A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far Away

Chapter 100

The vision was dark and fuzzy at first. Anakin couldn't make out anything, but he could hear the crying of a baby. A moment later, Padmé's face came into focus, frozen in a scream. Anakin's heart clenched.

"Anakin, help me! Please!" she cried. He struggled to move, to do anything to help her, but he was powerless to do anything but watch.

He could only watch as she screamed for him, as her strength began to fail her, as the twins cried in the background, till at last she could only whimper:

"Anakin, I'm sorry. I love you. I love you...."

***

NO!!!

Anakin lurched upright in bed gasping for air as he blindly stared into darkness, his heart hammering inside of his chest.

All he could see was her screaming, all he could hear were the twin's cries as their mother died. As Padmé, alone, without him, cried for him, saying she loved him and that she was sorry.

His left hand found unfamiliar sweat dampened sheets twisted around him. A moment later, Anakin finally remembered where he actually was.

He partly turned, finding Padmé lying peacefully beside him, half a smile on her lips. He watched as her chest slowly rose and fell with the cycle of her breathing.

Anakin turned away, buried his face in his hands, and sobbed tears of gratitude.

She was alive, and she was with him.

A moment later, Anakin untangled himself and got up, grabbing a robe that he then threw on and walking to the veranda the overlooked Padmé's private landing deck. He leaned on the night-chilled rail, staring out into the landscape of Coruscant.

It was still burning from the battle earlier that day, even though it felt, and somewhat was, more than a week ago for Anakin. Normally the planet never slept, with windows in billions of buildings lit, navigational signs, advertisements everywhere, and endless streams of speeders.

There were still speeders in the sky, but power outages had left parts of the planet in darkness, lit only by some red-dwarf glares of Force knew how many fires.

Anakin didn't know how long he stood there, nor did he care. The planet looked as he felt right then. Damaged and broken in battle.

And he would much rather look and think about the city than the reason he was standing there and looking in the first place.

She moved silently, but Anakin felt her approach.

Padmé stood beside him at the railing and laid a hand over his as she too looked out into the city.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Anakin looked at her, his eyes finding the japor snippet around her neck.

"I remember when I gave this to you," he said, taking it in his hand as he spoke, hoping she would let them drop the topic, even though he knew that it was about as likely as rain on Tatooine.

"Anakin," she said, that one word and tone letting him know that she wasn't going to let him get away that easily. Anakin looked back into the city as Padmé hugged him, patiently waiting for him to tell her what was wrong. Trusting that he would.

Anakin could feel her patience and trust, and he was so grateful for both that tears welled once more. He had to blink them away. Anakin took one of her hands in both of his and gently held it until he could speak.

"It was a dream," he finally said.

Padmé accepted his words with a slow and serious nod: "Bad?"

"It was—like the ones I used to have about my mother before she died."

Another slow and even more serious nod. "And?"

Anakin looked down at their hands, slipping his fingers between hers, before looking up at her face: "And....it was about you."

"Alright," Padmé said softly as Anakin looked back down at their hands, "it was about me." And then she waited. Waited for him to be able to tell her.

When Anakin finally managed to speak again, his voice was raw and horse with barely contained emotion: "It was....about you dying. I couldn't—I can't stand it."

He couldn't stand to look at her anymore. Anakin looked back out at the city, at the stars, at the floor, trying to find anything he could bear to see. He ended up closing his eyes.

"You die in childbirth." There the words were out.

Anakin felt Padmé tense. He could almost see her move her hands to her abdomen in a protective manner.

"The twins?"

"I don't know.... I could hear at least one of them crying, but...." Anakin shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Trying to find somewhere to store the pain.

"It was only a dream," Padmé said, as her had gently brushed his cheek, prompting him to open his eyes and look at her.

"I won't let this one become real."

"I don't think it would."

"You don't?" Anakin asked, looking at her in surprise.

"This is Coruscant, Ani, not Tatooine. Woman don't die in childbirth here, not even the twilighters in the downlevels," Padmé told him. "It must have been....some sort of metaphor, or more to it at least."

"I—my dreams are literal, Padmé. I wouldn't know a metaphor if it bit me. I couldn't see the place you were in either, you may not even be on Coruscant."

"Which would be because I would be having the twins on Naboo, or somewhere else where it would be safe to have them in secret if need be, to protect you so you can stay in the Order until the Code is changed," Padmé tried to reassure him.

"I don't want to stay in the Order," Anakin told her, putting a figure under chin so she would look into his eyes and know how much he meant every word he said. "Don't protect me, I don't need it. We have to start thinking, right now, about how we're going to protect you and our children, because all I want is for us to be together."

"And we will be," Padmé reassured him. "There must be more to your dream than death in childbirth, it makes no sense."

"I know, but I can't begin to guess what. I—I can't stand to think about it, but we do know that you aren't with the twins in the future."

"Which is why I'll be careful."

"Careful may not be enough. What are we going to do?"

"We are going to be happy together," she told him, kissing the palm of his hand.

"But we—we can't just....wait. I can't. I have to do something."

"Of course you do," Padmé said, smiling foundly. "That's who you are. That's what being a hero is. What about Obi-Wan? Couldn't he help us?"

Anakin took a shaky breath before nodding: "I'll talk to him tomorrow."

Padmé gently hugged him as Anakin pulled her to his chest, burying his face into her hair.

"I will not let you go away to have out children in some alien place. I will not let you face my dream alone. I will be there for you, Padmé. Always. No matter what."

"I know it, Ani. I know," she replied resting in his embrace for another moment before gently pulling away. "Come upstairs, Anakin. The night's getting cold. Come up to our bed."

"All right, all right," Anakin said, letting her lead him away.