#or that bail never understood how padme died but suspected the sith

[lukeleiahan]

Ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece

I read an AU, and I had to follow up...

Essentially, the Empire falls when Luke and Leia are five, and now their parents figure out how to go from here. Lot’s of appreciation for Bail and Breha Organa and Owen and Beru Lars, a generous helping of Sabe, and precious baby!twins Luke and Leia.

Also on AO3, read the fic that inspirated this here.

 Five weeks after the fall of the Empire

It starts, like many great things, with a knock on the door.

(No, that's not right. It starts with an old man, who isn't really that old at all, bringing a baby in the middle of the night. Or maybe with a freedwoman dying in the arms of her son. Maybe even with that same slave woman, not free yet, giving birth to that same son.)

Beru is standing in the kitchen, preparing a small dinner for her family. Luke is sitting to her feet, quietly playing with the spare mechanical parts Owen organised for him. He likes mechanics, that boy of theirs. Likes playing and tinkerin g and building and fixing things. He's got a talent for it, like Shmi always said her son, Luke's father, had.

It's the thought of Luke's father that makes Beru tense up. She isn't really expecting anyone, and while that doesn't have to mean anything...

Well, Beru's never really been a trusting person. She's freeborn herself, but her mother had been born a slave, and she's never really felt safe from the slavers. And ever since Old Ben gave them Luke, that little boy that is both Beru and Owen's sunshine, and told them only that Anakin was dead and the Empire wasn't to know about the boy...

Well, Beru's tense. She wishes one of her friends was here, or Owen. But wishing for something won't make it true, and so she puts down the bowl and bends down to Luke.

“Stay here, darling, please. I'll be right back.” She tells him. He nods, and then he smiles at her. He shines, whenever he smiles, that precious boy, and Beru drops a kiss on his forehead.

The woman at the door doesn't seem particularly dangerous, but that doesn't have to mean anything. Her clothing is dark blue, practical but with intricate details that remind her of water flowing. It's a beautiful effect, and one that immediately makes it clear that this woman is not of Tatooine.

Then Beru's eyes reach the woman's face, and she gasps. She's staring, she realizes distantly, but this... Old Ben said...

“I'm not Padme.” The woman says, sounding both resigned and sad, as though this is not the first time she's said it. “I know I look like her, a lot, but I'm not. She was a dear friend of mine, though.”

That's why she sounds sad, Beru realizes, and tries to get herself under control. It can't be easy to look so much like a dead friend.

“Come in.” She says, and steps aside. The house seems so small, so dirty and cheap, with this woman inside, but she doesn't seem to notice it. Now that the first shock has passed, Beru can see the differences between this woman and Padme. Padme had been... less purposeful in her movements, maybe, and her face hadn't seemed quite this sharp.

“What is you name?” She asks, once the woman is sitting down at the small table and she's brought her a milk. Luke is still in the kitchen, playing quietly. She doesn't want him to come out. Not yet.

It might not be the fair, or even particularly likely, but it has always been Beru's fear that one day, one of Padme's family would come and take Luke away from them. He's her boy, her son in everything but name, but she is very aware that there is no official adoption, nothing to stop rich offworlders from taking him away.

But that's not a reason to be impolite, at least not yet. So she smiles and sits down next to the woman.

“Sabe. Sabe Nertay.” The woman says, taking a polite sip of the milk. Her face is like a mask, completely unreadable. Then she takes a long breath, and looks Beru in the eyes.

“The Empire has fallen. I don't know if you've heard about that, out here, but it has. The Emperor is dead, and so is Lord Vader.” She says it in a rush, as though she has been waiting for a long time to say these words.

Beru has heard rumors, of course she has. But there are always rumors. She doesn't usually put much stock into them, and this time... well, it's not like life was so different under the Empire than it was under the Republic.

But it is important to the woman in front of her, and it caused her to come all the way to Tatooine, so Beru stays quiet.

“Padme... she fought the Empire, you know. She fought it before it had ever been founded, and she died... It was clear that the Emperor, that he'd want to use the kids, and Vader...”

Sabe stops for a moment, trying to regain her composure. In that moment, Luke comes in, smiling at Sabe, but heading for Beru.

“I made something for you!” He says with a smile, handing her the mechanics he was tinkering with before. They fit together, somehow, and when Beru takes it, she realizes it's a small holo recorder. She doesn't quite know how he made that out of some small junk parts, but that's her boy.

“Thank you so much. It's amazing!” Beru tells him, hugging him close. She is very aware of Sabe's eyes on them, but she doesn't look. She just looks at her boy.

“This is Miss Sabe Nertay.” She tells Luke. “Say hi to her.”

Luke goes over to Sabe, holding out his hand to great her. “Hi Miss Sabe.” He says, smiling. The woman seems shocked for a moment, then she takes Luke's offered hand, and smiles at him. It looks fairly honest, too.

“Hi Luke. It's nice to meet you.” She says, something almost... amazed in her voice. Luke looks at her. Beru doesn't know whether he realizes the tension in the room, the weirdness of this woman here in her kitchen, but she thinks he might. He's five, but he's also a perceptive sort, her boy.

“It's nice to meet you too.” He says, shaking her hand seriously.

“How about you go get your uncle, darling?” Beru says, and Luke runs off. Sabe looks after him, that amazed look still on her face. Beru can relate.

“He has her smile.” Sabe whispers, almost to herself.

She debates staying silent. Sometimes, she knows, listening is the best thing to do, but yet... she has to know.

“Are you going to take him away?” She asks, voice steady. She's not going to let the woman know her terror.

“No.... no, of course not. I would never... you have raised him for five years. He's yours. I'm not … I'm not going to steal him... He's Padme's son, but he's... he's yours, too.” Sabe says. She seems... insecure is the wrong word, but she doesn't truly seem to know how to handle this, either.

“Is he safe?” Beru asks. Another terror rises. If Sabe is not there to take Luke away, then why is she here? Is there anything else, something more terrible than even the Empire, coming for her boy?

“Yes.” Sabe says, louder than she was probably intending. She looks Beru in the eyes. “He is safe. Vader... Vader was the danger. Vader and the Emperor. They're dead now. They can't get him. They're dead.”

It shouldn't cause so much relief, Beru thinks, that this stranger, this offworlder, tells her Luke is safe. But it does.

“Why are you here, then?” Beru asks.

“I think... I think your husband should be here to discuss this?” Sabe sounds insecure now. It causes Beru's nerves to ratch up again, but she tries to control that. She thinks of what Shmi would have done.

“How did you know Padme?” She asks. Luke has asked about his mother. Not that often, but it's natural for him to be curious, and Beru knows so little.

“We were little girls.” Sabe says, sounding grateful to have something to talk about that she is comfortable with. “On Naboo, we do our civil service young, you know? We elect our princesses when they are about twelve, and out of these prinesses, we elect our queens.

“I started training as a handmaiden at the academy when I was twelve, and two years later I was sworn in to become handmaiden to the new queen. That queen was Padme. She was fourteen, like me, and she took the ruling name Amidala.”

“That's very young.” Beru can't help but say. Fourteen. She remembers being fourteen. She'd been a child. Of course she'd been. To imagine being in charge of a planet at that age... it's terrifying.

“It's how we do it on Naboo.” Sabe says, sounding unconcerned. “You have noticed we look the same. That's why I was chosen to be one of her handmaidens, you know? Us handmaidens, we are not just there to help the queen with her clothes and hair, we are also there to be decoys in dangerous situations. I was always the one who looked the most like her, so I was usually the decoy.”

“That sounds dangerous.”

“It was, I suppose, but I knew what I was signing up for. It was a huge honor, you know. To impersonate the queen. And it was an amazing thing to share, with a friend such as Padme. She wasn't just the queen to me. We were all close, all of us handmaidens and Padme, but the two of us, she was... I never had a sister, but Padme became my sister. I served as a handmaiden for both her terms, and we stayed friends afterwards. She still had handmaidens as a senator, but... I left the service. I became a teacher. I've always wondered.... if I'd stayed...”

