Anakin was awoken by a loud crash coming from the Kitchen.
"I'll get it, Angel," Anakin sighed, and Padmé turned around and went back to sleep.
Anakin sighed again, sensing the twins had something to do with this. He put on his previously disregarded sleep pants, threw on his robe, and set off to investigate.
Arriving in the Kitchen, Anakin was instantly greeted by a sniffling 7-year-old Leia.
Upon closer inspection, Anakin saw broken glass on the ground. Doing a quick scan with the Force for injuries, he found nothing but a shard of glass stuck in her hand.
"Leia," Anakin said gently. "What are you doing?"
Leia gasped, unaware her Father had awoken. "I'm sorry! I was just...thirsty!"
Anakin knew his daughter was lying. "Why are you awake at," Anakin paused, glancing at the kitchen Chrono, "Four in the morning? It's way past your bedtime, young lady."
"You'll think it's silly," Leia sighed.
"Try me." Challenged Anakin.
"Well, it's just, I had a bad dream," Leia admitted. "So I couldn't go back to sleep."
Anakin crouched down to Leia's level. "Leia, listen to me. Bad dreams aren't silly. Your mom has bad dreams, I have bad dreams, even Master Yoda has bad dreams sometimes."
Leia sniffed. "I guess so," she admitted.
"Let's go get that glass out of your hand, Leia," Anakin said, taking her hand.
Mere moments later, Anakin placed a bandage on Leia's cut.
"...Daddy?"
"Hmm?
"Do you wanna know about my dream?" Leia asked, chewing her lip.
"Talking about it might make you feel better. So I'll listen if you want me to know." Anakin replied.
"Well...you were leading Uncle-Mister-Captain Rex's soldiers into the Jedi temple...and..."
"And...?" Prodded Anakin.
"You...you took out your lightsaber... and you stabbed Master Ti. And you just kept...stabbing all the Jedi," sniffled Leia. "And then, you went into this room, and you killed all the little kids..." Leia trailed off.
Anakin was silent. He too had seen that very vision before.
But Anakin was an adult, he could handle it.
Leia was only seven. She was innocent, she was young.
"Why did you kill them, Daddy?" asked Leia, forcing Anakin out of his inner thoughts.
"Leia...it was a dream. Sometimes, the Force will give people scary dreams. Nobody knows why. Sometimes it's your fears manifesting themselves."
"I don't know if I can go back to sleep now, Daddy. C-Can I sleep with you guys?"
Anakin sighed. "You know what, Princess?"
"What?"
"I don't feel like going back to sleep either. Wanna watch cartoons?" smirked Anakin.
"...Yeah." Leia smiled.
Truth be told, Anakin was exhausted. He could've easily slept for several more hours.
Leia didn't need to know that.
Of course, Anakin's original plan was to distract Leia with cartoons, they would watch for a bit and hopefully, they would both fall asleep eventually.
Anakin and Leia both settled in on the couch.
"Truth be told, I don't know what's even on this early in the morning," Anakin admitted, scrolling through all the channels.
"Oooh! Jedi Nights! That one!"
"Have you ever even seen that?" Anakin asked quizzically.
"...No. But it's on a kid's channel. It's about Jedi, like you. So it must be good." Leia replied matter-of-factly.
Anakin reluctantly put in on with a sigh.
"Hurry, Aravin! Disable the door controls!" the male ginger Jedi yelled.
"I'm trying, Master K'noba, there are too many droids in the way!" replied Aravin, who just fake-force-pushed an infantry of people in B-1 battle droid costumes.
"Cut them down with your lightsaber! Hurry, my apprentice!"
"...I don't want to watch this anymore." Anakin stated.
"Awe, puh-lease, Daddy? I really like this show."
"It's so,- it's so...innacurate," complained Anakin.
"But Daddy, I like it! The Jedi are so cool!"
Anakin scowled. "Fine,"
The showed rather annoyed Anakin anyway, and in less than a half-hour, he was asleep.
Anakin watched with wide eyes as a screaming, squirming baby was lifted up by a nurse.
The nurse gently cleaned the baby, before taking it off somewhere unseen to weigh it.
She promptly returned, waving over Anakin.
It took all of Anakin's will not to sprint over.
He speed-walked into the area with the nurse and the baby, past Padmé.
"Hello, Master Jedi. Meet your son." smiled the nurse.
"Son," echoed Anakin in awe.
"So since Miss Amidala is still unconscious, do you know what the baby's name will be?
"Um...Luke, I think. Yeah, that's it. Luke. Luke Ruwee Skywalker." Anakin said with a hint of pride.
"Yessir. She put a tiny wristband on the baby - Luke, who drowsily stared at the ceiling, no longer crying.
