Inspiration has struck! I want to thank everyone who has followed my fanfics for your patience over the past few years. I hit a writer's block wall in 2014, and have struggled to get past it since. My writing is definitely not what it used to be, but I wanted to make sure I continued this one. Please feel free to review and share, and I hope to continue adding onto it as often as I can. Thank you!
{trinity6diversia}
Anakin opened his eyes.
He felt awful.
Anakin Skywalker never felt awful.
He felt old. And sick. The circumstances of the night before came flooding back and he gagged. What in seven hells was I thinking? It wasn't so much what he was thinking, though, as much as Obi-Wan and Yoda's participation. Nightclubs were an Anakin thing.
The door chime went off, and too miserable to care, Anakin palmed it open with the Force. He leapt up, though, when he saw Master Yoda standing in the doorway.
"Sit, Skywalker, before fall, you do," said the calm Jedi Master, even as Anakin's legs gave out and he fell back onto the bed.
"I, uh…" Anakin swallowed hard. "Master Yoda."
"Think, you do, that foolish I acted?" The Jedi Master folded his hands on his stick and eyed Anakin quizzically.
"I, uh… I don't know, Master."
For several long seconds, Yoda said nothing.
"Accompany you last night, I did not," he said at last.
"W-what?"
Master Yoda did not seem concerned at Anakin's inability to speak. He studied the floor for a moment, his ears turned down as they always did when he was deep in thought. Anakin took this time to compose himself and reach into the Force; it calmed him.
"Vivid, your visions were, and real, your circumstances seemed to be. But leave the Temple, you did not."
"What? I… I don't understand. I left. You and Obi-Wan were there. It happened. It was real."
Master Yoda studied Anakin for a very long time in silence, waiting patiently for the young man to calm down. When at last Anakin's head fell into his hands, he spoke again.
"Explain this to you, Obi-Wan will. Come."
Anakin gave up and followed Yoda into the hallway. He was so confused. The visions of the night before were so real, and disturbing. They had to be real. But… they weren't? He didn't know what to think. He stretched out with the Force, not knowing what he was searching for, until his thoughts brushed against a familiar presence.
"Padmé!"
"Alive, she is," was Yoda's calm response from in front of him.
Anakin held onto her presence as if for dear life. It calmed him and gave him peace. His thoughts were jumbled, but she was there. She was asleep, he knew that. Her breathing was steady and strong. It gave him strength. And then Obi-Wan was striding towards them and Master Yoda took his leave.
"What on earth, Obi-Wan…?" said Anakin weakly when they were alone. "What happened?"
"You were going to do something stupid," was the grim response. "I know you, Anakin. I know what passion does to you."
"But… I was there, the nightclub was real…"
"In your dreams, it was," said Obi-Wan. "We stopped you from leaving and gave you a sedative that would make you sleep. We gave you a higher dosage, which often causes vivid and very strange dreams. You were so deep in your dream world that you weren't messing in the Force world. It was a bit of a relief not to feel your hyperactive Force signature all night."
"What about the assassin?" pressed Anakin. "He almost killed Padmé!"
"He is taken care of," was the calm response. "I hunted him down trying to board a ship off-planet. He's in Jedi custody."
"Jedi custody? Why not state?"
"Because this is a Jedi matter. The assassin targeted the wife of a member of the Jedi Order. That's almost like targeting the Order itself." He paused and lowered his voice. "And I don't trust the Chancellor."
"I know, and neither do I. But why does that have to be a big secret?"
"Because the Chancellor has the power, he is the power, and it's difficult for even the Jedi Order to stand up to him. You know this."
"Yes, I do. Are you suggesting that the Chancellor might be behind the assassination attempt?"
"I'm not suggesting anything. It's hard to think of that being the case."
"I agree, but Padmé is my wife. We have to explore every option."
"If you want us to explore these options, then we will," said Obi-Wan, but his eyes were concerned. Anakin knew he didn't want to think about it. Obi-Wan stroked the beard on his chin, a far away look in his eyes as he lost himself in thought. After a moment, Anakin spoke again.
"I don't understand, Master. Why would the Chancellor try to assassinate Padmé when he was the one who ordered our marriage? Wouldn't that be counter productive? There's definitely something about the Chancellor that rubs me wrong, but if he wanted us married to improve the breeding of future Jedi, why would he kill the one person who can actually make that happen? I can't exactly push out Force sensitive babies by myself, you know."
Obi-Wan continued to ponder for a moment more, before taking a deep breath and meeting Anakin's questioning eye.
"I wonder if, perhaps, this marriage was just a ploy, a scam."
"How do you mean?" Anakin's eyes narrowed, an unknown anger slowly rising within him.
"I'm not sure," said Obi-Wan. "It's just a feeling. I sense the Dark Side, stronger and stronger, around this whole thing."
