As Padme pushed with all her might to bring her firstborn child into the Galaxy. In the air she heard her son's first cry. Her heart began to break even more as she began to feel her will to live, weaken with every breath.
Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?
She listened as Obi-Wan whispered softly to her "Padme, it's a boy, you have a son!" as the medic droid turned to Obi-Wan and deposited the baby boy carefully wrapped in a blanket into his waiting arms to show him to his mother. Padme reached out blindly and her hand contacted with warm new skin. She turned as Obi-Wan tilted the baby in his arms. "Luke" she whispered breathlessly. Luke cried as he felt his mother's pain as she touched his forehead with her palm and she stroked his head lovingly, tears filling her eyes.
There's a fog along the horizon,
a strange glow in the sky,
and nobody seems to know where you go,
and what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?
Obi-Wan held Luke carefully as he heard the medic-droid murmur in its native language. Padme gasped for air again clenching the japor snippet. Her cries resounded in the room as she felt her second child finally make her way into the world. The droid turned to Obi-Wan again and he shifted Luke a little to make room for his sister. He turned the second child to his mother "It's a girl" he said smiling into Padme's face.
Padme found it harder to see by the second, her body draining of energy every second that passed, she looked up into her baby daughter's face and whispered the name lovingly she had decided upon from the moment she found out she was pregnant. "Leia".
Leia opened her eyes and locked her mother's painful gaze and the small infant felt the rush of emotions and forever the Force would imprint Padme in her mind for all eternity.
Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.
Both babies lay silently in their father's former Master's arms as he reached out and felt their strong presences in the Force and tried to soothe Padme through the Force.
"Padme, you have to hold on. Luke and Leia…. They need you. They look so much like you and… Anakin" he said looking down at both of them.
The Force called to Padme as she remembered the look of hurt, and anger and the flames in his eyes growing as Anakin strangled her. Darth Vader had consumed the man she loved and knew. This monster wanted to harm her and their children, however she felt a small part of Anakin try to push down the dragon forcefully, but only a flicker, like a candle in the wind.
Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?
Padme had always thought she and Anakin, would leave Coruscant once the war was over and go home to Naboo, and raise their children peacefully. She now knew that this was her destiny. The only way to bring back Anakin from the Darkside. The Force had sent her Anakin, and now Luke and Leia. Their children would become the Galaxy's only hope.
There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.
Obi-Wan felt Padme give up more and more with each passing second, as she still held onto the japor snippet necklace.
"Obi-Wan, promise me…. please promise me… Luke… Leia…. They will go to loving families. Watch over them for me and…Anakin…There's still…. still good in him…. I've felt it…I know there's still…….." she whispered. Her breathing shallowed and she felt her eyes begin to close as a peaceful calm overcame her and she looked one last time into her babies' faces, and breathed her final breath.
As Padme became one with the Force, memories swam through her mind.
"Are you an angel?"
"What?"
"An angel, they live on the moons of Iego I think. I heard the deep space pilots talk about them, they're the most beautiful creatures in the whole Galaxy!"
"My, how you've grown!"
"So have you, grown more beautiful I mean"
"I thought we decided not to fall in love""I truly, deeply, love you and before we die I want to tell you"
"Anakin, something miraculous has happened…. I'm pregnant"
"That's…that's wonderful. This is the happiest moment of my life"
"Anakin, you're breaking my heart, come back to me. I love you""The Jedi turned against me, don't you turn against me"
On the other side of the Galaxy, Darth Vader screamed in agony as he learned of his beloved wife's fate. He was so consumed in anger that he did not feel the familiar flicker in the Force of Padme, as she watched him one last time, before she ventured into peace to watch her children grow and into the Force she sang the sad words…
Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.
These words stretched across the Galaxy to her newborn twins and comforted them as they cried helplessly for their mother.
Obi-Wan held the twins in his arms as Yoda and Bail watched through the glass with tears in their eyes, as the Jedi Master cried and reached into the Force for comfort. He too felt the words and knew it was Padme Amidala Skywalker.
"I promise you I will always watch over your children" he said quietly into the Force and with the knowledge that her children would be watched over and would one day bring peace and prosperity to the Galaxy. She turned and walked towards the Jedi Master in front of her.
"Come, Padme. The twins will be alright. It's time to go home" said Qui-Gon Jinn sadly.
Padme took one last look at her children and took her old friend's outstretched hand and they walked into the white light that called upon them. For Padme, she would never be home until Anakin returned to them and brought balance back to the Force.