Title is from "Nine in the Afternoon" by Panic! at the Disco.
This fic is part of a series! You can find a list of all the fics in the series with links in my profile.
"Are you ready?" Bail asks.
Padmé smiles, adjusting her circlet. "I've been ready for this for years. I've just been waiting for the rest of the galaxy to be ready." She puts her hands over her stomach, which is just starting to swell. "And the oncoming little one might have pushed things along a bit too."
"I think the galaxy is ready," Bail says. "The Senate will be able to rule itself again. And there's talk of nominating Mon Mothma as the next Supreme Chancellor, so the Republic will be in good hands."
"Oh, stars, it feels so good to refer to it as the Republic again," Padmé revels. "And Mon Mothma would make a good Supreme Chancellor. Do you have any interest in the role?"
"I'm planning on stepping down as well," Bail admits. "I'll stay on a while longer, to help with the transition, but I've already spoken with Breha to start planning an election for my replacement. I'll only stay on a few months more."
"You couldn't bear to be in politics without me?" Padmé asks with a wink.
"I've been in politics for longer than you've been alive," Bail replies dryly. "And I'll still be involved in Alderaanian politics, but I've had enough of galactic politics. I want to relax at home with my wife and daughter sometimes."
"We have dragged you through the wringer, haven't we?" Padmé says with a slight laugh. "The past ten years have been rather wild."
"Absolutely," Bail agrees. "But we've made our way through them."
"And now we can relax," Padmé finishes. "Finally."
"You have two five year olds and another baby on the way," Bail counters. "I don't think you'll be relaxing much."
"At least that's only three children and not a whole Senate full of them."
Bail laughs. "Touché."
Padmé checks the chrono, then smoothes down her dress. "We should go out."
"Lead the way."
They step out onto the Senate floor, which is crowded with both Senators and HoloNet reporters. Padmé ignores all of them and steps onto her pedestal, Bail behind her. Her pod floats up a bit, just high enough so that everyone can see her.
"When I took the role of Empress five years ago," she begins, "I said that I hoped to leave behind a safer galaxy than the one I inherited. My wish was to bring peace and justice back to the galaxy. Together, we have managed this. Together, we have healed the wounds that Emperor Palpatine made. And so, it is with my deepest joy that I announce that the Galactic Empire will once again be a Republic, and I am stepping down as Empress."
Bail steps forward and gently removes the circlet from her head. Five years ago, he crowned her Empress, and now, he's relieving her of the burden. She can't help but smile at him as he does it, and he smiles back.
"I thank everyone here and everyone watching for your support," Padmé says when Bail steps away. "I would not have been able to do nearly as much as I did without your help. I hope to see you all, and our newly-restored Republic, flourish."
The pod lowers back down, and Padmé steps out of it, leaving through the crowd of reporters. No one tries to stop her, but someone does start clapping, and within a few moments, the entire room is applauding her. Padmé can feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. She will miss politics, yes, but she's glad to be moving onto the next chapter of her life.
She leaves the Senate floor and heads up to her office. When she was crowned Empress, Bail surprised her with a visit from her family in his office, but this time, he has to stay behind and help set up the arrangements for the new Republic. He wouldn't be able to surprise her with her family anyway; she knows full well that they're waiting for her. Together, they'll clear out the last few things in her office, and then she'll leave the Senate building for the last time.
Politics have been her life for as long as she can remember. When she first considered becoming the Empress, she remembers being frightened by the thought of having to leave them behind after stepping down. She wondered what she would do without them. It's been five years, and she's still not quite sure what she'll do, but now, she sees that as a challenge she longs to undertake.
"Mommy!" Leia cries when Padmé enters her office. "We watched your speech! Can I have your crown?"
"You'll have to talk to Uncle Bail about that," Padmé replies, scooping Leia up on her hip. The twins are getting a bit too big to do that comfortably, but Padmé still manages, if only with one at a time. Soon, she knows she'll have to stop as her stomach grows larger. And after that, she'll have another little one to carry around, this one small enough that they'll be the perfect size to carry.
"Mommy, does this mean we're gonna go live on Naboo now?" Luke asks, tugging at Padmé's skirt. "I like Naboo."
"We are going to live on Naboo, at least for a while," Padmé agrees. "We'll see how it goes."
"Your speech was wonderful," Obi-Wan says, picking up Luke before he can beg Padmé to do so. "How are you feeling?"
"Part of me is relieved, and part of me is sad," Padmé admits. "I'm glad the Republic has healed, but I'll miss being in the thick of it. But it has been rather exhausting."
"Now you understand why I've never liked politics," Obi-Wan says with a slight smile.
"Oh, don't even," Anakin says, coming over and setting a box on Padmé's desk. "We all know you don't like politics because you think it's boring, not because it's too interesting."
