Author's Note:
I apologize friends for such a long delay in posting the next chapter of my story, but life got in the way. I am determined to finish this story. I have quite a bit written for future chapters, so please look out for my updates. There will be at least 3 more chapters after chapter 5 in this story. I deeply appreciate all of you who have taken the time to write a review, favorite my story, and follow me as an author, thank you!
I hope you enjoyed chapter 4. Anakin and Padme had fun at the Festival of Love celebrating their honeymoon. One of the elements I was particularly proud of in chapter 4 was the fortune teller and her tarot card reading message to Anakin and Padme. The tarot message I wrote was based on my own knowledge of reading tarot cards for almost 4 years.
I am excited to share that I have launched my own tarot card reading channel, Progressive Tarot. I perform tarot card readings asking questions on everyday issues and I offer a progressive, spiritual perspective.
YouTube Channel – Progressive Tarot
Instagram - progressivetarot7
Twitter - ProgressTarot
Now without further delay here is chapter 5, enjoy!
Chapter 5: Empty Meditation
The young couple sits side by side near the shimmering lake kissed by the morning sunlight. Anakin and Padme sit cross-legged with their eyes closed. Anakin speaks softly and comfortingly to his wife.
"We call this exercise empty meditation. Take one last deep breath and allow yourself to clear your mind. Enable yourself to focus only on the gentle melody of the beating of your heart. Let the force center you. The force will guide you to deep inner peace and will help you purge any negative emotions you may be harboring. The force will help you establish a powerful emotional anchor. Trust that the force will bring you peace, knowledge, and serenity. I can sense the force flowing through you, guiding you, embrace it."
"I feel it," Padme says quietly back to Anakin.
"Repeat in your mind quietly that you are in control of your body. There is nothing that your body will do without your consent. You are in control of your actions and your thoughts. If you want to jump with assistance from the force, you will and if you don't, you won't. The energy of our babies is powerful, but your will is stronger. You are their mother and what you decide goes. Acknowledge the energy you are feeling and embrace it, but do not let it determine your thoughts and actions. Do you understand Padme?
"I understand, I feel the energy and the power of my will and how I can channel it."
"Good my love, take three deep breaths and then open your eyes."
As Padme opens her eyes, Anakin continues. "You see that large rock next to the tree right at the shore of the lake. Take a few moments and study that rock. After you are done, close your eyes and concentrate on the rock."
After a long minute of concentration, Padme closes her eyes. Anakin speaks softly with his eyes open. "Concentrate in your mind on that rock. Extend one of your arms and your hand towards the rock. Stretch out with your feelings. Feel the energy of the force flow all the way to your fingertips."
Padme sat with her eyes closed with her arm and hand-stretched pointing directly towards the rock. They waited for five long minutes, but the rock did not move. Anakin took Padme's outstretched hand and held it.
"It's ok Padme, open your eyes."
Padme turned to look at Anakin. "Maybe I'm not force-sensitive?"
Anakin shook his head. "It's ok angel, not everyone channels and moves objects on their first try. We will keep working on it."
Padme was about to reply but she was interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice and the undeniable sounds of mechanical chirping.
"Master Anakin, Mistress Padme I'm terribly sorry," R2D2 replied to C3PO's statement with a few beeps and whistles. Anakin and Padme's attention was immediately drawn to their beloved droids.
"What is it you two? Padme and I are in the middle of something." Anakin replied to his old mechanical friend.
"3PEO, R2 what happened to you two? You're a mess. What is that all over you both?" Padme asked in bewilderment.
"Master Anakin, Mistress Padme, please don't be angry at us. We only wanted to help."
"Help how 3P0"?" Anakin asked the droid.
"We only wanted to help Mistress Padme. We overheard this morning when Mistress Padme asked you to spread the soil in the garden. We thought since you were busy giving our mistress a lesson, we could help with the garden."
Anakin stood up and then reached out his arms to help Padme stand up. "We appreciate you wanting to help, but for the love of the force please will you both come to us first before you decide to go ahead with work you have no experience in." Anakin ran his hand through his hair and sighed in frustration. "You're a complete wreck. It's going to take me hours to clean you both up. What were you guys…"
As Anakin was about to continue, R2 started beeping and whistling in a panic.
