Anakin's bright blue eyes bore into Padme's soul, his love for her shining through, even though their romance remained a secret.

"I miss you Padme." The holo-recording played again, its loop running for the fifth time that evening. "And I will return as soon as possible, and we can finally be together. I love you, my Angel."

Anakin was off fighting in the blasted Clone War, somewhere in the outer-rim for months now. Padme had never felt so lonely in her entire life. She gently rubbed her very pregnant belly and sighed. She was almost eight months pregnant with their child, and Anakin had been away so long he didn't even know of the pregnancy.

Padme felt tears welling up in her eyes as the holo-recording of Anakin blew her a kiss and smiled before fading to black. She held her hand to her heart, as if she held his love in the captured kiss from the recording.

"Please come home Ani," Padmè whispered softly, her fears of him being injured or worse in the war bubbling to the surface. Nothing was going right, it seemed. With all the tension in the senate, and the war escalating further with the loss of more battles, Padmè's voice crying out for peace and justice was lost among the chaos.

"What do I do?" Padmè asked her handmaiden and best friend, Dormè. Dormè sat next to Padmè on the small couch in the grand apartment, gently laying a hand on Padmè's pregnant belly. Dormè was the only person who knew of her pregnancy, and did her very best to help Padmè hide it from the public eye.

"I can't have the baby without him, Dormè." Padme whispered, "I can't." Dormè was also the only person who knew of Padmè and Anakin's secret marriage. No one else knew, not Padmè's family, not Anakin's Master, Obi-Wan, nor his Padawan, Ahsoka.

"It will be alright, milady." Dormè replied quietly, "He will come home soon."

Padmè nodded and wiped a stray tear from her eye. She seemed so much more emotional lately, everything was either, perfect and wonderful, or extremely doom and gloom. Dormè patted Padmè's back comfortingly and smiled at her.

"Perhaps you will get word of him tomorrow." She said encouragingly. It became a habit of Dormè's to remind Padmè that there was always hope. It had been nearly five months since the last message from Anakin, and Padme had played it so many times that she could recite the entire thing from memory, hand motions and facial expressions included.

"Perhaps." Padmè said with a nod, "Dormè, I shall retire now. Thank you for everything."

Dormè nodded and leaned over to give Padmè a small hug. "Of course, milady. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Dormè."

Padmè lay down in her bed, laying uncomfortably on her aching back, but not able to turn to either side, her baby bump getting in the way. The strain on her back had been excessively bad lately, and Padmè was often in pain because of it. She could not go to any doctors, nor any physicians, because the second she went in for a checkup, they would know of her pregnancy, causing a scandalous outrage, denying her of all and any respect she'd earned over the years and ruining Anakin's position as a Jedi…..

Padmè shook her head to clear her negative thoughts. Thinking like that wouldn't get her anywhere. Maybe Dormè was right. Maybe she would have good news in the morning. Good news about the Senate, good news about the War, and specifically about Anakin.

….

The next day arrived and Padmè didn't feel much better. Her heart was heavy, aching for Anakin's love. She felt so alone, so tired…

Dormè helped Padmè put on her heavy, cone shaped robes, ones that hid her pregnant belly from view. Padmè was ready for her Senate meeting, which ended up going overtime. It wasn't until the end of the meeting that Padmè actually felt that it held some importance.

"We have news of two Jedi coming back from the Outer Rim." A senator said, his thickly accented voice sounding bored.

Padmè however, was intrigued. "Which Jedi?" She demanded.

The senator gave Padme an annoyed glance and replied, "Masters Kenobi and Skywalker. They are in Coruscant's atmosphere, rescuing the Chancellor from General Grievous's command ship."

Padmè almost sunk to the floor in relief. She nodded politely and bit her lip. Rescuing the Chancellor? He was captured only hours ago. Reports and investigations are still being done, how do they know he's on Grievous's command ship?! Padmè thought seriously to herself. If Anakin was in yet more danger….her worry boiled inside her chest, but Padmè pushed the feelings away, knowing it wasn't good for the baby, nor her senatorial image.

Padmè then felt excitement replacing her worry, at the thought of seeing her husband again, after months of separation. How would he respond to the sudden news of her pregnancy? Well, Padmè thought cynically, thinking back on all her morning sickness, pain and suffering, Maybe not so sudden…for me at least.

….

The next few hours are a total blur to Padmè. The galaxy is literally turned upside down. The war is over. Her husband is home. The clone troopers told to stop battling. The droids were shut down. General Grievous was dead. Count Dooku was dead. Chancellor Palpatine was dead as well, leaving the senate and the rest of Coruscant and other nearby systems in total and utter chaos.

But to Padmè…it was a dream come true. Anakin was holding her tightly, spinning her petite form in his arms though the air a bit, kissing her in joy.

"I love you." He said to her for the millionth time since coming home. He patted her belly, which was shown off more in the simple housedress instead of the heavy senate robes.

"I know." She said, leaning up to kiss him again.

"I love both of you." Anakin said, kneeling to kiss Padmè's belly.

Padmè giggled and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately, not wanting to forget this feeling. Both the Jedi and the Senator's lives were falling apart. Their jobs, their planet, possibly even the galaxy, and yet, they were nothing but happy.

"We will raise her on Naboo." Anakin stated, holding Padmè on his lap as they sat with each other, watching the insanity down on Coruscant's skyways.

"Her?" Padme asked with a coy smile.

"Sure." Anakin said. "Jedi Intuition."

Padmè grinned. "I say it's a boy." She said, "Mother's intuition."

Anakin smiled and kissed her stomach again. "Names." He said after a moment. "Aren't you due in a couple of months? We need to have names ready!"

Padmè was downright thrilled with Anakin's excitement for their baby.

"I pick the boy name!" Padmè said with a smile. "You can choose a girl name."

Anakin nodded and thought for a few moments, absentmindedly playing with Padmè's chestnut curls.

"Luke." She said softly after a moment. "I've been thinking about naming him Luke."

Anakin smiled. "Luke….Luke Skywalker. It has a great ring to it."

Padme covered a giggle with her hand and nodded. "It's perfect." Anakin stated, planting a firm kiss on Padme's lips.

"Now for the girl," he told her after a few more moments of thought, "I like the name Leia. I heard it while on Alderaan a few months back. I loved it."

Padme smiled. "I love it too." She said with a smile. "It's perfect."

Anakin cradled Padmè's slight, but very pregnant, form in his arms and smiled at her. "Goodnight Mrs. Skywalker." He said, as he carried her back to their bedroom.

"Goodnight to you, Mr. Skywalker."

For the first time, in a long time, Padmè wasn't afraid to sleep, wasn't afraid of what the next day might bring. Because as long as Anakin was with her, they were unstoppable.