A/N: Wow, this fanfic seems to be doing much better than the other one I've
been writing. Four reviews per chapter... wow. Thank you for the support,
guys.
Nadia: Yes, that's correct. Padmé is not pregnant in this AU.
Reconstruction- Chapter IV
* The Next Day *
Lana gasped for air. After more than eight hours of labor, they had finally arrived. The Jedi Consular smiled proudly as Sola presented the twins to her- a baby boy and a beautiful baby girl. Tears gushed down her face as she embraced the two infants. She looked upon with a smiling face, yet she was sad. She knew that dark times were ahead, and that her two twins would have to bear the brunt of these dark times.
"What are you going to name them, Master Jedi?" Sola asked as she eagerly watched the young mother with her newborn children.
"I... I don't know." Lana looked away. She so desperately wished Alan were here.
Jobal smiled. "Surely you have some name for them..."
Lana shook her head. "No... no, I've never given it much thought." She paused as she held the twins in her arms. "Can you think of any names?"
"How about..." Sola paused to think for a moment. She always wondered what she would have named her children if either of them had been born a boy. She smiled. "How about Jeremiah?"
"No, that doesn't sound right." Padmé said as she shook her head. She analyzed the baby boy. "How does Ryan sound?"
Lana shook her head slowly. "I can't say I really like either of those names..."
"You know, Padmé," Jobal began, "when I learned I was first pregnant with you, your father swore you would be a boy."
Sola grinned. "I knew that dad always wanted a son."
"Yes, he did." Jobal nodded. She looked to her younger daughter. "He said that when you were born, he would name you Luke." Jobal chuckled. "Boy, did he put his foot in his mouth when you came out a girl."
Padmé grinned. "So I take it that's when you decided to name me Padmé, right?"
"No, actually it was your father who came up with the name Padmé. I actually wanted to name you Leia."
"Luke? Leia?" The Jedi paused contemplatively as she sat upright in her bed. She eyed the boy she carried in her left arm, then the girl in her right. "I like both of those names."
* That Night *
"Padmé." Lana called the former senator over to her bedside. She signaled to the senator to close the door.
"Is something wrong, Lana?" Padmé asked as she closed the door behind her.
"I need you do an analysis of my blood." Lana said as she looked over to the twins, who were now resting in their crib. She looked back to the senator. "Get my Midiclorean count."
"Midiclorean count?" Padmé scowled.
Lana clenched her jaw as she clasped her temples in pain. She had been attempting to attune herself to the Force all day, since the twins had been born. Her failed attempts were beginning to give her a massive headache. Lana eyed Padmé and nodded.
Padmé accessed the medical supplies and picked out a needle and a small vial. The former senator gently drew blood from Lana and set the blood into the computer to be analyzed.
"My normal count," Lana said, "is eleven thousand six hundred twenty-nine."
Padmé's heart sank as the data materialized on the screen before her. She looked to the Jedi Consular with a grave expression. Padmé's mind echoed with a painful sadness as she mouthed the words. "Five hundred ninety-two."
Lana blinked and looked to her two children as a veil of sadness overcame her.
"Lana, what's going on with your Midiclorean count?"
"About six months ago, I fought the dark lord of the Sith."
"You fought the Emperor?"
"No." Lana shook her head. "I fought his apprentice, Darth Wraith in Corellia. I couldn't defeat him, he was a much better swordsman... I managed to somehow get away, but not before he hit me with a toxic dart."
"And that's what's been doing this to you?"
"Yes. It's an old Sith poison that eats away at the victim's midicloreans. There is no cure. There is a vaccine, but the Temple no longer deemed it necessary, so I never got it. Its too late now..."
"No." Padmé shook her head in disbelief. "It can't be too late. There's got to be a way to save you..."
"No. I've used the Force to slow the poison long enough. Now I cannot even get in tune with the Force. Now, I don't have much time left. The poison will continue to eat away my midicloreans until I have none left. And a life form without midicloreans..." Lana sighed. "...is dead."
Padmé gasped. "The twins."
"No." Lana's jaw clamped. "I protected them from the poison, and made sure it couldn't filter down to them through me."
"They will need you, Lana."
"I know. They lost their father before they were even born, and I know that I only have a few days." Lana took a few deep breaths.
"Lana, you protected me for four long years." A tear streamed down Padmé's cheek. "You stopped three different attempts on my life. I need you now, more than ever."
"I'm sorry, senator." She said regretfully.
Padmé eyed the twins. "They need their mother.
"You need to be their mother." Lana said. Her words struck the former senator like a house of bricks. "That's why I came here, Padmé. I knew I could trust you with them. I know you have a wonderful family; this would be the best I could provide them with. Please..."