Beru takes her hand. There isn't really anything she can say. She wants to tell this woman it's not her fault, but she doesn't even know how Padme died. It would feel like lying to promise something like that.

The door opens, and Luke's chatter fills the room. He's telling Owen about building the holo recorder. Owen is listening, but he's also looking at Sabe with suspicion. Of course he is. Strange offworlders appearing isn't usually a good sign on Tatooine, and he's just as afraid of someone taking Luke away as she is.

“How about you look at those vaps in the garage.” He says, voice gruff but affectionate, running his hand through Luke's hair. Luke grins and runs off.

“So, what's going on.” He says, looking at Sabe. He's not quite glaring, but it's a near thing. Sabe does not seem intimidated, though.

“The Empire has fallen. The Emperor and Vader, they are dead.” Sabe says, looking him in the eyes, the way she did with Beru.

“So what? You gonna take Luke away from us now? 'Cause that's not happening.”

“No. Nobody is going to take Luke away. You are his family. But...” Sabe looks like she's trying to find the right words.

“But what.” Owen says flatly.

“He has a sister. Luke. He has a sister.” Sabe says, and she's looking at both of them now. Beru covers her mouth with her hand.

“Leia.” She whispers. Sabe's head wips around to her.

“Obi-Wan told you?” She asks.

“Old man told us jack shit.” Owen gruffs. He is willing to be nicer, though, now that Sabe told him she's not going to take Luke. “It's a Tatooine thing. Twin names. Luke and Leia... they're only given together.”

“We thought she might have been stillborn. Or died later, something like that.” Beru adds. Luke has asked for his sister. He has asked for her a lot. He was convinced she was there with him, he's dreamed of her. She thought it might be the knowledge that she had existed at one point, or that touch of the desert that allows him to see things others don't, allowing him to communicate with his dead sister. To know she lives...

“I didn't know that.” Sabe says, looking slightly fluxomed. “The thing is... I'm here because it's safe now. As long as the Emperor and Vader lived... if the twins had met, the danger was too high they would have found out.”

“So you do want to take him.” Owen says, defensive again. Beru hears the fear, but she doesn't think Sabe does.

“No! But … they are twins. They should be able to meet. Just meet. Bail and Breha... Leia's adoptive parents, they understand. Leia is theirs, the way Luke is yours. They'd never expect you to give him up. But we thought... we thought they should meet. They have a right to know the other exists. And Leia... she's asked about him. About her brother.”

“Luke's asked, too. About Leia.” Beru says, before Owen can say anything. His hand finds her, warmth and protection and safety.

“We thought they should meet. If you agree. You could come visit, bring Luke. Bail and Breha would be happy to welcome you. And Obi-Wan, of course.”

“I don't see what the old man has to do with anything.” Owen growls, but there is considerably less bite in it. A second set of adoptive parents... Beru can believe they understand.

Sabe seems confused. Beru wonders whether it's the hostility towars Old Ben, or the fact that they refer to him as an old man. He isn't, not really. Beru doesn't think he's much over forty, but he holds himself like a man at least twice his age. He behaves like that, too, so to think of him as Old Ben just feels more natural than anything else. And well... Owen's never liked the man. Too close to Anakin, to the Repbulic, to the sort of things and people that would endanger Luke. Beru doesn't share the dislike, but she understands it.

“He doesn't have to come. You are Luke's parents, not him. But he is an old friend of Bail's so I'm to invite him as well.” Sabe says diplomatically. For a moment, there's silence.

“What is she like, Leia?” Beru asks, and for the first time since Luke left, Sabe truly smiles. She takes out a small holo, places it on the table and let's it play. A small girl, Luke's age, with dark eyes and brown hair in braids, is sitting on the floor, flipping through the pages of a book. After a moment, she looks up, smiling at whoever is recording the holo, and Beru's heart melts. That's Luke's smile on that girls face.

She looks at Owen, and knows that they've both decided in that very moment.

     Four weeks after the fall of the Empire  

It's a day of celebration. It should be, by all rights.

The End of the Empire, and the Beginning of the New Republic, capitalized for importance, and what it means, now, after a month of celebrating and working and organizing a new government, should be a celebration.

And yet, the mood in Bail's brand new chancellors office is somber. They've all seen too much war, lost too many friends.

“To the lost ones.” He says, raising his glass. Breha, Mon, Carlist, Garm Bel Iblis and Sabe mirror the gesture silently, each of them deeply in thought.

The new government is running, sort of. Bail has been elected the new chancellor, more or less happily. The senate has it's old powers back, and there are three different motions started that should, if they go through as planned, at least put up some strong protections against another Palpatine. Nothing is guaranteed to stop a determinated, manipulative, powerful being like Palpatine to come and take over again, but at least with these new laws it should be more difficult. Bail hopes.

He'd once thought that there was no way for the republic to fall, either, and he'd been wrong. He won't let himself be sure of anything like that anymore.

“Padme should be here.” Mon says, looking at the empty spot at their table wistfully. They always leave a space for her, when they're together like this. The Empire tried to ignore her, but they won't. They won't forget her.

“She knows. In the Endless Sea, Padme knows what has happened.” Sabe says, a quiet conviction in her voice. It's a Nabooian belief, the Endless Sea of the afterlife, but Bail has always found comfort in the idea that Padme is there now, watching over them.

“She deserves her rest. Her and all the fallen.” Garm says.

 For a moment, they all stay silent, remembering all their lost friends. Too many of them, Bail thinks. Too many good people died in this fight. Then, Garm gets up.

He looks tired, Bail thinks. They all do, tired with exhaustion and grief and a sense of fear that doesn't seem to want to disappear, even though the Empire is defeated. And his marital troubles won't have gotten easier, either. How someone so passionate about democracy could marry a supporter of the Empire, he'll never understand.

It makes Bail all the more happy about his own marriage. He smiles at Breha, and feels warmth in his heart when she smiles in answer.

“I have an early morning tomorrow. The Imperial forces don't decomission themselves, after all. I'll turn in. A good evening to all of you.”

“Don't remind me. I'll come with you. Good night.” Carlist sighs.

“I'll go, too. My son has been having nightmares these last weeks, all the changes, probably, and the battles, and I promised him I wouldn't be out too late.” Mon says, standing too. “Winter and Leia don't have that problem?”

“Not yet, though it might still come. Currently they're still fascinated by all the changes, especially Leia.” Breha says.

“Consider yourselves lucky, then. We'll see us in the morning. Good night.” She says, smiling, and together they leave.

Bail waits until they're out of the room, then he stands up and picks up one of the holos of his daughters he has standing on his desk. Winters white hair shines next to Leia's brown, and both their smiles glow. They're healthy and happy and safe, he tells himself, just a few rooms down, guarded by Artoo, in hearing distance. Protected by Artoo and two guards in the corridor, to make sure no vengeful imperial gets any ideas.

“There is something else we have to do.” He says. It's been on his mind since the Emperor and Vader died, and now is the time to start doing something about it.

“Luke.” Breha says, putting down her glass. Bail nods.

Sabe seems confused. He never outright told her about Leia's biological parents, never sat down and told her the whole sad story of Padme's last days, but he didn't have to. Sabe knew Padme so well, knows him so well, had prepared Padme's body for the funeral, and Leia just looks like Padme. It wasn't difficult for her to piece it together, as he knew it would be.

But because they never talked about it, she doesn't know about Luke. Doesn't even know enough to suspect anything like this. Maybe he should have told her, but … well, people have always said that the Jedi can read minds. Obi-Wan had denied it, when Bail asked, years ago, but nobody ever truly explained the Sith to him, either, so he couldn't be sure. And though he trusts Sabe with his life, and more importantly with both his daughters lifes, the first rule of espionage still holds: One can't reveal a secret one doesn't know.

Breha knows, though, because she is his wife and he could never keep something like this from her, and she takes the lead.

