V.3-C.14│Negotiations II│

After Qui-Gon had left, now it was Anakin and Shmi left within the throne room.

"So, did you have fun?" Shmi asked, having a feeling that she was in for a surprise.

"Yeah... You could say I had fun..." Anakin replied thinking about the time spent on the now nonexistent Mortis.

"That's good then. What happened then? Did you guys do anything special?" Shmi wanted to know more about what happened on Mortis, as it seemed like she was sensing some sort of surprise.

"Well..." Anakin would go to explain some things and talk about what happened, where the girls started to pile into the throne room as well. Aayla, Shaak, Barriss, Padme, Ahsoka, Zannah and the last person that would be completely new in the eyes of Shmi, Eve, who was once known as the Daughter.

Eve still had all of the looks of the Daughter and everything else to go along with it, but due to the factor of Anakin, the connection between Anakin and Eve, along with the transformation Anakin did to her, she had changed a bit visually.

She was no longer taller than Anakin and had been shrunk down to his height, but nothing else had really changed.

"Who is this?" Shmi asked as she was greeting all of the girls, specifically by giving nice big hugs because this is what a mother-in-law would do, right?

Eve looked at everything for it was new to her, and she was surprised that her presence within the galaxy didn't immediately destabilize the galaxy. It only made sense because Anakin had transformed her, using her brothers energy within the dark side and made her become balanced herself.

In fact, the only reason this was possible was because of her thoughts and feelings towards Anakin once he showed up. It was the entirety of who she is and what she is was changed, the timeline and the subsequent events to come.

"I am the Daughter, however you may call me Eve." Eve didn't hate Anakin for his actions, however she knew that it was wrong for her to be alive. She knew that what happened on Mortis was probably the Force's will and because of this she couldn't hate Anakin.

Of course, if she knew that she was also supposed to die but Anakin had stopped that from happening, she wouldn't know how to feel.

"Eve? That is a nice name. You are from Mortis then?" Shmi asked Eve as the other girls were there listening to the conversation.

"Yes. I am." Eve replied.

"I sense that you are connected to Ani." Shmi said.

Eve seemed to be conflicted on this subject, as she wasn't supposed to have a connection like this... ever. Romance was not a part of her forte, especially since she was never meant to be touched by anyone, however she so easily allowed it when it came to Anakin.

In fact, she had alot more experiences when it came to touching Anakin in any manner other than her own family, whom are dead.

Shmi seeing that Eve didn't want to say anything anymore, turned her attention to Aayla, for she was probably the most important of the girls right now, with Aayla being pregnant and all.

Anakin seeing this went over and started to have a conversation with the girls himself, and intentionally drew in Eve so she could get better acquainted. Most of the time she kept to herself during their stay on Mortis.

Of course Anakin would constantly pester her to stop mourning over the loss of the Son, her brother and the Father, her, well... father. Eve didn't have proper close relations with anyone, and if there was someone within this group that had close relations with, other than Anakin that is, it would be Ahsoka, the peppy apprentice of Anakin's.

She had grown a little herself, as she would still pester Anakin, even more so as time passed so she could become an official wife herself.

Ahsoka was coming along nicely, and due to the passage of around two years with Mortis, she was now close to an age that she thinks Anakin would accept her as a proper lover. Ahsoka had her own plans lined up so she could start her aggressive attack on Anakin to steal away some love for herself... some romantic love that is.

"How are you feeling Aayla?" Shmi walked up to her daughter-in-law that was pregnant with her grandchild. Shmi was excited for this meant alot of things were probably going to change.

It would probably be the start of Anakin having many children, which would mean that Shmi would have many grandchildren herself to look after. Of course, Anakin is going to be there as well, but he has things that he wants to do and so does others.

When it comes to raising children, it takes effort from the parents, meaning that they would have to compartmentalize their time and manage it well. However, Shmi and Aayla never had to worry about Anakin not having enough time in the day because he had never needed to fret over or worry about time before.

"I am feeling great!" Aayla was happy as well, since coming out of Mortis, she could start to sense the child within her was starting to develop again. It was a strange occurrence but the reason for the fetus to stop development was because of the energies of Mortis.

It was a completely separate realm or dimension within the Force and galaxy at large. The cycle of life and death was not good for a fetus, so it stopped developing during their whole two year stay.

It was both good and bad, as Aayla was worried due to not experiencing the usual symptoms that came with pregnancy. However she was reassured by the fact that she could sense the lifeforce coming from the baby developing within her.

"That's good then. I cant wait to see just how the child comes out!" Shmi exclaimed with her own excitement, wanting to see the first child between Anakin and Aayla. Anakin probably already knew the gender, but that didn't mean Aayla or Shmi or anyone else did for that matter.

