The Long Road Back

Chapter Fifteen: Babies and Rebels

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Anakin did a search of the immediate area for any place that might have a medical facility. He sent an annoyed glance in the direction of Palpatine's body. There was nothing out here, as though he'd somehow known that good medical care would be needed.

"Anakin," Padmé asked, crouching beside Dormé. "Isn't there a doctor or two on board? Or a med droid?"

He nodded. "There should be a full medical staff, including both doctors and droids."

"Get them."

Now he looked at her, shaking his head ruefully. "Nope."

"Why the blazes not," Obi-Wan snapped, striding to him with a mixture of wariness and anger in his eyes.

"Because they're incompetent," he explained quietly. "Even if they're still on board, they'd be no help. Imperial medical care is not what Republic care was. It's a huge step down. Standards are low and most respectable doctors chose early retirement rather than work under the restrictions placed upon them. Medical matters can be expensive and Palpatine was a cheap man. He decided sub-standard med droids were good enough for the public, but he cared little for true, genteel care unless it was for himself." He glanced through the list again. "I wouldn't trust this staff to pull out a splinter. Believe me, Obi-Wan, when I tell you that to bring them in would likely make the situation critical." Besides, he thought silently to himself, Vader had eliminated many of the half-way competent ones during exams.

Dormé began to make strange breathing noises. 'Hee-hee' and 'hoo-hoo' over and over again. She looked miserable.

Anakin tapped the panel with a finger. "There is a mining facility not too far away that could work -- a place called Polis Massa --"

"No," Obi-Wan and Padmé answered together and most emphatically. Padmé seemed a little green at the mention.

While Anakin wondered why, he decided that now wasn't the time to ask. "Okay. We have another option. We could point the ship in a direction and do this ourselves while hoping we find a good privately funded facility before the baby comes."

"I want a doctor," Dormé gasped out.

"That may not be poss--"

"Get me one," she growled at him, with a stare every bit as menacing as he knew he himself could produce.

"Okay, but--"

"Now!"

Anakin blinked. And Palpaine had thought Obi-Wan would make a good Sith? Had he ever considered a succession of pregnant women about to give birth? "Sure, Dormé. Whatever you say," he managed in a reasonable tone. "One doctor coming right up."

He considered taking her down to Tatooine, then reconsidered quickly. No way was he letting her give birth on that planet. Bending his head, he applied himself to the task, knowing full well there was no competent doctor nearby. A touch on his shoulder made him pause.

Padmé had come to him, touching his shoulder only long enough to get his attention. "I can direct you to a doctor nearby."

"Padmé." There was a warning in Obi-Wan's voice that Anakin would have to be completely oblivious not to notice.

She turned her head, determination on her lovely features. "We need help, Ben."

"I know that, but you can't."

"We have to. For Dormé."

Dormé panted some more and looked to Anakin as though she wanted to hit someone.

"What if" Obi-Wan's lips tightened. "What if?" This was repeated with a pointed glance at Palpatine's body.

"What if I've lied again," Anakin interrupted, finishing for him. "What if I would betray you a second time? You don't have to hedge, Obi-Wan. I do understand your worries. That mistake I made cost me everything. I won't repeat it."

"You said yourself the dark side is strong. Seductive."

He'd said truth. Even now, he could feel the pull of Vader inside him. As long as he lived he'd have to fight a war in his own body for control. But he'd come to grips with the necessity. He'd learned the consequences of giving in to his wants and that desire for the easy road. He'd learned the life was hard and sometimes very cruel. The joys made it worthwhile and joy had been missing from his life for a long time. "It is."

Suddenly, explosions sounded and the ship tilted alarmingly.

~~~~~~~~~~

Did she dare let loose her secret? Padmé had just decided to give him the name of a doctor, when chaos descended them. Outside the window, she spied rebel fighters converging upon them. Probably the word had spread quickly that the Emperor was on a lone ship out this way. Of course an attack would be planned and executed, hopes high for an end to the tyrant reputedly onboard.

"Oh, not good," Obi-Wan said, returning to Dormé's side and looking rather dejected when she shoved him away, muttering something about it being all his fault. Do something, Padmé. Send them a message or something. They have to stop attacking."

She joined Anakin at the controls, pleased when he helped her. Their fingers tapped swiftly, but to no avail. The signal was being blocked. No message was going anywhere. "They're jamming transmissions," she reported.

"Try it now." Anakin tapped on the panel to her left, then reached across her to tap another panel.

"Nothing." His voice was different, she realized, a imitation of what it had been and with a start, she knew his voice box had likely been ruined on Mustafar, requiring surgery and reconstruction. "They're not letting any possible pleas for help be set loose."

The ship tilted again.

"We have a bigger problem," Anakin said low to her. "We need to land and quickly. We're losing systems like crazy. They're either making very lucky guesses or they know where to hit."

Their hands crossed on the panels, Padmé not allowing herself to stop at the touch of their arms and hands, though she wanted to. She wanted to stop and grab on to him; to tell him everything that had happened. She wanted to rejoice that they were both alive. Padmé restrained herself. There'd be time enough later, provided they survived.

"I'm in the way," she said, suddenly certain in the truth of that statement. He could do this better without her right there. Lifting her hands from the panel, she looked up at him. He was even taller now than he'd been before and she had to crane her neck back.

"Not exactly, but I need Obi-Wan's experience beside me. Go to Dormé. Obi-Wan and I will take care of this."

She wavered, then nodded, going to Dormé and kneeling beside her. Anakin knew more about Imperial ships than she did and he and Obi-Wan had been a team for years, while she could be of help to Dormé for the simple reason that she remembered what giving birth had been like. No man, however much he loved his wife, could know the experience.

Holding her friend against her, Padmé reminded her to keep breathing.

