Padmè sat near the entrance of her apartment on the edge one of the soft, luxurious couches in the room. She nervously ran her fingers through her loose, curly hair as she waited for her sister to arrive. What would Sola think? She'd probably lose all respect for Padmè, and hate her forever.

Because Padmè didn't know how she was going to get around to telling Sola, she had deliberately pulled on a heavy, intricately decorated cloak, one of the many she had purchased to stop discovery of her pregnancy when acting as senator. The cloak, with all its folds and drapery, completely disguised her belly.

Suddenly Padmè's intercom buzzed to life, and a mechanical voice asked permission to allow a visitor to enter. Padmè slowly stood, gave her permission, and waited tentatively for her sister's judgement.

"Padmè! It is so good to see you!"

Sola ran into the apartment, wearing a light travelling cloak and a simple cream shift underneath. She neither noticed nor cared about her sister's choice of clothes, having had much experience with the strange but beautiful clothing her sister was required to wear to perform ceremonial duties. Sola headed straight for Padmè, who was standing stock still, with a petrified smile on her face. As Sola reached around her sister to give her a hug, Padmè wrapped her own arms around herself and backed down.

"What's wrong?" Sola asked, stopping in mid-hug. She blinked in confusion and backed away from her sister slightly, not knowing what had caused such an unusual reaction in her usually loving sister.

Padmè kept her position a few metres back from her sister, flushing with embarrassment and worry. She didn't want her sister to find out by herself; somehow she knew that it would be much better to tell her first, personally.

Sola decided to pretend not to notice the discomfort Padmè's apparent unfriendliness had caused, and decided to try again. "How are you, Padmè?"

Padmè paused, then made up her mind. Sola was her sister; she deserved to know that she would soon be an aunt. "I'm…"

She paused, slowly removing her cloak to reveal a delicate, form-fitting dress she had ordered months before.

'…Heavily pregnant!" Sola cried in shock, and her eyes grew to an enormous size as she stared at her sister's revealing stomach. "What happened! Who…"

She paused, knowing the obvious discomfort her next urgent question would cause.

"Who is the father?" she finished, putting her hand on Padmè's arm, and staring into her eyes.

Padmè looked at the floor, avoiding her sister's eyes, as she tried to decide what to tell her. Finally she decided that her sister knew too much to be lied to again, and knew that she must tell the truth.

"My husband," she answered, slowly raising her eyes and staring back at her sister.

Sola froze. It was her turn to stare, horrified at the floor, not knowing what to say. She couldn't hold back the stream of questions flowing out of her mouth. "You got married? Without your family? Why didn't you even tell us? Why have you kept this a secret? Who could you have possibly… oh." Sola stopped her tirade as she suddenly understood what must have happened. "That Jedi," she said, not as a question, but as a statement. "You married the Jedi."

"It is forbidden," Padmè said weakly, in response to all the questions, and softly began to cry. "We had to keep it a secret."

"When did this happen?" Sola asked slowly, comprehension eventually sinking in to her rushing brain.

"Three years ago, give or take a few months," Padmè said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Dormè knew, but she's gone now. No one else knows except you. I think many suspect, though."

"No one else knows for sure. Surely you don't mean…? You haven't told your husband yet!" Sola's eyes widened further as she took in her sister's final, most devastating secret, and suddenly she was overwhelmed by pity. Meanwhile, Padmè, now sobbing uncontrollably, collapsed onto the couch and covered her face with her hands.

"So you haven't even seen him for at least five months?"

Sola shook her head slowly, and then sat down next to her sister. "You poor, poor thing. How can you bear to live like this?"

"We've been communicating with letters and with the screen for months, but I can't do it, I have to tell him face to face," Padmè choked, her voice muffled by the many cushions surrounding her.

Sola could only sit rubbing her sister's back as she stared aimlessly at a wall, occupied with the shock and disbelief at finding Padmè in such a vulnerable position. Even after seeing her sister, pale and tearful on the screen the day before, she had never suspected that something this big could have happened.

The two sisters sat in that position for ages, Sola continually soothing her sister, while Padmè gradually calmed down. Finally, as the sound of a loud beep came through from the other room, they both jerked up, and Padmè got up and ran to the source of the noise.

