Yoda breathed in deeply and released his breath with a long sigh. The meditation garden in the Temple was vibrant with the Living Force -- the stark and complete opposite of the city planet the Temple was located on. Here, in the garden, the plants and trees thrived in the Force and provided a peaceful respite, and Jedi who chose to meditate here, usually did so easily, without effort.
But not the Jedi he was looking for here today.
Obi-Wan Kenobi had been coming here since he was a boy, but not as often as he had been recently. The young knight's Force signature was troubled and agitated. He was the only source of conflict in this room of peaceful reconciliation.
Yoda approached his kneeling form slowly. As soon as he knelt in front of the young Jedi, a pair of weary eyes opened to meet him. The suffering he saw there haunted the diminuitive Master.
"Grieve you do. But needless it is."
Obi-wan shook his head solmenly. "I can't find her, Master Yoda. I don't feel her." A shaking hand ran through disheveled spikes of copper hair. "I know she's alive, but I don't even know where to begin to look for her. And the Force isn't helping me."
Yoda considered the heartfelt words that Obi-Wan had shared with him before laying a comforting hand upon the Jedi's knee. "The Force, provides many answers it does. If one asks the right questions."
Obi-Wan met the gentle green gaze. "What do you mean?"
"Perhaps look for another within the Force, you should. There, waiting for you, he is."
The baby. How could he be so stupid! He had felt the child's signature in the Force several months ago, but had been so caught up in his despair, had been concentrating so hard on Padmé, he had lost his contact with the baby.
"Thank you, Master Yoda."
"When find him you do, give up hope you shall not. His life, more important than all others, it is."
Yoda grinned slightly, rose, and left Obi-Wan alone once more.
Obi-Wan immediately relaxed his body back into his meditative posture and began to reach out into the Force, nearly pleading for it to guide him to his son.
At first he found nothing and worry crept into his mind. Would he even be able to reach him? Would he be too far away? He possibly could be shielded like Padmé, as well.
When he first heard the sound, he wasn't quite sure what it was. But it most definitely was a sound. It wasn't the glowing existence he had reached out for previously, but he grasped onto the auditory sensation and pulled it to him. It reverberated in his mind with a double thump -- the second one echoing the first. A heart beat.
Obi-Wan sprung off the floor, awareness flooding him. Grabbing his Jedi robe, he fled from the meditation gardens. His son was alive, and was being born at this very moment.
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Padmé's pained cry shattered the eery silence of the birthing room. The doctor and nurses who attended her hadn't spoken a word.
Even the nurses who had cared for her during her stay, wherever she was, hadn't spoken to her, hadn't answered any of her questions. They had made it quite obvious. She was alone and she was a prisoner.
She could hardly even recall what had happened a week ago. She had been in her room preparing for her duties at the creche when a strong hand had come over her mouth from behind. A foul odor emanating from the cloth that covered her mouth and nose was all she remembered before she blacked out.
When she awoke, she found herself in a cold, dark cubicle. One bed, one table, a lamp, and a barred window were all that comprised her cell. She could barely peek out the bottom of the window, but the view from it offered her some hope. She recognized the skyline. She was still on Coruscant, although her exact location was unknown.
The occasional visits from the nurses who brought her food and drink, and cleaned up the room, as well as herself, were discomfiting. They refused to speak to her. No matter how much she begged or pleaded, they never said a word.
She spent the majority of her time thinking and focusing on Obi-Wan, but without the bond, all she had were her memories.
She picked away at the Force dampening band that was clamped upon her arm, until she had irritated the skin surrounding it. It had been locked by the nurses and wasn't coming off.
When the labor pains began, she hid herself in the farthest corner of the room, unsure of her reason. She felt the need to retreat as far away as possible, in an attempt to protect her child.
They discovered her soon after the first few contractions and took her to a delivery room.
Still not speaking, they moved about the room preparing for the delivery. A blush spread over her as her feet were placed in stirrups and the masked physician hovered over her. She closed her eyes, a tear squeezed from one corner, and focused on the only source of her sanity. /Obi-Wan..please! I'm here. Where are you? Please find me! Obi-Wan.../
The pressure compounded the pain as the baby was born, only to be replaced by shock and utter despair as a new face entered into her line of sight and the realization of her situation hit home.
A black hood was pulled back to reveal a familiar appearance.
"Palpatine..." Padmé hissed in her anguish.
The chancellor's hands reached out and took the wailing infant from the doctor, never looking directly at Padmé.
"There now." He murmured to the now cooing baby, his voice a soft and comforting tone. "Welcome, my young apprentice. I have great plans for you."
Padmé watched in horror as Palpatine handed the baby to a nurse who began cleaning and wrapping him. The words the chancellor spoke to the doctor were born of her nightmares and she screamed silently upon their impact.
"Take the baby to my ship. Dispose of the mother." Palpatine then strode from the room.
"No! No!" With every last bit of energy she possessed, Padmé struggled against the straps that bound her to the delivery table.
Two of the nurses restrained her physically while the doctor began injecting a lethal substance into her intravenous line.
She looked up in disbelief at his features as he withdrew the needle. Hesitatingly, the physician's gaze met hers and he whispered. "I'm sorry."
Padmé shook her head again numbly, the shock beginning to sink in. Already she could feel the effects of the potent drug that had been injected into her blood stream. As her eyes fluttered closed and darkness overtook her, she murmured Obi-Wan's name one last time.