molesmt: I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and here is the next chapter
annependragon: thank you for your review
laureas: I'm glad you liked the first chapter and the first version of this story. Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 2
Padmé Skywalker sat beside her husband on the form couch in the living room in her apartment while the protocol droid her husband had given her, See Threepio, handed her a cup of tea. "Thank you, Threepio," she said gently.
"You're welcome, Mistress Padmé," Threepio said before he walked away.
Padmé sipped the tea before glancing at her husband. "You seem distracted, Ani," she said.
Anakin sighed eyes halfway closed. "The Chancellor wants me to accept a position as his personal representative on the Jedi Council," he said.
"That's wonderful news," Padmé said eyes widening.
"I'm not ready to be a master, Padmé," Anakin said softly opening his eyes fully before he gazed at her. "I know I'm not." He stretched out a hand before resting it on Padmé's abdomen, a small serene smile crossing his facial features when one of the babies kicked. Padmé knew she was going to be having twins but she didn't know the sexes of her children, not yet at the very least. She refused to let the medic tell her of whether she was having a boy or a girl; she wanted it to be a surprise for both herself and her husband.
Anakin was much more relaxed than he was just after the Battle of Coruscant ended. However, that hadn't lasted long because, that night, he changed. He was much more relaxed and every time he came to visit Padmé, he would gently touch her abdomen and comment on how beautiful their children would likely be.
Padmé decided to turn the subject away from Supreme Chancellor's decision. "What do you think we should call the baby when it's born?" she asked resting her hand on her swollen abdomen. "I was thinking of some boy names as well as girl names since I found out I was pregnant."
Anakin touched her abdomen again. "If it's a boy, I say Luke," he said quietly.
Padmé was startled because that was the name she had wanted to give to one of the babies if one of them ended up being a boy. Briefly, she wondered if the Force somehow told her husband of what to name their children. When she repeated the question aloud, Anakin glanced up briefly startled.
"It was…something like that." He said nothing more on the subject and, instead, asked, "What if it's a girl?"
"I say Leia," Padmé said softly.
"I like it."
Padmé was silent for a long moment. "What do you think it's going to be, Ani?" she asked finally.
The serene smile crossed her husband's face again as he tenderly trailed his finger over her abdomen. "I don't care if it's a boy or a girl. I just want him or her to be healthy when he or she is born," he said softly.
Impending fatherhood has changed him, Padmé thought. "What do you want it to be?" she asked finally.
"I think I already answered that question, Padmé. I don't care if it's a boy or a girl."
"Humor me."
Anakin was silent for a long moment. "A boy," he said finally with a soft look in his eyes.
Padmé smiled. "I wouldn't mind a little girl," she admitted.
Anakin smiled before chuckling. "Any little girl of yours will probably follow in your footsteps, Padmé," he said.
"Who's to say a little boy won't follow in my footsteps?"
Anakin shrugged. "Intuition," he said.
"Father's intuition doesn't exist."
"No? Well, the Force does exist."
"The Force is telling you that if it's a boy then he'll follow in your footsteps."
"Hopefully not in all of them," Anakin admitted. "I've made too many mistakes in my life and I certainly don't want my son, if it is a boy, to make the same ones."
"I can understand that. None of us want our children to make the same mistakes we made," said Padmé smiling.
Anakin gently kissed her on the lips before getting to his feet. "I'd better get back to the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan can cover for me for only so long after all."
Padmé was startled. "Obi-Wan?"
"He knows about us. He figured it out long ago and I confirmed it," Anakin said. "But don't worry, he won't tell anyone."
Padmé nodded slowly. She knew she could trust the Jedi to keep his word but she felt a bit worried at someone knowing about the marriage between her and Anakin. "All right, Ani. I'll see you later then," she said.
"Goodbye, Padmé," Anakin said before he kissed her again and left the apartment.
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
Anakin entered the Jedi Council Chamber deep in thought and was barely aware of the fact that the eyes of the entire council were on him. He was brought out of his thoughts, which were mostly on Luke's words and his son's impending birth, by a gently nudge through the Force delivered by Obi-Wan.
"Skywalker," Mace began, "Chancellor Palpatine has instructed us to appoint you as a member of the Jedi Council."
"Allow this appointment lightly, the council does not. Disturbing is this move by Chancellor Palpatine," Yoda said.
"I understand," Anakin replied and he really did; it was disturbing for the Chancellor to appoint him to the Jedi Council when he was, in no way, ready to become a master.
"You are on the council," Mace said, "but we do not grant you the rank of master."
