The next afternoon, Zelina finally emerged from her hiding spot for the night, her first stop of the day Padme's apartment. She would have come sooner, but she wanted to be sure she wasn't about to intrude upon Padme and Anakin's much needed private time.

But by now, Anakin should have returned to the public eye.

Zelina left her speeder at Padme's private landing pad, looking around the apartment with a shadow of trepidation in her eyes.

The last time she'd been here...had been a frightening night.

She didn't remember why Anakin and Zelina had gone to Padme's apartment that night, not specifically...but she did remember in vivid clarity what had happened when the doors of the elevator opened.

**************************************

Zelina noticed Anakin first. Of course she did, whether she admitted it or not, Anakin always came first for her, no matter the situation. She saw his expression change, from a neutral, slightly bored expression while he waited for the elevator to reach their destination to shock, betrayal, and then unbridled fury. Darkness swirled in and around him, his entire being focused on one thing, and one thing only.

Padme dipped in Rush Clovis' arms, Clovis closing the distance to claim a kiss from the elegantly dressed Padme.

"Get away from her," Anakin snarled, arm outstretched with his hand curling in the air as Clovis was lifted off his feet, clutching at his throat.

"Anakin!" Zelina's alarm rang clear through the apartment. When Anakin didn't immediately put Clovis down but instead threw Clovis against the wall, Zelina reached to stop him, but he'd already stalked into the room, her hand passing through thin air as Anakin ignited his lightsaber.

"Anakin, no," Padme snapped, fury of her own bubbling in her voice despite the fact she was clearly trying to keep a clear head in the suddenly volatile situation.

"Why don't you try fighting like a man without your Jedi tricks?" Clovis goaded, rising to his feet with a sneer.

What the hell do you think you're doing, don't encourage him! Zelina thought.

"Oh, it would be my pleasure," Anakin derided, tossing his lightsaber aside without a second thought.

Predictably, Anakin pinned Clovis to the floor with ease. But Zelina wasn't here to watch as a spectator, or to stand by and let it happen.

"Anakin, enough!" Zelina shouted at him, coming forward closer to the fight.

"Stop this!" Padme added.

"You don't have a say in this!" Anakin growled, surprising Zelina further by directing his words towards both women in the room.

Clovis took Anakin's momentary distraction to kick Anakin off of him, sending Anakin sprawling a temporarily safe distance away. Zelina felt a twinge of contempt towards Clovis at seeing him hurt Anakin, but at the moment, it was not undeserving, and was in self-defense.

"I thought you said he didn't have feelings for you?" Clovis asked Padme as he got to his feet once more.

Anakin's feeling of betrayal was potent, Clovis' words striking deep and hard.

That did not help the situation.

"Anakin, don't," Zelina cut in, trying to put herself between Anakin and Clovis before Anakin could lunge again. As if Zelina wasn't alarmed—and honestly, a little scared—enough, Anakin shoved her aside, sending Zelina sprawling as he lunged at Clovis, on top of the man in a matter of heartbeats.

"I see you for what you truly are!" Anakin roared at Clovis, quickly getting the upper hand and starting a merciless barrage upon the man, his metal hand pummeling Clovis unrestrained and most likely inflicting most of the damage.

Clovis didn't really stand a chance.

This had gone too far—way too far.

Padme was horrified at this point, but Zelina...

"Anakin, that's enough!" Zelina thundered, raising both hands—and Anakin with the same motion—and tossing him to the other side of the room with the Force, pinning him to the ground. Zelina felt a surge of fresh fury roll off of her friend as he tried to rise up and blindly attack Clovis yet again, but Zelina took another step, shoving her hands forward to slam him flat against the ground, holding him firmly in place. "Enough!"

Anakin's fiery blue eyes finally locked on Zelina, the anger and betrayal and hatred blazing inside him.

Until he saw the look on her face.

Until he saw the light of fear in Zelina's eyes as she held him to the ground.

Then, he slowly started to come to his senses, looking at Padme next, who was gazing at the seen mortified and rather angry herself.

After that, the fight seemed to rush out of him, the shame and guilt quick to fill the space the absence of those feelings left behind.

The conversation—no, argument—that he and Zelina had afterwards was a different matter.

And for once, she was not on Anakin's side.

***********************************************

While the entire encounter had been a dark one, and not something Zelina particularly wanted to remember, there had been something good to come out of it.

Zelina ripping into Anakin and standing up for Padme, taking her side in the matter without any hesitation, seemed to have mended the bridge between the two that had been noticeably splintered after Zelina revealed to Padme she'd kissed Anakin twice during the war.

