It was nightfall in Alderaan by the time Padme arrived. She had left the twins in the care of Obi-Wan before she left. It was much safer meeting here on Bail's home planet than on Coruscant. The planet had been crawling with Palpatine's spies for months now, always lurking in the shadows to report on anyone seen as friendly to the Jedi.

Led inside by his personal servants and guards, Padme trailed behind them through the ornate labyrinthine halls. The palace was truly lovely. She had been just once before many years ago when Bail and Breha married. It had been a beautiful wedding with all of their family attending. Padme remembered at the time feeling a twinge of jealousy that she had never gotten the chance to have her own family attend her and Anakin's wedding all those years ago. But it was all in the past now...

Sweeping into an anteroom off to the side, Bail greeted Padme warmly within the safe confines of the soundproof walls. Elaborate decorations and beautiful figurines lined the shelves between the many books. This study had been a meeting room for much of the Senate who supported the growing rebellion in the Empire.

"I'm so glad you came. I was hoping you could manage to slip away from the bustling politician life for a moment," he said with a small smile, ushering her to sit down across from him on the opposite couch.

Letting her skirts fall around her ankles, she lifted her gaze to meet Bail's welcoming one and got down to business.

"What did you find, Bail?

"Through my various connections, I've uncovered a device that could prove useful to you. I can't say for certain it will work but I think it's worth trying,"

Padme was skeptical but plunged ahead, "Well, how does this device work then? What is it exactly?"

Bail was quite, contemplating a moment before he fished the handheld device out of his coat pocket. It was small, round, navy blue in color and looked eerily like a holoprojector complete with buttons lining each side. Clearly, it had been refurbished somehow, the inner workings converted into something entirely new. It was a shame that Anakin had been the only one familiar with technology engineering - it would be interesting to Padme to know exactly how it had been done.

"This gadget here has been converted from familiar and everyday to something unique...and hard to find. There are only two others like it in the Galaxy. It lets you travel through time and space - both into the future and the past. Using this device, it is very possible you could find Anakin's location the moment he vanished and see exactly what transpired,"

Padme sat there in shock, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. This was it, what she'd been waiting for all along. She could barely believe the moment was here - the moment in which she could be reunited with Anakin. But this sounded too good to be true...

"What's the catch? I wasn't elected Queen all those years ago due to lack of negotiation skills," Padme pointed out to her friend.

Bail briefly shot her a wry smile before responding, "I'm not sure. No one is. You see, those who have used the device never returned. Whether that was due to their own choice, an accident that befell them, or simply not being able to return - no one can say. It would be a risk, Padme. And I understand you have the children to think of now, not only yourself. If you don't want to do this, I'll understand. All the same, I thought you should be told,"

Silence reigned supreme in the small study as she mulled over this predicament. She would never want to leave her children without a parent but at the same time, if there was a chance she could find their father... They could be a real family again, a whole family. Yet if something had happened to him...she could possibly be stuck in the past with no way of coming back to her babies...

But this was her only chance of finding out the truth - one way or another. And in that very moment, Padme knew what must be done. She had always made hard decisions without the help of others - this time would be no different.

Finally, she nodded in response, "I'll do it."

Moments later, her brown eyes stared at nothing in particular as the events that had transpired - including those yet to happen - continued to play out in her mind long after the hologram ended. Bail had located the date and location after several hours and it had revealed the truth of Anakin's disappearance: he had spent all of these long months on the Dark Side. And suddenly, everything fell into place like puzzle pieces: the smug smile on Palpatine's face whenever he saw her, how quickly he had risen to power and executed so many Jedis in so doing, the "Skywalker missing" propaganda put forth by the news in order to keep the truth from the public which was no doubt on Palpatine's orders...it all made sense. And it hardened her resolve entirely.

It was a strange, almost like an out-of-body experience as the thin sapphire blue light enveloped Padme's body once Bail pushed the button. Almost as suddenly, she was violently whirled into the portal it had created. Her skin tingled from the sensation, colors swirling all around her prior to being dropped into the moment she wanted. She landed hard on her knees behind a large yellow starfighter- Anakin's starfighter. A grin found her face for a split second before it happened. It was like slow-motion, one of those moments you can't forget.

Anakin ran past her, booted feet creating loud thuds on the floor as he went. They were just outside the Senate building and he was headed in. Nothing was in ruins so this must be mere hours before Order 66 was executed. Not giving it a second thought, Padme chased after her husband. She had to stop him, stop the outcome of it all. She couldn't lose him again! Not when she'd come this far to get him back.

Finally, as they neared the entrance that led to the elevators, he began to slow down. Putting on a burst of speed, Padme tackled him to the ground. Her heart was beating wildly as he rolled them over, evidently assuming she was an enemy. When his cerulean eyes locked on hers, his serious expression melted into that of curiosity mixed with concern.

"Padme, what are you doing here? Is everything alright? Is the baby okay?" he asked frantically, immediately standing up and helping her off the ground before pressing a gentle hand to the folds of her robe which, he believed, still concealed her swollen belly.

