Chapter 9: Resignation

Anakin and Padmé spent the remainder of their vacation time together at Varykino. It was not until the evening before their return to work and normalcy that they flew back, with the droids, to Coruscant. Upon arrival at their apartment, they sent the droids to shutdown for the evening while they got ready for bed. It would be a long day for both of them tomorrow and they would have to start early in the morning.

Anakin set the chrono at his bedside table, since he would be the first one up in the morning. He then pulled Padmé into his arms, snuggling closer to her. Before falling asleep, he ran his hand over the front of her purple silk nightgown to check on the growing Force presence inside her. Feeling that all was well, he kissed the back of her neck before drifting to sleep.

In the hallway of the Senate apartments, Sidious' Force presence lingered in a narrow alcove to await morning. He was in a perfect position to strike his unwitting victim without notice. The Sith Lord was through waiting, and in a few more hours he would exact his revenge.


Early the next morning, Anakin woke up to the sound of the chrono's alarm sounding. He clicked it off quickly to stop its incessant noise before giving Padmé a brief kiss good morning. Then he quickly made his way to the fresher for a shower so that he could prepare himself for his first meeting with the Jedi Council.

A few minutes later Anakin stepped back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist while he ran his fingers through his damp hair. Seeing that his angel was still asleep, he leaned over and nudged her again, "Angel, you are going to be late if you do not get up."

"Mmmm." Padmé mumbled sleepily.

Anakin smiled down at her before sitting down on the bed beside her and stating, "Wake up, my love." Then to make sure she did wake up he kissed her soundly on the lips. This worked as Padmé wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss languidly.

"Good Morning." Padmé stated as their lips parted.

"Go get yourself ready, I'll make us some breakfast." Anakin stated as he got up from the bed and went to grab his Jedi tunic, pants, and cloak.

Half an hour later, Padmé emerged from the bedroom in a deep blue dress and her hair twisted up in a severe hairstyle. She had a light layer of makeup on, that finished the look and except for breakfast, she was ready for a long day in the senate.

Anakin was just setting their dining table with breakfast when Padmé came into the room. He was in full Jedi regalia, his tunic a deep shade of brown with black leather tabards coming across it. He had prepared a meal of eggs with a side of cut up shurra fruit pieces. He had also poured both of them a glass of blue milk.

They chatted idly while they ate and periodically Anakin would ask Padmé if she wanted more to eat. After saying no for the fifth time, she stated in exasperation, "Anakin, I am pregnant, not starving. Will you leave me alone?"

Anakin gave her a sheepish look, but desisted.

Once the two of them had finished their breakfast, they cleared their dishes and gave each other one last kiss before leaving for the day. Anakin was the last to exit the house and he could hear R2D2 and C3P0 starting their daily tasks as he closed the door behind him.


Padmé and Anakin said they would not discuss the possibility of her resignation after their fight on Naboo. However, Padmé found herself thinking about it often. She knew that he had been right about her desire to raise her own children and it was logical that she should resign. She was not about to let Anakin give up his position as a Jedi. Her work may be valuable to the constituency that she serves, but his work was good for the whole of the galaxy. She could not ask him to give that up. Additionally, she knew of several capable Nubian politicians who could take her place in the Senate with the same care and devotion she took in the job.

She had served Naboo faithfully for many years, but now it was time to think about her own family. Her children would need her and she wanted to be there to watch them grow up. Therefore, rather than tending to her inbox that had accumulated a large stack of mail in her absence, she immediately set to drafting a letter of resignation to Queen Apailana of Naboo. She stated that she would be willing to stay in service to the people of Naboo until the birth of her children, but then a replacement would be required. She knew she was sending this letter early, but she wanted the Queen to have enough time to name her replacement.

Once she was happy with the letter, she sent it along and then set up a late afternoon appointment with Chancellor Bail Organa. He had been her friend and confidant for many years and she felt that she had the obligation to tell him of her intended resignation in person. She was sure that he would understand, but she still felt the need to speak with him. With her last appointment of the day set, Padmé immediately started the task of reading through two weeks worth of messages.


When Anakin arrived at the Jedi Temple Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was smiling at him, greeted him at the door.

"I do not know why you are smiling at me, I am angry with you. Why did you ruin my surprise?"

"What?" Obi-Wan asked innocently. "That I told Padmé you were arriving home early?"

"You know very well that is what I am talking about." Anakin said sternly.

"I thought it was better that she knew." Obi-Wan shrugged.

"It was supposed to be a surprise!" Anakin stated in exasperation.

Obi-Wan just chuckled lightly while he said, "I'm sorry, but are you really going to complain?"

Anakin started to retort, but stopped and fell silent shifting his gaze to the floor. "No." He mumbled softly.

Obi-Wan clapped him on the back, "I thought so. Welcome home!"

Anakin smiled at the Jedi Master as he said, "I will let you off the hook this time, but see if I reveal any of my secrets again. Now, what is my task now that I have returned."

"Actually, Master Yoda and I would like your assistance."

"In what?"

"Well, Master Yoda claims he felt a disturbance in the Force several weeks before you returned home, and has felt it pop up periodically since then."

"And?"

"And we have been meditating and searching the Force for it since."

"So you have not found it?" Anakin stated smugly.

"Yes and no. We have found it twice, but it disappeared before we could examine it to find out what it is. We thought that if you helped us search the Force, we might be able to unravel this mystery."

"Very well, at least I can stay on Coruscant, close to Padmé." Anakin said with a smile knowing he wasn't being sent on a mission to the other side of the galaxy.

"I thought you may prefer this to the mission to Salucemi. Knight Starstone took up that task. Now, if you follow me, Master Yoda has prepared a meditation room for us, he will meet us there."

"Lead the way." Anakin stated, following Obi-Wan.


"I will be sad to see you go, Senator, but I understand your reasons for resigning. Congratulations!" Chancellor Organa stated.

"Thank you Bail. How is your wife, Breha?" Padmé asked as the formal part of their meeting ended and they began to speak casually to one another.

"Much better. She was ill recently and is just now recovering from it."

"I am sorry to hear that, but at least she is on the mend. Please send my best wishes to her."

"I will." Bail stated with a smile. "How was your vacation?"

"Fantastic, just what Anakin and I needed." Padmé replied.

"How is Anakin?"

"He is fine." Padmé then glanced at a chrono on the wall and saw that it was getting late. "I am sorry that I need to call this meeting short, Bail. I would love to continue talking with you, but I do need to sign a few things before I leave for the day. Anakin will worry if I stay out too late."

"Of course, Padmé. We can continue this conversation some other time." He then walked Padmé to the door and said, "Have a pleasant evening."

"You too, Bail. Thank you." Padmé said with a smile before leaving the Chancellor's office to return to her own. As the door closed behind her, Bail turned from it to stare out the window. He smiled as his eyes shone with a faint yellow glow.