One Path Chapter 56--As Long As We Are Together (original) (raw)

Title: As Long As We Are Together
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: She slowly pulled back, and he stroked back her hair with shaking fingers. "Are you all right? What are you doing here? Why didn't you go back to the Tantive with Bail?" he asked.
Rating: PG
Length: Around 2000 words
Category: Gen
Pairings/Characters: Obidala
A/N: One Path Chapter 56. Set during an alternate RotS.

As Long As We Are Together

Padme sat numb enough in her Senate pod to have passed for a grieving mother, a tormented wife whose husband had gone outlaw. Bail slid in behind her, offering a silent touch on the arm. To anyone watching, it would have appeared as a gesture of support and comfort. To Padme, though, it was more--they're inside, it said.

"I was…held up," he said aloud as he took the open seat beside her. On the other side, Jar Jar turned to nod a worried hello.

"The Chancellor has been elaborating on a plot by the Jedi to overthrow the Senate," she said dully.

"It's a lie!" Bail said automatically

She turned to give him a warning look, "Jar Jar says he's been presenting evidence all afternoon."

In the center of the Grand Convocation Chamber, Palpatine leaned upon the Chancellor's Podium and his voice rang out, "These Jedi murderers left me scarred, left me deformed, but they could not scar my integrity! They could not deform my resolve! The remaining traitors will be hunted down, rooted out wherever they may hide, and brought to justice, dead or alive! All collaborators will suffer the same fate. Those who protect the enemy are the enemy! Now is the time! Now we will strike back! Now we will destroy the destroyers! Death to the enemies of democracy! This has been the most trying of times, but we have passed the test. The war is over! The Separatists have been utterly defeated, and the Republic will stand! United! United and free! The Jedi Rebellion was our final test--it was the last gasp of the forces of darkness! Now we have left that darkness behind us forever, and a new day has begun! It is morning in the Republic!"

"Here it comes," Padme said without blinking.

Bail shook his head. "Here what comes?"

"You'll see," she said hollowly, and they watched as all hope of a peaceful end to Palpatine's tyranny failed.

"To ensure that we will always stand together, that we will always speak with a single voice and act with a single hand, the Republic must change. We must evolve. We must strive. We have become an empire in fact; let us become an empire in name as well! We are the first Galactic Empire!"

The Senate went wild.

"What are they doing?" Bail Organa cried. "Do they understand what they're cheering for?"

Padme shook her head.

"We are an Empire that will continue to be ruled by this august body! We are an empire that will never return to the political maneuvering and corruption that have wounded us so deeply; we are an empire that will be directed by a single sovereign, chosen for life!" declared Palpatine. "We are an empire ruled by the majority! An empire ruled by a new Constitution! An Empire of laws, not of politicians! An empire devoted to the preservation of a just society. Of a safe and secure society! We are an empire that will stand ten thousand years! We will celebrate the anniversary of this day as Empire Day. For the sake of our children. For our children's children! For the next ten thousand years! Safety! Security! Justice and peace! Say it with me! Safety, Security, Justice, and Peace! Safety, Security, Justice, and Peace!"

The Senate roared and cheered, picking up Palpatine's chant. Padme Amidala Kenobi began to cry. "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause."

Bail shoved himself to his feet. "We cannot let this happen! I have to get to my pod--we can still enter a motion--"

She caught his arm, digging her nails urgently into his flesh. "No, Bail, you can't enter a motion. You can't. Fang Zar has already been arrested, and Tundra Dowmeia, and it won't be long until the entire Delegation of the Two Thousand are declared enemies of the state. You stayed off that list for good reason; don't add your name by what you do today."

"But I can't just stand by and watch--"

"You're right. You can't just watch. You have to vote for him," she said flatly.

"What?"

"Bail, it's the only way. It's the only hope you have of remaining in a position to do anyone any good. Vote for Palpatine. Vote for the Empire. Make Mon Mothma vote for him, too. Be good little Senators. Mind your manners and keep your heads down. And keep doing... all those things we can't talk about. All those things I can't know. Promise me, Bail," then she lowered her voice, making sure that no one but he could hear. "And promise me that you'll take care of my son if anything happens to his father."

He nodded faintly. That was all, but it was enough.

"Padme, what you're talking about--what we're not talking about--it could take twenty years! Come on, let's go, now. We have to get you out of here," Bail said.

She shook her head. "We said it earlier. Palpatine still needs the illusion of democracy. He isn't going to arrest anyone in the Senate arena."

"You should still get back--"

"Not until I know," she insisted, leaving the statement unfinished. As he had said already, some things were better left unsaid, but in her heart she repeated, Not until I know that my husband is alive and safe.

"What are you going to do?" Bail asked.

"I'm going back to my apartment," she replied simply.

"And wait for them to come and arrest you?" he whispered fiercely. "You can't do that!"

"If I run, it's as good as an admission of guilt. And if the Emperor tracks me to the Tantive, he'll find Ani," she whispered.

Bail ran a hand over his face. "But you can't--"

"Yes, I can," Padme said. "If it will help save the Republic--if it will save my son--I can."

