A/N- This is the final revision of Rebel Hearts. It is a work in progress, but please keep in mind that this version has a lot of the original taken out. I took feedback from several readers about Padme's character and altered her storyline a bit. She does not marry Rush at all in this. This fic's purpose is to do more of a slow burn Ani/Padme'. I have also added in several chapters to fill in plot holes here and there. If you enjoy this version, please follow or leave a comment! Happy May the 4th!

-GP

Chapter 1-The Warrior & Lotus Flower

Summary: Alternate World: The Empire Prevails and the Jedi have all been in hiding for thirty years. Emperor Palptaine searches for a way to live long past his dying body through cloning technology and his attempts at descendants. One of his " experiments" escapes and comes to live a slave's life on Naboo. He will meet and forever his destiny changed by the fateful meeting with none other than one young Naberrie girl…

Location: Tatooine

Year: 48 BBY

Shmi Skywalker's face is red and drenched in sweat. The sweltering temperature in the small hut overwhelmed her senses. At 31 years old, she had never dreamt of having a child at any point, being in the position of a slave. She never wanted a child to be born into a world as the only she had been in since she was a child.

Shmi clenched onto the hand of her midwife. She prayed the agony would be over soon. She has been in labor for 13 hours on and off now. She shuddered as she attempted to push at the huge weight in her body. Her midwife smiled and said, " Keep going Shmi! It's only a matter of minutes now."

With another large scream and push, she collapses her head onto the pillow. It is a small comfort compared to the pain she has endured since early morning. The cries of a young child fill into the air. Shmi eyes the newborn's blood covered body. The mid-wife takes him and uses a wet cloth to wipe the newborn's naked body and cleans away any of the afterbirth from his body. Shmi tries to steal herself- she isn't sure what her owners will do now that she has given birth. She will be allowed to rest for a few days until she is ready for work in the portion of the shop she works in.

The midwife claims, " Your son is healthy and very handsome. What shall you call him?"

Shmi's arms wrap around her small newborn son. She peers down at those large blue eyes and the small patches of platinum blond hair. Shmi had no idea how much you could love another being after meeting them seconds before. She says, " I don't know yet. He's very strong."

The midwife peers over the child's mother and says, " And what of his father?"

Shmi's joy turns into waves of fury and rage. Her heart pounds in her chest from many years of torture as a slave. Her eyes flash to her son's and her mind flashes back to six months ago.

Six months ago she had escaped her cruel master. She had lived inside a lab with many others like her- women with special abilities or what the Kaminoan scientists called " force abilities." From a young age, she had been able to see events that had come true: her parents dying on her homeworld from a planetary disaster- to the birth of her son in her arms now…

The Kaminoans were known for cloning the famous army that fought during the Clone Wars with the extinct Jedi. Some Jedi had turned their backs on their own kind and had become part of the Imperial Navy and were held in high esteem in the military. Her mind replays those gray kind eyes of a former Jedi- and esteemed Commander Qui-gon Jinn.

Qui-gon had been assigned to guarding and overseeing the lab where she and many others of her kind had been held. He had been kind to her and had spent countless nights after hours talking to her about his adventures as a former Jedi padawan. Jinn had been her friend in the dark- and perhaps a comfort in that cold lab which she hadn't felt in a long time. The last time she saw him had been six months ago and she had since that day replayed his last words in her mind many days.

" Come with us," Her voice had been soft and pleading as he had guided her to the dark tunnels below the lab.

He had halted his footsteps and turned towards her. Her brown eyes shined with tears she hadn't felt threatening to fall. He reaches for her and cups her face within the palms of his hands. He wipes away the stinging tears from her cheeks and murmurs, " Shmi if I go with you, they'll never stop hunting us. They will take him- and you'll never see him again. I can't bear to see you in such pain. I need you to understand."

She bit her lip and nodded silently. He kissed her forehead and murmured. " Who knows, perhaps the force will guide us back together."

She knows his words are not meant to be hope, but to give her a sense of peace. She hopes one day his words will be true, but her gut isn't quite sure. " Thank you for all that you've done for us. I will make sure he knows about you and how you saved his life."

He looked away from her, attempting to shield her from the pain on his own face. He yearns to be able to be free of this life and go with her- be with her and-.

Shmi's mind is brought back to the present and her newborn son laying in her arms. He seems a bit restless as if he is ready to be part of the world. His bright blue eyes stare into hers and she can feel through the force of their strong bond. He is strong within the force- much stronger than any one being she has felt in her lifetime.

She rubs his thin blonde head and whispers, " What shall I call you?

He would have to be strong and brave in this world. He would be a slave for most of his life or his entire life, never knowing the truth. It would be a better life to be a slave then live as the heir to the Empire. Shmi didn't want to think about what would have been done with her boy if her master had known he had succeeded into creating a life form out of the force.

She smiles again, forgetting the past and eyeing the precious boy in her arms. She thought of a name that went well with the ideals of a warrior. She whispers to him, " We shall call you Anakin."

Timeline 2 Years Later- 46 BBY

Location: Mountainous Village, Naboo

The desperate cries of a woman echo throughout the room. She screeches from the pain of labor and struggles to maintain her confidence. To her right sits her husband Ruwee Naberrie, clutching her pale clammy hands. His blue eyes meet his wife's hazel ones. Her eyes shine with pain and grief. This pregnancy has been difficult for her. They had almost lost their precious child during her fourth month and she had been placed on bed rest since that time. Jobal has spent many hours away from their other two children: Sola who was 5, and Sabe who had just turned 2.

