Chapter Two: A Man's Suggestion

Pregnancy suited Padmé, Anakin thought. She seemed to glow from the inside out, and she projected an inner serenity Anakin envied.

He'd give anything for peace of mind like that.

She caught him staring and smiled, relaxed and calm. Happy. "What are you thinking?"

He opened his arms, and she came to him, her rounded belly soft against his hard abdominal muscles. "I'm thinking that you'll make a wonderful mother."

She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Really?"

"Of course."

"You weren't brooding about your dreams?"

She knew him too well. Involuntarily, his arms tightened around her. "I will save you, Padmé. There is nothing to worry about."

An approving smile curved her lips upward. "That's the attitude I like to hear." She kissed him lightly. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I've been thinking, too."

Anakin chuckled. "Good to know."

Padmé smacked his chest. "Are you teasing me?" she demanded.

"Never."

"If you say so." She giggled. "So, do you want to know what I was thinking about?"

"Sure."

She looked up into his eyes. "I was thinking about Kieran and Asher."

Anakin racked his memory. Who were Kieran and Asher? Unable to come up with any faces to match the names, he gave in and, hoping he wasn't supposed to know who they were, asked, "Who are Kieran and Asher?"

She gazed at him slyly. "Well, technically, they aren't whos. They're whats."

Anakin just stared at her, uncomprehending.

She laughed outright. "They're names, Anakin. Baby names. I'm trying to decide which one I like better."

"Oh!" Understanding dawned, and he considered that for a moment. "There's just one thing I need to point out about that."

She raised her chin, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "And what, pray tell, would that be?"

He looked innocently back at her. "Those are boys' names."

"Oh, right." Padmé relaxed again, her amusement showing. "You think it's a girl."

"And you are dead set on turning her into a boy."

She leaned back in his arms to look him full in the face. "Alright, smart guy, say it's a girl. Have you thought about names for her?"

He gave her a cocky grin. "I don't need to to."

"Really? And why not?"

"Because I already know what to name her. I've known since before I even met you."

That piqued her curiosity. "How?"

Anakin shrugged. "There was an old man on Tatooine who used to sing to me. My favourite song was about a little girl. I decided as a child that if I ever had a daughter, I would name her after that little girl."

She was intrigued now. "What was the name?"

Anakin hesitated. He hadn't told anyone about this particular dream since the idea had first come to him fifteen years ago. Now that the time to share was here, it somehow seemed far too intimate to share. That was ridiculous, though. If he didn't tell Padmé, this dream would never become reality.

He took a deep breath. "Leia."

Anakin watched Padmé's face carefully, looking for the sheer joy he was sure she would experience at the discovery of such a perfect name for the baby.

Instead, her face fell. A cold, hollow pit formed in the bottom of Anakin's stomach.

"Oh, Ani . . ." Padmé bit her lower lip in distress. "I realize how much that name means to you, but . . ."

But. There was always a but.

Anakin hated buts.

"But in the original language of Naboo, leia means tragedy. I can't name my child Tragedy, Anakin! Please don't pressure me to do it, because I can't!" Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "You understand, don't you, Anakin?"

He stepped back from their embrace and turned his back to her. "Yeah. Yes, of course I understand."

There was a pause. Anakin didn't look at Padmé.

"I'm going to spend the night at the Temple. I don't want Obi-Wan or Master Yoda to get suspicious."

He left.

No, he ranted inwardly as he strode swiftly away from 500 Republica, he most certainly did not understand! Who cared what the name meant? It was right. It felt right, it sounded right. How could she not see that?

He slept even more fitfully than usual.