“We need to call Obi-Wan.” She says.

“What are you talking about?” Sabe asks. She knows Obi-Wan, of course she does, but neither Bail nor Breha ever corrected her assumption that he died with the rest of the Jedi.

And she'll have assumed they'd contact the Naberries first, probably. They'll have to do that, too, Padme's family has a right to know, but it can wait a bit longer. Just a bit.

“Luke is Leia's twin brother.” Bail tells her. Sabe stares.

“It wasn't... it wasn't safe, to raise them together. Obi-Wan and Master Yoda... they said something about... I don't know, combined Force presence? It didn't make very much sense to me, but they were absolutely sure that if the children were raised together, the Emperor and Vader would find them. So Obi-Wan took Luke to be raised by Anakin's stepbrother and his wife on Tatooine.”

“Leia has... Padme had...” Sabe stumbles over her words, clutching her glass of wine as though it would provide her safety. Breha walks over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“Twins. Yes. Now that it's safe, they have a right to know.” Bail says. They had a right to know since the beginning, he thinks, but now is the first time since their birth that it's a possibility.

“Are we sure? That it's safe. Are we sure?” Breha asks. Her voice doesn't betray it, but Bail knows she's scared. He is, too. Leia has never quite been safe, never really been out of danger. Neither of their daughters have, on account of being the princesses of Alderaan and the daughters of two rebels, but with Leia it has always been more immediate, the danger. The thought that she might be safe now is so strange. What if they've overlooked something?

“As far as we know, the only people who would pose a direct threat to Leia and Luke due to them being Padme and... Anakin's children are Vader and the Emperor, and they are dead.” He hesitates over Anakin's name, only briefly, but Sabe notices. Of course she does.

“What about Anakin? He died when the Jedi fell, did he not?” She asks. She's not asking whether he is Luke and Leia's biological father. Of course not. She'd known of Padme and Anakin's relationship before even Bail had. But there are things he'd never told her. Things he never wanted to speak about to anyone. He takes a deep breath, seeks stability in his wife's eyes.

“No.” He says, and tries not to get caught up in memories.

(Fire and smoke, Padme on a table, a child being murdered by clone troopers, Obi-Wan and Yoda suddenly broken old men, a newborn's cry)  

“Anakin Skywalker did not die when the Jedi fell. He died with the Emperor, a month ago.” Bail says. No one knows exactly how those last hours went inside the Imperial palace. All Bail knows is that the Alliance forces won the battle against the Imperial forces, and that when they came to clean up the palace, Vader and the Emperor had both been found dead. Bail himself had done the identification.

Anakin Skywalker had looked somehow both so old, scarred and tired and dead, and so very young. He'd only been 28 years old.

“What are you talking about?” Sabe asks, shouts, really. He's happy that the girl's room is far enough away that they won't hear. They're too young for this conversation. Much too young.

He should have explained all of this to her before, but he hadn't dared risk it. Hadn't dared take the risk that she'd get caught and talk, hadn't had the strength to deal with it himself.

He's only ever talked about it once, when he told Breha the day he brought Leia home. He'd broken down then, completely, and he hadn't ever talked about it again.

But he'll have to do it again. Now, and then at least once more.

“Vader. Anakin... was Vader.”

“What? How?” Sabe is pacing, he notes distantly. Breha has moved to stand by his side again, a supporting presence he's grateful for.

“I don't know. I thought … I thought, when Master Yoda called, that we were there to pick them up, Padme and Anakin and Obi-Wan and even Master Yoda. They survived the … the purge, they're calling it, aren't they? They'd survived, and when Master Yoda called I thought I was going to pick them up, and we were going to figure out what to do next.

“But then... Padme was giving birth, and when I asked Obi-Wan about Anakin, all he would say was that he'd 'fallen'. That was the word he used, 'fallen'. Didn't really understand it until I was introduced to Vader.

“And Padme... the med droid said she was fine, you know? I kept asking, because she was pale and so damned silent, but the med droid kept insisting she was fine. She named Luke and Leia, and then she... I don't know. She slipped away.” There are tears in his eyes, and he can't break down again, he can't. He focuses on Breha's hand in his, willing himself to focus.

“Slipped away? What does that mean?” Sabe asks, tears running over her cheek, but she's refusing to break down, too, just like Bail, and isn't that a testament to how much they're all politicians, all spies, that they won't let themselves break down over the death of a friend?

“Master Yoda said she 'lost the will to live'. As though that's a cause of death. I … you and Dorme and Yane, you were the ones who prepared her for the funeral. You saw how... you saw that there were no obvious injuries. Nothing to indicate what could have killed her. I still don't know how she died.”

It's something that's been bothering him since that day.      Lost the way to live    , what      bullshit    . Padme was desperate, and she was grieving, and she might have given up, but one doesn't die of that. Not without other things happening. And the med droid said she was fine...

And yet, the Sith... He's never voiced this thought out loud, but well... the Jedi were never open about the extent of their powers. And the Sith are supposed to be worse...

“That doesn't make any sense!” Sabe yells, throwing her hands up.

“We've been puzzling over it for years.” Breha says, calm and compassionate. “There is no answer we can see, but we can't help her now. We can help her children, though.”

 There's a long silence. Then.

“Where is he?” Calm. Focused. She was a handmaiden to the warrior queen Amidala, a spy for the Rebel Alliance against a fascist empire. It shows.

“Tatooine. Beru and Owen Lars are his parents now, at least that's what Obi-Wan said he was planning. We'll have to talk to them, make plans with them.” Bail says.

“I'll go. I'll talk to them. Bring them here.” Sabe says, running her hand over her dress. She wipes the tears of her face, resolute in the face of having a mission. Bail knows he won't talk her out of this, and he doesn't want to. He can't go himself, the new chancellor leaving would be seen as weakness. And Breha as the queen of Alderaan would draw way too much attention. Sabe though, a gouverness and former handmaiden, she can go wherever she wants whenever she wants.

“Bring Obi-Wan too, if he wishes, but the important ones are Beru and Owen and Luke. We need to figure this out, all of us. We're in this together.” Breha says, equal parts queen and friend.

Sabe nods.

“I'll be leaving in the morning.”

      Six weeks after the fall of the Empire  

The air is tense when Sabe leads the Lars' through the halls of the chancellors residence.

They had considered having Bail, Breha and Leia meet them at the shuttle, but it had been decided that it would be less weird for the children, if they didn't meet each other for the first time in a crowded and busy station. Not to mention the possible media attention that would be the new chancellor of the brand new New Republic, his wife the queen of Alderaan and one of their daughters meeting a family of poor moisture farmers from the territories.

Beru and Owen are holding hands, and every now and then they whisper in a language Sabe doesn't understand. She's fairly sure that they're talking about the wastefullness of such grand halls standing empty. If this were Naboo she'd argue, probably, if only out of patriotism, but after having seen their home on Tatooine, warm and small and lovely and      enough    , she can't quite disagree with them.

Luke, though, is running around them, always either a few steps ahead or behind them. He sticks close enough to them that Sabe always has him in her sights, and she knows that Beru and Owen, too, always watch him, but he doesn't seem to feel the tension.

He seems so fascinated, by everything, just like he'd been on the flight here. Sabe's ship, Nabooian build but stationed and customized on Alderaan for the last few years, had interested him just as much as the grand houses here, and the art that decorates the wall. He's staring at it all in childlike wonder, and Sabe can't help but smile at his genuine amazement.

Finally, they reach Bail's office. She opens the door and let's the Lars' go in first.

Leia is sitting on the floor, a book in front of her. Sabe wonders whether she was truly reading it, or whether she was just pretending. Leia is good at picking up on tension, so she might have just been trying to put her parents at ease. She's looking up now, though, staring at Luke.

It must be so weird for her, Sabe thinks. Five years old, and suddenly she's moving to another planet, and the Empire is gone, and her father is the new chancellor, and on top of that she now has a brother whom she's never met.

