A Bumpier Road

by Darth-Lex

Anakin and Padme in an AU AOTC and Episode III (with lightside and darkside endings)

4. Part Four: Chapters 39 to 50

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

A few floors up, Padmé and Anakin stopped at the unguarded door to Senator Organa's apartment.  Padmé reached out and tapped the buzzer. 

"Come in," came the distracted response in Bail's voice. 

Anakin looked at her, and she shrugged her shoulders.  "I guess he's expecting someone else," she whispered. 

As they walked in, hoods down, Bail did not raise his eyes from the datapad on the desk in his sitting room.  He motioned to the sofa and pair of chairs near the window.  "Have a seat.  I'll be right with you." 

Bail looked up when he heard a man's grim laugh he did not recognize.  His face fell in shock and he almost jumped from the chair in fright.  "Padmé?  Is that you?  And Skywalker?" 

She chuckled.  "Yes, Bail, it is.  I take it you were awaiting different company?" 

Bail walked around his desk and approached them; he still wore his ostentatious Alderaanian attire from the recently ended late-evening session.  "Yes."  He took a deep breath.  "It's quite a relief to see you alive.  We've all been very worried about you." 

Anakin's voice was angry.  "What?  You thought I was a danger to her?" 

Bail frowned apologetically.  "The Jedi Council believes so, yes.  I wasn't sure myself…"  His voice cut off and he began to gasp for air.  Anakin's right hand was extended, the black glove squeezing in the air, using the Force to crush his throat.  As Bail struggled to breathe, he fell to his knees.

Padmé stepped forward and looked down on him.  "We're not here to talk about that, Bail.  I want to know why you orchestrated the write-in campaign to get me elected to the Senate.  We talked many times when my term ended as Queen.  You knew I wanted to leave politics.  Why would you do this to me?"  She glared at him and yelled at the top of her voice.  "Why?  I need answers!" 

"It wasn't…  I thought…  sorry…"  He face was flushed with blood and his voice was weak. 

Padmé turned to Anakin and spoke to him sharply.  "Enough of this!  Release him."

Anakin snickered and nodded once.  "As you wish." 

Bail gulped air for several seconds.  He was about to rise from his knees when he realized Padmé's blaster pistol was pointed at his chest.  "It wasn't my idea, I promise you," he began, still out of breath.  "Palpatine came to me.  He said we needed a strong Senator from Naboo, one who would fight for the Republic and for justice.  Schmidt had weakened the seat while he held it.  It was essential to have someone who could wield the same kind of influence Palpatine had as Senator."  He took a deep breath and continued.  "You were the obvious choice.  We assumed you would reconsider if you were elected.  We knew what you had said, but we thought you were just burned out from being Queen.  This is a very different job, and we thought it would energize you."  He sighed.  "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't give me my life back, Bail," she berated him.  "How dare you make such assumptions for me?  What gave you the right to decide my future?" 

"I don't know what else I can say, Padmé.  I trusted Palpatine's judgment.  I'm sorry," Bail apologized. 

"I want to know something else," Padmé threatened as she brandished the pistol directly in his face.  "I want to know why…"  She stopped abruptly when Anakin put his hand on her arm. 

"There's someone coming to the door," he whispered.

Anakin and Padmé stepped back into the deep nighttime shadows of the low lights in the sitting room.  The door buzzer sounded at Bail's desk.  He stretched out to reach across it and tapped the button.  "Come in," he croaked, his voice shaking terribly.  He walked a few paces and stood in the middle of the room.

The door slid open and two figures almost skipped through.  Jacen Organa had his left arm around Dormé's shoulders, and she had her right hand wrapped around his waist.  As they walked forward, they were looking at each other.  "Greetings, cousin.  We have big news for you," Jacen announced.

With his eyes and face Bail tried to tell them to stop, to say nothing further, to realize the danger standing in the room.  In contrast to his usual darker complexion, his face was very pale, his moustache and goatee standing out sharply. 

The two giddy youngsters were oblivious. 

As Jacen squeezed her tightly, Dormé held out her hand.  On her left ring finger, an enormous diamond sparkled in the low lighting.  "He surprised me tonight.  Do you like it?"

A loud crack rocked the room and a single blaster bolt whistled through the air an inch from their heads, scarring the wall with a large burn and sending chips of plaster and paint into the air.  A woman's voice yelled maliciously.  "What is the meaning of this?"

Jacen and Dormé turned to see the truly frightening figures of Anakin and Padmé emerge from the darkness.  Padmé held a blaster pistol in each gloved hand, aimed directly at them.  Anakin stood a step behind her, hands hovering over the lightsaber on each hip.  Padmé glared into Dormé's eyes and shouted at them wickedly.  "How long has this been going on?"  She hollered at Jacen.  "Were you getting your thrills with her behind my back when we were together?" 

Dormé answered her first.  "No, Padmé, I promise it wasn't like that at all."  She and Jacen both started to cry uncontrollably.  "Please, Padmé, please stop," Dormé begged as she quaked in fright.

Padmé lowered the pistols but kept them in her hands.  "Tell me the truth right now."  She indicated Anakin by tipping her head, her voice only a bit mellower.  "And he can tell if you're lying, so don't even try." 

Dormé explained through her sobs.  "You broke Jacen's heart, do you know that?  He was crushed.  Depressed."  She wiped her eyes on Jacen's sleeve.  "Ever since we've been friends we've helped each other through tough times, so he came to me for comfort.  Okay, we met up a few times in the weeks after you called it off, but nothing happened, I swear."  She swallowed hard and continued.  "And then when you left Coruscant, I was so worried.  I was sick all the time; I couldn't eat or sleep.  So, yes, I was there for him and he was there for me.  We didn't mean it to, but this time one thing led to another."  Tears were pouring down her face and streaking the front of her pink blouse.  "I didn't think it would hurt you.  I promise." 

Padmé looked over her shoulder to Anakin.  He nodded his head.  Padmé turned back but kept her eyes on the floor.  She put the pistols in her holsters and tucked her gloves into her belt as she pulled them off.  When she looked up again, Dormé and Jacen saw she was crying too. 

Padmé ran forward and hugged Dormé as tightly as she could.  "I'm so sorry," Padmé sobbed, "I don't know what came over me.  I'm not hurt at all.  I'm so happy for you."  She looked in Jacen's eyes.  "For both of you."  She lifted her own left hand up to them.  "We got married, Anakin and me, about a week ago."  That only made the two women cry even harder. 

Dormé and Padmé held their embrace for several minutes, supported on each other's shoulders.  Jacen stepped over to Bail and fell into his arms.  The older man did his best to soothe the fear from his younger cousin. 

Anakin interrupted the peace.  "There's one answer I still haven't heard," he glowered, "and it's a pretty important one."  The four all were startled by the menacing tone in his voice.  "Jacen, how come you never told Padmé you were the one who ran the write-in campaign?" 

Jacen's grimaced.  He looked at Padmé and shrugged his shoulders.  "I'm sorry," he said sadly.  "There's no excuse for it."  He sighed and took a deep breath.  "Chancellor Palpatine made me promise never to tell anyone, especially you.  He told me that he, and Bail, and Queen Jamillia, and only one or two other people in the galaxy knew about it.  He said it was for your own good."  He looked back to Anakin.  "I know it wasn't the right thing, what I did.  But he could have me fired, or worse.  I'm not like you.  I'm not strong enough to cross someone that powerful." 

Padmé looked forlornly into Anakin's eyes.  "How come it is that more and more bad things in my life keep coming back to Palpatine?" 

"I don't know," Anakin answered calmly.  "Maybe it's time we find out." 

They spent a few more minutes with Bail, Jacen, and Dormé.  Padmé made the three promise to keep the marriage a secret for now.  And she and Anakin both apologized sincerely for the way they had treated her friends.  After a final congratulations to Jacen and Dormé, they pulled their hoods up again and departed. 

Downstairs in the garage, Anakin hot-wired a speeder Padmé pointed out; it was owned by one of her least favorite Senators.  They flew it to the Executive Building and then the Chancellor's residence.  From their observations of the lights and the security, it didn't appear Palpatine was present at either location. 

Padmé looked at Anakin curiously.  "I wonder where he is?" 

"Me too," Anakin replied as he flew them around in another pass at the residence.  "Given the security bulletin about us, though, I don't think we can land here to ask any questions." 

Padmé frowned.  "I agree.  I guess we should just head back to the ship." 

"Yeah," Anakin sighed.  As he turned the speeder toward the Blue Hawk's hangar, Anakin tossed a comment over his shoulder.  "You haven't seen the last of us, Chancellor.  We'll be back for you."

CHAPTER FORTY

After three days of intense deliberations about the disturbing message sent to Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Council voted seven to five to rescind the orders for Jedi to search the galaxy for Skywalker and Amidala.  None of the twelve, however, was satisfied with either possible course of action.  If the Jedi continued their search, it might lead to many more deaths and drive the young couple further toward the dark side.  On the other hand, it was far from certain they would follow the right path if left alone.  The Council was in agreement that the apparently very strong emotional bond between the Padawan and the Senator was highly problematic.  In the end, each Jedi Master made little more than a guess about which of the two unsavory options ultimately would be less dreadful. 

---

Anakin flew the Blue Hawk up from the atmosphere and into a low orbit over Coruscant.  "I have an idea, angel," he offered to Padmé in the starboard co-pilot's seat. 

"What's that?"

"I remembered about something I read years ago in the Temple.  There's a vacation ranch on Dantooine where the very truly rich go to get away.  I think it's kind of like the lake retreat on Naboo, except larger, more expensive, and more secretive.  I thought maybe we could take a honeymoon there.  It might help us relax and get a better handle on our troubles after everything we've been through the last few weeks." 

Padmé smiled and reached over to squeeze his shoulder.  "That sounds wonderful.  Let me check it out through the Holonet first, okay?"  She laughed.  "And we qualify in that wealth bracket now, don't we?" 

"Yeah, I guess we do.  I'll go see how the droids are doing with all that data." 

In the lounge, Anakin queried Threepio about the findings from Dooku's computers.  They had learned a considerable amount, Threepio reported.  Nevertheless, any results would be highly tentative until they could run further analysis, regressions, and correlations of the information. 

"Okay, Threepio.  I trust the two of you.  You will report your conclusions to me when they are sound; speculation may only mislead us.  Can you at least tell me what kinds of leads you have?"  He winked, knowing Threepio would not comprehend it. 

"Most certainly, Master Ani," Threepio began.  "Artoo is particularly interested in two trends he has discovered.  Both relate to Dooku's master.  It seems the records of their communications and reports can be triangulated.  So Artoo thinks we should be able to determine the location of the Sith Master's main headquarters.  In addition, we are cross-referencing the transmissions with information from the Holonet.  Perhaps by combining the publicly available information with this secret data, we can determine the identity of the Master." 

Anakin patted Threepio on the shoulder and Artoo on his dome.  "This is fantastic work.  Do you have any idea how long it will take?"

"I am reluctant to say, Master Ani.  With the additional computers we acquired last week on Naboo, the work is going much faster.  It still may be many more weeks, however, until we have enough certainty to reach definitive results." 

Anakin laughed.  "That's fine.  We can live with that."

When he returned to the cockpit, Padmé greeted him in a loving embrace.  "I've set our course for Dantooine," she told him happily.  "I can't wait!  We'll finally have a lot of time alone, in peace and quiet, just to enjoy being together."  Then, suddenly and without warning, she started to cry.  "And to help each other get past the pain we're in.  I almost killed one of my best friends for nothing.  I don't ever want to be like that again," she sniffled.

"Me neither.  I need to get away from the grip of the dark side before it overpowers me," he admitted somberly.  He closed his eyes for a moment, rested his chin on top of her burgundy hair, and dropped his mind into the Force.  No disturbances of any kind were apparent to him about the Dantooine plan.  "I think you're right, though," he smiled.  "This will be a great honeymoon."

"I love you, Ani, more than ever," she whispered through her tears as she hugged him closer and ran the fingers of her left hand through the short black hair on the back of his head. 

He kissed her very gently on the forehead.  "I love you too, angel." 

---

Sitting in a meditation chamber after the Council meeting, Obi-Wan found it virtually impossible to clear his mind.  His feelings were torn apart by the choice he had made.  A tie vote would have preserved the prior orders.  For that reason, Obi-Wan had been forced into the terrible position of casting a vote that granted Anakin's demand for what amounted to separation from the Order until he returned voluntarily. 

No, he corrected himself, Senator Amidala makes the demand as well.  They are in this together.  Even if few others on the Council truly credited my assessment of the strength of their love and her decision to shoot me, I know it to be true.  Theirs is a powerful union.  A bond none of us has been equipped by our training, or by our mastery of the Force, to comprehend. 

And now we have given it the chance to destroy us all.

At least he could take a small amount of comfort in two facts.  Even had he been recused by conflict of interest from consideration of Anakin's fate, the remaining six-to-five vote would have had the same effect.  And despite the profound weight his reasoning and judgment were given by his fellow Council members, Yoda had remained uncharacteristically silent during the entire debate before he had voted last and with the majority. 