"He's very calm," complimented the nurse. "He stopped crying shortly before you came in."
He looked at Luke. Luke was stretching, albeit in a jerky fashion that newborns seemed to have.
"Do you want to hold him?"
"Oh. Sorry, he's just so interesting to look at..." Anakin trailed off.
The nurse smiled. "I understand. See, hold him like this." The nurse demonstrated, cradling Luke.
Anakin nodded, nervous. She gently placed him in Anakin's arms.
"Wow," Anakin whispered. "Wow."
He was so light, so small...so fragile.
Anakin marveled at his son.
Father and son stared at each other.
Luke then sneezed, which Anakin found adorable.
Anakin was so lost in his own Luke centered world he didn't even hear the cries of his other child at first.
Coruscant
"...Master Yoda, did you feel that?" asked Obi-Wan.
It was during an intermission before resuming the trial. The Jedi had returned to the Temple to eat.
"Felt it, I did. Powerful feeling, it was. Hopeful, it felt." Yoda confirmed.
"I agree. Could it be Anakin's child?"
Yoda hummed. "A strong possibility, that is. Answered your calls, did he?"
"...No. That's why I sent Ahsoka after him, just to check on him. His comm frequency said he was on Naboo, so I figured I could send her there."
Yoda was silent on the matter and continued eating.
"Masters Yoda, Kenobi, we're having a brief council meeting in five minutes." Mace Windu said, passing by the table that Yoda and Obi-Wan were eating.
Naboo
Padme was currently in recovery for the next 30 minutes (which meant no visitors), and Anakin simply waited, admiring his newborn children.
They were a nice distraction from his own stress, and were simply adorable to Anakin.
Of course, Anakin was long of the opinion that babies, newborn ones, were ugly. That was before he met Luke and Leia.
"Leia Shmi Skywalker," Anakin breathes, watching Leia yawn in awe. He gently adjusted the tiny pink knitted cap on her head.
Anakin had seen the horrors of war, had faced Count Dooku and General Grievous, and yet he was more afraid of Fatherhood more than anything.
He was happy- happier than he had been in a while. Yet he didn't have a good feeling... like something wrong was about to happen.
And yet it would make sense, everything in his life hadn't worked the way he had hoped. Nothing ever went right.
Whatever would happen, he would do anything for his children. They deserved everything he didn't have in childhood.
Anakin would do anything to protect his children. He would take down an entire Capital Ship if it meant protecting them. He would die if it meant he could protect them.
Anakin hadn't felt this strong, non-romantic love since his Mother, yet it felt even stronger.
Leia sneezed, drawing Anakin out of his musings.
She blinked blearily, yawned again, and gave Anakin the briefest glance before promptly falling asleep.
Coruscant
"...I'm sorry, Masters. Did you say what I think you just said?" Obi-Wan asked dangerously.
Mace Windu glared. "We would prefer if you would give the news to Skywalker."
Obi-Wan abruptly stood up. "News," hissed Obi-Wan. "You mean that you want to expel Anakin and take his children off of him? You cannot possibly believe that Anakin would willingly give up his children."
"Kenobi, you're walking dangerous territory. Don't forget who's your superior here."
"Surely the council is not dictated by two members?" Obi-Wan demanded, indignant.
"The Council will act as they deem necessary," Mace replied.
Yoda held up a hand to silence everyone. "Hmm, give up his children willingly, Skywalker will likely not. In the Force's best interest, I have sensed. Collect them, we must. Powerful Jedi, the two could be."
Obi-Wan blinked in disbelief. "You cannot possibly -" he trailed off.
"More to say, have you?" Yoda asked with just a hint of visible annoyance.
"Can all of you not see reason? Are you possibly suggesting that we kidnap Anakin's children?!" Obi-Wan yelled.
Mace stood, attempting to stare Obi-Wan down.
"Kenobi, you are extremely out of line. I suggest you take some time to meditate and let us get back to business."
"If you are willing to essentially kidnap children...- seekers are one thing, but I sense your method of "collecting" those two children would not end well. If the Council is willing to resort to kidnapping infants then I want no part of this Council anymore." Obi-Wan stated.
Several gasps and murmurs.
Finally, slowly, Ki-Adi Mundi stood up.
"...I am inclined to agree with Kenobi. I was granted permission to marry due to my species' low birth rate, and yet it is extremely difficult not to get attached to my family. I feel that the rules of the Jedi need adjusting."
More gasps and whispers.
"...If you two walk out of this door, you will not walk back in as Masters." Mace warned.
To everyone's shock, Ki-Adi Mundi walked out of the room without a word, and Obi-Wan didn't miss a beat, following along.
Mace blinked in disbelief.
Obi-Wan and Ki-Adi didn't say a word until they were in the elevator.