Then again, it must be quite weird for Luke too, to suddenly leave Tatooine, if only for a week, and visit a sister he never knew about on Coruscant. Though... he had been so excited about it. She turns to look at him, and finds him clutching his aunts hand tightly. He looks shy, suddenly, in a way he hasn't been with her … ever, she thinks. Maybe it's because she came to him, to his planet, into his house, and was offered milk and hospitality by his aunt. Maybe it's just this place that must be so strange to him.

“Welcome to Coruscant.” Breha says, straightening and holding out her hand to Owen and Beru. For a tense moment, they don't move, then Owen takes the hand. Sabe breathes a quiet sigh in relief.

“I'm Breha Organa, I'm Leia's mother. This is my husband Bail, and this is our daughter Leia.” She says, smiling at Beru and Owen. She offers her hand to Beru, and Bail steps closer.

“I'm Beru Whitesun Lars.” Beru says, her voice not betraying any nervousness. “This is my husband Owen, and this is our nephew Luke.” She shakes Bail's hand, too, and Owen follows suit.

There's a silence, again, and the Leia moves. She's up to her feet and running to Luke before anyone truly notices, and then she's hugging him. It's an absolutely adorable sight, and Sabe has to bite her lip not to break out in tears.

Padme would have loved this, she thinks. Padme would have loved seeing her children together.

“I'm Luke.” Luke tells Leia, looking at the floor, mostly. He doesn't seem to be too scared, though, and he's let go of Beru's hand when Leia hugged him.

“I know that.” Leia says, smiling, her eyes warm. Any worry about how they'd get along disappears in that moment, and Sabe feels a little bit of the tension leaving the room. They're all different people, from completely different backgrounds, but they'd all do anything to see these two children happy. It's quite something.

Leia takes Luke's hand and starts showing him around the room. Luke let's her. They'll be best friends before dinner, Sabe thinks. She hopes Winter won't be jealous. But then, she's spend some time with Luke now. He'll be Winter's best friend, too. At least he'll try.

“Come sit with us.” Bail says, leading Owen and Beru towards the table. There are some refreshments there, water and wine and some biscuits. “Did you have a good journey?”

Owen's not looking too happy, grim and worried and probably scared, but it's Beru who speaks.

“Yes. We have never been off Tatooine, and Luke has been fascinated by it all. And Sabe has been very kind.” It's awkward. Incredibly awkward. But Luke and Leia are running around the room together, holding hands, so... that's that.

Bail doesn't ask after Obi-Wan, and Sabe is glad for it. It had been strange, to realize just how much Beru and Owen distrust Obi-Wan, but Sabe accepted it. She'll have to ask about it at some point, but she had been relieved when Obi-Wan had decided to stay on Tatooine for the moment, to make plans, he'd said. He'd probably realized his presence at this meeting would only make things more difficult.

“What's your plan here?” Owen asks, gruff and hostile. He's scared, Sabe thinks, terrified of losing Luke to some rich coreworlders he doesn't know and doesn't care about. She hopes that Bail and Breha see it too. But she shouldn't have worried.

“For the moment, just to let the children play.” Bail says, looking at them. “For the future... that's for us all to discuss.”

“We're not taking him away from you.” Breha says firmly. “He is yours, like Leia is ours. But they are siblings. Twins, even. They have a right to know each other.”

It reassures Beru, Sabe thinks, though Owen is not quite convinced.

“What does that mean? Are we supposed to come live here? Because I'm not leaving Tatooine, that's for sure.”

“You don't have to.” Bail says. “Nobody would ask that of you.”

It would be easier, Sabe thinks, if they moved here, and closer to Naboo, too, but it wouldn't be fair. They have their own lifes, and nobody is expecting Bail and Breha to move to Tatooine, so why should the Lars move?

“We could just have them visit. Every few months, at least, you bring Luke here or we bring Leia to you. And com calls work too. We could set up a permanent holonet connection, so that the kids can talk to each other as often as they want.” Breha adds.

“We don't have to decide now.” Beru says, taking her husbands hand. “We're here for the week, and we've had a long journey.” She looks at the kids, talking quietly. They're still holding hands, and are intensely focused on some game Leia is showing Luke. They look different, blond and blue eyed with tan skin to brown hair and eyes and pale skin, but their expression is the same. It's one of Padme's expression, the one she always had when reading some complicated law proposal. For a moment, the resemblance almost takes Sabe's breath away.

“Luke asked after her, you know. Leia. He's asked after her since he could talk, and the last few days, when he knew she's alive and there and he can see her... he's only stopped talking about it once we reached Coruscant.” Beru says, her eyes never leaving the children.

“Leia too. I don't know how she knew... she's always talked about her brother. We didn't tell her, but … she'd dream about two suns and the desert, and her brother. We never knew what to tell her.” Breha says.

“Now we can just tell them the truth.”

                                                          xxx

The adults are still talking, important things and meaningless small talk, but that doesn't matter.

 In a corner in Bail Organa's office, two children sit, a girl and a boy, a princess and a farmboy, twins. They have never met each other before today, yet they have known each other their entire life.

They hold hands, and soon they will not need words to communicate anymore. At the moment, though, they still do.

“I missed you.” One of them says.

“I missed you too.” The other answers.

They are five years old, and yet, for a moment, they are more wise than any of the adults.

“We're together now.”

#star wars #beru whitesun #owen lars #bail organa #breha organa #sabe #mon mothma #leia organa #luke skywalker #i have so many headcanons that i can write into this au #like that the organas always intended to tell leia about her biological family and especially luke #or that bail never understood how padme died but suspected the sith #which means he follows the same theory as most fans do #and that also means that he had unlike the fans two suspects #he was so terrified of vader knowing about the twins because he considered it quite possible that it was vader who killed padme #also he's really traumatized by the whole thign #also sabe knew about leia but it was like just not talked about #i might write more in this au but i know myself so i won't promise anything #farmboy #twinsies #queen of everything #whitesun #farmer #senator rebel #queen #my writing #sw

[phosphorescent-naidheachd]

From a Certain Point of View

Or, how Ben Kenobi’s boldfaced lie prevarication saved the Galaxy (but not in the way he thought it would).

(See Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four)

Part Five: Epilogue

When Sidious dies, Jedi and other Force Sensitives across the galaxy sense it, even if they don’t all know precisely what it is that they’re feeling. The Force reverberates with the death of so powerful a being – with the shattering of so many significant shatterpoints. A heavy, oppressive cloud has lifted. The Force hasn’t felt this way since… longer than some of them even remember. The older among them do remember the days when the Force was lighter and their foresight clearer, but even they hadn’t realized how bad things had gotten until the fog of the Dark was gone.

Padme, with her low midichlorian count, is not particularly attuned to the Force, but she feels it too. Somewhere deep in her bones, she knows that something has changed. And Padme has always trusted her instincts.

So when Anakin bursts into her office in the Senate and announces that he just killed Chancellor Palpatine -- oh, and that Palpatine was a Sith Lord who orchestrated the entire war, by the way -- she isn’t quite as shocked as she probably should be.

(Which is not, of course, the same thing as not being shocked at all. Because Palpatine? A Sith Lord? She’d been concerned about the executive powers he was accruing and the policies he was putting into place, of course, but...)

“Are you all right?” he asks, dropping to his knees in front of her chair.

“Me?” she says. “I’m fine, Ani. I’m not the one who just fought a Sith! We need to get you to a medic.”

“Only if you get looked over too,” he says. He hesitates then adds, “Is there anything you, uh, wanted to tell me?”

He gestures awkwardly in her direction with his flesh hand.

Padme stares at him.

“I’m sorry?” she says, eyeing him worriedly.

Who knows what kind of damage he might have sustained in his encounter with Palpatine.

“You know,” he says. “Any, um, family news?”

“My family is fine, last I heard,” she says slowly. “Ani, what’s going on?”

He takes a deep breath.

“Padme, how is the baby doing?”

She stares at him. 

“What baby?”

There is a choking sound near the door.

