Chapter Text
Padmé looked at Chandrila from the high balcony she was on. Her shoulder was still sore from her last battle, in which her starfighter had been shot in the sky, but she was alive and happy to be there for this glorious moment, not as the Blue Tooka but as Padmé Amidala.
Today was the day they were to sign the Galactic Concordance, the day the Empire officially surrendered to the New Republic. After twenty-five years of fighting, the Empire was no more. The last battle, on the remote planet of Jakku, had taken a heavy toll of death from both sides, but it had been rewarded by a clear surrender from all of the officers of the Empire that were still on the Galaxy. As for those who fled… But better not think about that today. Today, they were celebrating.
Padmé came downstairs to join Mon in her chambers. The woman was panicking over what to wear to sign the treaty, looking at three different outfits at the same time and pacing back and forth.
“Need a hand?” Padmé asked with a smile.
“No offense but Naboo’s sense of style is out of my league and I want to look casual,” Mon replied. She giggled as Padmé scoffed. “I just… I never thought I would survive until this day, Padmé. Can you imagine? Me, Chancellor ? It’s a lot. And I don’t… I think I’m panicking over this rather than the outfit. The white one is fine, it’s casual but classy.”
“White one is it,” Padmé agreed. “Don’t worry, you have been waiting for this for so long…”
“You’re right. We have been fighting for so long. Remember, you’re by my side during all this. Will you be by my side to recreate a stable senate? The one we have is made for civil war. I need one with rules .”
“You have my support and my friendship and my sorry ass ready to sit next to you for the next thousand meetings.”
Mon laughed and put the other outfits on the bed. She slipped behind the door of her dressing room, leaving it open by a few inches so she could talk with Padmé while changing.
“What about your children? Will they be there?”
“I don’t know,” Padmé admitted. “Yes, I guess. Leia told me she would be there, that she saved the date but… Honestly, she left with that scoundrel of hers and went to help some more. Luke is on his way, but there’s still time for him to be called somewhere else. Luke… Luke, it’s fine if he’s not there. But Leia’s about to become senator again and–”
“You let her go?!” Mon interrupted her, poking her head through the open door. “Pregnant as she is?? How long is it due, now, she’s about to deliver a baby and she left??”
“She left weeks ago, Mon! She just didn’t come back! It’s–I–” Padmé groaned in frustration.
When Leia told her she was pregnant, with none other than Solo’s child, Padmé had been horrified and ecstatic at the same time. Though Padmé had grown to like the man, Solo was nowhere near suitable for Leia, and Padmé wouldn’t dare hope he would know how to care for a child. And all those bounty hunters after him! But… Leia was pregnant. And Padmé… Padmé couldn’t hide her delight. So, yes, it was painful to know Leia was still working even though she could barely move, but she promised she wouldn’t put herself in danger nor stress, and Han and Chewbacca were there to protect her. Now, Leia hadn’t given signs in almost four days, but Padmé was confident she was on her way to see the signature of the Galactic Concordance. And with luck she wouldn’t move from Chandrila until the baby was born. Padmé sighed as Mon got out of the dressing room with a white and gold tunic without sleeves, and a white pair of pants.
“I can’t force her to stay. I never could. You’d think that would change now that she can’t see her feet, but she’s a stubborn girl. I just hope… I hope she’s alright. I hope they both are. She will come, she will be there.”
“I know, my friend,” Mon comforted her. “They will be there, your family, to see our triumph. Don’t doubt that.”
“... Are you counting Solo in my family?”
“Is he not?”
“Damn.”
They left the chambers side by side, ready to join the meeting for the Galactic Concordance. Though the signature would be in the evening, at the top of the tower that became the Council of the New Republic, the party had already started and hundreds of political figures were there to give their support to the New Republic. The reception was to last the whole day, and Padmé felt proud about the organisation they had put on for this.
Padmé greeted several people, chit-chatted with numerous groups and accepted a few drinks as they were making sure everything was okay. But midday was approaching, and none of her children were there.
Padmé excused herself and went to check her comlink away from prying eyes. She tried Luke, she tried Leia, she tried the Falcon itself, but no answer. Maybe Mon was right, maybe Padmé shouldn’t have let Leia go…
Just as she was about to give up, a communication reached her comlink, and Padmé dropped her glass to catch it with both hands. It was the Falcon .
“This is Padmé Amidala, can you hear me?!”
