We walk hand in hand into the medical centre where we are welcomed by a twi'lek receptionist. I am not required to give any details at first, which is a relief, and am instructed to take a seat in the empty waiting room.
The longer we sit here waiting, the more anxious I grow. My life could change depending on the results I receive. Having that information at the centre of my mind is not something I take lightly. It is overwhelming.
After sitting silently in the area for what feels like a lifetime, a female, human doctor approaches us. She is older than I am, possibly double my age. Despite living in the lower levels of Coruscant, she appears to be very glamourous.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Fisher" She greets us. "Which of you ladies requires medical assistance today?"
"That would be me," I reply.
"Please, follow me," She says.
Padme and I stand up from our seats and follow the doctor. The weight of the galaxy on my shoulders seems to become heavier with each step I take. I don't know how long it will be before I succumb to the strength.
As we reach the door leading to the main area of the facility, Doctor Fisher stops us. She looks between Padme and I and raises a neatly arched eyebrow.
"Sorry, but you'll have to wait out here." Doctor Fisher says to Padme. "We only allow immediate family behind this point."
I give Padme a panicked look. I cannot do this without her. I need her here with me. If I'm separated from her during this time, the slight stability I have will be gone.
"That's okay," Padme pauses. "I'm... her wife."
Padme's ability to think on her feet is why I needed her to come here. Her cover is perfect, and this skill of hers will undoubtedly be beneficial during this process.
"My apologies," Doctor Fisher says without questioning the matter further. "Please, follow me."
"Come on, babe," Padme says.
She willingly guides us to the room for my medical assessment. If things continue to run this smoothly, I won't have anything to worry about. That truly is all I want.
When we're in the room, Padme and I take a seat on the chairs provided while we await further instructions from Doctor Fisher. The silence in the room is deafening.
"Your name?" Doctor Fisher requests.
I can't give her my real name. Chancellor Palpatine has made two Jedi names very common throughout the galaxy during the Clone Wars. Those names are Anakin Skywalker and (Y/N) (Y/L/N). For those in the Republic, we are war heroes who fight with honour and integrity. If I say my true name, this doctor is likely to know I am a Jedi.
"Ani..." I pause while I think of a way to distinguish my fake name from the real name of my husband. "Ani...Kestis."
I mentally slap myself in the face for my stupidity. Of all the names in the galaxy, why did I combine the nickname of my husband with the last name of my Padawan?
"And you?" She asks Padme, seeming unfazed by my name choice.
"Ahsoka Kestis." She answers without hesitation.
Padme is one of the smartest people I have ever met. She is a Senator in the Galactic Republic and was the Queen of Naboo before that. With her life experience, I have no idea how she could not come up with a better alias.
"Ani and Ahsoka Kestis..." Doctor Fisher trails off as she searches her datapad. "Strange, there's no record of you on the Coruscant database."
The issue didn't cross my mind before I came here. A fake name isn't going to show up in the Coruscant database. We need a plan b.
"That's because we're from Alderaan," Padme lies.
Her lie is simple, yet exceptionally hard to fault. Even if she found us to be suspicious, there is no way for Doctor Fisher to access the medical files located on Alderaan. Thanks to Padme's quick thinking, we may just get through this appointment.
"That makes more sense than you faking your identities," Doctor Fisher laughs.
Padme and I look at each other awkwardly before laughing along with her. She and I are incredibly smart, yet in this situation, we are proving to be unbelievably stupid. Although I will admit that her plan regarding us being from Alderaan worked better than I initially anticipated.
"Now, what brings you here today, Ani Kestis?" The doctor asks.
I don't immediately answer. Not because the question catches me off guard, rather because I completely forgot that the name I created for myself was Ani Kestis. I am truly the opposite of subtle.
"I believe I may be pregnant," I respond.
The doctor raises her eyebrow at me. Our story so far has an unnecessary amount of twists to steer away from the truth. Now I have to figure out how I, Ani Kestis, ended up pregnant while married to a female.
"And what treatment option did you use?" She asks.
"I'm sure my lovely wife can answer that," Padme responds.
My extensive reading in the Jedi Archives may come in handy yet again. I've read about many things in my time, such as the history of Dathomir and, more recently, the legends of the Old Republic. Somewhere in between that, I have found the time to investigate reproductive treatments.
"Artificial insemination, of course," I state.