It took several long hours for Obi-Wan to finish his meditation on his decision.  If only it had not come to this.  But it has.  Both possibilities present grave danger.  He let out a long, tortuous deep breath.  I trust in the Force.  It always has served me well.  And now it tells me to trust in Anakin.  He knows his destiny to bring balance to the Force.  He has chosen a path toward fulfilling it.  We may think it a foolish and dangerous one.  But it is his choice to make.  Obi-Wan closed his eyes and concentrated hard, hoping the message he was willing through the Force would be heard by its intended recipient.  May the Force be with you, Anakin.

A short time later, he sat alone in the mostly deserted cafeteria, eating dregs of leftovers from the long-passed dinner hour.  He put down his fork and leaned back in his chair, his partly drained glass of juice in his hand.  Abruptly, from nowhere, he felt a surge in the Force piercing deep into his mind.  "May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan."  It was a reply.  From Anakin.

A grin crossed his face as he set the glass down without drinking.  "Tonight," he chuckled as he spoke to the crystal and liquid in front of him, "you are half full."

---

Supreme Chancellor Palpatine thanked Mace Windu again for the news of the Council's decision before he terminated the transmission on his viewscreen.  He had been considering ordering military units to join the Jedi search for Skywalker, but the Council's action precluded that possibility. 

"So much the better, even if it slows us down," he snickered to himself.  Although Skywalker no doubt would be captured more quickly the more searchers were involved, the use of military units and Jedi also would increase dramatically the possibility the Jedi, and not he, would control Skywalker's future.  Now only his minions were in pursuit of the boy. 

The Sith Lord double-checked to be sure the office was locked.  His viewscreen snapped to life as the transmission connected. 

The gaunt, pale man looked surprised to be contacted again so soon.  "Yes, my Lord?" 

"I have been able to review the judicial department's tentative report on last night's assassination of Senator Cork.  I am certain Skywalker was involved.  Set your surveillance distances accordingly," Darth Sidious informed him.  "And effective immediately the Jedi have abandoned their attempt to find our quarry.  There are no others to impede your mission." 

"This is all most favorable news, my Lord.  We will redouble our efforts." 

"Very good.  I know you will not fail me," the dark master proclaimed grimly. 

An apologetic tip of the head preceded the reply.  "One question has arisen among some of my men, if I may?" 

"Clarifications now are far preferable for you than mistakes later," the shrouded figure answered through a villainous laugh.

The man nodded his head deferentially.  "The Senator.  Alive, dead, or no preference?" 

Darth Sidious knew the answer immediately.  "Kill her." 

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

When the Blue Hawk lurched to lightspeed away from Coruscant, Anakin and Padmé rose from their seats in the cockpit and embraced again very tightly.  After a few minutes, they leaned back and looked deeply into each other's eyes.  No words were necessary to convey the immeasurable pain in their feelings. 

Cork had deserved his fate, but his two guards and the two Padawans had been innocent victims of their pursuit of vengeance.  Almost worse, they had come perilously close to killing Bail, Jacen, and Dormé.  Although Anakin sensed it in himself as the dark side of the Force, Padmé perceived simply that her unresolved fury about the bad parts of her life had boiled over and made her lose rationality until Dormé's pleading had snapped her out of it.

And they still had not talked meaningfully about their other terrible emotions.  Anakin's revenge against the Tusken Raiders, his violent assault on Dooku, or the origin of the slowly healing burns on his right hand.  His tremendous sorrow for his mother, and for Gina and Frekk, and his anguish over the needless death of Ellina and his daughter.  Padmé's rage at the Senate for approving dictatorial powers for the Chancellor, and at Palpatine for accepting them.  Her slaughter of Gunray.  Her own grief for the loss of the mother-in-law she would never know, except for a few days long ago in a much different context.  And her anger at the Jedi for keeping Shmi out of Anakin's life until it was too late.

They tilted in for a soft and short kiss.  Opening her eyes again, Padmé saw the sparkling in his.  She squeezed Anakin's lower back firmly to signal her agreement.  They would have to work out all of this eventually, yet neither of them could face it now.  So it was time for the one activity guaranteed to make the rest of the universe disappear for a while.

---

The next evening, their spirits remained willing but their bodies were spent.  To avoid the cramped confines of the starfighter and needing to refresh physically and mentally, they decided to land at the nearest waystation and have another nice meal. 

This floating platform in deep space, closer to Coruscant, was nicer than the previous one.  Many diplomats and politicians heading to and from the capital planet stopped here.  Despite the risk of being recognized, they decided the disguises and Anakin's powers in the Force would be sufficient. 

As they had hoped, their romantic dinner of tender steak and decadent chocolate cake left them both feeling revitalized.  Their stomachs full almost to the point of discomfort, and enchanted by their love for each other, they actually enjoyed a few hours of pure happiness as they walked the broad ferrocrete streets of the shopping district hand-in-hand. 

And then a series of minor disturbances in the Force crystallized together in Anakin's mind.  A group of men, none of them Jedi, was here looking for them and somehow had figured out who they were.  They were about to be confronted, if not attacked. 

He quickly scanned the immediate area for the feelings of the crowd.  Two men in front and two to each side were taking up positions.  Anakin pulled his hand away from Padmé.  "Draw your pistols," he stated coolly.  It did not occur to Padmé to question him.  She unsnapped the weapons and held them ready, and Anakin's blue lightsaber shimmered to life in his right hand. 

At the space station's hangar, the Blue Hawk was locked down and its shields fully up.  Their pursuers presumably had no idea, but the starfighter couldn't be destroyed here, unless perhaps the men were willing to annihilate the entire station.  So Anakin and Padmé both knew all they needed to do was make it back to the ship.

"Stop right there!"  Two large men in mismatched body armor shoved their way through the crowd in front of them, blaster rifles pointing forward.  Aiming at the couple, the one on the right continued speaking.  "There's no reason to make this difficult, Skywalker.  Surrender now." 

"Bounty hunters," hissed Padmé under her breath.  "I wonder who hired them?" 

"I'll find out," Anakin smirked through a whisper.  He raised his voice at the men.  "You can't be serious.  Back down." 

"We're not afraid of you, Jedi," the man on the left snarled. 

Padmé and Anakin couldn't help it.  They laughed loudly and happily.  "You should be," she chortled. 

Blaster bolts bounced off Anakin's whirling blade straight back into the rifles that fired them.  The two men dropped the weapons as they exploded in their hands and reached for blaster pistols in holsters.  Padmé prevented that, rapid shots from her twin pistols easily dropping both men with severe thigh wounds.  Anakin flinched at the injuries' uncomfortable proximity to a highly delicate area of the anatomy.

Anakin turned to her.  "Let's go!"  They ran in the direction of the hangar, the bystanders parting in front of them frantically.  The wind of their running tossed down their hoods and rustled through Anakin's short black hair and Padmé's long crimson locks.  All the while, Anakin had no trouble sensing in the Force the presence of their pursuers.  The four bounty hunters behind them were chasing, and six more now were moving to cut them off. 

He prepared his feelings to fight again when a startling realization appeared in his mind. 

In the Force, he could sense Padmé's complete and utter confidence in him and in their ability successfully to reach the Blue Hawk.  She had no fear, and virtually no anger, in her emotions.  All she wanted was to escape this newest hassle and get away with him. 

Anakin discovered he felt the same way.  Certainly he was not afraid and had no concerns about defeating however many non-Jedi there might be against them.  And he had a right to be angry that someone, perhaps even the Jedi Council, had put a bounty on them.  But he wasn't.  He felt a small tingle in his right hand; the calluses of the Force lightning burns were tempting him, reminding him of the dark side's power, pushing him to use it again.  Yet there was no need.  He would win without it.

With his mind immersed in the unexpected waves of undeniable calm flowing between Padmé and him, for the first time he perceived something even more profound.  There never was a need.  For no matter how much power he drew from the dark side, it would never be enough.  Nothing could make him so invincible and omnipotent that he could protect himself, or Padmé, or their children, in all places at all times.  Or for that matter, he finally admitted to himself, powerful enough to have saved his mother.  So either he and Padmé would escape or they would be captured or killed.  Being angry would not improve his immediate situation any.

Before he had time to reflect further on these remarkable revelations, they hurried around a corner to see six armored bounty hunters in an infantry attack formation in front of them.  Without hesitation, Padmé opened fire with a barrage of blaster bolts far more intense than their opponents had expected.  In the split-second of their startled reaction, Anakin took advantage.  He tumbled smoothly forward along the ground beneath Padmé's shots, springing to his feet in the middle of the group.  In an instant, his humming blade sheared off the barrels of all six blaster rifles before a single one could shoot. 

The men staggered backwards from him in shock.  His blue lightsaber arcing through the air menacingly but without attacking, Anakin scowled at them.  "If you leave now, you will live.  Continue to attack, and you will not." 

Five of the men turned and fled as quickly as their legs could carry them, three hobbling away fairly pathetically.  In the Force, Anakin sensed the four bounty hunters who had not yet revealed themselves slink away to assist their panicking colleagues.  Padmé quietly walked over and stood behind his left shoulder. 

One armored man remained.  From his bearing and demeanor, Anakin surmised he was the leader, reluctant to give up the bounty so quickly.  The man's right hand slashed toward his hip holster and came up with a blaster pistol.  It came down again severed from his arm.  The man screamed and fell to his knees in agony. 

Anakin turned off his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.  He roughly grabbed the man by the uninjured left arm and dragged him over to the wall of a nearby alley between two stores. 

The fight over, the crowd in the space station's streets went back to their business.  No one paid any further attention to the three figures who had entered the alley. 

Anakin held the man by the shoulders and slammed him hard into the wall.  "Who hired you?  Tell us."  When he received only a gob of saliva in the face in response, he raised his voice.  "Tell us now!"  Padmé stood to the side, one pistol still drawn.  Interrogation was not her specialty, so she was content to let Anakin try first. 

The man remained mute.  Once again, Anakin felt a tingling of fire in his heart.  The dark side presented so many enticing options.  He could lift the man off his feet by a hand on his throat or choke him with the Force until he capitulated, or slowly burn him with a lightsaber blade until he talked, or shock him again and again with Force lightning until his willpower collapsed. 

But none of that was necessary.  If one more attempt at negotiation did not work, an old-fashioned mind trick probably would be adequate.  "If you tell me who put out the bounty, I will let you walk away," Anakin proposed benevolently, still pinning the man to the wall.

"I won't tell you," the man glared, his voice scratchy and edgy. 

Anakin released his grip and took a step back.  His right hand skipped through the air.  "You're an excellent bounty hunter, aren't you?" 

"Yes, I'm an excellent bounty hunter." 

He stopped the compulsion for a moment.  "So the bounty must be very high to pique your interest." 

"Yes, it is," the man replied, half willingly, half still muddled.  "Five hundred thousand." 

"That's quite high indeed."  His fingers waggled again.  "Who could possibly post such a bounty?" 

The man involuntarily answered.  "It's a man called Darth Sidious.  He's well known in our circles; he uses bounty hunters often.  This is the biggest he's ever offered." 

Anakin spun his hand in the air one last time.  "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" 

"He ordered the woman with you killed.  He did not want her taken alive."  The man gulped.  "That's all I know." 

Anakin sensed the man was telling the truth.  "I suggest you see a doctor.  There is one at this station a few blocks away."  Then he passed his hand over the man's face and released any traces of his mind trick. 

Padmé took Anakin by the hand and led him back to the hangar.  "It's that name again.  Darth Sidious.  The Sith Master, you think?" 

"It almost has to be," Anakin agreed.  "I thought it might have been Dooku, but if he's sending bounty hunters after us now, he's got to be alive."

"All the more reason to get to Dantooine as quickly as possible." 

Anakin nodded. 

---

They strapped into their seats in the Blue Hawk and lifted off.  Once the next hyperspace jump to Dantooine was underway, he turned to her.  "You weren't angry today." 

"No, I wasn't," she smiled.  "I thought I would be when we were attacked again, but I guess not.  It just wasn't there." 

"It was the same for me," he told her peacefully.  "I felt a temptation from the dark side, but I didn't use it." 

"That's good."  Padmé shook out her hair with her hands.  Then she chuckled.  "You know how you acted today?  Just like Obi-Wan would have."

"You're right," he laughed in surprise at how accurate her insight truly was.  Anakin stood up and paced over to take her hands as he knelt in front of her.  "I think we'd better figure out how we did this.  So we don't go back to how we were." 

"I like that idea very much," she replied before she leaned in from the seat and kissed him sweetly on the lips, then slowly and gently down the side of his neck several times.  "But first there's something else I want to do…"

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

The next morning after breakfast, still in their nightclothes, Anakin and Padmé stretched out on the lounge bench.  He propped himself up with a few pillows, bent one knee up against the padded back of the bench, and ran his other leg out on the floor.  Facing out into the small room, she cuddled against him with her back, her feet tucked snugly between his ankle and the padding, her hands holding his arms around her waist. 

She spoke first.  "We almost lost it all, didn't we, Ani?"

"I think so, angel," he sighed.  "The dark side is more seductive than I ever understood." 

"I'd thought maybe you were okay after Tatooine and Geonosis," she said quietly, "until that first day you meditated.  You weren't yourself.  I knew it wasn't you I was arguing with."  She lifted away one hand to wipe her eyes.  "I was so scared you wouldn't come out of it." 

"I'm really sorry," he apologized.  "I should have been more careful.  More aware of what I was doing."

She squeezed his arms.  "It's not just you, though.  You know that, right?"

"How do you mean?"