***

She rushed toward him as he came inside, and he reached for her, pulling her into his arms. She trembled against him, and even as he kissed her, her fear tore at him. All he wanted was to take her and run--to the Tantive IV and their son, and then away, out of the Core, beyond the reach of Palpatine and his Empire. He couldn't, of course. Soon there would be nowhere far enough. The Sith must be stopped before they could find peace.

She slowly pulled back, and he stroked back her hair with shaking fingers. "Are you all right? What are you doing here? Why didn't you go back to the Tantive with Bail?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she nodded, then her eyes narrowed as she really looked at him for the first time and saw the robes that he had changed into on the way here. "What are you doing? What are you wearing?"

"Master Yoda Knighted me again before we left the temple," he explained softly.

"Obi Wan, the Jedi have been outlawed…" she began automatically.

"I know," he said. "It's over, Padme, it's…all over. The Republic has fallen."

"The Senate is still intact. I won't believe that everything we've dedicated our lives to is just…gone," she said.

"Darling, it is gone. The Sith now rule the galaxy as they did before the Republic. Yoda and I--we may well be all that remains of the Jedi Order."

She closed her eyes, her throat working convulsively. "But--what does this mean--for us?"

"Nothing has changed for me. Yoda says that I have always been a Jedi, and I believe he's right. Now--now I must find out what it means to be a Jedi and be your husband. If you'll let me," he murmured hopefully.

"Let you?" she asked as her eyes popped open in amazement. She hugged him again, and he pressed his face against her neck with a sigh of relief.

"Padme, this is all I've ever wanted," he told her shakily, kissing the smooth curve of her skin. He closed his eyes. "You and I, right here, it's all I've ever--what?"

"They're waiting for you," she said, stiffening against him.

"What…? Who?" he asked, pulling away to frown down at her in concern.

"You--you said this in my nightmare. The very first one, before Kamino," she explained, breaking the embrace and turning back toward the couch. "Except it was different. You came here to change your clothes…it was all different, it was happy, at least until…"

"Until what?" he asked, following her inside. He frowned as he did so, sensing another presence, or at least an echo. It was unmistakably familiar and yet completely alien.

"Anakin," she said as her shoulders began to shake.

He came up behind her, sliding his hands over them, holding her gently against himself. "He was here, wasn't he?"

"He must have come yesterday, after Ani and I left with Bail," she said.

"I have to go to Mustafar after him," he said. "He's in grave danger."

"From the Sith?" she asked.

He took a breath. "From himself. Anakin has turned to the Dark Side."

"No," she jerked away, spinning to face him. "How could you even say that! He's just won the war!"

"He was deceived by a lie. We all were. It appears that the Chancellor is behind everything, including the war. Palpatine is the Sith Lord we've been looking for. After the death of Count Dooku, Anakin became his new apprentice," he said hoarsely.

"Not Anakin! He could never--!" she shook her head, but she sank onto the couch and he knew that she was beginning to understand.

"I have seen a security hologram of him leading the attack on the Temple," Obi Wan said. He slipped down beside her, tears filling his eyes as he said, "Killing younglings."

"Ani," she wept, covering her face with her hands. "Oh, Obi Wan, did he…did he try to kill little Ani?"

"He let Ani go," he replied shakily. "He could have, but he let him go."

"Then--?" she gasped, looking up at him with both confusion and hope.

He reached out to brush her tears with his fingers. "I don't know. But I must him one way or another. I had to make sure that you and the twins were safe first. Anakin said that Palpatine knew what you and Bail were planning."

She shook her head. "He may suspect, but he can't prove anything. He has no evidence, and he needs it, at least until his new empire is more firmly under his thumb. I was supposed to be the visible political enemy. The one who gave Bail and Mon Mothma cover so that they could build their organization. Bail didn't sign the Delegation of Two Thousand, so he can't be implicated. That's why I couldn't go back to the Tantive. If I had and Palpatine found out…"

"He'd have found Ani, and he'd have all the proof he needed to act against Bail," Obi Wan closed his eyes. "Padme, I can't leave you here. Yoda is going to face Sidious, but if he fails, any known Jedi collaborators will be killed."

"I'll have to go with you," she said.

"To Mustafar?" he cried.

"What choice do we have?" she asked.

"Darling, you don't understand. I--I may have to kill him," he shook his head.

She raised her hand to his cheek. "You could no more kill Anakin than I could. But maybe between the two of us, we can save him."

He cupped her face in his hands and leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. "Listen to me. You do exactly as I tell you. Promise."

She nodded.

"No taking chances. No heroics. You must trust me. Trust my judgment," he went on.

"I've trusted you since Tatooine, Obi Wan. That won't change," she replied.

"All right," he kissed her gently, then withdrew, pushing himself to his feet. "Call your security and have them get the skiff ready."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I have to get something," he said as he strode purposefully into their son's room. She followed him, watching from the doorway as he took the gleaming box off the shelf and keyed the lock code. For a long moment, he simply stared into it, looking down at the last legacy of the Jedi Order-- a Padawan's braid and a Master's lightsaber. Then he closed the lid and locked it again, returning to his wife. "One way or another, we're not coming back here."

My feelings tell me that no matter what happens tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or five years from now, you and I will be together. And as long as we are together…