Of all the potential treatment options, this would be the easiest to explain under our special circumstances.
"We've been travelling around the galaxy for a while and completely forgot to schedule a check-up," Padme adds.
"You forgot you were artificially inseminated?" She questions.
We both nod unconvincingly. Either Doctor Fisher is either unusually gullible or she simply does not have the energy to argue with the points we are putting forward. Given the fact that she will be paid regardless of whether we are telling the truth, I'm assuming the answer is the latter.
"Can you tell me when the treatment started?" She asks, choosing to go along with our rambling.
Padme raises an eyebrow at me, signalling for me to lead the conversation. The problem is, I don't know what to say. There have been many, many occasions when this could have happened in recent months. Too many to be sure.
"I honestly couldn't tell you," I say, knowing it to be the full truth.
"Right, then I guess we best get started." Doctor Fisher replies, seeming unimpressed by our inability to remember important details.
I am instructed to strip down to my undergarments for the tests she will be conducting. I look down at my stomach, curious to see if there is a bump of any sort. Much to my surprise, it has not grown at all.
Perhaps this entire thing was just me overthinking.
I lay down on the bed provided wearing nothing more than my undergarments. After spending so much of my life restricted to wearing just Jedi robes in front of others, I feel quite exposed. There have been a few instances where I have worn something other than my robes in front of people, but it is rare; I feel out of place.
Doctor Fisher runs a handheld scanner over my bare stomach while Padme sits on a chair in the corner. Each time I look at her with worried eyes, she gives me a smile and a "reassuring" thumbs up. This entire situation is utter chaos.
After a few minutes of running the scan, Doctor Fisher checks her datapad to analyse the results. I sit up on the bed and Padme comes to sit next to me. She holds my hand to show that, regardless of the outcome, I will not be alone.
Doctor Fisher lowers her datapad and stands before us with a large smile plastered on her face. Whether it be because of my connection to the Force or my basic intuition, I know what she is preparing to reveal.
"Congratulations," She says with a gleeful tone, "you're ten weeks pregnant."
Any fear present in my heart vanishes in the blink of an eye. My desperate wishes for a different result fade and the truth of my reality kicks in. This is not a bad thing at all; this is a gift.
"I'm going to be a mother?" I gasp.
Padme pulls me into a hug and laughs out of pure joy. My pregnancy will not affect her directly, but it will change the lives of two of the people she loves most; Anakin and I.
I am going to be a mother and Anakin is going to be a father. This is truly the greatest news of my entire life. I have been gifted with the responsibility to start a family with the man I love more than anything in the galaxy. I don't think there is anything I could want more than this.
Doctor Fisher looks back at the datapad in her hand while we both remain on our emotional highs. She mutters to herself a few times, but I'm too distracted to take any notice of what she is saying.
"Their heartbeats are very healthy." She states.
Her sentence terrifies me more than anything. I'm grateful that my child is healthy. The problem is, she isn't referring to a singular baby. My joy from just seconds ago falters with the weight of my newfound anxiety.
"Their?" I repeat. "As, in plural?"
"Yes. You're having twins." She announces with a joyful tone of voice.
I initially feel sick to the stomach. Anakin and I are only twenty-two years old and neither of us knows anything about parenting.
I don't even know what the love of a parent feels like. My parents abandoned me in the streets of Coruscant when I was just a baby. The closest thing to parents I have is Master Plo and Master Ti. Even then, I know neither of them loved me. That would be against the Jedi Code.
The feelings of abandonment that come with thoughts of my childhood begin to hit me hard. That's something I can never allow my children to feel.
My optimistic side pushes down the pessimistic mindset I was dealing with. This is not a burden to be worried about, but rather a gift to be thankful for. Our children will feel more love from their parents than any other has before. That is something I can guarantee.
Doctor Fisher finalises the scans on the babies and completes a few minor health checks. None of these other tests is too invasive and the results are almost instant.
When she is sure everything is stable and we have paid for the appointment, Padme and I are free to go. We exit the building to return to the outer world of the lower levels. The place that always seemed dark and shadowy now feels a lot brighter. The melancholy feeling lurking here now seems to be replaced by hope. The entire galaxy feels brighter.
We climb back into the speeder we brought here and I waste no time in getting it off the ground. All I want to do is see Anakin and explain everything to him. I don't yet know how he'll react, but I am hopeful that he will be as joyful as I am.
