"Padme, I'm here!" Anakin called, ten seconds before Padme heard the door shut behind him.
She rushed to the front of the house. "Hush, Anakin!" she scolded, tugging the robe off his shoulders and hanging it on a hook by the door. "The whole galaxy will be able to hear you."
"Then let them hear! I want everyone from Tatooine to Coruscant to know of my love for you."
She sighed. "Be sensible, Anakin. You know we can't let the Jedi Council learn of our marriage, much less entire star systems."
He pecked a kiss on her cheek, then bent over to do the same to her stomach. "I can't be sensible, Padme. Not when I'm with you and our beautiful children."
That's what I'm afraid of.
A smile suddenly spread across Anakin's face as his fingers pressed against her stomach. "It's kicking, Padme! Who do you think it is, a little Luke or a little Leia?"
Padme touched her belly gently, her lips twitching up as she thought of the only pleasant secret she was keeping. She and Anakin had finally decided on the name Luke for a boy, or Leia for a girl; Only Padme knew that they would be using both.
"That's definitely a Leia," she said, wincing as the unborn child kicked her again. "She's going to be a feisty one."
"Just like her mother," Anakin said fondly, touching Padme's cheek. He hesitated, and his smile faded. "Padme, I have some bad news. The Council is sending me on another mission with Obi-Wan."
"Sometimes it feels as if someone is just trying to keep us apart," Padme said, forcing her tone to be teasing. She wasn't sure if she felt relieved or disappointed that her husband would be gone again: Relieved that she and the twins would be safe out of his reach, or disappointed that there wouldn't be someone, anyone she loved at her bedside when she went into labor.
Anakin seemed to be able to read her thoughts: Some of them, anyway. "Why don't you ask your parents and sister to come to Coruscant?" he asked. "If the babies are born while I am gone, I don't want you to be alone."
The idea was tempting, but she certainly could not call her parents; To do so would put them right in the middle of this conflict, probably risking their lives in both the war between the Separatists and the Republic and the struggle between the Light and Dark Sides of the Force. No, that was out of the question.
"My family needs to stay on Naboo. It isn't safe here, Anakin," she said, allowing him to wrap his arms around her. "I'll be fine. The medical centers here are the best in the system, and Threepio will be home with me to call them if necessary."
"I meant for company, and I don't think you want Threepio yapping at your bedside while you're in labor. Oh, dear, oh, dear!" Anakin said, mimicking the droid's prissy voice. "The chances of a successful pregnancy are-"
"Be nice to Threepio," Padme interrupted, although she grinned. It felt good to smile again. "You were the one that built him."
He smirked unrepentantly and pulled her into a kiss, which she returned with only a slight hesitation.
"When are you leaving?" Padme asked, pulling back far enough that she could see his face as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"Tomorrow morning."
"Force, can't the Council let you know further in advance than the day before?"
Anakin shrugged. "They don't know I'm a married man. I'm not supposed to have any attachments so I can whole-heartedly serve the galaxy, remember?"
"Right," she said. "I thought it was because they left you vulnerable to the Dark side." That had been one of her greatest fears as she laid in bed at night, staring at the ceiling and contemplating the Anakin of her visions. Will your fall happen because I married you? Is it my fault that a monster will be created?
"You know I don't believe that love always leads to the Dark Side, Padme," Anakin said, drawing her out of her thoughts. "There's a reason why Master Yoda doesn't say that fear leads to love, love leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering."
"So, you don't think our marriage was a mistake? You still love me, Anakin?"
He smiled, his finger playing with one of the tendrils of hair that snaked down out of her hairdo. "Of course, angel. Your love is what keeps me sane."
Then what's going to happen to our love? Why will you turn against me, our children, the galaxy?
Anakin gently disentangled himself from their embrace. "I have to go and prepare for my mission because Master Windu is holding a briefing in a half hour. I'll call you tonight when I know how long I'll be gone."
"Goodbye, Ani."
"Goodbye, angel."
They shared a tender kiss, then Anakin darted out the door. Padme stood by the window and watched the speeders zooming by, waiting until she saw Anakin's drive past. He grinned at her and blew her another kiss. As the speeder weaved in and out of traffic, disappearing from her sight, she wondered if it would be the last time she saw Anakin and if the man she loved would return as the Sith from her visions.
o0o
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was sitting at his desk and working on a report for the Senate when he felt Padme's Force presence enter the premises. He smiled and laid aside his data pad. His speech to the Senate was not his true work: Finding a new apprentice was.
