InsaneJournal

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“Thank you, but no. I’m going to turn in early tonight,” Padmé said, begging off the committee that wanted to meet with her and discuss what the latest “Jedi scandal” meant for the Senate and the work they were trying to accomplish. She, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to have a quiet evening to herself, so that she could think about all that had happened and compose a message to send to her friend. As she entered her quarters, she was comforted at the sight of the security within, and nodded to the women as she passed them in silence, stepping into her bedroom and letting the door shut behind her while she sighed softly. Walking over to the bed, she sat on the edge and looked around the room, then glanced towards the darkened windows that showed Coruscant’s unique skyline. “I’m so sorry, Ahsoka,” she said quietly, before bowing her head and shutting her eyes.

When she opened them a few minutes later, they widened as, beneath her feet, a strange blue light had appeared. Padmé started to shift backwards, but instead felt herself being pulled forward into a swirling vortex of light, her cry choked off halfway through. At some point, she lost consciousness. Eventually coming to, Padmé’s eyes opened a second time, and she sat up as she found herself in a strange room that seemed to be empty, but full of seats.

“What...hello?” Standing, the Senator made a slow turn to examine the room, then looked down as she felt a device in her hand. Lifting it to study, Padmé wondered if it was some sort of comm device - it was certainly similar to one. She turned it over in her hand, then glanced around again. Spotting a few doors, she started towards them slowly.

There was a shift in the Force. It wasn't one that most would notice since they had no special connection to Padmé. But her husband did. Anakin was startled out of his meditation when he realized he could sense her. Padmé. Whatever insanity this ship threw at him, he could deal with it if she really was here.

He ran through the deck towards where he could sense her, barely avoiding collisions with passersby in his haste. It was soon obvious that she was in the theater, which made sense; apparently that was where people showed up. The doors slid open on his approach as he raced inside and she was already walking towards them. She was as beautiful as ever. He shouted her name, ready to take her into his arms and have as joyful of a reunion with her as the one they'd so recently had after he'd crashed the Invisible Hand on Coruscant.

Something stopped him short. He hadn't immediately noticed the change in his excitement to see her; he'd been slow on Coruscant as well to notice that her weight was not just from her heavy garments and the shaping which hid the roundness of her belly. Now, though, he could see that her stomach was flat once again.

His emotions came in a rush-- confusion, sadness, fear. "Padmé-- the baby-- what happened?"

The first face she saw as the doors slid open wasn’t that big of a surprise, but it was certainly welcome. Padmé smiled slowly despite the possibly dire circumstances they were in, the device in her hands momentarily forgotten as her pace quickened. When he stopped short, she continued towards him until she could reach out and take his hands, still happy despite the change in his eyes, but his words that came after caused her own smile to falter.

“...Baby? What baby, Ani?” Shaking her head a little, she smiled again and lifted her free hand to touch his cheek. He seemed different in a way she couldn’t quite identify, but he was still obviously Anakin, and the fact that they were alone at the moment made this meeting all the sweeter.

“What do you mean what happened? I was in my room and then there was this...strange energy.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what it was, but I blacked out, and when I came to I was here. Where are we?”

He squeezed her hands as she came to him, but did not draw her into his arms yet; he couldn't stop looking down where he should have seen her carrying their child. As she touched his cheek, he leaned into her touch. His eyebrows drew together in deeper confusion and a touch of anger. "What baby?" How could she ask that? "Our child. The one you're carrying." He said it with a note of obviously. "I don't know what it was either, but it happened to me, too. People said this is the 'Prettiest Star' cruiseship. Where's the baby, Padmé?"

Despite what he'd been told so far, like Ahsoka being so much older, it hadn't really sunk in yet that there were "time differences". As far as he was concerned, they were expecting their first child and she was supposed to be safely at home while he... did his duty. Maybe that strange energy that brought them here had brought her without their child inside her, but then why was she confused about it?

The anger in his eyes - and the tone of his voice - had Padmé blinking in confusion as her hand dropped to where his gaze kept falling. She shook her head a second time, speaking a little more slowly this time. “Anakin…I’m not pregnant. I had a physical a few weeks ago and there wasn’t anything - I haven’t even seen you very much until recently, so we haven’t exactly had time to….well.” She tried for a smile this time, though she was starting to grow a little worried.

“I’ve never been pregnant. Not that a child wouldn’t be an amazing gift for us, of course, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” That being said, she focused on his other words. “Prettiest Star? That sounds Corellian, but I don’t recognize the design of this room. What people?”

"What, so now I'm lying to you? You were pregnant yesterday!" It wasn't really her that he was angry at, not entirely, but it was hard not to feel some of it towards her. He knew the truth. Why didn't she see that? Could something have harmed her memory when it brought her here? If anyone had hurt her...

