Resolute<\/em> had landed, he had been summoned to the Chancellor’s office.\u00a0 He pushed it off, stating he needed to make sure his Padawan was settled.\u00a0 He sent Rex, along with members of Torrent, with Ahoska to the Temple, with instructions to not let her out of their sight. \u00a0 He wanted to make sure they had back up, in case of worst case scenarios.<\/p>\n“Ani.”\u00a0 Padm\u00e9 called out as she made her way into the living area.\u00a0 She dumped her headdress, and shaw onto one of the couches.\u00a0 “How long have you been waiting?”<\/p>\n
“Not long, my angel.”\u00a0 He walked across the room, pulling her close and giving her a kiss.\u00a0 He ran a hand across her cheek.\u00a0 “Are you okay? You look pale.”<\/p>\n
“I just got back from seeing my personal healer.”\u00a0 She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then settled into his arms, feeling more at ease.<\/p>\n
“Are you sick?”\u00a0 He pulled back slightly, giving her a once over, reaching out with the Force to try and read if something was going on.<\/p>\n
“I’m fine\u2026”<\/p>\n
“You’re not pregnant are you?”\u00a0 Anakin smirked, it was a joke between them since Obi-Wan had sent them back to Naboo<\/em> with protection.\u00a0 While he had been embarrassed, Padm\u00e9 had laughed at his Master’s cheekiness.\u00a0 He was sure their friendship was sealed from that moment onward. \u00a0 She had assured Anakin that when they decided to take that step, they’ll have a very frank conversation about what they wanted for the future. \u00a0 “Obi-Wan would kill me, give you a disappointed look, take our kid and raise it with Cody.”<\/p>\n“It’s been six months since I last saw you Anakin!”\u00a0 She rolled her eyes at him, while running a hand over her flat stomach.\u00a0 “And why exactly would Obi-Wan be raising our kid with his Commander …”\u00a0 Her eyes went wide as a broad smile on her face appeared. “Did those two finally admit they have feelings for each other?”<\/p>\n
“It’s not my place to tell.”\u00a0 He gave her a wink, making her giggle.\u00a0 “You can invite Obi-Wan for dinner, when he gets back from his latest mission.\u00a0 So if you’re not pregnant, thank the Force, what’s wrong?”<\/p>\n
“My cycle was off, really off.\u00a0 I started bleeding two weeks early, so went to see the healer.\u00a0 It would seem my contraceptive wasn’t just working, but completely ineffective.”\u00a0 She settled down onto one of the couches.\u00a0 “With as many attacks and threats I’ve had, we figured best to give me an implant at the moment, which would give Rab\u00e9 time to figure out who doctored with my medication, while Sab\u00e9 talked with Commander Fox, to see if any other Senator had anything mixed up.\u00a0 At least this wasn’t life threatening, but can you imagine if someone switched a Senator’s medication that was!”<\/p>\n
“Shouldn’t you have talked to me about the implant.”\u00a0 The look she gave him, had him cringing and taking a step back.\u00a0 “I mean\u2026”<\/p>\n
“You are not my husband, and you have no say on the decisions I make about my body.”\u00a0 She snapped, standing back up ready to take him head on.\u00a0 “And I’m pretty sure we had this discussion after Geonosis<\/em>, until this war is over, we can’t.\u00a0 This is no time to even contemplate marriage let alone children.\u00a0 Besides we’re already raising Ahsoka and Rex, plus the 501st.”<\/p>\nThe last part eased the sting of her rebuke, but he knew she was right.\u00a0 “Well not the 501st, I think Obi-Wan adopted them.”<\/p>\n
“Along with our future kid?”\u00a0 She laughed lightly, sitting back down.\u00a0 She was tired, between the back to back meetings, and her cycle out of whack, she was pretty much done with the day. \u00a0 “And how did you lose custody of the 501st?”<\/p>\n
He gave her an altered story of what happened, and how he ended up telling the 501st and 212th some of Obi-Wan’s history.\u00a0 He had never told her about the Dragon, it wasn’t his place.\u00a0 He trusted her with it, and he was sure Obi-Wan would have no problems, but with everything going on, there hadn’t been time, and the less he said the word Dragon out loud on Coruscant<\/em> the better he felt.<\/p>\nHe handed her favorite tea, along with some sweets he found in the cupboard.\u00a0 It wasn’t the first time he spent most of his time holding her, while she suffered through her cycle.\u00a0 It had scared him the first time, not really having dealt with that aspect of a woman’s biology.\u00a0 He was thankful, she had explained a few things, as it would help him with his Padawan.\u00a0 Though Ashoka was Togruta and not the same biology as Padm\u00e9, he at least was more prepared to handle her going through puberty. \u00a0 Or at least he hoped, if not, he was going to hand her to Obi-Wan and run.<\/p>\n
“I actually had a question for you.”<\/p>\n
She knew by his tone, this was serious.\u00a0 Padm\u00e9 set the cup down on the table, shifted until she was facing him.\u00a0 “Okay.”<\/p>\n
