Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the plots of Star Wars! I hope you enjoy and would love to hear your reviews!
Set 5 years after the twins were born. After a huge disaster Padme and Anakin are seperated. Whilst Anakin still battles the pull to the dark side, he is also raising one twin and whilst Padme struggles to be apart from her husband and her child, she is raising the other twin.
Some changes to the SW universe. Hope you enjoy :)
19 BBY - Polis Massa
"You do know what this means don't you?" Obi Wan told his former Padawan as watched Anakin hold his tiny daughter in his hands. Padme and Luke were already on the ship set for Naboo where they were going to begin their new life.
"I know, Master. But this is my path now." Anakin repeated, simply unable to take his eyes off his sleeping Leia laying so protectively in his arms. Obi-Wan watched and nodded his head.
"I'm glad this is the path you have chosen, Anakin. Your resistance to the path destiny tempted you with is most impressive and I am very proud of you." He said honestly, it was genuinely so nice to see Anakin happy, especially after everything he had been through.
Since returning home to Coruscant, finding out his wife was pregnant and dreaming of her death he had really struggled. Struggled with his pull to the dark side, his fear of losing her, controlling his anger and emotions. It was all a struggle and Palpatine did not help his temptations, at one point Anakin had even committed himself to learning the ways of the dark side, until he was ordered to kill the entire Jedi order. It was at that moment he refused, he knew he could not do such things and so he turned Palpatine in, but he had escaped. He had escaped and sent his other apprentices to carry out Order 66 and many Jedi had been killed. Coruscant had been destroyed and was now a place of sith and destruction. Mustafar held many of the separatists that had been killed and once more was owned by the sith. Obi-Wan and Anakin had gone after Palpatine but once Anakin felt Padme go into labor he abandoned the mission and came straight to Polis Massa where she was kept for safety reasons along with other senators.
That was not to say that he didn't continue to feel his pull to the dark side of the force, because he did, most often and most strongly, but he had a new light now and he had to focus on that.
"All because of your training, Master." He smiled softly. Obi Wan smiled at him softly, stroking Leia's head.
"The war has only just begun Anakin, promise me you will keep to your strengths and resist any temptations. You have too much to lose."
"I promise."
"I will walk you to the ship." Obi-Wan said as they both walked to the ship. Anakin could sense Padme and his love for her had grown even stronger since the twins were born. Seeing her in the window of the ship he smiled softly knowing they were about to embark on the best adventure of their lives. Finally, together and freely. "May the force be with you, Anakin." Obi-Wan called to him.
"May the force be with you too, master." He said back with a smile.
As Anakin got closer to the ship, the ground around them began to tremble. Anakin stopped and felt the worst feeling he had ever had, he looked at Obi-Wan who too felt it before looking back at Padme who looked concerned. The sky had turned lit up in a terrifying red as explosions began around them, the sith. It had to be the sith, their revenge on Anakin and Obi-Wan. "Padme GO!" Anakin yelled knowing there was no time for him to get on the ship without putting them in more danger. Padme panicked and yelled to him before he had begun forcing the ship into the air with his force. He hated this, he hated being separated from her but right now he had to keep them safe. Once he could see they were out of the atmosphere he zoned back in, realizing he still had Leia in his arms who was crying at the loud explosions. Comforting her he clenched his jaw and took a deep breath knowing he couldn't let his anger win this time.
"Anakin, let's go!" Obi Wan called as they both ran towards an escape pod.
Anakin's knee bobbed up and down as Obi-Wan flew the ship away from Polis Massa, watching it being destroyed in the distance was heartbreaking. His children had just been born there only a day ago and now it had been destroyed by the very thing he almost became. "It's okay, Leia. I've got you." He whispered, comforting his daughter. He knew he had to find Padme and Luke. He could not leave his wife and child, he had to find them and he would.
14 BBY - Somewhere in the outer rim.
"Daddy, may we watch the sunrise?" a 5 year old Leia asked her father, who groaned slightly in bed.
"Of course, just give me one moment." He said, rubbing his eyes slightly.
"No, now daddy, otherwise we'll miss it." She said tugging on his bionic arm slightly.
"Okay, Okay I'm up." He said with a chuckle, sitting up and grabbing his robe before heading out with her, wrapping a blanket around her since the mornings could be quite harsh with cold. She sat on his lap as they watched the sun appear, it made some beautiful colors and he clenched his jaw, it reminded him of Padme so much and how she loved to watch the sunrise and sunset. It had been 5 years and he had no idea where she was, no connection to her, he didn't feel her presence, he couldn't even connect with her through the force and it terrified him. The war was so bad at the moment that most telecommunication devices weren't working and so he couldn't even reach her. He spoke to her last when the twins were just 3 months old and they were on different sides of the galaxy. She had to flee as far away from the war as she could as did he, but this only meant that his fear of never finding her would take a toll on his ability to overcome the pull to the dark side and he had a daughter to protect.
