Padme heard the alarm going off. Rolling over, she hit the button to stop the loud noise. Getting up, she put on her robe, and headed to the nursery to get the twins ready, to leave within the hour.
" Here, let me help you get them ready." Sabe` said, coming into the room and picking up Luke.
" Thanks. Lets just put them in their travel seat and we can get them dressed and fed, once they are awake on the ship, and get out of here quickly." Padme said, as she picked up Leia's blanket and wrapped her up in it, before heading out of the room.
Sabe` wrapped Luke in his blanket and followed Padme out into the family room. She saw Padme put Leia in her travel seat, so she went over to Luke's travel seat and put the baby in his seat.
" Can you stay with them, while I'll get dressed really quick? Then, I'll watch them while you do the same thing." Padme said, as she picked up the seat and put it onto the couch.
" Ok, that's good idea. If they start to wake up, I'll give them some juice." Sabe` nodded, as Padme hurried off to her room to get dressed.
Padme went over to the chair and picked up the clothes that she had put there. All she had to do, was put on some clean underwear, before putting on the pants and shirt.
Once she was dressed, she went over to her vanity, picked up the brush, and began brushing her hair, before braiding it and putting it up in a ponytail. After fixing her hair, she grabbed the small bag that had her toiletries in it and put it in the baby bag.
Walking out into the living room, she stopped in her tracks, when she saw Sabe` wrapped in someone's arms.
" What is going on here!" Padme said, putting the bag down next to the couch.
" Hello, Padme." Obi-Wan said, as he let go of Sabe` and turn towards Padme.
" Don't you dare say hello to me, you bastard." Padme said, as she began glaring at him.
" What is wrong, Padme?" Sabe` asked, as she watched her best friend getting upset.
" What's wrong? Let me guess, he never told you what he did to Anakin." Padme said, looking at her friend.
" Um... no ... all he told me that he was dead and that's all." Sabe` said, watching Obi-Wan look down to the floor.
" Dead! Oh, that's only half of what he lied about ... He didn't tell you that he left Anakin to burn alive in that lava pit?... Did you know he was still alive, when you just left him there? ... You could have helped him Obi-Wan, but no, you just turned your back on him and let him die." Padme said, as tears ran down her face and she saw sadness and even tears well up in Obi-Wan's eyes.
" I'm so very sorry, Padme ... I never meant to hurt him. Everyday, I live with that sight, of him begging me to help him, but instead, I turned around and just left him there, to die a fiery death ... I'm sorry, Padme ... I never ...." he was saying, but was interrupted, when there was a loud knock on back door.
"Obi-Wan, you never told me that.... Padme, wait. I'll get the door. You get the twins in the other room." Sabe` said, just before the back door opened up and a tall figure came into the room.
" Anakin, what are you doing here?" Padme asked, as she turned and saw him come into the room.
" I came to make sure that you are out of here." Anakin said, as he came over to her and pulled her into his arms.
.
" It can't be. I saw you...." Obi-Wan started to say.
" That's right. The last time you saw me, I was on fire... but at the moment, I don't have time to fight with you, I know that you are here to help Padme and my children. Please take them to where ever they are going and keep them safe for me." Anakin said, just watching Obi-Wan with sadness in his eyes, because he realized how much he truly missed his old friend.
" You know, I would do anything in my power to keep them safe, Anakin. I just want you to know how sorry I am for everything that had happen between us... I realized how much, you were right about a lot of things and I should have listened to you more often... I'm not asking you to forgive me, but I thought you should know how I felt, is all." Obi-Wan said, giving Anakin a small smile.
" I see. Thank you for helping my family... It will take a long time for me to forgive you for what you have done to me ... I'll see if there is any hope for any kind of friendship with you, but first, you have to prove your loyalty to my family and make sure that they get to where they are going safely." Anakin said, as he went over to the twins and looked down at them.
" You have my promise that I will make sure that they are safe... Anakin. I also understand what you are saying." Obi-Wan said, going over to the his ex-Padawan.
" You know, this is my first time seeing them... They are beautiful." Anakin said, as he touched his daughter's face with his finger.
" That is Leia." Padme said, coming over to the Anakin.
" Leia, I like that name... You know, Mom would have been very proud of her grandchildren." Anakin said, with sadness in his voice.
" Yes, she would have been very proud of them. This one is Luke." Padme said, taking a hold of Anakin's hand and giving it a light squeeze.
" She is right. You guys need to get going...I will keep you in my thoughts and remember one thing, Padme... I still love you so very much... I hope that one day, we can be together for the rest of our life, as a family." Anakin said, turning to Padme and taking a hold of her other hand.
" I know Anakin and I still love you so very much too." Padme said, before she felt Anakin's lips on hers.
Hearing Sabe` clearing her throat, broke the young couple apart. Padme picked up Luke's travel seat, while Anakin picked up Leia's and they walked out to the ship that was waiting for them, on the landing platform.
Anakin followed Padme into her sleeping quarters and saw a travel crib set up next to her bed. Padme put Luke down on the bed, picked him up and unwrapping him, before going over to the crib and gently laying him in the crib. Anakin followed Padme's lead and carefully picked up Leia, unwrapping the blanket. He just held her a few moments longer, before going over to the crib. Leaning his head down, he gently kissed his daughter on the forehead, before laying her down in the crib next to her brother. Before leaving the room, he turned to Padme, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her, before leaving the room and ship. All Padme could do was stand there and tears ran down her face. She heard the hatch door close and the ship began to lift off the platform and head off towards the deep outer space.