~~~~~~~~~~

His wife was glaring at him as though she thought the explosions were all his fault. They weren't of course, but she was in pain, the slightest jerk adding to that pain. Obi-Wan gladly joined Anakin at the controls. For the past few minutes, everything was his fault and he suspected that until the baby was born, everything would continue to be his fault for the simple fact that he was male.

"Am I correct in assuming that this is a secondary bridge," he asked.

"Very much so. Palpatine liked to have a contingency plan, especially on his favorite ship. Everything we need is right--" The panel on Anakin's left surged bright with electricity. Anakin lifted his hands. "Well, it was right here." Outside the window, they saw escape pods flying off. Alarms clanged.

"Tell me that didn't make a difference," Obi-Wan took a position on Anakin's right, taking over the far controls and finding they were ridiculously idiot-proof. Anyone could fly this ship if need be.

"So you want me to lie to you then?"

Dormé began to cry and he glanced back at her. She was shaking her head to whatever Padmé was whispering.

"Just land us, Anakin." Worry for his wife remained in the back of his mind.

"I'll try." Anakin continued to tap at what was left of the controls.

"Try? Can't you pilot this thing? You can pilot every other ship."

"Of course I can pilot the ship, but the ability to pilot it is irrelevant."

They exchanged a glance at the familiarity of the words and Obi-Wan shook his head as Anakin began to give him directions. He recalled another time when Anakin had said nearly the same words. Hopefully this time would end even better than that previous one.

~~~~~~~~~~

Piloting was irrelevant, Anakin thought as he tried to both guide the ship to a safe landing and manage to open a communications channel. The goal was landing and all he needed to do was keep this hunk of metal moving in a straight line. Finally, there was static and voices. After many tries, they were able to explain the situation. The rebel attack on the ship ceased, ships guiding them down to the surface. Thankfully, it wasn't Tatooine. That was all he could say on that matter.

They lurched to a stop, Dormé screaming all the while.

Obi-Wan caught his eye. "Another happy landing," he began, presumably as a preamble to something else, but Dormé interrupted.

"Speak for yourself," she panted out. "I'm not particularly happy right now. That was some rescue, Ben, crashing the ship. Do you have any more surprises?" Her hair had come loose and right that second, Dormé reminded Anakin of Padmé when she was annoyed. The same expression, the same peeved frown.

"That wasn't on purpose, my love."

Her stare indicated she thought otherwise. Anakin reminded himself that she was in pain.

"I want this over with and you're having all the fun!"

"Fun?" Obi-Wan seemed genuinely confused. For that matter, Anakin was as well. Fun? What fun was she referring to? "How so?"

"You got to kill a Sith lord and pilot a damaged ship and I'm just giving birth! It's not fair!" She panted harder, then held her breath.

Going to her, Obi-Wan knelt beside her. "Really, Dormé, that was all on Anakin. I had very little to do with it."

"You have to breath," Padmé told her.

"Not until I get to do something fun too," Dormé quickly gasped out and held her breath again. A strange expression crossed her face and Anakin grimaced in sympathy. She was in agony and beneath it all, he sensed her fear. She was afraid of this process of birthing.

"You're being unreasonable. You can't simply not breathe. It's ridiculous." Obi-Wan was beginning to lose his cool, which surprised Anakin not a little. Obi-Wan was the unruffled one, the calm one.

Dormé scowled at her husband, lips tight together. Anakin winced. He recognized that look as one Padmé had given him on occasion. That look had been a good guarantee he wasn't going to be sleeping in their bed that night. He stepped beside Padmé, crouching down. Intervention seemed like a good idea. It was a long shot, but he tried a mind-trick anyway. Whether that or simply the tone he used -- for he knew Dormé wasn't weak-minded--, she calmed and quieted, resting in Obi-Wan's arms until help arrived.

All too soon, Anakin found himself alone with Padmé in the ruined remains of the ship. Well, almost alone. A few rebel guards were nearby, far enough away to keep an eye on them, but not close enough to hear them. He stared at her. She returned the look. Twice he tried to speak and twice he found himself unable to think of what to say, where to begin. There was so much they needed to cover.

Padmé swallowed so hard he heard it clearly. Her lower lip trembled and then, "Anakin, you broke my heart!" As though horrified she'd blurted it out, Padmé began to sob and hurried from the room.

This was going to be a hell unto itself.