Chapter One

Padmé's Choice

Padmé stood across from Anakin as he spoke of his grand plans for the galaxy, the heat from Mustafar's fiery landscape unnoticed as despair ran through her blood like ice. She couldn't believe what he said, what he'd done. And yet, here they were, and Padme felt as if she balanced on the edge of a great precipice and making the wrong move would send her, and her unborn child, plummeting to their deaths.

Anakin had gone over to the Dark Side.

And yet, when she considered in the brief moments he stood there, looking at her with his eyes aflame with his new found power, his love for her and their child, she realized she'd always known this was a possibility. In fact in those quiet moments, when she sat reflecting in her office at the Senate or watched the blue waves of hyperspace fly by as she headed out on some diplomatic mission, she felt completely disgusted with herself.

She preached diplomacy, democracy, equality, liberty, and justice, but when Anakin returned that morning on Tatooine after having slaughtered an entire tribe of Sand People, she comforted him, more concerned about his well-being, the sadness he felt over the loss if his mother, than the fact he'd just committed genocide. How short sighted. How shallow. She teased Anakin about love blinding him, yet love blinded her, causing her to go against her very morals. She'd played the hypocrite for years now, every Clone Wars mission she'd gone on, hiding this secret, her brushing those lost lives aside as if they were nothing. What did that say about her?

"We can make things the way we want them to be," Anakin said, smiling broadly at her.

She met his eyes, and he waited for her response, that hopeful look she'd come to know.

Her child would not grow up without a father. She didn't abandon Anakin then, that morning on Tatooine. Why leave now? She should embrace the Dark Side with him. And yes, maybe they could exact change in the galaxy.

"Yes, Anakin. I will be by your side," she said.

But he no longer looked at her. His gaze rose toward her ship behind her, his expression contorting in dangerous rage. She swung around to see Obi-Wan Kenobi standing on the ramp of her ship. Anger filled her as well. He'd snuck aboard! He could ruin everything. She knew Obi-Wan thought Anakin a threat. She knew Obi-Wan could kill Anakin.

"You brought him here to kill me!" Anakin raged at her.

Padmé moved swiftly, with speed she didn't know she had. Grabbing the small blaster hanging from Anakin's belt before her husband could react, she aimed and fired at Obi-Wan. The bolt hit him in the chest, causing him to give a momentary look of shock before falling with a thud on the ramp.

"What have I done?" Padmé said weakly, dropping the blaster to the ground, suddenly feeling weak. She swooned, but Anakin caught her.

"Padmé, love. Let's get you inside and comfortable. I'm leaving my ship here. Let's return to Coruscant," Anakin said, his voice sweet again.

"I…I can walk," Padmé said, wobbling on her feet, Anakin's arm tightly around her. They moved toward the ship, toward Obi-Wan's body.

With a small movement of his hand, Anakin used the Force to swipe Obi-Wan's body from their path, as if the man meant nothing, as if he weren't Anakin's teacher, his friend, his brother. The sound the Jedi Master made when he hit the ground of the landing pad made Padmé's stomach churn. Had she really just killed Obi-Wan? Memories ran through her mind, the first time she met Obi-Wan as a young man, helping his own Master with negotiations. He'd been her friend, risking his life for her more than once. And she'd shot him.

Glancing back just before entering the ship, she gasped. Had the Jedi Master's leg moved? Could he be still alive? No, impossible. A trick of the eyes caused from the rippling heat through the air. His robes still smoked from the blaster fire. Plus, wouldn't Anakin feel Obi-Wan in the Force?

Anakin made sure Padmé sat comfortably in the co-pilot's seat before going to secure the droids. The baby kicked suddenly, violently, and Padmé felt panic. Not yet…she still had another few weeks. She breathed, trying to calm herself, and then Anakin was next to her, readying the ship, reaching over to hold her. His touch calmed her, and Padmé could feel his new power.

"I need to get you home safe. My master will understand. We'll return to the Senate building, then get you home and comfortable," Anakin said, his hand on her cheek, love in his eyes. "Thank you, Padmé. We will be so happy. And think of all the change we can bring upon the galaxy, the people we can help."

Padmé simply nodded. She drifted in and out of sleep the entire way back to the capital.

Twenty Years Later

Luke Skywalker stood in his mother's former office in the Senate building on Coruscant, now his sister Leia's work space as she prepared for her internship as an Imperial Ambassador. Watching the movement of the traffic outside the window, he sighed heavily. He'd been trapped on Coruscant for twelve years now, and he wanted desperately to get away, see the galaxy. He needed to find a way, like Leia.

Glancing down to the small decorative table by the window, he focused on the framed holopic of him, Leia, and his mother. This image, taken the day before the awful attack that took their mother's life, made Luke's throat clinch with emotion for a moment. He and Leia had been eight-years-old, on a trip to visit relatives on Naboo, when the terrorist attacks occurred. And since that horrible day, they'd been confined, with their father's insistence, to Coruscant. For their own safety, their father said. Yes, the Skywalker twins were safe, but Luke wasn't sure if this stifling life would keep him sane.

"Thanks for meeting me," came Leia's voice from behind, and Luke turned around to see Leia, wearing her Imperial diplomat garments of red and black, enter the office with an armload of data pads. "I wanted to take you to that new tapcaf." She put down her work and moved over to embrace her brother. "Gosh, I haven't seen you in a month! How was the training? I heard the academy…"

Luke laughed, stepping back to regard his sister, her brown hair up in one of her complex braids. "I want to hear about you. You've done it, Leia! You might actually be getting off this rock."

Leia shrugged. "I don't know. I feel like I sometimes get passed over for appointments. But if I try to throw my last name around I…"

"Mistress Leia. Master Luke," came a familiar voice from the doorway. The twins turned to see C3PO waiting.

"Hey Threepio," said Luke, happy to see the stuffy droid again. Yes, he had been gone a long time if he was happy to see C3PO.

"I'm glad you are both together. This saves me time," said the golden protocol droid. "Your father is on world and wishes to dine with you this evening at your residence."

The twins both shared a shocked look.

"Dad…home?" Leia stammered.

Luke just stared at Threepio. Their father had not been on Coruscant for nearly six standard months. And even when he was in the capital, they rarely saw him. He distanced himself more and more over the past decade, Luke and Leia raised by a series of nannies and tutors.

"Dine with us?" Luke said.

"Yes, the evening meal," Threepio said. "Shall I contact my counterpart R2D2, who is currently with Lord Vader, to let him know you will both be there?"

"Um…yes?" said Leia, like Luke not believing what they heard.

"Very good," said the droid, who left, ambling down the hall, back to his work station.

Leia turned to look at Luke.

"This is strange," she said.

"Yes," Luke said, his eye once again drawn to the holopic with his mother. "I wonder what's going on."

Author's Note: Welcome to my new story, an original trilogy AU I've wanted to write for a while now. This story will feature familiar characters and locations from both the canon and EU. Despite the angst in this first chapter, you can expect humor, romance, and adventure throughout this tale. I enjoy hearing from readers, and I always respond to comments, so please let me know your thoughts on this story.

Next time, the Skywalker twins dine with their father, and the two most dangerous men in the galaxy begin to make plans.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy the story!