Padmé groaned, groping for her alarm. It was blaring right in her ear-

Wait that wasn't her alarm. Her alarm was musical because beeping alarms made her husband panic. This was loud and droning and-

She bolted upright. What was she doing on a Venator-class battleship?

Padmé tried to get up and stumble to the door, but the floor was swaying under her feet. She couldn't tell if she was dizzy or if the ship was dancing. She scrabbled for the latch but it melted away. It was the wall and the door was in the other wall.

"Padmé?"

"What's going on?"

"Angel."

"Let me out. Let me out!"

"Padmé, it's just a dream, wake up!"

Dream? This was a-

Sudden severe cramping in her stomach and then there was blood gushing down her legs, so much blood, it was pooling on the floor, filling the room, she was choking on it-

She woke up nearly hyperventilating, her husband holding her tightly and stroking her hair.

"Hey there. You okay?"

She groaned, letting her head fall against his shoulder. "Weird dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Padmé sighed. "I might take a pregnancy test though. Just because the last time I had weird dreams like that was when I was pregnant with the twins. It'll probably be negative though. I haven't had any other symptoms."

"Okay. Better safe than sorry. Especially with that big banquet tonight." Anakin let go of her and she rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up.

"Oh right, celebrating the end of the war. I can't believe the Chancellor is keeping the Republic in a state of war. It's stupid. There's some nonsense going on, but it's not a war. I don't know why anyone is surprised that the Togruta of all people have skeletons in the closet." She leaned down to grab the slippers she'd kicked under the bed.

"I know. It's like being surprised that sandpeople have banthas or Mandalorians wear beskar. I just want to know who designed my arm. This kind of tech could benefit a lot of people. And we're trying to figure out how the Mirialan government got involved." Anakin paused while he pulled on his shirt. "I think there's more going on too. I took Cerean Robotics when I was getting my mastery in Robotics and Droid Manufacturing and I recognized a lot of the parts as being their designs when I took it apart to clean it after the frosting disaster."

The frosting disaster had been Anakin's attempt to make whipped icing for a cake because he heard it was Master Unduli's birthday. But he turned their stand mixer on too high with too much in the bowl and it splattered everywhere. Being still mostly liquid, it seeped into all the joins, forcing Anakin to spend his afternoon cleaning it.

Padmé gave him a weird look. "That doesn't make any sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Cerea and Mirial hate each other. There was a dispute over taxation on a trade route or something a millennia or two back and they've hated each other since. We can't even get their diplomats to be in the same room together." She carefully unbraided her hair, slicking her hands with her curl cream and rubbing it through. "Cerea's scientists got pretty involved in a project of the Republic's, so Mirial's scientists left as did their delegation. If whoever built it somehow got their hands on tech from both sides, that I could potentially believe. But there's no way they worked together on that. If one side found out it was using parts from the other they would straight up refuse to sell, even if it was being built by a third party. Because of the chance their products might touch."

"Wow."

"Mirial takes feuds very seriously." She scrunched up a few of her more misshapen curls to help them figure themselves out.

"Huh. Luminara gets along just fine with Master Mundi. They actually get along better than either of them do with most anyone else. With both their species being wicked smart they get a chance to talk to someone of equal intellect."

"Well, Zygerria and Shili are also historic enemies and Jedi of those species get along just fine."

"Most of the time. And they're enemies for very different reasons."

"True."

Padmé decided she didn't feel like styling her real hair today, so she pinned it up carefully and pulled a wig over it. She had nothing to do besides the banquet, so she stole one of Anakin's shirts and pulled it on over leggings.

As she walked to the kitchen to think about eating food, Anakin gave her a look from where he was sitting on the counter with a bag of chips. "Is that mine?"

"Maybe."

"Angel, don't you have your own?"

"I like yours better. They're big and comfy."

"You have your own big comfy shirts. You don't need to wear mine."

"Those are maternity shirts and they make me feel fat. Your shirts feel like a perpetual hug." Padmé thought about a smoothie, but it made her gag. "Okay I'm probably pregnant. Or have the flu. Not sure which."

"Did you take a test?"

