I stood, staring at his decapitated body for a couple seconds. I felt something in me, a raw power that I didn’t know. The feeling was completely alien to me, but I could still feel the anger.

The same anger that I had let flow through me the night I murdered all the Tusken Raiders.

I heard Palpatine’s voice as if from far away. I stood there, breathing hard and staring at Dooku’s body. “You did well,” Palpatine said with finalization in his tone. Without realizing I’d did it, I used the Force to release the shields over Palpatine’s wrists.

“He was too dangerous to be left alive,” Palpatine continued.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” I murmured as if to myself. “He was an unarmed prisoner. He had nothing to defend himself against. I shouldn’t have done that, it’s not the Jedi way,” I said. I stared at the floor, getting a sick feeling in my stomach. I wasn’t just talking about killing Dooku.

Killing the Tusken Raiders had been wrong too. Very wrong, sick…I could hear their screams around me as if it was that awful night again.

“It is only natural. He cut off your arm, you wanted revenge and you got it. It isn’t the first time. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Tusken Raiders?” he asked me. He stood up and looked at me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable.

How could I have forgotten? Palpatine had been the only person I could tell about what I had done. No one else would understand. A Jedi is supposed to let go of his anger and fear and let compassion and the Force replace that. I couldn’t do that when my mother died. That was a mistake, a grave mistake that no Jedi would be able to understand.

Not even Obi-Wan.

All my fear for Obi-Wan’s life returned and I ran over there to him. I used the Force to lift the platform off of him and tossed it to the side.

“Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive,” Palpatine said. He was on his way out when he realized that I hadn’t been following him. He stopped and turned. “The ship is falling apart…we must get out of here. There’s no time,” he said.

“He seems to be alright. No broken bones, breathing is normal. He might have cracked a few ribs, but I can’t tell yet,” I informed him.

“Leave him or we’ll never make it,” he said, looking at me.

“His fate will be the same as ours,” I replied. I picked Obi-Wan up and hauled him over my shoulders. When I stood up, at first I staggered over his weight. I called to the Force, and at once I stood up straight. Together, Palpatine and I walked out of the chambers and down a short hallway. At the very end, there was a line of elevators.

Using one hand to hold Obi-Wan up and another to activate the elevator, I realized the elevator wasn’t working.

“Elevator’s not working,” I muttered. I used my left hand (the hand that wasn’t holding Obi-Wan) to grab the handheld comlink. “R2, do you copy?” I asked. He beeped a short reply. “Activate elevator three-two-two-four,” I continued.

The doors opened at the same time that the ship shifted. Palpatine fell, but I managed to catch him and hoist him to his feet. I grabbed the edge of the elevator doors and called into the comlink, “R2…Come in…R2!!” The ship suddenly moved sideways. Palpatine and I both managed to grab a hold of the side of the doors. I pulled myself in and used the Force to help me keep Obi-Wan with me. I stood up to see that the elevator shaft was completely sideways. It was now a long horizontal hallway.

“We have to be fast. We can’t wait; we have to get passed here before R2 activates the elevator. Come on!” I yelled to Palpatine. Together, we both ran down the elevator shaft as fast as we could. I completely called to the Force so that I wouldn’t stumble under Obi-Wan’s weight.

About halfway through the elevator shaft/hallway, we still hadn’t reached the stop we needed to, when the ship moved again. As the ship leveled out, the elevator shaft began moving back to its vertical up-and-down position. Running became impossible and soon we started falling. I sensed a handhold and grabbed onto it. Palpatine grabbed onto my ankle with Obi-Wan still on my shoulder.

I sensed he was about to come to at any moment. Obi-Wan shook his head. “Whoa!” he yelled after seeing the shaft going down below us.

“Hold on,” I told him.

Immediately, he grabbed onto my shoulders tightly. “Did I miss something?” he asked me, dumbfounded.

“We’re in a bit of a situation. Easy,” I told him. Suddenly, I heard screeching above us.

“What…?” Obi-Wan started.

“The elevator!” Palpatine yelled.

“Uh…oops,” I said. “R2, shut down the elevator now! R2!” I yelled into the comlink.

“It’s too late! Jump!” Obi-Wan yelled. I let go of my handhold and we began falling down the elevator shaft. I thought for only a second before thinking about using my grappling hook. Seeming to read my thoughts, Obi-Wan pulled out his at the same time I pulled mine out. We tossed them and they grabbed onto a good pipe. We continued to fall only for about three more seconds before we swung through an open door just as the elevator roared past us.

