Author's Note: I know, I'm sorry! Last one for a while, I promise! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Warnings: Language, talk of death for adults, children and innocence.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Word Count: 5,903

Padme snuggles closer to his heat, shifting a bit so that she can bury her face into his clavicle and throat. She breaths in deeply, smelling his deodorant, shampoo and a faint hint of cologne. She runs her fingers slowly, and lazily, up and down the smooth skin of his side. The slide over the ridges of his ribs, dip down to his small waist before rising a bit at his prominent hips. She can feel his skin bumping out in gooseflesh at the loving ministrations. He sighs softly above her, his arm over her shoulder shifts a bit but doesn't obstruct her movements much.

She opens her eyes to see his Adam's apple bob a bit as he swallows, then lets out another little sigh. She can't help herself. She leans forward a bit and kisses the hallow of his throat.

She smiles sweetly. Like usual, at some point during the night, as per usual, he kicked off the covers, not caring for them. But, knowing that she is easily chilled, he is warming her with his body heat. It used to annoy her having to wake up five or six times during the night to try and wrap the covers around herself to keep her warm with the fan above them cooling the room because he can't sleep when it's too warm. She used to tell him time and again to just leave the covers on him, it wasn't going to kill him, or at least don't kick them off so much that she wouldn't be able to still have a hold over them, and eventually this became his solution.

She's not exactly mad by it.

She gently removes his arm from around her and rests it on her spot as she pushes to her feet. She turns to see the darkness of the early morning still keeping the room favorable for her husband. He got home late last night. She had such a long day yesterday that she hadn't even woken up when he came in. She loves the moments she falls asleep curled up into a little ball, only to wake up in the arms of the man she loves.

He must have had a long couple of days too, because usually the smallest shift wakes him up, but he didn't even move when she extracted herself from her. But that's okay. It is still early and while she wished she could stay in that moment longer, she had an early meeting in a few hours with the Chancellor that she had to prepare for. A part of her wanted to cancel it, but she has been vying for this meeting for a while and she can't be the one to call it off. Hopefully it'll be finished soon and by the time she returns, he'll still be here waiting for her.

She goes to shower, washing her really long curly, dark brown hair with shampoo and conditioner, then wash her hair before she hops out and dries her hair with a towel before wrapping it around her body. She sits on the chair in the corner, tying the towel in front of her before gathering up her hair and placing it into the drying machine up to her forehead. It automatically turns on and dries her hair in about two minutes. She stands up with her long, dry hair sliding down her back and bottom and walks out of the bathroom.

She spots her husband, now lying in the center of he bed on his stomach with his head turned away and long curly tresses splayed across the pillow. Both of their hair was curly but she loved his so much more she could just run her fingers through the tresses again and again without getting bored. She takes a moment to stare at his tanned back rising and falling slightly as he sleeps before she turns and walks into her closet to change.

Padme is sitting at her vanity with the lights dimmed so that she can fix up her hair when C-3PO comes into the room, locates her and walks over.

"Mistress Padme," C-3PO says, "there was a call from the Chancellor's office."

"Is something wrong?" she asks, turning around a bit to look up at the yellow droid. "Is the Chancellor alright?"

C-3PO nods. "Yes, Mistress Padme, but something appears to have come up, the Chancellor is going to have to reschedule your meeting this morning. They will give you a call to set it up at the next convenient time."

Normally, Padme would be a bit frazzled, but in fact, this time, she's excited.

"Thank you, 3PO," Padme says before letting her hair settle down around her shoulders again. She stands up, offering a long, loving glance over at her husband, still sleeping soundly, before leaving her bedroom, enter the living room and going over to the kitchen. It's been too long since she's made a meal and forever since she's made a meal for someone else. Never for her husband.

There is a bit of liberty in cooking, not because it's her job as a woman or anything along those lines, but simply because she used to enjoy it before her time began to belong to everyone but herself. It's very rare that she would have so much time to do something that she wants. And right now, she wants to cook something - which she enjoys - for her husband - who she loves.

"Ani," Padme whispers, running her nails up and down his hot back, watching the gooseflesh appear again. "Ani, wake up."

Anakin hums softly but doesn't wake up. Padme looks around for a moment, considering what to do next before lifting up her long dress and kicking off her shoes, she wasn't going to need them anyway. Still holding her dress up, she steps up onto the bed on either side of Anakin's hips before lowering down on top of him. Anakin lets out a low groan that turns into light laughter.