"What is it R2?" Padme asked.
R2 replied by projecting a hallo of Obi-Wan. Padme and Anakin both looked at each other in surprise. The image of Obi-Wan standing in his Jedi attire and then he began to talk.
"Anakin, the situation has grown to great concern. Palpatine's supporters have escalated their pressure on you, me, and the Jedi council and they are not letting up. The media has jumped on board to exploit the drama. Unfortunately, last night's incident with you and that halo droid at the Festival of Love is being widely discussed all over Coruscant. Palpatine's supporters are demanding clear evidence that he was the dark lord of the Sith. They are protesting all over the galaxy and threatening to form militias if the evidence is not provided to reveal his identity that justifies his death. They say we have 3 days to present evidence, or they are insisting that Anakin and I appear in the high court and face trial. Chancellor Organa is doing his best to mediate the situation but it's growing out of hand. I'm truly sorry that it has come down to this, but the council is insisting that you come immediately to Coruscant to speak to us. I know this is not what you want to be focused on right now, but I need you to reach out to me immediately. I will await your reply. May the force be with you."
"And we thought this was a mess," Anakin said as he pointed to the state of their two droids.
"What are we going to do Ani? This is awful."
"I don't know but we're not going anywhere. Come on you two let's get you cleaned up. We are going to my workstation. "
"We can't just ignore this threat," Padme said as Anakin held her hand and they walked to the lake retreat garage.
"I know but there is no way we are leaving Naboo right now."
"Ani, we have to go."
"I am going clean up our two droids that can't seem to stay out of trouble. Let's discuss this later."
A few hours turned quickly into the entire day. Anakin wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his arm.
"Ani it's almost dark. Let's quit for the night. Your dinner's getting cold."
"I know angel, but this chunk of dirt lodged in R2's circuits is ridiculous. I can't stop now; he could have a serious malfunction if I don't get it out soon." Anakin replied as he deeply scrapped with a thin small metal tool at the droid's chest piece. He held a small light to illuminate the area he was meticulously working to clean.
"Can we please talk about Obi-Wan's message?"
"I still have not decided what to say to the council," Anakin replied.
"We have to go talk to them and then we should go visit your family."
Anakin shook his head as he continued to clean R2.
"We probably have another good two weeks before the babies arrive. That is plenty of time to visit the Jedi Temple and Cliegg." Padme replied.
Anakin shakes his head. "That is absolutely not happening. If need be, Obi-Wan can come here and for that matter the whole Jedi Council but we are not leaving Naboo."
"What are you so worried will happen?"
"You're going to go into labor soon, I can sense it. The fortune teller sensed it too. She said you will deliver very soon. You could go into labor at any time and anywhere. Sith you could go into labor while we are in the middle of hyperspace. I don't know how to deliver a baby Padme, let alone two babies. I'm not a doctor. Nothing and no one is worth it for me to risk your safety or the babies' health."
"I love you for your concern, but we can't let fear and doubt stop us from doing what is right. The fortune teller said we may need to travel and that it could be important. Your stepfather is dying. I think this is worth the risk to visit him."
"Look I do feel bad for him, but at the same time, I barely know him," Anakin replied.
"Your mother chose him. He's your stepfather." Padme insisted.
"I understand that and I am happy mom found happiness after I left her, but I am not going to risk you and the baby's well-being to go on this trip."
"And if he dies and you don't get to say goodbye to him? You will regret it for the rest of your life if we don't go and be there for your family. I know you will regret it. I will regret it."
"You and our babies are my family Padme. You are my first- priority."
"Cliegg, Owen, and Beru are our family too. We must go. Family is everything. Cliegg seems like a good man. There must be an important reason why he wants to talk to us in person. What If Obi-Wan accompanied us to Tatooine? If I did go into labor, he could help."
Anakin looks at her as if she has lost her mind. "You think I want Obi-Wan delivering our younglings? That thought makes me sick to my stomach. His eyes and hands would be handling parts of your body only I or a doctor should ever touch or look at."