Obi-Wan landed on top of me and the Chancellor landed just beside us. “Thank you, you caught my landing,” he commented as he jumped off me.

I stood up and gave him a look, rubbing my back. “Can’t say I feel the same, Master,” I answered.

He smiled, “Let’s see if we can find something in the hangar bay that’s still flyable. Let’s go,” he said.

We all trudged after him. “R2 get down here. Do you copy? R2?” I asked into the comlink.

We turned down one hallway. We were all jogging, eager to get out of here as soon as possible. Suddenly, a blue shield appeared before us. When I turned to go back the other way, I realized that it was in a circle all around us.

I crossed my arms and sighed.

Obi-Wan sighed even louder than I did. “Well, that’s great!” he shouted in sarcasm.

“Ray shields,” I muttered.

“Wait a minute! Hold on, how in the blazes did this happen?! We’re a lot smarter than this!” he yelled in exasperation.

“Apparently not, Master,” I told him.

He crossed his arms and looked at me.

“This is the oldest trap in the book…well, I was distracted,” I admitted with a shrug.

“Oh, so all of the sudden it’s my fault, is it?” he asked me.

“You’re the Master. I’m just a hero,” I informed him.

“Well, I apologize for getting us stuck in this ridiculous situation then,” he said with mock sarcasm.

I smiled.

“Well, I’m open to suggestions here,” he said.

“Why don’t we let them capture us and take us to General Grievous,” Palpatine suggested.

Obi-Wan and I stared at him in disbelief with questioning looks.

“Well perhaps with Count Dooku’s demise, we can negotiate our release,” he explained.

We still stared at him. I thought for a second, realizing R2 should be coming in a few minutes.

“I say patience,” I offered after a bit.

“Patience? That’s your grand solution?” Obi-Wan asked again, in disbelief.

“Yes. R2 will be along in a few moments and then he can release the ray shields….” My voice trailed off.

“And if the battle droids reach us first?” he asked me.

“We can take them all out,” I answered.

“And how do you expect we do that from inside the ray shields?” he asked as if he was asking a four year old an obvious question.

“They’ll release the shields then and if they don’t, when R2 comes around he can release the shields before they notice him. By the time they do, we’ll have started killing them,” I explained.

“That’s your plan?” he asked in disbelief.

I nodded, crossing my arms and smiling smugly. To prove my point, R2 squealed in. He was rolling so fast, he hit the corner part of the wall and bounced off. He beeped frustratingly.

“See?” I asked. “No problem,” I informed them. Then we all heard footsteps. I turned to see destroyer droids surround us in the hallway. Following them were some battle droids and behind them were some super battle droids…impossible for us to take out with just Obi-Wan and I. Plus having to protect the Chancellor, too.

The battle droids seized R2 but he zapped one of them in the foot. “Stupid astro droid,” the super battle droid yelled. It hit R2 and knocked him to the ground.

All their guns rose up and pointed at us.

“Do you have a plan B?” Obi-Wan asked me, glaring at me.

I smiled apologetically.

Of course I always have a plan B.

I smiled and laughed at the writer’s comment. I stretched my arms and legs and sat up. C-3P0 came into my room.

“May I take your plate, Princess?” he asked me. I nodded and watched as he took the plate. As he left, my brother came back in behind him.

I smiled at him. “Checking up on me again?” I asked him.

“Well you’ve been reading for an hour and a half since the last time I checked on you. Not to mention you’ve probably been reading for five hours straight since you started,” he guessed.

I shrugged. “It’s really good. Do you know if Ben was related to anyone named Obi-Wan Kenobi?” I asked.

He looked at me with a stunned look.

“Ben Kenobi?” I asked him. Surely he hadn’t forgotten him!

“How’d you…? Where’d you hear that name?” he asked me.

“It’s in the journal,” I admitted.

He walked over and put a hand on the pages of the notebook.

“This Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Jedi apprentice are on a mission rescuing the Chancellor of the Old Senate,” I informed him.

“No...it...It couldn’t be…” he murmured to himself.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“Do you know how many Padawan learners Jedi Knights typically get in one lifetime?” he asked me.

I shrugged. “It doesn’t say. Why?” I asked him.

He read a few lines from the open pages. He looked up as if just then realizing I had spoken. “No reason. Just wondering,” he said quickly. He walked out without another word.