...which, she realizes in retrospect, they never closed after Anakin barged in like a gundark. 

“An excellent question. Is there anything,” a particularly exhausted-looking Obi-Wan Kenobi says dryly, one eyebrow arched, “that the two of you would like to tell me?”

An Hour Later...

Silence falls once Anakin has finished his story.

One of Obi-Wan’s few comforts is that Padme looks nearly as shellshocked as he feels. At least he wasn’t the only one Anakin has been keeping in the dark...

“Let me see if I understood this correctly,” Obi-Wan says, folding his arms over his chest. “Not satisfied with just conducting an affair so indiscreet that every padawan and half the initiates in the Coruscant Temple knew about it, the two of you decided to get married. While Anakin was still a padawan himself, no less. Then, shortly after the beginning of the War, your son from the future arrived to warn you about a student of mine that was going to bring about the fall of the Republic and the Jedi, only to vanish into thin air partway through his explanation of events. Instead of talking this fantastical tale through with me, as would have been sensible, your response was to maintain absolute secrecy, cling to my side like lichen to rock, prevent me from spending any time with younglings, and to steal Ahsoka as your padawan to prevent her from becoming my student and thus this Darth Vader. Is that correct?”

“...that about sums it up,” Anakin says, only a little shamefaced.

“Ah, good,” Obi-Wan says. He belatedly realizes that he is stroking his beard with one hand -- an unfortunate tell of his. “I’d hate to have missed any other revelations.”

Padme looks ready to drop her head into her hands. Obi-Wan can sympathize. 

“So you’re sure you aren’t pregnant?” Anakin asks, turning his attention back to her.

“Yes, Anakin,” she repeats with supreme patience. “I’m sure.”

“Maybe we should get you checked out, just in case,” he says.

Padme sighs.

“Trust me,” she says waspishly, “I am absolutely, without a doubt, not pregnant. I’m on my moonsblood right now and you are not helping my mood.”

Anakin freezes, the expression on his face resembling nothing more than an ash-rabbit trapped by a predator. He turns his head in Obi-Wan’s direction, eyes pleading.

Obi-Wan shakes his head. 

(He’s learned many things over the years, and key among them is to never get involved in a couple’s marital spat.)

And yet...

Obi-Wan sighs internally and begins to speak. “I hate to interrupt, but do we know if Mas Amedda was aware of Palpatine’s true identity? With Palpatine dead, the Chancellorship will fall into his hands, along with its manifold new powers.”

Padme frowns, lacing her fingers through one another atop the desk.

“Several of us in the Senate have long suspected him of corruption,” she says, “but we’ve never been able to tie him to anything. Every time we think we’ve finally caught him, he slithers away again. Bail -- Senator Organa -- thinks Amedda might have someone from Intelligence in his pocket, but now I wonder... Whether he was aware of Palpatine’s identity or not, I can not imagine Amedda didn’t do some of Palpatine’s dirty work. We’d need actual proof before we could oust him from his position, though...”

“And if he has any brains, one of the first things he’ll do upon learning of Palpatine’s exposure -- and his own newly gained authority -- is erase any evidence that might incriminate him,” Obi-Wan agrees.

Force, this is such a mess.

He pinches the bridge of his nose as the headache building behind his eyes continues to grow.

“And if Palpatine planned everything,” Padme continues,“he must have had allies. Many, many allies -- witting and unwitting. How deep does this go? ...We need allies and we need to figure out how we’re going to spin this. Quickly, before the press gets word. Tell me, what did you do with the Chancellor’s body? Did you attack any of his Security on the way in -- No, you can’t have done, they would have raised the alarm long before now. -- Do we know if he had any other appointments this afternoon? For that matter, who else knows about this?”

Her eyes, sharp and intelligent, pin him in place.

Reluctantly, he says, “We left the Chancellor’s body in his office where he fell. No one other than Palpatine was harmed, to my knowledge. Anakin simply walked in without an appointment -- the guards are used to that -- and I snuck in through a window. I’m afraid I have no notion of whether he had any other appointments later in the day. Anakin, was his secretary there when you entered?”

Anakin shakes his head. 

“I think she was on her lunch break,” he says.

“Well, that’s something at least,” Padme mutters. “And the rest?”

“Cody knows,” Anakin says promptly. “So does Ahsoka.” 

“The Chancellor’s personal chef knows as well,” Obi-Wan says. “It’s possible that any of them have told someone else. I... have not yet had an opportunity to brief the Council on this matter as someone ran off to your office the second I confirmed Palpatine’s death. I barely had time to lock the office door behind him before following.”

Padme lets out a low groan.

“I,” she says, “am calling for backup.”

Anakin makes as though to move, only to be halted by a gesture from Padme.

“You,” she says, “are going to stay right there. I’ll ask them to bring a med-droid while they’re at it.”

“Then perhaps --” Obi-Wan begins delicately.

“And you,” Padme says. “You aren’t going anywhere either. The two of you have done enough for the moment.”

“I was merely going to suggest that someone inform Ahsoka of our whereabouts,” Obi-Wan says. “It wouldn’t do for her to panic and barge into the Chancellor’s office, lightsaber in hand.”

“...that is a fair point,” Padme says, sounding almost insultingly surprised.

“Then while we’re at it,” Obi-Wan says, “Might I suggest that one of us contact the Council and request a representative’s presence at your planned meeting? Everything will go more smoothly if we are all on the same page.”

“Of course,” Padme says with a gracious nod.

Obi-Wan has just lifted his comlink from his belt to make the call when a terrible thought occurs to him.

And really, if he hadn’t been so tired -- if this entire day hadn’t been one galaxy-shattering revelation after another, interspersed with frantic planning and fighting -- he would have thought of this much earlier.

“Padme,” Obi-Wan says slowly. “By any chance, do you know if the interior of your office is under any forms of surveillance?”

“...oh fuck.”

Mace Windu was having a fairly pleasant day, all things considered. For the first time in months, he wasn’t in a war zone. The Sithbegotten headache he’d received earlier today had finally gone away. The Force felt tangibly lighter, shatterpoints were showing futures brighter and clearer than any he’d seen in well over a decade, and he even had a cup of Sapir tea in front of him.

Yes, Mace Windu was having a good day. 

‘Was’ is the key word here.

The second he received an urgent comm from Obi-Wan Kenobi asking for him to come to Senator Amidala’s office in the Senate ASAP, however, he knew his day was about to descend into all nine Corellian hells.

It’s Kenobi, after all -- the man has a positive talent for attracting chaos. And where Kenobi is, Skywalker is rarely far behind.

The question isn’t whether Mace’s headache is about to return, the question is only how bad it’s going to be when it does.

So when he enters Senator Amidala’s office to find not only Kenobi, Amidala, and Skywalker, but also Tano and Senators Organa, Mothma, Danu, and Tills, he can feel his temples start to throb anew.

Then he hears Skywalker’s story.

Mace closes his eyes briefly and takes a deep, calming breath.

...he hates it when he’s right about these things.

The meeting feels like it lasts forever. Once they’ve decided how to handle Palpatine’s death, talk turns to the current intra-political environment in the Senate and how that might affect any brokering of a peace agreement with the remaining Separatist leadership. Which then leads into even more political discussions. 

Anakin is bored stiff.

In the end, the meeting only breaks up because Bail reminds them that it will look suspicious if they remain holed up together for too long -- especially once news of the Chancellor’s death spreads.

Unfortunately, however, it appears that Anakin’s trials for the day have just begun. The rest of the day involves enough politics and long-winded debates given in double-speak that he’s begun to seriously consider ‘accidentally’ injuring himself just to have an excuse to escape.

Something in his face must have given his thoughts away, because Obi-Wan lays a hand on his arm and shakes his head.

“If you think this is bad,” Obi-Wan whispers, sounding far too amused for a man listening to yet another piece of circuitous sophistry from a puffed-up planetary representative, “you should be grateful you haven’t been on the Council long yet.”