"It's sitting on the bathroom counter thinking about it."

"Okay." Anakin looked at the bag in his hands and sighed. "I should probably eat real food instead of chips."

"You should. Have you heard the twins yet this morning? They're usually up by now but I haven't heard anything." Padmé handed him an apple. "You want bacon or something?"

"I'm subbing in to teach a youngling saber forms class this morning. I'll pick up food on the way. Make whatever you want. The twins woke up an hour ago, but you were still asleep, so I fed them and put them in the playpen. They're playing happily."

"Okay. I'm not that hungry."

"Hey, babe, do you think I could juice this apple with my metal arm?"

"Anakin, you'll make a mess."

"I'm gonna try it." Before she could turn around to tell him off, she heard the sound of juice splattering and Anakin coughing. "Don't say I told you so."

"And now you'll have to clean your prosthetic today."

"I know. Ugh, apple juice is going to be so much worse than milk."

"Isn't it supposed to be waterproof?"

"I thought it was, but it turns out the waterproofing seals activate when the arm is submerged. It's great and all, but most of the time that's not what I need. It might be user error though. I don't know most of how this thing works and I don't want to take it apart completely because I don't know how to put it back together."

Padmé's comm pinged and she glanced around. "Ani, did you hear where that came from?"

He flung his hand out and pulled it to him, handing it to her.. "Got it."

"Thank you." She checked the message and smiled. "Steela's in town. She asked if I wanted to go out to lunch with some mom friends today. I'll probably take the twins with me."

"Alright. That sounds like fun. I think Obi-Wan and fam are on Coruscant for the week. Maybe Satine would like to go with you guys."

"I'll ask. Ahsoka might like to go too if she's not busy."

"She has that escort mission all this week. But if the delegation is in the middle of a debate she's not needed. I don't know about today, but she's free most of tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll ask her if she wants to join us. Anakin, you still need to eat food other than chips."

"I know. I will."

Padmé sighed.

[line break]

Anakin had forgotten what it was like to teach youngling classes.

"Careful. No, adjust your footing. Not that way, the other way. If you swing like that you'll-"

The youngling swung around and hit his Twi'lek classmate on the left lek. The Twi'lek screamed and dropped his practice saber to grab his lek.

"Do…that."

"Ugh, stop crying, it doesn't hurt! You just want attention," the other boy huffed.

Anakin knelt in front of the pair. "Hey kiddo, what's your name?"

"Ros Rijiur," the Twi'lek boy mumbled.

"It's nice to meet you Ros, I'm Anakin. Is it okay if I take a look or do you want to go see the nurse?"

"S'okay. You can look at it. Jus' try not to touch it too much."

"I know. My padawan was a Togruta. I know how sensitive lekku can be." Anakin was careful to only touch where he had to. "It looks like you'll have a nasty bruise, but that should be all. If you want, we can still go see Master Che after class though. And you can sit out or move somewhere else if you need to."

"Okay. M'okay right now, but can I tell you later if it hurts more?"

"Of course. Just let me know. If you start feeling dizzy or like you're going to throw up, tell me immediately."

"I will."

"Okay." Anakin stood up and went back to the front of the class. All the other children had stopped to watch and most of them returned to a ready stance. "I want all of you to look around. Some of your neighbours have lekku or other things you could hit if you aren't careful. Look out for that. If you have extra things that can get hit, make sure you're aware of where you are. Don't put yourself where someone else will hit you. Everyone, be aware of where you're swinging so that no one else gets hurt."

The boy that hit his classmate sneered, but readjusted his form to the proper way he should have been doing it in the first place. Ros didn't move from his spot, but Anakin noticed his lekku were pulled in towards his body.

"Alright. Let's try that again, but everyone be more careful."

It was going okay. He counted out the moves and most of the younglings were doing well. The focus on tactics and battle training had reduced significantly, but they still needed to know how to use their lightsabers. This group did not have their crystals yet, but they would get them as soon as they finished this class.

The same move that had caused the injury came around again. Most of the younglings had not figured out how to shift their weight in order to execute it properly yet, though the few Rodian students in his class seemed to have no problem with it.