“YES!” Han’s voice boomed with surprise and relief. “Yes, ahah! We did it, Chewie! Yeah, this is Han! We’re approaching Chandrila, it shouldn’t be long now! We ran into a problem and–” A scream was heard behind him. Leia’s. Padmé’s heart skipped a beat. “–And another.”
“What’s happening?!” Padmé hurried him as she made her way to the landing area in Chandrila.
“I don’t know!”
Chewbacca pushed him out of the way and roared that Leia had started giving birth.
“Oh Force,” Padmé whispered. “How is it going?”
“I don’t know,” Han said with anxiety. “I’m not good with childbirth… Is this supposed to last more than a day?”
“No!” Padmé roared as loud as Chewbacca, both at the same time. “No, it’s not! How long, Solo??”
“Welp it’s been three days, let’s say the Falcon ’s not ideal for that… But we’re coming!”
“THREE DAYS??” Padmé was going to faint. “And you didn’t call sooner?!”
“WE COULDN’T! Kriff… Kriff it’s… is everything okay back there? No? Okay no change. Kriff. Where are we landing?”
“Bay 1, near the Senate, I will send a med team to greet you!” Padmé stopped near the bay, sending a message on her other comlink. “Why aren’t you holding your lover’s hand, Solo?”
“I–I… I can’t. Sorry ma’am it’s… Kriff. I’m going to pass out.”
“Bring me my daughter safe and sound first and THEN you can pass out,” Padmé growled. She stayed with him on the comlink anyway. “What happened? Keep talking, it will prevent you from the indignity of fainting while your girlfriend is giving birth.”
“We ran into trouble and the Falcon got damaged. We had no way of contacting anyone, fortunately Lando found us and we could leave. We just managed to fix the radiocom.”
“And Leia’s been this way for three days.”
“Three days, ma’am… She’s holding on. We had medical supplies in the medbay, so she’s… she’s holding on.” The fear in his voice was dripping. Padmé felt for him. He was as scared as she was.
“I’m waiting for you at Bay 1. Please… stay with her.”
“I will, ma’am. See you in a few.”
“Chewbacca, keep this idiot from fainting.”
Chewbacca agreed with her, and she reluctantly closed the com. She stood there motionless, waiting in fear for the Millennium Falcon to enter the atmosphere. She sent a message to let it pass immediately without asking for accreditation. The med team arrived before the ship, but finally the Falcon landed next to her. Padmé ran inside and to her daughter.
Leia was on a mattress in the main room of the Millennium Falcon , drenched in sweat and tears, her pale uniform stained with blood, and Padmé resisted the urge to gasp and jump at her. She needed to focus, to keep breathing steady so her daughter could match her breath. She kneeled next to her, and looked at Lando who was staying next to Leia and making sure she was okay.
“Thank you, Mr. Calrissian. It should be Han, but…”
“But he’s a wimp,” Lando said with his usual sass. “He almost fainted. ‘Can understand why, Leia’s been lashing out her anger on him for days, now.”
Padmé chuckled despite the dire situation. She pushed Leia’s hair out of her forehead, soothed the disarrayed braids. “It’s okay, my dear, you’re doing so well,”
“I’m NOT!” Leia screamed despite herself, gripping her mother’s hand. “I’m not…”
“You are,” Padmé insisted. She left just enough room for the med team to lift the mattress and put in on a stretcher, never leaving her daughter’s side.
Leia looked exhausted, but somehow she was still kicking and screaming and insulting Han all the way to the hospital. The doctors looked baffled, and that could be understood. Padmé spent ten hours giving birth and she wanted to die , her daughter suffered for three days and still counting but both she and the baby were still fine. Padmé blamed the Skywalker part of the family. She sent a message to Mon, telling her Leia was at the hospital and she herself wouldn’t leave the hospital until the baby was born, and Leia out of danger. They couldn’t delay the signature, the whole Republic was depending on this evening. It was just… It was just that Baby chose a bad time to misbehave.
Padmé paced back and forth in the waiting room of the hospital, restless. A nurse was trying to comfort her, but it wasn’t doing any good. The afternoon was well started, and the sun would be setting in mere hours, two at best… Mon was spamming her with messages, asking news and sending comforting words.
The doors of the waiting room burst open on Luke, and the boy came running to grab his mother’s hand.
“I came as soon as I knew.”
“Who told you?” Padmé asked, rearranging Luke’s hair.