Perhaps it would have been easy for Zelina to further the wedge between them, to try and insert herself into Padme's place with Anakin, but she hadn't. The thought had never even crossed her mind until long after, when she'd reflected on why this horrifying incident had been what saved the friendship she had with Padme.

It would have been easy for Zelina to try and work the incident to her favor, to try and steal Anakin from Padme. Instead, she helped repair and hopefully strengthen their relationship in the aftermath.

But now wasn't the time for those dark thoughts. Now, she was here to see a friend, both for help and to visit with her about her pregnancy.

She still couldn't believe it...

"Ah, Miss Zelina. Mistress Padme will be so glad to see you," 3P0 stated once he caught sight of Zelina, making his way back inside to announce to Padme who had arrived.

Zelina had just made it to the fountain on Padme's veranda when Padme appeared at the foot of a stairway, looking surprised. "Zelina—I wasn't expecting you," she apologized. It looked like Padme was not yet dressed for the public eye—at least not as she usually was.

"I didn't want to interrupt your time with Anakin, but I wanted to talk to you before you headed back to the Senate, as well. Is it a bad time?"

"No, no, you're fine, I just...wasn't expecting visitors," Padme amended, pulling a light robe over her shoulders. "What's on your mind?"

Zelina smiled slightly at Padme, nodding towards her middle. "Well, before we get around to all the business, can I ask how you and the little one are doing?"

Padme's smile was faint as she placed a hand subconsciously on her abdomen. "We're doing just fine."

"How far along are you?" Zelina asked curiously. She didn't know when the last time Anakin and Padme had been together, so she didn't know how far along her friend was.

Plus, she wasn't one of those people who could tell by just looking.

"Second trimester," Padme informed her. "It won't be too long, now."

Zelina felt a small thrill at that—they didn't have long to figure out what they were going to do, did they?

And Anakin...would he leave the Order, or fight to stay? Would Zelina stay if he left?

Now she was starting to see the appeal of not thinking about it yet.

"Well, I'm happy for all of you," Zelina said, her smile growing to a full smile before she sighed. "Anyway, I did come here for a reason."

"Of course," Padme said, taking a seat. Zelina sat across from her, leaning forward.

"Have you heard about the situation with the Ruusan prisoners?" Zelina asked carefully. When Padme nodded, she continued. "This entire thing has gotten way out of hand. I didn't want to take any prisoners in the first place—they were just civilians defending their homes from what they thought was a hostile army. There was sabotage, but once the Separatists started firing on the civilians they fought with us," Zelina started to say, going over the details of her report simply to summarize before asking Padme for her help. However, the look on her friend's face had her stop.

"Zelina, that's not the report that the Senate was given about what happened on Ruusan," Padme said carefully.

Zelina hadn't even really explained what happened, she'd only given a few crumbs of information—important details, but still nowhere near the whole story—and Padme was already telling her this was a new story?

"What was the Senate told?" Zelina asked carefully, keeping her voice even.

"The official report was that there were rebels on Ruusan that the Republic managed to capture, rebels that frequently attacked and sabotaged our army, and gave your location to the Separatists, resulting in numerous casualties and a fight the Republic narrowly won. That those captured were instrumental in nearly sabotaging the attempt to take Ruusan—a campaign everyone knows is important because we need to secure Ruusan before we can clear out the nearby Separatist blockades stopping us from getting vital supplies to our troops."

Padme's eyes narrowed, a spark of frustration appearing in her eyes—not towards Zelina. "What was the report you gave?"

Zelina had to take moment to consciously reign in her reaction to the news, expression souring. "I was very specific when I said we had a few issues with the locals while approaching the village—not anything serious or resulting in casualties, just attempts to slow us down or stop us from coming any closer. They saw a large invading army approaching their village and tried to defend their friends and loved ones. When we arrived, I kept the camp outside the village, and didn't want the soldiers regularly in the village because I didn't want the villagers to feel they were being occupied. We had some thieving problems, and there was sabotage to our equipment from rebels that wanted the Republic off our planet, and yes, someone went and told the nearest Separatist outpost of our presence, resulting in the Separatists attacking us while we were there. However, Separatist droids started attacking civilians to spread me and my men thin, to distract us. After that, the villagers fought with us, rebels included."