"It's more the hypocrisy, actually," Obi-Wan corrects. "And the glacially slow pace things often take."
"Well, I understand where you're coming from, but I did enjoy politics," Padmé says. "But now, I need to find something else to enjoy."
"First, I think you should enjoy us pampering you through your pregnancy," Anakin says. "And then us pampering you after you give birth."
"You just want to get the prospective father experience that you couldn't properly get with the twins," Padmé accuses.
"Are you really objecting to Anakin's plan to pamper you?" Obi-Wan asks.
"Can Daddy pamper me too?" Leia asks.
Luke bounces on Obi-Wan's hip. "Ooh, me too! Me too!"
"I have a better idea," Anakin says. "You two can help me pamper Mommy until your little sibling is born. How does that sound?"
"How long until we get the baby?" Luke asks Padmé eagerly. He's very excited about the idea of having a younger sibling, much more so than Leia, who doesn't seem to care very much either way.
"It'll be a while yet," Padmé tells him. "About five more months."
"This many?" Luke asks, holding out his hand with outstretched fingers.
"Exactly," Padmé says, taking Luke's hand and squeezing it. Luke giggles.
Leia wiggles until Padmé puts her down, then she goes over to Anakin. "What's in the box, Daddy?"
"The last few things from Mommy's office that need to come home," Anakin says. "I think this is everything."
Padmé walks over and looks in the box. "I think so too," she says, looking around the office. She never felt quite at home in it, not the way she did in her office from back before she became Empress. It was as if Palpatine had left traces behind, traces that lingered even after they completely gutted the office and redecorated it. She never put too much effort into making the office homey, so she doesn't think there's much to pack up.
"If we forget anything, Bail can send it on for us," Obi-Wan says, joining them. "Until he retires back to Alderaan, of course, but I don't think there'll be anything else to send on by then."
"You know Bail is planning on retiring?" Padmé asks. "He didn't tell me until this morning!"
"He and I have been discussing it for quite a while now," Obi-Wan says. "He didn't want me to say anything to you until he was ready, but he told me that he'd be telling you today."
"How did you and Bail end up closer friends than me and Bail?" Padmé demands.
"Shared trauma," Obi-Wan says promptly. "We were never going to survive Zigoola without becoming close."
"What's Zig- Zigoo-"
"Zigoola," Obi-Wan says, looking at Luke. "It's a planet. Uncle Bail and I had an adventure there."
"A fun adventure?"
Obi-Wan's beard twitches. "Not very fun at all, actually."
"Fun adventures are better," Luke says seriously.
"They are," Obi-Wan agrees. "Do you think we'll have some fun adventures on Naboo? I think we will."
"Yay!" Luke cheers. "I wanna have fun adventures on Naboo!"
"Are we going to live by the lake where Mommy and Daddy got married?" Leia asks.
"I think we'll stay in the Lake Country at first," Padmé says. "It's a nice place to relax. I think it would be nice to have a child there."
"Can we visit Auntie Sola and Ryoo and Pooja?" Luke asks eagerly.
"Of course we can," Padmé says, tapping Luke gently on the nose. He giggles. "And we'll visit Grandma Jobal and Grandpa Ruwee."
"Can Winter come visit?" Leia asks. "I wanna show her the lake!"
"The Organas will definitely visit, and we can go visit them as well," Padmé says. "I think it might be nice to travel more, don't you? We can visit all sorts of places."
"Can we go to Tatooine?" Luke asks. He's been obsessed with the idea of visiting Tatooine for years, despite Anakin's disgust for the planet. Padmé has been trying to bring Anakin around to the idea, saying that they can visit Cliegg and Owen and Beru again. She's not sure how interested Anakin is in doing that, but she's pretty sure he'll cave to Luke's begging eventually.
"Maybe," Anakin says, which is about as positive as he gets about the idea. "But for now, I think it's time to head home."
"I'll miss home," Luke says, a bit wistfully.
"We can visit," Obi-Wan says, pressing a kiss to the top of Luke's head. "And we'll make our new house a home."
"Besides," Padmé says, "the most important thing in a home is having your family there. As long as we're together, we'll always be home."
"Will we always be together?" Leia asks.
"Always," Padmé promises.
"I like that," Luke says. "I wanna be together for always."
"We will be," Anakin says, kissing Luke and then Leia. "But for now, let's go home, okay? I'm getting hungry."
"I assume you flew over in the speeder?" Padmé says.
"It's at the usual landing pad," Anakin agrees. He scoops up Leia and tosses her in the air, much to her delight, then settles her on his hip, holding her with one hand and the box of Padmé's things with the other. "Are you ready to go?"
Padmé looks around the office one last time, then she turns to her family and smiles. She sets one hand on the small of Obi-Wan's back and the other on the small of Anakin's. Both of them smile at her, and their children beam.
"I'm ready. Let's go home."