The Way Things Should Be...

Chapter 3: New Beginnings

Obi-wan came in looking to see how Padme was, the ship had been quiet for quite some time and he couldn't find Anakin. He assumed he was keeping himself scarce, letting Padme have her space. He sighed he went to knock on the door before he reached the metal though he heard the sound of one of the babies fussing, not loudly but clearly distressed. Obi-wan rushed in, if the baby wasn't being seen to something must be wrong. As he entered to room, he immediately relaxed, he saw one of the babies sat up, clearly not liking the dark. The glow of night lights evidently not sufficient. Obi-wan smiled to himself going to pick the baby up, soothing him, the baby instantly settling in Obi-wan's arms, smiling out of reflex. It still pulled at Obi-wan's heart. He smiled, pulling his gaze away from the baby, wondering where Padme was, it didn't take him long to find her collapsed on the nearby sofa.
Seeing her cuddled in Anakin's arms took him by surprise. It made him beyond happy to see that they were settling back into normal, things seemed to be in a strong position. Obi-wan looked down to see that the baby had gone back to sleep in Obi-wan's arms. He gently placed the baby back in the crib and crept out of the peaceful room, going over to his own to get some rest himself. The tranquil atmosphere had relaxed Obi-wan significantly. He smiled as he laid his head down, things were looking up for the best. 

Obi-wan woke with a start, the feeling of unease strong in his mind. Anakin. He raced out of his room, he was greeted by a number of sirens and noises, the ship was in distress. He raced over to the cockpit. Anakin was already there, sat piloting. 
"Something hit the ship, we are nearly there, but it's going to be a bumpy landing." Anakin's voice was shaking despite the fact he was trying his hardest to remain calm. The ship was gaining speed, Tatooine rapidly getting closer and closer to the ship. Obi-wan raced over to the co-pilot chair, looking at the ship's systems, everything was failing. Obi-wan tried not to let the fear sink in, but the air in the cockpit was getting thinner and things were heating up. The ship was lighting on fire as they sped into the atmosphere. Obi-wan looked to his left to see Anakin staring directly ahead, focusing on trying to land the ship. Sweat was plastering Anakins face the joysticks shaking too much to get any real grip or accuracy. 
Anakin was running out of time to get this landing. 
The last thing Obi-wan saw was Anakin racing towards him to protect him. 

The ship crashed. The wreckage was mostly in the front of the ship where the two Jedi had been. Padme woke to find her two children bruised, and her heart jumped to her throat. They were laying still, she scooped them both into her arms only to cry with a brief moment of relief when they stirred in her arms, besides some cuts, scraps, and bruises their cots had protected them from the worst of the crash. Once she had straightened out the room she grabbed her bag and a carrier and began her search for the two Jedi. The doors were flung open, laying on the floor, scorch marks littering them. The corridor was alight with small fires, mostly electrical ones all slowly dying out, contained without the electrics there was very little to keep them burning. Padme continued down the corridor. The gravity clearly wasn't working anymore, the angle of the ship proved that. Padme stumbled until she found daylight. The vast desert laid out before Padme and the anxiety began to set in again. Then she turned around to look at the ship, she felt her heartbreak all over again. She had just gotten Anakin back and now she felt she had lost him all over again. The cockpit was completely submerged in the sand, glass and burning scraps of metal sat on the surface. Padme sunk to her knees, the shock overwhelming her. She never even felt the pair of arms wrap around her until his voice broke the sounds of her sobs. 

"You're okay, we are okay" Anakin's voice was barely even a whisper, the smoke was burning alive in his throat, and everything hurt, he was sure something was broken. But when he saw Padme sobbing outside of the ship none of that pain mattered, he raced over to her without a second thought. 
Through her teary eyes, she looked up, the emotions flooding her changing from distraught anxiety to pure relief. In that moment nothing else existed and Padme reached up to wipe away some of the soot from his cheek before throwing her lips against his. They crashed together and the whole world fell away, Anakin was in pure disbelief, not entirely sure that this was real. He leaned into it all the same meeting Padme's passion. 

Obi-wan looked up at the ship leaving Anakin to comfort Padme, the ship was beyond any repair. Without the cockpit, the central system of the ship was destroyed. Obi-wan sighed, at least they could get a lot of resources out of what was left. Obi-wan began to look at their surroundings, on the horizon was a village, full of life even as the suns were setting. The night wouldn't offer much comfort, no real understanding of what would be ready to pounce out of the shadows, uneasiness sat in Obi-wan. He looked east of the ship sat in the distance was a cave, protection, or at least shelter. Obi-wan walked back over to the couple. They looked up as Obi-wan's shadow entered the couple's embrace, tears still in their eyes but smiles plastered on their faces. 

"The ship's damage is beyond any repair, but we can salvage a lot and that should see us a fair way into our time here. There is a cave not far from here that can offer us shelter for the night, Anakin, go search the ship for any valuable resources, food, etc. and I will go scout out the cave. Padme, if you could keep the children quiet until we reach the cave that would be an amazing miracle and will help us regain some stealth, the crash will have caused some attention already."

The three of them stared off to the village on the horizon, things still seemed very quiet which flooded them all with a little bit of relief. They stayed there staring out at the peaceful scene before them before turning their attention towards their tasks. 

As Padme sat, looking over the sleeping babies, Anakin made his way back into the wreckage. Most of the fires were beginning to die out, however, that didn't make scavaging through the ship any easier. The ship was still sparking and falling apart. Occasionally the floor would shift as it settled further into the sand. Anakin made his way to the main storage unit and began to pack things away, he was cautious to not use the force, despite how easy it would make things, especially when there was so much to carry, Order 66 was still in place and using the force for something so straightforward wasn't worth the risk. 
Despite the challenges, Anakin emerged 40 minutes later with enough rations clothes, and items of value to last them at least a few months. Bruised burned and tired all Anakin could think of was resting. Unfortunately, the uneasiness he felt in Obi-wan released whatever adrenaline was left in his system as he raced over to the cave.

A/N: Happy Christmas guys! Sorry, this chapter took so long, got really distracted with college! Hopefully, I can get a few more chapters in before New Years'!