Obi-Wan, you shouldn't be here," Anakin said. "Coruscant isn't safe for a Jedi. Go, far, as far as you can. You will not be needed—at least for now. The Emperor hates the Jedi, and any remaining ones will be destroyed."
"Do you honestly think we will go without a fight?"
"Oh, we're expecting a fight, all right. But in the end, you cannot beat the power of the Dark Side."
Obi-Wan sighed desperately, then he grinned at Padmé, "do you see? I was right. I hope you can forgive me for what I'm about to do, Padmé. I truly think of you as a friend, I admire and respect you, and I am sorry to do something that will give you pain."
Padmé turned whiter than Hoth snow.
"What, exactly?" Anakin asked.
"You were once a Jedi, Anakin. You can't pretend to be oblivious now. I could never let a Sith lord rule the Galaxy."
"A Sith is already ruling our Galaxy, Obi-Wan. And another one will, after him. And—"he stopped, as if his mind were too busy conjuring ideas. Anakin smiled grimly.
"Obi-Wan, I do not intent to support Palpatine forever. I just need him, I need him to share his knowledge with me. After that, I will kill the Sith lord like the Jedi always wanted me to. After that, I will need an apprentice, and you could…"
"Stop!" Obi-Wan raised his voice like never before in his life. "I would rather die than pledge myself to the Sith. I see how twisted your mind has become and I can't allow it."
"You don't have much of a choice."
"I will not sit while you destroy the Galaxy, Anakin."
"And I will not be as weak as to show mercy, master. I have tasted the power of the dark side, I will not let myself be limited like the Jedi. I will go beyond and create and destroy as I can. You can stand by my side, or die!"
"I take neither of those options!"
Obi-Wan ignited the lightsaber that had been turned off, Anakin waited a mere two seconds before doing the same.
Blue blades met in the air. Twin blades clashed, angrily.
It did not seem like a battle between a Sith lord and a Jedi master; there was too much emotion in the faces of both men, especially Anakin who wasn't sure of what outcome he was expecting. Obi-Wan had that advantage going for him. For he knew exactly what he needed to do. Destroy the Sith. Indeed, it was so hard to look at the face of his opponent and see the face he had known for so long as his best friend. Anakin's eyes, still blue, shining with conflict and at times, even remorse. Obi-Wan was letting himself be a normal, coarse, human for a second. Thinking with a thirst for revenge for all the dead Jedi. Even more so, for the innocent younglings he saw brutally murdered by Darth Vader.
Darth Vader! That was it. That was all Obi-Wan needed. He needed to not think of the small slave boy from Tatooine; he needed to not think of the rebellious teenager he trained as his Padawan. He needed to not think of his partner during the Clone Wars. He needed to see the vicious dark lord of the Sith. And to know that to leave him alive, would mean the destruction of everything he always stood for. With the precision and skill that always characterized him, Obi-Wan was able of defending himself better from Darth Vader.
Because that was what most of the fight had been. Kenobi defending himself from the savage and powerful attacks Darth Vader had thrown his way. There was a ferocity there that Obi-Wan had never experienced before, not even during his duels to Darth Maul, not even with count Dooku. Darth Vader had something the other Sith lords could never even dream about. A powerful connection to the force, well, Anakin was born from the force itself! He had the highest midichlorian count of any other living creature—and he had something else: ANGER, so much ANGER and FEAR. Obi-Wan couldn't even begin to understand feelings so strong, let alone use them against someone.
Kenobi was at Vader's mercy, Anakin had in his hands both blue blades now. Just like once he had two lightsabers to decide Dooku's fate. Suddenly Padmé was next to them, imploring crazily: "Don't Anakin! Don't do it!"
Anakin seemed to melt at the sound of her heartbroken voice.
"I have to," he said like a madmen. "You don't understand. It's either him or me. And if I let him kill me, you'll die, Padmé." The despair in his voice broke Padmé even further.