Zelina shook her head. "They're just civilians who were trying to defend their home, Padme, they're not soldiers. One of them is a boy, slightly younger than Anakin was when we all met. None of them should be tried for treason or moved to a maximum security prison like dangerous war criminal masterminds, and I protested them being taken prisoner off of Ruusan in the first place!"

Padme rose to her feet, a frown etched on her features as she started a thoughtful pace. "That is a much different image than what was presented to the Senate..." Padme looked back at Zelina. "Who did you give your report to?"

Zelina's expression went from annoyed and sour to dark in a second. "Mas Amedda. They contacted me after hearing from the Jedi Council—who heard from Master Secura, who was the other half of the campaign but separate from my forces per our attack plan—that there had been an issue while advancing on the Capital. Palpatine wanted a report to give to the Senate since there was so much attention on this campaign, and after hearing about rebels, it was demanded the known rebels be taken prisoner and sent to Coruscant. I dragged my feet and bit back about what was happening, but I was backed into a corner and couldn't do anything about it in the end. If I'd known this was going to happen, I would've told Amadda to shove it."

"I don't think that would have gone over so well," Padme muttered, concentration etched into her features. "We have to bring this to light—we can say the report must have gotten lost in translation, and you can make a full statement to the Senate. If we're lucky, that will be enough for them to ease up on the treatment of the Ruusan civilians. They still attempted to sabotage the army, however small, and were the direct cause of the Separatists finding you and your men—they'll latch onto that."

"They're being moved tomorrow."

Padme grimaced. "We won't be able to do anything before then—if this was Amedda or Palpatine, then we're probably going to have to fight through a lot of processes and paperwork sent our way, anything to slow us down. They probably want to throw the Ruusanians to the public to pacify them for a while about this war.

"What, Dooku's death wasn't enough?" Zelina grumbled. She was well aware the public was calling for an end to the war, for results, to be shown the Republic really was doing something, and was placing blame wherever they could.

"On the contrary—with Dooku dead, they want this war over soon. In my opinion...this war should have been over a long time ago."

Zelina sighed. "I know...the poor execution of this war rather disgusts me, but I'm just one of many generals—the only place I've been able to make any difference has been on the field."

"That's why us politicians are here—the ones still doing our job, anyway," Padme said, a note of bitterness entering her voice.

She was probably thinking of the corruption in the government, or even this very issue brought around by Amedda or Palpatine themselves.

"Well...we might as well start fighting our way forward—whenever you're ready. I'll be on standby whenever you need me, but I'll leave the politics to you. You're the expert there. Just...don't strain yourself on my account, please," Zelina added, looking pointedly at Padme's middle.

"I'll be fine—you have your areas of expertise, this is mine," Padme said with a small smile.

Zelina rose to her feet once more, adjusting her Jedi robes so they weren't hanging off her arms. "I'll leave you to the rest of your day, Padme. I just needed some help from a friend."

"Zelina, before you go..." Padme stopped Zelina before she could leave, a note of worry in her tone that immediately caught Zelina's attention. She turned to the Senator with a frown. "Have...you seen Anakin yet today?"

Zelina shook her head. "Not yet, no...why?"

Padme crossed one arm over her middle, the other propped upon it gracefully as her fingers brushed against her lips, her concern becoming clearer every passing second. "I'm worried about him."

Padme officially had Zelina's undivided attention. "What happened?"

"Last night—the middle of the night—I found him out here. He told me he had a nightmare, and despite our talk, he still looked worried this morning."

Zelina snapped to attention, moving to stand in front of Padme, expression serious as she placed her hands on Padme's arms. "What was the nightmare about, Padme?"

Padme was only slightly startled by Zelina's suddenness—being married to Anakin, she had to be used to it to a certain degree. "He said he dreamed that I died in childbirth—that he didn't know what happened to the baby, either."

Zelina's lips formed a small 'o' of surprise, and suddenly, her priorities were shifted.

She knew better than to ignore a nightmare when it came from a Jedi.

But she also had a better grasp on how to handle those nightmares than Anakin.

If Anakin had a nightmare about Padme and Luke that worried him so much, then it was a nightmare they needed pay attention to.

They also needed to approach with caution. Every choice mattered when it came to Luke's future, and the last thing they wanted to do was accidently make Anakin's nightmare a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But Padme didn't need those details—she already had enough on her plate between her responsibilities as Senator and her secret marriage plus a child on the way. Besides, Anakin was the one she had to reassure.

"I'll talk to him—he'll listen to me. I've had plenty of prophetic dreams...and it's me."