It... can get worse then this?

Anakin shudders.

By the time they leave for the evening, Anakin can’t decide which he wants more -- to eat something, to sleep for twelve hours straight, or to hit something hard.

Padme, in his private opinion, looks almost as disappointed as she does smug when she informs him that she never had occasion to use her blasters today.

.........he can sympathize with the former. 

Politics are enough to make anyone violent.

Irritating politicians aside, confronting and disposing of Palpatine is not enough. Not for that kind of intimate betrayal.

It will never be enough, he knows, not even if he kills every last one of Palpatine’s stooges. Their blood will not wash away all the blood that has been shed in this stupid, pointless war; their deaths will not bring the other dead back to life or restore him to a world where his trust remains unbroken.

Damn if it wouldn’t make him feel better, though.

But not for long, that annoying voice in his head that sounds like Obi-Wan reminds him. It would only be a temporary distraction; you’d still have to deal with everything eventually. Besides, vengeance is not the Jedi way.

...sometimes Anakin really wishes he hadn’t spent so much time meditating with Obi-Wan.

Padawan Ahsoka Tano is tired. It has been a long, tense day. A long week, really. A long past few years.

She’s looking forward to lying down on Master Obi-Wan’s couch and passing out.

(Ever since she became Anakin’s padawan, the two of them have been on the front lines more often than not, so he’s never bothered to get them their own set of rooms. Ahsoka doesn’t mind -- there’s something kind of cozy about sharing an apartment with both of her Masters. ...She suspects that Anakin and Master Obi-Wan feel the same way, even if they’ll never say as much.)

So naturally, when they enter Master Obi-Wan’s apartment, someone is already sitting there.

She doesn’t recognize him, but Anakin certainly seems to.

“Luke?” he says incredulously. “How -- why --?”

The boy -- man, really -- shrugs.

He seems only slightly sheepish to have been caught breaking into their apartment. 

“Surprise?” he says, running a gloved hand through floppy blond hair.

The conversation that follows is perhaps the weirdest one Ahsoka has ever been a part of... and that’s saying something, considering who she works with on a daily basis.

Every now and then, Skyguy cuts Luke off, throwing her a nervous glance.

...Now that she stops to think about it, this usually happens when the subject of this new Sith, Darth Vader, comes up. 

It’s super irritating. Ahsoka isn’t some untried youngling! She’s fought in countless battles. She even helped to take down a Sith Lord; she hardly needs shielding from a mere discussion about one! 

Anakin has just sent her into the kitchenette to make some tea -- which, if you ask her, is a totally transparent excuse to get her out of the way so he can talk to this Luke person in private -- when there’s a faint rap at the apartment door.

Glad to escape the tedium of tea-making, Ahsoka dashes back into the living room.

It’s probably just as well that she did, because Anakin and Luke are so absorbed in their Top Secret conversation that she doesn’t think they even saw her come through, let alone heard the knock.

She glances through the peephole.

Ah, it’s Master Obi-Wan.

Since it’s his apartment, Obi-Wan doesn’t need to knock, but he’s done so ever since that one time he walked in on her making out with Barriss.

(In retrospect, the living room really wasn’t the best place for that. Even Barriss, usually so unflappable, couldn’t look him straight in the eye for a solid week afterwards without remembering the short talk they’d both received about the importance of using protection, exercising discretion, and remembering their priorities as Jedi.)

Shaking away the memory, she opens the door. 

“Thank you, Ahsoka,” Master Obi-Wan says. “...is that Tarine I smell?”

“Yeah... Good nose,” she replies. “Want any? I’m already making some for Skyguy and his visitor.” 

“Oh? Is this visitor anyone I know?” he asks, arching a brow quizzically.

“Some guy named Luke,” Ahsoka says with a shrug, stepping back to let him in. “He claims he’s from the future and that he’s met Skyguy before.”

“Really,” Master Obi-Wan says.

His eyes sharpen as he steps through the door and peers around her.

“So that is Luke,” he murmurs.

Luke freezes in his place on the couch, then his head snaps up. 

He gapes.

“Ben?” he says, moving forward. “Ben Kenobi? Gosh, you look different.”

“Have we met before?” Master Obi-Wan asks.

Luke’s eyes seem to laugh at some private joke. Smiling faintly, he says,

“Oh yes... from a certain point of view.”

THE END

#anakin skywalker #padme amidala #obi wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #star wars au #yeah yeah i know -- dangling plot threads! -- but there's no way i'm writing this out as a full story atm #and i figured it was better to give you this than to wait another 6+ months #feel free to either use your imagination or to send me asks re: any questions you might still have #;-) #thank you all so much for joining me on this improbably happy crack concept!fic journey & for all of your comments!!! #truly there's no way i would have finished this without your encouragement & enthusiasm #// #things done by phos #from a certain point of view au #luke skywalker #swtcw au #star wars prequels #star wars #star wars fanfiction #fanfiction #sw not-fic #not-fic #long post #death #food

[swfanficbyjz]

SW AU - Fate of the Master Chapter 8

<- Previous Chapter

Bail greeted Anakin and Ahsoka with a huge smile. He knew they'd been through so much, but there was so much more to do. He wanted to talk battle plans with them before sending them to some quarters to get some rest. He was delighted to see that Anakin was no longer in the Vader suit, though he had to admit he was troubled. If Anakin was alive, and back to himself, he would eventually have to tell him about Leia... and Luke... and even Obi wan. He dreaded it; it wasn't that he felt he deserved Anakin and Padme's children more than him, he just didn't want to give Leia up. When he'd taken her home to Breha, he had no real belief that she would ever be anything other than their daughter. But that was when he thought Anakin was gone and Padmé, dead. She was just a teenager after all, how would she take the news? He tried to squash his thoughts, reminding himself that Jedi can sense feelings. He looked up in time to see Ahsoka watching him. Stang! He hadn't shut it down quickly enough.

When Vader had first contacted him, he'd known who he really was. He'd learned the truth from Obi wan and Yoda. In fact, he was one of the few people in the galaxy that had known Vader's true identity. So when he'd first tried to bring Ahsoka into the rebellion he'd done so cautiously. Did she know what had happened to her master? He was careful how he approached it with her so she never suspected it if she didn't already know the truth. She hadn't, which had been the only reason he'd trusted her. He had known she left the order, he learned all about what had happened from Padmé. But he'd had no idea how her connection with her master worked.

Obi wan had admitted that had he not seen Anakin for himself, he never would have believed that he was now a Sith. Which at the time, had told Bail, that just because there was a strong bond between a master and an apprentice, didn't mean they always knew the truth about each other. But he'd also learned from years as a friend to the Jedi, that master and padawan tended to be very similar in behavior and belief. Bringing Ahsoka into his ranks had been a huge risk. He knew both Padmé and Anakin had trusted her, but that could also be a bad thing in such troubled times. She hadn't been eager to join the fight, the scars from the last war had still run too deep. But she had been a valuable asset in the times since. Her behavior was not always so Jedi-like, though she still seemed to be a warrior for good. When Kanan and Ezra had reported her "death" at the hands of Vader, Bail had despaired. Both for knowing how hard it must have been for her to discover the truth, but also, he feared if he didn’t kill her, he’d try to turn her. 

That had been the most important thing he'd known about her from day one; she was extremely loyal to Anakin. More so than she was to the Jedi. And though Padmé had pretended it was useless information, Bail had recognized the jealousy in his friend. Especially since Anakin was hugely loyal to Ahsoka as well. Seeing Anakin and Ahsoka talk to and treat each other like lovers, had riled him. Padmé had cared about Anakin's padawan of course, but she had also been suspicious of their true relationship. And for him to witness such intimacy between them, even after all these years, he couldn't help but think it had always been that way. Padmé was gone now, Anakin had a right to take other lovers, but it still bothered him. Especially if he ever found out for sure they'd been more while Anakin was married to Padmé. 

"I loved Padmé." Anakin whispered, breaking into Bail's thoughts.

