5

Coruscant

Padmé wasn't the only one who was having a restless night. Anakin tossed and turned on his narrow bed, his mind reliving the mission he and Obi-Wan had just completed. It had troubled him that he'd killed Dooku. Jedi don't kill unarmed prisoners, he reminded himself. So why had he done it? It was Palpatine who had encouraged him to do it, and then justified his actions once it was done… It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People. Was it revenge? Revenge is not the Jedi way, it is the way of the Dark Side. This thought was enough to force Anakin from his bed. He stood up and paced about in his room, disturbed by the thought that Palpatine had encouraged him to kill the unarmed Dooku. He approved of him taking revenge…Anakin frowned, uneasy with the direction his thoughts were taking him. He remembered a conversation that he'd had with Obi-Wan a few months ago, when Palpatine had suggested to Anakin the notion that Padmé was pregnant. I know you consider him a friend, but I cannot shake the feeling that there is a reason he is goading you this way. Promise me that you will be very mindful of his intentions…. Was that what he was doing? Was Palpatine goading him? But why? To what end?

After getting dressed, Anakin left his quarters and walked through the empty corridors of the temple. He knew Obi-Wan was asleep, and would be quite grumpy with him if he woke him up. But he needed to talk to someone, someone he trusted. Padmé would listen, he told himself. She always did know how to calm me down when I was freaking out about something. The council had given him and Obi-Wan a few days' rest, and Anakin decided that he would use them to take a trip. He headed to the hangar and jumped into his fighter. Leaving the hangar, he headed up to the hyperspace rings, setting a course for Naboo as he did so.

Naboo

"Are you sure you don't want to come to lunch with us?" Jobal asked.

"I'm sure, Mom," Padmé said. "You and Dad go on ahead, I think I'll just have a nap."

"We'll bring you back something," Ruwee said. "Do you fancy anything?"

Padmé shook her head. "Surprise me," she said.

"All right," Ruwee said.

"Have a nice nap," Jobal said.

Padmé waved her parents off, and then went to her room. She'd had slept very little the previous night, and was feeling it now. She had nearly fallen asleep when she heard the doorbell ring. Deciding to ignore it, Padmé tried to drift off, but the person at the doorbell was insistent. With a groan, she got up from the bed. She smoothed down her hair as she made her way to the front door. When she reached the comm panel, she gasped in surprise, for Anakin was standing there.

"Anakin what are you doing here?" she asked through the panel.

"I just want to talk," he said. "May I come in?"

Padmé looked down at her rather prominent belly, knowing that it would be impossible to hide. This isn't how I wanted him to find out, she thought with a frown. This isn't what I planned…

"Of course, come in," she said, activating the door.

Anakin stepped inside, and for a moment they just looked at each other. They hadn't seen one another in six months, and the moment was an emotional one for each of them. Anakin's eyes travelled down her body, noting immediately that she was pregnant. He looked into her eyes again, startled by the discovery.

"So it's true," he said. "You're pregnant!"

Padmé nodded. "I…I didn't want you to find out this way," she said.

Anakin frowned. "Find out that you'd been unfaithful to me? I can't imagine why you'd ever want me to find out."

"I've never been unfaithful to you!" she cried. "How could you say such a thing?"

"Because…" he stopped, about to accuse her of carrying Rush Clovis's child. But when he focused on her, focused on them, he realized that he was wrong. It was his child she carried. His children. Anakin was rendered speechless by the discovery. The thought that he was going to be a father filled him with joy; and yet, why had Padmé hidden her pregnancy from him? Would she ever have told him if he hadn't come to Naboo?

"When were you going to tell me, Padmé?" he asked. "Or should I ask, were you going to tell me?"

Padmé looked away from him, unable to look at the hurt in his eyes. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "It's very complicated."

"Complicated? What's complicated? You're carrying my children! How is that complicated?"
She turned to him. "Because you're a Jedi," she told him. "Because there's no way to hide these children. Because our relationship doesn't work."

Anakin frowned. "We're having children together," he said. "We need to make it work."

Padmé sighed, feeling very tired and defeated. "We tried to make it work, Anakin," she said. "You've proven just now that you don't trust me. I can't live like that! I can't live with the deception, and I don't want to put two innocent children through that either."

"So what are you saying? That I will never see my own children?" he challenged.

"I'm not sure what I'm saying," she said as she sat down. "I'm tired and confused," she said. "Do you think I want to end our marriage? I love you, Anakin, but I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid of what this war is doing to you. I try to reach you, but you've closed your mind. It's like I don't know you anymore."

Anakin walked over to where she was sitting and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know I've changed. War has a way of doing that to a man. But my love for you hasn't changed, Padmé. Surely you know that. Surely you know I'd do anything for you."

She nodded. "I know," she said. "I don't know what to say, Ani. When I found out I was pregnant I panicked. I knew that if the Jedi Council found out you were the father, they'd expel you. I didn't want that to happen. It's my fault after all."

He frowned. "Your fault?"

She nodded. "I forgot my birth control tablets when we came to Naboo for your furlough a few months back remember?"

He nodded. "I remember," he said. "But I don't want you to feel like this is your fault, Padmé. I was there, I had a rather significant role in the creation of these children," he said with a smile.

She smiled. "Yes, I know you did, but…"

"But nothing," he said taking her hand. "This is a blessing, Padmé. Two beautiful babies…I can't tell you how happy it makes me to think that I'm going to be a father."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yes, really," he said. "In fact, this is probably that happiest moment of my life."