He had that look…the look that he gets when he’s lying to me. Or covering something up. I figured he wouldn’t be hiding anything else from me after…

After what happened four nights ago. I shook it off and turned back to the notebook.

The super battle droids marched us into a large room. General Grievous watched us walk in. A battle droid handed him our lightsabers.

“Ah…General Kenobi, the Negotiator. What a nice surprise. We’ve been waiting for you. So much for your…little rescue!”

“That depends entirely on your point of view!” Obi-Wan said happily. He smiled.

Grievous harrumphed. “And…you,” he hacked at me. He coughed and glared me down, well as much as the droid eyes could, anyway.

“You…’the Hero of the Republic.’ I was expecting someone with a reputation such as yours to be…a little, hmm…older,” he sneered.

“General Grievous…Commander of the Droid Armies…I was expecting someone such as yourself to be…a little taller,” I sneered back. I smiled at him, but my smile turned into more of a smirk than I’d meant it to be.

“We have a job to do, my apprentice. I know it will be hard, but gain some self-control and try not to upset him,” Obi-Wan moaned as if he were giving a lecture to a much younger person.

I glanced his way and sighed. Fine. To the plan then. “R2,” I said.

At that moment, R2 extended all his arms, squealed, shot out electrical pulses and bounced around.

That shocked Grievous enough to get distracted just for a moment. A moment that Obi-Wan took advantage of. He turned around and used the Force to call his lightsaber to his hand. Once it was in his hand, he ignited it and cut the electrical bonds over his wrists. He cut mine and, before Grievous knew what was going on, I called my lightsaber to me. It was in my hand in a second and Obi-Wan and I fought the battle droids back-to-back. We blocked laser fire from all around. I momentarily noticed that the Chancellor was taken by two battle droids.

I started to go his direction, but one of Grievous’ bodyguards stood towering over me. It had an electrical staff in his hands, with each end sparking out electricity. My lightsaber blocked it, but wouldn’t cut through it. The bodyguard swung it around and around. My eyes darted around, watching every one of its movements. I blocked every time it came at me. It swung all the way around in a circle and when it reached back around, it swung the staff to the left and to the right. I blocked both of those attacks and came back to its middle. It blocked my attack.

These things were a lot more sophisticated than I thought. They were way more advanced than simple battle droids. I turned around to my left, attacking the bodyguard to the upper right shoulder. It blocked it and swung around at me. I ducked and came back around to its legs. It blocked it. I swung my lightsaber to its chest, going left, then came back around and went to its chest again, going right. I moved it down toward its lower middle and finally cut it in half.

I turned toward the Chancellor, who was just a few paces behind me. I easily took down the battle droids and cut Palpatine’s binds. I ran over back inside the room where Grievous was telling the small battle droids to keep the ship in orbit.

Obi-Wan and I went around the room, finishing off the few battle droids left. I jumped up and shouted. When I landed, I swung; killing one battle droid then turned around and killed another.

I looked for Obi-Wan and noticed he went to block Grievous off, who was trying to get out. I jumped over there and landed just behind Grievous. I raised my lightsaber up and ready. Obi-Wan mimicked me.

“You lose, General Kenobi!” Grievous shouted. With that, he threw a staff at the large window, knocking it out. Everything around us got sucked into space. All we could do was hold on for dear life. I didn’t have a problem holding my breath and I’m sure Obi-Wan didn’t either. Thankfully something hit the blast shield which covered the window.

I turned around and looked where the window used to be. It was nothing but a wall now.

“It’s too late. He got away,” Obi-Wan told me, seeming to read my thoughts.

The Neimoidian pilots and several battle droids tried to run out. Obi-Wan and I jumped around, killing what few remained and what few tried to escape out the doors. Once they were finished, I tried to keep my balance as the ship shuddered so hard I almost fell. Sparks flew everywhere. I had a feeling if I looked out the front window, I wouldn’t like what I would see.

“The hull is burning up!” Palpatine yelled.

R2 squealed. I glanced around, looking to see where the escape pods were kept. “All the escape pods have been launched,” I said quickly, almost despairingly.

“Grievous,” Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. “Can you fly a cruiser like this?” he asked me.

I looked at him, dumbfounded. He expected me to fly this thing? Well this cruiser shouldn’t be any different than a normal space ship or fighter. Trouble is…there was only about three/fourths of this thing left.