Curses, he berated himself for being so easy to read. He glanced at Ahsoka. Her face was neutral. She didn't appear to be surprised or offended by Anakin's statement.

"I always will." Anakin spoke again. 

"I'm sure," Bail stammered, trying to figure out how to recover from whatever Anakin had read in him.

"I love Anakin," Ahsoka spoke at last. "But I loved Padmé too. I never came between them. I knew they were a thing from early on. Course, I didn't know they'd been married." She said playfully punching Anakin on the shoulder. "Though that does explain a lot." It was Anakin who showed surprise first.

"You knew?" He asked her.

"Yeah, Skyguy," she snipped. "Pretty much everyone did. I know why you kept it a secret of course, the Jedi code and all, but subtle, you are most certainly not."

"Did you know?" Anakin asked Bail.

"Yes," he replied.

"Did she tell you?"

"No. I figured it out. Padmé wasn't subtle either."

"Oh great," Anakin breathed. 

Bail hadn't asked them here to talk about the past, though there were things there that needed to be addressed. Now, however, the future was the most important...

"Do you think Obi wan knew?" Anakin asked Ahsoka unable to let the subject drop. Bail had to bite his lip so he didn't give anything away about Padmé giving birth to the twins before dying and the fact that Obi wan had been there at the time and of course had known who the father was.

"Yeah, he did." Ahsoka answered. "Like me, he may not have known you were married but he did know that the two of you were a couple."

"Why didn't he ever say anything to the council then? If he knew I was breaking Jedi rules, why didn't he turn me in?"

"Because he loved you, of course. Just like rest of us that knew. Why would we tell on you?"

"But Obi wan was just like all the other Jedi. He told me constantly that attachment wasn't allowed, always criticizing me for my feelings and how much I cared. If he'd known, he would have told on me." Anakin sounded frustrated. 

"Do you really believe he was just like all the others? You have to understand, Anakin, master Kenobi had been raised in the temple. He was taught all those things from a young age. He had no life experience before that to think that what he was taught could be wrong. So it was difficult for him to show you or tell you that he did care. He didn't know how. But love comes out in many ways. It's not always an obvious statement." Ahsoka responded to him soothingly.

Bail started feeling as though he shouldn't even be in the room. But since they were carrying on without care that he was there, he decided to just wait it out. He couldn't help his curiosity. There was just so much about Skywalker that he didn't understand. Or the Jedi for that matter. This was a rare opportunity to learn even though neither of them were Jedi anymore.

"But you were raised in the temple too, and you're not like that at all." Anakin said looking up at her.

"I was, but I was also raised by you. And you never told me not to care." She replied simply. "When I wanted people to know I loved them, I'd say things like, 'I'll watch your back,' 'right beside you,' 'can I come?' 'Are you okay?' You don't have to face it alone,' 'let me help you.' 'I won't leave you...' It took me a long time to realize those things meant as much as 'I love you,' they're just not as obvious. In the beginning, I always misinterpreted your reactions to things as that you didn't trust me, or believe in me or that you didn't care. But then one day I realized that no, you cared too much. What I'd perceived as mistrust or doubt, was you trying to protect me. Trying to keep me safe, trying to teach me. Obi wan was the same way. He didn't always know how to tell you that he cared, so he tried to teach you, or keep you safe." Anakin sat down in a chair and started weeping. Ahsoka put her arm around his shoulder and held him. She glanced up at Bail, and he understood.

"The last thing Obi wan told me..." Anakin choked out. "Right after I told him how much I hated him, was 'you were my brother Anakin, I loved you.'" As Anakin released that sentence, he fell apart completely. Ahsoka caught him in her arms as he slid out of the chair. "I thought he was lying to me! I thought he was trying to hurt me! It couldn't have been the truth, he couldn't love me. Not really. He'd turned Padmé against me..." Ahsoka held him in silence. 

Finally unable to stay quiet anymore, Bail spoke, "I was with Padmé when she died. She loved you until her last breath. You were all she cared about."

Bail’s words made Anakin manage to pull himself together enough to look up at him. "Thank you." He said, his voice steadying a bit. Bail was surprised he didn't ask him any questions about it. Maybe he wasn't ready to hear anything more. 

"I hadn't meant to bring up the past," he said at last, trying to redirect the conversation again. "If the emperor is truly dead, we have an opportunity now to strike them hard."

"No," Anakin said standing up, more like the general he'd use to be. "They'll figure it out soon enough, let them cause their own chaos for a bit. We will wait patiently and then we'll take it down. To rebuild the Republic, we need more than a few victories, we need to slowly start reforming institutions in order for it to be solid when we take it back. What do you say, Snips? Think a former Sith Lord and a part timer can reboot the Jedi order with some modern sensibilities?"

Ahsoka laughed, "no, even with changes, I don't think we're the right ones for the job. But I think I know who might be."

"The blind one and the kid?" Anakin asked.

"You mean Kanan and Ezra? They're good, but no, that's not who I had in mind..." but Ahsoka didn't have a chance to say who she was thinking of, because the door opened and in wheeled a very familiar droid.

"Artoo!" Anakin cried out his whole face lighting up.

R2D2 beeped happily and rolled over to greet Anakin. 

"I know, my friend. I'm sorry. No, don't worry. I'm here now. Yes of course. I've missed you too!" Anakin carried on. Pretty soon, Anakin and the droid were deep in conversation as if they were telling each other all about a mission. 

"Artoo," Bail interrupted. "Would you kindly show Anakin to a set of quarters so he can rest?"

The droid beeped obediently. Ahsoka patted its dome top as it rolled by, a smile on her lips as she watched them go still chatting.

A few minutes after they left, Ahsoka finally turned to look at Bail. "Don't worry about telling him about his children just yet. Let's give him a chance to remember how to be Anakin Skywalker, before he finds out he's a father." Bail looked at her in surprise.

"You knew?" He asked.

"I had suspicions," she said, "your thoughts earlier confirmed them though." 

"If you don't mind me asking, what made you suspicious? Besides the usual Jedi reading minds thing?"

She smiled, "Anakin and I didn't really keep in touch after I left the Jedi order, but I still heard the news. I knew that Senator Amidala was pregnant, who else could be the father? I thought she'd died before she gave birth, but then I remembered something from one of the first time I met with you after the Jedi purge. You were talking to a child. I didn't see her, but I definitely sensed something familiar about her. I imagine that's why you never let me meet your daughter, you knew I would sense who she really was. You're a good man, Bail. Not everyone would have been so willing to take in a child of those two. Not because they were bad, but because they'd be powerful and dangerous, especially to the Emperor. You took an incredible risk to raise her as your own. I'm sure when Anakin finds out, he'll be appreciative of you raising her with love and support; giving her a life he never had. There's another too, I can feel it now."

"Yes," Bail said. "He's being watched over by Obi wan." After having guarded the secret about the old Jedi master for so long, it was strange to say the words aloud. "But you knew that, too..."

"I didn't know the child was with Obi wan, but I can feel master Kenobi through the force now that the force isn’t so cloudy and empty." 

"I'm surprised Anakin can't." Bail said.

"It's going to take awhile for his senses to recover after everything he's been through. He will eventually though. But I do believe Obi wan and the future of the Jedi are our best possibility at rebuilding the Republic. Not because we need more warriors, but rather, we need more peacekeepers. We'll need Jedi help, but they cannot be pulled into another war like the Clone Wars. They need to exist as a beacon of hope; as a symbol of light. Be helpful, but not a military." Ahsoka sighed. "Palpatine sure knew what he was doing drawing us in and weighing so heavily on us. It forced us to lose sight of who we were meant to be. Just because Jedi can see the future, doesn't mean we always see the big picture. It's one of our biggest failings. We're instinctual, we listen to the force in every moment. And every moment we were drawn deeper in the war, we were pulled further from our roots and our beliefs. And it became harder and harder to make the right decisions."

