Fading

Chapter 5 - Luke and Leia

Author's Note: Warnings are at the end. :)

Also, yes, Padme nearly died. Anakin did warn her. Lol.

~ Amina Gila

Anakin is unsurprised about the untraceable commlink Obi-Wan is keeping with him, but he's not expecting it when a hologram of Padme appears. "Padme?" Anakin blurts in surprise, tensing.

She looks tired, worn-out, but she feels strangely happy – far more so than he's sensed since everything started falling apart. But she's alive for now, and...

"Anakin," she sounds equally happy to see him. A fond smile crosses her face. "You were right about having a girl, but I was too."

His eyes widen, and for a moment, all he can do is gape. She's saying – "She – the baby was born?" he asks, faintly.

"The babies were born, Anakin," Padme replies, "Luke and Leia both. Luke was first."

He's feels frozen, because – He's – they – "Are you okay?" he asks, distantly.

"I will be," she promises, and he notices how weak her voice sounds, how worn out she looks.

"Will be?" Anakin echoes, fear suddenly clenching in him. He saw her die, can still hear her cries in his nightmares, even if he strangely enough hasn't kept seeing it, and –

"The medical droids say I will need some time to recover," she replies, "But I'll be fine eventually. The babies are okay, too. I told you, you didn't need to worry, Ani."

But that doesn't make any sense because he saw her death. He'd sensed it too, even if he did everything in his power to not accept how inevitable it was. Something changed, though, but he doesn't know what. The visions had stopped, for some reason.

"Worry about what?" Obi-Wan asks, confused.

"He had a vision," Padme replies, before Anakin can say anything, "About me... He can explain it to you if he wants."

Anakin can feel Obi-Wan's gaze on him, but he ignores it, not looking away from Padme. She's alive, and okay, and so are their children.

Children.

He's a father. They have twins. "Can I see them?" Anakin asks.

"One second." He sees the hologram moving, before it stops, hovering near the twins. They're tiny, and – Leia looks like everything he imagined his daughter as looking like. And Luke looks so much like him. They're – they're perfect, and he doesn't know what to say, how to react, but all he wants to do is be there with them, to hold them in his arms – to be the father to them he should be. He already knows he would do anything for them; he already has.

But apparently, he didn't need to. Everything he did, it was for them and Padme, and he didn't need to. To be fair, he doesn't know when the change happened, and a part of him is half-hysterically wondering if Palpatine was able to do something to save her even without Anakin's help, but it's... unlikely. Probably.

"They're... perfect, aren't they?" she asks.

"Yes," Anakin rasps, somehow finding his voice. Luke opens his eyes then, suddenly, wide with confusion and wonder at the strange device near him, or maybe it's at the hologram of Anakin, he doesn't know. But he wants to be with them so badly it physically hurts. This is all he's ever wanted. "Do you need help with them?" he finds himself asking, finally.

They're alive and safe, and he's never been so relieved in his life. But there's so many other emotions tied to that, ones he can't begin to sort through right now. "We can find a way to manage, but I'd much prefer if you were here," Padme replies, turning to give Obi-Wan a pointed look.