If Anakin had not been warned by Luke to not trust Palpatine and look at things in a different light then he might have been angry. Instead, however, he merely inclined his head and took a seat beside Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan watched him with narrowed eyes, hand resting on his beard while his eyes examined him.
The topic of discussion was the crisis on Kashyyyk as well as the location of General Grievous who was on Utapau.
If Anakin hadn't been so deep in thought then he probably would have offered to go to Kashyyyk and help out the Wookiees.
"Go I will," Yoda said. "A good relationship with the Wookiees I have."
Master Yoda was unanimously voted to go on the mission.
"That still leaves who will go to Utapau to defeat General Grievous," said Mace.
"I think," Adi said, "that Obi-Wan should go. He has a history with Grievous and I feel he will be able to take him out."
Obi-Wan was silent and Anakin was surprised to find his eyes were still examining him. "With all due respect," Obi-Wan said turning his attention to the other Jedi Masters, "I believe my place is here. While I may have more history with General Grievous, I believe that anyone would be able to capture or kidnap him."
"You believe your place is here?" Mace echoed.
"Yes, I feel in the Force."
Yoda narrowed his eyes and Anakin noticed he was gazing at him as well. He met the gaze of the wizened Jedi Master before looking away. "Agree with Master Kenobi I do," Yoda said finally. "Here his place is. The will of the Force it is. Nominate Shaak Ti I do to go to Utapau."
"I second that nomination," Agen Kolar said.
"All in favor?" Mace said and the majority of the council inclined their head in agreement with Yoda's words. Anakin was one of the very few who remained still but that was because of how deep in thought he still was.
"Very well, I will go," Shaak Ti said.
"Is that all?" asked Mace. When no one spoke up, Mace closed the meeting with a "May the Force be with you."
Anakin left the chamber at his master's side, brought out of his thoughts by Mace's words, and stopped when Obi-Wan stopped as Shaak Ti came to his side. "Master Ti," Obi-Wan greeted her.
"Master Kenobi. I am surprised you did not agree to go to Utapau to take care of Grievous," Shaak Ti admitted.
"I feel my place is here," replied Obi-Wan glancing at Anakin who frowned at the look his master had given him.
Shaak Ti looked faintly surprised before she nodded. "I shall take my leave now."
"May the Force be with you, Master Ti," Obi-Wan said.
Shaak Ti inclined her head. "May the Force be with you, Master Kenobi," she replied before she walked away.
"Master?" Anakin said and Obi-Wan glanced at him.
"Yes Anakin?"
Anakin simply gazed at him for a long moment. "Why didn't you go to Utapau, Master?" he asked finally. "Did the Force really tell you that you needed to stay here?"
"No," Obi-Wan said calmly. "Well, it did partially. I feel I have to stay here because I feel you're going to need me soon."
"Why?"
"I don't know." Now Obi-Wan sounded genuinely confused. "I just feel this way."
Anakin opened his mouth to respond but, before he could, his comlink beeped. Anakin glanced at it before pulling it out and activating it. "Skywalker here," he said into it.
"Master Ani, please come quick," Threepio's voice sounded urgently over the comm.
"What's the matter, Threepio?" Anakin asked worry coloring his voice.
"Mistress Padmé has gone into labor, Master Anakin, and we can find no one to take her to the medical facility," Threepio said. "Mistress Padmé insists that it's the real thing, Master Anakin. We need to get her to a medical facility and quickly."
Anakin's eyes went wide. "I'm on my way, Threepio," he called before he deactivated the comlink and put it away before taking off down the hallway. He was a bit surprised to find Obi-Wan running after him even though Obi-Wan had only heard one side of the conversation.
"What's going on?" Obi-Wan asked panting as the two Jedi skidded to a halt next to a speeder outside of the Jedi Temple.
Anakin was on the verge of panicking so he didn't bother checking his surroundings to see if anyone was listening as he blurted out, "Padmé's in labor, Master. My children are being born now."
Obi-Wan blinked still infuriatingly calm. "Calm down, Anakin. Panicking will not help Padmé. Take a deep breath," he instructed softly.
Anakin swallowed before taking a deep breath to calm his pounding heart even though his mind was still reeling. His son was being born a month early; he wasn't supposed to be born until a month from now.
Focus, you're panicking again, Anakin. Deep breath. In and out. Calm down, use the Force, Obi-Wan's voice instructed him gently in his mind before he climbed into the speeder's pilot seat.
Anakin climbed into the passenger seat. "Master, we need…" he began.
