Anakin awoke in a small room, on a cot, at the med center. Since he had fainted, his vitals were being monitored, and he was given an IV of fluids. He was fine phsically, but emotionally was going to be a very different story. As hid mind stirred to consciousness, for a moment it didn't seem real, was it only part of a dream, another part of his Padme dying in childbirth fears? The details seemed so real, it was hard to sort out. He opened his eyes, and as they cleared, he was not sure where he was. He lay back on the bed and rubbed his eyes. Just then the door opened. Padme's mother walked in.
"How are you doing, Anakin? You've been out for over a day now."

He raised up halfway in bed. "Padme..where is she?"

Her mother sat gently on the side of his cot, and smoothed back his hair. She took his left hand in hers. "She's still in the morgue here at the hospital. Preparations are not complete yet..."

Anakin went into a flailing rage. "NO, NO! She didn't die, it was just a dream..."

Mrs. Nabierrie tried to calm him. "Anakin, please don't do this. We are all upset. I have been heartbroken. She was my baby girl.." her voice trailed off into sobs.

"I'm sorry! It's all my fault, I killed her!"

"How? You did nothing but love her."

"That was it. I shouldn't have loved her! She told me the love would destroy us and it did!'

"It must have been hard to keep it a secret but I understand your reasons. It does hurt me she didn't feel she could come to me. But she finally did, and I was able to see the happiness and love you shared. It is a great comfort to me, and it should be to you too now. You know, she never got prenatal care. She was too afraid someone would find out she was pregnant.."

"By me? See there, it's all my fault, I got her pregnant.."

"She wanted children! It made her very happy.."

"It killed her!"

"She was a good heart, Anakin, you know that as well as I. She was so strong willed, but so weak physically. She was just a little girl, a tiny girl..the babies were too big..two of them..her uterus couldn't hold up, it ruptured, it could have happened to anyone...it happened to my mother's sister.. this was not your fault, Anakin..."

They were both crying very hard now. "I cannot stop blaming myself! My love for her destroyed her!" Anakin cried, head in hands. "I was always so scared, there was always something inside me that told me I could never be happy, something was going to go terribly wrong! When the dreams came, I knew this. I would have done anything to save her, I almost believed that crazy, evil old man could help me save her... but he lied...he couldn't even save himself...still I wonder.."

"Anakin, you aren't thinking the Chancellor could have saved Padme's life do you?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore."

She tried to pull him from the bed. "Come with me, come see the babies. They are beautiful."

"Why is it that you do not hate me for what I did to your daughter?"

"I am sad, I will never recover from this tragic loss, but Anakin, I do not blame you! I know she loved you very much. Those babies are a part of that love, and a part of her. Please do not blame them for what happened. Come with me, they will need us now."

Anakin whimpered a few more minutes, then stood up. It was so comforting to him that Padme's mother did not hate him, did not blame him, but this did not console his grief and guilt. He walked with his arm around his mother in law to the nursery window, and there she pointed out to him his own son and daughter.
"That's Luke, the boy, and Leia, the girl. Those are the names she had chosen. She told me this just that morning, Luke for a boy, Leia for a girl. She didn't even know it was both."
Anakin gazed upon them through teary eyes. There before him were his children, Padme's children, products of their love, but the cause of her death.
"Can't you love them, Anakin? She would want that. Her last words were for you to take care of them."

"I know, but, it's too hard, not now."

"They need their father, Anakin."

"What am I supposed to do with two motherless babies? I don't know anything about babies." He turned his back on them.

"If you like, I will take them home with me."

"You have my permission as their father. I will sign whatever papers need be. They will be loved with you."

"They will be a great comfort to me, pieces of Padme, it will be sad not to have her there to see them grow, but their presence will help me bear my pain." She cried.
Anakin turned and walked away. He could no longer look at the twins, or look Padme's mother in the face.

On his way out of the hospital, he passed the door marked 'morgue.' He opened the door and went inside. He needed only his feelings to lead him to the body of his beloved wife. He used the force to open the sliding door. He saw her lying on the metal slab, cold, pale, her mouth still open. He broke down and cried.

"I'm sorry, my love, I cannot bear that I did this to you, I wanted nothing more than to love you, to save you..." He gently kissed her cold, blue lips, and closed her stiff mouth. Now her expression was much more peaceful..He knelt down next to her, sobbing, heaving, holding her hands. "I won't lose you!" He sighed as he closed his eyes and went deeply into the force. He tried with all his power and strength to give her body enough energy to return to life. To his frustration, it did no good. Her systems had shut down and stopped working. She had bled to death. This was not going to restore her organs and her nerves. Her body was unable to live again despite all his actions. When he realized there was nothing he could do, he stood up and screamed, his devastation turning to rage which was causing the force to fly haphazardly out of control in the room. Other slabs opened, other bodies tumbled out. Padme's own body was shaking, and almost fell in the floor. He stopped himself, and ran to her side, holding her as if he could still protect her. "I won't let anyone hurt you, my love!" he whispered gently, as orderlys who had come running at the disturbance he had caused burst through the door.

"Sir, you should not be here!" said a human orderly, followed by several droid ones, some beeping an emergency code. "I am afraid you must be taken away from here, or find yourself in trouble."

"No, I cannot leave here, I have to bring her back to life, I have to use the force!" He screamed, knowing he had tried and failed.

"Calm down, sir."

"Calm down? It isn't your wife who lies dead on the slab because of you!"

"I am sorry for your loss sir but you must go."

"NO!" he force pushed the orderly across the room, and destroyed the accompanying droids. He scooped up Padme's body and exited the morgue. She was very stiff, and he had difficulty turning her in the right direction to fit her through the doorway feet first. Desperately, he ran down the hallway carrying her lifeless corpse. The injured orderly had sent out a new security message, and soon many more droids, and the police, converged from all directions in an attempt to block his path. He destroyed a few more droids, but merely disarmed and force pushed the living beings. "I've got to get you out of here, Padme. You're so cold. This place is bad for you. If I can get you back to the temple, I know there is something I can do to restore your life!" Anakin was able to elude those pursuing him long enough to slip out a back entrance. Panting, and pushing himself to his limits, he lost himself in the surrounding areas, and headed for the Jedi temple.

He took Padme to a meditation chamber, and lay her on the floor. He stood over her, closed his eyes, and reached out into the force. "I've got to save you, Padme. I cannot break my promise. I love you." He cried.

A voice came from the doorway behind him. "Anakin, what are you doing?"