"Anakin," Padmé says softly. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Anakin replies.

"Are the twins okay?" Padmé asks anxiously.

"Y-yeah. They're perfect, in fact. The nurse says they can probably get out of the NICU soon, I just..."

Padmé clicks the light on. "You're burned," she whispers.

Anakin glances at his clothes. "Yeah."

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asks again.

"Please, Padmé. I'm fine."

"You're clearly not," she shoots back. "...Please, Ani, don't shut me out."

"...I'm not shutting you out."

"You won't tell me what happened. Something clearly went down."

"No," he says, closing his eyes. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"Please, please say it's nothing bad."

Anakin considers telling her but decides against it.

Padmé turns on the light again just in time to see Anakin turn to leave.

"Anakin, please. You're scaring me," Padmé cries, but Anakin continues on, walking out of the room.

She waits until she hears the door shut before she turns back to the bed, knowing she won't be able to fall asleep any time soon. Once she got an hour or two of sleep, then she could visit the twins.

Trying to focus on something other than her current problems, she glances at the wall.

The walls are dark, despite the sun shining outside.

Padmé swears the room doesn't change regardless of the time of day. It was always a little too dark in here, a little too cold.

She hates this room.

After what seems like hours of waiting, Padmé can finally visit her twins.

The room is so dark, only the necessary lights are on. She admires her twins.

They look so small. So tiny. So fragile. As if they would break if she held them.

She shivers despite the balmy air in the room, pulling her robe closer around her. The room is silent, almost eerily so. No one was in the room except Padmé, a nurse droid, and a few other babies besides Luke and Leia.

She catches Luke's eyes fluttering open for just a few odd seconds. He exhales, and then promptly goes back to sleep.

A soft smile spreads across Padmé's face as she places a hand on the glass between her and the twins.

Later that day, Padmé and Anakin eat dinner silently. The atmosphere is uncomfortably tense. Anakin appears disquieted by something, but Padmé doesn't ask.

"Padmé," Anakin says softly. "I need to tell you...I'm going to have to go as soon as I can. I have to go when you're released from the hospital."

The news comes as a shock to Padmé. "S-so you're leaving me? Where are you going? How long are you going to be gone?"

Anakin sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have no choice, Padmé. There are some things that you don't understand - the Galaxy is in a fragile state right now."

"So then help me understand. Please, I don't know what's going on anymore. Don't shut me out, please," she begs, grasping his hand. "I don't even have any access to what's happening out there. The news channels on the Holonet are blocked. I-I don't know what's going on anymore!"

"You should be used to it by now," Anakin replies gruffly. "I'll be in a... warzone. It's no different than the Clone Wars."

"You said things would be different, Anakin. This isn't any different. When are things going to change?" Padmé pleads.

"I don't know," Anakin answers.

"You're nothing more than a pawn, Anakin. You just let Palpatine use you. You don't even care that I need you."

"When did I ever say that? You're putting words in my mouth," Anakin huffs, indignant.

"It's clear just by your actions. I never see you anymore,"

Anakin groans. "I already told you. The Galaxy-"

"-Is in a precarious position. I've heard that one before." Padmé cuts him off.

"I'm not getting into this with you. If you can't understand that what I do is to protect you-"

"P-protect me?" Padmé asks, incredulous. "So, I guess when you...when you slapped me across the face that was protecting me."

"That was an accident," Anakin says, defensively. "And I already apologized for it a thousand times."

"Those words aren't much good if you seem to repeat the same things so often! I- I mean, at times I don't even feel safe around you. It's like you're an entirely different person sometimes, and it's terrifying!"

"Where is this all coming from? You're just trying to find things to villainize me!"

"I don't need to villainize you. You've already done that yourself." Padmé crosses her arms. "And maybe I'm just tired of being treated like this, you don't even care that I need you. Where did all this anger come from? What have I ever done to deserve this?"

" If you even knew what I've done for you, you'd change your tune real quick. You have no idea what I've done just to ensure you're safe."

"So tell me! Tell me about all the younglings you killed, tell me how you killed Obi-Wan!" she yells.

"I DIDN'T KILL HIM!" he roars.

There's a beat of silence. Padmé feels the flicker of hope in her chest—if Obi-Wan was still alive...where is he?

"He's alive? So, where is he? Anakin, where is he?" Padmé demands.

"Forget I said anything," Anakin replies, turning away from her.

"No. Tell me what happened. Please."

"Forget it!" Anakin says, storming out of the room, slamming the door with the Force behind him. She follows him to the door, only when she jiggles the handle, she finds the door stuck.

"NO!" Padmé yells. She collapses in sobs. She sinks to the ground.

A few tears escape to the cold air of the room.

"Obi-Wan is alive," she whispers to herself. "He's alive," she says again.

If Obi-Wan was truly alive...what else didn't Padmé know?

When Doctor Eni sees her the next morning, Padmé is lying on her back, staring at the window blankly.

"Hello, dear," Eni says kindly. "How are you feeling?"

"I could be better," Padmé says moodily.

"I'm sure."

"I want to see the twins," Padmé says.

"I'm sorry," Eni responds. "We can't move them until they're cleared by the NICU doctors."

"I know that. But I-I want to see the twins. Can I go see them?"