And she suddenly saw everything clearly. "His nightmares!" she thought.
"Anakin no life is more important nor of more value than any other. I don't have more right to live than you and Obi-Wan. Those lightsabers and the Force make you two powerful, but that doesn't give you guys the right of ending another life just because you think it's fitting, or because you think that that's what should be done. Drop your weapons Anakin, and drop your mission, Obi-Wan."
For a second, the lightsabers in Anakin's hands trembled, he actually considered to drop them. Mostly because anything coming from her voice was almost like an order that needed to be followed.
"Always a diplomat…" Obi-Wan said sharply, with so much sarcasm that you could not guess from his voice that two lightsabers were practically kissing his neck.
Anakin was enraged by his comment. Yet he was still battling inside.
Obi-Wan could feel the conflict within him. And he took a shot.
He kicked Anakin strongly, and before the former Jedi could have time to react, Kenobi called the lightsabers to his hands and prepared to attack him mercilessly.
"How very curious!" Obi-Wan thought. "It is his emotion what gives him power. Just as it is what takes his focus, costing him his victory."
Obi-Wan would have cut him in half, if it wasn't for Padmé, who ran to her husband's aid; getting in the way of the two lightsabers. Obi-Wan checked himself in time to not hurt the senator too severely, but his swing wasn't fast enough, and Padmé's left arm fell off.
Her scream of pain was enough to drive Anakin mad. Her fallen limb threw him beyond anything he had ever experienced before.
The entire building begin to tremble, and an evacuation was quickly ordered. You could hear the screams of fear from everyone who was exiting. As well as the pregnant woman who was bleeding inwardly. And not as loudly, but more disturbing than all, were the sounds coming from the ruthless Darth Vader, as he chased the last Jedi in Coruscant while he defended himself with two blue lightsabers.
Out in the street, there was major mayhem, Padmé ran alone, screaming for help but everyone seemed to be too busy trying to save themselves.
Darth Vader stood in front of the building, as he watched the huge monument fall, loudly collapsing to the ground, till it was nothing but ashes.
The dark lord was so overcome with anger that he just wanted to use his power to destroy, and so he did. Ten or twelve tall buildings fell around, you could hear the explosions all around Coruscant, many people thought that maybe it was a terrorist attack from the Jedi, and afterwards, they were left to believe that.
When Vader could somehow recover his senses, and somewhat clear his troubled mind, he just focused on making his eyes find Kenobi. But the damn Jedi had taken the opportunity to escape him. Perhaps he was out of Coruscant already.
Resigning to the loss of his former master, he remembered what had caused his anger in the first place. He thought of his wife, and thought of her, not only sick and in a very critical condition, but with a severed limb—Padmé, mutilated by a lightsaber! By his! Oh, where could she be? He ordered a squadron of Clones to find her, but they could not give him trace of her.
Several bodies were found dead in the next few days, and many of them were women, many of them, pregnant women… their deaths had been so violent, and they were so disfigured, there was no way to tell whether one of them could be his wife or not. And since the clones couldn't find her anywhere… that could only mean—Oh no!
"I will find him, if it's the last thing I do. I will find him and kill him for what he's done!" Vader swore to the Force and Padmé's memory.
Vader was still on a total state of shock. As if he was living one of his nightmares, and at any point he would wake up, and he would find her, and they would be happy, but—hour, through hour, it was the same. He was growing angrier and bitterer.
The only pleasure he gained, was by imagining all the ways he would torture Kenobi when he found him, because, he would find him, Padmé's terrible death couldn't be left alone as if it were any other of the millions that were happening daily under the rule of the new Empire.
After two weeks in which he had been ignoring all his messages to come see him, Vader just couldn't refuse anymore. He had to see his master.
As he entered Palpatine's office, he thought with insane rage of all the sacrifices he had made to save her, just to in the end lose her like that. He thought of all the cruel murders he committed, just to be more powerful in the dark side, to be able to use Sidious' knowledge—to in the end—Oh, why?