Padme shakes her head and rolls her eyes at her husbands' immature possessive response. "Anakin please, you're being ridiculous."
"Regardless, the risk is too high to leave Naboo when you are so close to delivery. The council will have to figure something else out while I try to find evidence regarding Sidious."
"And Cliegg?"
"I'll contact them and see if we can arrange a call with him over the halo."
"Ani he's dying. A halo call is not the same as you speaking to him in person."
"I know but that's the best that we can do right now. I am not going to change my mind on this Padme. We can't go to Tatooine right now." Anakin's voice raised in frustration when he said "Tatooine."
"This isn't just about me and the babies, is it?"
"Of course, it is," Anakin says turning his back to her as he wipes the grease off his hands with a rag.
"Ani, please talk to me."
"Padme please just drop it." He says without turning around.
"Please my love can we just talk about this? It's time we talked about it."
"Talk about what?" Anakin asked.
"This is about Tatooine isn't it?" Padme asked.
"We can't go there right now Padme."
"You mean you can't go there right now? That's it isn't it?" Padme placed her hands on his shoulders.
Anakin doesn't reply and instead picks up some tools on his work bench and starts cleaning them with a rag.
"Anakin please talk to me."
Anakin says nothing drops his tools and doesn't turn to Padme. He sits down on his work stool and begins cleaning R2's front plate. Padme sits downs on the work stool next to Anakin.
Padme sighs. "You really don't want to go back to Tatooine."
Anakin "No, I don't it's too risky to go right now."
Padme "But it's not just right now while I'm pregnant, is it? You really don't want to go back to Tatooine do you?"
Anakin stops cleaning R2 and looks at Padme. "Why do you say that?"
Padme put her hand on his arm. "Because every time I have brought up going back to Tatooine you get upset, almost like you fear going back and I understand why you do. You lost your mom there."
"Tusken raiders ruthlessly captured and tortured the life out of my dear mother. She died in my arms and then I almost turned to the dark side wanting to kill every Tusken Raider in that camp. Not to mention my mother and I were slaves on that sand planet from Sith hell."
"I know my love, but you can't let that stop you from being there for your family. The truth is you really haven't allowed yourself to grieve for your mother. So much was happening, our relationship, Sidious and Dooku, your disagreements with Obi-Wan, and everything with the Jedi council. You didn't have a moment at that time to let yourself feel your grief over this terrible, tragedy of losing your mom in such a cruel brutal way."
"If I sit around and think about what those monsters put her through and how much I miss her, I'll go crazy Padme."
"Don't think about that. Think about all the happy times you had with her. Think about how much she loved you. She was brave and selfless to let her son go to be free and pursue his dream of being a Jedi."
"I am truly grateful to her for her sacrifice, but there is a part of me that is still angry at the Jedi for not allowing me to visit her all those years. The last thing I said before I left."
Anakin's voice broke and he started to wipe a tear that was forming in the corner of his eye. "To her." He wiped a tear away that escaped down his cheek. Padme rubs circles gently into his lower back.
"I asked her, "will I ever see you again?"
"What did she say?"
"What does your heart tell you?" Anakin shook his head. "I said to her, "I guess so." "Force if I had known that the next time, I would see her would be bleeding, beaten, broken dying in my arms, I would have never left her."
"But there's no way you could know that much about the future. Your mother did not want you to remain a slave. She wanted you to be free and she knew how much you wanted to be a Jedi. If you had not gone with Qui-Gon you would have asked yourself what if for the rest of your life."
"I know angel. But if the Jedi had let me visit her, she'd still be alive today."
"You don't know that. You're not all-powerful Ani."
"Well, I should be."
"Anakin, you know the Jedi say that way of thinking is a path to the dark side."
"I know, I know. I just wish I could have stopped her death. I wish she wasn't gone." Anakin said while burying his face in his grease-stained hands as he can no longer hold back his tears."
Padme holds Anakin in her arms as he continues to cry stinging tears. He buries his head in her bosom, and she runs her fingers lovingly through his sandy-colored hair.
