Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Padmé Amidala knew that she was not going to die. She couldn’t die. Not with the rise of the empire and the birth of her and Anakin’s twins. Luke and Leia. She was not letting any stupid reasons get rid of her in the galaxy. No matter how cursed her life was. Padmé knew she couldn’t die. Naboo and the galaxy was counting on her. She couldn’t.
When Padmé regained her consciousness, there was a medical droid over her. She looked up and saw Obi Wan Kenobi, Master Yoda and Bail Organa standing outside the room. Obi Wan and Bail each holding one of her twins. Anakin’s twins. The twins she almost died for.
“You’re awake.” The medical droid declared as Obi Wan and Bail hurriedly ran into the room.
“Are they alright? The twins?” Padmé asked weakly.
“They’re perfectly healthy.” The droid said as Obi Wan carefully put the baby into her hands.
“This one’s Luke.” Obi Wan said. Padmé looked into Luke’s eyes and saw Anakin. The man she loved. Bail carefully gave her the other twin.
“Leia.” Padmé said lovingly. She barely remembered giving birth, as the droid told her she passed out just after naming them. Padmé held the twins and she knew for certain.
I’m not dying until this Empire is destroyed. For good.
Padmé travelled to her home, Naboo, on the ship with everyone. She wasn’t ready to get back to work yet. She wanted the twins to see her beautiful she had almost died for multiple times. When she got there, all her handmaidens were waiting for her. Sabé loved them instantly.
“This one’s looks exactly like you!” She said, cooing over Leia. Dormé and Ellé were playing with Luke, even though he was completely asleep. Padmé smiled to herself, something she rarely did. The clone wars didn’t leave much time for smiling. The clones had terribly rights, the war was harming the citizens, the senate was arguing everyday about the best way to stop it, and Padmé was caught in the middle of a situation where her opinion was always the minority. It was nice to be back with her handmaidens. They would be able to take good care of the twins while she got to work attempting to figure out all about this empire. The senate had been reformed into an Imperial Senate. Padmé winced at it. The place she had fought numerous battles, made many friendships, and lived most of her life during the war, had been rebranded into nothing but a piece of imperial shit. Chancellor Palpatine had self appointed himself the Emperor, and then she found Vader. She knew instantly that it was Anakin. The Emperor’s right hand man. He was wearing a black hazmat looking suit and didn’t look a single thing like the man she married. Padmé couldn’t help but imagine what Obi Wan did to him. She sat on one of her couches and hugged a pillow to herself chest. She barely moved for days. Dormé gave her food and Padmé ate it before falling back into the depressive state she couldn’t get out of. She moved around her home like a ghost. Meanwhile clones were loosing more rights by the day and the galaxy fell into despair. Her handmaidens were caring for the twins while she walked around like a ghost. A ghost where one of the most radiant people in the galaxy used to be. There was 1 thing that made her snap out of it. Mon Mothma came to visit her on Naboo in her depression, and she showed Padmé how bad it became.
“The clones are no longer the military?” Padmé said with disbelief.
“Riyo has been fighting for their rights the whole time. Apparently there have been multiple assassinations on different clones who stepped out of line. They got disbanded because Riyo gave evidence that Rampart destroyed Kamino and they couldn’t make any more.”
“Mon, have you heard anything about CT-7567 of the 501st legion? Or anyone from the 501st actually?”
“They were the ones who raided the temple and killed the Jedi who were there. Not all of them, there were a lot on Mandalore with Commander Tano.”
Padmé sat in disbelief.
“I am coming back to the senate, Mon.”
Padmé did not think ahead about the twins. Most of her handmaidens stayed on Naboo because Padmé dismissed them from service. She didn’t think they were needed, and she didn’t want to ruin their lives by making them join a rebellion they didn’t necessarily want to be a part of. She kept Sabé on though, and she said that they were free to serve her if they wish whenever she goes back to Naboo. Padmé realised on her first session upon her return that she had 2 babies that she couldn’t leave on their own and no one to take care of them. She left C3PO and R2D2 to take care of them during her first meeting. R2 attempted to starve them and 3PO was too scared to get near them. Padmé knew she couldn’t do that again and went to talk to her only current friends about it.
