Chapter Text
Smoke rose into the purple twilight sky above the towers and domes of Naboo. Bells rung out across the heavy evening air, marking the passing of the slow procession. Thousands of candles flickered in the low light, illuminating the despairing faces of the citizens of Theed. Mourners and onlookers, family and friends, politicians and paupers lined the streets, dressed in black, paying their respects as the open casket was moved towards its final resting place. Smoke and dark shadows moved on the water as mourners travelled by boat to see her face one final time.
Their beloved queen and senator appeared as if asleep, frozen in time with an ethereal appearance. White flowers and pearls adorned her brown curls, and a deep blue dress covered her resting body. Her white hands lay across her still swollen stomach, as she and her child had of course, perished in the delivery.
Amidst the shadows under an archway, a dark figure stood. He used an unfamiliar mechanical hand to hold onto the wall beside him. His awkward, painful new legs and heavy boots kept him rooted to the cobblestone floor. The red lens in his mask obscured him from seeing her face properly, despite the zoom function. She was so far away, he could not even be sure it was Padmé. Maybe it was all some terrible mistake...Stretching out with the Force, he hoped, prayed, that somehow, she was still alive. He couldn’t have killed her like his Master told him, it wasn’t possible.
His senses reached out to that awful casket, and yet, he felt nothing. Not even an essence of her or the once bright signature of their child.
The respirator that allowed him to breathe stuttered. If he still had tear ducts, he could have wept until there was nothing left of him anymore. He couldn’t stay another minute. With agonising pain in his new suit, and a greater sorrow than he’d ever known possible, the newly named Darth Vader turned and left Naboo for the last time.
ooooo
“We’ll have to think of some aliases,” said Obi-Wan quietly. “For us at least, I think Luke and Leia will be alright.”
Padmé was silent, gazing off into the blue lines of hyperspace, her mind far away. Obi-Wan glanced at her, another wave of guilt rising within him. It still didn’t seem real that what had happened, had happened. He couldn’t believe that they were having to go into hiding, to escape from a man who was until so recently, his brother, and Padmé’s husband. It still hadn’t sunken in.
“I’m going to check on the twins,” he said, getting up from the pilot’s seat just so he had something to do.
Padmé didn’t respond and he didn’t blame her. She had barely said a word since he, Yoda and Bail Organa had organised their escape and held her fake funeral. The vital suppressant had done its job. He remembered taking one during the Clone Wars, it wasn’t a pleasant experience on a healthy body, let alone one that had just given birth. He wondered at her remaining strength, and hoped it would be enough for the long, difficult and unknown journey ahead of them.
Obi-Wan walked to the back of the ship and a panel slid open that revealed a darkened room. The newborn babies were sound asleep in their cot, the gentle hum of the engines acting as a soothing lullaby for them. Though Obi-Wan knew next to nothing about babies, he had learnt very quickly that they did not sleep or stay awake for long periods of time. It seemed that they had already woken, cried, been fed, had their bottoms cleaned and gone back to sleep ten times since entering hyperspace a few hours ago.
Anakin’s, they are Anakin’s, he thought to himself as he looked down at their small pink faces.
Their Force signatures were very small, but undeniably there. So bright and innocent, like tiny stars. He marvelled at it, and prayed that Anakin, wherever he was, could not sense them. Yoda had given him instructions, much to his disbelief, that Qui-Gon would contact him through the Force very soon. He hoped that he could learn from him how to cloak the twin’s signatures as they grew, so that they could not be found. It was his biggest worry, that somehow, they would be noticed and taken away. It would kill Padmé.
His mind began to wander to Anakin, and what had happened to him, but he stopped himself. It would not do to dwell on that. Right now, he had to be strong for his friend and her children. He had to step up and look after them all. It was the least he could do for failing with Anakin. He took another look at the twins to make sure they were alright, and then headed back to his seat.
It was still a long while to go before they reached their new home, the planet Bakura. Yoda had suggested it to them as it was far from the Core worlds on the edge of the Outer Rim, and was formerly part of Wild Space. Apparently, it was mostly rural, with plenty of empty land in which to start a small homestead away from prying eyes. Obi-Wan remembered the planet vaguely from the early days of the Clone Wars. He had been there to fight Grievous with a much younger Anakin, only a short while after the battle of Geonosis. How long ago that all seemed now.
Yoda had also told them both that it had a fairly large capital, Salis D’aar, but as far as cities go, it was still small and wouldn’t attract much interest from Sidious’ new ‘imperial’ forces, who were until so recently, their Republic clone soldiers. It had a workforce of primarily farmers. Obi-Wan wondered how on earth he was going to find work in such a place. He had plenty of skills in fighting, negotiation, leading troops into battle… not so much in milking banthas or running a vegetable stand.
Going back into the cockpit, he glanced across at Padmé again, wondering just how they were going to survive on Bakura with no jobs, two newborns and the new Sith empire hot on the trail for any trace of Force-sensitivity in the galaxy. He had to keep them all protected, and fed, and housed, and happy and loved? Would the twins see him as their father? Would they ever know of Anakin? A wave of pain and guilt came over him again. His failure with his Padawan had led to this. If he had been a better teacher to Anakin, Padmé would still have her husband, and the twins would still have a father.
Obi-Wan had felt great loss throughout his life, but this was by far the worst of all. He thought of the Jedi temple in flames, of the High Council, the Masters, the Padawans and the younglings. How could it be that they were no more? How could he bear the guilt, of all those lives lost, because of him?
A gentle hand settled on his arm. Obi-Wan looked up into Padmé’s soft, empathetic eyes. He didn’t realise that he had begun to cry. He briskly wiped at his eyes, and intertwined his fingers with hers, offering a teary smile.
