Star Wars One-Shots

The Last Swap (Part 1)

Author's Note: I know this is far more Anidala-centric than most of our fics. It's also very cracky. :)

This is a gift for Shin_Jam on ao3. ^-^

Enjoy! :D

~ Amina Gila

Instead of awakening from a nightmare of Padme's death, Anakin wakes up in Padme's body. And she wakes up in his. They're both hopelessly befuddled about what happened or what to do about it and explaining it to anyone would be far too complicated. But trying to play each other's roles is far from easy.

The first thing Anakin knows the moment he opens his eyes in Padme's bed – the first night that they've been able to spend with each other since before the Outer Rim Sieges – is that something is very wrong. It's not that he can sense it, either. It's that he can't.

The Force always burns around him, every sensation of life nearly overwhelming, even if he's gotten used to it overtime, but now, everything is just quiet. And his body feels wrong in more ways than he can even explain, but most especially the fact that he can sense the life growing inside of him.

Anakin twists to look down, stilling completely when he sees that he's lying in bed next to himself.

Yes.

Himself.

And the blue dress he's wearing looks suspiciously like Padme's. Anakin bolts upright, but the proportions are all wrong, and he feels suspiciously heavy in the wrong proportions, and –

It takes only a few moments of looking down at himself to realize what's going on, even if it makes absolutely no sense. He's in Padme's body. And he's now pregnant with their child. And his body is still quite alive next to him, but he has no idea if it's in a coma, or what happened to Padme, or –

Anakin closes his – Padme's??? – eyes, breathing in and out for a few moments, silently willing the Force to swap them back. It would probably help if he could feel the Force properly in the first place. How do non-Force sensitives stand this?

He clambers out of bed awkwardly, stumbling out of the room to the front area with a fountain. He used to find water calming, and it would help a little more right now if he wasn't so confused, with absolutely no idea what to do. This doesn't make any sense. It's literally impossible. He can't just end up in someone's else body. That's –

He hears movement in the doorway and looks up to see... his body stepping into the room, moving very awkwardly like he – it – they – she? – isn't quite sure what's happening.

"Padme?" Anakin tries, after a moment of staring himself in the face. He winces at the sound of her voice speaking instead.

"Anakin," she realizes, and it sounds ridiculous in his voice, "What's happening?"

In fact, ridiculous enough that he suddenly feels the totally nonsensical, inexplicable urge to laugh. Because this is so downright ludicrous.

"I don't know." He stands a little unsteadily – how is he supposed to get used to this balance?! – but it's Padme who approaches, standing over him. It's been a long time since he's had to look up at people.

"I just woke up like this." She sounds the tiniest bit hysterical.

"Maybe we... ought to be sleeping," Anakin offers, flatly. Though, for some reason, he doesn't think that it would be that simple. If going back to sleep would fix this, it wouldn't have happened in the first place.