I fly across the Coruscant skyline, weaving in and out of the lanes of traffic until we make it back to Padme's veranda. I land the speeder stably and waste no time in getting out.
As soon as my feet hit the ground, I run to Padme and pull her into a hug. I am so appreciative of everything she has done for me since she first entered my life.
"Thank you," I whisper, my arms still wrapped tightly around her back.
"You never need to thank me," She replies.
She eventually breaks away from the hug. If she hadn't, I don't know how much longer I would have remained hugging her.
"Now, you better get inside and change back into your Jedi robes. Anakin will be wondering where you are," She states.
She has a point. Anakin was led to believe that I was visiting Padme to discuss her love life. That lie would have become apparent after an hour of me leaving for the Senate Building. It has now been well over three hours.
I hurry inside her apartment and change back into my light Jedi robes. They are certainly not as glamorous as the yellow outfit I was wearing, but I have no other option as a Jedi.
Once I am changed, I give Padme a final hug before getting back in the speeder. My husband is waiting for me, and I need to tell him the news.
I land the speeder back in the Hangar of the Jedi Temple. There are a few clone troopers around but thankfully no Jedi. It would have been incredibly difficult to explain where I had been without getting caught in my lie.
After making my way out of the hangar as discreetly as possible, I start on my way to Anakin's quarters. It isn't far from here; all I really need to do is find an elevator.
I navigate the Jedi Temple until I reach the doorway to my husband's quarters. My heart becomes conflicted with feelings of excitement mixed with slight anxiety.
I lift my arm to knock on his door, but before my hand can reach the surface, the door opens to reveal the worried face of my husband.
"Where have you been?" A concerned Anakin asks. "And don't say you were at the Senate Building with Padme because you weren't there when I looked for you."
I'm obviously not going to hide this news from Anakin. I'm going to tell him everything that happened. I just need to do it in a way that won't terrify him.
"You're right, I wasn't at the Senate Building. I was, however, with Padme." I explain, careful not to let the news slip.
"Where were you then?" He asks.
I walk over to our bed and sit on the edge. Anakin, who is still nervous, sits beside me. I don't want to heighten his anxiety, but I need him to be prepared for what I am to say.
"I have something to tell you," I announce. "Before I do, promise me you won't freak out."
This is a big ask. What I'm going to say will change both of our lives forever and, as selfish as it may be, I need his word that he will not overreact. This news is something we must handle together.
"(Y/N), what's going on?" He asks.
"Promise me," I repeat.
He remains silent for a while longer with his eyes carefully examining my own. He doesn't know how to approach this situation, and the fact that I'm making an effort to hide my thoughts from him is making it more difficult.
"Okay, I promise." He agrees, even though his tone reveals his reluctance to do so.
Here goes nothing.
"I did see Padme, that much was true. The part I wasn't truthful about is my reasoning for seeing her. There is no Senator that she's interested in, but there was something I needed her support with,"
I can't help but feel terribly anxious. Our futures will be shaped by the direction this conversation takes. Anakin's approach to the news determines what our family will become. What we will become.
"Ani, I'm pregnant," I state with a shaky voice.
In the span of no more than five seconds, various emotions flicker through his eyes. Out of them all, I fail to find even one glimpse of negativity. There is no fear or resentment, only hope, love, and joy.
His face twists into the brightest, happiest smile I have ever seen. Every one of his features is simply glowing with the excitement of the news. Anakin pulls me into a tight hug and laughs happily in my ear before pulling away.
"(Y/N), this is the happiest moment of my life!" He beams.
Tears of joy begin to fill his blue eyes. Seeing him this happy only increases the joy in my heart. I don't think I'll ever be able to stop smiling.
"Well, there's one more thing you should know," I say, my voice remaining light and cheerful.
He raises an eyebrow, urging me to continue. There's really no way for me to ease into the conversation of having more than one baby; I'm going to have to just come out with it.
"I'm having twins," I announce.
My hands begin to shake, and my throat becomes parched. Anakin's reaction to this news will shape our future. The weight of the situation is a lot, perhaps too much for even me to handle.
"Even better." He beams.
I am beyond grateful for how he is handling this news. I felt overwhelmed by the idea of twins at first, yet he doesn't seem to have a worry in his mind about it.
"I didn't think you'd be excited about this," I state with a slight chuckle.
