A Twist In Destiny 1

Here is my newest complete story. I started this as a series of one shots that ended up being all connected. Please enjoy.

I do not own Star Wars, but am just borrowing them for the purpose of practicing my art.

It was strange how the future was shaped. There were some who saw parts of coming times, times that could be, times that ought to have been. In this age of the failing Old Republic, most saw only dark glimpses of a deceptively frail old man wielding power, a dark figure held together by mere technology, and only hints of a child who could burst into history like a shining star. Then, one strange morning, the entire future shifted.

None would ever discover the exact moment, and only a secretive, powerful man and an unborn child had any knowledge of that moment, though the man would never guess it was his own curiosity that changed the future and the babe would have mere dreams of colors he would never root out.

The child was one of two, his sister behind him in the womb, as they had been rolling about in their shrinking quarters, until his sister had fallen asleep, to the relief of their mother. Not even the medics had realized there were two, not even the curious Force users, Jedi, Sith, and other, who wished to know the mystery of the pregnancy. The Medics Ultrasounds were normally very good, but this was one of those rare cases where technology missed the important part, and the twin children were both so strong in the force that they were hard to differentiate. Their own father, possibly the strongest Force User in the galaxy, missed it.

As for the powerful man, he was the leader of the Old Republic, a dangerous man with dangerous secrets who was skillfully guiding the corrupt, failing republic to its end and the rise of an empire. When the moment the future changed came, the man was seated in his office, smiling benignly on his former planetary leader, the Queen of Naboo, and now Senator, Padme Amidala. She was there to talk to him about the war, hoping their friendship would lead them to a new answer.

Chancellor Palpatine, known to a very few as Darth Sidious, listened to her with polite, woeful silence. They were friends, at least to Padme's knowledge, and she was appealing to that friendship to help bring peace. Had the brilliant young woman spoken to some other mind other than one steeped in cruel Sith teachings, she would have left a deep mark. As it was, Palpatine felt a little bored.

She was an important pawn in his current move, she and her unborn child. Her secret husband had only lately learned of his fatherhood, having spent the last six months in the Clone Wars, and was only back now for a well-earned leave. It had happened sooner than Palpatine had planned, as he had meant to execute a kidnapping plot on himself as the boy returned, but he thought it might be better for young Anakin Skywalker to be planet side when his next move happened. For now, Palpatine contented himself with tormenting the powerful boy with dreams of Padme's death.

It would take a good deal of his skill to make that happen, and what was more, to blame the Jedi for the death. Palpatine wasn't yet sure if he should end the child's life as well, or if the babe could be hidden away to be trained as a Sith from birth. Still wearing his respectful, worn mien of the Chancellor, he nudged his mind to the child's mind, looking to see if there was an opening for him. A young, unmolded mind met his, so open and naïve, it startled him.

He could not tell the gender, but the babe reacted to his mental probing by kicking, hard. His mother cringed a little, unaware of the cause of her child's sudden movement. To the Chancellor's surprise the fluid mind pushed back, instinctively catching hold of the Force manipulation. He drew back, wondering if an unborn child could use the force.

On the child's side, it was merely light flaring into his mind, and even before the child used its eyes outside the womb, he could see the Force.

It was a simple moment, not unlike that of the Jedi giving a youngling their first taste of the Force, but the Chancellor had done what no other had done for this child, and with such curiosity that his plotting was in the back of his mind, so the first touch from the Force came not with the heavy plots, but a mere quest for information. As he was unborn, the child had not known of the outsider world, knowing only the mother and father's voices, and the energetic sister. Now he knew more, though the unformed mind could not clarify that. He wanted more, though desire itself was unknown to his mind.

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Two weeks later Padme Amidala frowned as she rested her hand on her stomach. The baby seemed to hardly be still any more. She had yet another month and a half before she was due, but of late the pre-labor contractions seemed harsher. It worried her, thought she could not interrupt her husband's deep fear with such thoughts. Besides, at this point the child would easily survive. All the greatest medical care was present here on Coruscant.

"Are you unwell, Padme?" Her handmaid Sabe asked. Sabe was the only person to know who the father of her children was, brought into Padme and Anakin's confidence soon after their marriage. By now everyone knew Padme was pregnant and not even her carefully constructed gowns could conceal her changed body. There was a bit of gossip, for although it was not forbidden in the Senate, or on her own home planet, a pregnancy of an apparently unmarried woman always set tongues wagging. For the press, it was an amazing sight, as Padme Amidala had never seemed to care much for personal relationships that did not assist in her ideals as first leader, then representative of Naboo.

"I suppose this child is restless." She sighed.

"Ah." Sabe smiled. "Shall you go rest?"

"Yes." Padme agreed. Sabe was a near duplicate of Padme, and had often stood in her place. The senatorial gown was designed to slip off and on and once Sabe had added the now needed padding to appear pregnant, it was rare for any to realize the change had been made. This was not unheard of. Padme personally knew the Jardin representative was never present, always his duplicate. With so many varieties of species as well, it was hard to tell one species from another. A Twilek might see the change of Twilek, a human might see the change in human, but rarely did they see the change in the other.