“Obi-Wan actually suggested I ask you, and I want you to be honest.\u00a0 Not that you’re not always honest with me, but I really want you to tell me whether it hurts or not.”<\/p>\n
“Ani what’s going on.”\u00a0 She took his hand, holding it tightly, sensing his nervousness.<\/p>\n
Anakin had always had a hard time expressing his emotions, sometimes even controlling them.\u00a0 It took a lot of patience to let him work through them, and figure out when was the best time to step in and help.\u00a0 The few conversations she had with Obi-Wan, it was something they had been working on years, before they came back into her life with a bang.<\/p>\n
“When the Chancellor called me back from the front…”\u00a0 He instantly felt her tense.\u00a0 “Obi-Wan told me to talk to you before I went to see him.”<\/p>\n
“Why?” She started to run soothing circles along the back of his hand.\u00a0 The one she figured out quickly was touch, helped ground Anakin to the moment.\u00a0 He had noticed Obi-Wan doing it with touches to the arm, squeeze to the shoulders, lean into his side.\u00a0 Anakin had started to do the same with Ahsoka, helping her focus on the moment instead of the terrors around them from the war.<\/p>\n
“Part of the story I can’t tell you yet, as it’s not mine to tell, but basically Ahsoka and Rex along with Fives and Echo asked about my mother, and I told them what happened.\u00a0 Fives pointed out that despite the Chancellor knowing how I felt about her, he never offered to buy and let her live on Naboo<\/em>, but more importantly he commented how it seemed odd he was my mentor.”\u00a0 He needed to get this all out, before they argued like they normally did about the Chancellor, though he didn’t actually feel any rash anger or hurt feelings.\u00a0 He paused for a moment, letting that sink into his consciousness \u2026 with a shake of his head he continued.\u00a0 “I talked to Obi-Wan, and he mentioned that when I came back from meetings with him I was angrier, and that I should ask you\u2026”<\/p>\nPadm\u00e9 stood and walked over to the balcony, arms wrapped around herself.\u00a0 She took a few calming breaths, before turning back around.\u00a0 “When you see him, then come to see me, there are times I’m terrified of you.”<\/p>\n
Shocked rocked through him, he had never realized he scared her.\u00a0 “My angel I wouldn’t hurt you.”\u00a0 But then he hurt Obi-Wan, and still didn’t remember it.<\/p>\n
“I wasn’t always sure.”\u00a0 She started to pace, hands moving as she talked.\u00a0 They had never talked about this, and she was honestly surprised that Anakin was willing to.\u00a0 So she would be honest, like he requested, good or bad.\u00a0 “You would talk about tossing democracy, and let Palpatine just have full control to end this war.\u00a0 Sometimes you would be so angry at everything, wanting to hunt down Dooku and rip his head off.\u00a0 I want this war to end, but the way you would talk about scared me.\u00a0 Then you would go back out there, comm me weeks later crying that your men were dying for nothing.\u00a0 The times you didn’t talk to him, you were my Ani, who brought me tea, made me laugh, loved me, let me hold you when you had nightmares.”<\/p>\n
Anakin stood, moving cautiously towards her.\u00a0 “Do you mind if I ask something else, this isn’t to acuse, but I’m curious.”\u00a0 She nodded, this wasn’t quite what she expected for the evening, but it wasn’t necessarily bad, matter of fact it may turn out for the better.\u00a0 “Why didn’t you, as Queen of Naboo<\/em> go get my mom?”<\/p>\n“I\u2026”\u00a0 She frowned, shoulders slumped.\u00a0 It was something she didn’t want to talk about, but as they were being honest.\u00a0 “I wanted to.\u00a0 I was so pissed at Master Jinn for not bringing her, even confronted him.\u00a0 He told me that as a Jedi you would have to let her go, and in some aspect I got it, but she helped us and deserved our help.\u00a0 He informed me the Jedi couldn’t save everyone, and he didn’t have enough to save you both.\u00a0 I growled at him, and stormed off.\u00a0 Then we were facing the Senate, the Trade Federation, and we lost Master Jinn.\u00a0 I had every intention of sending a team back to Tatooine<\/em>, then I just didn’t.\u00a0 I don’t know why.\u00a0 I’m ashamed to say that it wasn’t until you told me about your dreams, that I even remembered her.\u00a0 Hence I was ready to travel out to Tatooine<\/em>, but you said she wasn’t there.”<\/p>\n“She wasn’t.”\u00a0 He reached out, pulling her into his arms, holding her close.\u00a0 “Master Obi-Wan had her moved to his home planet.\u00a0 She’s happily married, with a stepson, new daughter-in-law and last I heard a grandkid is on the way.”<\/p>\n