Anakin didn't press into it. He could tell Obi-Wan was fighting with multiple emotions as he tried to consider every option. For a moment, they stood in silence, Anakin with his arms crossed and his head bowed as he blindly looked downward. And Obi-Wan, still stroking his beard, his brows furrowed more and more as the time passed. Both were in their own minds.
"Master Obi-Wan. Master Skywalker."
The voice of Yoda brought them both back to the moment, and they shook themselves into attentiveness. Anakin nodded towards Yoda to acknowledge him.
"Troubling things surrounding this, I have felt," said Yoda, shaking his head. "Perhaps the same you have felt?"
"I sense the Dark Side," said Obi-Wan with a sad look in his eye.
"As do I," replied Yoda. "Take this threat seriously, I feel we must."
"We must explore every option," agreed Obi-Wan, unfolding his arms. "Even those we would not have previously considered."
"Agree, I do," said Yoda. "An emergency session of the Council, we must now attend."
"What about me?" asked Anakin then, stepping forward. "I will step aside and let the Council perform their investigation, if you ask it. But Padmé's life is still in danger, and she is my priority."
"As she should be," nodded Yoda, folding both hands on his cane. "Fear for her, I do."
"Anakin," said Obi-Wan, turning towards him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You will escort the Senator into hiding. You must use only an untraceable comlink to stay in communication with us. Don't tell us where you go; if we are overrun, not even the Force could protect us from giving away your location."
"Understood, Master," replied Anakin. He nodded to both Obi-Wan and Yoda, then turned and made in the direction of the medical ward. His heart pounded loudly in his chest, and he could feel every breath racing from his lungs. He had been in more battles than he could remember, seconds from death, fire-fights that never seemed to end, and fear never took him. But he was afraid now. He didn't know where they could go where the assassins couldn't find them. And that terrified him.
In the medical ward, Padmé had awoken. They were continuing to run tests off record, at the bidding of the Council. She lay quietly, staring at the ceiling, as the soft mechanical sounds of the medical droids were all that could be heard. Anakin could see a tear gleaming in the corner of her eye. She blinked and it disappeared, a testament to her strength; and it broke his heart. He stepped inside the room and quietly slid the door closed behind him.
"Master Skywalker," said the lead healer, turning from his monitor to acknowledge Anakin. "We have completed our tests. Senator Skywalker will be discharged from our care, at the bidding of the Council."
"What's wrong, then?" asked Anakin, feeling reservation about the lead healer that he hadn't expected. The healer glanced down, then stood up and motioned towards another room adjacent to Padmé's room.
"Let us speak in private, Master Skywalker."
Anakin glanced at Padmé, who's eyes were now shut, her lips a thin, rigid line, unmoving, unyielding. Her hands by her side were in tight fists. She looked angry, dangerous, fierce, and it broke his heart all over again. He stepped into the room behind the healer as the door closed behind him.
"What's wrong?" he repeated when they were alone, an edge to his voice that he had not intended.
"Master Skywalker," started the healer, folding his hands in front of him awkwardly. "The Council had instructed us to test the Senator for any and all conditions you would need to be aware of. She is perfectly healthy. Her assassination attempt during your honeymoon has left a scar, but nothing additional. She will be weak for a couple days more from being poisoned, but she has responded well to our treatments. In all regards, she is in perfect health."
"What's… wrong?" hissed Anakin, his own fists balling at his sides, and his eyes narrowing. He wasn't trying to be angry; it was just happening.
"Sir… the Senator…" The healer swallowed hard. "She was… um… with child." Anakin's eyes widened as he unwittingly took a small step backwards. He reached for a table by the door to compose himself. "It was in the very early stages, almost nonexistent. The child… she has lost it, sir."
Anakin took a few moments to process this, taking several deep breaths to calm his mind.
"I don't… understand. She was… it's not possible that she could have become pregnant."
"I know, Sir. We thought the same. But it seems as though your high midichlorine count rules the birth control used by the Senator as ineffective, for reasons we cannot understand. We are looking into alternatives, if that is the direction she still wishes to proceed."
"The Council does not object?"
"No, Sir. Given the recent assassination attempts, they think it wise to wait before completing your… er… assignment."
"Understood."
The healer nodded, then made for the door. "She has been discharged from our care. Her tests from last night are on file, but those that we performed this morning, there will be no record of. At the request of the Council."
"Thank you, healer," acknowledged Anakin, inclining his head. He stepped back into the room where Padmé lay, and going to her side, reached for her hand, holding it gently in his. He looked down at her as she opened her eyes. Another tear glistened in her eye, and this one was too heavy and fell down her cheek, onto the hard pillow upon which she lay.
"They don't even know what it was," she whispered, and Anakin quickly knelt beside her, cupping her face gently in his large hand. "It never got to be ours. We never got to hold it." She was crying now, her knees bending up towards her chest as Anakin lifted her into his arms, bringing her head to his chest. The sobs wracked her body, and that was the only sound in the room. And time seemed to stand still in that moment.