She rested in her Senate chamber, watching the proceedings through a cam and letting Sabe hold her place. Her friend had her complete trust, and so she dozed a little, aware mainly of the unease in her middle. It would shock her, her aides, and her handmaids when they returned to her chambers at the end of the day, to discover her water had broken.

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Every Force sensitive person near the Senate Building felt the sudden surprise of an unborn child as its home began to work to eject the child. The frail mind stretched out curiously, as it had learned to do two weeks before. It had touched its sister's mind, but she had been asleep and had not noticed the touch, so when the mind stretched out to sense beyond the womb, accidentally setting labor in motion, it was the only one shown to the world.

When the contractions began to grow harsh, and the child grew confused he reached out as far as he could with his mind, instinctively seeking help. The entire Jedi temple and a few undiscovered minds, as well as the secret Sith Lord, felt the baby's confusion and small, innocent mind. It lasted just a moment, for the child had often been aware of its father, overhearing the quick conversations they shared on holovids, and in person the last month, and the father was in the temple. Once that mind was found, the rest felt the child's mind disappear.

Grand Master Yoda tuned out a Mace Windu's report, as the future he'd seen glimpses of turned on its head. The suffocating presence they called the Dark Side grew smaller. Something new was happening. No child had ever used the Force inside the womb.

Obi Wan Kenobi stumbled at the touch of the mind as he sat meditating in his quarters.

Ahsoka Tano froze during a training duel, then watched her Master spin around and race out of the room.

Anakin Skywalker ran from the Jedi Temple, would not have stopped if Master Yoda himself had ordered it.

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"It's too soon!" Anakin wailed to Sabe and Bail Organa. The Senator was reeling with the unexpected discovery that not only was Padme bearing a Jedi's child, but that she was married to the Jedi. Bail had longed to be a father, but could not sire children. He had met Padme Amidala when she was a child queen, and he a seasoned Senator. He had always liked Padme, and had indeed guided her in her debut to the Senate.

A fierce protectiveness swept over Bail. In this instance, he would stand against the Jedi. It had always puzzled him how such great men and women would look down on love. He had married while very young, and had long believed he should not have got so far without his wife's love and support.

"Do calm down, Anakin." Sabe sneered. "Women have given birth since the beginning of time, many without the safeguards Padme has. Now, I will tell her you are too frantic to see her, or you can steady your nerves and face this like a calm Jedi."

The medical staff had to be taken into confidence as well, but they were bound by secrecy laws regarding all Senators, so to talk would be treason. The man they called the Hero with No Fear blinked as he raggedly breathed. He looked no more than a worried husband and father, and suddenly Bail laughed.

"Come on Anakin. Let's get you a stiff drink before you face your wife. My sisters have all had several children, so I am no stranger to waiting and I'll be bound that Padme will scold you if you face her like that."

The handmaid's sneer and Bail's teasing made the frightened young man step back as if slapped across the face. He took a deep breath. "I've had such bad dreams…"

"My brothers in law all said the same. You can do nothing to aid her, but stand with her. Now straighten your spine and go be with your wife. Jedi with no fear indeed."

Rather shaken out of the fear that had gripped him since he'd first dreamt, Anakin Skywalker entered the delivery room, where his wife was yelling at the delivery droids to tell her coward of a husband to get into the room. She blinked and then grinned at him.

"Sabe got hold of you quickly."

"Actually, our child told me. I'm not sure an unborn child has touched the Force before." Anakin grinned, curiously relieved to see how much brighter the room was, how feisty Padme looked, how calm the medical instruments sounded compared to his dreams.

"Two children, Master Skywalker." The clean, white droid examining his wife's stomach intoned. "There are two children. One was hidden behind the other all this time. This early labor is not as surprising. Multiples are often born early, and they appear strong and healthy."

"Twins?" Padme and Anakin echoed each other. "Oh, good grief. I knew I didn't prepare enough!" The mother added.

Four hours later, Luke Skywalker entered the world with his eyes closed and a few cries that faded when his strangely woken Force Sense felt the world around him. He batted at the silvery threads that laced the air, unseen to everyone but the newborn whose first sight had been through the Force. His twin sister, annoyed that her companion had vacated their home, followed mere minutes later. She blinked her little eyes and wailed her annoyance.

As Padme cradled her son, and Anakin cradled his daughter in the late hours of the night, the powerful Jedi Knight blinked, his confused thoughts resolving on one simple line. "The Jedi are wrong about marriage and attachment."

Padme smiled, touching the small nose of her son. "Quite wrong." She agreed. "We've been such fools."

"Then it is time I left them." Anakin declared. "I no longer have a desire to be a Jedi if it means acting ashamed of you and our children."

Padme nodded. All their sneaking around seemed so foolish now. She kissed her son's head. "Little Luke."

"I shall go them now." Anakin decided, getting to his feet.

"What? Oh, no, not now. Let's spend this first night all together. We need to do this carefully." Padme blurted, woken from her admiration of her carefully wrapped and monitored babies. "It is clearly time we made a change, but we need to know what we are going to change too before we make it."

"True. I told you we would have a girl." Anakin grinned. "Little, feisty Leia."

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