"I was out of control too.  Don't forget, I shot Obi-Wan.  I killed the two Padawans; you didn't.  And I was happy when you killed Cork's guards, even though they didn't do anything."  Tears ran down Padmé's face.  "And I almost killed Dormé and Jacen.  How could that happen?  She's one of my best friends in the galaxy, and I wanted to kill her!"

"I know.  I'm so sorry," Anakin soothed.  He rocked her gently until the crying subsided. 

"The dark side was affecting you too," he whispered.  Then he told her something she hadn't anticipated.  "The Force is strong in you, Padmé.  Not anywhere near enough to be a Jedi, of course, but much more than an ordinary person." 

"Really?"

"Yes.  It's part of what made you such a great politician, I think.  The intuition for events.  Extraordinary empathy for others.  It gives you subtle strengths that others lack." 

She looked into his eyes.  "How long have you known?"

"Well, you've always had a very vibrant and bright presence in the Force.  Obi-Wan remembered it from the blockade crisis.  It was how he and Qui-Gon could see through the decoys the whole time.  Although many people have a presence like that just from a strong personality.  Like, well, Bail Organa."  He giggled a little.  "I didn't realize yours was actually strength in the Force, though, until… well… um… our first time… you know…" He blushed very fiercely.

She saved him from further embarrassment by giggling happily.  "Seriously?"  She kissed him on the cheek when he nodded.  "You mean it's not like that for everybody?"  When he shook his head, she giggled again and unconsciously tugged at the japoor snippet pendant around her neck.  "Well, no wonder Sabé was so jealous!"  After a moment, however, she became serious again when she appreciated the other implication of his disclosure.  "If the Force is stronger than normal in me, that means the dark side…"  She trailed off, deep in thought. 

"Unfortunately, yes.  That's why your anger and hate took you so out of control.  Your feelings are bolstered by the Force, and this time it was the dark side."  He took a deep breath.  "I need you to understand, Padmé, that what we've done is mostly my fault.  If I hadn't been absorbed in the dark side, I would have perceived its grasp on you.  I would have known to stop you, to stop us both, rather than letting our rage pull us along together." 

"I suppose," she conceded.  "I'm not going to let you take all the blame, though, Ani.  Even if it was partly the dark side, I should have known better too.  We fed off each other and got worse, instead of getting better." 

"Okay," he agreed.  "Except for yesterday.  Somehow we drove away our anger to the point it didn't come back even when those bounty hunters attacked us.  I don't really know how we did that." 

"I do," she responded as she shifted around to face him more easily. 

"Really?"

"Yes," she smiled.  "I'd never felt more in love with you than I did then.  And not just how you'd made me feel physically.  You'd reshaped my mind.  At dinner, all I could think about was how happy you make me.  I was so calm and peaceful.  Even when they came after us, I didn't care.  I knew we'd get away.  I was… perfectly serene."

"I was too.  Although it's funny you should say that."

"Why?"

"Well, there's a verse in the Jedi Code about how a Jedi should control his feelings.  Emotion, ignorance, and passion must be avoided in favor of their opposites: peace, knowledge, and serenity." 

"I see.  The Jedi like serenity.  So do I." 

He laughed.  "I know they won't be recommending our strategy to others, angel."

She laughed too, very happily.  "I certainly understand why ignorance is bad.  And passion too, if it means acting from impulse instead of rationally."

"There's more nuance to it, for sure, but that's the general idea."

"What about emotion, though, Ani?  I know many members of the Council; they certainly have emotions.  So does Obi-Wan."

He smiled.  "No, you're right.  It's not that a Jedi can't have emotions.  It's that a Jedi should not act from emotion, rather than reason."  He adjusted his hips a bit to support her weight more comfortably.  "Obi-Wan has told me many times about when Qui-Gon died.  When the Sith Lord killed him, Obi-Wan was distraught and very angry.  He used those emotions when he fought the Sith Lord, and it left him open to an attack from the dark side.  If he hadn't grabbed that bracket on the wall, he'd have died too.  But he was able to clear his mind and push aside those feelings.  He was absolutely calm when he used the Force to leap up, and draw over Qui-Gon's lightsaber, and kill the Sith Lord.  Not because he was angry, or for revenge.  Because he had to.  It was his duty to protect you.  To protect all of us."

"I think I understand," she whispered.  And then, tentatively, she looked into his eyes.  "And that's what you've been doing wrong until yesterday?"

He nodded sadly.  "Yes.  I went to my mother out of fear.  I killed so many Tuskens from hatred.  I fought the battle droids with anger, and Dooku with vengeance.  And I've acted from anger and hate since then too." 

"Until yesterday," she reminded him firmly.  "Yesterday you were serene.  Like me.  You were at peace."

"For the first time since I became a Jedi."  Never before had he admitted that devastating fact to anyone, including even himself.  "And it helped me finally realize something about the dark side."

"What's that?"

"The dark side is tempting because it offers power.  Quickly and easily.  Power to do whatever you want to do.  Instead of using the Force simply to do your duty."  He took another deep breath.  "Except it could never be enough.  It can't make me all-powerful.  Even if I'd been using the dark side, I couldn't have saved my mother.  She was far away on another planet.  Or someday, maybe you'll be in trouble and I won't be there.  Or one of our children.  No matter how strong the dark side would make me think I am, there would never be an unbreakable guarantee I could save you."

She stretched up and kissed his cheek knowingly.  "And it's an awfully high price to pay for something that won't give you what you want."

He chuckled.  "It's so obvious, isn't it?  And yet I never understood it until now."  He shook his head and exhaled sharply in disgust at himself.  "I feel so stupid."

"Don't."  She brushed his cheek with her right hand.  "You're not the first Jedi to underestimate the dark side.  You won't be the last."  She tugged gently on his chin to be sure he was looking into her eyes.  "You understand it now, Ani.  All that matters is that you won't make those mistakes again."

"I know.  I'm not sure the Council will be as accepting as you, though."

"Even if you tell them everything that's happened, everything you've realized?" 

He considered it for a moment.  "Oh, that'll help, no doubt.  And I'll ask them to help me atone for what I've done.  The issue is whether they will trust me.  Whether they'll believe that I've seen the error of my ways and turned back once and for all.  Whether I've really been redeemed.  Some of them don't like me anyway.  Imagine what these confessions would show them."

It had dawned on her how much what he was saying differed from their earliest conversations at the lake retreat when they first had fallen madly in love.  She smiled at the meaning of it.  "So you want to remain a Jedi after all?"

"I need to be," he answered calmly.  "To avoid the dark side.  I finally appreciate why they've handled me the way they did, why they restricted me and worked so hard to get me to control my feelings.  Everything Obi-Wan tried to teach me, that I struggled so much against, was absolutely right."  A few tears traced down his cheeks as he thought about all the undeserved resentment, and sometimes even hatred, he previously had held toward his mentor.  "There's no question about it.  After all this, I really don't think I could stay away from the dark side on my own."

She brushed his cheek again.  "I'm sure once Obi-Wan hears you say that, he'll make the Jedi take you back."

He grinned.  "You're right, angel, of course."

Her presence in the Force dampened a bit.  "Ani, if you're going to be a Jedi, what does that mean about us?"

"It's the hardest part to convince them about, to be sure," he admitted.  "But I will never leave you.  You are as much a part of my destiny, maybe even more of it, than being the Jedi's Chosen One."

"I feel the same way about you," she said softly.  "But I thought attachment was forbidden.  And passion certainly.  The Code even specifically forbids marriage, doesn't it?" 

"Yes."  He stroked her arms with his fingertips.  "But not as an end in itself.  As a means to an end.  Love, like any other strong emotion, can lead to the dark side.  And because it's so powerful, it's very risky, like hatred or vengeance."

"I don't see how that helps our case any," she teased with a giggle.

"Because I'll explain to them how our love is different from what they're worried about.  First of all, I've had visions from the Force about you for as long as I can remember.  They know about all of it, even though they've refused to give it any credence until now.  And if, after being in love with you and all that includes, I still can fulfill the prophecy and not fall to the dark side, well, then how can they possibly say it's not the will of the Force that we be together?" 

"I suppose that's a fair point."

"They also need to know," he continued, "how much worse things would be if I didn't have your love.  After my mother died, and after I killed Dooku, I was full of the dark side.  I could have turned to evil without looking back.   But as soon as I was with you again, those feelings got better.  Being with you soothed me.  It always has.  And it will keep me on the right path from now on too.  I can feel it."

"And my love for Dormé helped me snap out of my anger," she acknowledged.  Yet she had not convinced herself about the other side of it.  "What about the last few days, though, Ani?  When I was angry and vengeful too, you followed.  I could have pulled you down with me." 

"I suppose so.  But that's not unique to us.  There are many stories in the Temple about Masters and Padawans who make bad decisions and then reinforce each other in their judgment."

She chuckled a little.  "That certainly happens all the time in politics.  A group of Senators gets convinced in their course of action, and won't change it even when everyone else can see it's wrong because they all support each other in retaining their mistaken position."

"Yeah, Jedi can do that too.  Even the Council sometimes, I think."  He cleared his throat.  "And the last reason our love is different is my own feelings now.  I know how strong the dark side is.  I never want to go that way again.  And I've learned that my love for you could never be served by the dark side.  If I love you, I must avoid it at all costs.  I will always feel our love in my heart, but my actions and duties as a Jedi have to be governed by peace and serenity, not emotion or passion."

Padmé rolled around and squeezed him tightly before she asked the most difficult question of all.  "And what if I died, Ani?  Like your mother." 

"I would be devastated.  But no amount of power, or hatred or vengeance, would bring you back.  I killed a lot of Tuskens, and others since then, and my mother is still dead.  I could accomplish nothing worthwhile by becoming evil if you died."  He shook his head again at the obviousness of what he hadn't comprehended before.  "Like Obi-Wan after Qui-Gon was killed.  I would be like him."

She nodded.  "And once again, it's a question of whether the Jedi trust you about that."

"Exactly."  Then he snickered.  "That's why the will of the Force is the lead argument."

She laughed too.  After a moment, however, she became pensive.  "And what about our children?  What if they have the Force too?"

He looked deeply into her eyes.  "I think you know what the answer has to be." 

They talked it over for a few minutes and, despite the implications, agreed.  They held each other close and cried about it for a while.  Finally, she spoke again.  "You mean what you said about our family?  You promise?"

"I promise."

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Eight days after leaving Coruscant, they arrived at Dantooine just after lunch.  Orbiting above the verdant planet was a small space station a few hundred yards in length and fifty yards wide.  The operators of the luxury ranch greeted their guests here to ensure maximum privacy on the surface below.  In addition, it served as a portal to the rest of galaxy when guests desired to send or receive transmissions or goods.  The Blue Hawk landed on one of the many open platforms. 

To preclude the possibility anyone might recognize Padmé, Anakin entered the station alone wearing his tight black flight suit, his two lightsabers concealed in thigh pouches.  He considered his options and once again registered them under the name Vader.  From the available choices, he selected a small lodge in a wooded section of the ranch, which encompassed hundreds of thousands of uninhabited acres of pristine wilderness.  A down payment of one million credits was more than sufficient to cover a month's rental fee and establish an account to draw against.  He declined any security or servants and told the proprietors to expect weekly orders of food or other necessities.  To start, Anakin requested delivery of a case of premium wines and a week's worth of their favorite foods. 

Several hours later, after flying low over the landscape to enjoy the simple natural beauty of the place and allow the supplies to precede them, the starfighter set down on the ferrocrete landing pad a short walk from the lodge.  The one-story building, its exterior surfaced with logs, stood on the crest of a low ridge.  A small grass lawn was carved from the trees in front of it.  In all directions, rolling hills covered in sweet-scented pine forests stretched as far as the eye could see. 

"Let's check it out," Anakin suggested as they walked down the narrow cabin hallway toward the back of the ship.  "I'll come back and get the bags later." 

Padmé smiled and kissed his cheek.  "That sounds nice."  She took his hand and they walked together down the boarding ramp. 

When they reached the front door, he typed in the access code and the locks opened.  As the door swung inward, he grabbed her around the waist from behind as she started to walk through.  Her gray flight suit also was tight, with no loose fabric to grab, so he had to rely on his advantage in brute strength.  "I don't think so," he said with mock seriousness. 

She twisted her body and clutched at him with her hands as she giggled with joy, not really trying very hard to break free.  "Let me go!" 

"I will agree on one condition," he proposed through his laughter. 

"Which is?"  She spun around in his arms and looked into his eyes.

"That you, my dear wife, permit me to carry you over the threshold," he answered. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and stopped resisting.  "If only you'd said that to begin with," she teased.

He scooped her up and turned to the side.  She kissed him very deeply, so he had to concentrate much more than he expected to perform the theoretically simple task of passing through without smacking her into the doorframe. 

She lifted one arm off his neck long enough to wave on the lights.  They broke their kiss and leaned cheeks together as they looked at the lovely plush furniture in the wide living room.  Anakin sensed in the Force Padmé's utter contentment in his arms, so he happily continued to carry her as they explored the remaining rooms.  The richly appointed dining room led to the enormous kitchen and quiet breakfast nook.  Next they found the elegant study with two desks.  Finally, they completed the circuit of the lodge by arriving in the bedroom, a square room almost thirty feet across.  To each side of the huge four-post canopied bed, they saw the doors to two gargantuan walk-in closets.  He leaned them around the corner to peek into the refresher, which included a large shower and very spacious bathtub, then stepped back out into the room. 

