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Padmé Amidala-Skywalker rests in the living room of the Varykino Villa. Soft pillows in luxurious fabrics around and beneath her help lessen the discomforts of this late stage of her pregnancy. She is wearing a blue nightgown, fabric comfortable enough but not so luxurious that a stain would be disastrous. She finds it more of a relief than she thought it would be to no longer have to engage in the sartorial trickery necessary to hide the fact of her pregnancy from the galaxy.
After Padmé declared the death of Palpatine and the rule of herself and her husband before the Senate, she and Anakin immediately went to Naboo. She knew that it wouldn’t be long until she gave birth, and she had wanted nothing more to do so on Naboo, with Anakin by her side, without the pressure of secrecy.
She has nothing to worry about here, she thinks as she gazes at the gorgeous lake view visible through the living room window. She is jolted out of her admiration of the verdant flora and brilliant blue waters of the Naboo Lake Country by the sound of the living room door opening.
Her husband Anakin steps into the room, smiling as he catches sight of her, the edges of his robes swishing as he moves. The scene is nostalgic, she thinks, recalling all the times they were able to steal away to her Coruscant apartment to spend time away from prying eyes. Anakin looks calm and happy, Padmé notices. It is a welcome change from the pervasive tiredness and worry that overwhelmed his manner during the war.
Even now that their love does not lie in the shadows of secrecy, each reunion with Anakin feels no less wonderful than at the beginning of their romance, she thinks as he takes a seat on the couch beside her.
“Are you alright?”Anakin says, yellow eyes wide with a worry that is thankfully more similar to the ordinary worry of a husband for his pregnant spouse than the all-consuming panic that accompanied the vision he received the night she told him about her pregnancy.
“I’m just fine,” Padmé replies, with an edge of playfulness, “I wasn’t going to disintegrate in the time it took you to check on the medical arrangements for the birth.”
“You’re right,” he says affectionately, “I know that you and the little girl are going to be just fine.”
“I agree. He’s going to be just fine,” she replies, hand laid atop her pregnant belly. “Why do you feel so strongly that it’s going to be a girl?”
“Because I know that she’s going to be kind and brave, just like her mother,” he replies.
Padmé is halfway to a teasing retort when she notices the look in Anakin’s eyes. The yellow color of his eyes previously only called to mind the dark side and the Sith, but as he gazes at her in utter adoration they are instead akin to the stars that compose the galaxy, brilliant and life-giving.
“Well, I know that he’s going to be a boy because I know that he’s going to be brave and loving, just like his father,” Padmé says.
“That’s fair,” Anakin replies.
Just as he finishes speaking, Padmé feels a spreading dampness in her crotch. The cause is evident to her. She’d been expecting that she would be giving birth soon, after all.
“I think my water’s breaking,” she says. As soon as she speaks, Anakin springs into action, calling for the medical droids in the other room.
In the end, we were both right, Padmé Amidala-Skywalker thinks. The birth went smoothly, if not swiftly, the only hiccup being the discovery that she was expecting not one baby, but two. The medical droids that had been brought to the Varykino Villa and the midwife she had her handmaidens vet were able to handle the surprise well.
She casts her gaze towards the right side of the bed, where Anakin sits. He looks as tired as she feels, clothes and hair somewhat disheveled. He sat with her the whole time she was in labour, holding her hand. She’s grateful for this fact. The sight of the dark circles beneath his eyes brings to mind how not so long ago, she was afraid that she would be giving birth alone. That the fear brought on by his force visions would drive her Ani away from her for good.
Next, Padmé gazes downward at the faces of her children, chubby-cheeked and healthy. Just a few minutes ago, her and Anakin had named them. The baby on her left arm, Luke, stares up at her, blue eyes half-lidded with tiredness. This is a marked contrast to baby Leia on her other arm, whose brown eyes are wide and alert, scanning the room.
She is struck by the wonder of them, these two little miracles she has brought into the world. And even better, as empress of the galaxy she will have the power to make sure that her children will never know war the way that her and Anakin did. Staring at Luke and Leia as exhaustion leadens her eyelids, she swears that she will build that peaceful, just new order for them to live in.
Anakin Amidala-Skywalker feels relief as Padmé peacefully falls asleep with both babies in her arms. He witnessed how the delivery exhausted her, and he’s glad she’s sleeping well. He knows a thing or two about living on too little sleep. Even with his ability to draw on the force to keep going, it was still unpleasant.
His face turns to awe as he gazes at the sleeping form of Padmé and the babies. She’s just fine, and the last lingering wisp of the worry provoked by his force vision of Padmé’s death in childbirth dissipates. He could probably use some sleep, he thinks, taking in the night sky outside the window facing the bed, blue-black with a strip of pale orange along the horizon foretelling the dawn.
But first, he decides to take a look at Luke and Leia. Anakin moves closer, leaning over the bed to get a clearer view of them. As soon as his eyes meet theirs, his heart rejoices. He knows immediately that he would burn down the galaxy for the sake of these two babies, star-bright in the force. He is then struck by wonder at the simple fact that his and Padmé’s children were born free. They will never know bondage, Anakin resolves, not if he can help it.