Three months later:

"I hate my life," Padme groaned from the bed, as her feet throbbed in rhythm with her head. The steady weight against her spine felt like it would make it snap any minute now and her breasts….

Life wasn't fair. Padme blamed Anakin, really. Sentara clucked sympathetically as she walked into the room with a tray of tea, followed by Ahsoka and Kennor. Tilda sat at her side, gently rocking one of the newest babies brought to the temple in her arms.

The cooing bundle was giving Padme a gummy smile, chewing on the end of one short head tail. He was Togruta, like Ahsoka, and his stripes undulated in color as he grew sleepier in Sentara's arms. Padme grinned and waved happily, one hand slipping beneath her shirt to caress her swelled stomach. She had two sleepy bundles of her own, resting directly beneath her heart.

Sentara had rightfully assumed that seeing the tiny baby would cheer Padme up. Nevertheless, not even the giggling child could make her forget that morning sickness was stupid.

The holovision in front of her flickered as Padme jabbed at the controls to the remote. "What channel was it again?" She groaned.

"Somewhere in the thousandths, I think. How are you feeling, Padme?" Kennor inquired as he walked into the room, a warm bundle held beneath one long arm. He bent over to place a gentle kiss on his wife's forehead. Padme stuck him with a scornful glare.

"You aren't my husband."

Kennor's mouth quirked at the edges. His eyes sparkled. "No."

"Find him so I can beat him with a stick. Ugh. Why don't men have these issues?" Padme demanded, throwing a hand over her eyes. The baby was only three months old now, and they insisted on being difficult. They obviously took after its father.

Padme couldn't be more overjoyed.

Kennor shrugged. "Men don't have the bravery, or the right equipment, I'm afraid. I brought you White blossom bread, as per your request," finally, someone has some worth in her life! Padme nodded and gratefully accepted the basket of warm bread he brandished.

"You're an angel, Kennor," she breathed. "I've been craving this for days now."

"You said you wanted it two hours ago," Tilda pointed out, having never had children of her own and thus ignorant. Sentara chuckled as Qui-gon and Xanatos strode in, speaking quietly between them.

"Here, Padme," Ahsoka gently took the remote and turned it to the right channel. At once, Padme heard applause.

"Speaking of which," Anayel was saying from the screen. Her grin split her face, and Padme felt her expression softening into a similar expression when she saw a certain bearded Jedi on screen. "Rumor has it your wife, Senator Padme Skywalker, is pregnant?" Anakin beamed. It had taken Padme an hour to convince him to attend this interview, but it was well worth it to see him at Obi-wan's side again.

The Team was back in business.

"We are," Anakin agreed, proudly. He winked at the screen. "Love you, angel!" Padme screwed her lips into a displeased line.

"We?" She scoffed. "Since when is he carrying living beings inside him?" Sentara patted her hand sympathetically.

"It'll all be over in roughly nineteen years, dear," she assuaged her. Padme choked on her next inhalation of breath.

"Congratulations! Good news on top of good news! We are also very pleased to announce that Master Kenobi is alive and hearty! How are you feeling, Master Jedi?" Anayel asked the real star of her show. Obi-wan, still a bit pale and wan in the light, smiled calmly.

"Alive and hearty," he replied, much to the amusement of the audience. "It's good to be allowed out of my bed. I've been confined since I woke up," he admitted.

"That's because if we didn't confine you to your bed, you'd go gallivanting across the galaxy before you were properly healed," Anakin promptly butted in. The audience tittered because they thought he was joking. Anayel propped her chin in her hands, watching them with no small amount of hero worship. So long as she kept her hands to herself, Padme decided, she could look all she wanted.

"Hear, hear!" Qui-gon snorted, contentedly. "Kennor," he addressed the eldest. "Any word from Mace on Ventress's condition?" He asked. Kennor shrugged.

"The daily visits from our esteemed Master Kenobi seem to do her some good. She's… slightly less insane, I hear," he reported, with forced cheer. None of them would ever quite forget what Asajj Ventress had done to their friend and brother, but Obi-wan had forgiven her, so they were forced too as well. Albeit, reluctantly.

The Team had evidently forgotten that they were on galactic holovision. "I've been healed for months, Anakin," Obi-wan said, taking up the perennial debate once more. Anakin crossed his arms sternly.