"...Ki-Adi, you were really willing to just pack up and leave?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It's not easy, Obi-Wan. But surely, you must agree that the fundamentals of the Jedi need changing."
"Of course, but I didn't expect anyone else to leave. I wasn't going to until the Council wanted to kidnap Anakin's children."
Ki-Adi nodded. "You're welcome to stay with my family and I temporarily if you need somewhere to stay,"
"Thank you, but I wouldn't want to impose. You deserve to spend time with your family alone. You have a lot of attachment to catch up on," winked Obi-Wan.
Ki-Adi chuckled. "I will. Tell Anakin I said hello, will you?"
"Of course. And you send my best wishes to your family." Obi-Wan replied.
"May the force be with you, Obi-Wan."
"And with you, Ki-Adi."
"You're the chosen one, Anakin," Mace said, his voice going thin with strain. This was beyond Vaapad; he had no strength left to fight against his blade. "Take him. It's your destiny."
Anakin echoed him faintly. "Destiny..."
"Help me! I can't hold on any longer!" The yellow glare from Palpatine's eyes spread outward through his flesh. His skin flowed like oil, as though the muscle beneath was burning away, as though even the bones of his skull were softening, were bending and bulging, deforming from the heat and pressure of his electric hatred. "He is killing me, Anakin-!"
Palpatine's roar above the endless blast of lightning became a fading moan of despair.
The lightning swallowed itself, leaving only the night and the rain, and the old man crumpled to his knees on a slippery ledge.
"I ... can't. I give up. I ... I am too weak, in the end. Too old, and too weak. Don't kill me, Master Jedi. Please. I surrender." Begged Palpatine.
Victory flooded through Mace's aching body. He lifted his blade. "You Sith disease..."
" Wait!" Skywalker seized his lightsaber arm with desperate strength. "Don't kill him-you can't just kill him, Master!"
"Yes, I can," Mace said, grim and certain. "I have to."
"You came to arrest him. He has to stand trial."
"A trial would be a joke. He controls the courts. He controls the Senate!"
"So are you going to kill all of them, too? Like he said you would?"
Mace yanked his arm free. "He's too dangerous to be left alive!"
Mace raised his lightsaber.
"I need him alive!" Anakin shouted. "I need him to save Padme!"
Mace briefly wondered why before moving his lightsaber toward the fallen Chancellor.
Before he could follow through on his stroke, a sudden arc of blue plasma sheared through his wrist and his hand tumbled away with his lightsaber still in it and Palpatine roared back to his feet. Lightning speared from the Sith Lord's hands and without his blade to catch it, the power of Palpatine's pure hatred struck him full-on.
Mace had been so intent on Palpatine's shatterpoint that he'd never thought to look for Anakin's.
Ahsoka found it hard to focus right now.
After tapping into her bond with Anakin- she now felt an uncomfortable barrage of emotions from Anakin.
Finally, she landed on the Nubian landing pad and quickly rented a speeder.
Ahsoka realized she was speeding, she knew she should stop, yet she wanted to see Anakin, and sooner rather than later.
Skidding to a halt in the hospital parking lot, she nearly ran inside the building, anxious to see what was going on.
Unbeknownst to Ahsoka, a dark figure was perched in an unnoticeable hiding spot.
"It seems the Torugata is going into the Nubian hospital. No Master, she is not physically injured, rather, it appears she is visiting someone. Who she knows on Naboo is beyond me, however, since most if not all of the Jedi are on Coruscant."
"Shall I infiltrate the hospital, my Master?"
A dark smile slowly grew on the dark figure's face.
"You need not worry, my Master. I shall report back to you soon."
Padmé let out a quiet sigh. She was supposed to be in the recovery ward for thirty minutes, yet all Padmé wanted to do was to see her baby, no, babies. Twins. A boy and a girl.
All Padmé could do was wait drowsily. She'd sleep after she saw her babies.
Luke and Leia. The names they'd decided on.
The minutes on the chronometer ticked by at a snail's pace, like sand falling from an hourglass.
She was in a small, stark white room that smelled sterile, but clean. It was quiet and the shades were drawn, blocking out the rising sun.
Though she wasn't keeping track of time, Padmé imagined she only had mere minutes left.
She swallowed, her throat dry and parched. She'd have to ask for water later.
Glancing at the chrono again, she saw that not even a minute had passed.
Padmé sighed again.
She felt dirty, sticky, and sweaty, not to mention her hair was somehow both oily and frizzy.
She'd have to ask for a shower later, too.
After what felt like an eternity, Padmé was finally able to see her twins.
"Here you go, Miss Amidala." The nurse says, picking up one of the babies.
"Where's Anakin?" asks Padmé. He should be here with her.