"Well, finally you come, lord Vader," the emperor said after Vader sat in front of him.
Vader said nothing.
"I understand you needed time to grieve, but ignoring your responsibilities in such a time of need is unacceptable."
Vader stood up, yet his head was down.
"If you expect to be trained in the art of the dark side, you must cooperate, as well. I can't give you anything if I am not paid back."
"Haven't I giving you everything already?" Vader thought but said nothing.
"You must move quickly, my apprentice. I keep getting word of Jedi who survived Order Sixty-Six. No one but you can take care of them, at least I would hope. I do not want you to fail, like you did with master Kenobi. And Yoda is alive, as well. We must be careful, lord Vader. They could all reunite and create a new order."
"You can be sure, master, there will be no Jedi left in the Galaxy. I will see about that," Vader said, decisively.
"Good, good. But, I simply can't let you go without teaching you a lesson. After all, that would make me look bad, it would make me look like a bad teacher, my young apprentice. You must learn never to disobey me again. You must be punished, my dear Vader."
Before even finishing his sentence, Darth Sidious lifted his hands, and directed his hateful blue lightning at his apprentice. Vader, who saw his master's next move beforehand, was able of dejecting it, mimicking what none other but Yoda did before. Sidious could hardly believe his eyes, he knew his apprentice was strong, stronger in the Force than anyone could even dream, but he didn't expect for him to use his Force powers so soon, and on him of all people!
He stopped the Force lightning and started laughing, mockingly and acidly.
"Ha, ha, ha! Good, my boy! Good! Now, I know you're ready for any mission that I might send you to. You will be easy to teach. Soon, we'll be able of learning Plagueis' secret. Together, we will reach immortality!"
Vader grinned.
"And why would I want to live forever now? Who could I want to save from death? What could you possibly teach me that I don't know already?" his voice had grown older, darker, seductive in a way; very menacing. "The answer?" he continued, after slashing the emperor in pieces, to later move the remains and making them explode. "Nothing. Nothing at all." Bitter irony could be detected from Vader's voice.
"This is how it's going to be," Vader announced after the emperor's death. "The empire's rules will be respected; though we unfortunately lost our dear, legendary Palpatine to old age, his legacy shall live on. We should always remember what forced us to let go of the old ways to form the Galactic Empire! We shall remember the Clone Wars! We shall remember the countless lives that were lost thanks to the greed and thirst for power of the Jedi! We will find what remains of them and terminate them! We shall live in peace, justice and security! Long live the Empire" he roared over and over again.
And with every "Long live the Empire!" he was really saying, "Death to the Jedi!"
The lowliest of the low in Coruscant were not strangers to violence. To delinquency, to fugitives. They really found it very normal, and they didn't even bat an eye when they saw a Jedi Knight running through the streets.
A young boy and his sister were simply walking around, late at night, unable to sleep with so much hunger in their soring stomachs, when they saw Obi-Wan running with a bleeding Padmé in his arms.
The boy of maybe nine or ten, saw them first, and told his sister they should probably help them. The girl, who was maybe fourteen or fifteen, denied immediately. Since she had been alive for longer, she had grown accustomed to the everyday violence of the capital city. Especially since she had lived throughout all three long years of the war.
But when she noticed the woman was pregnant, her heart bent in a painful way, for she thought of how her own mother had recently lost a baby, and her life. So she ran towards them, and offered them help, as little as she could offer.
Obi-Wan looked at her all paranoiac, unsure of whether he should trust her or not. He looked much too frightened for the woman he was carrying, who already seemed to be on the verge of losing life. He had no choice but to take a chance.
He took Padmé to the kid's house, a small apartment, isolated and poor. With grey walls, and worn out floors. It was not very clean either, and there appeared to be no grown up in sight.
"Do you live here alone?" Obi-Wan asked, desperately.