"Are you kidding? (Y/N), this is my dream!" He exclaims. "I'm going to have a family with the woman I love. Why wouldn't I want that?"
I knew the idea of a family with me would excite him. My concerns are all related to the sacrifices we will have to make. While children of our own will be an incredible gift, some things won't be as easy.
"There's a lot you'll have to give up. That we'll both have to give up," I say with a hushed, fragile voice.
When it comes to our love, I know Anakin would be willing to make any sacrifice. His loyalty to me, and now our children, matters more to him than anything. While that is true, I feel obligated to remind him of everything he needs to prepare for.
"So I'll give it up," He states without any hesitation.
"It's going to be complicated."
"I know but we'll work it out together. (Y/N), you mean more to me than anything. All I want is a family of our own. Whatever the complications may be, we will get through it," He assures me.
I want to be excited, and I am, but I feel like I need to sort out everything now. If we discuss any potential issues and sort through them now, the future will be less uncertain.
"I'm glad you're excited and hopeful, Ani. Believe me, I'm excited too. I guess I'm just a little anxious too. When my due date draws near, we'll have to leave the Order,"
"I'm more than happy to do that," He replies.
"Even if it means leaving Cal, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan?" I ask.
The Council, specifically Mace Windu, did not seem overly excited about the idea of the two of them rejoining the Jedi Order. Regardless of their hesitance, I have faith that they will make the right choice in the end. That's another reason why I am concerned. If the Council does come through, it will make it harder for us to leave.
"Leaving Obi-Wan would be hard, but I would do it in a heartbeat for our family. As for Cal and Ahsoka, we could always ask them to come with us," He suggests, truly believing it to be a good idea.
"What?" I question.
"They don't want to come back for the Order itself, (Y/N). They want to come back because they miss us. If we suggested it to them, I have no doubt they'd move with us," He explains.
If Cal and Ahsoka agreed to come with us, our lives would truly be perfect. Our children would have older siblings to protect them, and we'd have two people we already consider family back in our lives. They'd become Aunty Ahsoka and Uncle Cal to our children. That idea sounds like a fairytale, but it could become our reality.
"That's perfect!" I agree. "We should talk to them about it when they return from Mandalore."
"We better start thinking about where we want to live!" He exclaims. "I think Naboo. Then again, there's always Alderaan or–,"
I cut him off by kissing him deeply. My love for this man is unconditional, and it somehow manages to grow each day.
"I love you," I say, my face only inches from his.
"I love you too," He replies, his wide smile not faltering for a moment.
We're getting to a point in our relationship where love simply doesn't seem like enough to describe our feelings. It's so much more than that. I have no words to accurately describe it.
"We need to think of some names!" Anakin exclaims.
His outburst is so sudden and loud that I nearly fall off the bed out of fright. His energy is everything I had hoped for. Seeing him like this, truly joyful after such an intense period of war is all I could ask for.
"Anakin, we don't even know their gender yet. There could be two boys, two girls, or one each," I ramble.
"So? We can still think of names," He counters.
I love seeing him this excited. If brainstorming some names now will help him remain this happy, then I am more than happy to do it.
"Alright." I agree. "I'd want our daughter, if we have one, to have a strong meaning behind her name. I want her to always find strength in who she is. Something like Maia or Aria or..."
"Leia?" Anakin asks. "A tender-hearted, fearless warrior. If she's anything like her mother, that description will fit her perfectly."
The love Anakin has for me is stronger than anything I thought possible. His entire life will change from this point forward, yet he is still as happy as ever. He is perfect.
"Do you have any suggestions for a boy?" I ask.
He looks off into the distance in thought for a few seconds. From the way he is acting, I can tell he has thought of this before.
"I'd want his name to mean 'light'. Our children will be incredibly strong in the Force and I would like our son to be a reminder of the light within our family. Problem is, I have no name suggestions," He explains.
This meaning would be perfect for our potential son. Anakin and I are part of a prophecy for destroying darkness, so it only seems fitting for that legacy to be carried on.
"How about Luke?" I ask. "The bringer of light,"
"Luke is perfect," Anakin agrees.
These are only two potential names for our children. The list will undoubtedly grow and grow in the time leading to their birth.
I can't help but hope that we end up with a son and a daughter. For reasons I cannot explain, the names Luke and Leia have attached themselves to my heart.