“I felt it through the Force. But I was so far, and knee-deep in trouble so–”
“Your sister was too. Her water broke while she and Han were being attacked. Lando saved them. Why can’t you just prepare the signature in advance?” Padmé sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just– This is such a stressful day, Luke. I’m supposed to be at the summit in two hours and I’m stress eating candies in the waiting room of a hospital while my daughter is pushing for three days ! Three days, Luke!”
“Mother, please, don’t scream, this is a hospital…”
Padmé sat down stiffly. “I’m so sorry… Can you do something? Can you help her?”
“I can try to give her strength, my support. I can’t help her push a baby out of her womb with the Force.”
“I figured. You two would have been way easier to have if that was the case, since I had two Jedi as midwives.”
They both giggled in the waiting room and Luke took candies too.
Half an hour after Luke’s arrival, Han got out of the operating room. He was pale and swaying on his feet, but he wasn’t flat on the ground. Padmé was proud of him.
“Still standing?”
“Yeah. Still standing. So… Okay, it’s over, so if you want to, you know, come inside, the doctor said yes.”
Padmé came closer and entered after Han, closely followed by Luke. “How are they?”
“Fine,” Han said with a gruff voice that betrayed his true feelings, he was this close to passing out.
The doctors have left the way for Padmé and Luke to come closer to Leia. The princess was so pale it was disturbing, but she had a smile as bright as thousands of stars on her face, and she was holding the baby against her, covered only by a thin blanket.
“I did it, mother,” she said with a weak voice. “I did it. He’s okay…”
Luke rounded the bed to get closer to her from the other side, and he put a hand on her shoulder with a smile.
Padmé’s eyes were locked on her grandson. Though the infant was moving, no sound was coming out of him. His eyes were open and he was… looking around? She felt anxious at the sight.
“Is he…?”
“Fine?” Luke answered with a smile. “Yes. Totally. Massively aware of his environment? Yes.” He looked at his sister, who was listening to him with a lot of attention. “He’s strong with the Force. But you felt it already, right, Leia?”
Leia nodded, taking Han’s hand. Han was less waxy and more stable on his feet. He was staring at the child too, with love and a lot of other mixed emotions.
“Okay, so, no crying?” Padmé asked.
“A little, at the beginning, but now he’s silent. He’s so quiet… Were we? Quiet, were we?”
“You definitely were,” Padmé said. "Not as quiet as this one, but yes. Luke wasn’t. Luke was crying for both of you.”
They chuckled together. Leia let her head fall on the table, tired beyond measure.
“He’s born the same day as the Galactic Concordance… I’m sorry, mother, for the trouble.”
“Don’t be. Never. That can wait. I still have an hour to be on time.” She didn’t want to leave too soon. “How are you going to call him?”
As Luke and Padmé raised expecting eyes to the couple, Leia and Han exchanged a glance. Han shook his head.
“We haven’t… decided. Well, if we have I don’t know about it.”
Leia weakly punched him in the arm, and he just gripped her hand tighter. Leia sighed.
“I had a few ideas but… Most of them are names of loved ones, and all of our loved ones were war heroes and I don’t want to put this type of pressure on him. His childhood will already be horrible . The son of two war heroes, the grandson of Senator Amidala, who built the New Republic? The nephew of the Jedi legend? Born the day of the Empire’s surrender? Force. No, he doesn’t need a name that would be too recognizable. He needs a– A cute name. For a cute boy.” Leia stayed silent for a total of ten seconds. “Ben. I want to name him Ben. Han? Do you like it?”
“I like it,” Han admitted. “Ben. Okay. Let’s go for Ben. If he doesn’t like it he can sue us when he’s old enough.”
Ben. Padmé loved it. Loved him. Shyly, she asked if she could hold him, and Leia accepted with a smile. Carefully, Padmé took the infant in her arms and cradled him, rocked him gently. He was looking at her with big eyes, and Padmé already knew she would do anything for him.
“Hi Ben,” she cooed at him, “Hi, baby boy. You gave us a fright, right? You crashed mommy’s party, you wanted to be in, right? Of course you would be born the day of the Galactic Concordance.”
Reluctantly, she rocked him back into Leia’s care, and kissed her daughter’s forehead. There would be plenty of time for her to be with her family, right now she was awaited somewhere else. She offered to excuse Leia and Luke both, and left the hospital almost backwards. She had awaited this day for so long, and now it was for another reason entirely that it would be one of the most important days of her life. She took the road back to the Senate, to the peace treaty, but her mind stayed at the hospital with her children.
With Ben.