Chapter 2

Obi-Wan Kenobi urged his lizard mount forward. As Boga leaped a small canyon, her Jedi rider parried a stray blaster bolt with his lightsaber. Urging Boga onwards, he slashed at a droid-tank that passed, causing it to flip over and explode behind him. Despite the chaos and confusion that reigned throughout the battlefield, Kenobi felt a strange sense of inner calm. The Force was with him. All of a sudden, the calm evaporated and he felt a disturbance so great it caused him physical pain. Shoved back by the force of the disturbance, Kenobi slipped from his mount, and compensated automatically by slowing his fall. Rolling along the ground, he quickly brought himself to his feet and re-ignited his dropped lightsaber in a quick slash of blue that dismembered the three battle droids that had surrounded him. While he continued to battle, it was almost an automatic response. Something troubled Kenobi. Suddenly he felt the disturbance again, and it felt like a knife in his heart. He dropped to his knees in pain, and realized what it was. Anakin. Obi Wan had always been able to feel Anakin’s emotions when the two of them were in close proximity, but this was a thousand times worse. Obi-Wan felt in Anakin a mix of rage, fear, and pain of such power that it had sent a ripple throughout the Force, lightyears away, to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan recognized the feeling. He himself had felt that pain thirteen years ago when the Sith Lord had murdered his master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan had been but a Padawan then, a padawan of ordinary ability. Anakin was a fully-grown Jedi Knight, and what the emotion might inspire in him sent a shiver of fear through Obi-Wan. Racing back towards the Republic lines, Obi-Wan knew only one thing. He had to return to Coruscant.

Padme paced slowly throughout her apartment. Why hadn’t Anakin come home? Threepio was poddering around the flat, confused by his mistress’s response to Anakin’s absence. Padme had been sure that she had seen Anakin’s speeder approach the apartment before it had taken off towards the Senate building. Why hadn’t he called her? Inside her, the baby gave a little kick, as if feeling its mother’s worry. Despite herself, Padme gave a little smile as the baby kicked again. Suddenly, she gasped in pain and fell over backwards with a scream. Inside her belly, the kicking intensified and the baby struggled inside her womb. Padme gave a shriek of pain as she realized; she was carrying twins, and she was about to give birth. Threepio began to panic, throwing his hands in the air and shouting for help. Padme gave another gasp as the babies struggled so intensely that they threatened to tear her open from the inside. As Threepio rushed for the comm-system, he suddenly went flying across the room with a force that shattered him into pieces. Sparks flew as his round head rolled across the floor, his voicebox sputtering. Padme screamed again and the lights flickered on and off. The babies struggled even more intensely. Padme threw her head back, as she felt the birth process begin. Suddenly, she shrieked again in agony, and the windows of the flat shattered as if an explosive had gone of in the building. The furniture all was blown back into the walls, breaking into pieces. The babies were coming.

Anakin felt the birth of his children as if a lightsaber had cut into his chest. Roused from his grief, he felt Padme’s pain as she went into labor. As Padme shrieked in agony, every fiber of Anakin’s being felt as if it were on fire. He screamed, doubling over in pain beside Mace Windu’s unconscious body. Suddenly, he felt a new presence and realized at the same moment his wife did, the truth. Padme was carrying twins. He felt the babies’ confusion and fright. He had no time to lose. He called his lightsaber to his hand and ran to the shattered window. He called a speeder over to the building as he jumped out the window. A speeder lurched over to the building, stopping just in time for Anakin to fall into it. Anakin could hotwire a speeder in less than a minute, but he didn’t even have time for that. He willed it to turn on, and it did, and he sped of to his and Padme’s building. As he approached, he saw the broken windows of his flat and sent the speeder hurtling upward. As he approached the window, he called on the Force and leaped the last fifty feet, landing heavily on his living room floor. As soon as he landed, he saw Padme. Three emergency droids surrounded her, as well as Captain Typho, Padme’s security chief. As Anakin approached, Typho blocked his way.
“I’m sorry general, but she’s in no condition to receive visitors.”
Anakin’s rage snapped, and he shoved Typho out of the way, the Force sending the unfortunate security officer hurtling across the room to crash into the wall, unconscious. The droids, intent on their task, ignored Anakin’s intrusion as he rushed to Padme’s side. Padme’s eyes were closed, and her breathing was weak. Anakin moaned in anguish and cradled her head, kissing her lips gently.
“Padme...please...wake up...please wake up...” Padme groaned softly.
“Annie?” Anakin’s nightmares flooded his brain, as well as his memories of his mother’s death. Padme’s eyes fluttered open. “We have twins Annie...twins...they’re...” Unable to finish her sentence, she motioned with her head toward the medical droid who Anakin saw was cradling two babies. Anakin’s eyes were flooded by tears. The boy was crying softly and struggling against the droid’s arm, but the girl was quiet, and had already opened her eyes, and was staring intently at Anakin. Padme motioned again to the child. “Annie, bring her to me.” Anakin rose to his feet and took the girl from the medical droid. As he looked into the eyes of his daughter, his grief broke, and he sank to the floor. Padme weakly stroked his arm before turning her head to the baby. “Leia....her name...is Leia...” The medical droid was talking to Anakin, but he couldn’t even hear the words as he felt the truth through the Force. He felt Padme’s life ebbing away from her, slowly. He cradled her head in his arms and kissed her forehead, and Padme reached up and softly caressed his cheek. “Let me see...our son...” The droid, still holding the boy, brought him over and offered him to Padme. Anakin took the boy and held both babies in his arms. Padme smiled weakly and stroked the boy’s face. “Luke...” Anakin sobbed brokenly, and the medical droid took the babies from Anakin’s grasp. He hugged Padme to him, cradling her limp form, as he felt her life slip away second by second. He pressed his cheek to her forehead, and felt his tears fall on her face. Padme put her arms weakly around him.
“Annie..I love...I love you...” She reached up and kissed him softly on the lips, and then fell back, the last of her life leaving her. As she died, Anakin screamed in agony as he felt her death inside him. He pulled her limp body close to his, threatening to crush it, sobbing, crying, screaming as the pain felt like it was ripping his soul in two. He raised his face to the skies and uttered a roar of pain.