Padme places her hands on the curve of his lower back and runs her nails soothingly up and down in slow rhythmic movements. Anakin lets out another groan turning his head a bit and opening his eyes to smile up at her.

"Morning..." he mumbles.

She leans down, her hair falling around them, and kisses him sweetly on the cheek. She feels him smile more against her lips and she can't help but smile more back at him. She pulls back and runs her fingers through his soft dirty blond curls lovingly, pushing them out of the way of his face so that she can kiss his temple, then the scar over his eye, then his lips once he's turned around more so she has better access to them.

Anakin twists around a bit before he grabs onto Padme's hips and lift them up so that he can roll onto his back before settling her hips back down onto his own. Padme leans back a bit, running her long, manicured nails along his scalp, pushing his hair back, away from his eyes.

"Good morning," Padme finally says.

Anakin hums softly, closing his eyes are her loving ministrations. "That feels really nice," he mumbles. She keeps at it for a few minutes. At first it looks like he's about to fall asleep, but then he opens his eyes and just stares at her, watching with beautiful steely blue eyes surrounded by mile long thick lashes. Padme could just stare into those beautiful eyes forever.

"Do you have a meeting this morning?" he asks softly.

Padme slowly shakes her head. "No. Not anymore. It was canceled. Are you hungry?"

Anakin rolls his shoulders a bit, trying to maneuver into a more comfortable position before stilling. His hands firmly on her hips stop her from being able to move to give him a bit of space. She didn't want to move anyway, so she supposed it worked out.

"I am," Anakin says. "Where are we ordering from this time? Isn't it still a bit early?" He spares a glance out the window to see that it is finally starting to light up, but he was right because it was still early.

"Yes," Padme admits, "but we aren't ordering anything. I actually made you breakfast if you are willing to try it."

Anakin's eyes light up. "Really?"

"It's nothing special," Padme says quickly. "Remember I told you that I liked cooking? Well, since I had the morning to myself, I wanted to welcome you home properly. Do you want to eat now or do you want to sleep a little bit longer?"

"I'll eat now," Anakin says, grinning broadly. "I've been meaning to try some ever since you told me. I can't wait."

Padme smiles, leaning down to press her lips lovingly against Anakin's. At that moment, their lives were perfect. Anakin was with her, the war was close to being over, she was pregnant with a child from the man that she loved whole-heartedly. Yes, this moment was perfect.

Padme can't stop herself, running down the ramp. As soon as she sees him, she runs at him as fast as she can and throws herself into his arms. His hood was pulled up over his head so that she couldn't see his face, but she didn't care. She knew it was him and he opened his arms for her. It was him. He was alive, and safe. No matter what other scary shit was swirling around them, at least she knew that for certain. She could feel the heat of his body in his arms, so different from the fiery world of Mustafar around them.

She reaches up and yanks down his hood, not even bothering to look at his face and buries her hand in his hair, tangling her fingers in the soft, but sweaty locks. She didn't care. He was live. He was breathing. That was all that mattered. If she could just stay in this blissful moment forever, she would. His arms around her tight, his breathing in her ear, his chest so close to her own with her pregnant belly being the only thing to separate them.

For a single, beautiful moment, everything was perfect.

They would go back to Coruscant, meet up with Obi-Wan, and then somehow the three of them would be able to figure a way out of this. Or at least whatever their next step is. She squeezes him so tightly. He lifts her up off the ground so that he doesn't have to hunch over any more and Padme's feet dangle, no longer touching the ground due to his superior height.

His arms around her tighten too and Padme squeezes her eyes shut tightly, wanting to ignore everything else. If there was a way to blast away all of the bad in their lives, she wouldn't do it if she was denied this moment.

The death of the Jedi, the rise of Emperor Palpatine and the fall of the Republic all didn't matter in this moment. So long as Anakin was safe, and hers, they would figure their way out of this. Somehow form a rebellion to take back control of the situation. Or, at least something. But all of that can wait for now. She can just keep living in this moment. She can feel shifting in her belly and despite the raging lava storm around them, the moment is perfect.

"Ani," Padme whispers, turning to kiss his cheek before hugging him again, "thank goodness you are alright. I was so worried."

"I'm sorry," Anakin says softly, and there is a hitch to his voice that doesn't make sense to her. She tries not to over-analyze it.

"It's terrible, Anakin, the Jedi temple was attacked, the Republic has fallen, we have to get out of here and get somewhere safe," she says, frantically, pulling back finally to look at him. "It's not safe for the Jedi now." She stops, blinking rapidly, not understanding what she is looking at.