Two days later, they came out of hyperspace and was ten minutes from Alderaan.
" We are about to land. Are you sure that you don't want to stay with us, Padme." Sabe` asked, as she came into the lobby and watched Padme with the twins.
" It's better this way. Less I know, the safer they will be." was all Padme could say, as tears came into her eyes.
" I understand. Let me get back to the cockpit." Sabe` said, as she heard Obi-Wan get landing instructions.
" Ok." Padme said ,as she sat down between the travel seats and took each twins hands and held them. The ship landed and waiting for them, was Padme's good friend Bail Organa, and Queen Breha Organa, his wife.
" Welcome to Alderaan. It's so great to see you alive and well, Padme." Bail Organa said, coming up to Padme and giving her a welcoming hug.
" Thank you Bail, Breha. It's so great to see you too. I want to thank both of you for helping us." Padme said, as she also hugged Bail's wife.
" It's great to see you too, and we are very happy to help out." the Breha said.
" Well, I hate to say this, but we need to get going. There is a ship waiting for you guys." Bail Organa said, as he looked over to Sabe` and Obi-Wan and nodded to them.
" Ok. Well, I better get back. I have things to do back home and if I'm not there, then some people will began to wonder what I'm doing. I'll let you know when things are clear for us to get back together." Padme said, as she came over to the both Obi-Wan and Sabe,` who were holding the twins.
" Ok. We are going to miss you very much. We will take really good care of the babies." Sabe` said, as tears began coming to her eyes, as she handed her best friend her daughter, so she could say goodbye to her.
Padme just held Leia close to her, before kissing her good bye and handing her back to Sabe`, before going over to Obi-Wan and taking Luke from him, and hugging him and kissing him goodbye too. Padme stood there and watched the small group turn and board the other ship that was waiting for them.
" Well, it's time for me to go too. I will call to let you know that I'm back and when the next meeting will be." Padme said to Bail Organa.
" Ok, be careful. We got a messag,e saying that there have been some pirates spotted not far from here." Bail said, as he hugged Padme goodbye.
" Ok, I will." Padme said, as she turned and headed back up into her ship.
Once on board, she made sure that everything was latched tightly, before heading into the cockpit and began starting up the engines of the ship. Three hours, after leaving Alderaa, Padme was just sitting back in the pilot's seat, eating her evening meal and talking to Anakin, who was off Naboo at the moment and was on Tatooine, taking care of some business with Jabba.
" I should be home tomorrow afternoon." Padme took a bite of her sandwich.
" Well, I have bad news at the moment. I'm not there. I have couple of things to do off plane,t so I'll be gone for about a week." Anakin was walking into a restaurant in Bestine.
" Oh. Well, then, I'll see you when you come back then... WHAT THE!" Padme called out, when she felt the ship shake.
" PADME! What's going on?" Anakin heard a loud bang come from Padme's end.
" I don't know something hit ... NO.. PLEASE ... N...." Padme began to say.
" PADME! PADME! NO......" Anakin called out, as he felt something bad just happen.
He turned on his holo-com to her com-link and tried to get her last known coordinate,s before something happen to her. At the moment, he couldn't do anything, because he had to do this job, the next day. It will be two days before he could find out what happened to her.
It was an hour later, Padme woke up, As she laid therem in a dimly lit room, she realized that she wasn't alone in the room either.
" I was worried that you wouldn't wake up." a small voice said, from the other side of the room.
" Um... where am I?... And who are you?" Padme tried to sit up, but laid back down, as she began to get really dizzy.
" I'm not sure, but you are on a slaver ship." the voice said.
" Oh ... man ... What I thought the ... Never mind ... I forgot the Empire believes in slaves." Padme was finally able to sit up.
" I take it that you don't keep up with what is going on in the Empire? Oh, my name is Telayah," the young girl said, getting up from her small cot and coming over to Padme.
" Not really. It's nice to meet you, Telayah. I'm Padme... You remind me of someone I once knew... I haven't heard nor seen her in couple of years." Padme felt sadness come across her, as she remembered Anakin's ex-Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, who was also a Togruta.
" Same here, Padme. Really, what is her name?" Telayah asked.
" She was a Jedi Padawan Learner, but something happened and she left the order. That was before the fall of the Galactic Republic." Padme said, with a sadness in her voice.
" A Jedi Padawan, you say... mmm... I have heard of one and I saw her about a couple of months ago, but then she disappeared." the Togruta said, before going back to her cot.
" Really?... Oh, man. I hope she didn't get caught by any of the Imperials." Padme said, as she pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees.
" If she was caught by Darth Vader, he would kill her right on the spot. Him and the Emperor are hunting down the Jedi and killing them." the Togruta said, as the hatch door opened up.
" Well ... Well, I'm glad to see that you are awake. You had me a little worried. You will bring in lots of money." the slaver said, as he came into the room and saw that Padme was awake.
All he did was slide two bowls of mush into the cell, before leaving the room and going to his captain, to let him know that their new slave was awake.
Two hours later since there wasn't really anything to do, but sleep, Padme laid back down on her cot, closed her eyes, and prayed to her gods that she will be free, and that Anakin would be the one to come and get her. Then, she just began to cry softly, thinking about Luke and Leia and was hoping that she would get to see them again. With that thought, she drifted off to sleep.
Little did she know, that her prayers were going to be answered very soon: in the form of Darth Vader.