“You mean do I have any idea how to land what’s left of this thing?” I asked him. I took a seat in the pilot’s chair and looked at a screen. Almost to prove me right, on the screen it showed that half the ship just broke away. I almost fell out of the chair as the ship jolted and tilted forward.

“Well?” Obi-Wan asked, sitting beside me.

“Under the circumstances I’d say the ability to fly this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in,” I warned them. Palpatine took a seat and strapped in just as Obi-Wan did the same. R2 took over Palpatine’s controls and got to work.

Obi-Wan and I tried to work on stabilizing the ship. Bits and pieces of the ship started breaking off. I noticed how hot we were. I glanced out the front window to see if we’d reached Coruscant’s atmosphere yet.

No…with how hot it was getting…

“Steady, altitude is eighteen degrees,” Obi-Wan’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Pressure is rising. We’ve got to slow this wreck down. Open all hatches, extend all flaps and drag fins,” I commanded.

“Temperature steady. Hatches open, flaps extended, drag fins…”

Suddenly a large jolt followed by a large screeching noise, like metal scraping against metal, broke of Obi-Wan’s sentence.

“We lost something,” I pointed out, obviously.

“Yes, most of the ship,” Obi-Wan muttered sarcastically.

I glanced his way.

“Oh, don’t worry. We are still flying half the ship,” he let me know. We started picking up speed. I noticed we were getting hotter and hotter, but that was the least of my worries right then.

“Now we’re really picking up speed…I’m going to shift a few degrees and see if I can slow us down,” I said. I pressed on the buttons to change our altitude. I momentarily noticed how hot we were getting.

“Careful,” Obi-Wan started, seeming to read my thoughts. “We’re heating up to twelve-thousand...thirteen thousand…”

“What’s our speed?” I interrupted him.

“Eight plus sixty-forty, eight plus sixty-twenty, eight plus sixty. Temperature ten thousand, nine thousand...”

Our speed was slow enough so I leveled out our altitude, but continued going downward.

“We’re in the atmosphere,” Obi-Wan told me.

I moved my fingers to send a message to incoming ships. I told them who we were, that we had the Chancellor and needed help getting in.

“Grab that,” I told Obi-Wan in answer to what he said about us being in the atmosphere, “keep us level,” I informed him.

“Steady…Steady…” he started.

“Easy R2,” I told him. “Hang on, this may get a little rough,” I told everyone.

Palpatine snorted.

“It hasn’t been that rough,” Obi-Wan started. “I think we’ve had a rather good trip,” he continued.

Palpatine started to say something in response, but I cut him off. “Can we talk about this a little later? We lost our heat shields,” I explained. As if we weren’t hot enough already.

“Five thousand, three thousand…Fire ships on the left and right,” Obi-Wan said.

“We’ll take you in,” one of the pilots said over the comlink.

“Copy that,” Obi-Wan answered him. “Landing strip straight ahead.

“We’re coming in too hot!” I yelled.

“Easy…easy…” Obi-Wan started. We reached ground, just as we reached the landing strip. The ship shook and rattled. The fire ships put water on the outside of the ship enough to cool our temperature as we hit the ground.

R2 was squealing so loud I couldn’t hear Obi-Wan shouting.

We were heading right for an Industrial Lading Platform tower. I grabbed something I’d hoped was the direction control and moved it as hard as I could toward the right.

Whatever I did, it worked. We moved out of the way just in time. The side of the ship scraped passed the tower and took it down, but at least it wasn’t a direct hit. Whosever droids were in there, they’re broken now, I thought.

The ship came to a rather hard stop. Once it stopped, we all took heavy breaths and glanced around.

“Well…another happy landing,” Obi-Wan said, laughing.

I rolled my eyes and stood up. Palpatine stood up behind me. “We’ll cut you out,” a voice said over the comlink.

“Copy that,” Obi-Wan said. They told us to get out of the operation platform and wait closest to the part that had broken off. We did as told and it wasn’t long before they had cut a part big enough on the back of the half-ship so that we could get out. A Jedi Shuttle arrived shortly after and picked us up. The Shuttle took us to the landing platform.

A dozen Senators were there, including Bail Organa and Jar Jar. Even 3P0 was there.

If he was there then…My heart fluttered as the Shuttle stopped. I didn’t notice that Obi-Wan was calling my name.

“Yes, Master?” I asked, standing up. I walked out the door and thought he was behind me, but when I went to talk to him, he wasn’t there. I turned around to find him and he was still at the Shuttle doors.