Anakin's head is tilted downward a bit, but he raises his eyes slowly, they glitter in the glow of the lava a sulfuric reddish-yellow instead of the beautiful steely blue they were the last time - and every time before that - she saw them. They were a disgusting color that marred his natural beauty. At first she just stared at him before she slowly extracts her arms from around him and takes a slow step back, not sure she's seeing what she thinks she is. It's got to be a trick of the light somehow. It can't be true.

Her eyebrows pull together tightly. "Anakin..." She starts shaking her head.

Anakin grabs onto her arms and holds her in place. "Padme," he says, his voice low and tense. "I need you to understand that I did this for us. For our family. Now we can be together, out in the open, and not have to worry about who sees us and what they think. We can be together."

"The Jedi..." Padme says softly, her body starting to shake.

"They deserved what they got," Anakin says, shaking his head. "They were ruining everything. Doing everything they could to hold us back, stop us from being together!"

Padme's breath leaves her chest. "The Younglings..."

Anakin pauses, turning his unfamiliar eyes toward her. "Padme..." she starts to pull away but he holds onto her tightly. "Listen to me," he says slowly, staring deeply into her eyes. "I know what this looks like, but I made sure that it was quick and painless. They didn't feel anything."

Padme chokes on the air she's trying so desperately to fill her lungs with. "You killed... younglings?" She rasps, her voice cracking. "You killed babies? I... I don't know you anymore..." Tears start streaming down her face.

Anakin cups her face with one hand, pulling her closer and wrapping his arm around her with the other. "Padme," Anakin says, "I love you. It'll be okay. I know you must be feeling horrible, but trust me, everything is going to start looking up, I promise you. Everything is going to be okay from here on out." He pulls her tighter to him as she weakly tries to pull away. "Padme, please. Please look at me."

Through her tears she tries to try and make eye contact with Anakin but she can't really see and she's crying too hard to be able to control herself but if he wasn't holding her so tightly, she would have fallen to the floor long ago.

"I can't believe you did that..." Padme sobs, her entire body shaking with the force of her tears. "I don't know you. I don't know you anymore..."

Anakin kisses her cheeks and holds her tightly to his chest. "No, you do. You do know me! I'm the same person I always was. I did this for us. Now we can be together!"

"On the blood of children!" Padme cries, pushing weakly against his chest. "I don't want this! I don't want this!"

"The war is over!" Anakin says quickly, as if that will suddenly make this entire thing okay somehow. "I've finished off the Separatist leaders! The war is over! Just like you've wanted. I did this for you! For our child! For our family!"

Padme starts crying harder, her knees going weak. "For me?" She sobs. "You killed so many people because of me?"

"For us!" Anakin insists. "It's going to be better this way!"

"Without our friends? Our family?" She says incredulously. "How could this be good? We could have been happy! Why did you do this, Anakin, why?" She pounds her fists against his chest weakly. "How could you do this?"

Anakin forces her to look at him again. The skin around his eyes are bright red and tears are sliding down his cheek and Padme could see it. Deep, deep in her heart, he was in unbelievable pain. He knew this was wrong. He knew that he shouldn't have done this. He knew he was losing her and he was becoming desperate. Anything he could do to keep her with him, he was going to do it. All this killing and death is ruining him too. He isn't blinded by the Dark Side. His desperation is causing him to do things he normally wouldn't do and it's killing him but he doesn't know what else to do, he's losing himself by being pulled in so many different directions.

"I love you," Anakin cries, cupping her face with his hands. "I love you, please don't say this."

"You are going down a path I can't follow," Padme cries, furiously wiping her tears away as Anakin's hand settle on her hips to keep her in place. "You're breaking my heart!"

"Don't say that," Anakin pleads. "Don't say you can't stay with me! I'll make everything better. I promise! Just tell me how! Tell me, Padme, please! Please don't leave me!" Anakin presses his forehead against hers, wetting her face with both her tears and his own. "Please! Please!" His grip on her face tightening.

"Anakin, you're hurting me," Padme cries, her voice shaking and cracking. Anakin jerks hand hands away from her face before grabbing her arms again.

"I'm sorry," he whispers desperately. "I'm sorry!"

Padme takes a few, shuttering breaths, shivering a bit. She's so torn. She doesn't know what to do. She loves him so much. She can't believe that their lives have turned out this way. She shouldn't want to be with him. She should run while she's got the chance, figure a way out of this later, but she doesn't just want to leave him. Despite everything he's done, she loves him. He seems genuinely remorseful, but stuck in a vicious cycle he doesn't seem to know how to escape from. Can she really let the man who killed younglings around her own children? Can she even see him as her husband anymore? She certainly can't live in the new Galactic Empire, but then where does she go?