“What does this have to do with the Chancellor?”\u00a0 She stepped back, looking at him curiously.\u00a0 “I, well honestly, I wasn’t happy he was mentoring you, not because I thought he was doing something wrong.\u00a0 Naboo<\/em> has many mentors to help younger politicians, I as Queen had a series of them.\u00a0 I was more concerned with how it would look.\u00a0 Naboo’s<\/em> Senator, turned Chancellor on my declaration for a Vote of No Confidence, was mentoring the Jedi who saved Naboo<\/em> – it would look like we were catering to the Jedi or the Jedi would be favorable to us.”<\/p>\n“Obi-Wan, like you, said every time I came back from being with him I was angry.\u00a0 It took some time, but between him and Master Windu, I was able to control my anger. \u00a0 I thought at first it was me being an angsty teenager, but I’m wondering if it was more.”\u00a0 He turned and looked at the Jedi Temple, not feeling that simmering anger under his skin.\u00a0 “If you’re telling me I was as bad with you, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s more than being an annoying teenager.”<\/p>\n
“What does that mean?”\u00a0 She asked sitting back down on the couch, hand over her heart, not sure she wanted to contemplate what he was trying to tell her.<\/p>\n
“Was Papaltine with you, alone after the battle?\u00a0 Did you talk to him about going back for my mother?”\u00a0 He had a theory working since Fives pointed out, and he wasn’t liking where it was going.<\/p>\n
“Well yes, he was our Senator, and we needed to discuss who to replace him\u2026”\u00a0 Her eyes went wide at the implication.\u00a0 “Ani?”<\/p>\n
He held out his hand.\u00a0 “We need to talk to Master Windu.”<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Commander Fox stared at Quinlan Vos with an exasperation that one only had when they were in the Jedi’s presence for more than a minute.\u00a0 How did he end up working with the overbearing, renegade Jedi, who gave no kriffs about rules and regulations?<\/p>\n
“Foxy?”<\/p>\n
“You know General Windu would pardon me if I shot you.”\u00a0 He gave him a pointed look, hand itching for his weapon.<\/p>\n
“I’m sure he would.”\u00a0 Vos laughed lightly, he was pretty sure the Head of the Order would pay Commander Fox to shoot him.\u00a0 “But then who would help you with these underhand dealings to find out who’s trying to harm Senators.\u00a0 Especially the ones we like.”<\/p>\n
He took a calm breath, counted to ten a few times, wondered if he could be transferred to the 212th, he knew General Kenobi took care of his verde <\/em>\u2026 never mind he heard Cody’s ranting about his insane General, and from rumors he heard around the Senate, he was friends with Vos, which meant he was totally off his rocker.<\/p>\nMaybe General Koon, though Wolffe was a territorial bastard.\u00a0 He couldn’t even think about General Secura, though she would understand his pain as having been Quinlan’s Padawan, but he knew Bly would just shoot him, without a second thought.\u00a0 Ponds had already threatened him, if he thought about stealing Windu.\u00a0 And he couldn’t see a future of picking up discarded articles of clothing while following Master Fisto – which left him right where he was, dealing with Quinlan.<\/p>\n
“What did you find out?”\u00a0 Vos might drive him insane, but he was good at his job.<\/p>\n
“Someone really wanted Senator Amidala to be off her contraceptives.\u00a0 So far there is no other mix up of medications.\u00a0 Just hers.\u00a0 Let’s face it there are people who think the female of any species is inferior, because of their ability to reproduce.\u00a0 Mixing up her contraceptive could sideline her for a meeting or vote, especially as she is very outspoken for reaching out to the Separatists to start peace talks, and even more vocal about Clone rights \u2026 Or it was a very very big coincidence they failed weeks before her Jedi boyfriend came back.”<\/p>\n
When Commander Fox had asked him to look into it, he wasn’t sure if it was an actual thing. It seemed more along the lines that someone had innocently mixed up the prescription, not like that hadn’t happened before.\u00a0 But the more he dug into the situation, the odder it became.\u00a0 He talked to Rab\u00e9 and Sab\u00e9, they were blunt about the Senator’s cycle, both surprised he didn’t flinch.\u00a0 He pointed out that General Aayla Secura was his Padawan, and he learned a hell of a lot, to help her through puberty and made sure scum didn’t get near her.<\/p>\n
When he discovered that one of the interns from the Chancellor’s office had been snooping around the medical offices, he got even more suspicious.<\/p>\n
“Are you telling me some fiend out there wants to torture the Republic by having Skywalker breed?”<\/p>\n
Quinlan inhaled the caf he was drinking, then spat it all over the Commander’s desk, stuck between choking and laughing.\u00a0 “When you put it like that it sounds stupid.”<\/p>\n