They looked into each other's eyes, and Anakin knew exactly where she wanted to him to let her down from his arms.

---

After dinner, Anakin had retrieved their bags from the Blue Hawk and they had unpacked everything for the first time since leaving Coruscant for Naboo exactly forty days earlier.  The droids remained on the ship, continuing to analyze Dooku's data for anything that might be useful.  And before going to sleep for the night, Anakin and Padmé had washed their hair thoroughly, finally removing the colors of the dyes. 

The next morning, Anakin awoke to a disappointing discovery: Padmé already had gotten up.  He rolled onto his back and gazed around the room.  He sensed her in the refresher, so he twirled the wedding ring around his finger as he waited.  After a few moments, however, he felt sadness emanating from her. 

He called out, raising his voice to reach through the closed door.  "Padmé?  Is something wrong?" 

The door slid open and she stepped out.  "Kind of."  Her pale yellow nightgown rustled as she walked over and slid into the bed next to him. 

He wrapped his arms around her.  "Tell me, angel.  I'll make it better."

"I know you will," she sniffled as she kissed him.  "You always do."  She took a deep breath, sighed, and wiped her eyes on the sheet.  When she spoke again, her voice was frustrated.  "It's not fair!" 

"What's not fair?"

"That I'm not pregnant yet.  I don't understand what's wrong.  It was supposed to be the prime part of my cycle." 

"I'm sorry, angel," he soothed as much as he could with his voice. 

"It's just wrong," she whimpered.  "When you didn't want it, it only took once with Ellina.  And now that we want it so badly, it still hasn't happened despite our best efforts."  She looked quickly into his eyes.  "Wait, you know, right, that this isn't the only reason I've been so…"

He cut her off with a very passionate kiss.  "Angel, I know, I know.  It's definitely not my only reason either."

She blushed deeply.  "Okay."

Anakin cleared his throat.  "I don't really know," he wondered aloud.  "I'm not sure I've accepted it yet, but there's something to be said for your theory that Ellina was using a pregnancy as her way out of the Order.  I suppose maybe she found a way to use the Force to, I guess, assist the natural course of things."

Padmé put her hands on his face and gave him a look so hopeful it broke his heart in two.  "Do you really think so?  Do you think you could do that too?" 

"I have no idea," he answered truthfully, thinking as fast as he could about how to loosen her intense sincerity.  "I've certainly never been trained in it!"  That brought a long and happy laugh to both of them. 

"Really, though, anything's possible with the Force," he continued, "so I suppose I can make an attempt, and meditate on it some if it doesn't work."  He frowned.  "I don't know whether to try to do anything now, or wait until afterwards…"  He trailed off as he pondered for the first time the potential options.

Padmé held him close and stayed quiet to let him think.  After a few minutes, she brushed his cheek with her fingertips.  "Would it hurt to try both of those?" 

Anakin chuckled.  "I don't see how."

She kissed him forcefully and squeezed him tightly.  "Thank you, Ani.  Thank you so much." 

He kissed her again, then gently pressed her down onto her back.  "Relax.  Calm your thoughts."  He shifted perpendicular to her on the bed and rested his head lightly on her abdomen, his right hand next to his face, gently stroking the silk covering her belly.  Then he cleared his mind and dropped into the Force, hoping to find guidance and ultimately success in the task she had assigned to him. 

---

Six days later, Padmé woke Anakin in the morning by bouncing up and down excitedly on the bed, her knees and hands pounding into the mattress each time she landed.  "Ani!  Ani!  Wake up!  Wakeup-wakeup-wakeup!" 

Fortunately his abilities in the Force told him she was elated, so he knew there was no dangerous emergency of any kind.  Still quite groggy, he opened his eyes and looked at her.  "Okay.  Yeah.  I'm awake.  What is it?"  Through his fuzzy eyes, he could see her waving a thin white plastic tube in the air at him.

"You did it!"  In her enthusiasm the small stick flew from her hand, and the ever-reliable Force instructed him just in time to duck to avoid being hit in the forehead.  The device landed harmlessly across the room.  Tears ran down her face as she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him joyously.  "Whatever you did, it worked!" 

The realization finally sinking in, he raised his eyebrows and looked into her eyes.  "You mean…" 

Her happiness exploded into the Force more powerfully than he ever had felt before.  "We're going to have a baby!"

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

As the days and weeks passed by, Anakin and Padmé finally had the time they needed to discuss everything that had gone wrong in their lives since their paths had intersected again. 

Anakin meditated many hours about his mother.  Although he already had accepted that her death was not his fault, he still struggled with the idea that he should not have expected himself to be powerful enough to save her.  In the end, her dying words convinced him.  She meant what she said.  She was proud of me.  She was happy for Padmé and me.  She loved me.  If she could die without regrets, he could live without them. 

He also remembered fondly the countless happy days in the Jedi Temple with Gina, Frekk, and Ellina when they had grown from young children to skilled apprentices.  He missed them terribly, and it would be incredibly difficult to return to a Temple without them.  Yet he would honor their memory by being the best Jedi he could be. 

In the course of recalling and pondering the seven years he had known Ellina, ultimately he decided Padmé was right about her.  Everything Ellina had done was consistent with a profound unhappiness and a desperate internal conflict about whether she wanted to remain a Jedi or leave the Order.  He was fully confident she had a good heart and no evil in her soul.  And the things she tried, whether training herself in dark side skills, or sneaking around with him, or getting pregnant, each had one thing in common: had she been caught, the sanctions would have been quite serious, including possibly expulsion.  Yet at the same time she often went to great efforts to avoid being discovered.  So most likely she herself had not known which future she wanted.  That indecision, in turn, caused her to hide the pregnancy even at the risk of death for her and their daughter.  If only you had talked to me about these things, he thought into the Force, maybe I could have helped you.  Maybe you could have found a path to save all of this misery.  Maybe today you would be alive and happy instead.  I'm sorry I didn't help you the way you needed.  I miss you.  And I forgive you.

Padmé found emotional peace by absolving in her heart those who had caused her pain.  With Anakin's acceptance of the Jedi's training, she understood why keeping him from Shmi had been the proper course.  The Jedi were not responsible for his mother's death, and she would no longer be angry at them for it.  And although she still believed Palpatine and Bail and Jacen ought not have decided her future against her wishes, she knew Bail and Jacen had acted from only the best of intentions.  She had served Naboo well and honorably in the Senate, even if she resigned her seat when they returned.  Another thought helped her spirit too.  If I had not been in the Senate, I might not have found Anakin again.

She struggled more with her feelings about Palpatine.  For so many years, he had been a mentor and counselor to her, a grandfatherly source of guidance and wisdom in the often brutal and savage world of politics.  For certain her dissertation had been much improved by his limitless comments and suggestions.  Her own political mind, perhaps one of the finest in the galaxy, had been honed extensively by observing and learning from him.  Yet he had allowed the Senate to approve emergency powers that abrogated democracy.  And far, far worse to her, he had accepted them.  This was not the Palpatine she had known, and maybe even loved as a friend, for so long.  For now, she decided, she would give him the benefit of the doubt and dissolve her anger.  When they returned to Coruscant, she would meet with him and hear his explanation.  Then she could decide whether he was a hero or a traitor. 

Together Anakin and Padmé discussed their violent actions.  Initially, they agreed there was no need to feel any remorse for the deaths of Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, or Senator Cork.  Each, perhaps, ought to have been given a trial in a court of justice instead of facing summary execution by vigilantes.  Yet their fates were far more than well deserved, and Anakin and Padmé simply could not feel sorry for bringing them about. 

On the other hand, the rest of what they had done could not be justified.  Although at least he had not slaughtered them all, Anakin's butchery of the Tuskens had not been in defense of his mother.  It was revenge pure and simple.  Certainly, they knew, they ought to have been able to find another way to prevent Ewan and Hanna from revealing their location without killing the two Padawans.  And a method less violent than murder probably could have gained them entry to Cork's apartment. 

For each of these, Anakin and Padmé would ask the Jedi Council for assistance.  They would atone for their actions as best they could, whether through good deeds for others, or restitution to the families, or something else.  With darkness behind them, they would make amends and move forward.

There remained one other action, and yet how to deal with it did not trouble them in the slightest.  For they knew in their hearts that a simple apology and request for forgiveness would be accepted without hesitation.  No impulse for retribution, no grudges, ever troubled Obi-Wan Kenobi.

---

Just after dawn, the warm colors of the rising sun made their bedroom look happy and bright. 

Anakin was annoyed by it.  He was frustrated as he watched Padmé sleeping peacefully next to him on her back in her green silk nightgown.  It had been forty-nine days since Padmé had told him she was pregnant.  They had confirmed the result using several different tests from the medical supplies they had acquired from Sabé on Naboo. 

And yet he still could not sense the baby in the Force. 

Part of the problem, he knew, was that he never had trained very much in the healing arts.  The most skilled of those Jedi could sense in the Force each individual torn capillary in a bruise or which tiny bone in the hand or foot had been broken.  Anakin had trouble differentiating among even the large internal organs.  So his odds of picking out a small group of cells within her uterus were basically nil. 

On the other hand, he was not simply trying to identify a piece of body tissue.  Their child would have its own presence in the Force.  He would be able to detect that long before he could pinpoint the actual physical being. 

Then again, the overall radiance of a baby, even one with a high midichlorian count like his own, would be limited at this point by the small number of cells in its body.  And given Padmé's own brilliant presence, the child's light in the Force would be all but overwhelmed by the shining of its mother. 

As he moped about his dilemma, it occurred to him that it must have been very easy for Ellina to hide her pregnancy from the Jedi.  She had not been much further along than this when she died.  As a Jedi, her radiance in the Force was many times Padmé's, so the baby's presence would have been drowned out completely.  Beyond that, she had become adept at shielding herself in the Force, and no doubt it was simple for her to mask whatever emanations she could detect from the baby within her.  And she had been trained as a healer, so she would have been able to target that shielding with precision to just the baby.  In the end, she probably could have hidden it until she started showing if she had wanted to.  Once again he sent a thought out into the Force, if she was there to hear it, letting her know her forgave her. 

Despite his expectation of complete disappointment yet again, Anakin could not bring himself not to try.  He very carefully shifted his body around and set his head as softly as he could on Padmé's abdomen.  He tucked his left hand into the small of her back and rested his right on the sheets next to her leg. 

He cleared his mind and drove away his frustration.  He stretched out his feelings into the room.  Then, slowly and deliberately, he pulled them in and focused all that energy solely on the belly beneath his head.  He probed and prodded gently.  She stirred a little, but not enough to awaken, so he continued. 

Nothing. 

An hour later, still nothing. 

Anakin felt every beat of Padmé's heart.  Every breath in and out of her lungs.  A petty objection by her intestines to the sausage they had eaten for dinner last night.  A slight muscle ache in her lower back.  Also from last night, he giggled in his mind. 

And then he felt them. 

Sure enough, there were two distinct presences inside her.  So tiny and faint he almost missed them.  It was like looking into the night sky for the dimmest star the eyes could find.  Yet there they were.

He locked a wisp of his feelings onto them, as if they were going to disappear.  He knew full well they were headed nowhere; it was his concentration that might fail.  He calmed his thoughts and slowed his heartbeat.  Now he could focus his feelings again, and he reached out gently to his two children. 

He could perceive immediately that they responded to the Force, although it was impossible to gauge now how sensitive to it they would grow up to be.  They barely could press back in the Force to him.  It was enough, though, for him to tell they sensed his love for them.  That they knew he was their father.  And that they loved him in return. 

Anakin hoped desperately his tears soaking her nightgown would not wake Padmé quite yet.  He reached out just a bit more with his feelings and found the answer he was seeking.  Although he didn't want to let them go, he knew he had to. 

Padmé woke up when he lifted his head off her.  She blinked her eyes and stretched and yawned.  Then she noticed the huge damp spot over her belly.  She looked quickly at him.  His eyes were drooping, his hair and face and nightshirt drenched in sweat.  He looked completely exhausted, like he had just done several hours of lightsaber sparring.  "Ani?"

He knew he needed to assuage the anxiety he sensed from her in the Force.  "I was concentrating for so long," he whispered, his voice parched and cracking. 

"Why?" 

He pointed to her abdomen.  "In the Force."  It was so natural to him at this point he forgot she didn't know.  "I finally felt them."

Her eyes bugged out, she bolted upright in the bed, and her Force presence registered shock.  "THEM?!?!?"

"Yes, angel," he soothed, realizing his mistake.  He tenderly reached up and pulled her back down.  He enveloped her in his arms as she adjusted to face him.  "You're carrying twins."  He could sense her calming a bit.  Or maybe not. 

In her surprise, she was struggling to form words.  "Um…  uh…  What…" 

He knew what she wanted to know.  "A boy and a girl."

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

A few days later, Anakin was enjoying the lazy day, still wearing his blue nightshorts long after breakfast.  He walked quietly toward the open bedroom door.  He stretched out his feelings in the Force and sensed Padmé was awake.  He stuck his head around the doorframe.  "Angel?" 

"Yes, Ani?"  She rolled over to face him, her face glowing in the mid-morning sunlight streaming in the windows. 

