Disclaimer: See Summary.
A/N: So, this has been floating around in my head for a while. It's pretty much been a part of this particular character's development since she became a part of my stories. I may come back to this and integrate it into a bigger story later, assuming Fanfiction still exists by that time. Also, anyone who has had to deliver this kind of news to their families, please, don't hesitate to let me know how I handled it. Enjoy.
Anakin Skywalker was a happy man. He had everything he felt he needed; his family had forgiven him, his friends had accepted him, and there was peace in the Galaxy at last...mostly. There were still those who would die for the Empire, regardless (or in some cases, because) of the atrocities the Empire had committed against the Galaxy. A certain old alien who had attacked his son and daughter-in-law came to mind.
But it certainly wasn't something he and the other Jedi of the New Order couldn't handle. His grandson Ben was growing up fast, and would one day flourish under Luke's tutelage. He was every bit a Skywalker as his grandfather, that much Anakin knew.
He was pulled from his thoughts by his wife, who had chosen that moment to enter the room. "Well, something smells good, Angel." He said cheerfully, as she set a plate of food in front of him.
Padmé set her food down and sat next to him. "Just try not to make a mess, Ani. I just had the carpets cleaned."
Anakin rolled his eyes good-naturedly and scooped up the pasta. "Whatever, darling." He chuckled.
"Honestly, love." Padmé replied. "You eat like an animal sometimes. It's a miracle Mercy and Ben haven't picked your abysmal table manners."
Anakin grinned, thinking of his 13-year-old daughter and his six year old grandson. He still remembered the starry eyed look Myrcella had on her face when she saw the precious little bundle that was Benjamin Solo for the first time. And he'd imprinted on her like a baby bird.
"Yeah, lucky you, huh, angel?" He teased, wiping the sauce from his face and giving his wife a kiss on the cheek.
Padmé chuckled as she set her drink down on the coffee table. "I thought the Jedi didn't believe in luck." She challenged playfully.
"This one does." Anakin replied, one hand reaching up to cradle her face. She wrapped his hand in hers. "I'm tempted to say I don't deserve this, but I feel like that's not true to you."
"And you'd be right, Anakin." She answered. With a chuckle, Anakin leaned over and kissed Padmé on the lips. She sighed happily and returned the gesture, reaching up to brush his hair out of the way.
Their little moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. Anakin sighed. "I swear," he muttered, as the two of them pulled apart. "If that's the Bridger twins spray painting the house again, I'm going to ground both of them."
"You know you can't do that, Ani." Padmé chided playfully. "Besides, it was one time."
"First," Anakin argued. "I can tell Ezra and Sabine to ground them. And second, I've counted at least three spray paint incidents in the past month."
Padmé laughed and opened the door. Her smile widened when she saw who it was.
"Mercy!" She greeted, as she pulled her daughter into a hug. "You're just in time for dinner."
"Hi, Mom." Myrcella said as she returned the hug. "What's for dinner?"
"Your favorite." Padmé replied. "Pasta with red sauce."
"Yes." Mercy replied, fist pumping. "Hey, Dad."
Anakin smiled as he stood up. "Hey, kid. How was your day? How was training?" He crossed the room and wrapped her up in a hug.
"Fantastic." Myrcella replied. "Mina finally let me start working on the basics of Ataru."
"Wow, already?" Anakin asked, eyebrows raised. She nodded in reply. "That form is one of the most taxing. Same with Djem So."
"I can handle it, Dad." Mercy argued. "I might be a Nekari, but I'm still a Skywalker, remember?"
Anakin chuckled. He still remembered when they found out their daughter was actually a near-human. Granted, it had been because Mercy was afraid that she had been a late bloomer. They'd found out at the hospital that although it was unusual, perhaps even dangerous, for human females to not have their time of the month, it was perfectly normal for Nekari, which meant Myrcella was in perfect health.
"When are you going to stop playing the I'm a Skywalker, I can handle anything card?" Anakin asked.
"Hmm, never." Myrcella quipped. Her parents both laughed. "Hey, it's true. I'm tough." She flexed her arms to prove her point.
"Not with those scrawny arms, you're not." Anakin joked, squeezing his daughter's skinny arm. She started squealing as he pulled her into his arms and started digging his fingers into her sides.
"EEK! Dad, hahaha, stohohohop, hahaha, nooo!" She squeaked, even as she burst out laughing. Her knees buckled and she tried to escape by dropping to the ground. But it was for naught.
"There's no escaping the tickle police, kid." Anakin joked, continuing to tickle his baby daughter. "Don't fight it, or it'll just get worse."