He was assisting a Sullustan child, he remembered him being one of Barriss's neurodivergent students, with his footwork, when he heard a scream and crying.

"Master Skywalker, Notzac hit Ros on purpose!"

"No I didn't, his stupid head things were in my way!"

"Alright, everyone calm down," Anakin said firmly. He walked over, children moving out of his way. "Ros, are you okay?"

The boy was sniffling, holding his lek against his neck. "I w-wanna go to Masser Che."

"Alright. Do you feel dizzy at all?"

"My tummy feels weird."

"Okay. If you can't walk straight or it makes you feel sick let me know. The rest of you stay here. I'll send in someone to keep an eye on you." He guided Ros out the door.

Ros sniffled. "Master Skywalker?"

"Yeah?"

"He did hit me on purpose. I was just doing the form and then he stopped doing it and hit me really hard."

"I'm so sorry kiddo."

"I don't know why he doesn't like me. I never did anything to him."

"Some people are just mean. You didn't do anything wrong."

The youngling gyms were close to the Halls of Healing for this reason. Kids got hurt all the time. Anakin knew the way by heart, considering the number of times he'd been involved in fights. They generally weren't his fault, but he could never leave well enough alone.

He left Ros in the care of one of the senior padawans training under Master Che and started walking back to his class. Between the Halls of Healing and the youngling gyms was a hallway lined with statues set in alcoves. There was enough room behind these statues for a child. He knew this because he used to hide back there when the teasing was too much. There were often children hiding there and he usually left them alone. But this time as he walked through, whichever child was there was sniffling, Force-signature dull, like they were crying.

He stopped, pulling himself up to sit on the alcove and looked behind the statue. "Hey kiddo. You okay?"

The boy was about ten or eleven, with dark skin and tightly coiled curly hair with small braids throughout it. "Wanna be 'lone."

"I get it. Just making sure you're okay. You hurt or anything? Or just having a bad day?"

"'M okay, Master Skywalker."

"How did you figure that out?" He tried to say it kindly, but the youngling looked at his lap.

"Sorry. I'm not supposed to do that. People think I'm creepy."

"No, I don't think it's creepy. I think it's pretty cool. How'd you figure it out?"

"Well, I know Master Skywalker has a metal arm, and he wears a glove over it." He pointed to Anakin's prosthetic. "And I saw on the roster that you were subbing in for the class Notzac and Ros are in together. Notzac thinks Ros is faking being a Twi'lek and keeps trying to prove that his lekku aren't real. He doesn't think any species that doesn't look like a human actually exists. So I figured you'd probably be taking Ros to the Halls of Healing sometime. And I heard Ros call you Master Skywalker."

"You're a pretty smart kid. Good job. What's your name?"

"Mehki Ninvos."

"Nice to meet you Mehki. Why don't we go find your teacher, just so they know you're okay?"

"My teacher's mean." Mehki curled up into a ball and buried his face in his knees.

Anakin sighed. "I'm sorry bud. Want to tell me about it?"

"I'm usually okay, but in my later classes I just get tired of all the noise. It makes me want to hide. My teacher tells me I need to suck it up and that I'm too old to be that immature. And I don't like people touching me, but nobody believes me when I say it hurts. I really don't like it when I have to look people in the eye. It feels like they're staring into my soul."

"This might sound weird, but have your teachers ever raised the possibility of you having autism or something similar?"

"My teachers haven't, but I'm best friends with a girl named Charity. She's got autism and doesn't talk. She says she goes to a class with kids like her and the teacher is like them too. I wanted to go but my teacher said it's for the kids who can't cope and need extra help. I can cope, so they won't let me go."

"I remember Charity. She goes to Barriss's class. I've got an idea. Barriss should be holding her class right now. They just started. Why don't we go down there and you can sit in on her class? She's really nice, I promise."

"Really? You'd let me?"

"Sure. Come on, it's not that far." Anakin jumped down and Mehki followed him.

Barriss's classroom was a little farther than he remembered, but she hadn't started her lesson yet, so he wouldn't be interrupting her train of thought.