Padmé nodded silently; awed by the burden Lana was placing on her shoulders. "I'll raise them and take care of them, I promise."
"Thank you, Padmé, thank you." Lana paused to catch her breath and compose herself. "There is something else I need you to do for me."
"What is it, Lana?"
"Marko, or whatever you've chosen to call him, must be told the truth."
Padmé glared at the Jedi. "No." She shook her head vehemently. "I can't do that. It's too dangerous!"
"Listen to me, Padmé. When I die, the Jedi will all be extinct, and Lord Sidious will win." Lana took in a deep breath. "When I'm gone, his lost memories will be all that remains of the Jedi."
"What if he doesn't remember it that way? I will put everyone in danger-"
"Everyone already is in danger. What difference would one more threat make?" Lana asked rhetorically. "What I'm saying is that his lost memories are like... the box of Pandora. They contain pain, suffering, anger, hatred, and ultimately evil. But they also contain the ray of hope that might yet save the galaxy from the Emperor."
Padmé sighed. She looked to the twins again as they rested silently. She thought of her family, of her sister, her father, her two nieces, and of all the danger she would be putting them in.
"And he can't even remember the truth, but he still loves you, Padmé." Lana grabbed the senator by the wrist, and solemnly looked her in the eyes. "I believed then, as I believe now, that love redeems. He needs you, Padmé."
Padmé took a full minute to think things over. She gently nodded. "I will tell him."
* * *
"Marko." Padmé called the stranger to her room. "We need to talk."
Marko scowled as he followed Padmé to her room. She closed the door behind him, and the stranger took a seat at her desk, mildly confused and bewildered. He thought she had turned him down, that she "could not fall in love again". Was she changing her mind?
"There's something I need to tell you." Padmé said. "I've... been hiding the truth from you for a very long time."
The mini-holoprojector in her hand glowed to life, displaying a miniature holographic image. Marko analyzed the picture. It showed Padmé kissing a dark-haired young man in his early twenties. Marko slowly realized from the dress that Padmé wore and the attire of the young man that this was a wedding picture. It looked deathly familiar.
"That's my husband," Padmé said, "Anakin Skywalker..."
Marko felt his heart sink as he heard that name. His stomach seemed to contract as he analyzed the wedding picture again, taking note of the groom's features. Marko looked up at the mirror in Padmé's room, analyzing his reflection. Marko clenched his jaw. He looked exactly like Anakin Skywalker.
"...You..."
A/N: Still hope Padmé doesn't fall completely for Marko?
Nadia: Yes, that's correct. Padmé is not pregnant in this AU.
Reconstruction- Chapter IV
* The Next Day *
Lana gasped for air. After more than eight hours of labor, they had finally arrived. The Jedi Consular smiled proudly as Sola presented the twins to her- a baby boy and a beautiful baby girl. Tears gushed down her face as she embraced the two infants. She looked upon with a smiling face, yet she was sad. She knew that dark times were ahead, and that her two twins would have to bear the brunt of these dark times.
"What are you going to name them, Master Jedi?" Sola asked as she eagerly watched the young mother with her newborn children.
"I... I don't know." Lana looked away. She so desperately wished Alan were here.
Jobal smiled. "Surely you have some name for them..."
Lana shook her head. "No... no, I've never given it much thought." She paused as she held the twins in her arms. "Can you think of any names?"
"How about..." Sola paused to think for a moment. She always wondered what she would have named her children if either of them had been born a boy. She smiled. "How about Jeremiah?"
"No, that doesn't sound right." Padmé said as she shook her head. She analyzed the baby boy. "How does Ryan sound?"
Lana shook her head slowly. "I can't say I really like either of those names..."
"You know, Padmé," Jobal began, "when I learned I was first pregnant with you, your father swore you would be a boy."
Sola grinned. "I knew that dad always wanted a son."
"Yes, he did." Jobal nodded. She looked to her younger daughter. "He said that when you were born, he would name you Luke." Jobal chuckled. "Boy, did he put his foot in his mouth when you came out a girl."
Padmé grinned. "So I take it that's when you decided to name me Padmé, right?"
"No, actually it was your father who came up with the name Padmé. I actually wanted to name you Leia."
"Luke? Leia?" The Jedi paused contemplatively as she sat upright in her bed. She eyed the boy she carried in her left arm, then the girl in her right. "I like both of those names."
* That Night *
"Padmé." Lana called the former senator over to her bedside. She signaled to the senator to close the door.
"Is something wrong, Lana?" Padmé asked as she closed the door behind her.
"I need you do an analysis of my blood." Lana said as she looked over to the twins, who were now resting in their crib. She looked back to the senator. "Get my Midiclorean count."
"Midiclorean count?" Padmé scowled.