Padme had stopped right outside his office, probably speaking to his receptionist, Marjim. The two women had become fast friends over the course of Padme's visits to the Chancellor, although he knew the Senator had never confided in Marjim: That was perfect, as the role of confidante was one that Palpatine was determined to reserve for himself. Hopefully, his personal requests for Skywalker on missions that would take him far from Amidala would help him achieve that goal. And if Marjim ever discovered his plans and happened to interfere...Well, it wouldn't be a great loss to him if he had to terminate her employment or her life.
Nonetheless, Darth Sidious would be walking a thin line trying to gradually tug the former queen and hero of Naboo to the Dark Side, and he briefly consulted the Force for guidance.
"Senator Amidala," Palpatine said, rising from his seat as Padme entered his office. He bobbed his head, took her arm, and pulled out a chair for her in front of his desk. "Please, be seated."
"Thank you," Padme replied, adjusting her skirts and lowering herself onto the seat. Her eyes darted around Palpatine's office. "Have you redecorated, Chancellor? The atmosphere feels…different."
"No, I haven't, my dear," he said with a smile. He would have to be more careful with his usage of the Force: Although she didn't know what it was, she could feel the permeating effects of the Dark Side. That was more than he could say of any of the other Jedi, including Mace Windu and Yoda. Interesting... "Perhaps it's because it's been so long since you visited me here," he continued aloud. "Stars above, it has been too long since we last talked."
"Yes, that must be it." Padme sighed and ran a hand through her hair, dislodging the combs and letting her locks fall out of the elaborate hairstyle. Inwardly Palpatine smirked; Padme's trust had been long in coming, but he had made great strides in gaining it on the day she had first set aside her public persona in his presence.
"You look weary, my dear," Palpatine said, manufacturing concern and allowing it to gleam through his eyes. "Is something bothering you?"
"The state of the galaxy these days. Hasn't that always been a matter of concern?"
He nodded soberly. "Indeed, it has. And are you thinking about something in particular about the galaxy that is amiss today? You know how much I admire your insights."
She didn't look up with the sharp, no-nonsense glance that Palpatine usually earned from her for his flatteries. Instead, she stared down at her thumbs, twiddling them. "It's the Jedi," she said finally, choosing her words carefully. "I fear that there is a danger under their noses that they are simply too blind to see."
"I, too, have felt sometimes that perhaps the Jedi's rigid attention to their code has made them a bit…narrowminded. Why, the Council almost refused to train Anakin Skywalker simply because he wasn't brought to the temple as a baby." His sharp eye didn't miss that Padme's fingers had involuntarily started to move to her belly before she noticed and clenched her hand.
"I have never agreed with that," Palpatine added. His tone was casual, but the implications had been carefully calculated. "Breaking the bond of affection between a parent and child before it even has a chance to form. In my opinion, not being allowed to form attachments- even the most natural, such as a child for a parent- robs the Jedi of some of their compassion and understanding. And in a group as influential as the Jedi, that could be a dangerous thing. Now, please don't misunderstand me, Senator, because the Jedi have performed great services for me and the Republic…" He allowed his voice to trail off, then leaned forward and folded his hands on his desk, offering Padme a gentle smile. "But never mind, I am here to listen to your concerns, not to speak of my own."
"It's nothing, Chancellor. Just a feeling," Padme said with a small laugh. "Like as not, it's probably just a foul mood lingering from some dream or another I had last night."
"My dear, we have instincts for a reason. I learned long ago that it can be dangerous to ignore them." He shifted in his seat and leaned forward, hands tucked under his chin as he stared at her gravely. "Padme, have you considered that these may be more than just hunches?"
"I don't know what you mean."
He smiled, a predator's grin softened to that of a kind mentor. "Could you be Force sensitive yourself?"
"I dreamed of having the powers of the Jedi when I was a child," Padme admitted. "What youngling hasn't? But like most of them, I discovered the truth as I grew."
"The truth?" Palpatine asked. Only long years of practice allowed him to smother the eagerness in his voice.
"That the Force is with some of us, and it isn't with others. I'm one of the others," Padme said with a laugh.
Smooth, Senator, but do you really think you can hide your power from eyes not blinded by the Light?
"As a fellow 'other,' I can completely sympathize," he said aloud, smiling at her. "Remember, my office and my ear are always open to you and your concerns, Padme."