"Hey, Barriss, you got room for an extra student?"

She looked up. "Anakin, hi! Of course, one second. Ariyali, you have to get off my lap." She moved the blonde child off her lap onto the floor and stood. "What's your name?"

Mehki looked up at her nervously. "Mehki Ninvos."

"It's nice to meet you Mehki. My name is Barriss. You can call me whatever you want. Teacher, Miss Barriss, anything is acceptable. Is a handshake okay? It's okay if you say no."

Mehki looked at the floor and shook his head.

"Alright." Barriss turned to the rest of her class, noticing Charity waving her notebook. "I see you, Charity. Can you hold the notebook still so I can read it?" She stopped moving it. "Sure, Mehki can sit next to you. Is that okay Mehki?"

"Yeah. But what about my other teachers? They said I'm not supposed to be in your class."

"Don't worry about them. We're going over something you probably already know, so if you want to sit and do homework for an hour or something, that's fine with me."

"Okay. Thank you."

Barriss gave Anakin a thumbs up as he left.

[line break]

"Oh my gosh, it's so great to see you!"

Padmé set down her purse to accept Steela's hug. "It's great to see you too! How are you guys doing?"

"We're doing amazing. Okay, where do I even start? Ahsoka, baby number three, congratulations! Are the twins here?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "They're with Carter. I'm running a small mission, just escorting diplomats. They're negotiating right now, so I'm not needed at the moment."

"Awesome. Satine, I heard you and Master Kenobi finally tied the knot! Congratulations!"

Satine laughed. "Thank you Steela. If you don't mind, I'm sitting down."

"Oh no I totally get it. You have one already, right?"

"Yes, my daughter isn't here though. She's spending the day with her father. You and Lux have a daughter, correct?"

"Yep!" Steela leaned down to unbuckle a carrier. "This is Mina!" The baby giggled, reaching for her mother's hair. Her skin was lighter than Steela's, but she had the same tight curly hair. "She is eight months old this week."

Ahsoka raised a brow, but didn't comment on it. "She's adorable. I don't know how you manage her hair though."

"Oh, it's the same as mine. I just use small amounts of my stuff on her. You having trouble with your kids?"

"I have no idea what to do with hair. Carter does better than me, but neither of us are great."

"Their hair is straight like mine, correct?" Satine gestured to her loose bun. "It's not difficult to care for. Shampoo and conditioner two or three times a week. If you want styling tips, the holonet has plenty. Bo is in cosmotology school right now, you might be able to ask her to teach you. Mandalorians tend to have stick straight hair, though mine has some wave to it."

"Okay. Thank you. Kiya's hair is exactly like his dad's, so Carter can usually handle it, but Ella's got really long really quickly. It's almost to her waist already. It gets so dry and tangled but I don't want to cut it."

"Conditioner, honey. It's a lifesaver." Padmé set down her bag. "Can I hold Mina?"

"Sure. She's not super grabby, but be careful anyway." Steela passed the baby over and took one of the empty chairs. "How have you all been?"

Padmé took the last chair, holding Mina in her lap. "I've been doing okay. Possibility of baby number three!"

"That's awesome! Congratulations! We probably won't be having any more. One is the perfect number for us."

"Two would have been the perfect number for us, but you can see how well that went." Ahsoka gestured to her belly. "Hopefully you manage to avoid any more kids than you want."

Satine sighed. "My family has been doing well. Bo should be graduating with her cosmetology license this fall. Korkie's trying to find a girlfriend, but he's not having much luck. He has to sort through all the girls that want the status, money or both."

"Oh, that sucks. You have no idea how many proposals I turned down before Anakin and I were official. I swear some people forgot I was fourteen." Padmé rolled her eyes. "It did stop eventually. When Ani and I went public with the news that we were married, it somehow made people think I'd be open to leaving him if they could just prove why they were better. They forgot that my husband keeps no secrets from me and any dirt they can dig up on him I will already know."

"People did that all the time while Lux and I were engaged. They said they were just worried about me and was I sure I wanted to marry a 'dirty politician'. Their words. It mostly stopped when I got pregnant with Mina. Ahsoka, how have you guys been? Besides the hair troubles."