Padme starts to cry again, doubling over a bit as her shaking body is hurting her stomach. "I love you," she whispers.

Anakin leans closer. "What? What did you say?"

"I love you," Padme whispers, looking up at him through teary eyes. "I don't know if I can do this, Anakin. This is everything that I stand against. You killed babies, Anakin! How am I suppose to react to that?"

Anakin presses his face close to hers, shaking his head a bit. "Don't say that. Don't think that. We can work this out. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, don't say this! Don't do this! I will make this better. I promise!"

"How?" Padme's voice cracks. Despite everything he's done, there is still good in him. She just knows it. She can feel it.

Anakin's lower lip starts to tremble. "I don't know. I don't know what to do! I..." His eyes widen as if the full weight of what he's done has come crashing down on him and his legs give out and he hits his knees on the hard rock beneath him. "Oh... oh my..." He doubles over, his entire body shaking. "What have I done? By the Force!" Padme quickly steps away in time for him to puke onto he dirt, his body trembling even more.

Padme lowers down next to him, rubbing his back. She's torn and frightened by everything that has happened recently, but she can't just ignore him or his pain. Slowly, and awkwardly, she lowers onto her knees next to him.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Anakin sobs, threading his hands through his hair. "What have I done? I didn't want this! I just wanted to be strong enough to protect you! I just wanted to keep everyone safe! I ruined everything! I ruined it all!"

Padme could feel it, like an actual pressure around her. Through wet lashes, she looks around to see rocks and droplets of lava starting to float up into the air. She can even hear the groaning of her ship as the metal starts to warp, and she knew it was the Force. She wasn't sensitive to the Force, but she knew that Anakin was exceedingly powerful and when he lost control of his emotions, things tended to start moving, and crunching.

"I'm a monster," Anakin's voice is ragged and deep, like he's lost himself in his emotions and the Force is a swirling maelstrom around him. Padme can feel the tug at her braid and her clothes but he's rational minded enough not to hurt her. Yet. "What have I done?" Anakin moans in pain. "I killed Master Windu! I killed fellow knights and masters and padawan! I killed younglings! What have I done? Oh." The semi-stable chunk of rock that they are on starts to shake and crack.

"Anakin!" Padme cries out in surprise. "You have to calm down!"

The lava, in streams, start to trickle up into the sky.

"Anakin!" Padme calls out, shaking his shoulder. "Anakin, you have to stop!"

"Monster! I'm a monster!"

"Anakin!" Padme pleads. "Please, stop!"

"Anakin!"

Everything stills. Padme and Anakin both look up to see Obi-Wan, standing at the edge of her ship's ramp, hands on his hips, eyes narrowed as he stares at them.

"Master," Anakin says softly, drawing Padme's attention to him to see his eyes an agonizing, but beautiful steel blue color again. "Master, please. Please!"

Padme isn't sure what Anakin was begging for, but she didn't like it. His torn, broken eyes locked onto his master, looking like a man who's lost everything. The weight of what he's done barreling down on him. It's like he's been spending the last few days with a veil over his head, where he could see what he was doing but couldn't really stop himself, and it's like everything is coming to him at once. The weight of what he's done is crushing him, probably somehow enhanced through the Force.

The lava falls back down into the pools creating big splashes, but not big enough to get at them. Obi-Wan looks around for a moment before stepping off of the ramp and making his way over to them, cloak billowing behind him, eyebrows pulled together tightly. He drops his hands but keeps walking in long, purposeful steps, eyes locked onto them.

"Master," Anakin sobs, voice and body shaking. "Master, I did something terrible." Tears slide down his cheeks. "I killed them, Master. I killed them all." He releases his hold on his hair and pushes the heels of his palms into his eyes. "I thought I was... oh what have I done! He told me he could... I just..." He sits back on his hunches, rocking back and forth, slightly.

Anakin lets out a low moan of pain.

Obi-Wan stops in front of him, on the other side of the puke, offering it barely a glance, before stepping around it and lowering down onto a knee on Anakin's other side.

"You are the Chosen One," Obi-Wan finally says, his voice chilling. "You were to destroy the Sith, not join them. You've destroyed everything that we've stood for. You betrayed the Jedi, you betrayed the Republic, and you betrayed me. You allowed the Dark Lord to manipulate you into destroying it all. What have you to say to that!" As he goes on, his voice raised higher and higher until he was yelling. "Damn it, Anakin, look at me! You have to face me! I am not just going to go away!"

