Chapter 13: Calm Before the Storm
Explaining to her worried sister and friend why she needed Jedi protectors had been hard enough, but Padmé soon found her life was filled with an even greater burden- Palo. Ever since the accident, he'd taken to being by himself, often locking himself in a room and musing over his paintings for hours. Not only did Palo do that, but he also kept coming and going at odd hours. Feeling sympathetic for her friend, Padmé watched him struggle throughout the next day though she knew everyone else was starting to despise the artist.
Only one thing kept Padmé waking up each morning- Luke. With Anakin being so busy doing who-knew-what, Siri had unwillingly become the baby's delegated nanny. Within reason, wherever the Jedi went, so did the baby.
Including to go watch over Padmé.
It was evident that the women had both been surprised that they got along so well, seeing as they came from different backgrounds, but the addition of Luke gave them a common interest.
"I would love to have a hundred such children," Padmé sighed before kissing Luke's chubby cheeks.
"It looks like you're well on your way," Siri teased with a significant look at Padmé's bulging stomach.
Blushing, Padmé was relieved when Ferus burst in, a scowl on his otherwise handsome face. "I have checked all levels- everything is safe and secure." After a moment of contemplation, he sat down on the couch opposite the two ladies and the baby.
"If you were not a Jedi, would you want children?" Padmé asked, her mind preoccupied with the topic for obvious reasons.
Much to her surprise, Siri wrinkled he nose. "No."
Deciding to respect her friend's differing opinion, Padmé smiled at the gurgling Luke.
"If Jedi were allowed to marry," Siri began, much to Padmé's surprise, "Obi-Wan and I would have probably married…"
Seeing Ferus's eyes widen in horror, Padmé quickly said, "I can't see the two of you being together… for life."
The blond-haired woman nodded her head in agreement. "We'd be one of those couples who constantly bicker about anything and everything. No, I would never want to curse an innocent child with Obi-Wan's genes."
At this, Ferus seemed quite relieved but still alertly paid attention to the conversation. Eventually, the discussion seemed to distress him so much that he got up and left, leaving Siri worriedly biting her lip.
"Are you two… fond of each other?"
A faint blush covered her protector's cheeks. "Our relationship is akin to what you and Anakin have, Padmé. We know every little dirty detail there is to know about each other but refuse to allow any feelings to get in the way of our duties."
Though a smile remained on her face, Padmé blanched inwardly and prayed that her friend's relationship with Obi-Wan was as innocent as it sounded.
"But don't tell him that I said that," Siri pleaded, seemingly horrified by that idea. "He'll never let me forget it."
"Oh, I wouldn't think of it," Padmé said hastily with a small grin.
Before she could say anything further, See Threepio came pattering into the room. "Mistress Padmé! There is a Jedi here to see you."
At this, her heart fluttered and Padmé consciously struggled to not glow with excitement. "Let him in," she calmly instructed.
Surprise visits from Anakin were always a delight, and Padmé found herself resisting the urge to giggle like a little school girl who had been caught staring at a cute boy. It would be only a matter of a few mere seconds before she saw her beloved…
It was Obi-Wan.
Striding in, the Jedi Master did not know what a horrible disappointment his presence was but immediately made his way over to Padmé and bowed before her. "Has Anakin been by to see you?" His face was uncharacteristically pale and worried.
With great difficulty, Padmé struggled to stand up and took her friend's hand in hers. "No, should he have?"
The Jedi pursed his lips and shook his head. Looking around, he noticed Siri for the first time. "Siri! What are you doing here?"
"For a Council member, you sure don't remember a whole lot," she said dryly from where she sat on the couch. "Oh," she said sarcastically, "you must be using up all your energy running after Anakin."
When Padmé gestured for him to sit, Obi-Wan sat in the spot Ferus had just vacated. "I'd like to see you do half as well…"
"Excuses, excuses…" Siri teased though her admiration for Obi-Wan was clear in her voice.
"We can argue about this later when we aren't wasting the good Senator's time," he said with a friendly smile at Padmé.
She had been unblinkingly watching Obi-Wan, but Padmé looked away as he took in the fact that she was tending to Luke. "I am worried about Anakin," she confessed quietly, refusing to look at either of the Jedi. "Due to the fact that I hardly get to see him, I do not know all of his moods, but I can tell that something is wrong with him."
"Perhaps I'll tell you what in the Jedi sphere is eating away at him if you tell me what's going on between you two."
Silence.
Eyes wide, Padmé gaped at him, all of her carefully erected walls gone. Beside her, she felt Siri shift uncomfortably in her seat. "What do you mean?"
