Ben's eyes bulged in disbelief over the words that came out of Caleb's mouth. This couldn't be true!
"Search your feelings, Ben. It's true," Caleb told him. "Her parents, her uncle and Chewy knew. So did Ezra and I. And now, you know."
Ben closed his eyes. His precious Padme was a Skywalker! No wonder she was so powerful in the Force! But now he knew if Padme was Luke's niece, then her grandfather was the late Emperor, Darth Vader.
"Oh Maker!" Ben cried out sorrowfully. He had terrorized her and her family, when he fell to the Dark side. It was her home he had invaded, and it was her clothes he had gone through. But the worst thing was that Padme had been taken prisoner by her own grandfather. No wonder Ben felt the fear in her nightgown!
"She doesn't know I know, does she?" he was finally able to say, his face pale.
"No. There is one more secret she is keeping from you. She is scared you will hate her if she tells you. Please don't hate her, Ben!" Caleb pleaded.
"Caleb, if I don't hate her for being Darth Vader's granddaughter, then there's nothing you can tell me that will make me hate her."
"The secret is about your father."
"My father? I know about my father. Vader killed him. I saw the video."
"He didn't kill your father."
"But I saw him..."
"It was Padme," the boy whispered softly. Ben shook his head in denial. Caleb got off from his chair, and climbed onto Ben's lap. He touched the side of Ben's head, and Ben entered a vision.
It was the day his father died. He saw the entire scene. His father, torturing Vader with electric shocks to his armor, while Padme hid in fear. His father taunted Vader, saying he knew Padme was his granddaughter, and that he was going to take her away from him. Padme chopped off his hand with Vader's lightsaber. His father shot her in the leg, and turned around to shoot Vader in the head. But he was struck down by Vader's lightsaber, which was held by Padme.
"She didn't want to kill him, Ben. She was trying to stop him from hurting Vader," Caleb explained. Ben was quiet. To calm his racing heart, he relied on the Force to help regulate his breathing. Caleb returned to his chair.
"Thank you for telling him," Ben said to Caleb, his eyes misty. "It makes it easier for when she tells me, and when she leaves me for good."
"No!" Caleb grunted, his fists clenched in frustration. "Ezra said you and Padme are to look after me when he died! Please stay with Padme!"
"I can't force her to stay if she doesn't want to."
"But I can."
"Caleb, no!"
"Yes. Ezra said both you and Padme. She will stay if I refuse to leave you. Which I will do."
Ben was shocked. Caleb was willing to do this, just to see him and Padme back together?
"You don't have to do this," Ben reassured him.
"Yes, I do. I am doing this for myself and for Leia."
"Leia?" Ben gave the boy a puzzled look. "Caleb, you know Leia died in the attack on the Hosnian system."
The boy swallowed his throat. He could hear the little girl, urging him to reveal the final secret. It was now or never. Caleb took a deep breath and confessed,
"Not Padme's mom. Leia is Padme's baby."
"Padme doesn't have a baby," Ben told him, thinking that Caleb was imagining things.
"She does! I saw Leia in my dream. She wants her parents together again!"
"It was just a dream, that's all."
"No, Ben! Leia is real! She is inside Padme, right now!"
The way Caleb spoke caused Ben to wonder. Could Padme be pregnant, with his daughter?
"Padme doesn't know yet," Caleb added, his face full of worry. "Ben, please don't hurt her!"
"Come here," Ben said, as his opened his arms. Caleb climbed onto his lap, and trembled in fear.
"Don't be afraid," he told the boy. "I want to believe you, but I will need some proof. You can help me."
"How?" Caleb questioned. Ben told him how he could help. After he finished, Caleb had a frown on his face.
"I thought you said keeping secrets from those you love is not a good idea," the boy reminded Ben.
"Well, this is a good type of secret. She will want proof, too. Trust me. But first, we need to go find her."
By this time, Padme had walked through the battlefield. She refused to look back at the bodies littered on the ground. She was exhausted; physically, emotionally and Force wise. She made her way into the forest, and called out to Ben to meet her. She leaned against a tree, and tried to close her eyes. But they did not close, because she heard a noise.
Padme turned and saw a wolf coming in her direction. He growled, showing his sharp, white teeth. She tried to Force push it away, but she couldn't . She was too weak to move, and the animal was quickly approaching her. She went into a fetal position, expecting the wolf to attack her.
But the animal never touched her. Padme was amazed to see a familiar lightsaber stab the beast to death. She looked up and saw Ben, in his Kylo Ren outfit, walk over to her. Her eyes closed and she passed out.
He gathered Padme in his arms and carried her to the Finalizer. Caleb ran to see them, but was worried when he saw Padme in Ben's arms.
"She's okay. She just passed out," Ben promised. They went to his quarters and laid Padme down on his bed. Ben covered her with a sheet.
"Stay here and watch her," he told Caleb. Ben headed to the medical ward, and grabbed a couple of syringes. He came back a few minutes later.
"Give me your arm, Caleb," Ben instructed. The boy offered his arm, and Ben gently pricked him and drew blood.
"We are finally going to know your midichlorian count, little one," Ben said in a lighthearted tone. Caleb has a serious look on his face. "Don't worry."
"I'm not," the boy replied, lying to Ben. He was worried. When Padme and Ben find out the truth about him, will they still want him around?
"Give Padme a peaceful dream, so that I can stick the other needle in her." Caleb climbed into the bed and touched her head. Ben stuck the syringe into her, but she did not stir.
"You need to rest," Ben told Caleb, as he led the boy to another bedroom. "When you wake up, the test results for you and Padme will be ready."
Caleb pouted, folding his arms in front of him.
"Go, take the time to grieve for your family," Ben insisted gently. Caleb gave Ben a hug and walked into the bedroom. Ben made sure the boy had crawled into the bed before closing the door behind him.
He made his way to the medical ward. Ben ran the tests, to see if Padme was pregnant, and to determine Caleb's midichlorian count. He waited anxiously for the results.
Ben decided to check Padme's results first. He slowly gazed at the paper. It was true! Padme was pregnant!
As shocked as he was at discovering she was pregnant, he was speechless when he heard a voice of a little girl call out to him,
"Daddy! Can you hear me?"