Padmé smiled, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm so relieved you feel this way," she said. "But how are we going to keep the Council from connecting them to you? I don't want you to be expelled, Anakin. The Republic needs you too much for that to happen."

Anakin knew that she was right; they were very close now to ending the war. Dooku was dead, and they had Grievous on the run. Torn between his duty to the Republic and his children, Anakin grew frustrated. "But…they are my children, Padmé," he said. "I want to be a part of their lives."

"I want that too," she said. "But how do we make this work, Anakin?"

Anakin stood up and commenced pacing in the small sitting room. "I …I suppose you could stay here," he said. "If you stay here with them, no one will make the connection."

Padmé nodded. "No, they won't," she said. "But you know how gossipy they are on the Capital. If someone finds out that I'm pregnant, they will start to ask questions, and start rumours."

Anakin turned to her. "You're right," he said. "There's a rumour going around that you're having Clovis's child."

"What! Who told you that?"
"The Chancellor," Anakin said, remembering what had brought him to see her in the first place. "In fact, it's because of him that I came here today," he said, sitting down again. "I wanted to talk to you about something that's been troubling me."

"Something about the Chancellor?"

Anakin nodded. "I'm starting to question his motives," he told her.

"That surprises me," she said. "You have always had a close relationship with him."

"I know," he said with a frown. "But there have been things that he has said, things that he's done that have puzzled me."

"Tell me," she said, pleased that he was opening up to her.

Anakin proceeded to tell her how Palpatine had contacted him during a mission, ostensibly to ask him about the mission, but also to deliver the rumour about Padmé. Then he told her how he'd encouraged Anakin to kill Dooku, ad how he'd justified his actions by telling him it was natural that he'd want revenge.

Padmé listened in silence, growing alarmed by what Anakin was telling her. "Have you told Obi-Wan?" she asked.

"I haven't told him about what happened with Dooku, but he knows about the other incident. He also knows about us, Padmé. He knows that we're married," he said.

"And what does he think?"

"He told me that I ought to be mindful of Palpatine," he said. "And that there could be more going on with his interest in me than we know. I have to agree with him, for it seems that he has been going out of his way to goad me, to anger me. And that gives me a bad feeling."

She frowned. "You need to tell the Council," she said. "If the Chancellor isn't trustworthy, then they need to know, Anakin."

"I know," he said. He sighed. "So where does that leave us?"

"Well, like you suggested, I could stay here," she said. "You can come and visit the twins whenever you want. I want you in their lives, Anakin."

He nodded. "And I want that too, very much."

"But there's a problem we still need to figure out. How do we keep your connection to them a secret?"

Anakin frowned, hating to think of not claiming the twins as his own. "If we are separated, no one will know," he said. "And if they find out you're pregnant, they'll just assume…"

"That they're Clovis's?"

"I hate to think of that, but that could be the only way to make this work," he said.

She sighed. "I hate the thought of it too," she said. "But with Clovis dead, it may be the only way to keep the twins' true paternity a secret."

"At least for now. Once the war is over, things will change."

"Will they?" she challenged. "Will the Jedi change the Code?"

"Probably not," he said. "But if I have to choose between continuing as a Jedi and being a father, I'll choose being a father."
"Anakin…"

"I'm serious," he said. "You're right, the Republic needs me right now, I get that. But once the threat of the separatists is over, I will end my connection to the Jedi. I hate to think of how you've been feeling all this time, it's been selfish of me to expect that I can do both."

She smiled. "I've missed you Ani," she said.

Anakin picked up her hand again. "I've missed you," he said, kissing her hand. "So much," he added, leaning closer and kissing her on the mouth.

Padmé knew that she shouldn't let this happen; technically they were separated. But it had been six months since she'd seen him, six months since he'd touched her. And there had never been a time when she could resist him. Her need for him was simply too great. And so she gave in to her needs, and let him lead her to her bedroom where he made love to her with the passion built up over their long months of separation.

Later that evening

"This all sounds very …convoluted," Jobal said as Anakin and Padmé shared their plans with her and Ruwee. Both he and Jobal were pleased that their daughter and her Jedi husband seemed to be reconciling.

"It's the only way Anakin can continue as a Jedi," Padmé said. She looked at him. "The Republic needs him," she said. "The war can't be won without the Hero with no Fear," she added with a smile.

"You need him too," Jobal said, "and so will the twins."

"We realize that," Anakin said. "And when the war is over, I will tell the Council about our marriage," he said, looking at Padmé with a smile. "And whatever happens, happens."

"So we need you two not to tell anyone about our marriage," Padmé told her parents. "Not even Sola."

Ruwee frowned. "You're pregnant, Padmé," he said. "How are we supposed to handle that?"

"A relationship with a man who is now dead," Padmé said. "We both hate the idea of it," she said, glancing at Anakin. "But it is the only way to keep Anakin out of this."

Jobal and Ruwee looked at one another. "If this is what you want," Jobal said. "We'll keep your secret. I just hope it won't be for long," she said.

"So do we, Mom," Padmé said.

Anakin hated to leave Padmé, but knew that he would be missed at the Temple if he delayed his departure. But he left her with a sense of hope in his heart. For the first time in many months he felt as though he and Padmé had a future together, and that future would include twins.