"I was thinking," he began as he strolled into the room, "we should discuss names for the twins." 

"We have seven more months," she teased.  "There's no rush." 

"I know," he laughed.  "But now I can sense them, feel their presence.  It's very weird to be able to reach out and touch them, and not have anything to call them."  He scratched the side of his face absentmindedly.  "I want to be able to call them their names." 

She sat up in the bed and tugged her pink nightgown up on her shoulders a bit more, covering over the pendant.  "I guess I hadn't realized.  I can see how that would be disconcerting."  She giggled.  "You know, when I first was Queen, I couldn't keep Yané and Rabé straight?  So I would just say, 'Hey, you!' or things like that.  It was kind of awkward." 

Anakin laughed with her.  "I did that all the time in the Temple.  There are so many Padawans, I never even tried to learn all their names.  I used 'buddy' or 'kiddo' a lot."  He sat down next to her on the bed and wrapped his right arm around her shoulders. 

"I have an idea," she suggested.  "Why don't you think of a boy's name and I'll think of a girl's name?" 

He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.  "You mean Anakin Skywalker Junior is off the table?"

"Yes, dear, it is," she replied with complete seriousness. 

He threw up his palms defensively.  "I was kidding!  I was kidding!" 

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, rubbing her left hand across his bare back.  "I'm still a little tired." 

"Rest some more then.  I'll check on you in a few hours." 

Anakin went outside to the lawn and sat cross-legged on the grass.  He cleared his mind and pulled the Force into himself.  Basking in the warmth of the sun, he gently asked the Force for guidance.  Images and emotions came to him in flashes, the way they had at the lake retreat on Naboo months ago.  And just as the Force had offered the name Vader to him, it answered his call again.  One image in particular touched his soul.  It was a young man, strong and proud and confident.  "I am a Jedi, like my father before me." 

Padmé was dangling her feet over the end of the bed when he returned to the bedroom.  She had her datapad in her lap.  "I've narrowed it down to five," she announced.  "I can't pick.  You decide."  

"Are you sure?  You don't want to hear mine first?"  He stopped just in front of her. 

"No," she answered happily.  "Keep it a surprise."  She handed the datapad up to him. 

He read the list.  Lané.  Nallé.  Ella.  Leia.  Linaé.  He looked down at her, his voice sincere.  "I see the pattern, angel.  I know where you're getting these names.  You don't have to do this."

"I want to," Padmé whispered.  "I know it's silly, but I feel like it's because of her we're having twins.  Because of what you did."  She looked into his eyes, fighting back her tears.  "It's the only way I can thank her.  For giving me the family she never got to have." 

Anakin failed to hold back his.  "Okay.  I understand."  He let her reach up and wipe the wetness from his cheeks.  "In that case, I like Leia the best." 

She giggled.  "That's my favorite too."  She took the datapad back, deleted the other four names, and stretched out to set it on the nightstand.  When she tried to scoot back, she realized he had taken advantage of her movement to climb onto the bed with her.  She was now wrapped snugly in his arms.  "And what is our son's name?" 

"Luke."

---

Just before sundown, Anakin was sparring against two training remotes when his comlink beeped.  He jumped a high arcing back flip away from the remotes and triggered them to shut down.  "Yes, Threepio?" 

"Master Ani, Artoo and I have some results ready you must see immediately." 

"Very well.  I'll be right there." 

Inside the Blue Hawk, Anakin took a seat on the lounge bench and leaned his elbows on the table.  Threepio walked over slowly, set a datapad in front of him, and remained standing. 

"On the first page of results," Threepio explained, "you will see we have successfully identified the location of the Sith Master's base." 

Anakin's jaw dropped when he read the screen.  "It's on Coruscant?"  He was dumbfounded.  Right beneath our noses all along.  The Jedi have been completely blind.  He wrung his hands.  Or maybe it's that the dark side really is this difficult to perceive if you're not dark yourself.  He leaned his face into his hands.  This is bad.  This is very, very bad.  After a few more seconds, he looked up.  Threepio was waiting patiently for him to be ready.  "You have the exact coordinates?"

"Yes, Master Ani.  From the hundreds of transmissions we evaluated, the precise location could be determined.  As you can see," the golden finger indicated on the diagram on the datapad, "it is a building in the old industrial sector.  The public records list it simply as an abandoned warehouse.  The neighboring properties are so contaminated by manufacturing pollutants that no one has purchased land there in many, many centuries." 

"Very good," Anakin commented.  Not polluted only by chemicals.  "There is more?" 

"Yes, I'm afraid," Threepio continued.  "On the next four pages you will see a comparison we have prepared."

Anakin looked at the massive chart.  It had three columns.  The first was a list of dates.  The second and third columns contained locations.  The corresponding entries in those two columns were identical.  "Help me out, Threepio."

"There are three hundred twenty-seven entries, which reflect every transmission between Dooku and the Sith Master over the last two-and-a-half years, organized chronologically in the left-hand column.  The middle column represents the location to which Dooku sent a message on that date." 

Anakin scanned the list.  Coruscant.  Coruscant.  Coruscant.  Naboo.  Corellia.  Coruscant.  Kuat.  Duros.  Coruscant.  Alderaan.  Coruscant.  Nubia.  Coruscant.  And on and on and on.  "And I can see the right-hand column matches perfectly.  So, Threepio, tell me what that column represents." 

"It is the location of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine." 

Anakin's heart stopped.  He couldn't breathe.  His stomach lurched and his arms twitched involuntarily.  He almost lost consciousness from lack of air before he finally drew on the Force to calm himself and start breathing again.  After he collected his mind, he looked up.  "That's impossible." 

"I'm sorry, Master Ani.  It most definitely is not.  The Chancellor's location easily is determined from Holonet records of his travel itineraries.  Artoo confirmed the report six times, and I reviewed his work three more times.  The match is perfect.  There is no disparity of any kind."  Threepio put a mechanical hand on Anakin's shoulder.  "I am truly sorry, Master Ani.  Yet the truth is apparent.  Supreme Chancellor Palpatine indubitably is the Sith Master." 

Anakin held his face in his hands and cried.  "Thank you, Threepio.  Thank you, Artoo.  I will discuss this information with Padmé.  For your great work, why don't the two of you run your maintenance progressions now?" 

"Yes, Master Ani, of course," Threepio responded, and moments later he and Artoo were silent in the corner. 

Anakin sobbed and sobbed.  His body shook and his arms shivered so severely they barely could support his head.  This is the worst possible betrayal I can imagine.  He wiped his face on his sleeve.  For ten years, the Republic has been run by a Sith Lord.  He actually laughed.  Dooku told Obi-Wan the truth.  Darth Sidious has been controlling the Senate.  Literally.  Then he cried again.  How can I possibly tell this to Padmé?  He was her mentor on Naboo, in the Senate.  I know she was angry at him over the emergency powers, but this is truly terrible. 

And for the first time in weeks, his anger began to blaze furiously again.  I can't believe it!  He's been manipulating me for years!  Anakin pounded the table over and over.  Palpatine's words would not leave his mind.  "We will watch your career with great interest."  "I do not understand why the Council does not make better use of your skills."  "You don't need guidance, Anakin.  Soon you will learn to trust your feelings.  Then you will be invincible."  "I see you becoming the greatest of all the Jedi.  Even more powerful than Master Yoda." 

Anakin sat up straight and took a deep breath.  No.  No.  He cleared his mind and slowed his heartbeat.  This would be exactly what he wants.  Anger.  Aggression.  Rage.  Vengeance.  The path to the dark side.  If I go that way, I may end up a Sith myself.  He sighed very sadly.  I need to control my feelings.  Only when I have done that can I confront him. 

After a few more minutes, he had calmed himself completely.  He rose from the bench, took the datapad with him, and left the ship.  He found Padmé indoors, resting again on the bed before dinner.  Sitting down next to her, he watched her sleep.  He ran the fingers of his right hand through her long brown hair.  He traced down her arm and twirled her wedding band gently around her finger.  Then, as if to comfort the twins slowly growing inside, he began to rub her belly very softly as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. 

She stirred and opened her eyes.  "Hey."

"Hey, angel," he whispered as he kissed her lips. 

She could read the sorrow in his face and see it in his eyes.  "What is it?" 

He lay down next to her on the bed and rested the datapad on his stomach.  "The droids.  They found what we wanted."  He could sense her anxiety in the Force.

She rolled on her side and brushed his hair with her left hand and touched his cheek with her right, staring hard into his blue eyes.  "I can handle it, whatever it is."

He looked sadly into her brown eyes.  "It explains everything."

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

The next morning, Anakin and Padmé lifted off in the Blue Hawk and put the ship in a high orbit over Dantooine.  First they checked the Holonet reports for news about the Jedi or the political situation in the Senate.  They found nothing unusual.  Next Padmé recorded a short message on the holographic transmitter and sent it to two recipients on Coruscant.  Finally she called Sola on the viewscreen, simply to check in and let her family know she still was safe.  Over the course of their stay, they had flown to orbit several times to make similar reassuring calls to her family and friends.

When she finished, Anakin looked at her quizzically.  "You still didn't tell her." 

"Yeah.  I haven't told my family, or Sabé and the others, or Dormé."  She sighed.  "They will be very angry at me when they find out I've hidden it for so long." 

Anakin reached over from the pilot's seat and brushed his fingers along her cheek.  "Then why not tell them?" 

"I don't know.  I guess it's superstition.  I'm just worried that if I tell them, something will go wrong."  She kissed each of his fingertips.  "And I can't let that happen." 

"Angel," he said soothingly, "I think you're being irrational.  I've reached into the Force many times, and never once have I felt any disturbances about the twins." 

"I'm sure you're right," she replied as she clutched his hand to the side of her neck with both hands.  "How about this?  Once we finish this task on Coruscant, I'll tell them."

"Okay.  That's a good compromise." 

They landed again at the lodge.  After consulting with Artoo, Anakin decided they could afford five more days on Dantooine before leaving for a five-day hyperspace jump to Coruscant.  Five days here to prepare my mind to confront the most powerful dark side presence in the galaxy.  To clear the dark side from my feelings so I don't fall into evil myself.  He took a deep breath.  For the first time since we left, I actually wish I had Yoda or Obi-Wan here to help me.  But I don't.  He exhaled sharply.  At least I have Padmé and the twins.  Their love can get me through anything.

---

Those days were even more taxing than Anakin had expected.  Over the course of them, he forced himself to do two difficult tasks. 

One was to relive and review and reconsider every single time he had used the dark side.  He meditated intently on each instance, pondering his motivations, facing his pain, studying his feelings.  Some were easier to understand in retrospect than others.  None of them was justifiable.  Yet in confronting himself, he learned why he had failed.  And when he was finished he was confident, no matter what happened now or in the future, he would not fail again. 

The other was to clear from his mind one last time all the feelings of grief and regret that had tormented him recently.  To forgive Ellina again for everything.  To accept that his mother's death was not his fault and that she would be proud of him now.  To know that his lost daughter and Gina and Frekk were one with the Force.  And to once again absolve Obi-Wan and the Jedi Order for everything he had despised so much before, only to come to see that they had been right all along. 

In the midst of the pine forest, full of trees and a multitude of native animals, the Force itself seemed to come alive.  When he sat in the grass in front of the lodge, soaking in the sun, smelling the sweet scents, listening to the wind whistle through the branches and the birds singing, it felt as if a giant heart were beating around him. 

Here the Force made him feel powerful.  But not the way the dark side did, with power to kill and destroy and devastate.  When the energy surrounding him flowed through his body, it was the power of life and happiness and goodness.  With the Force to guide him and as his ally, he could accomplish anything in the galaxy.  Including his destiny in the prophecy. 

And for several hours each evening, as the sun slipped lower in the sky until just after it set beneath the horizon, Anakin brought Padmé outside with him.  Sometimes they sat up, his legs outside hers, her back leaned against his chest.  Other times they lay on the grass, holding each other.  While he meditated more, she let her thoughts drift aimlessly, or dozed, or usually slept soundly.  To her, it was wonderfully relaxing and calm.  To him, it was sheer joy.  He could let the Force rush through not only his own body, but also his wife and their son and daughter.  The four of them together blazed into the Force like the white-hot core of a star, and the Force reached back into them with matching intensity. 

On the fifth night, Anakin tucked Padmé into bed.  Everything except what they needed in the morning had been packed and carried aboard the ship.  Before he crawled into bed with her, he walked out to the lawn again and stared up into the sky.  Countless points of light in the darkness shone down on him.  Following the constellations, he faced toward Coruscant.  He spread his arms outward to the sides and took a slow and deliberate deep breath from the windy and chilly nighttime air. 

"I am the Chosen One.  I am a Jedi."  He breathed deeply again.  "Now, it is finished."  And again.

"You have no chance against me."

---

Two days out from the capital planet, the Blue Hawk landed again at the same waystation where Anakin and Padmé had been attacked by the bounty hunters on their way to Dantooine. 

Anakin remembered exactly where to go.  During their earlier stroll through the shopping district, he had noticed a storage warehouse.  This time he entered the facility and rented a large room.  He returned to the ship with a repulsorlift sled the proprietors loaned him. 

It took only a few minutes for Padmé and him to load almost all of the computers they had removed from Dooku's solar sail vessel.  Everything Artoo and Threepio had spent so long analyzing and reviewing went onto the cart.  The only equipment that remained on the Blue Hawk was the signal jamming and transmission encryption technologies that Anakin had integrated into the starfighter. 