"I don't know how much I'm allowed to tell, but you guys won't rat me out. You guys know the Togruta delegation?"

"Yeah. Lux said one of them looked a lot like you."

"They're my family. Twin sister, my mom, and two of my many, many aunts. My sister got in a boatload of trouble with the Republic and we're trying to sort everything out. As you can imagine, it's a little overwhelming."

"Wait, they're your birth family? Wow. That's a lot at once."

"I was already acquainted with my sister, but it was Jedi business. Strictly professional. I met them on Shili and we had a while to just kind of talk. She's a lot more intense than me. Aggressive negotiations, y'know. Except what she considers aggressive is a lot different than what we consider aggressive. But we are identical twins. Ella and Kiya weren't sure what to think of her. They just held onto Carter the whole time. My mom's worried about me though. High blood pressure isn't great when you're pregnant."

"Oh dear. I hope you're taking it easy." Satine leaned over to pat her arm. "Preeclampsia is prevalent in my family, so we have to monitor my blood pressure very closely. I didn't have it with Sasha, so maybe I'll steer clear."

"That would be nice. If mine gets any higher I'm going to end up on bedrest. Not great with two toddlers."

"Your job really isn't great for low stress is it? Even though you're not on campaigns." Steela winced. "I mean you're not getting shot at, but politics isn't much better."

"Battle stress I can handle. Togruta are predators, it's what we do. This, I am not built for. I don't know how you guys do it."

"Can't Carter help?" Padmé shifted in her seat, nausea rising in her gut. "Steela, passing Mina back."

"Got her."

"He's our only income. We have enough saved to be okay, but neither of us are comfortable not having income." Ahsoka rubbed one hand over her belly. "Jedi only get paid if you're military. Carter's technically active duty, but there's nothing to fight. He's been arranging more permanent housing for the clones, so he works long hours. He doesn't like getting paid to do nothing."

"I'm sorry. That's got to be hard on you." Steela sighed. "You guys was caf or tea or anything? That was the entire point of meeting here. I'm paying."

Padmé's comm went off. "A lemonade is fine for me. I just have to take this real quick." She picked up her comm, stepping away from their table to answer. "Hey Ani."

"Hey Angel. Just wanted to hear your voice and say I love you. How's your lunch going?"

"It's going good. It's great to see everyone. You look jumpy, everything okay?"

"Is there a news broadcast where you are?"

"No, but I can pull it up on my comm. Why?"

"Just look at the news."

"Okay. See you when I get home."

"Yep. Love you angel."

"Love you too." She hung up, swiping over to the news as she returned to her seat. "Sorry to put a damper on everything, but Anakin said there's something on the news we need to see."

Steela frowned. "That doesn't sound good.

Padmé opened the live news broadcast and it projected a flat holo of the newsroom.

"-surprising turn of events. Zygerria has given no indication of returning to the Republic even after the end of the Clone War, but the contents of this message could change everything." The holo changed to a Zygerrian man wearing the royal circlet. He bore some resemblance to the late queen, though he was younger and without the air of superiority. He could even be called humble.

"For far too long, Zygerria has been feared. We slaughtered and enslaved and terrified entire planets. We built an empire on blood and the sale of living beings. I recognize this, and as of last month, it is over. I am King Jasir Scintel. I have made slavery illegal on Zygerria and am in the process of sending every single enslaved being on my planet back to their homes or wherever they wish to go. I wish to extend a sincere apology to the peoples of Ryloth and Shili. We have terrorized your people for centuries and we will do so no more. Those we have taken will be returned and reparations will be made for those that passed away during captivity.

"If you will allow me, I wish to reach out in friendship and extend an offer of a trade alliance to both planets. I have no right to expect you to accept and you have every right to decline. You have every right to strike back for the things we have done. I ask only that we simply coexist in the galaxy. There has been too much blood. I may be the son of Miraj Scintel, but I will not follow in her footsteps. From now on, Zygerria will actively work to end slavery and we will make restitution for everything we have done."