"Please? I tried to tell him not to worry about it, but—"

"But that's what Obi-Wan told him when he started dreaming about Shmi, so he's probably not going to take that advice. You don't worry, Padme, I'll talk to him."

"Thank you, Zelina," Padme said with a sigh.

"Of course—I should probably start looking for him now. Who knows where the Jedi have him by now," Zelina chuckled, trying to bring some lightheartedness back to the conversation as she prepared to leave. "I'll actually go now. Take care, Padme," Zelina told her, giving Padme a small smile before making her way back to her speeder.

She felt Padme's eyes on her until she was well on her way towards the Jedi Temple.

**************************************************

When Zelina arrived at the Jedi Temple, Anakin wasn't in any of his usual haunts. Since there was a report on the general progress of the war in the Outer Rim territories the active Jedi generals in the war momentarily at Coruscant were mandated to attend, Zelina assumed that if she was going to catch him, it would probably be there.

Besides, she could see Obi-Wan outside of that awkward run-in outside of Satine's apartment if Anakin didn't show, catch up with her other friend.

If she hovered around Obi-Wan long enough, Anakin was bound to eventually show.

Sitting in the shadows at the back of the small briefing room, Zelina listened to Obi-Wan deliver the report, watching idly as different planets idled by in holo form around the room, paying attention but also not entirely.

She had a lot on her mind, understandably, such as what she was going to say to Anakin to convince him that he wasn't alone in this, that she could help, that they would find a way to prevent his nightmares from becoming reality if the worst happened, and to keep him from worrying himself onto a self-destructive path.

Her stomach had been churning uneasily every since Padme had told her, her mind going back through the visions she'd had in the past that might have hinted at Anakin's nightmare becoming a reality.

Don't let me die! Father, please!

Unfortunately, it was easy to come up with snippets her own past visions that fit that part.

But it was up to them. They had that to hold to—that their choices decided what happened to Luke.

Hopefully, they'd choose right.

Obi-Wan called the meeting to an end, Zelina blinking back to reality and casting her eyes about the room as Jedi shuffled to their feet and started to leave, Obi-Wan shutting off the displays he'd been using.

Still no Anakin.

Where is he?

Just as she was thinking of grabbing Obi-Wan to start putting together a search party, the last of the Jedi leaving the room while Zelina remained seated, worrying in her corner, Anakin skidded into the room, looking like he's just stopped running and was consciously forcing himself to slow as he made his way down the stairs to where Obi-Wan stood in the middle of the room.

In his haste to arrive, he missed Zelina musing in her dark corner.

It looked like she would have to catch up with Obi-Wan some other time.

"You missed the report on the Outer Rim Sieges," Obi-Wan announced, not even having to look back as Anakin entered the room.

"I'm sorry, I was held up...I have no excuse," Anakin said pensively. Zelina rose from her seat, making her way down to the floor so she could make her presence known to Anakin and stand with her friends rather than lurk in the background like some criminal.

"In short, they are going very well. Salucami has fallen, and Master Vos has moved his troops to Bos Pity," Obi-Wan informed Anakin. His expression was sober, however, something Anakin of course didn't miss.

"What's wrong, then?" Anakin asked, his gaze sliding to Zelina as she approached, surprise flickering across his face briefly. He must have not been paying attention to the presences nearby, otherwise he would have recognized she was close and wouldn't have been surprised.

"The Senate is expected to vote more executive powers to the Chancellor today," Obi-Wan said reluctantly. Zelina grimaced.

That's all they needed, Palpatine to get more power.

He didn't really need so much to run the war—especially if they were closing in on the dusk, with Dooku dead. They only really needed to get rid of Grievous now, and the Separatists could probably be negotiated into peace after that.

The rest of the Separatist leaders were basically spineless cowards.

Anakin, of course, did not have the same view of Palpatine getting more power as Obi-Wan and Zelina did.

He trusted that smooth-talking snake charmer far too much.

"Well that can only mean less deliberating and more action—is that bad? It'll make it easier for us to end this war."

It's bad when Palpatine's the one leading the actions. If we had someone like Yoda steering the Senate, then I wouldn't be so hesitant, but with how much power Palpatine's jumped on in such a short space of time...

Obi-Wan decided to skip the details, settling on a simple warning. "Be careful of your friend Palpatine."

"Be careful of what?" Anakin asked, turning to give Obi-Wan a slightly suspicious look as Obi-Wan started climbing the stairs to leave the room.

"He's requested your presence," Obi-Wan said simply.