"Sure, let me just make sure that you're still doing okay, and you should eat something first."

"I'm fine."

"You are. You're doing great. But you can always sit here and relax. Don't forget, you're recovering," the Twi'lek doctor says.

"I'm not going to do that. I'm going to go see my kids."

Doctor Eni nods, gesturing to the wheelchair.

When they get to the NICU, she's once again surprised by how small the twins are.

She reaches and touches Leia's face. "Your mother loves you," she whispers gently.

She repeats the same action to Luke, who ends up gripping her finger.

They share eye contact for the briefest second before Luke releases her finger, drifting off again. It warms Padmé's heart nonetheless.

"...I'm sure Anakin loves you both too," She says finally, blinking rapidly.

Padmé finds Anakin in her room.

"Padmé," Anakin says, smiling.

"I don't want to talk right now. In fact, I have nothing to say to you,"

Anakin scoffs. "Don't be like this."

"How have I been being?" Padmé asks, raising her voice. "You're leaving me again. You can't even be bothered to be around when your children were just born! A-And you're acting as if it's nothing. And I'm the one being unreasonable?" She spits. "I don't know what's going on. And I don't know what's going to happen. And you're telling me I always have to trust in you?" She shakes her head. "It doesn't work like that."

"It's different this time. This is for the good of the Empire. The Galaxy needs me. There are things that you don't understand."

"You've always tried telling me what I don't understand! It doesn't work! When I ask you what's going on, you're just going to tell me things that I'll never truly understand because you're-"

Anakin grabs her arms. "Look, you're not thinking clearly, so-"

"Don't touch me!"

"Listen to me! I'm just doing what's best-"

"No," Padmé says, pulling away from him, her eyes flashing with anger. "Just leave, Anakin!" Padmé yells viciously.

"You need me. The babies need their father. And you need to rest."

Padmé shakes her head. "Go to your precious Empire, and go to your precious war!" She yells. "Just get out of my face."

Anakin stares at Padmé for a long while before turning and walking away, leaving her alone.

Padmé starts sobbing.

"Mommy, I don't understand this story." Six year-old-Padmé says, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Oh?" Padmé's mother asks, drying her hands on a towel. "What don't you understand?"

"That lady on the talk show. Her girlfriend was acting mean to her and hitting her, but she didn't leave her for a really long time. Why?"

"Well, it's not as simple as you think, Padmé. People stay in bad relationships for a lot of reasons."

"But why? That sounds kinda dumb. If someone acted like that to me, I'd just punch 'em back. Or I would just leave them."

Padmé's mother tuts. "You can't fight violence with more violence, Padmé, you know that. Anyway, Sometimes people stay in relationships like that because they love the person, or sometimes they have children involved. Sometimes they're scared because the other person threatens them." Padmé's mother sits on the couch next to her. "That's why you should always take time to get to know someone's inner self before you rush to start a relationship."

Padmé nods, digesting this information. "Well, I'd never let myself be in a relationship like that. I would just leave the person."

Padmé's mother smiles at her. "That's good," she glances at the clock. "Hey now, don't you and your sister have to get to the academy?"

"I'm waiting for Sola to get out of the 'fresher," Padmé shrugs, once again engrossed in the Holonet.

"That's a poor excuse. We have other refreshers in this house, Padmé. Hurry before you'll be late," Padmé's mother replies, nudging Padmé off the couch.

The next day, Padmé finally gets a chance to check her inbox on her comm. One message, in particular, catches her eye.

Hey, are you okay? I haven't heard from you in a while. - Sola

Padmé pauses, considering how to word her thoughts. Eventually, she settles on calling Sola instead.

"...Hello? Padmé, it's three in the morning here, so what's goi-" Sola yawns.

"I had the twins," Padmé blurts, too excited to carry on with a conversation.

"No way!" A pause. "Wait, wait, wait. Are you and the twins okay? Aren- weren't you kinda early along?"

"It's okay. The twins are in the NICU, but they'll be fine," Padmé replies.

"I'm coming over there right now," Sola says.

"W-wait, I'm still in the hospital for a couple more-" Padmé begins.

The line disconnects, making Padmé sigh good-naturedly.

"So," Anakin says awkwardly, Luke in his arms. "I don't think it'll be a long campaign. Just cleaning up the last of the Separatists,"

Padmé elects to ignore him, focusing on feeding Leia instead.

"So don't worry. I can't stay away from these two for very long. Or you, for that matter," Anakin continues.

"That's nice, Ani," Padmé says, disinterested.

"You'll be okay without me?" he asks.

"...I don't know why you're presenting this to me as if I have a choice in the matter. You can't even tell me where you're going but you have the nerve to ask if I'll be 'okay'. Does that make any sense to you?" she snaps.

He merely observes her for an unnerving amount of time, saying nothing.

Padmé grows tired of the feeling of being stared at. "What are you looking at?" She finally asks.

"Leia fell asleep on you," he notes with a tilt of his head. "Do you want me to take her?"

An unsettling sensation of either protectiveness or possessiveness (and she's not quite sure which) overtakes Padmé. She doesn't want him to take her.

But on the other hand, she's exhausted and sore and a break sounds nice.

But the idea of a nap is truly enticing, so she says 'yes,' anyway despite her own reservations.