“You left 3PO to take care of babies?” Bail said dramatically. “He can’t get near blaster fire without cowering away and you expect him to deal with children? Just give me one of them and I’ll say I’m babysitting for a cousin who has gone away or something. I refuse to let 2 innocent children be raised by Anakin’s hell droids.”
“I can take care of the other one if you want.” Riyo said with a smile. Padmé smiled for the first time since her return. Wasn’t much to smile about nowadays.
“Thank you so much. You guys are the best of friends!”
“No problem!”
So Padmé gave up her children. Not permanently at all. Leia stayed with Bail Organa and his wife, Breha during the day while she was working and Luke stayed with Riyo. Padmé knew that Riyo had some of her close friends take care of Luke while she was working but if Riyo trusted them, Padmé trusted them. At the end of the work day, Padmé would collect the twins and take them back to her home. It was important that no one found out they existed. Someone would figure out that they were Anakin’s and they would get taken away. They were bounced around and somehow, it worked. No one questioned the children. They were safe.
4 months later, they had settled into a rough routine. Wake up, feed the twins, drive to Bail’s and give him Leia and then pass Riyo’s on the way to the senate. Read on the new laws passed and compare them to the republic’s laws. Go home and pick up the children on the way. Tell them stories and go to bed. Padmé’s life was stable for the first time since before the war, before she became a senator, before she became the queen. She didn’t expect all of that to be uprooted in a single day.
She was at the senate. There was a super important debate that day about a legislation to attempt to allow the new elite stormtroopers to shoot any civilian if they are suspected of treason against the empire. This was so important to the empire that the emperor showed up for the first time since the legislation to remove the clones was put into place. The only problem was that this time, Darth Sideous wasn’t on his own. He took his lapdog with him.
Padmé was already stressed enough about this meeting. The stormtroopers could not be allowed to shoot anyone they wanted. That was common sense. Anyone who voted for it, Padmé knew she was going to avoid for the rest of her life. But she wasn’t expecting to see the man she hadn’t seen since he choked her and left her for dead.
When Padmé saw Vader standing next to Palpatine, she froze. There was no way that Vader could be here. He apparently was giving a statement for this new law. Padmé couldn’t even speak at all. She was standing there, looking at her husband, well ex husband, try and destroy everything she fought for during the war. An end to the war. An end to suffering. In his own free will. Padmé closed her eyes and whispered “Please.” Over and over again in hope that he would leave, that he would turn back into the Anakin she fell in love with on Naboo, all those years ago. But when she opened her eyes, she could have sworn that he was staring straight at her.
The moment the meeting ended, Padmé bolted. She wasn’t paying attention to if it passed. She picked up Luke from R2 and Leia from 3PO and walked straight to Bail’s office door and attempted to knock, seeing as she was carrying a child in each hand. Eventually she just yelled “Bail! Bail I need you!” And he heard her. He opened the door and Padmé stormed in, put the twins down onto his couch, and started pacing the room.
“I can’t do this. I can’t. I cannot watch as the galaxy dissolves into chaos. I don’t want to let that horrible machine of a man that is Vader murder anyone. I can’t.”
“What are you going to do about it? You can’t come out and say the empire is bad!”
“We have positions of power, Bail. Us, and Mon, and Riyo. We are some of the highest ranking people in the galaxy. Don’t you think that we can get information that could help other people do the fighting?”
“What are you suggesting?”
“We find someone who wants to start a rebellion. There are probably lots. We feed them information and possibly funding, and we build up from there ground. Then we strike the empire right in its heart. You in?”
Bail stared at Padmé.
“Well, of course.”