"I know, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied before he started the speeder up and flew rapidly away from the Jedi Temple. While he wasn't a speed demon like Anakin, Obi-Wan was able to make it to 500 Republica in little to no time at all. However, he had barely landed the speeder when Anakin leapt out of it and ran into the apartment building.
Padmé was gasping on the form couch, her voice contorted in pain as she let out a shriek of agony. "Ani, help me," she cried.
"I'm here, Padmé, I'm here," Anakin said rushing to Padmé's side just as Obi-Wan entered the apartment building. "Master, help me."
Obi-Wan made his way to Anakin's side before reaching out to help Padmé to her feet. "Threepio," Anakin called, an edge of hysteria in his voice, "call the medic. Tell her we're coming." Padmé had informed him of who her medic was when he spoke to her earlier that day when he had been curious and asked her.
"Yes Master Anakin," Threepio said.
While he contacted the medic, Anakin and Obi-Wan teamed up to guide Padmé to the speeder. Padmé was no longer screaming in pain, for that Anakin was glad because he couldn't bear to hear his beloved wife in pain, but she was still panting from exhaustion. When they got her into the speeder, Obi-Wan and Anakin quickly flew them, and Threepio whom Anakin had placed, using the Force, in the backseat beside Padmé, toward the medical facility.
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
"Anakin, calm down," Obi-Wan instructed watching his former Padawan pace back and forth worry creasing his forehead. "Padmé will be all right, Anakin."
"But she's a month early, Master," Anakin protested eyes wide with worry and near panic. "What if something goes wrong?"
"Anakin, you're worrying too much. Padmé will be fine. You need to calm down," Obi-Wan said. "Panicking is not helping Padmé anymore than it is helping you or your child." Obi-Wan still wasn't sure how Anakin knew Padmé might be having more than one child so he opted for simply using the singular version for now.
"But…"
"No 'buts' Anakin, sit!"
Anakin gazed the Jedi Master before taking a seat although Obi-Wan could see the worry glittering in the depths of his azure eyes. "She'll be all right," he said softly.
"How do you know that, Master? How can you be so optimistic all the time?"
"It is better to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty. And I know Padmé will be all right because she's strong and she's stubborn and you know she is."
Anakin drew in a shuddering breath. "Y…You're right, Master," he said. "I guess…I was…just worrying something would…go wrong and I'd never get to see my son."
Obi-Wan wondered how his brother knew he would be having a son but he decided against asking.
The medic walked out of the room at that moment. "Which of you is the father?" she asked softly.
"Is my wife all right?" Anakin demanded leaping to his feet and rushing to the medic's side. Since medics were not allowed to disclose anything their patients tell them unless their patients told them they could, Anakin knew his and Padmé's secret would remain a secret. That was why he spoke freely about his relationship with Padmé within the confines of the medical facility.
"Yes, your wife is fine," the medic said. "She's asking for you. She's almost ready to give birth."
Anakin breathed a sigh of relief. Padmé had been in labor for five hours and that did nothing to help Anakin get over his fear that something would go wrong. Now that he knew something wouldn't go wrong, he was calmer than he was when he first learned his wife had gone into labor.
"I'll wait out here," said Obi-Wan.
Anakin nodded before he slipped into the room behind the medic.
After what felt like hours, but in reality was only an hour since Anakin entered the room, he left it with a serene smile on his face and happiness and love glowing in his eyes. Obi-Wan stood up before walking to his brother's side. "How'd everything go?" he asked.
"Great," Anakin said softly. "Padmé gave birth to two beautiful twins; a boy and a girl. We named them Luke and Leia."
"Congratulations, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.
"Thank you, master. Would you like to come and see them as their honorary uncle?"
Obi-Wan was stunned by the words. Uncle? "Uncle?" he repeated out loud.
"You're my brother, Obi-Wan," Anakin said softly, "so that means you are Luke and Leia's uncle. Come and see them, Obi-Wan." Without waiting for Obi-Wan to reply, he turned around and slipped into the room.
Seeing as he probably had no choice, Obi-Wan got to his feet and walked into the room. Anakin was sitting in a chair beside Padmé carrying a little baby wrapped in a blue blanket while Padmé was holding a little baby wrapped in a pink blanket. Anakin, smiling, stood up before walking to stand in front of Obi-Wan.
"This is Luke, Obi-Wan," he said softy the love was very strong in his voice. "Padmé's holding Leia."
"He's beautiful, Anakin," Obi-Wan said examining the baby that Anakin held lovingly and tenderly in his arms almost as if the baby was a fragile angel that could break at any given moment. "They both are."