"It's Anakin!" she said excitedly, and Sola sat back down on the couch, wanting to give her sister some privacy.

"Padmè!" Anakin cried with happiness. From what Padmè could see, he was beaming, delighted with this contact. She knew that from where he was, he could only see her head and shoulders. She still hadn't changed her visual settings back.

"Ani! You haven't contacted me for ages!"

"I've been overwhelmed with work." At this, Anakin ran his hand through his longish curls, rolling his eyes at the thought. "Obi-Wan and I have been sent on so many missions lately I've had no time to myself."

"I'm just happy that you're all right."

Padmè smiled softly at her husband, completely forgetting her sister back in the other room as she filled with relief.

"Guess what, angel."

Anakin's blue eyes filled with happiness as he looked upon his wife. "We're about to land in Coruscant. And I have two days free, because I've been working so much lately!"

Padmè inwardly gasped. She hadn't expected this. She tried to mask her shock, and smiled widely. "That's wonderful! So you'll come and visit me tonight?" She silently groaned and hoped he hadn't noticed her voice squeaking at the end of her question.

"Yes, and I can stay until tomorrow evening. I can't wait, Padmè. We haven't seen each other properly for almost six months!"

"You'd better get back to Obi-Wan now, before he notices, Ani, but I'll be waiting for you tonight. May the Force be with you."

"I love you. Bye."

Padmè kept smiling until the screen closed, the communicator disconnected. As soon as the screen went black, she kept staring at it, but instead of a smile, on her face was a look of utter distress. She stood there for a few minutes, not really seeing anything, then turned and walked back into the front room, where Sola was still patiently waiting.

"That was Anakin," she said despondently, so occupied with her thoughts that she didn't realise Sola must have heard every word spoken in the communication.

"He's coming tonight, right?" Sola said slowly, carefully, trying to avoid upsetting her sister anymore.

"He is. I'll have to tell him. What will he do? I'm so happy, I haven't seen him for ages, and he wants to see me, obviously, but he might be angry. He'd be so angry. I want to keep our child! But I love Anakin so much! What am I going to do?"

Padmè spilled out her worries as one quick, panicked sentence, beginning to cry again as she finished.

"Why is it always about him, Padmè?" Sola decided that this was enough. "What about what you want? I know you've always wanted children of your own, sister; I've seen the way you look upon Ryoo and Pooja. You would be- WILL be a loving, caring mother, and you should be thinking of that, not whether you will have it or not. Just think how beautiful it'll be; I mean, you're beautiful, and from what I've seen of Anakin..." Sola gently led her sister back to sit on the couch as she consoled and mildly teased her sister. "And don't worry about what everyone will think when someone suddenly realises. I've heard that acquiring elusive boyfriends on obscure planets is all the rage on Coruscant at the moment."

Padmè laughed weakly, enjoying the joke, and relaxed a little. "Sola, you've been great. I was so worried you were going to hate me for this."

"Never," Sola said, serious now. "Don't ever believe your family would turn against you for something like this. Sure, Mum's always been used to more… conventional family methods, but she loves you too much to really mind."

"Still… I don't want you to tell them for me," Padmè said. "I will tell them eventually, before the baby is born, but I still don't think I'm strong enough…yet."

"Don't worry. I'll just tell them you're suffering from heavy overloads of work. Then they'll be angry at the senate, not you." Sola smiled.

"I mean… I want to tell them, but I just can't right now."

"Well don't leave it too late, or how is Mum ever going to knit the baby's entire wardrobe in time?"

The sisters laughed, Padmè definitely feeling better. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she hesitated before speaking, not wanting to upset her sister. "Sola, I feel really bad about this, but when Anakin comes tonight, I want to tell him by myself."

"I understand. But are you sure you want to face him alone?"

"Yes. I want him to think he's the first person to find out. That might console him a bit, in the face of all the problems we're going to have to face eventually."

"That's absolutely fine. I'll go now, then." Sola walked up to her sister and properly hugged her this time, cherishing the renewed closeness between them. "I can't wait to be an auntie. Now, you make sure you contact me whenever you need to. I'll come back whenever you need me."

"Thank you, Sola. I'll see you soon."