Chapter Text
"If it's a boy, what about Theron?"
"What does that mean?"
"Hunter."
He gave her a slight side eye. "What about something brighter? Like here, the place he gets to grow up. Away from the Jedi and politics and the separatists." His face darkened slightly on the last word, as it tended to.
"Or her."
"Right. But boy names first."
"Ok." She smiled a him. "How about Luke?"
"What's it mean?"
"Light" she said, as she traced his arm that wrapped around her, hand resting on her stomach.
"I love it."
"Luke." She tested the name out. "I do too."
"Leia."
"What?"
"Leia. For a girl." He clarified. "That is if you like it."
"It's perfect." she sighed. And it was. It fit, like a puzzle piece into place.
But that was the last time anything felt like it would ever fit.
-------------------------
Padme sighed, waking from her jaunt down memory lane to the cries of one of her twins.
She stood and walked over to the cribs in the corner of her private office. Luke had woken and wondered where she went. At least this time he hadn't thrown a pen at her. That had been one heck of a way to learn her son was force sensitive. She picked him up and bounced him, thinking back to her earlier memories.
She didn't have much time to miss him these days, but after 13 months, she had learned how to focus on the time before he fell dark and died. At first she'd wondered how she could have let him became such a radically different person, but she eventually realized that blaming herself wouldn't help the rebellion.
At one point she confided with Obi Wan, wondering how they'd missed him breaking. He'd eventually broken and whispered something about a dream like world called Mortiss and Anakin falling to protect Obi Wan and Ahsoka. He also mentioned dreams about her dying. They both remembered his mother dying and had watched the emperor get creepily close to him over time.
Padme tried so hard to understand. But somedays she wished she could hate him. Others she wished she could have tried to talk to him again. Still others she wished she could smack him with a book. But at the end of the day, if she let herself think about him for too long, she felt like she was sitting in a corner, haunting the world, like she wasn't quite alive without him.
It had emptied her and left her alone. Was there supposed to be some perspective earned?
Her husband was gone, leaving her to pick up the pieces of a mess he created in a twisted effort to save her.
Everything that she had spent years trying to save had burnt at his hands and now she had to sweep up the ashes alone. He had left her alone and now everything looked the way she felt: like shades of gray with all life leached away.
She was frozen, stuck like static. And the only thing keeping her from slipping over the edge were her children. The last innocent scrap of Anakin she had left.
And they needed her.
They needed her, so she fought on for them. She sat in the ashes and built. Right where she started, rebuilding the frame of a new republic, supporting a rebellion to win back the galaxy she tried so hard to hold together.
"Padme, we need you in a meeting."
She turned to see Obi Wan and Sabe in the door.
"Obi Wan, I"
"I can watch them for a bit." Sabe added. "I finished up with my report to the rest of the council 5 minutes ago. Obi Wan can catch you up."
"Thank you Sabe."She nodded as the woman stepped forward to take Luke. "Obi Wan, I still don't think we are ready to lead that raid on the stronghold on Naboo yet. I think we need to increase supplies first, raiding the outer rim supply chain to Mandalore first might be enough, but not yet."
"I agree Padme. Hopefully with Mon Mothma and Bail on board, we can convince the rest of the shareholders to divert resources to the Mandalore mission and better plan the Naboo stronghold attack. Ahsoka will probably need to go, what with her being familiar with the planet and all. I'm still banned of course."
"Of course."
They both pretended like he still cared about being banned and that he was not, in fact, avoiding the planet because he was too afraid to see Satine everywhere. Losing Anakin so soon after Satine was devastating. He still wouldn't talk about her. But that suited them both just fine.
They continued the walk in a mutual silence.
As they entered the council's private meeting space, they both straightened, putting on a new face.
"There you are Ms. Amidala." Bail Organa called out. "Thank you for retrieving her, Obi Wan."
"Now that we are all here, we should discuss the Naboo mission."
"As I've said before I think we need more supplies, supplies that the Mandalore raid would yield. Not to mention a new class of trainees should come in in 9 days." Padme interjected.
"I agree" Obi Wan seconded.
"There are rumors of Darth Vader in the Outer Rim,"
"The Outer Rim is a large place." Obi Wan responded, effectively shutting down that train of thought.
"Let's vote." Mon Mothma added, trying to make something of the tedious meeting.
"All in favor for the Naboo raid in 3 days."
Hands went up, and the number was jotted down.
"All in favor of the 11 day timeline with the Naboo raid."
The process repeated
"All abstaining."
Once again, hands went up.
The results were written down and a young girl of about 9 ran up with the paper clutched in her hand. She passed the result to Padme.
Padme took a deep breath and unfolded it.
11 days
She sighed in relief, and passed the paper to Obi Wan. He glanced at the paper and gave it to Mon Mothma.
"The Mandalore raid will go ahead as planned with the Naboo mission in 11 days."