"Thank you, Master Kenobi," Padmé said.
Obi-Wan stepped back before examining his former apprentice. "What will you tell the Jedi Council?" he asked.
Anakin froze but Obi-Wan doubted anything could erase the love and happiness that glowed in his deep azure gaze. "I don't know if I can tell them, master. For now, I think it'll be best to keep it a secret."
He was silent for a moment. "Master, can I talk to you alone?" He added almost as if coming to a decision in his mind.
"Of course Anakin," Obi-Wan replied. He watched as Anakin handed Luke to Padmé, looking very reluctant to let go of his son, before following Obi-Wan as he led the way out of the room.
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
Anakin didn't know why he had come to the decision to tell Obi-Wan about Luke's visit from the future but the Force was telling him that his decision was the correct one. He could only hope his master would believe him but, even if he didn't, he still followed the will of the Force by telling him.
The two of them entered a private room near where Padmé was resting with her twin children. Obi-Wan sat down in a chair in the room while Anakin paced in front of him unsure of how to start. "Master," he began softly, "after the Battle of Coruscant, I went to visit Padmé. I stayed the night in her apartment after she told me that she was pregnant. But I couldn't get to sleep because I kept having nightmares of Padmé dying in childbirth so I decided to get some fresh air."
"Something strange happened next, Master." Anakin lifted his gaze to look his master in the eye and told him everything that Luke had told him. His voice shook and his eyes filled with tears as he informed his master that, in Luke's future, he became a dark lord of the Sith known as Darth Vader. He told him of what occurred from when Alderaan was destroyed to when he sacrificed his life to save his son.
"All of Luke's words, they were true. The Force practically sang with the sincerity behind his words. The future he lived in, it all came to pass and it was my fault. Luke told me that he gave up on a chance to return to the living to come back in time for a once in a lifetime chance to save me from the dark side. He felt that if he could save me from the dark side when I had been in its iron-grip for twenty some odd years then he could save me before I even turned. He told me the first thing I needed to do in order to prevent the future he lives in from coming to pass is to trust you like the brother and father figure you are to me. That is why I'm telling you this, Master, because you're my best friend, my brother, the father I never had."
Anakin had sunk to his knees at sometime during his narrative and now had his face buried in his hands, tears falling from his eyes. He was surprised when a felt a gently hand rest on his shoulder and he glanced up to find his master kneeling beside him.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said softly.
"I'm sorry, master," Anakin whispered looking down.
"Whatever for?"
"For…" Anakin broke off.
"You are not to blame for something that hasn't even happened yet, Anakin," Obi-Wan said firmly.
"You believe me?"
"Yes, Anakin. The Force, itself, showed you that the Force ghost of your son from the future was telling you the truth and I trust the Force so I believe you. Anakin, Darth Vader will not come into being, one way or another."
Anakin gazed up at his former master. "But what if…?" he began.
"No 'buts', Anakin," Obi-Wan said firmly.
Anakin closed his eyes feeling tears slide from behind the closed eyelids. "Master, can you promise me something?" he whispered finally not lifting his head.
"What is it, Anakin?"
Anakin took a deep breath before meeting Obi-Wan's gaze. "If I should ever turn to the dark side, Master, promise me that you will not let me remain that way; if you cannot turn me back then promise me you will kill me."
Obi-Wan's eyes went wide with shock. "I can't do that, Anakin," he protested.
"Please master, please!" Anakin said gazing imploringly at his master.
Obi-Wan swallowed. "I can't make that promise, Anakin," he whispered, "you're my brother and I love you."
"I love you too, brother, but please, I beg you to do this for me. Make this promise for me, please."
Tears filled Obi-Wan's eyes and, as Anakin watched, he slowly wiped them away but a single tear cascaded down his cheek before disappearing into his beard. "I promise, Anakin," he whispered in a tone of voice that clearly stated how reluctant he was to make such a promise to the young Jedi Knight whom was his brother in everything but blood.
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: and that was chapter 2
Darth: I liked it. Is this going to be a long story?
Blaze: maybe twenty some chapters, maybe only fifteen but definitely more than ten
Darth: ah okay
Blaze: I hope you like this chapter. I hope the characters aren't too OOC but I really do think Obi-Wan cared about Anakin too much (he did tell him he loved him on Mustafar) to not be able to make a promise like the one Anakin asked him to make in this story
Darth: that's obvious
Blaze: oh shut up. Please review and I will post chapter 3 a week from today…or this weekend. Haven't decided yet. It depends on how many reviews I get I suppose as well as when I finish it.