Rising From Ashes

Chapter 10 - Jabi'im

Author's Note: We started posting a separate one-shot collection for this series. :)

~ Amina Gila

Aniya Skywalker

I've been dreading this moment as much as I was excited for it. I'm a mother now, and it's at the worst time, but – I'm still a parent and so is Jaufre. I wish I could just be happy in this moment, and for one fleeting moment, I try to be, as I look down at the baby in each of my arms.

I had twins, too. It must run in the family.

"How did we both have twins?" Anakin asks flatly, the emotion shining in his own eyes as he looks at them. He's an uncle. This is just as meaningful to him as it is to me.

"Hey, we're twins, too. Maybe that's why," I offer.

They're both boys, nearly identical, but... strangely enough, they have a tiny bit of black hair on their heads. That doesn't make sense. It shouldn't be possible. They can't biologically have black hair unless...

Instantly, my mind jumps to Plagueis. He's been keeping an eye on their growth, touching me with the Force, sometimes far too closely, and I genuinely have no idea what he was doing. I have no idea if this his fault or... what, but I don't want to. I don't want to think about him at all right now, or how he'll probably want us to take them to him, too. If he's going to do anything to them, I can't sit back and do nothing.

"Their names," Anakin reminds.

I nod. We already know we can't wait for Jaufre. (We don't know when we'll ever see him again. I still don't know why he left us.) "Jaufre wanted to name his child Ezra, if he ever had one," I comment, pain spearing sharply through my heart.

"Which one?" Anakin asks.

I look down at the babies again – I've never really taken my eyes off them, actually.

"The younger," I decide, "He already feels more like Jaufre."

Anakin crackles a smile. "Does he?"

"Hey, the older one was wailing and the younger one was just smiling. And now, he won't sleep." He already seems disturbingly hyperactive. He's still staring up at me, with wide blue eyes.

"Do you have any preferences on the other names we discussed?" Anakin queries. We talked about it, of course, but I hadn't been able to make up my mind then.

I was sure if I had twins too, one would be a girl, and I'd probably name her after either Mom, or one of our padawans. For boys, we considered our masters, but in truth, we can't name them something that will make the Sith suspicious. I loathe that they even have a say in it whatsoever, because these are my children, and I can name them what I want, but it's what it is. I wouldn't want him to have exactly the same name as my... father or brother anyway. "Ben," I murmur finally, "We'll name him Ben."

It fits, somehow.

My twin nods, though I can feel his flicker of pain at the name. He reaches out, taking Ben from me. "It's perfect," Anakin says, softly.

"It is," I agree, smiling faintly, "He even frowned the same way Obi-Wan always did."

Anakin's amusement flares momentarily, and he reaches out, taking me free hand with his own.

"We have to do something," I say, finally. This isn't just our lives on the line here anymore. It's my children's, too, and I have to protect them. I can't let them grow up like this. Having them here with me now floods me with a new sense of determination. And fear, because what if we can't – no, I won't go there. I won't let them get hurt, no matter who I have to go through.