Obi-Wan seemed a little unnerved by his bold request. "Padmé, I had lived with the man for fourteen years- I can tell when he's hiding something. Anakin trusts you in ways that he never will with me." Frustrated, he ran an unsteady hand through his ginger hair. "Things would have been different, I think, if I'd treated him better when we first met- after all these years, he can't forget how badly I acted towards him."
She said nothing.
"Padmé, listen to me!" he begged, sitting on the edge of his seat. "The moment we locate General Grevious, I shall be sent off planet. I do not want Anakin to be left behind with this great burden."
"It's his dream," she whispered. Her brown eyes met his. "Obi-Wan, it's eating him alive! Force know if he's slept or eaten sice…"
"So, it's worse than I thought," he muttered.
"Obi-Wan, you mustn't leave him!" she pleaded.
"I must go where the Council sends me."
"I personally think that keeping the Chosen One from falling to the Dark Side is much more important than finding General Grevious," she said tightly. "Anakin's lost, my friend, and you need to find him before it's too late."
A bit stunned by her sudden forcefulness, Obi-Wan blinked a few times before relaxing back in his seat. "I will do my best," he said, obviously planning what he was going to report back to the Council."
"Now it's your turn," she challenged.
Reluctance spread over his face. "Siri, go shut the door," he commanded stiffly. Only once she'd done so did he return his unsteady gaze back to Padmé. "Padmé, the Jedi are sensing that Palpatine is hiding important information from us, information that could help us end this war."
"Such as…"
"The location of our favorite droid general."
She sucked in her breath. "Oh, no!" she moaned, instinctively cradling Luke against her breast. "Obi-Wan, please tell me that Anakin isn't…"
"No one else can," Obi-Wan replied gently, drawing a reluctant nod from Siri.
"Do you think Palpatine really knows?"
"More than he's letting on? Certainly. Time will tell if he also knows the identity of the Sith Lord we've been searching for.
It was much worse than Padmé had thought it was- no wonder that Anakin was highly stressed. "There is a Sith here on Coruscant?"
"We traced hints to the Works," Siri interrupted, this time alarming both Obi-Wan and Padmé.
The Jedi Master seemed even more burdened by this. "Don't worry, Padmé," he said unconvincingly, "If anyone can end this, it will be Anakin."
How badly she wished to convey her true worries? Her second child was nearly due, and their little family dearly needed Anakin's presence. If anything were to happen to him, Luke would be given to another knight for training for her to perhaps never see again, and the child she carried would never be able to meet his or her father.
Obi-Wan saw how upset she was. "Don't worry, my friend- I will do everything to help him that I possibly can." Slowly, he stood up and bowed to her but, when she clumsily stood up, gave Padmé a friendly hug. For a moment, Obi-Wan considered Siri before giving her a light pat on the shoulder. "If you do see Anakin," he told Padmé, "do let him know that I will be waiting in the Room of a Thousand Fountains." When she gave him a confused look, Obi-Wan shrugged wearily. "I think that Anakin and I need another long talk.
With that said, Obi-Wan left.
"Are your days normally like this?" Siri asked worriedly.
"Worse, actually," Padmé said quietly, barely hearing what her friend said. She gazed out at the landscape to the Jedi Temple where Anakin was perhaps meditating and struggling over his nearly impossible task.
"How about lunch?" Siri asked, already
halfway to the door. "The last thing I need is for some pushy
Healer to blame me because you pass out."
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The Jedi Temple Archives was a wonderful place to hid, and without realizing that he was doing so, Anakin remained in there for a couple of hours.
"Can I help you?" Jacosta Nu asked after she'd pattered by him a dozen times due to the fact she was unsure of his motives in being there, for he spent as much time meditating as researching.
Blinking, Anakin was surprised to find her standing before him. "Yes…" he said slowly, rubbing his tired eyes. "I know you probably do not get this question a lot- never, perhaps- but would you perhaps have any information about a Sith Lord named Darth Pelagious?"
Jacosta Nu's already wrinkled face wrinkled further as she wracked her archive-like memory. "I'm afraid not," she tittered, obviously wondering why he was interested in such a thing.
"I guessed so," he muttered, Palpatine's comment about that coming to mind. He stood up from the empty table at which he'd been sitting and, without even thanking her for the assistance, Anakin soon found himself heading towards Padmé's apartment in 500 Republica.
Much to Anakin's surprise, he found no one in the main room when he stepped onto the veranda minutes later, yet a familiar presence lingered there.
Obi-Wan.
Weary from the heavy burden and filled with an overwhelming amount of questions that needed to be answered, Anakin sank down onto the nearby couch. In doing so, he sat on a datapad and, grumbling about It though the inconvenience was of little consequence to him, Anakin saw that it contained Padmé's schedule. Due to the accident and the impending birth of her child, Padmé had more upcoming free time than what she'd probably had in years.