Padmé held Anakin's hand as they walked the overflowing sled back to the warehouse.  When they finished unloading the computers into the storage room, he closed the door and set the new access code. 

One.  One.  Three.  Eight. 

Hand-in-hand again, they wandered the station some more.  They ate another romantic dinner at the same restaurant, this time of rare game hens and succulent fruits.  Their last stop before the hangar was a small outdoor aquarium containing thousands and thousands of colorful fish from across the galaxy.  The transparisteel wall was over fifteen feet high and dozens of yards long. 

Padmé stepped in front of Anakin, knowing he would wrap her in his arms and rest his chin on her head like he always did. 

His habit performed, he whispered softly to her.  "It's so beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes," she answered serenely.  She reached her arms up behind her and clutched the back of his neck.  "Until now, I never really understood how big the difference is between vengeance and justice," she said quietly. 

"Hmm," Anakin agreed.  "Despite what you've learned, you have no anger.  Like me."  He squeezed her tightly.  "I'm proud of you."

After a few minutes, she finally asked the question she had been mulling over.  "What does this feel like in the Force?  All this life, moving by so quickly." 

He chuckled.  "A lot like it looks, actually.  The sensation of life, fish and plants, is almost overpowering.  Everything in there is so alive."  He took a deep breath to clear his mind a bit.  "If I concentrated more, I could differentiate every single fish, follow each one in its own little path through the tank."

"That's amazing," she said, mesmerized by the constantly shifting rainbows and starbursts forming and vanishing in the crystal blue water.  "It must be miraculous to perceive something like that."

"It is.  It truly is."  He squeezed her tightly.  "The most miraculous of all, though, is being able to sense Luke and Leia." 

"Yeah," she replied, her voice tinged a bit with regret.  "I wish I could do that."

"I wish you could too."

---

The Blue Hawk eased out of hyperspace at the edge of the Coruscant system.  Combining the Sith jamming technology, his superior piloting skills, and a rate of speed three times faster than the other inbound starships, Anakin took them toward the planet without the slightest possibility of detection. 

They descended slowly through the upper atmosphere toward the designated meeting place.  Padmé reached over from the starboard co-pilot's seat and absentmindedly ran the fingertips of her left hand through the hair on the back of his head.  "I love you," she said softly. 

"I love you too, angel," he responded in a peaceful voice.  Very briefly he turned his head back and looked into her eyes.  "Everything is going to be fine.  Our plan will work." 

"I know.  The Force is with us."  Padmé mussed up the hair on the top of his head as he faced out the viewport to monitor their descent.  She took a deep breath.  "Still, I can't help but be a little worried something could go wrong." 

Anakin chuckled happily.  "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Padmé." 

She giggled and pulled her hand back.  "We'll be fine," she agreed.  "I have a good feeling about this."

He nodded.  "There will be no one to stop us this time."

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Obi-Wan Kenobi stood alone on an isolated landing platform high in the air over a desolate sector of Coruscant.  He pulled his brown cloak tighter around his body to ward off the gusts of the chilly evening wind.  Five minutes earlier, Mace Windu and Yoda had dropped him off in a speeder.  If I do not return from here alive, he thought to himself, may the Force be with you as well.

As he waited, he pondered again whether they should have acceded to Anakin's demands.  Ten days ago, the Jedi Council and the Supreme Chancellor simultaneously had received a recorded holographic transmission from Senator Amidala.  She had explained that, under certain specified conditions, she and Anakin were willing to travel to Coruscant and negotiate their return.  This particular location was identified.  They were to be met by the Supreme Chancellor and one member of the Jedi Council of the Council's choosing.  Other than one pilot for the Chancellor's shuttle, if they detected any other persons or ships in the area, they would depart without a meeting.  At the appointed hour five days later, Senator Amidala appeared in a live transmission only long enough to hear that their terms had been accepted.  And we did so without any idea how far to the dark side Anakin has fallen.  He could have joined the Sith for all we know.

Obi-Wan looked up to see the Chancellor's shuttle approaching in the distance.  The small tubular transport landed at the near end of the platform.  Its engines shut down and the ship released from its repulsors onto its landing gear.  The side door slid open and Chancellor Palpatine emerged, dressed in formal blue robes and a billowing blue cloak. 

He walked slowly toward Obi-Wan.  "It is a great pleasure to see you again, Master Kenobi," Palpatine greeted him. 

"And you as well, Your Excellency," Obi-Wan replied. 

"I believe this may be the first time I have seen you in person since your selection to the Jedi Council.  I congratulate you," Palpatine smiled with nod. 

"Thank you, Chancellor."  Obi-Wan sighed.  "If the situation were different with Anakin, I would feel more deserving." 

"Each Jedi must make his own decisions on his future, Master Kenobi," Palpatine suggested quietly.  "I am afraid there is little more you can do for him." 

Obi-Wan nodded sadly.  For some reason, the Chancellor seemed inappropriately assertive and smug given the uncertainties of this meeting, and his words struck Obi-Wan as perhaps even intentionally ominous.  Yet before he could consider the issue further, the two men raised their eyes together as the roar of the Blue Hawk's engines intruded into the otherwise quiet air. 

The unique starfighter settled down at the other end of the platform.  After a long pause, the boarding ramp at the rear lowered to the ferrocrete.  The Jedi Master and the Chancellor walked forward and stopped about fifteen yards from the ship.  Its engines were still on and the repulsors remained engaged. 

They want to be able to leave in an instant, Obi-Wan knew.  They don't trust us at all.

Two figures hooded in black cloaks descended the ramp together, hand-in-hand.  They walked a few feet further and stood in place about ten yards in front of Obi-Wan and Palpatine.  They let go of each other, drew down their hoods, and brushed the sides of their cloaks away as their hands came to rest on their hips.  Although he did not sense any significant presence of the dark side in either of them, Obi-Wan didn't think he would be able to even if it were there.  After all, I didn't sense it in Dooku until it was too late, he reminded himself.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin first.  He had dressed in tan Jedi robes, something he rarely had worn in the Temple.  His lightsaber hung at his right hip.  Except for the absence of the Padawan braid, his appearance hardly had changed in the three months since Obi-Wan last had seen him.  He looked strong and healthy; his face had a warm and peaceful demeanor.  And he wore a gold wedding band on his left ring finger. 

Obi-Wan immediately looked to Senator Amidala.  She wore a simple black shirt and pants, no makeup on her face, and her long brown hair tied back only with a ribbon.  She looked far less formal than he ever had seen her before, and her face seemed almost to glow with happiness.  A holstered blaster pistol rested at each hip, and the matching ring on her left hand shone in the platform's lights.  Then Obi-Wan sensed an idiosyncrasy about her, an aberration so miniscule he would have missed it entirely if not for the maximal attunement to the Force he had achieved for this meeting.  It almost knocked him unconscious with shock.  She wasn't showing at all, but there was no doubt in his mind she was pregnant.  Obi-Wan rapidly did the math in his head and concluded with relief it must have occurred after Geonosis. 

Chancellor Palpatine glanced over at Obi-Wan.  The blood had drained from the Jedi Master's face and it looked as if he might faint.  Palpatine caught Obi-Wan's gaze and looked at him curiously and innocently, hiding perfectly his pleasure at his own perceptions of the very same things.  With a reassuring grin and a gentle motion of his left hand, Obi-Wan deferentially waved the Chancellor ahead. 

Anakin smiled when Palpatine took the first steps toward him.  Your overconfidence is your weakness.  He and Padmé looked each other deeply in the eyes.  "I love you," he whispered to her very softly.  He unconsciously patted his right forearm with his left hand as he stepped closer to Palpatine.  Despite all his rebellion against it over the years, now he felt proud to clear the emotions from his mind by repeating over and over part of the Jedi Code. 

There is no emotion; there is peace.

There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.

There is no passion; there is serenity.

There is no death; there is the Force.

Obi-Wan watched anxiously as Anakin and the Chancellor approached each other.  They stopped about three paces apart.  Anakin extended his right hand in an offered handshake.  Palpatine responded by stepping forward in a way Obi-Wan himself often had with his apprentice: with his left arm outstretched as well, intending to hug the young man with one arm while shaking his hand with the other.  Everything in the Force felt peaceful and calm. 

And then Obi-Wan could not believe his eyes.

The instant before the two men touched, Anakin flicked his right wrist hard. 

The brilliant red blade of a Sith lightsaber punctured Palpatine through his torso and protruded from his upper back, its handle concealed from Obi-Wan's view by the Chancellor's skewered body.  Anakin's motion had launched the weapon into his palm from a homemade spring-loaded holster on his right forearm.  Simultaneously, Padmé's hands flew up from her hips and pointed two blaster pistols directly at Obi-Wan.  Obi-Wan's instinctive reactions kicked in and his blue blade flashed to light in his right hand. 

The Chancellor let out the tiniest of moans as Anakin drove the whirring red blade further through his chest and straight to his heart.  Strangely, Obi-Wan realized, he did not sense anything in the Force as Palpatine collapsed to the ground, dead. 

The bile rising in his gut and rooted in place unable to move, Obi-Wan stared at Anakin and Padmé in disbelief.  Looking back at him were two triumphant faces taunting him with broad smiles and happy laughs.  She even blew Anakin a kiss in celebration. 

"What have you done?"  Obi-Wan's voice broke with shock. 

Anakin shut down the lightsaber and clipped its handle on his left hip while Padmé slid her pistols back into their holsters.  Then he pulled a small hand-held datapad from his belt and flung it in the air.  When it smacked into Obi-Wan's left palm, Anakin finally spoke.  "I have fulfilled the prophecy.  Everything you need to know is right there." 

Obi-Wan legs shook and he almost fell.  "What are you talking about?" 

"Read and learn," Padmé snickered at him.  She took Anakin's hand and they walked to the Blue Hawk. 

At the base of the ramp, Anakin turned back.  "I see you have been selected to the Jedi Council.  Congratulations, Obi-Wan." 

"Anakin, please!  Don't leave me again."  He turned off his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.  "The search is called off.  You've done what you came here to do, I think.  Please, I beseech you, stay.  We need to talk," Obi-Wan begged, his voice cracking with agony.  In the Force, he sensed the shuttle pilot burst from the side door of his craft and run toward them. 

Anakin laughed.  "Not quite yet, my old friend.  Only after the Jedi have seen the truth."

Obi-Wan desperately wanted to ask for an explanation of Anakin's cryptic comments, but he could not force any more words from his trembling body.  The ramp closed behind them as they boarded. 

The Blue Hawk lifted off from the platform and spun around.  Facing the Chancellor's shuttle, its front battery of twin lasers opened fire, destroying the transport in a flaming explosion.  Then the starfighter spun away again and lifted off into the darkening sky. 

Obi-Wan fell to his knees and cried.  The pilot bent down and checked Palpatine's body for signs of life, then began to holler frantically into his comlink.  Obi-Wan tapped the datapad.  A message from Anakin scrolled onto the screen. 

On this datapad is information you need.

Qui-Gon was right about me.

In front of you lies the body of the Sith Master.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

The lights on the landing platform cast long shadows on the ferrocrete surface, and the wind of the dark nighttime sky was getting colder by the minute.  While they watched the repulsorlift casket hover up the boarding ramp of a Jedi transport, the three Jedi Masters looked at each other with a shared sense of relief. 

"I'm very glad you overruled me," Mace Windu admitted.  He had not thought it appropriate for the Jedi to insist that the shuttle pilot's comlink be connected to the Jedi network rather than the usual civilian emergency frequency. 

"Hmm, yes," Yoda nodded as he craned his head up.  "Nothing in the Force, did you miss."  He cackled lightly.  "Sometimes, simple luck it is."  Another laugh.  "Tell this to the younglings, we should not." 

"I was wrong," Mace continued when the chuckling subsided, "so I will deal with the pilot."  He took a deep breath.  "I will erase his memory and do my penance for using the dark side." 

"Very well," Yoda agreed.  "Think up a suitable atonement, I will.  Something dreadful."

"I'm not afraid," Mace kidded with mock indignation.

Yoda smirked.  "You… will… be."

Obi-Wan joined Yoda's laugh at Mace's expense.  Then he pondered the situation.  With the Jedi's exclusive knowledge of the panicked transmission, it would be easy to contain any news of Palpatine's death by lightsaber wound at this isolated location.  And that would permit them to create a cover story for the Senate and the public. 

The truth would never be believed. 

---

As Anakin had promised, the information on the datapad was astounding. 

Four hundred Jedi swarmed over the Sith lair in the industrial sector of Coruscant for weeks, cataloguing and itemizing every last detail of the place.  The Council soon discarded its initial plan to carry out the investigation and analysis at the Temple.  Instead, for the necessary length of time the facility would become an outpost of the Jedi Order.  The irony was not lost on anyone. 

The datapad also contained the location of Dooku's secondary base across the galaxy from Geonosis, which Artoo and Threepio had calculated from the data too.  That site was much smaller, and all the material from it was crated and brought to Coruscant. 

The computers Anakin had left at the waystation were retrieved promptly and brought to "Sithville" for inclusion with the rest of the project. 

