Chapter 6
Anakin stood in front of the Supreme Chancellor's office before he even realized where he was trying to go. He did not know why he had come here, but if his feet had carried him here, then he must be in the right place.
Before he could think to press the buzzer, the door opened in front of him. Chancellor Palpatine stood in the doorway. "Anakin!" he exclaimed with a wide smile. "Just the person I was looking for!"
Anakin stood there a moment, his boots glued to the floor. Suddenly, coming to Palpatine did not seem like such a good idea. Palpatine was still blabbering on about something.
"And then Senator Amidala mentioned that Master Kenobi was there, but that you weren't with him…" Anakin's jaw tightened again and his eyes grew hard. Palpatine suddenly stopped his prattling. "Anakin, is something wrong?"
So Obi-Wan was still there, was he? Probably trying to convince Padmé to forget all about him and the baby. The Order be damned. He was not going to give up on Padmé and the baby that easily.
"Yes, something is very wrong," he replied angrily.
Palpatine looked around. "Perhaps you had better come inside." He quickly ushered Anakin inside the large office.
They walked back to the private office in silence, Anakin still simmering about Obi-Wan.
"What happened, Anakin?" the Chancellor asked kindly. Anakin wondered why he had doubted coming here. He should have come here a long time ago.
"I don't really know where to begin," he said. He slumped into the couch in front of Palpatine's desk and took a deep breath. "It's Padmé."
"Something is wrong with Senator Amidala?" Palpatine asked with concern.
"I'm not sure," he answered honestly. "Last night, I had a nightmare about her. She died."
Palpatine looked at Anakin sadly. "Like the nightmares about your mother?" he asked.
"Yes, exactly like that."
The Chancellor was very serious. "Do you think the dream is a vision of the future?" he asked.
"I don't know," Anakin answered. "I really just don't know. But I can't lose her too. I have to save her." He placed his head in his hands, rubbing his temples and squeezing his eyes shut.
Palpatine leaned over to him, placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Why, son?"
Anakin looked up at the Chancellor. "Because I love her. And because she's pregnant."
Palpatine had not seen that one coming at all.
He knew about Skywalker and Amidala's marriage. He was not a former Senator of Naboo for nothing. He still maintained his connections in the government, and their marriage certificate was easy enough to get ahold of when you knew the right people.
But a child? This got better and better all the time.
Of course, he had no need for the child. In fact, he would probably have to dispose of it. The only way to avoid an apprentice eventually topping the Master was to eliminate all other possible apprentices. He had been the only Sith to realize this, even though treachery was the Sith way. That was why he had to eliminate the Jedi Order. But that's what Anakin was for.
Of course, this secret would only work to his advantageas long as no one else knew about it. "Has Padmé told anyone about this, Anakin?" he asked.
Anakin shook his head no. "I just found out myself when we returned. She would not have told anyone before she told me."
A dreaded thought entered Palpatine's head. "What about Master Kenobi? Would she have told him while he was at her apartment?"
Anakin drew in a sharp breath at the mention of his former Master's name. "No," Anakin replied dully. "I was the one who told him. I thought he would help us, but he made it pretty clear that all he cares about is what the Order would say." A scowl transformed his handsome features into something uglier.
Palpatine shook his head slowly. "I wish you hadn't told him, Anakin." Now he was going to have to find a way to dispose of Kenobi before he could tell the Jedi Council. He still needed them to trust Anakin. "Do you think he'll tell them right away?"
Anakin thought quietly for a moment, absently running his biological hand through his long hair. "No, I think he will give me a chance to tell them myself, first." He turned back towards Palpatine. "I don't care if they kick me out of the Order. All I care about is saving her."
Palpatine patted the shoulder that he still had his hand on. "Together, we'll find a way."