Our child, he corrected himself with a flash of fatherly pride.
Even that did not cheer Anakin up. Frustrated, he threw the device aside and buried his face in his hands.
"Who are you?"
"I am your destiny."
"What do you want of me?"
"Inside, Anakin Skywalker, you know why I have come for you."
"Anakin!"
Blinking rapidly, Anakin found an beaming Padmé standing before him. In her arms was a sleeping Luke who rested uncomfortably due to the swell of his little sibling. With he rfree hand, Padmé reached out and caressed Anakin's face.
Anakin found that he couldn't say anything.
"Are you alright?" she asked. Worriedly watching him, she bit her lip and shifted her precious burden.
"These dreams and premonitions- will they ever stop?" Anakin asked hoarsely as he rubbed his eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day.
"Is that what's bothering you?"
There was no way he could lie under his wife's stern gaze. "Yes," Anakin admitted in a whisper.
"Come and tell me about it," she beckoned, leading him into her room. There, Padmé sat down in her rocking chair and brushed Luke's soft curls.
Anakin retreated to the window but he did not see the landscape before him- he could only think of his dream.
Of her.
How could Anakin explain what he thought this all meant to Padmé?
"Something's happening…" he said slowly.
Silently, Padmé watched him and waited for Anakin to finish speaking his troubling thoughts.
"Something which I won't be able to control," Anakin continued in a tone that aptly conveyed how lost he was. When he turned around, his face showed the vulnerability welling within. Anakin was frightened and did not know what to do or what to say. "Every day, I am slipping more and more, and one of these days, it is going to consume me." Sighing, he went and knelt down at her feet before stroking Luke's soft cheek.
"Anakin, do you ever miss what it was like before all this?" she asked quietly, her eyes filling with tears. "Do you wish we could go back to a time when there was no war, no separations?" A sad smile curved her lips before Padmé dissolved into tears. "Anakin, please hold me… like you did back at the lake house, back when there was only our love," she whispered in a prayer-like voice.
Moments later, Anakin was sitting in the rocking chair with Padmé and their little family safe within his strong arms. As his tears rolled into hers, Anakin vowed to never let anything or anyone destroy these precious gifts he'd been blessed with.
Stilly, duty nagged at the back of his mind. "I must go," he whispered reluctantly.
Just as reluctant, Padmé climbed off his lap and regarded him sadly.
"Take good care of our children," he said softly, placing his hand on the large swell of her belly. Beneath Anakin's hand, the baby kicked, drawing a small smile from the both of them.
Padmé blushed but said nothing.
"It looks like we're finally having a girl," he said in a reverent tone, making her eyes flutter in adoration.
"You were wrong last time, Master Jedi," she said in a demure way that made his heart pound. "It is a boy."
"With a kick like that?" he laughed as the baby proved his point with an even more forceful kick. "Definitely a girl."
"We shall see," she said with a sly smile that made Anakin nearly melt. "You, my dear sir, do not have my motherly intuition!"
"But I have the Force…" he trialed off. "I need to go." He seemed rather hesitant about doing so but, after looking about for a way to procrastinate, left the room and headed to the veranda, Padmé following in his wake.
A familiar Force-presence hit Anakin like a wave and caused him to stop dead in his tracks.
Obi-Wan.
"Obi-Wan was here," he said in a mildly accusing tone.
Padmé didn't even blink but offered him a smile. "He was worried about you," she shrugged, giving his shoulder a slight rub. "He's worried about you and wants to help you through this." Momentarily, her brow furrowed. "Obi-Wan told me to tell you to meet him in some room with a lot of fountains the moment you return to the Temple.
But Anakin was not listening. Eyes narrowing dangerously, he turned to find himself face to face with the last person he wanted to see. "Ferus," Anakin hissed.
The other Jedi stepped forth, but his deportment was only slightly nicer than Anakin's. He didn't say anything but waited patiently for Anakin to react.
"What are you doing here?" Anakin finally asked after getting over the shock of it.
"Protecting the Senator," Ferus replied flatly.
Anakin's nostrils flared in anger.
"Thank you for stopping by, Master Skywalker," Padmé said quickly, only too well realizing that a battle of the wits was about to start. "I hope to see you again soon."
This drew her husband's attention to her, but he was so angry that he merely nodded to her before smirking at Ferus. Soon, he was climbing into his fighter and had taken off.
The hourglass had turned.
Time was running out.
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Important Author's Note- Okay, I am officially caught up with where I'm at on boards. I will be posting once a week from here on out on WEDNESDAYS. Don't worry- I never abandon a fic and will post both here and on the other boards asap.