Briefly fighting a smile, she pushed his hand off not unkindly before leading him to a stone bench positioned on the opposite side of the entrance stairs.

"I'm fine. Listen, Ani, we need to talk," Padme announced solemnly, taking a deep breath as her husband looked back at her in confusion, "I know it's hard to believe but, Anakin, I'm...I'm from the future,"

Silence stretched between them for a moment before Anakin, arching one eyebrow in confusion, lightly touched her forehead, "Padme, are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"I told you, I'm fine...and I'm being serious," she said, removing his hand with a gentle touch.

"But...how? I mean...you can't be. It's not possible,"

"Oh, it's possible alright. Thanks to this anyhow,"

Taking the tiny device out of the pocket she had shoved it in, she placed it in front of them on the ground. It was nightfall and the place was completely deserted so it worked out perfectly. After all, the device was...hard to explain even under much better circumstances than these.

The gadget hummed with energy as Padme took Anakin's hand in hers and led him over to it. Pressing a button on the side, a thin blue hologram blinked into existence before them and began to take the shape of Coruscant all the way into this Anakin's future.

It showed him running into the Senate building just like he was moments ago then melted into much harder scenes to view.... It showed him turning to the Dark Side followed by murdering younglings in the Temple. The images swirled in fast succession then: a sobbing Padme with Anakin stalking towards her before closing his fist in a Force choke, his lightsaber battle with his former mentor, Padme later dying in an unknown facility with the twins being smuggled away to be raised by a much darker version of Anakin or rather Darth Vader...

Anakin stared dumbfounded at the screen for several minutes, the events that would transpire in his future if he saved Palpatine from being killed by Master Windu. He swallowed hard, his face a muddle of different emotions.

When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse and he choked on some of the words.

"I only wanted...I only wanted to save you. Palpatine - he said that he could save you from my nightmares. He said he knew how but...but if I do it, you'll die anyway..."

Padme pressed a hand to his back, creating gentle circular motions with her fingertips.

"So you die then... Because of me...you die?" Anakin asked, his voice stunned but his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

She said nothing to this, mulling over his words before speaking, "Ani, you have a choice. You can help Palpatine and ruin the life we've created by choosing the Dark Side, choosing the power...or go back to the Jedi Temple where Master Windu bid you to wait and when Obi-Wan arrives, tell him the truth so that he can help us,"

Slowly, he began to nod and Padme felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her, her heart feeling lighter than it had in months. Turning to her, Anakin's mouth collided into Padme's in a passionate kiss that made her weak in the knees. His lips were soft and warm on hers, instantly eliciting butterflies in her stomach. No matter how long they'd been married, his touch would always make her feel that way.

When they broke apart, there was a difference in Anakin's eyes - a lightness, perhaps. As if Palpatine's promise (and future betrayal) had been weighing on his mind for far too long.

"I'll return and do what you ask... I love you, Padme. Thank you for saving me." he whispered softly against her mouth.

Padme leaned in to give him one final kiss before he got up and began the long trek back to his awaiting starfighter. A sigh escaped her mouth as she watched him go, a light breeze catching strands of his shaggy blond hair and the ends of his dark brown cloak. It had taken so long to find him but now that she had put things right, she knew it had been the best choice.

Pressing her thumb on a different button on the device, it whirred to life and the sapphire light began to envelope her once again as it took the familiar shape of her homeworld of Naboo. Stepping into the luminescent pool it created, a smile split the Senator's face. Her new life awaited her...

Five years later...

Padme's laugh reverberated on the walls of the apartment at something Anakin said as he spoke to her swollen belly. His fingertips caressed her stomach gently just as the twins burst into the room, racing one another. Anakin caught one in each arm before lifting them up to sit beside him on the couch, the two giggling all the while. Her husband's face exuded the happiness he was feeling in this moment.

And why not? There was so much to be grateful for. After Palpatine had attempted to overthrow the Republic, he was found guilty and sentenced to exile on Mustafar. In the absence of a Chancellor, the whole of the Senate had taken a vote and Padme had been sworn in as Supreme Chancellor Skywalker. If it hadn't been for the revised laws of the Jedi Code, she would have never dared take Anakin's name publicly. But everything had changed when the Jedi Council convened five years ago and through Anakin and Obi-Wan subsequently discovered the truth of her and Anakin's relationship...and about the children, of course.

They had agreed that if it wasn't for their bond as husband and wife, the Republic would have fallen and gave way to the dark days of an Empire that would have brought grief and destruction in its wake. Therefore after several long months, revisions were made to the Jedi Code and when Luke and Leia were old enough, they had begun to be trained as Jedis. Anakin had taken it as a privilege to be the master to his twins. Although, Obi-Wan did help him out considerably. Training sessions with the four tended to consist of lightsaber clashes, hilarious stories of long-ago missions, and endless teasing of Anakin.

It was a new day and age, it seemed. Including, the coming new addition to the Skywalker family. Luke's blue eyes, carbon copies of his father's, looked up innocently into Padme's face.

"Mom, are you going to have twins?"

A laugh erupted from Anakin beside her and Padme grinned.

"Well, stranger things have happened in this family."