Or... maybe it was that time thing. He took a deep breath to help steady himself and forced a smile. "At least, you were as far as I knew. Maybe that's something else that's weird about all of this." He lifted his flesh-and-blood hand to brush her cheek with his knuckles. "But now that you're here, it'll be all right. I don't recognize anything about the ship, either, but there are a lot of people here. Mostly strangers, some we know." Considering who one of those people in particular was, it was hard not to let the anger build again.

"Ani - Anakin - I didn't say that!" She stared at him, a little hurt that he accused her of thinking that of him, when she'd said nothing of the sort. As he calmed down, Padmé continued to study him warily for a moment, before mirroring his earlier head tilt as his hand touched her face. She moved to take it, turning a little to press her lips into his palm, glad he seemed to be relaxing again.

"I promise you that I wasn't, Anakin. I don't know why you think I was, and I'm happy to get examined by a medical droid if it'll make you feel better," she offered. "Is the rest of the ship like this?" When he said there were people there they both knew, interest entered her gaze, and she glanced past him towards the doorway. "At least we aren't alone. Who else is here?"

Hadn't they just been talking the last few days about needing to be more honest, needing to let each other in? Mostly on his side, that is. He felt a twinge of regret for his own accusations and gently cupped her cheek.

"Because you were, Padmé. I don't know how or why you can't remember that or why you aren't now, but people here are saying the craziest things. 'Alternate realities', 'different times', they aren't making sense. Nothing's making sense— except that you're here now. We're together." He put his arms around her and drew her closer. "Yes, please get the exam. Ahsoka's here— but she's years older. Like I said, it makes no sense. And… Obi-Wan."

He tried to keep his temper from flaring again at the thought. Ahsoka was no longer a Jedi and had been betrayed by him just as he had, so he didn't blame her at all for what the Order had done, but Obi-Wan? "Someone who says she's Bail Organa's daughter, but why wouldn't he tell you that he had one?" Unless Organa had told her and she just hadn't thought to mention it to him. That didn't mean she was hiding it, though, he reminded himself. They had so little time to see or speak each other that it was a waste any time they spent moments on any other people. And Leia Organa had said she hadn't been born yet in Anakin's time.

“As soon as we’re done here, I’ll get examined, Ani.” She smiled at the touch, stepping closer to him again. Now that he wasn’t flinging wild accusations, she could concentrate better on where they were. As he slid his arms around her, Padmé leaned into him and returned the hug tightly.

“Older?” Letting out a faint laugh, she glanced up at him. “That’s strange. But I’m glad she’s here.” Particularly after just having seen Ahsoka leave - and wondering at the time if she’d ever see her friend again. Her smile returned when he mentioned Obi-Wan. “And I’m glad he’s here, too.” With three Jedi there, things might get complicated, but they’d all make it through alive, at least.

When he mentioned Bail having a daughter, Padmé blinked, then shook her head. “No he doesn’t...unless he adopted one recently. That’s a possibility, but I’ll find out.” Giving him another squeeze, she nodded towards the door. “Do you know where the med bay is? I’ll go ahead and get checked out to put your mind at ease, and we can get some answers.”

He tipped his head down to breathe in the scent of her hair and held her tight. He had to keep himself from tightening his arms any further when she mentioned Obi-Wan. "I don't want to talk about Obi-Wan," he said, voice tense but trying to keep it even. He looked with her towards the door and started to loosen his hold on her. "No, I've only been here... uh, actually, I don't know how long. Chronometer's a bit scrambled right now. I've been trying to find my room assignment, and Artoo's trying to help map the place. There's a network up, though." He gestured to the device she had been holding before. "Someone should know. People seem willing to answer questions."

She barely noticed the odd note in his voice, too intent on finding answers, and looked back up at him as he loosened his hold. “Well - I’ll ask and we can head there. I’m happy to hear Artoo is around, maybe he can figure out whose ship this is.” She smiled at him, then shifted onto her toes so she could kiss him softly. “Don’t worry, Ani. We’ll get to the bottom of this."

"Do you want me to come with you? Or keep looking for the room?" His preference for the former was implied in his tone, but they'd never gone to any sort of medical exam together before. There had never been a reason to before since she could just have her medical droid come to her. She probably deserved some privacy, part of him reminded himself, but then he didn't want to let her out of his sight just yet. He relaxed a little with the kiss and returned her smile. "Or Artoo will get to it first."

“You can come with me,” she told him, squeezing his hand as she stepped back completely, then letting it go, aware - as always - that they were about to be in the public eye. She lifted the device again as they started towards the exit. “Can you show me how this works?”

He prepared himself as well to put on the usual act— not that he was very good at hiding his obvious affection for her, but he still made the effort, calling her "Senator" instead, keeping his hands to himself, and so on. As for the device, that was easy for him. Machines of all sorts always were. He began to explain it to her as they walked out of the theater, side-by-side but not too close. Never close enough.