In a message on the datapad, Anakin requested that the Jedi use the transmission network in the Sith headquarters to cancel the bounty Sidious had ordered.  Mace very much enjoyed drawing up the black hood and pretending to be the sinister master.  With only a bit of mind compulsion, the agent at the bounty clearinghouse agreed to rescind the instructions. 

And the Jedi Council discovered something remarkable.  For the first time any of them could recall, including Yoda, there were no detectable disturbances of the dark side in the Force.  It was in balance. 

---

HOLONET NEWS BULLETIN

It is with great regret that we announce the passing of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.  He died peacefully in his sleep during the night of cardiac arrest. 

Under the terms of the succession laws, Senator Orn Free Taa, the current chair of the Rules Committee, will serve as interim Chancellor until the selection of a new Chancellor can occur.  By statute, the vote must occur within one month. 

Chancellor Palpatine's body will lie in state in the Great Hall of the Senate for one week beginning tomorrow.  The customary month of mourning will be observed throughout the Republic to honor and remember his almost eleven years of service as Chancellor, and his previous two decades of representing the Naboo system as Senator.

The Republic has lost a great man. 

---

Despite all the information it contained about the Sith, the most amazing entry on the datapad was a three hundred seventy page essay.  Addressed to the Jedi Council, it was signed by Anakin Skywalker. 

The text was a simple narrative.  It began with his first memories of being aided by the Force and his first visions of Padmé.  It traced the entire course of his life until his discovery by Qui-Gon Jinn, then the last ten years of training in the Jedi Temple.  It discussed in minute detail his emotions and actions since the night of his victory in the Lightsaber Competition and his assignment to protect her. 

Anakin confessed everything.  His relationship with Ellina and its consequences.  How he had fallen in love with Padmé and she with him.  The family they already had begun together.  His actions on Tatooine and Geonosis.  And their conduct since then, ending with their arrival at Coruscant to kill Darth Sidious and fulfill the prophecy.  In direct terms, he consented to whatever atonement the Order thought appropriate for his misdeeds.

Yet he did not merely describe what he had done.  He also poured out his feelings, good and bad, light and dark.  And he explained his epiphany about the dark side and his vow never to tread that path again. 

Finally, the essay ended with a plea.  He wrote about his love for Padmé in words that brought even the most stoic members of the Jedi Council to tears.  He expressed his concern that any future other than as a Jedi would lead to darkness even against his best efforts.  He provided their three justifications why their love for each other would keep him steady, instead of causing instability.  He conceded their decision about their children.  And he asked simply that the Council consider his life, his training, his interpretation of the will of the Force, and his destiny and reach the same conclusion he had: that his was a special case, and that he, Anakin Skywalker, could be both a Jedi and a husband.

When he finished reading it the first time, Obi-Wan grinned broadly.  He had read countless reports Anakin had been compelled to write as an apprentice.  Each one had been cursory and terse, dull in the extreme, reflecting Anakin's own boredom.  This manuscript, on the other hand, revealed Anakin's soul. 

And not just for its content.  The ideas and basic style of the writing were his, yet there was the distinct touch of another.  Obi-Wan realized he had never read anything written by Padmé, yet now he was sure he would recognize it in an instant.  For Anakin to have written this document said much about him; for him to have allowed her not only to read it, but also to draft it with him, said even more. 

Obi-Wan knew it would be required reading in the Temple for generations to come.

When the Council convened after each member had reviewed and meditated about the essay, the deliberations about how to proceed were very short indeed.

---

When they flew away from the landing platform flush with the thrill of victory, Anakin and Padmé had no doubts in their minds where they should go.  He did not even bother to ask her before setting course for Naboo. 

Once again, they landed at the Palace and kept their arrival a surprise for the Naberries.  As much as he enjoyed sensing in the Force the first rush of elation, Anakin knew the second one would be even better. 

This time they were happy they could stay with her parents and not have to leave right away.  And despite her initial unease, it did not take Padmé long to become accustomed to waking up in her childhood bedroom with Anakin next to her. 

Padmé waited until after dinner on the third day to tell them.  Both wearing loose-fitting casual clothes, he sat with his arm around her on one of the loveseats.  Ruwee and Jobal sat together on the sofa and Sola and Darred in the plush chairs.  Anakin squeezed her shoulder gently when he sensed her steeling her resolve.

"I'm sorry," Padmé said quietly to them.  "There's something I should have told you a long time ago." 

Jobal looked concerned.  "What is it, sweetheart?" 

Padmé took a deep breath.  "Anakin and I are expecting." 

None of the four, including even Ruwee, was able to say anything until several minutes of crying had passed.  Finally it was Sola who spoke. 

"When are you due?"

"In about seven months," Padmé answered. 

Seeing that Jobal had yet to regain her composure, Sola continued.  "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

It took every ounce of Anakin's willpower to suppress his giggle and avoid giving it away before she replied.  Padmé didn't try to have such determination.  She let loose a cheerful, rolling laugh.  "One of each, actually." 

Jobal gasped in surprise.  "Oh, that's so wonderful!"

After the others went to bed, Padmé placed a holographic transmission to Dormé on Coruscant.  She was the only one Padmé would not be able to tell in person, so the least she could do was let her be the first friend to know. 

A few days later, Padmé arranged a lunch at the Palace where she broke the news to Sabé, Rabé, Saché, Yané, and Eirtaé.  On the way out, Padmé pulled Sabé aside and whispered a single puzzling sentence in her ear: "I think you should run."  

It was not until hours later that Sabé realized there was only one thing she could have meant.

---

HOLONET NEWS BULLETIN

We are pleased to announce that Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan was elected today on the third ballot as the next Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. 

In his first act in office, Chancellor Organa officially terminated the emergency powers enacted by the Senate several months ago.  War policy once again resides solely in the hands of the Senate. 

In his inaugural address, Chancellor Organa noted that the Separatist movement appears to be on its last legs.  Only a few small pockets of violent resistance remain.  He proposed that the Senate enact an economic improvement package to aid war-torn planets, regardless of their affiliation during the insurrection.  And he requested that as soon as possible the Senate reduce the Army of the Republic to the scope of a small emergency force. 

Chancellor Organa concluded his speech with words all citizens of the galaxy had hoped to hear.  "I have good news for you.  The war has ended."

---

Knowing no one was searching for them, they had no need to actively hide their presence in Theed.  On the other hand, it was common knowledge on the planet that Senator Amidala remained missing since war had erupted and that Representative Binks was serving temporarily in her absence, so it was better if Padmé avoid being identified.  Nevertheless, they quickly discovered that if she wore her hair long and loose, with a simple shirt and pants or an ordinary dress or skirt, no one recognized her.  Anakin wore similar plain attire, leaving his Jedi robes packed away. 

Two months after arriving on Naboo, Anakin and Padmé were eating lunch with Ruwee and Jobal when Threepio interrupted. 

"Pardon me, Master Ani," the droid apologized. 

"Yes, Threepio?"

"There is a most urgent transmission for you."  If he were not a droid, they would have thought he was trying to contain excitement.  "It is from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.  From Obi-Wan Kenobi." 

Anakin knocked over his glass of water when he leaped from his chair.  He reached the holographic communicator in seconds. 

"Hello, Anakin," the fuzzy blue image of his mentor greeted him. 

"Hello," he replied, not sure whether to add "Master" or "Obi-Wan" and ending up with nothing. 

"If you and Padmé are willing to return to Coruscant, the Council very much would like to meet with both of you." 

So much meaning was loaded into the solitary sentence that Anakin could not process it quickly enough.  "Padmé."  "Willing."  "Would like."  "Both of you."  He was so stunned he remained silent for an uncomfortable amount of time.  He noticed the calm on Obi-Wan's face and appreciated his patience.  Finally he was able to speak.  "Very well.  We would like that very much."

"I look forward to seeing you again, Anakin," Obi-Wan smiled.  "There is no rush.  We will wait until you are ready." 

Before Anakin even could express his gratitude, Obi-Wan had tipped his head and ended the transmission.  The tears streaming down Anakin's face were thanks enough. 

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Before they left, Padmé met briefly with the president of the University of Naboo.  Pleased to learn their offer still stood, she thanked him for his time and promised him a decision within two weeks. 

As she rose from her chair to leave, the kind and soft-spoken elderly man stopped her.  "I'm afraid I must admit something a bit embarrassing to you, Senator." 

Padmé smiled.  "What's that?" 

"Well, you see, we were not expecting you to have any interest so soon," he chuckled apologetically.  "So there is only one named chair vacant in your department.  It was endowed two years ago by a group of very thankful donors in honor of one of our planet's greatest leaders." 

"I see," she replied, confused about why he was telling her this.  "And the problem is?"

"The name," he winked.  "The Queen Amidala Chair in Galactic Relations."

Her laughter filled his office with happiness. 

---

Anakin did not delay once they returned to Coruscant just over a week after Obi-Wan had called.  They took one day to relax in her Senate apartment before he scheduled his appearance at the Temple and she hers at the Senate. 

On his way through the Temple, he made a quick stop at the Supplies & Requisitions Office.  He passed the clerk a datacard carrying the precise value of the credits and aurodium ingots he had been given when they departed on the Blue Hawk for Naboo.  It did not feel right for the Jedi to bear the cost of any of their expenditures, especially the lake retreat.  So it was easier to return the entire sum.  Not that we'll miss it.  The credits we have from Dooku are more than we could ever spend in our lifetimes.

Outside the door to the Council chamber, Anakin took a series of deep breaths and cleared his mind again.  He let go of all the barriers in his thoughts and pulled down all his mental walls.  With a final adjustment to the fit of his tan Jedi robes, he waved open the door and entered. 

The twelve members of the Council nodded to acknowledge his arrival.  He stopped in the center of the room and faced Yoda and Mace on the right.  Obi-Wan was behind him, closest to the door, in the seat given to the newest member. 

Anakin had expected an immediate barrage of sensations in the Force, of probing and prodding and testing his emotions and feelings.  He would have consented to all of it, of course.  He would tell them whatever they wanted to know, even intimate details of his life with Padmé if they insisted.  He had prepared himself for an inquisition. 

Yet it did not come.  Instead, Yoda looked up at him and spoke.  "Welcome, Anakin Skywalker." 

"Thank you, Master," Anakin bowed graciously.  "It is good to be back."  He instantly regretted having said anything further; it was not his place, not at a meeting like this. 

Mace Windu continued the colloquy.  "Anakin, do you continue to believe and honor everything you wrote in the document you addressed to us?" 

"Yes, Master," Anakin answered. 

"Do you have anything to add?" 

"No, Master."

"We would like you to return tomorrow with Padmé.  There is one issue we wish to discuss with you together," Mace explained.

"Of course, Master," Anakin agreed.  "We would be happy to do so."  This is it?  This is all they have to ask?

Yoda lifted a small datapad in his right hand.  "This discourse, powerful it is.  Moving.  Intense.  Full of emotion and insight.  Depth."  He set the datapad back down.  "The work of a Padawan learner, it is not."

"Master?"  Anakin was genuinely perplexed.  Are they upset Padmé helped me with it?

The other members of the Council chuckled lightly as they sensed his misperception of Yoda's meaning. 

"Hmm, hmm," Yoda smirked.  "No, no.  Proud of you, we are.  Proud of yourself, you should be."  He extended his palms outward in appreciation.  "Proven yourselves to us, you and Padmé have.  To your marriage, we assent." 

Anakin could not hold back his tears.  "I am very grateful, Master."  He choked down a sob.  "We both are."

"More, there is.  A Jedi Knight, you are."

---

Next to Anakin in his tan Jedi robes, Padmé wore a simple pale blue dress, the japoor snippet pendant, and her hair tied back in a single braid running down her back.  Walking through the wide and brightly lit corridors, it occurred to her how few individuals ever had the chance to enter the Jedi Temple even once, much less twice.  And I'll be here many more times from now on, I suppose. 

Anakin paused outside the door to the Council chamber.  "Are you ready?" 

Padmé ran her hands over her abdomen and looked up anxiously.  "Do you think I'm showing?" 

He couldn't suppress his laugh.  "For the hundredth time, no.  And why would it matter if you were?"

"I don't know.  It wouldn't, I guess."  She took a deep breath to relax.  "Let's do this." 

He waved open the door and they walked in together holding hands.  She glanced quickly to him.  He squeezed her hand and did not let go as they faced toward Yoda and Mace. 

"Welcome again to the Jedi Temple, Padmé Skywalker," Mace greeted her. 

In an instant, Anakin sensed all of her anxiety vanish after those simple words proved they were treating her not as Senator Amidala, but as his wife.  "Thank you, Master Windu," she replied. 

Mace continued.  "You know of our decision, I assume?" 

"Yes.  Thank you."  She paused.  "I am very proud of Anakin as well," she said quietly as she squeezed his hand. 

"Hmm, yes," Yoda chuckled.  "Only one matter, have we, to discuss with you.  The matter of your children." 

Simultaneously Anakin and Padmé squeezed hands again.  They both nodded. 

"Two rules, you have proposed, yes?"  Yoda looked hard into Padmé's eyes.  "First, if sensitive to the Force a child is, trained as a Jedi in the Temple he or she will be.  Know their parents they could, unlike others.  But, you say, if a problem it becomes, precedence to training, not family, shall be given.  Second, take his own child as a Padawan, Anakin will not." 

"Yes, Master," Anakin agreed.  "We have discussed this issue at great length." 