Blast it! But I need to speak with Anakin—it's important!

"What for?" Anakin asked, following after Obi-Wan. Zelina acted as the caboose, simply waiting for them to finish their conversation so she could try and grab Anakin before running off to Palpatine.

"He would not say."

"He didn't inform the Council? That's unusual, isn't it?"

"All of this is unusual—and it's making me feel uneasy," Obi-Wan murmured, leaving the room with a contemplative look on his face. Anakin was going to follow after him, but Zelina snagged her moment, gently grabbing Anakin's arm.

"Ani, can we talk?" she asked quietly. "Before anyone else snags you?"

Anakin looked like he was about to turn her down, but thought better of it, or at least thought of something he wanted to talk about.

She got the feeling they weren't thinking about the same thing.

"Yeah, we do have to talk," he murmured, looking like he was going to settle for staying in the room they were currently in. Zelina had other plans.

"Not here," she said softly, stopping him from returning inside. "Let's go to the roof."

That way there's no Temple Security Footage that could catch the conversation we're about to have.

Anakin's eyebrows rose in surprise, his frown deepening. Surprisingly, Zelina felt some frustration from him, though she couldn't imagine why.

Was it because of all the secrecy, or was it something else?

"Lead the way," Anakin said instead of protesting, stepping aside to let her walk in front. Zelina nodded as she passed him, hastily heading into the heart of the Temple before starting their way up.

They hadn't gone to the roof to talk in...a long time. But considering she wanted to talk about Anakin's secret marriage child, she would go the extra lengths to keep the secrecy.

Getting to the roof required some climbing inside that other Jedi would have frowned upon, but while the Temple mostly had a flat roof, there were some spaces that had a mansard style roof, with enough of a gap between the top of the flat roof and the bottom of the mansard roof that they could pull themselves through and onto the roof.

Easy.

At least, it was for them. They'd done this a few times, but like she'd said, it had been a while.

Once they found a hall with no one to ask what in the name of the Force they were doing, Anakin and Zelnia climbed up and through said gap, Zelina feeling a flash of childishness that wasn't unwelcome. It was nice to think back on their youth, to get a flash of the feeling of innocence—as much as she'd ever had—before everything got complicated.

Zelina was atop the roof first, Coruscant's wind strong atop the Jedi Temple's roof but not loud enough they'd have to constantly shout at each other. She offered Anakin a hand, making it easier for him to pull himself onto the roof. Once he was on his feet, he turned to her, a small frown on his face.

"Did we really have to come all the way up here?" he complained.

"Better safe than sorry. I figured you wouldn't want this conversation ending up in security footage, whether anyone ever looks at it or not."

"You mean you don't want it ending up on security footage," Anakin said accusingly.

They were definitely thinking of different things they needed to address.

Zelina sized Anakin up for a moment, considering his irritable mood. "What do you think I dragged you up here to talk about?"

Anakin folded his arms over his chest. "Dooku, obviously. At least, that's what I want to talk about. Don't think I've forgotten what happened."

Zelina sighed. "I see. That's not what I wanted to come up here to talk about, but if you really think we have to, then by all means."

"Yes, Zelina, we have to—you stabbed him in the back like it was nothing and then just walked away!"

"I made a choice, so you didn't have to."

"Excuse me?"

"I know why you hesitated. He was an unarmed man—literally. The Jedi Code forbade us to kill him, but the Chancellor of the Republic was giving you a direct order to kill him. Anakin, I didn't have to be standing across from you to feel the conflict in you. It was palpable, and dangerous."

"So, you broke the Code and killed him because I wasn't sure which to follow, are you seriously giving that as your reason?" Anakin asked incredulously.

"No, I killed him because I could do it with a clear head and no conflict. I carried out an order that was going to happen no matter what so you wouldn't have to. Anakin, you were leaning in a dangerous direction. I killed him so you wouldn't have to risk yourself."

"It wasn't your choice to make, or your kill, for that matter. I was the one who beat him, the Chancellor told me to kill him, and I had more of a right to—"

"Don't give me that, Anakin—you had no more of a right than Obi-Wan or myself, especially once he was disarmed. Again, Anakin, I felt the conflict in you, but it wasn't just Jedi Order or Republic's Chancellor. It was light and dark. Killing him would have been a dark choice in your state...so I did. That way you didn't have to."

Anakin turned to face her, arms still folded over his chest. "You think I couldn't kill Dooku without falling to the dark side?" he asked, his voice a mixture of betrayal and hurt.

