The Bittersweet Mission

Return of the Facade

     Upon landing at the correct platform, everyone's polite smiles were unusually strained.

     The group of four, plus the baby, went down the ramp of their ship and caught their first glimpse of the baby's new family standing beside Jedi Master Mace Windu.

     The Jedi greeted each other, and then Mace introduced them to the family.

     Padmé looked up from the baby in her arms to eye the other human couple who waited with another young child. They looked like a happy and normal family, and Padmé was almost disappointed. Some part of her had grown quite attached to the little boy in the past few days, and that same part of her had hoped there would be a reason for her to not have to give him away. 

     For a little while, the baby had been hers and Anakin's, and to have to leave him with someone else felt wrong.

     Anakin had mixed feelings as well. Sure, it was nice that the baby would be placed in a loving home until he was old enough to be trained to use the Force, but he knew his wife was saddened by the situation, and it was sad enough that the baby probably wouldn't stay with this family long enough to remember them later anyways.

     Though, a voice whispered through his mind like a warning: A Jedi should not have attachments.

     Then, the couple stepped forward, ready to take the baby.

     Anakin watched as Padmé stepped forward as well, but she spared him one last heartbreaking glance before handing the baby over.

     The couple was all smiles, but Padmé suddenly felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes as she saw how happy they all were.

     Anakin, feeling torn by his emotions and his duty, quickly stepped forward as well, intervening in the conversation so that Padmé no longer had to speak.

     He explains to the couple that they have a few crates full of baby items aboard their ship so that they will have everything they need to take care of the little boy, and the family eagerly expresses their gratitude in return.

     A few troopers aboard their ship are quick to bring the crates over to the family and manage to have them in the family's apartment after a few moments, which is attached to the platform.

     Ahsoka keeps her eyes on Padmé though, who is trying to cover up her sadness, and Anakin, who is trying his best to get this over with quickly. She knows Obi-Wan is speaking with Master Windu to distract him a little from Padmé and Anakin, and she finds herself really, really wishing that this was not how this mission would end.

     It is all too soon then, when the few Jedi, the Senator, and the troops are forced to wave their goodbyes and climb up the ramp of the ship again.

     The silence aboard this time is deafening.

     And it is all too soon once more that the ship touches down at a platform near the Jedi Temple, and they are brought before the Council to conclude the status of their mission.

     "Went well, everything did? Hmm?" Master Yoda asks with a thin smile, sensing a lot more emotion from the group than expected.

     "Yes, Master," Obi-Wan speaks up, his hands clasped behind his back. "The pickup did not go as planned, as you know, but everything seemed to work out one way or another in the end."

     "Well, the child is safe from the Sith now, and that is what matters," Mace says. "Hopefully, we won't have to go through this type of scenario again."

     "Thankful for your help, we are, Senator Amidala," Yoda adds, causing her to look up.

     She gives him a small smile and a nod. "I am glad to have helped."

     Anakin glances at her, but her gaze returns to the floor.

     He wishes he could talk with her alone. He isn't even sure when he will get another chance to talk to her again. This mission had been a blessing since they had been able to freely spend so much time together, but now it was over.

     He feels a nudge through the Force and realizes they are allowed to leave now, which means Padmé will be heading home. By this point, she probably has a transport waiting to take her away from the Temple and back to her apartment.

     So, Anakin is quick to suggest that Obi-Wan and Ahsoka go back to their quarters alone, offering to escort Padmé back by himself.

     Obi-Wan and Ahsoka share a knowing look, but Anakin can't find enough strength to care at the moment, and he is soon taking off down the hall with Padmé before they can respond.

     One glance at Padmé tells him that her thoughts dwell someplace far, far away, and he slows their pace as one of the grand exits of the Temple appears in his line of sight.

     Just outside the doors, he pauses, tugging on Padmé's hand for a second so that she stops as well.

      He looks around, figuring that there are probably eyes on them that even he cannot sense at the moment, and swallows.

     "Please, take care of yourself," he tells her quietly. "And please don't be upset."

     She can hardly meet his eyes, but she regrets looking away when her gaze lands on the transport waiting for her.

      "He didn't even have a name," she responds, her voice soundly oddly distant to her own ears. 

     She looks up at him then, eyes watery. "Should we have given him a name? So we could have remembered him?"

     Anakin suddenly feels like he's suffocating a little. 

     "I don't know," he answers honestly. "I don't know."

    She eyes the transport again and begins to feel time running out.

     "But one thing I do know is that he'll be at this Temple one day," he points beside him. "And I'll be able to tell you all about him and how much he's grown. Who knows, maybe you'll even get to see him one day."

     "Will you even be able to recognize him?"

     "Sure I will. If I couldn't sense him, I'd definitely notice his curly hair."

     That makes her smile a little, mostly because she knows how hard her husband is trying to make her feel better so that they can both retain their composure.

     Then, a few younglings walk past them out of the doors to a go to a nearby courtyard.

     Anakin clears his throat, watching them leave, but by the time he faces Padmé again, she is already nodding her head in goodbye.

     "It was a pleasure to go on this mission with you, Knight Skywalker."

      Anakin clenches his fists tightly to refrain from reaching out to her, and bows in response.

     "It was indeed, Senator."

     And with that, Padmé turns away, her back facing him until she reaches the steps of the transport, where she takes one last look back.

      Anakin watches her disappear, and feels an instant loneliness envelop him, despite the hundreds of light presences he feels around him where he stands.

     "Until next time," he whispers.

     And then, he walks away.

                                                                              THE END.