Anakin drops his hands onto his thighs and looks at Obi-Wan, the skin around his eyes are beat red, but his irises are still blue. His eyes lock onto Obi-Wan's looking less like a twenty-four year old man, and more like a young boy, desperately looking to his older brother, and fatherly figure, for guidance. He is truly a lost soul, seeking something to cling to. Padme could feel it in her bones, there truly was still good in him.

"I've ruined everything," Anakin says weakly, looking at Obi-Wan. "I've destroyed everything."

Obi-Wan's jaw works, as if trying to control his anger. "I know you have," Obi-Wan says chillingly, but it's in that moment, that the pain is revealed. He meant what he said. Anakin had truly betrayed him, and he felt it so keenly. The worst part about betrayal is it is always by someone one loves and trusts. "I loved you, Anakin," Obi-Wan says, brokenly. "You were my brother, and you betrayed me!"

"I'm sorry," Anakin whispers. "I am so sorry."

"What are we going to do?" Padme asks, still rubbing Anakin's back. "We can't go back to Coruscant. It's not safe there. Palpatine will be looking for the remaining Jedi, and he won't let Anakin go."

"Are you going to come with us?" Obi-Wan asks, staring at Anakin with a hard gaze. "Or have you dedicated herself to your new master?"

"Master," Anakin moans, pained, "please..."

"Padme is coming with me," Obi-Wan says, grabbing Anakin's jaw and forcing him to look at him. "The baby is yours, right?" Anakin doesn't respond. "Right?" Obi-Wan snaps, obviously having lost his patience. Anakin nods. "Right, she isn't going back to Coruscant. If they are your child, the Sith Lord is going to kill them, if not convert them somehow. And your love for Padme will get her killed too. I will protect them."

"Please, Master," Anakin says softly, "let me come with. Please. I wont do anything wrong!"

"Why should I trust you?" Obi-Wan snarls. "I have spent the better part of fifteen years with you, never once imagining that you would betray me, but you did! Why should I trust you with the delicate lives of your wife and unborn child?"

Anakin looks physically pained by his words. "I would never hurt them. Never!"

"Like you wouldn't hurt younglings?" Obi-Wan snaps. "Care-givers who don't even know how to wield a lightsaber? Padawan's who have barely even begun their training? Like you would never hurt them, Anakin?"

Padme is sickened by his words. "Obi-Wan..." She looks at him through wet lashes. "Please, stop. If not for him, for me. I... I can't hear anymore." She rubs at her forehead. Obi-Wan lets out a ragged sigh, running his hand through his sweaty blond hair. Padme shakes her head a bit. "What are we gonna-ah!" She doubles over a bit.

"Padme?" Anakin reaches out and touches her cheek. "Padme, what's wrong?"

Padme feels a stab of pain in her gut, then a great deal of wetness between her thighs and on her feet, that she's sitting on. First, she thought she peed herself, then that her water broke, but the stench of iron hits her nose and she reaches down to touch the wetness to see the dark red sheen on her fingers. Padme gasps in fear, then pain and doubles over as the stabs in her gut become stronger, and moves upward. She coughs and blood splatters on Anakin's face, making him jerk in surprise.

"Padme!" Anakin grabs onto her and lifts her into his arms, quickly standing. "Doctor," he says, eyes wide and wild. "Doctor," he says again, like it's the only word in his vocabulary. Obi-Wan is on his feet, moving toward Padme's ship when Padme coughs wetly, sending more speckles of blood flying.

They start running for the ramp when the two men stop, feeling a looming darkness lovingly caressing at the edge of their senses. Both turn very slowly, able to see the facility in the distance, but a dark, short shadow just a few yards away from them, hunched over in a black cloak. His steps are slow with age, but somehow he appears like a predator stalking it's prey.

"Anakin, my boy," the figure says. "Padme is weak. She is losing the baby, just as you feared. I can show you how to save her, but you are quickly running out of time. She will die soon, if you do not hurry."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan grabs at his arm. "We must go now! He cannot save her. He is evil, Anakin. He will let her die!"

"Nonsense," Palpatine says, voice holding a lilt of pain. "All I have ever done is try and guide you, Anakin. I have always been looking out for you, since you were just a little boy, Anakin. Never have I set you astray."