Mace looked to Padmé as well.  "Do you realize, Padmé, how difficult this may be for you?  What it would mean, not to be able to raise your sons or daughters in your home?  To see them infrequently?  And, if their attachments to you and Anakin interfere with their training, perhaps not at all?"  His gaze seemed to bore into her soul.  "How could you agree to this?" 

A few tears traced down Padmé's cheeks.  "I wish it could be different, yes, Master Windu.  But there is no alternative.  Consider what I have been through, the dark side I have seen in Anakin and in myself.  What would I accomplish, to raise my son myself, only to see him become a terror of evil?  Or to insist on attachments to my daughter, if it will only drive her into darkness?"  She took a deep breath and continued.  "All children grow up and leave home eventually.  As I'm sure you remember, I was only fourteen when I became Queen."  She forced a calm smile onto her sorrowful face.  "Without regret I accept the necessity that Jedi children must leave home even sooner."  Unconsciously, she reached up her free hand and tugged on the pendant.  "I love Anakin more than anything in the galaxy.  One of the burdens of my life with him is that our children may be Jedi too.  Yet I would rather have him, and have our children raised and trained as Jedi, than give him up, or have no children at all."

Yoda turned to Anakin.  "Feel the same way, you do?" 

"Yes, Master.  I truly believe that had I come to the Temple at a younger age, I could have learned to manage my attachment to my mother, and my destiny with Padmé, without the pain I have suffered through.  I have faith that my children will have a better path than mine."  He cleared his throat.  "And I would not want to train them.  It will be difficult enough for me not to fail miserably at tutoring an apprentice when the time comes, without compounding it with kinship."  He paused.  "I hope my children will be trained by Masters I respect and trust and love.  By Obi-Wan, perhaps."

Everyone in the room stayed silent for a moment, acknowledging the impact of his statement. 

"Fear you, Padmé," Yoda asked her, "that all your children, Jedi they will be?" 

"No.  I am not afraid," she responded calmly.  "Strength in the Force is not necessarily hereditary.  They will not all inherit it."  She looked hard back at him, and she could tell he was surprised by her forcefulness.  "I can feel it."  She read his face.  "So can you." 

"Hmm," Yoda smiled.  "Always in motion, the future is.  Nevertheless, much confidence in you, we have.  In you both.  In your union.  Trust you, we do.  Your wishes, we grant."  Very quickly he glanced at the other members of the Council, but none of them wished to contribute. 

With a wave of his hand, Mace let them know the meeting was concluded.  "May the Force be with you."

---

Several nights later, Padmé delivered her farewell address to the people of Naboo over the Holonet.  She wore a dark blue formal gown and an elaborate traditional Naboo hairstyle.  In his tan Jedi robes, Anakin stood behind her right shoulder as she sat at the large wooden desk in her Senate office. 

"My fellow citizens of the Naboo system, my dearest constituents," she began, "it has been an honor and a privilege to serve you for over a decade.  We have been through many difficult times together.  As your Queen or as your Senator, I always have tried to do what I thought was best for our planet and for our galaxy."  She visibly took a deep breath.  "And now the time has come for me to do what is best for me and for my family."

"Much has changed since the last time I addressed you this way.  Assassination attempts were made on my life.  A political crisis led to war.  I was compelled to live in hiding.  All of this has changed my life and altered my perspective.  I love Naboo.  I love the Republic.  But now, I have come to realize, there are individuals in my life I love even more.  Many times I have spoken to you about my parents, or my sister and her family.  Tonight I will talk for the first time about the new family of my own."

"About five months ago, I married Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight and a friend I have known for many years.  I have never been so happy in my life.  And more recently, I have learned that I am pregnant with twins, our son and daughter.  Nothing is more important in my life than my husband and my children.  The deepest commitments I have ever held pale in comparison to the powerful bonds of family." 

"And so I come before you tonight to announce that effective this afternoon, I have tendered my resignation as your Senator to Queen Jamillia."  She paused a moment to let the words sink in for her stunned listeners far away.  "As he has done so ably in my absence, Representative Binks will continue to serve our planet until a special election can be held to choose a permanent replacement for the remaining years of my term."

She smiled to her audience.  "I do not want you to believe that I am walking away from politics entirely, for that is something I could never do.  But at this time in my life, I must pursue my goals through different means.  As you know, Supreme Chancellor Organa is an old and dear friend of mine.  At his request I have agreed to serve as a member of the newly created Reconciliation Commission that will study the recent secessionist crisis and propose legislation to address the many legitimate concerns that were raised.  In addition, beginning with next academic year, I have accepted an appointment to the political science faculty of the University of Naboo.  I will split my duties between the main campus in Theed and the satellite campus on Coruscant, which will enable me to spend more time here with my husband and our children."

"Before I conclude, I have a request to make of you.  Ten years ago, Amidala became my name of state at my coronation.  Since then, I have never grown accustomed to it.  Queen Amidala and Senator Amidala are titles I have tolerated, but they are not who I am.  And so tonight I ask, in recognition of my retirement from an active political life, that the name Amidala be retired as well."  I am Padmé Naberrie Skywalker.  Lady Vader.  I've finally become who I've always wanted to be.

"Thank you, friends, for your time and for your understanding.  Saying goodbye always is a difficult task, and tonight has been no exception.  It has been my pleasure to serve you.  Good night, and may the Force be with you."

As soon as she received the all-clear signal from the camera operator, Padmé rose from the chair and firmly pulled Anakin through the hidden door at the side of her desk into a small antechamber.  Leaving the lights off, she embraced him desperately.  He held her close and rocked her gently as she cried tears of sorrow and joy at the same time.

CHAPTER FIFTY

Padmé went into labor ten-and-a-half months to the day after their reunion in her Senate apartment the night of Anakin's victory in the Lightsaber Competition.  Once the contractions started, not for a second did she reconsider the previously agreed plan to employ the skills of two Jedi healers in addition to the usual complement of doctors in the hospital's maternity ward.

Luke and Leia were delivered without a hitch.  After three days of observation and tender care, Padmé was remarkably pain-free when she and Anakin brought the twins home.  A few weeks after her resignation, they had moved from the small apartment into a spacious six-bedroom penthouse suite in a residential district of Coruscant a short speeder ride from the Senate complex. 

Waiting for them at the door was Jenny Antilles.  She had stayed the school year with Saché on Naboo, then visited Anakin and Padmé on Coruscant after her classes ended.  When the shock and amazement wore off, she vowed never to leave the capital planet until she had seen every inch of it.  A few days later she reluctantly admitted that would be impossible, but she nevertheless wanted to stay.  So they agreed to let her move in with them.  She enrolled in one of the finest preparatory academies in the galaxy and they paid her a small allowance each week in exchange for some household chores and babysitting duties. 

---

The special election to fill the remainder of Padmé's term in the Galactic Senate was not close.  Sabé defeated her closest competitor by over thirty percentage points.  Although she asked him to stay on, Jar Jar Binks decided he had been away from Naboo for too long.  He returned to Otoh Gunga, where he immediately was invited to serve on Boss Nass' council of advisors and as a permanent liaison with the Naboo. 

At the end of the Tatooine season, Owen sold the moisture farm.  With a small part of the aurodium Anakin had given them, he and Beru chartered a ship to Corellia, where they were married in a simple ceremony and took a six-month honeymoon.  They had intended to travel the worlds of the Core to find a suitable planet to settle down and raise a family.  They cancelled the plan, however, after a short visit to Naboo to meet up with Anakin and Padmé.  They fell in love with the planet instantly and purchased a beautiful cottage on the outskirts of Theed.  Ruwee Naberrie helped Owen find a lucrative position as a starship mechanic at the port, and Beru was accepted into the University of Naboo, where she was one of the students in Padmé's first class the next year. 

Only two weeks after giving birth, Padmé was matron of honor at Dormé's marriage to Jacen Organa.  Standing at the altar with the other bridesmaids and groomsmen, and therefore without Anakin next to her to pass handkerchiefs, tears streaked her cheeks for the entire ceremony. 

Despite a minutely thorough search of Sidious' hideout, Dooku's base, and all of the available Sith equipment and resources, the Jedi were able to locate only one Sith holocron.  With great care, Yoda and Mace Windu accessed the information device long enough to confirm their suspicion that one, and exactly one, other existed.  Along with the Sith lightsaber Anakin had rebuilt in Ellina's handle, the holocron was sealed away in the most secure and closely guarded vault in the Jedi Temple. 

---

When the twins were six weeks old, Anakin scheduled the midichlorian tests for several days later.  Even though Jedi training in the Temple would not begin until one year of age, and he and Padmé would raise both of them until then regardless, he wanted to know.  Just from being around them, he could perceive their sensitivity to the Force. 

The morning before the tests, Anakin stood over the pair of basinets, meditating calmly and probing his son and daughter with the Force.  After an hour, he stopped when he reached a definitive conclusion.  He found Padmé in the study, diligently preparing an executive summary of a Reconciliation Commission report.  He spoke only a few words to her, and she nodded her head. 

Anakin walked back to the babies' room and gently lifted Leia in her blanket.  He rested her tiny head on his left shoulder as he carried her to the furthest rear bedroom.  Inside, he had covered the windows and installed the finest soundproofing over the walls, floor, and ceiling.  It was a perfect meditation chamber.

With Leia cradled in his arms, sleeping soundly against his bare chest, he fell into a deep and intense Force trance.  For ten hours, he meditated with concentration and resolve.  When he finally finished, he was more exhausted than he had ever been in his entire life.  Leia, on the other hand, was calm and peaceful and not at all fussy, although she responded immediately to Padmé's nursing. 

When the blood analyses were completed the next evening just before dusk, Obi-Wan met Anakin as arranged on one of the Temple's many balconies.  In his hand he held the datapad carrying the outcome. 

"No one has seen them, including me," his mentor reassured him. 

Anakin nodded.  He tapped the black screen and its colors shifted to legibility.  He took a deep breath and read. 

MIDICHLORIAN RESULTS / SKYWALKER

Average (Galactic) Non-Jedi……………………636

Average (Galactic) Jedi……………………….9,264

Skywalker, Anakin…………………………….20,975

Skywalker, Padmé Naberrie…………………..2,137

Skywalker, Luke……………………………….19,812

Skywalker, Leia…………………………………1,845

Anakin closed his eyes.  He willed a message out into the Force, to nothing at all and everything together at the same time.  Thank you.

---

An evening just over sixteen months after the twins were born, Anakin tapped his foot impatiently as the turbolift's climb seemed to take forever.  It had bothered him all day to wait so long to hear how Padmé's appointment had gone, and he had something of his own to talk about too.  At least with Luke at the Temple and Leia with Jenny on a visit to the arboretum, they would have about an hour alone together. 

Finally the eternity ended and the tan-robed Jedi Knight stepped out into the hallway of uppermost floor. 

The soft orange glow of the setting sun soothed his spirit a bit as he walked the forty-seven paces to the door.  He sent his feelings to the other side to see if Padmé was asleep, in case he should be quiet when entered.  She was awake and waiting fretfully for him on a sofa. 

As he came through the portal, Anakin strode quickly through the foyer toward the sitting room.  "Don't get up," he tried to call out to her.  Too late. 

Padmé sprang to her feet and rushed to embrace him, her simple blue dress rustling as she ran.  "I'm so glad you're home!"  In the Force, he sensed anxiety and anticipation from her.  She ended their hug with a short kiss. 

"I have good news and bad news," they said simultaneously, and not because he had used the Force to predict her statement.  Simply because they were independently feeling and thinking exactly the same way.  They both knew it, and they laughed hard. 

After a moment, she looked into his eyes.  "You go.  The bad first." 

Ordinarily he liked to tease her and argue with her about trivial things like their news-telling procedures, but this evening he decided not to.  There was no way to proceed but directly.  "Master Yoda retired from the Jedi Council today," he said quietly. 

"Wow," she sighed.  "I guess it was coming eventually.  But he's been around forever.  It's hard for me to imagine the Council without him." 

He chuckled.  "Then think about how the Jedi feel!" 

She reached out and took his hands and pulled him over to the tall and wide window to look out across the stunning amber-lit skylines of the city.  "Who's the new chair of the Council?"

"Guess." 

"Master Windu?"

"Correct," he laughed as he hugged her from behind and rested his chin on the top of her head. 

"And who will fill the vacancy?"

"That's the good news." 

She spun rapidly in his arms and stared intensely into his eyes.  "You?  No way.  You?  You can't be serious!"

He smiled.  "I am."  Very gently he ran his fingers through her loose long brown hair. 

She remained incredulous.  "How close was the vote?"

"Not very."  Eleven to zero.

She was overwhelmed.  "This is amazing.  I never thought it could come so soon."  Absentmindedly, the fingers of her right hand played with the japoor snippet pendant hanging from her neck.

He squeezed her tightly and kissed her forehead.  "Your turn, angel." 

"The doctor says there's nothing he can do for my symptoms." 

He looked down with great concern.  "Why not?  What's wrong?  Do you want to see a Jedi healer instead?" 

"No, silly," she answered with giddy laugh.  "For a member of the Council, you're sure not very perceptive tonight, Ani."  If that's the bad news…

He tried to put on a mock menacing stare, except his eyes betrayed him and his voice was pleading for sympathy.  "Just tell me, angel, please?"

"I'm pregnant."

THE END