Leia was sweet and innocent, she was 5 years old she was supposed to be. But there was something about her that Anakin recognized. He saw himself in her, he saw her drive, her passion, her bravery and her lack of obedience at times. He knew they would make a good team and as she got older they would work together to find their family, but right now, she was his life and she needed his protection. She was all that mattered to him. When she slept at night he spent most of his evenings working on building new communication systems, he worked on maps and next steps, he listened to updates on the war and hoped he would find something that would hint to Padme's whereabouts, but nothing. For 5 whole years, he had nothing, but he wouldn't give up hope, he couldn't.
"Leia is okay, I promise you." He told his wife through a holographic message. "We are in the outer rim systems, it seems to be the only place not hit by the war but we cannot stay in one spot for too long." Anakin told her.
"Anakin, I'm afraid. I can't do this without you…"
"I know, I'm afraid too but you are strong Padme, you are wise and you know how to stay alive, so stay alive, for Luke, for Leia…for me. Keep fighting and I promise you, I will find you. I promise you." He told her again.
"I…"
"Padme? You're breaking up."
"Ani…Lo…"
"Padme?! Padme?!" He called, but nothing and that was the last time he had ever spoken to his wife.
14 BBY - 120,000 light years away from the outer rim galaxy systems.
"Mom, I got it." a 5 year old Luke said, bringing in some parts from the ship.
"Thank you, Luke." She said softly, taking them from him. "The quicker we can fix the ship, the quicker we can get out of here." She told him with a soft smile. Luke was a mini Anakin, or at least he looked like a mini Anakin. He was much like Padme though. He was her best friend and honestly she would not have survived this without him, but it killed her knowing she had a daughter out there that she had met only once and her husband was light years away from her. She longed for them so much and she had fought every single day to keep herself and Luke safe so that one day she could reunite with her family.
"How do you know how to fix a ship momma?" He asked, walking outside with her to the ship.
"Your father taught me many things, Luke." She smiled softly. "Like I will teach you too." She smiled softly.
Luke clenched his jaw, "Will he ever come for us?"
Padme swallowed hard, moving her hands to his shoulders. "Your father is the bravest man I have ever known, he is the greatest Jedi to have ever lived and he loves us so very much. In fact he loves us the most and you can trust me when I say he will not stop until we are with him and your sister again. We will reunite Luke, have faith. The force will guide us." She said softly. Padme had begun meditating through the force and being more open to the force after her separation from her family, in hopes that it would bring her some connection to Anakin or even to Leia and therefore some guidance on where they were.
"Tell me it again…" Luke said softly. Padme swallowed hard and looked at him.
"The war separated us, Luke. That is all you need to know for now." She said softly, beginning to fiddle with the wires on the ship.
"I know you are not telling me everything."
She sighed and stopped looking at him again. "Luke, I know you are curious but you are 5 years old and much too young to know or even understand the war, or what happened. One day, I will tell you everything but for now we need to stick together and try and find your father and sister." She said softly.
"Okay…" he nodded, before watching her.
"Daddy what is this bit for?" Leia asked, picking up a part from the ship.
"That is part of the ship's generator Leia, it helps the ship fly." He said softly.
"And this?"
"They hyperdrive, it helps the ship go through lightspeed." He smiled, he loved how curious she was.
"I know what this one is, this one fires big noisy guns." She said with a giggle.
"Yes it does now put it down because it's not safe." He said with a smile.
"Don't make it go bang daddy, I don't like it." Leia said, covering her ears as he took it.
"I promise, it's not going to make a noise." He reassured her. Leia was tough but her biggest fear was loud noises, which Anakin assumed was from the blasts on Polis Massa when she was a baby.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Leia nodded, taking her hands from her ears. "Why do we have all these not on the ship if we need them?" She asked, confused, seeing everything laid out on the floor.
"These are just spare parts Leia, we're going to trade them for things we need." He said softly, placing some of the stuff in bags.
"To help us find mommy and Luke?" She asked curiously.
"Exactly that."
"Mommy will love me too, right?" She asked.
"Of course she will, she loves you so much Leia. I know she is finding it very hard to be without you, but I promise it won't be for much longer."
"Is she pretty?"
Anakin stopped what he was doing and looked at her, before going to bend down in front of her. "She is the most beautiful woman I have ever looked at." He smiled, "Much like you." He smiled, booping her nose with his finger causing her to smile.
"I love you, daddy." She said with a smile, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"I love you too." He whispered, holding her close.
"And we'll never be apart right?"
"We'll never be apart." He whispered back, that broke his heart.
"We'll never be apart right momma?!" Luke asked Padme as she tucked him in bed.
"We will never be apart, Luke. I promise." She said softly, stroking his hair. "Get some sleep, my sweet boy." She whispered, leaning down to kiss his cheek.
"Goodnight mom."
"Goodnight, Luke." She smiled softly before going to sit outside in the sand, Anakin would have hated this planet. Swallowing hard as she watched the sunset she let out a sigh. "Ani, where are you?" She whispered to herself before heading inside to sleep herself.
"Where are you Padme?" Anakin asked as he stood on the balcony, watching the sun rise high in the sky as Leia ate her lunch. Sighing softly to himself before joining his daughter.
