The Little Princess

[Andraste]

Andraste had been so busy with work that she hadn’t paid much attention to her pregnancy this entire time. Her first time around, she was excessively concerned with every little detail. This time around, she paid it no heed and kept plowing on with everything in her day to day life. Andraste had spent quite a bit of time in the Deep Core, still keeping a pulse on the situation in Alderaan. She was pleased with the Chancellor’s decision to outlaw Jedi, though she had secretly been hoping to be given an excuse to take over the Republic worlds.

She at least did herself the favor of already being on Korriban before the birth of her daughter. She had a week or two to go still, but she still worked and paid no heed to the pangs of pain she had been having. Andraste was in an ornate office inside the temple on Korriban. The main inhabitants of the temple were Sith pureblood, and she had quite a good relationship with all the locals here.

Andraste sat at a desk, looking up at a Massassi chieftain that was giving her the report of the warring clans on the planet. The report pleased her, the number of fights between different groups having dwindled down since she had taken over. Andraste jotted things down, prepared to give him the next course of action. However, that was when the pain got exceptionally worse and was accompanied by other things that clearly told her it was time to get a move on.

“Oh…” She gasped, staring wide-eyed at the Sith in front of her, “Thank you for your report. We can conclude this meeting. Please-“ She controlled her breathing, pressing a few buttons on her terminal, “-See me again in a month,” The Sith looked at her curiously, clearly sensing her agony through the Force. She shot him a warning look and he quickly strode out of the room. Right as he left, a female Sith burst in through the door.

“It’s time, comm Evandrus now,” Andraste hissed at the aide, the woman already out the door before she finished speaking.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Evandrus absolutely hated Korriban with a burning passion.

He had always hated Korriban and he figured he always would. There was a stink of the Old Ways about it that just irritated him to his core. They were here and they were forging their own ways, their own path, and doing so on top of the remains of the Old Ways was good in many ways but he did so detest how it almost tied their validity to their conquest of the planet and the purebloods. Or maybe it was the combination of sand and general lack of life around?

In the end it was irrelevant - he hated being on Korriban and yet here he was, on Korriban, because that was where his wife was and she was close to giving birth to their daughter.

And he would be dead in the ground before he missed that.

He was, in fact, training and domesticating the varlwolf puppies he had taken from Hoth when the call came through on his comm. Honestly, he was about to ignore it when he felt his wife in pain through the Force... which caused him to snatch up his comm-link immediately and have the handlers take care of the puppies. Rushing through the halls of the Sith Temple, Evandrus used Force speed to help make his way to her offices, arriving while she was still clinging to the table and the medical team were just arriving as well to take her to the nearby medbay.

His instincts told him that there had to be an attack until he saw her... it was the baby and it was time.

Concern.

Happiness.

Trepidation.

Eagerness.

Fear.

Joy.

So many emotions and so little time. His wife was going into labour and she was in tremendous pain - but she was going to be giving birth to their baby girl. His warring emotions didn't stop him from closing the distance between then to take her hand in his own as the medical staff started checking her over. He squeezed her hand,

"I'm sorry I'm late." he told her with a soft smile, "I don't know how much help I can be but I'm here."

As if he would be anywhere else.

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

A nurse flew across the room, another was cowering in fear in the corner. It took every ounce of Andraste’s being to keep the entire building from exploding. She was beyond angry and frustrated and in complete agony. The last time was also chaotic, but none of her husbands had gotten there in time to see this ugly side of it. This time they had prepared the room with padded walls and other measures to minimize casualties.

Another nurse sailed through the air and collided harshly with Cregan. Andraste was enraged and glaring at the doctor that was telling her to breathe. The doctor began to choke and sputter, pawing at the squishy sponge he had wrapped around his neck in preparation for this. Andraste controlled herself, stopping short of cutting off his air. She focused back on the task at hand, her hair matted with sweat and her breathing following what the doctor demanded.

It was a grueling process, and a few more people flew around the room before the child finally arrived. Andraste collapsed back into the bed, closing her eyes as the baby was taken away and quickly cleaned up. After a moment, a terrified nurse brought the little crying bundle over to Cregan, all too happy to hand her over.

The doctor had a hand on his chest and was sighing in relief, having had a near death experience. The Empress having a child was one of the most terrifying experiences for any medical personnel and there had been talks of an all droid team so some could afford to be crushed. Andraste quietly rested, tilting her head over slowly to look over at Cregan, managing a faint smile.

“How does she look?”

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Evandrus had been to war and this?

This made war look easy... and with fewer casualties too now that he thought about it. Some of the nurses and attending doctors weren't going to be walking out of the room under their own power at this rate.

Flying nurses were not something that Evandrus ever thought he would need to deal with but it seemed that today was a day for firsts. He caught the woman in the Force - not to save himself from the collision or the nurse from hitting the wall behind him. Instead he pushed her back into the fray, back towards his wife.

Evandrus felt so useless, knowing that no matter how much he wanted to help, all of this needed to be done by his wife and he wife alone. The best he could do was hold her hand, let her almost crush it, and siphon off some of her pain... and direct it to the quivering mess on the ground that was the male nurse he had been pushing the pain onto instead of keeping it inside.

And then it was done.

Hearing the cries of their newborn daughter, Evandrus looked away from his wife for a moment as a nurse handed the wrapped up child to him. Letting go of his wife's hand, he took his daughter into his arms for the first time and as he looked down into her wide eyes, he knew he would never be the same again.

How could he possibly be the same?

Looking into those eyes... so innocent... so trusting... he knew that he had changed. He was happy to be Elix's father but looking into Lyanna's eyes right now really drove it home, purging any doubt from his heart and mind. He was a father to both Elix and Lyanna.

He was a father and he would have to do right by them.

Smiling almost stupidly down at her, he cradled her to him with one arm and reached out to touch her with his finger - a finger she instinctively clutched to with both of her hands. Both of her tiny hands wrapped around his index finger, just barely enclosing it entirely.

There was a very human lump in his throat and he knew he couldn't possibly shift it.

Turning to his wife, he brought their daughter, their Lyanna, over to her, crouching beside her bed so that Andraste could see their daughter in his arms.

"She's perfect." he declared, completely ignoring the stupidly happy smile on his face as he looked his wife in the eyes, "She's absolutely perfect... we made something so... so perfect..."

It barely seemed possible to him and he was holding the proof - something so perfect, so innocent and so pure came from them.

@Sreeya