Chapter 6: Plans
Padme could barely understand how this had happened; she knew it the moment she saw them. Luke looked exactly like Anakin, with the same eyes, the same smile, and Leia looked practically the same as her. Many in the Senate had said so yesterday, after Anakin's short visit.
"How did you know?" Luke asked, and Padme just smiled, touching his cheek.
"I don't know how to explain it," Padme sobbed, inviting them to sit.
"What is your mission during this time?" Padme asked, terrified of knowing the answer.
The twins sighed and decided to be completely honest, without leaving out a single detail. By the time they finished, Leia was holding Padme in her arms, while her mother struggled to contain her sobs and tears, horrified by the future.
"I won't let him fall to the dark side. I won't let the man I love become a monster."
"That's why we were sent. We will change that future, Mother," Luke said, smiling at the way the word sounded on her lips.
"We won't let him fall to the dark side," Leia smiled. "We won't let Dad fall to the dark side." She smiled, enjoying the comfort of being able to say it for the first time.
"That damned traitor Palpatine. We have to make him lose all the power the Senate has given him," Padme said.
"In the Empire, he has many allies. I sincerely believe he already had them here," Leia explained. "Father, my adoptive father, explained himself. He always said that the Emperor based his power on fear and the trust he had inspired in the past."
"Certainly everyone trusts him, even your father," Padme sighed. "Who was your adoptive father?"
"Bail Organa," Leia said, and Padme smiled. She knew the next question would seal her fate, but she was willing to accept it.
"Why wasn't I with you?"
"We don't know. Some say," Luke said, hesitant about whether to say it or not.
"That you died when we were born," Leia said, tears falling from her eyes, but Padme hugged her and kissed her forehead.
"If my destiny is to die, I will accept it, but I will not accept that your father will become that monster."
"No, you will not die," Luke said with renewed hope. "We will change the future. I will not let anything bad happen to you."
"You have your father's eyes and smile," Padme smiled, hugging them both again.
She could hardly believe they were her children.
"How did you and Dad meet?" Luke asked, leaning on his mother's lap, just as Anakin had done many times, Padme thought.
"I met him when I was a child. He saved my life when I was Queen of Naboo."
"I read about it on a Holopad."
"He was a wonderful boy. When he joined the Order, I didn't see him again for another ten years. I was very surprised when I saw him," Padme said, smiling at the memory. "Only his eyes hadn't changed; they were the same eyes I remembered, and his beautiful smile."
"How did you fall in love?"
"I think I started falling in love with him the moment I saw him again. I'd always thought about him. All those long ten years, I wondered what had happened to the boy I met on Tatooine." Padme blushed as she remembered Anakin's expression when he saw him again.
She told them the whole story, omitting some details. Luke and Leia listened excitedly. They weren't wrong. They truly loved each other. They had defied everyone for their love. They were sure it wasn't love that had driven their father to the dark side. Then Luke understood.
"Mother," he said, standing up. "Was it the senator who suggested that Obi-Wan and Dad escort you?"
"Yes," his mother replied, intrigued.
"Do you think he knows about you two?"
"I don't think so. If he did, he could use it against Anakin. Oh, by the Force, Luke. Do you think Palpatine always knew?"
"Definitely."
"We must find out if that's true. Maybe that's one of the reasons he forced Father to join the dark side."
"I never realized," Padme said, burying her face in her hands, too guilty and too upset for not having noticed.
"We can use it to our advantage," Leia smiled.
"What?" mother and son asked in unison.
"From what you've confirmed, Father trusts Palpatine completely. If Palpatine knows you're his wife, he won't be surprised that you agree with Father."
"Are you sure? Anakin and I have always kept our ideas separate from our relationship."
"I'm sure. You just have to pretend to agree with the Chancellor's ideas. At first, you'll feign disagreement, but then you'll pretend Father convinced you."
"I can do that," Padme said thoughtfully.
"If you do that, you'll be able to conceal our movements."
"We must gather all the senators who want Palpatine out of power."
"Do you think Father should know?" Leia asked, biting her lip.
"Yes, absolutely regardless of what they were told, Anakin deserves to know the truth.
"But if we can't separate him from Palpatine? You yourself say they've been friends since childhood."
"We won't tell him now, under any circumstances. We must make him and Obi-Wan closer again. When the time is right, we'll tell him."