The midwife stands at the edge of the bed, hoping that the poor child doesn't get stuck. Her patient has lost a lot of blood and she is fading quickly. It was likely that the mother and child would not survive the birthing process.

Ruwee holds his wife's hand tightly and whispers, " Darling everything is going to be all right. Our little boy is being stubborn."

Jobal laughs through her labor and stammers out, " That... you can be sure- my love-"

Jobal feels another contraction painfully entering her abodemen, knowing too well the pressure on her body is making her weak and fade quickly. She knows she won't survive her third and final child's birth. She will never know his personality,nor watch him grow up. All that matters is that the child survives for her family's legacy.

Jobal clenches her husband's fingers tightly and screams as she attempts to bring their son into the world. The midwife eyes her patient and the blood seeps into her hands.

Three more pushes and cries echo throughout the room. The midwife holds in her arms a newborn with dark patches of hair which will be the same color as its mother's in a matter of years. The bright blue newborn eyes stare into the midwife's own green eyes. The midwife hesitates to rejoice in the child's birth. She knows the child will not bring as much joy as they wished.

Jobal laughs and says, " Can I see my son?"

Her lips are trembling and she is freezing. It won't be long now. She knows her life will join with the netherworld or what the old use to call the force. She eyes the child in the midwife's arms and gestures for her to be able to say her first hello and goodbye to her child.

The midwife frowns and suggests, " It is not a boy, You have another daughter."

Ruwee's eyes fall onto his wife, who shines with the ache of no son for her husband.

Ruwee rubs a soothing hand through his wife's hair and whispers, " It is all right darling. We now have three precious daughters who are as beautiful as their mother."

Jobal smiles weakly at her husband and suggests, " I think she will have your fighting spirit Ruwee'. She is a fighter."

Ruwee chuckles at this notion. He nods and eyes the midwife as she summons the medical droid.

The midwife swirls around and places the small baby into a metal bassinet. The machine begins its work by taking a small blood sample to check all levels of midichlorians in the child's blood. This is a customary blood check as in the Empire it is required at birth of each person. The Emperor had required this test to be run since the disbandment of the Jedi some twenty years ago. Those that are born with higher sensitivity are usually forced into the Imperial Navy when they come of age-male and females alike, those who slightly elevated within their midichlorian count did not always show force abilities at all and usually go on to have normal lives.

The midwife's eyes widen as she reads the results from the medical droid's test. She has been midwife to the Naberrie family since the birth of Sola. The first two girls showed no signs of force sensitivity. It is highly unusual for only one child born into a family to be force sensitive and not the others, although this newborn's weren't too high off the charts, they are at questionable levels and would have to be reported to the Imperial Doctor's in Theed.

The midwife's voice trembles and suggests, " Sir, your daughter's midichlorian count is abnormal."

Ruwee's eyebrows furrow and his worry lines are thinner than usual. Ruwee asks, " Are you sure the machine is accurate? None of her sisters produced those types of results."

The midwife shakes her head and states, " No sir, they are completely accurate. Is anyone from your kin force sensitive?"

Ruwee knows the answer to this. No one in his wife's family had these so-called Jedi powers. He had been young when the Jedi had fallen but he knew the answer. His own mother Winama Naberrie knew many things before they happened. She had known Ruwee would marry young Jobal Thule when they had first met. She had known her son would have three children.

His mother had died right after Sabe' had been born. It saddened him to ponder on his mother's passing, but he knew that she might have had the ability to use the force. She never mentioned it, but words seemed to leave him at this moment.

Jobal answers for him. " My mother in law had special abilities…"

The midwife eyes Ruwee' and suggests, " Sir Naberrie, were you ever tested for your midichlorian count?"

Ruwee' nodded , seemingly to remember his days at university when the Empire had first come into power. There had been massive murders during the early days of the Empire. Sheev Palpatine had his Sith apprentice Count Dooku ravage the Jedi temple and the Jedi that were found everywhere in the galaxy- murdered by clones. The university had been on lockdown during this time as the galaxy had plunged into darkness. The Jedi had plotted against the Republic and had tried to seize power overtime. Ruwee did not know what was true or not at the time. He was an academic. He had wanted to become a professor and followed like a little lamb when the clones had come to Theed. They had been looking for rogue Jedi who had seeken shelter on Inner world planets that supported them. Naboo being one such planet. He knew now not the truth even twenty years later. It did not matter to him until now. Until his mother's precious gift had been put on his youngest child. Now it mattered, now his daughter's life would always be in danger if she were ever to discover this ability. He had to protect his child.

" How can we prevent this from becoming Imperial knowledge?" He whispered to the Midwife.

Her eyes widen upon hearing this notion. " Sir- it is against the law to hide any such records. It is treason to even suggest such a thing."

His blue eyes narrow as he responds firmly, " I want no one to know of my daughter's abilities."

The midwife eyes him carefully and states, " I will do this only if you do a favor for me. I will call upon you for a favor when it is needed."

Ruwee' replies, " Done, if that is what you wish for, Katrina."

Katrina's green eyes turn to his wife and she murmurs, " Be with your wife, she doesn't have much time."

The newborn whimpers quietly and then Ruwee picks her up. He rocks her in the air and whispers to her, " My darling girl, you shall be safe."

He turns to his wife as she continues to breathe shallowly. He kneels before his wife and suggests, " What shall we name her?"

Jobal smiles and eyes the beautiful lotus flowers on her bedside table. Her favorite flowers in the entire world. She suggests, " Padme', we shall call her Padme' after the lotus flower."

To Be Continued.