“We’ll be alright Padmé. It may seem impossible right now, but we’ll be alright, you, me and the twins, I promise you.”
“I’m glad you’re with us,” she said quietly, giving his hand a slight squeeze and the smallest of smiles. She leaned back in her seat. “And you’re right,” she sighed. “It does seem impossible.”
ooooo
The family finally arrived on Bakura early in the morning, when the sun was a slim glimmering disk barely visible above the capital city’s skyline. The air was crisp, cool and misty. The early light gave the buildings a deep lavender hue, broken up by bright neon shop signs glowing in vivid yellows, reds and blues through the mist and vehicle fumes.
The Salis D’aar spaceport was busy and full of life despite the early hour, but miraculously, the twins slept, secure in a snug sling that kept them secured close to Padmé’s chest and heartbeat. She wrapped her arms around her children as the small family and their meagre supply of luggage made their way to the trade desk to sell their ship. They wouldn’t be needing it anymore and they needed every Wupiupi coin they could get, as Republic credits would do no good so far away from the Core planets. Obi-Wan managed to strike a good deal with a Bakuran human salesman, and they left with a sizeable amount of money in which to start their life when combined with the support funds they had received from Bail.
The Viceroy had also left them some information regarding a useful contact in the city, an old human friend called Parga who would help them find a small house and some land. By the end of the day, the family had bought a remote rural property on the other side of the planet, far from the lights of the city and the dangers it held. At dusk, they were on their way, speeding over the landscape in Parga’s goods transport ship. They watched with a strange disconnection as dark forests and bright sunset lakes passed by out the window, not really believing that this would be their home for the next twenty years or more.
In the early hours of the morning they reached their destination. By the light of the moons they could see a single storey old-fashioned cottage flanked by trees and many overgrown shrubs and bushes that sprawled onto the long grassy meadow that was the front garden. They thanked Parga, and he left them with some more emergency contacts, then he was off, flying up into the black night leaving them suddenly very, very alone.
It was cold, and the twins were starting to fuss as they approached the small house. Exhausted, the pair brought their luggage inside and looked around for a light or the energy generator. Finding neither in the dark, Obi-Wan made a good old-fashioned fire in the small fireplace that occupied the corner of the living room.
With the cheery blaze going, he managed to find a saucepan in the dark kitchen and cooked some of their supplies over it whilst Padmé breastfed the twins. They had a small meal and stared drowsily into the hypnotic fire as the twins dozed back into sleep in Padmé’s sling. He noticed her eyes drooping and rolled up his cloak to prop behind her head as a pillow. Padmé smiled her thanks and was soon asleep, nestled in the corner of the sofa.
Once Obi-Wan was sure they were comfortable and that the twins were not in danger if Padmé were to move in her sleep, he took a look around the property, using his lightsaber for illumination. The front door led straight into the kitchen, with a thick wooden table, some basic equipment that looked a few millennia out of date to him, and plenty of cobwebs in every corner. A window above the large kitchen sink looked out across the front garden. The living room was directly behind the kitchen through an archway and down a step. It had a sofa, a chest of drawers and the fireplace. To the right of the kitchen were two bedrooms, the larger of the two had a double bed covered in dust and a few bits of wooden furniture, with a large window and a vase of long dead flowers sitting on the side.
The second bedroom was smaller, with only one bed inside which was equally dusty and moth-bitten. It also had a window and a wooden chest of drawers. There was no baby crib, he would have to get creative with that. The walls appeared to be made of some local stone mix, and the floors were wooden. Compared to the suites on Coruscant and the Jedi Temple, it was like going back in time.
There was a fresher next to the bedrooms, again it was basic and Obi-Wan had no idea how the water system would work. A problem for tomorrow, he thought. The final room was a basement, which Parga had said was well hidden behind the house under a hatch covered in grass. It was hard to find, and Obi-Wan was pleased that the house came with a such a hiding place. The basement was dank, smelly and full of crates of very old looking alcohol.
The view from the back of the house was just a mass of dark and tangled trees mixed with patches of open grassland and sky. He would definitely explore their plot of land further when the sun came up.
Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair as he thought of everything he would have to do tomorrow as he went back inside. He didn’t want Padmé to have to worry about anything; she already had enough on her plate. Parga had told them there was a small village a few miles walk away with a small school, a butcher, farm shop, pharmacy and a few amenities. He would have to go and get some supplies, and see if he could find a job somehow. Feeling utterly exhausted by everything that had happened, and that he still had to do, the Jedi entered the living room and sank down on the sofa, staring into the flames.
The slow, even breathing beside him drew his gaze away from the fire to Padmé’s face. The woman was deeply asleep, as were the twins, who were nestled against her, their bodies warmed and comforted by their mother’s proximity and scent. Padmé’s arms were held protectively around them, her head falling to the side slightly. The firelight cast her skin in a warm flickering glow, and he found himself admiring the shapes of her features before he could stop himself. He had always found her beautiful, but now was not the time to think about such things.
Obi-Wan knew he was going to have to become the twin’s mentor and train them in the ways of the Force, but that didn’t mean he’d become their father, and he definitely wouldn't become Padmé’s partner, despite the new identities they’d been given. On paper, they were now husband and wife: Ben and Priya Kayla. They had been married a long time and had two children Leia and Luke. Obi-Wan shook his head at the idea, marvelling with a detached feeling at how his life had taken such a direction. He was here to protect them only, and nothing more. With this firmly in his mind, he went about putting out the fire and safeguarding the house. Tomorrow would be a long day.