"I think he already suspects," Luke said.
"We must keep the lie as long as possible, but tell him the truth before he finds out from someone else. Anakin doesn't tolerate lies," Padme confessed, and the twins nodded.
"Why did Father and Obi-Wan distance themselves?"
"The Jedi Council decided that faking Obi-Wan's death would be a good idea."
"What?" Luke almost shouted.
"Of course your father loves Obi-Wan. He's like a brother to him. The Council just wanted a real reaction from your father, and seeing him screaming in the middle of Coruscant, hugging Obi-Wan's supposed corpse, was the reaction they were looking for. So some mobsters would believe Obi-Wan was really dead and he could go on that damn secret mission."
"Did they tell Dad he was alive after his reaction?" Leia asked.
"Of course not. They were idiots. Your father suffered too much. I'd never seen him so close to the dark side. He spent weeks searching for the culprit. They searched for the culprit with Ahsoka. Your father was with Palpatine when he learned the truth. He held back his anger. That day he cried in my arms, but all he felt was hatred in his heart."
"That was horrible," Leia said. "How could they do that to him?" she asked. She had been too cruel. Were those the mistakes Obi-Wan was referring to? That wasn't a mistake, that had been an aberration, a sin.
"I know. Then what happened with Ahsoka happened, and things with the Council weren't going so well. I'm sure that's why they sent them for Ahsoka first, so he wouldn't feel so alone in the temple."
"Now it's all starting to make sense," Luke murmured. There really were a lot of wrongs to right.
"Then, when this week is over, Anakin will have missions again," Padme murmured, making the hardest decision of her life. "Ahsoka will be with him, but I need to be aware of everything that happens."
"Do you think there's any way we can go with him?" Luke asked.
"The Council definitely won't allow it; they're very strict about who goes on missions."
"It'll all depend on Ahsoka, then," Luke sighed, frustrated.
"Not if we go after him," Padme smiled.
"What are you saying?" the twins asked. "But you have to be in the Senate."
"One of my handmaidens will replace me in the Senate. Palpatine won't notice."
"Can you trust her?" Leia asked. She had done the same many times; as a princess and senator, her life was always in danger.
"With my life," Padme replied, "I only need to be there for votes and important events. I won't always use it clearly. The chancellor suggested I take a vacation and return to Naboo with my family. Sometimes I'll lie and say I went with them. He'll think I'm running away to secretly see Anakin, I'm sure of it."
"He'll think I'm deceiving them, that your father's love is weakening you from agreeing with his government. He won't be able to know that you're setting a trap for him and that you're aware of your father's missions."
"It's a brilliant plan," Leia said. "You're incredible, Mom."
"We'll fix that plan along the way, but everything will be fine, I swear," Padme smiled. "Oh, by force, the time," she said, seeing that they had been talking for hours. Her father must be waiting for me at the temple.
"If we need to get there quickly," Leia commented, "I suggest letting Luke drive."
"Oh, by force, you're just like your father."
They boarded the ship and continued talking, catching up on all the events. Padme cried when she learned that Luke had lost his hand because of his own father.
"Mother, missions can be dangerous," Luke said, not wanting to offend her. "Will you be able to defend yourself?"
"Luke, you have no idea what missions against the Separatists are like. I've been involved in a few, sometimes alongside your father," she smiled, blushing. "But I think you'll need training, and I know who's going to do it."
"Do you want Father to train us?" Luke asked, excited but terrified at the same time.
"Exactly."
"Ahsoka has complained for two days about how tough her training is. In the future, he'll be known as the most powerful Jedi of all. This is going to be difficult," Luke sighed, defeated.
"Don't be a crybaby," Leia said excitedly. She loved the idea. Her own father would teach her how to defend herself even better. He couldn't be more perfect.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Padme said, saying goodbye to them with a welcoming hug.
"Goodnight, Mother," the twins whispered, feeling their hearts full for the first time.
Padme met Anakin after the twins left, she hugged him as if her life depended on it and he responded with the same emotion, that day Padme Amidala Naberrie Skywalker made a promise to herself, she would change the disastrous future, she also realized that she had always dedicated her time to the Senate, but according to what her children said, none of that had served in the future, if she wanted to bring peace to the Republic she would have to fight for it.