In fact, there wasn't even that many people that even knew that Aayla was pregnant. While usually something to be celebrated, there was just no reason to have so many people know, especially in the times that was happening.

Having the child secretly first would work better for the position everyone is in.

"... Yes I am of the same opinion." Shaak came up from behind Shmi and Aayla and added her own thoughts.

"Shaak. You are just jealous you aren't pregnant yet." Aayla said to Shaak.

"Maybe. I would be lying if I said no, for I also want to know what it is like to experience the joys of being a mother." Shaak said.

"It is very joyous. It is also very hard and laborious. You shouldn't have children because you want children, but should have children when you want to be a parent. There is a difference." Shmi spoke up from her own experiences.

"What was Ani like? As a child I mean?" Aayla just had to ask, as she had no reference for what motherhood would be like, and given that the child she carries is between herself and Anakin, there is some wisdom to be found from asking Shmi.

"Well..." Shmi would go on to say many things from her own experiences to the way Anakin was like and this would deepen the relationship between Shmi, Aayla and just about anyone else that wanted to join and listen in.

Anakin had already left the throne room, seemingly having already talked or discussed things with the girls before leaving. Everyone else however wanted to stay and listen to what Shmi had to say about being a mother, and what it felt like to raise Anakin.

To see him grow into the person he is today.

All of the girls wanted to have similar experiences to Shmi when it came to having children, however Anakin was unique in that he was never really a child right from the start. That didn't matter however, because everyone was not only listening to Shmi for her motherhood advice but also listening because of the stories she told about Anakin before he was the person he is now.

Even Eve would stay behind, not only because she had nowhere to currently reside but also because she was interested in this concept as well. She had at one point in time had a mother, and she likened Shmi to the mother that she once had, before she seemingly left and never returned.

It was a sad day for Eve, for her brother and her father as well. If there was anything to take away from what currently just happened, Eve would admit that it seemed like Anakin is a good person, at least when he was a child.

He did many things and his position now is the result of those good things, done for innocent people. 'At least he is good...? I think.' Eve thought to herself.

[]

Qui-Gon was waiting at the Empyrean Orders main headquarters as the base of operations was starting to expand past just being an academy on Tatooine. Many more academies based off of and being branches of the Empyrean Order was being set up on other planets.

The way Anakin made up for the lack of people to teach others about the Force was through the use of himself. Specifically he was using his multiple thought processors to be there for his students in the bodies of machines of course.

Qui-Gon was awaiting the arrival of the Jedi to come, for some accommodations had been set up for them within the Empyrean Order. While there were students that had families and places to return to after learning within the Order, the building was also outfitted with rooms that would allow one to stay within.

There was even the whole kitchen and mess hall set up so people could play, eat, sleep and live within the Empyrean Orders temple.

The Jedi would be arriving soon, as a few days had passed and the Jedi didn't have the fastest transports themselves. They had to leave in a hurry, however what was important is that the Jedi survived and the children most importantly survived.

'Maybe I should wait for them at the spaceports here...' Qui-Gon thought to himself and then agreed with himself that this was probably the better idea. While a few of the Jedi had come here before, that didn't mean that they would be able to direct everyone to the Empyrean Orders temple.

Qui-Gon left the temple and headed towards the spaceports where the Jedi would most likely land.

After a while, the Jedi were finally arriving, and Qui-Gon had called out some others to come help him direct the Jedi towards the Empyrean Orders temple. It was a massive undertaking with alot of people arriving.

There wasn't a whole lot of people within the Jedi that came, especially since a few of the Jedi had died on Coruscant due to Palpatine's plans.

Luminara Unduli, Quinlan Vos and Yaddle all came along as well to help along with the process. After a while, all that was left was the main star ship that carried the grand master, Yoda and the other members of the Jedi High Council.

They had decided to get everyone else settled in first whilst having to wait for everything else. The High Council didn't come down to help out or anything, not because they were lazy but because they believed that they should wait for everyone else to be first.

By the time the High Council's ship landed, everyone else was gone, leaving Qui-Gon there to see things through with them. "Greetings." Qui-Gon did a small bow of respect towards the High Council members, for even though they are concerned refugees now that didn't mean Qui-Gon didn't still have some level of respect for them.

They were all powerful Force-sensitives in their own right.

"That was troublesome." Mace said as he got off of the ship whilst everyone else got off as well.

"Follow me." Qui-Gon said as they then began to follow Qui-Gon as he took them down the prospering streets, no, city of the Empyrean's capital of Tatooine. "Everything has been settled for now, and you know of the things that Anakin wanted, right?"

"Agree, terms of stay, we do." Yoda replied as he seemed to have aged somewhat due to recent events. He was already someone very old, however the recent events most certainly put a burden on his mind.

"There is one more thing you guys should know. It has to due with Count Dooku..."