"The Jedi..." Anakin says softly, looking pained. A small ship hovers overhead, above Padme's. Obi-Wan and Anakin spare it a look but return their attention back to the threat slowly making his way closer.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan pleads. "Please don't do this again! Padme needs to get away from him! He will kill her. Do you understand that?"

"The Jedi were destroying the balance," Palpatine says softly, as if mournfully. "They refuse to act. They sit around twiddling their thumbs thinking that the old ways are the only ways. They refuse to see outside of their neat little box. They allow a bloated beast like the Republic continue to reign when it is filled to the brim with greed and vileness more incorrigible than even I can truly imagine. It had to be stopped. It simply cannot be ruled the way it wishes it could. That is why it keeps failing."

"Right, you may be." Yoda steps up next to them, looking old and tired and sad. "See the Jedi of now and find my masters of old. Hundreds of years between the two, yet they remain the same. My fault, this all is." Yoda closes his eyes and leans heavily on his cane. He looks like he's nearly tripled in age since last either two men saw him.

"Master..." Obi-Wan says softly.

Yoda looks up at Anakin and there is no malice or hatred, just sadness. "Failed you, young Skywalker, I have. No, we, of the Order, have." He shakes his head slowly. "Fix it, I will." Padme coughs weakly, staring, half dazed, down at Yoda. "Senator Amidala," Yoda says, "failed you as well, I have. Didn't see you for what you were until it was too late, I was."

"What does that mean?" Anakin asks. "What are you saying, Master Yoda?"

"Up to you, it is, Obi-Wan, Anakin, to save us all. Write our wrongs, you must," Yoda says cryptically, narrowing his eyes up at the two men. "Darkness is coming. Be ready for it, we must, less we all perish."

"Master-" Obi-Wan starts before Palpatine cuts him off.

"Cleaver, Master Yoda," Palpatine sounds pleased by something. "Even you know this cannot be stopped, yet you grasp at straws. I am the only one who can do this."

Yoda sends Palpatine the flattest, most chilling stare any of the two men had ever seen, especially from the old green Master. "Chosen One, you are not."

Padme jerks. One moment she is in unbelievably pain, wanting to punch Anakin and Ob-Wan in the face for stopping to have a chat with him when she so obviously needed a doctor, but simply lost the strength to move. The next moment, she is staring into Obi-Wan's eyes, seeing him stare back at her as if equally perplexed as to how they got there.

Padme's eyes turn to Anakin next to her, surprised by what she sees. Anakin stares back at her, but his hair is chopped short and pulled back into a small ponytail with his padawan braid over his shoulder. He stares back at her, eyes wide, and studying her just as she is with him. They were both younger. She was definitely no longer pregnant. He must still be a padawan because not only does he still have his braid, but his right hand as well.

Then the two of them look over at Obi-Wan, who's lined face is smoother, his hair longer and his stance looser, not pained by injuries he sustained from his time in the war. Even Anakin's posture is more introverted than his regular stance. He must have felt the oddity of it for it because his stance becomes assured. The three of them spare a few awkward moments, staring at one another, not knowing what to say, or who should even speak first.

It wasn't just her. The two of them saw the same thing that she did. She could see it in their eyes. They were just as perplexed by it as she was. Master Yoda must have done something, but she was so delirious with pain and blood loss that she didn't understand much of what happened there at the end. Unfortunately, judging by Obi-Wan's furrowed brows and Anakin's darting eyes, neither of them must know what is going on too.

Anakin opens his mouth, but Padme beats him to it. "Everyone, leave," she catches Dorme shift in her peripheral. "I need to speak with the Jedi alone, please."

JarJar, Dorme and Padme's guards all exit the room different ways. She gives it a couple of seconds before she launches herself into Anakin's arms. Anakin wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly to him. She couldn't bring herself to care about what happened before this, she just needed to feel him in her arms, even if for just a moment.

"What is going on?" Padme asks. "You saw that too, right?"

"Yes," Anakin says softly. "I... I saw it all."

"As did I," Obi-Wan says, flatly.

Padme pulls back, embarrassed. She looks at Obi-Wan, expecting his disapproving eyes on them and their display of affection, but he was staring beyond them, probably through the Force, before suddenly looking exhausted.

"What was that?" Anakin asks softly, his question directed toward the oldest of them. His posture is slightly timid, as if worried that Obi-Wan will start beating on him at the slightest provocation.

But Obi-Wan doesn't move, seemingly too focused on trying to sift through whatever mental files he's got lined up in his head, before he looks over at them, tired. "I honestly don't know."