"Yes," the boy said. "Papa threw us out a few months ago, and our Granma', who's the only one who ever cared about us, gave us this small place, because she couldn't afford to keep us in her home."
"Could you bring her, please?" Obi-Wan begged.
"Why? I don't know," the girl said.
"Please, try to have some care and mercy. This woman is ill, and she's wounded. She's going to have a baby, too. And I think it's gonna come at any minute, now. Please I can't do it alone. I need help."
"I'll do it," the girl said.
"You?" Obi-Wan looked confused.
"Yes, I have actually helped deliver babies before. Here we are so poor, we can't even afford a doctor, so we are taught since we are ten to deal with that kind of situations."
"Have you ever handled it alone?"
"Well, only once, but—"
"But, what?"
"She lost the baby and the woman who was carrying it. Mother!" the boy lamented and confessed.
Obi-Wan considered it for a moment.
What choice did he have?
"We'll have to do it. I am sorry, Padmé!"
When at last the time came, it seemed to last forever, though it was hardly less than a day. The labor lasted for twenty hours.
Weary, afraid, and changed forever, Obi-Wan, with the help of that teen girl, managed to welcome Padmé's twins.
A boy and a girl who now lay in Padmé's loving breast. Both babies wrapped in pieces of Obi-Wan's robes. Perfectly strong and healthy.
"Thank the Force!" Obi-Wan cried when he saw them.
The girl was beyond lovely. On image, she was all Padmé; she had her luscious and softly sweet brown eyes; her skin beyond fair; her hair barely existing, would one day be long and flowy like her mother's.
Then there was the boy. And Obi-Wan had to blink many times to hold back tears, because that boy was Anakin's spitting image. The same dreamy blue eyes, the sunny blond hair that would someday get dark… Oh, he prayed the kid's wouldn't follow their father's dark path!
When Padmé gained conscience back, she cried inconsolably at learning that she couldn't hold both of her kids. Her left arm, from the elbow down, was missing…
Obi-Wan apologized for what seemed like a million times.
"Don't worry about it," she said. "It was only an accident."
She said, as if he had pushed her without trying.
"Besides, Obi-Wan. I now owe you my life and that of my children. Ow!" she couldn't help but to moan in pain.
"I'm sorry I didn't take you to a hospital. But I—"
"You couldn't be seen, Obi-Wan. I know. Don't worry about it. Now it doesn't matter. At least you didn't abandon me. I am alive and so are my children. Soon I'll get my arm checked. I mean—replaced," and she tried to laugh but Obi-Wan was so serious.
They, of course, couldn't help but to think of a certain person with a mechanical arm. To avoid hard topics for the moment, Obi-Wan said:
"Did you know you were carrying twins?"
She smiled. "No. I didn't even try to learn the sex of the baby. We wanted to be surprised. I was surprised, all right."
"And have you thought of names?"
She couldn't stop smiling. "We had already decided on that. The boy, is Luke."
She looked at the boy. Obi Wan was holding him, and he said, "Hello, little Luke Skywalker."
"And the girl is Leia," she was holding her, herself. She kissed the top of her little head, and said "My dear! I never thought I'd have a daughter, I was so sure it would be a boy. But, Anakin kept telling me I was wrong and that we'd—"she stopped. And they were invaded by an awkward silence.
They never would've been able of speaking again, if it weren't for the two kids who had helped them.
"The kids look nothing like you, sir," the little boy said to Obi-Wan.
"Harxsh!" the girl cried. "Hold your tongue!"
"It's okay," Obi-Wan said, laughing. "I am not the father."
"Yeah, I figured," the girl said.
"Yeah? How come?" Kenobi asked.
"I saw your lightsabers a little while ago. That must mean you're a Jedi. And Jedi don't have children, they can't even marry."
Padmé suddenly turned crimson.
"Well," Obi-Wan said awkwardly. "There aren't supposed to be any Jedi left. So how can't you be sure I didn't steal these from a Jedi who was killed by the Empire?"