"I'm not sure, Ma'am, but he said not to worry and he'll be back soon. Official Jedi business, I presume."
Padmé frowns, but it's soon replaced with a bright smile as she holds her twins.
The second Leia is placed in her arms, both of her twins stir, and Padmé eyes start to close as the world around her blurs.
Despite her attempts to keep her eyes open and keep admiring her children, her eyes eventually shut.
It's warm outside. The early evening sun shines, reflecting beautifully off a bubbling brook. A brunette woman sits on a hand-crafted wooden bench, eyes closed.
"Lady Vader," A meek servant woman says. "Your husband has demanded your presence in his office."
Lady Vader lets out a sigh, annoyed that her moment of tranquility in her safe haven has been ruined.
"..Tell him if he wants to see me, he can come outside to the gardens."
"But My Lady, I've been told it's urgent." The servant girl pleads.
"I'm not going. If it's that urgent, h e'll come to me. Go home for the evening, Yllana...and if you'd rather not face Vader's wrath, I'd suggest you don't come back."
"...Yes, Ma'am." Yllana obeys, promptly leaving.
Minutes pass and Lady Vader is once again alone, waiting for her husband to inevitably come outside and tell her whatever he wants her to know.
Like clockwork, Lord Vader comes outside angrily, nearly shattering the door to Lady Vader's flower garden on the way out.
"Did that servant girl not come outside?" Vader hisses.
"She did. I sent her home," Lady Vader responds evenly, refusing to look at Vader.
"Did she not stress it was urgent and that I needed to talk to you?" Vader asks, fuming.
Lady Vader sips her water. "No, she did. But I guessed if it was important, you'd come and talk to me."
"Why are you so difficult?! What do you need from me to make you normal again?!" Vader yells. He faces Lady Vader, showing her his eyes are now a vile, Sith golden.
Lady Vader fights her urge to scream at him. Yelling back will only make it worse.
She's learned that the hard way, she thinks, fingers absentmindedly brushing over her neck.
"You've been completely out of it for the last SIX months. Six months! Snap out of it!" Vader continues.
Lady Vader simply looks at him, her face portraying no emotion. She refuses to show any bit of emotion to Vader.
"...The twins need you," Vader continues bitterly, sinking to his knees. "...I need you."
When she peers at his eyes again, they're back to blue.
"I...I don't know what you mean. I feed the twins, I change them, I give them love and attention. Where were you? You've been gone for weeks at a time. You barely see them." Lady Vader replies, struggling to keep her voice even and calm.
"You wanna know where I am?" He growls. "I'm making the Galaxy a better place for you, for our kids!"
"B-By slaughtering Jedi?" Lady Vader sputters. "Brainwashing children into becoming Inquisitors?! Fantastic job you're doing there!" She finally yells back.
"The Jedi are liars! They took everything from me! They turned against me...don't you DARE turn against me too."
Lady Vader stands up abruptly, intending to leave and only making it a few steps before Vader grabs her arm roughly.
"Get off of me!" she shouts, twisting and wrenching her arm to get away from his grasp.
"STOP TRYING TO LEAVE ME!" Vader roars.
"...I hate you. I hate what you've become. I hate what you've done to our family. I hate what you'll end up doing to our children...Obi-Wan was right, you've changed."
Vader dropped her arm, mind reeling.
Lady Vader took the opportunity to run. She was going to take her babies and run far. First, she would contact Bail and Obi-Wan. Then, she'd join the Rebel alliance as she should have, in the first place. They'd get a chance at stopping Vader and-
She had only made it roughly 15 steps before Vader grabbed her with the Force.
And there she was, paralyzed in Vader's iron Force-Grip.
"Padmé...I gave you everything," he says, voice shaking. He turns her to face him, and Vader's eyes are once again Sith yellow. "I gave you and the kids everything. I slaughter Jedi after Jedi...to keep you safe. And yet, you still want to join the Rebels?"
Vader gives a sinister smile, seeing the look of horror on Padmé's face. He read her thoughts. Her plan was going to have to be put on hold.
He tosses her on the ground roughly.
"...But maybe you just need to learn some appreciation," He says simply.
Vader holds out his hand... and squeezes.
Padmé is lifted up off the ground once again, feeling the invisible, iron grip on her throat.
She doesn't give him the satisfaction of pleading for her life and instead focuses on living, on attempting to breathe.
There are black spots invading Padmé's vision - Padmé refuses to pass out. If she can just hold out a little longer, it will all be over. He'll apologize, and things will go back to the way they were. She'll get to hold her babies again like she always has after this happens.
...And yet, as she sees stars, she wonders if he'll actually kill her this time.
So she wheezes out, "Ani..." before she loses consciousness.