4 months before Episode III.
Anneke stepped onto the veranda at Padraig's Coruscant apartment. Her hands were shaking slightly as she secured her borrowed speeder. It had been nearly a year since she had seen her husband, and the hours since landfall on Coruscant had been torturous.
As soon as most of the Jedi Temple was asleep, she had slipped from her bed and made her way here. She sensed his presence now and, knowing his security would have announced her arrival, went to meet him.
They came together in the hallway halfway between the veranda and the bedroom, an almost violent collision of arms and hands and lips. Anneke sighed as she breathed in Padraig's scent, pressing herself against him while he held onto her as if he would never again let her go.
They stumbled into the bedroom, fingers fumbling at buttons and ties as they fell across the bed.
As she slid back into her cot in the Temple in the early hours before dawn, a terrifying thought struck her, and she jumped up to check her calendar. She went cold all over, and her heart started hammering in her ears; she sank into her chair as she stared at the date. They had been so eager last night, so glad to see each other after so long, neither of them had thought to be careful, and according to her admittedly basic understanding of such things, now was the most important time for caution.
Dropping her head in her hands, she closed her eyes. Should she try to talk to Padraig again? She had only two hours before the transport left Coruscant for the Outer Rim. There was truly no time, and no sense in worrying him for what could be nothing.
Closing her calendar decisively, she turned toward the 'fresher. She would deal with problems as they came, and not worry about what might be.
3 1/2 months before Episode III.
Anneke woke suddenly, her body tense. She had been dreaming, but she couldn't remember what. Something tickled at her senses, and she sat up and reached out in the Force. Obi Wan slept in the next room, his mind quiet; it was nothing to do with him. Frowning, she slowed her breathing, relaxing into the meditative trance he had taught her so long ago.
Her eyes flew open. There was another presence in the Force, another life, in here! She felt an instant connection. It was new, and yet familiar, more familiar than Obi Wan or even Padraig. Her eyes widened in realization, and her hands crept down to cover her stomach. Love filled her, warring with fear that she would be discovered.
She couldn't be discovered. She closed her eyes again, slipping back into meditation. There were shields a Jedi could create from the Force that could prevent detection by another Force sensitive. She had practiced using such shields recently—the Separatists had dark Force users working with them.
Now, she needed them not for herself, but for her child—her child! She allowed herself a moment of joy at the thought. She was a mother. She sobered, tears pricking at the backs of her eyes—if only she had the option of sharing this experience with her own mother. But that could never be… she clenched her fists and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm and centre herself. Even after four years, the pain of loss was still with her.
It was a delicate procedure, creating shields that blocked only the life within while allowing her own presence to show in the Force, but Obi Wan couldn't suspect anything. He had recently been given a seat on the Jedi Council, and his duty would be clear. Jedi were not allowed to have attachments, and here was irrefutable evidence that she had flouted that rule.
For a moment, she considered sending a message to Padraig, but she quickly dismissed the idea. It would be altogether too easy for someone to intercept it, and she couldn't afford the risk. This news would have to wait for the next time they were together… whenever that might be.