“Aren’t you coming, Master?” I asked him.

“Oh no, I’m not brave enough for politics,” he said, laughing. “I have to report to the Council,” he explained.

“Hold on,” I interrupted. “This whole operation was your idea!”

“Well someone needs to be the poster boy,” he said, chuckling.

“You led the rescue operation, Master. You have to be the one to take the bows this time,” I protested.

“Sorry old friend. Let us not forget that you rescued me from the Buzz Droids, you killed Count Dooku and rescued the Chancellor, carrying me unconscious on your back. Not including that you managed to land that bucket of bolts safely…” His voice trailed off.

I knew he could go on and on, but I had to protest anyway. “All because of your training, Master. You deserve all those speeches of your greatness,” I tried.

He winced. “Oh…the endless speeches…Let’s be fair, today you were the hero and you deserve your glorious day with the politicians,” he said. “You said yourself that you’re the hero,” he reminded me.

“All right,” I finally agreed. “But you owe me…and not just for saving your skin for the tenth time!”

“Ninth time,” he corrected. “That business on Cato Nemoidia doesn’t count. I’ll see you at the briefing.”

I smiled at him and walked away to where the crowd was gathered. I couldn’t keep the smile on my face for long, as I joined the crowd of Senators.

I wasn’t the hero this time, no matter what anyone said. My thoughts drifted to the death of Dooku. When I saw Master Windu, I tried to compose my thoughts a little out of fear he might sense them, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’d killed Dooku unarmed.

“Chancellor Palpatine, are you alright?” Master Windu asked.

“Yes, thanks to your two Jedi Knights. They killed Count Dooku, but General Grievous has escaped once again,” he explained.

They killed Count Dooku. For some reason, the Chancellors words echoed in my mind. No, I killed Count Dooku. Murdered him just as I murdered the Tusken’s…

I tried to focus on the conversation between the Chancellor and Windu, but my thoughts were rushing around. I busied myself with looking around for Padme. If 3p0 was here, that means that she would probably be here too.

I didn’t see her among the Senators. My heart sunk a little and I focused in my thoughts. I looked back at the Chancellor and Windu.

 “That may be true, but with Count Dooku dead, he is the leader of the Droid Army and I assure you the Senate will vote to continue the war as long as Grievous is alive,” the Chancellor was saying.

Of course they would have to continue the war. Until Grievous was captured anyway. I hoped that wouldn’t be long away.

“Then the Jedi Council will make finding Grievous our top priority,” Windu promised him. As the crowd slowly split up, I walked with Bail Organa.

“The Republic cannot praise you enough,” he congratulated me.

“Thank you, Senator Organa,” I told him. I continued, trying not to let my mind wonder.  “The kidnapping was a bold move by the Separatists, but it was a mistake that Obi-Wan and I were able to take advantage of.”

He nodded. “The end of Count Dooku will surely bring an end to this war and an end to the Chancellor’s draconian security measures,” he said.

I winced at his tone when he spoke of the Chancellor, but said nothing. Maybe Dooku’s death was better for everyone. I swear I will never break the Jedi Code like that again, no matter what. I still can’t tell anyone about it. I only wish I could tell Obi-Wan the truth.

“I wish that were so, but the fighting will continue until Grievous is spare parts. The Chancellor has been very clear on that,” I said.

I didn’t hear what Organa answered. I sensed something, felt something. My heart began racing and a smile stretched on my lips before I could help it.

“Excuse me,” I told Bail. I didn’t listen to what he’d said to that. I ran to a pillar where I knew she would be waiting for me. I ran and picked her up. I spun her around and held her in my arms.

She was safe…she was okay. I was with her again, we were together and in those moments that was all that mattered to me. Grievous, Dooku, Palpatine, my sin against the Jedi Code…None of it mattered to me in that instant.

Nothing but Padme.

I kissed her gently on the lips and held her in my arms. I didn’t want to let her go. She sighed my name and I murmured hers against her hair. I stroked her hair and messaged her cheek.

She breathed deeply and spoke. Hearing her voice sent tremors through my arms. I smiled and couldn’t believe we were together again…finally. At last.

“Thank goodness you’re back!”

“I’ve missed you so much, Padme,” I murmured against her skin. I kissed her lips again.

She pulled away and looked at me. Her hands were on either side of my cheeks. “There were whispers that you’d……that you’d been killed. I’ve been…so worried,” she whispered.