Obi-Wan sat silently as the starship roared through space. He sat in the cargo bay, watching the empty space outside, trying to reach out and find Anakin through the Force. Suddenly, without warning, he felt Anakin. Whatever he had felt before, this was a thousand times worse. Anakin’s grief sent Obi-Wan staggering back, and Obi-Wan fell to the ground as he felt the full force of his friend’s agony. Obi-Wan felt back through the Force and the realization of what had happened went through him like a knife. He saw through Anakin’s eyes, saw Padme’s pale body, the destroyed apartment, saw the two crying babies that Anakin now held. And he felt Anakin’s grief. His own grief at losing Padme, a dear friend, was nothing to Anakin’s. Tears fell from his eyes as a sob racked his body. He lay on the floor, brokenly crying not only at the death of Padme, but at the pain Anakin was now feeling. A Clone Trooper entered the cargo bay, and rushed to help Kenobi to his feet. Still crying, Obi-Wan took a seat and hoped he reached Anakin in time.

Three hours later, Obi-Wan raced to Anakin’s flat, and as he approached the thick steel doors, found them crushed to the side. As he entered the flat, the scene of destruction that met his eyes was catastrophic. His eyes searched out Anakin, who sat next to Padme’s body, which he had covered with his cloak, holding his twin children. The babies were asleep, but, despite Anakin’s bowed head, Obi-Wan knew he wasn’t. He walked slowly over to Anakin and crouched down. Anakin stared blankly at the floor.
“Anakin...” Obi-Wan’s voice was husky with grief, and he couldn’t help as tears came to his eyes once more, nor could he keep a sob from entering his voice. Anakin looked slowly up, his eyes dull with grief.
“She’s gone, Obi-Wan...I couldn’t save her....”
Obi-Wan’s grief surged through him. Anakin looked down at the children he held.
“What am I going to do, Obi-Wan? She was all I had...my mother...Palpatine...now Padme...I have nothing left.” Obi-Wan gave a start, despite his grief.
“Palpatine?” Anakin stared out of the window as the Coruscanti sun began to rise. Leia gave a coo, and he looked down at her and rocked her gently. Obi-Wan reached out for Luke, and Anakin let him take the baby from his arms. Luke gave a whimper, and Obi-Wan rocked him and patted his back. Obi-Wan felt the Force in both of the children. The Force was strong with them. Suddenly, Anakin gave Leia to Obi-Wan too.
“They will be Jedi, Obi-Wan. Promise me that. No matter what happens, my children must be raised in the ways of the Jedi.” Anakin had stood up. His voice was hollow. Obi-Wan felt a resolve in Anakin that betrayed something Dark, and then he felt nothing at all. Anakin was shutting himself up inside.
“Anakin, what are you...” Anakin shook his head.
“I can’t tell you Obi-Wan. I’m sorry. I have nothing left now. But I’ll do what she wanted.” Anakin bent over and gently lifted Padme’s covered body, cradling it in his arms.
“I’ll take her back to Naboo first. She always loved Naboo...” Anakin turned and walked out of the room. Obi-Wan called out to his friend.
“Anakin!” Anakin turned his head. Obi-Wan suddenly felt a flash of Anakin’s grief and whatever he had wanted to say to his friend was gone. “May the Force be with you, Anakin.” Anakin bowed his head.
“May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan. Take care of Luke and Leia. Goodbye.” And without another word, Anakin was gone.






Far away, in a ruined temple on Byss, Kaminoan Ko Pioro performed routine checks on the project as she did every day. The vital signs were good, the growth normal. She disliked human cloning, but she was good at it, there was no denial. The age acceleration had been undone, and the body was now aging as normal, at about the same rate as a teenager of approximately 16. As she sealed the project back inside the tank, she heard an unexpected beep from the monitor. The heart rate had suddenly accelerated. Ko Pioro moved over to the control panel to see what had caused the unexpected body function. Suddenly, a sharp crack caused her to turn around. The chamber’s glass was beginning to shatter, and Ko Pioro barely had covered her face before the glass was sent hurtling outward as the chamber exploded, sending shards of glass and a tide of fluid out across the room. Standing on the floor of the cylindrical chamber, the project was moving. Ko Pioro approached it, and its head spun to look around at her. The long red hair hung limply over the figure’s face. The figure turned around haltingly to face Ko Pioro.
“Is this body functioning properly?” Ko Pioro did not allow her surprise to show and she answered the project courteously.
“All vital signs do indeed seem to be normal. It is my opinion that the body is at peak capacity.” As Ko Pioro turned around to the control panel, her long neck suddenly snapped to the side with a sickening crack. Her body fell limply to the floor as the project lowered its outstretched hand and began to pull the wires out of its naked body. As it stepped shakily out of the chamber, it threw back its head and laughed. Palpatine had not lost yet.