"Fine. You'd go gallivanting across the galaxy before I could approve your general health," Anayel barked a laugh. Padme smiled, thinking that Anakin would make a wonderful father. She patted Ahsoka's hand.

"Hey you. Has your master brought up the idea of being godmother yet?" She asked. Ahsoka nodded, her cheeks tinted purple as she blushed.

"Yes. I accepted with honor," Ahsoka turned her eyes to the screen. "Along with someone else I know," she began, mischievously.

"Force knew why Obi-wan was so surprised," Qui-gon snorted. Padme nodded in agreement.

"I imagine these have not been an easy few months for either of you," Anayel observed sympathetically. Anakin and Obi-wan exchanged a glance full of unspoken meanings. Padme tried not to think about how easily they could have lost him. "Still, the universe wants to know, Master Skywalker, this is how many times you've saved your former teacher now? Three hundred?" Anakin chuckled in time with the audience.

"Don't remind him, Anayel!" Obi-wan moaned.

"I'm afraid I must, Master Kenobi. After all, doesn't this latest rescue guarantee Master Skywalker bragging rights?" Anayel inquired impishly.

"He'll brag with or without the right," Obi-wan sneered with a teasing glance at his former apprentice. Anakin's eyes twinkled and he reached over to squeeze Obi-wan's arm. Anayel laughed and shook a finger at them.

"Fair's fair, Master Kenobi!" she chided.

Anakin shook his head, smiling. "Normally, I would brag," he agreed. "However, I could save Obi-wan's life every day for the rest of our lives, and it still would not make us even, Anayel," he said.

"I know that humility is the Jedi Way, but would you care to elaborate?" Anayel asked, sounding surprised, but taking the comment in stride. Obi-wan was also squinting at his former apprentice with suspicion, obviously feeling something off in the universal life currents. Anakin was rarely humble. Padme was wondering what he was up too as well.

Anakin did not look at Obi-wan as he continued, eyes far away as he thoughtfully proclaimed: "Well... You know, I was just a snot-nosed slave boy from the Outer Rim when Master Qui-gon Jinn found me. Obi-wan, technically, did not have to train me. He didn't have to care about me at all. And he certainly did not have to believe in me, but he did and he does. I can't recall a time when my old master's strength and compassion has not saved me in some form or another," Anakin glanced affectionately at the completely red face of his former teacher.

Padme smiled. You sneaky barve. "I only wish every student could have had a teacher- and a best friend- like Obi-wan Kenobi," he finished.

"Ahhh!" Sentara, Padme and Tilda cried in unison, hearts twisting. The audience cheered uproariously.

"Oh, I see! So, Anakin is his favorite!" Xanatos called from the doorway, but he was smiling.

"The truth comes out," Kennor agreed dramatically. "Attachment always wins in the end, 'Natos. Mark my words," he tsked. Xanatos screwed his lips into a displeased line.

"Pair of code-breakers, those two."

"Damn straight," Padme rolled her eyes as her comm. Link chimed. Padme felt a headache throb behind her temples at the sound. Oh, come on… She put it to her lips.

"Captain Typho? Please tell me I'm not needed?"

At least Typho sounded as if he cared. "Sorry, Senator. The show goes on," Padme groaned and laid her head back against the dense mass of pillows. Life. Was. Not. Fair. Sentara patted her shoulder.

"Me and Ahsoka will accompany you," she assured her. Padme let her head loll to the side, grateful but unwilling to drag others into the mess of politics.

"You don't have too. I can manage," she said. Ahsoka snorted, gently grabbing one of Padme's arms to haul her upright. Sentara pressed a gentle palm against her shoulder blade, pushing.

"My dear Padme, what is family for?"

True. Very, very true. Padme grinned and allowed herself to be helped up. It was as Captain Typho had said. The show must go on. "And I will do what I must," Padme murmured, patting her stomach, where babies waited to meet the new, wide galaxy and the galaxy awaited new lives. Padme flung the blankets back and accepted a hand up from Ahsoka and Kennor, wobbling precariously. "Let's go spread some light."

And across the galaxy, Obi-wan's mouth quirked into a tiny grin of knowing as he winked at the camera.