Anakin pulls away to dry his tear-soaked face with his shirt. "I still can't believe she's gone, and it's been months."
"There's no timetable for grieving my love. You must allow yourself to feel what you need to feel so you can start to heal your heart. When my grandmother died, my mom said to me "we the survivors of our lost loved ones are the wounded warriors. We walk around with holes in our hearts."
Anakin nods his head and gives her a warm hug and then a soft kiss.
Padme places her hand on his cheek. "Cliegg is your mother's husband. He freed her from slavery, shared a home with her, loved her, and made her happy. We must go to him in his darkest hour to show our appreciation for what he did for her. Please Ani, we need to be there for him because your mom can't be."
Anakin takes a deep breath. "Maybe you're right, but I still feel it's a huge risk for us to travel there when you are so close to giving birth. Maybe we should just take Dr. Polis with us?" Anakin suggests.
"That's impossible, she has many more patients than just me."
Padme thinks for a moment and remembers something. "Actually, now that I come to think of it, Dorme has delivered a baby."
"Really, who, when?"
Her cousin's on Alderan, there was a bad storm, and they couldn't get to the medical center. Dorme delivered the baby along with her cousin's mother's help.
"Where is Dorme now?"
"I think she's still here. She was staying at the palace in Theed for our wedding, and she told me she was planning to spend a week or two on Naboo to take some much-needed rest from her studies on Coruscant."
"If Dorme can accompany us to Tatooine I am ok with us going, but we won't stay long alright?"
Padme smiles and hugs her husband. "I'll send her a comm right now."
Anakin holds her hand as she lifts herself up from the work stool. Padme gives Anakin a sweet gentle kiss before she leaves the room. C3PO enters the room moments after Padme.
"Master Anakin, I feel so much better. Thank you for cleaning that unsightly dirt from my circuits.
"You're welcome 3PO," Anakin says as he grits his teeth cleaning a particularly stubborn chunk of potting soil stuck in R2's breastplate.
"Well, my little friend, you got something jammed in here real good." Anakin feels a brief jolt from the unexpected power source radiating from R2. Transparent blue light glows from R2's dome.
"What's this?" Anakin says out loud to himself as he stares wide-eyed in surprise at the horrifying image before him.
"Senator Amidala, what is your reason for trespassing on these premises?" Clone troper replies.
"I am not trespassing." Padme sternly answers back.
"We have strict orders from Lord Sidious to capture, and on orders kill all unwelcomed inhabitants on this planet. You are now a prisoner of Lord Sidious and Lord Vader?" The Clone trooper replies threateningly.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Why are you taking orders from a Sith Lord? What happened to the Chancellor? Padme asks.
"The Chancellor is Lord Sidious." The Clone trooper replies.
The recording continued to play as Anakin watched in horror as he witnessed Padme crying hysterically and attempting to protect her belly. He remembered just how close they came to tragedy when he found a group of clones pointing their rifle blasters directly at his pregnant wife. Fortunately, he arrived just in time with Obi-Wan. They were both exhausted from the enormously dangerous and challenging mission to fight and kill Darth Sidious on the volcanic planet of Mustafar.
Fortunately, Anakin had successfully used a Jedi mind trick to get the clones to put their rifle blasters down and leave their ship. But just as suddenly as anger had filled him at the image and thought of what his beloved wife had to endure with such a frightening ordeal; relief hit Anakin. As he watched in surprise to see the message R2 had quietly and brilliantly recorded that faithful night he had killed fought and killed Sidious. This recording was the information he had been searching for. This was the proof they needed to once and for all get Palpatine's moronic, demonic supporters off his, Obi-Wan's, Padme's, and the rest of the Jedi's backs.
Anakin patted R2's dome and smiled. "My little friend you are truly a gift from the force, brilliant!"
"Padme, great news!" Anakin called for his wife.
XXX
Thanks for reading my story. If you enjoyed this chapter please leave a review, favorite, and follow. I will do my best to get chapter 6 written as fast as I can. I have a great deal of chapter seven written, so once chapter 6 is ready to post expect two chapters posted right after each other.