Bail patted her on the shoulder. "You should get some rest too. The two of you can take one of my ships to find Obi wan tomorrow. He's on Tatooine." She nodded her thanks and then headed down the hallway following in the direction Anakin and Artoo had gone. 

 ---

 Ahsoka hesitated with her hand up in the air about to knock. He'd been through so much in the last few days. Not just fighting the emperor or the major surgery. He's had to deal with long term beliefs being turned upside down. She should let him have some time to himself. But before she could turn away, she heard him tell her to enter. 

She did so, of course. How could she leave his side now? He was sitting cross legged on the bed platform, he'd removed his shirt. She took a moment to trace the scars that riddled his torso with her eyes. She couldn't imagine how painful to endure that must have been. He was her old master, the same person she'd always loved. But life had shaped him differently than she ever thought possible. Even in the light again, his energy was different; scarred just like his body. His perspective, his outlook, his beliefs, his desires... they had all changed. 

She removed her armor and kneeled in front of him. Meditating face to face like they used to do all the time. Feeling his presence again in the force... it felt like she was whole again. She'd been lucky enough to never lose limbs, but his absence had felt as though part of her was just gone. Missing him had been the hardest part. In spite of his own chaos, he was comfort to her; he was home. 

She'd always thought of the Jedi as her family, the temple as her home. Until she'd met him. Master Secura had told her that the bond between a master and a student was so deep that it could distract you from your duty. It could cause your devotion to shift from others to them. And that if left unchecked, could cause more harm than good. But whether Ahsoka liked it or not, Anakin had her devotion. Even when they argued, she'd never wanted to be beside anyone else. She respected Master Kenobi, but she was constantly grateful that Anakin had taken her as his apprentice. He was a difficult teacher; a difficult person to be around. But so was she.

Nobody in the temple had really wanted to put up with her. They treated her civilly, but no masters really volunteered to take her on. She'd always believed it was because she wasn't trying hard enough; that she had to prove herself somehow. There were rumors about the chosen one, of course. He was powerful; unlike any other Jedi. But he was a loner. He was mysterious. He never cared about the younglings, he never taught classes, or shared wisdom. He was standoffish. Amongst the masters he had a reputation for being reckless and frustrating to work with. And, the one thing that had always been clear, was that he never wanted a padawan. 

When master Yoda had called her in to tell her that she was going to Christophsis to meet her new master and to deliver a message, she'd been nervous but excited. She was finally going to get to be an apprentice! But then he'd told her who she was being assigned to, and she'd nearly fainted. He'd given her a choice; she was to meditate on her way there, and when the introductions were made, she'd tell them which one she had chosen. It was clear from the start, that both Master Yoda and Master Kenobi wanted her to be Anakin's padawan. But if she didn't feel like she could handle it, Obi wan would take her on. 

She'd done as Master Yoda had instructed; she'd meditated on it all the way there. Anakin had been very confused by her, she knew every time she opened her mouth she wasn't making a good impression with him. It was clear from the start, he hadn't wanted anything to do with her. But she couldn't deny what she'd felt; for better or worse, she was meant to be by his side. She'd been so desperate to prove herself, and yet so scared. She could not imagine ever standing next to him as his equal. She had sassed him mercilessly, trying to sound like she knew more than she did, wanting to impress him. It was a wonder, now that she thought about it, that he hadn't just let the battle droids kill her. She'd so spectacularly failed giving him a good impression of her that by the end, she wasn't even sure Obi wan would still want her. But then Anakin had changed. He had promised to train her. She never knew why; she'd simply hoped that he'd felt in the force what she had. She knew from that moment on, she would do whatever it took not to let him down. 

"You want to know why I chose to train you?" He asked suddenly. "Because I saw a fire in you. Like I'd once had. And by the end of that first mission, I knew I couldn't let anyone put it out." She opened her eyes to see him staring at her. His eyes had changed again. They weren't yellow, or dark. But they weren't completely the blue they used to be either. They were like a mixture of the two. They reminded her of the star charts she'd studied thousands of times. Deep, mysterious, intense... it was like the entire galaxy could be seen in them, and she wanted to explore every corner. "I chose not to teach younglings, because I would never be the teacher they wanted me to be. I disagreed too much with their methods, they didn't even bother to ask me to after awhile. I hadn't wanted a padawan for the same reason. I knew I had skill and potential to teach, but the masters never acknowledged it or worse, berated me for it. Chancellor Palpatine was the only one that really praised me. The Jedi, they were always so critical. Praise felt so good, it was a stark contrast to what I was used to. He made me feel like a human. Like I mattered. Not like I was an annoyance people had to put up with. I could sense you felt the same way. And I didn't want them making you feel unwanted like they'd done to me. From that moment on, I couldn't let you go. I praised you whenever I thought I could get away with it. And I watched you burn. Laying waste to anything that got in your way. And I loved it. You had the natural ability from day one, what you'd only ever needed was confidence. When you’re only ever criticized, confidence is hard to come by.

Ahsoka could feel the truth in every word he spoke. Not just that he meant what he was saying about her, but also how he spoke from his own experience. She'd been so hurt by the betrayal. How the Jedi had thrown her to the wolves. In that great trial… Anakin had been the only one that hadn't given up on her. The only one that really cared if she stayed. What they'd done to her had killed him too. He'd always seem to fight the council at every turn, but at the same time, he couldn't stop being a Jedi. She'd wanted so badly to beg him to come with her that day she walked away, but she couldn't ask him to give it all up.

But she still had to go. She had to find, as he'd said, confidence. She had been scared that if she'd stayed... she would never find it. That's what it had been for him. He'd always sounded confident, but in truth, he never was. He was good at pretending, but it had always been a lie. 

She stood up and closed the distance between them. He looked up at her, his eyes... brilliant; sparkling as if they possessed their own source of light. She took his head in her hands, rubbing it softly. "Let's forget all about the Jedi for awhile." 

 ----

 His breath caught in his throat. Her presence was intoxicating. He'd been so lonely, so lost. In the days since Malachor, his whole world had flipped upside down. He'd never wanted to remember what it was like to be good. He was afraid to face the consequences of his actions; the punishment he so deserved. But so far, the only punishment had been truth. Truth he'd never been able to see. They'd all been so nice to him. Even Rex's outburst at him could have been so much worse. He'd once sought love like it was the rarest, most precious gem, only to discover that it wasn't rare at all, though no less valuable. For years he'd been using people's compassion against them, laughing at their predictability, savoring the moment of crushed hopes. Every time, disassociating himself further from the time he'd been one of them. Sidious thrived on his disassociation, referring to Skywalker as a separate entity entirely. Until even he'd believed they weren't the same person. Every life he struck down, had in his eyes, been himself. By murdering them, he was killing his own soul, his own ability to love. 

Finding Ahsoka alive after so many years, had given him a burning desire to crush her. She'd needed to die like the others, she couldn't find out who he'd become. But somehow, she'd brought Anakin rushing to the surface, barreling in to protect her just like he'd always done. Except this time, it was to protect her from himself.  She'd forced his alter egos to fuse again. Forced him to see in stark clarity, what he'd become and what he'd done. And he couldn't live with that. So he'd tried desperately to separate the two again. And in so doing, he'd almost destroyed her.

Since the moment she'd begged to go with him, a war had erupted inside him. A war he'd long thought he'd won. Every moment it swung one way or the other, every time he was able to come up for air, he was looking at her differently. As the battles ravaged his mind, Anakin had crept closer and closer to the surface. Until not even the poisonous drug that Sidious had been feeding him could keep Vader at the forefront. There really was something more dangerous than darkness; light. Darkness could never be so complete that a single candle couldn't break it. 

Ahsoka wasn't a candle, though. She was a fire. Wild, dangerous, reckless, intense and so bright she could blind you. But at the same time so warm and so inviting, that you just wanted to burn in her forever. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him. Burying his face in her abdomen. He'd been so cold. He never wanted to be that way again. No matter what pain he had to endure for the rest of his life, he would never let go of the warmth that she provided him.

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