I hugged her and pulled her close to me. But I couldn’t help smiling. “I’m alright. I’m back, I’m here. It feels like we’ve been apart for a lifetime. It might have been if the Chancellor hadn’t been kidnapped. They probably wouldn’t have brought us back from the Outer Rim,” I told her. I went to kiss her again, but she pulled away.

“Wait, not here…” she started.

“Yes here! I’m tired of all this deception. I don’t care if they know we’re married! I love you and I’ve missed you, Padme,” I told her. “That’s all that matters now,” I whispered to her.

“Don’t say things like that. You’re important to the Republic…to ending this war. I love you more than anything, but I won’t let you give up your life as a Jedi for me,” she told me. Her jaw was set. There was no talking her out of this one.

“I’ve given my life to the Jedi order, but I’d only give up my life for you,” I murmured.

“I wouldn’t like that. I don’t think I’d like that one bit,” she teased.

I chuckled and kissed her neck.

“Patience, my handsome Jedi. Come to me later,” she said, playfully. She laughed. I hugged her tight and kept my arms around her. I had forgotten how good it felt to have her in my arms.

She was trembling. I sensed something…I couldn’t place it, but I knew there was something wrong, something really wrong.

“Padme…what’s bothering you? You’re trembling, what’s going on?” I asked her. I held her out so I could look at her face.

She looked down. “Nothing,” she said.

I put a hand under her chin and pulled her face up to look at me. I stroked her gently.

“I’m just excited to see you,” she said.

I could sense something else… “That’s not it, Padme. I sense more…What is it?” I asked her gently.

“Nothing…nothing…” Her voice trailed off and she wouldn’t look at me in the eyes.

“You’re frightened,” I pointed out. She was scared, I could feel it. There was something else……I sensed someone else. I could feel something different. Fear hit me instantly before I could stop it.

“Tell me what’s going on!” I shouted at her. Partly because I needed to know what was going on and partly because I couldn’t seem to control the fear raging inside me. I knew it was dangerous, but I’d already done enough without fear adding to it. I was getting dangerously close to something dark…

Padme started to cry. “You’ve been gone for five months….It’s been very hard for me. I’ve never felt so alone,” she said. Tears fell down her face.

“Is there someone else?” I asked.

“No!” she shouted at me. Her tone shocked me; she was angry. The fear was deep inside me now. I was afraid of losing her. I didn’t want to lose her to someone else.

I could tell she noticed the doubt on my face because she continued. “You’re jealously upsets me so much. I do nothing to betray you, yet you still don’t trust me! Nothing has changed,” she said.

I sighed. “I’m just…afraid of losing you, Padme. That’s all,” I answered her sheepishly.

“I will never stop loving you. My only fear is losing you,” she said.

“It’s just…I’ve never seen you like this. It scares me,” I admitted.

“Something wonderful has happened,” she said. She looked at me for a minute, before continuing.

“Annie, I’m pregnant,” she said.

I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. My heart skipped a beat and…of all the things I had thought it was never because I thought she was pregnant.

“We’re going to have a baby?” I asked her. I smiled, but it seemed too good to be true.

She nodded. “Yes,” she answered with tears in her eyes.

“We’re going to have a baby!” I said, this time a statement. I picked her up, gently and spun her around. I hugged her tight and then looked at her.

“That’s…” I sighed, trying to find the right words. Nothing seemed even close to how great this was.

“That’s wonderful,” I said at last.

“What are we gonna do?” she asked me quietly.

“We’re not going to worry about anything right now, alright?” I asked her. “This is a happy moment. The happiest moment of my life,” I told her. We hugged and I didn’t let her go.

I blocked out all the other thoughts that threatened to suffocate me on our way back home. All I would allow myself to think about was the joyful news…that we were going to have a baby.

Once we reached the apartment, Padme suggested she fix supper. I told her yes immediately—I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.

I jumped into the shower, touching the control panel on the wall. I set the water for hot and set it for massage. Only then, did I allow my thoughts to rush back.

A baby. There was no way we could hide this. Once they found out, I would be kicked out of the Order. A pain deep inside my chest hit me so hard I couldn’t breathe. Being a Jedi was my life. What else was there?

Padme. That much was clear. What would Obi-Wan say? I had lied to him all this time and there was more I hadn’t even told him.

The Tusken Raiders. Count Dooku.