"Oh," the boy said, sadly. "I was hoping you really were a Jedi. I never stopped liking the Jedi. Even when everyone was saying all those terrible things about them. I knew they weren't true. One time, I was saved by a Jedi. She was young and from some alien specie I don't know, but she was very kind and pretty and she had a lightsaber. I just know the Jedi are good. Or at least they were. When I heard of the emperor's death, I was hoping that maybe the Jedi could comeback…"
"Wait, what did you just say?" he interrupted the kid. "The Emperor is dead?"
"He died of old age, like, a week ago, I think." The girl said.
Padmé and Obi-Wan looked at each other.
"Who's in charge now?" the Jedi asked.
"The guy who was second in power. He was actually a former Jedi, and he's still honored as a war hero. Oh, what was his name?"
"Anakin Skywalker…" both Obi-Wan and Padmé said.
"No, I don't think so… it was, like… ugh, what was it? Hell, I can't remember!"
"It's Darth Vader," the boy helped her.
The babies started to cry savagely.
Obi-Wan tried to calm little Luke, while the girl took Leia in her arms and offered to comfort her.
"I have to go back, I have to see him." Padmé said.
"Are you sure? Padmé, try to be reasonable. He could hurt you and your kids."
"No, Obi-Wan. He was confused that night. Angry, oh, so very scared and angry. He didn't intent to abandon me. I ran away in fear, and I thank you deeply for what you've done, but—he's the father. I'm sure that when he meets them, he will be like before. All darkness will depart from him. And with Palpatine dead, he will not be manipulated into doing the wrong thing! I have faith, Obi-Wan. I really do."
"I can't force you to do what I think is right, Padmé. But besides, I can't help you. I don't even have a place to go…"
"Oh, come with me, I will—"
"No. I will go to master Yoda. I know where he is, and together we will find what to do, the Jedi way. Palpatine might be dead, but the Sith lives on…"
"Stop. Not now, please."
"I am sorry."
"I want to help you. At least, let me give you some money, something to get you started."
"Thanks, but I must get myself out of this, alone. Someday, Padmé, I hope we might meet again, under better circumstances, I hope."
"Me, too."
"Kids," he said to them the next morning. "I know we've abused you too much already, but we have one final favor to ask. She is much too weak for the moment, but I rather think she can walk. Each of you take one of the children, and walk her to a hospital. No matter which one, just the nearest one, please. Soon after she's checked, she'll be found. And that person will cover all expenses."
"Obi-Wan," Padmé said, desperately as they had a final goodbye, "I will talk to him, I will make him stop the Empire. And the Jedi will be free, they will leave their hiding places, and they will be honored and respected once again. But most of all, free! I promise you, I will!"
"I believe you, but I don't know if you'll be able to convince him. Don't try too hard, Padmé. If it puts you or your children in danger, forget about it."
"I love you," she said, crying.
He gave a deep sigh. "I love you too. Good luck, my dear!" and looking at the two babies, each one on the arms of those incredible kids who helped them, "Goodbye Luke! Goodbye Leia! I have a feeling that I will see you again!"
And then, he was gone.
While Padmé walked tiredly towards a hospital, between the two kids, she gave a second promise: "I will not forget what you two have done. I promise you, you will never be hungry again. Neither will your family. I will help you, my dear lovelies!"
Padmé was now resting in a hospital bed, it was not very expensive but still a million times better than that cheap Coruscanti apartment. The two kids stayed by her side, and even checked on the twins every now and then.
When word reached Darth Vader of one Padmé Amidala who checked herself in a cheap hospital of the Capital City, while he was out in Alderaan where he heard a bunch of Jedi had hidden, he left everything behind in the hands of the 501st to go find whatever it was life had given him back.
If it would've been an imposter what he found in Coruscant, I don't think the Galaxy would've been able to survive the attack.