"No, Anakin, that's not what I'm saying," Zelina said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. Making the decision had been easy. Explaining the decision to Anakin was turning out to be a whole other issue. "I'm not saying killing him would have made you Sith on the spot—I'm saying that with the way your emotions were in that moment, it would have been a step on a dark path. I was just trying to spare you from having to take that step, since I didn't have that conflict happening inside me."

Now Anakin's expression was curious, having shifted towards that emotion with her last sentence. "Why was it such an easy choice for you? Between the Jedi and the Republic?"

Zelina found herself being honest before she had the chance to think. "Easy—it wasn't about either."

Anakin's brow furrowed, and Zelina cursed her careless slip-up before she pushed on, trying to move forward before Anakin got a chance to really think about what she'd just said. "Either way, Dooku's dead now, and there are more pressing matters at hand." Zelina fixed him with a pointed look. "I talked to Padme."

Surprise settled on Anakin's face, followed by a myriad of emotions Zelina could hardly keep up with. Fear, frustration, worry, anger, relief, nervousness...

"She told you, then?"

"She just said that you'd had a nightmare." Zelina moved closer, guiding him towards the edge of the roof and gesturing for him to sit down, the two of them dangling their feet over the edge as they sat side by side. "Tell me," she said gently.

Anakin looked out over the Coruscant traffic, his expression finally settling on forlorn. "I didn't see much...just Padme, her face, anyway. She was asking me to help her, she was crying and shaking, there was a baby screaming, and then she screamed, and it was over."

So...he didn't necessarily see her die...though I doubt he wants to hear about technicalities right now...even if they make a difference.

Zelina's frown was prominent. "So...you didn't see her die?"

Anakin looked at her with an annoyed expression. "I think what I saw was rather obvious."

Zelina held up a hand in a gesture of peace. "I'm just saying, Anakin, the smallest details can count. If you just saw her in pain then it could have just been complications, not her dying, necessarily. But," she added hastily at his expression, "to be safe we can move forward with what you say. I just wanted to put that out there—it's a thought."

Zelina sighed, looking down at Anakin's hand, subtly clenched in his Jedi robes as he thought over his vision. "You said it wasn't much—it wasn't specific. It sounds like it was fragmented. So this may just be a possible future, it's not set in stone. Padme's perfectly healthy right now, if she continues to be healthy, then it may never happen."

"I'm not going to take that chance with my wife and child's life, Zelina," Anakin said sharply.

"You also want to be careful not to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. That's the dangerous thing about visions—sometimes acting to stop them is what makes them come true. Haven't we seen enough of that in the past to know that by now?"

"The last time I didn't act on my visions, my mother died, in case you forgot," Anakin said hotly, his anger bubbling up to the surface.

"Never," Zelina said strongly, making sure he saw in her eyes she hadn't forgot, that she wasn't disregarding his opinion and experience. "I'm just saying we should step carefully. Don't...obsess over it too much in case this is one of those situations. In the meantime...I can start researching healing and pregnancies so that if something bad does happen when it comes time for Padme to give birth, we're not unprepared, and we can actually do something about it. Does that sound like a fair trade?"

Anakin didn't say anything, casting his gaze back to Coruscant's traffic. Zelina pursed her lips but kept her patience.

"Anakin, you and Padme are my friends, I care about both of you. And this isn't about just the two of you, it's about Luke, too. But the future isn't something we can head into with a surety, so we must be careful. That's all I'm asking, is that we're careful moving forward. That doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything in my power to help so that nothing bad does happen to Padme when the baby comes."

"What if the worst happens, and you're not there?" Anakin asked abruptly, looking at Zelina with a still somewhat dark expression.

"I'll tell you about what I find so that you know as well," Zelina said confidently.

Anakin had every right to worry, but right now, she needed to try and convince him not to obsessively pursue this, or it would tear him apart. She had to convince him to do this her way.

Anakin swallowed, his vulnerability at the mercy of this vision starting to show as he looked out over Coruscant's traffic again. "I can't lose them, Zelina..." Anakin said softly, pain evident in his voice.

"Come here..." Zelina murmured, pulling Anakin into her arms. She held to him tightly, closing her eyes. "What happened to Shmi isn't going to happen to Padme. I'll make sure your family's safe, Anakin, I promise. You're not alone in this. You have me. Don't ever think you're alone in this. To the very end."

Zelina felt Anakin smile weakly, a strained laugh briefly bubbling up past all the raw emotion coursing through him.

"No matter what."