Lana clenched her jaw as she clasped her temples in pain. She had been attempting to attune herself to the Force all day, since the twins had been born. Her failed attempts were beginning to give her a massive headache. Lana eyed Padmé and nodded.
Padmé accessed the medical supplies and picked out a needle and a small vial. The former senator gently drew blood from Lana and set the blood into the computer to be analyzed.
"My normal count," Lana said, "is eleven thousand six hundred twenty-nine."
Padmé's heart sank as the data materialized on the screen before her. She looked to the Jedi Consular with a grave expression. Padmé's mind echoed with a painful sadness as she mouthed the words. "Five hundred ninety-two."
Lana blinked and looked to her two children as a veil of sadness overcame her.
"Lana, what's going on with your Midiclorean count?"
"About six months ago, I fought the dark lord of the Sith."
"You fought the Emperor?"
"No." Lana shook her head. "I fought his apprentice, Darth Wraith in Corellia. I couldn't defeat him, he was a much better swordsman... I managed to somehow get away, but not before he hit me with a toxic dart."
"And that's what's been doing this to you?"
"Yes. It's an old Sith poison that eats away at the victim's midicloreans. There is no cure. There is a vaccine, but the Temple no longer deemed it necessary, so I never got it. Its too late now..."
"No." Padmé shook her head in disbelief. "It can't be too late. There's got to be a way to save you..."
"No. I've used the Force to slow the poison long enough. Now I cannot even get in tune with the Force. Now, I don't have much time left. The poison will continue to eat away my midicloreans until I have none left. And a life form without midicloreans..." Lana sighed. "...is dead."
Padmé gasped. "The twins."
"No." Lana's jaw clamped. "I protected them from the poison, and made sure it couldn't filter down to them through me."
"They will need you, Lana."
"I know. They lost their father before they were even born, and I know that I only have a few days." Lana took a few deep breaths.
"Lana, you protected me for four long years." A tear streamed down Padmé's cheek. "You stopped three different attempts on my life. I need you now, more than ever."
"I'm sorry, senator." She said regretfully.
Padmé eyed the twins. "They need their mother.
"You need to be their mother." Lana said. Her words struck the former senator like a house of bricks. "That's why I came here, Padmé. I knew I could trust you with them. I know you have a wonderful family; this would be the best I could provide them with. Please..."
Padmé nodded silently; awed by the burden Lana was placing on her shoulders. "I'll raise them and take care of them, I promise."
"Thank you, Padmé, thank you." Lana paused to catch her breath and compose herself. "There is something else I need you to do for me."
"What is it, Lana?"
"Marko, or whatever you've chosen to call him, must be told the truth."
Padmé glared at the Jedi. "No." She shook her head vehemently. "I can't do that. It's too dangerous!"
"Listen to me, Padmé. When I die, the Jedi will all be extinct, and Lord Sidious will win." Lana took in a deep breath. "When I'm gone, his lost memories will be all that remains of the Jedi."
"What if he doesn't remember it that way? I will put everyone in danger-"
"Everyone already is in danger. What difference would one more threat make?" Lana asked rhetorically. "What I'm saying is that his lost memories are like... the box of Pandora. They contain pain, suffering, anger, hatred, and ultimately evil. But they also contain the ray of hope that might yet save the galaxy from the Emperor."
Padmé sighed. She looked to the twins again as they rested silently. She thought of her family, of her sister, her father, her two nieces, and of all the danger she would be putting them in.
"And he can't even remember the truth, but he still loves you, Padmé." Lana grabbed the senator by the wrist, and solemnly looked her in the eyes. "I believed then, as I believe now, that love redeems. He needs you, Padmé."
Padmé took a full minute to think things over. She gently nodded. "I will tell him."
* * *
"Marko." Padmé called the stranger to her room. "We need to talk."
Marko scowled as he followed Padmé to her room. She closed the door behind him, and the stranger took a seat at her desk, mildly confused and bewildered. He thought she had turned him down, that she "could not fall in love again". Was she changing her mind?
"There's something I need to tell you." Padmé said. "I've... been hiding the truth from you for a very long time."
The mini-holoprojector in her hand glowed to life, displaying a miniature holographic image. Marko analyzed the picture. It showed Padmé kissing a dark-haired young man in his early twenties. Marko slowly realized from the dress that Padmé wore and the attire of the young man that this was a wedding picture. It looked deathly familiar.
"That's my husband," Padmé said, "Anakin Skywalker..."
Marko felt his heart sink as he heard that name. His stomach seemed to contract as he analyzed the wedding picture again, taking note of the groom's features. Marko looked up at the mirror in Padmé's room, analyzing his reflection. Marko clenched his jaw. He looked exactly like Anakin Skywalker.
"...You..."
A/N: Still hope Padmé doesn't fall completely for Marko?