“Not really.” Fox grabbed napkins and began to clean up his paperwork, while glaring at the Jedi.\u00a0 “Everyone knows the two are involved, they aren’t subtle, but they aren’t doing anything to influence the other.\u00a0 But if she got pregnant, the scandal would send her back to Naboo<\/em>.\u00a0 The vod<\/em> would lose a Senator who was on their side, while the GAR would lose a general.\u00a0 Because there would be no way Skywalker wouldn’t follow her, let alone the impact it would have on how people perceive the Jedi. The dynamic duo of Kenobi and Skywalker, goes down to one.\u00a0 And we both know half the galaxy is out to get the General, and if we were to lose him, because Skywalker wasn’t there to back him up.”<\/p>\n“Well first off, never underestimate Obi-Wan, let alone that Commander of his.”\u00a0 Quinlan had heard the joy in his friend’s voice, when he told him that the two had finally Mated.\u00a0 “Despite the fact it sounds like a vast conspiracy that only the gossip mongers would spread, it has enough consequences in it that we should talk with Mace.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Part One Part Fourteen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[747],"tags":[746,50],"class_list":["post-17211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afternoon-fic","tag-afternoon-fic","tag-bj-jones"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Da1M-4tB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13012,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-save-the-mutant-save-the-world-final\/","url_meta":{"origin":17211,"position":0},"title":"Afternoon Fic: Save the Mutant Save the World (Final)","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"January 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Afternoon Fic This is a quick update to let you know that Save the Mutant Save the World has been finalized and uploaded to the Afternoon Fic Page. The next segment of Afternoon Fic is coming soon!","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/maxresdefault-7-800x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/maxresdefault-7-800x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/maxresdefault-7-800x450.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20927,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/the-dragon-general-posted-in-afternoon-fic\/","url_meta":{"origin":17211,"position":1},"title":"The Dragon General – Posted in Afternoon Fic","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"May 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally after\u00a0 ... a while ... got this posted in the Afternoon Fic section of the blog!\u00a0 Go me *sighs* And considering we've just had May the 4th Be With You - figured it was fitting to showcase. PS: Keep an eye out for another story I did that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DragonGeneral.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10674,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/new-afternoon-fic-a-single-shot-by-bj-jones\/","url_meta":{"origin":17211,"position":2},"title":"New Afternoon Fic: A Single Shot by Bj Jones","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"May 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Title: A Single Shot Author: Bj Jones Rating: R Summary: He should have felt the pain on impact, but he couldn't. Shaw had stolen that from him, right along with pleasure. Author's Note: Edited version of the Afternoon Fic *** Link to Fic","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_luzeyn3MTB1r6evzjo3_400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13807,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-next-story-poll\/","url_meta":{"origin":17211,"position":3},"title":"Afternoon Fic: Next Story – Poll","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"April 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"So there are few options for the next Afternoon Fic. A) Part Three to the Erik\/Charles AU ... basically story movie three but with the idea that Erik was shot in Cuba instead of Charles, and how it's changed their Universe. B) Erik\/Charles back story from the Dragons AU C)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_afternoonfics.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14392,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-dragon-rescue-now-posted\/","url_meta":{"origin":17211,"position":4},"title":"Afternoon Fic: Dragon Rescue (Now Posted)","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"July 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dragon Rescue part of the Dragon of Interest series. Has been uploaded to The General's Office.","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/banner_dragonrescue.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23218,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-i-will-carry-you-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":17211,"position":5},"title":"Afternoon Fic: I Will Carry You","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"March 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 So I've been working on a Fic outside Sylum to get back into the groove of thins. I've posted the first chapter here on the blog - but instead of doing chapters on the blog - I've been posting to A03. So instead of posting all the chapters I've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_afternoonfics.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n