"NOOO!" Mercy shrieked, her body suddenly shaking. Suddenly, her head lurched forward and hit the coffee table with a dull thunk, and Anakin stopped. A second later, Mercy sprang to her feet. "RAHH. The tables have turned!" She tried to tackle her dad to the ground and climb onto his back, only to be picked up by her dad and dropped onto the couch.
"Alright, you two." Padmé said, breaking up their fun. "Stop horsing around before one of you breaks something. Time for dinner."
As the three of them sat down for dinner, Anakin turned to his daughter. "So," He began. "How was training?"
"It was good." Myrcella replied, between bites. "Mina's arm shorted out during our sparring match."
"Again?" Padmé asked.
Myrcella nodded. "I know, it's acting up again. It just went dead during our sparring match around 10 this morning. One minute, it was working fine. The next, just, phbbt, dead." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Then what happened?" Anakin asked.
"I roundhouse kicked her in the side of the head." Mercy replied, sheepishly. Her parents' eyes widened. "I was so in the zone that I didn't realize what was wrong right away. But don't worry, I found the source of the problem."
"Oh really?" Anakin asked. "What was wrong with it?"
"One of the wires had come loose." Mercy explained. "I told her to give it a good jolt with her lightning, and ba-boom," She snapped her fingers to emphasize her point. "Good as new, just like that."
"That's good." Anakin nodded. "You certainly sound like you knew what you were doing, kiddo."
"Eh," Mercy shrugged. "I learned from the best." She smiled at her father, and he smiled back.
"So," Padmé asked. "Did anything else happen today?"
"Oh," Mercy replied. "After lunch, Janira and I practiced some basic techniques with a few sparring matches. I won, of course."
"That's great." Anakin said. "How is Janira, anyway?"
"Well, she's doing better." Mercy replied. "Her aunt has been doing her best support the two of them. So, yeah. The adoption process should be wrapped up by the end of the week."
"Oh, that's good news." Anakin smiled. "It'll be good to know that girl is getting the right help. She deserves to live with people who will be able to care for her."
"I agree." Padmé nodded thoughtfully. "Though, it is still a shame that her parents couldn't work things out."
Anakin's smile faded. "Angel, you know that it's worse than that." He interjected. "You and I both know what those two did to that poor girl when she was younger."
Padmé sighed. "I know. It's shameful that any two people could care so little about the girl they raised."
Anakin nodded firmly. "I couldn't agree more." He took a sip of his wine. "Which is why I'm glad that she's in good hands now." He turned to Myrcella. "Could you let her know that when you see her again tomorrow?"
"Will do, Dad." Mercy agreed. Then her face fell, as if something was on her mind.
Anakin smiled as he took another bite. He stood up, having cleaned his plate. "Dinner was fantastic, darling." He said. "As usual."
"Yeah," Mercy replied, absentmindedly. Anakin quirked an eyebrow at his daughter. "Thanks, Mom."
"You're welcome, sweetie." Padmé replied cheerfully. She began clearing her plate. Anakin set his back on the table and turned to Mercy.
"Is there something on your mind, kiddo?" He asked. She looked up at him, and then she looked to Padmé.
"What's wrong, love?" Padmé asked.
Mercy sighed. "Do you guys...love me?" She asked.
The two of them looked at each other in shock. "What kind of ridiculous question is that, kid?" Anakin asked incredulously. "Of course we love you."
"Oh, sweetie," Padmé said, walking over and wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulder. "We both love you, unconditionally." She squeezed, and Mercy wrapped herself into her mother's embrace.
"Something's bothering you, Mercy." Anakin said. "Come into the living room and we can talk about it."
They made their way to the couch, where the two of them sat down. Mercy was standing across from them.
"I've had something like this on my mind for a while now," Mercy sighed. "It's something I wasn't sure I was ready to tell anyone yet. But, I figured that you two would have to be the first for me to tell. Do you both promise that you won't look at me any differently after today?"
"Mercy," Anakin began. "Nothing you could say or do would ever convince us to stop loving you. So if there's something bothering you, then please, tell us."
"You're our daughter, sweetheart." Padmé added. "Nothing will ever change that."
"Okay," Mercy sighed, muttering under her breath. "Here goes nothing." She looked up from the ground, locking eyes with her parents. "Mom, Dad." She squeezed her arm and took a deep breath. It was now or never.
"I think I might be a lesbian."
Nothing happened for about a minute. Mercy could feel through the Force that her parents were still absorbing what she just said. She could feel herself shrinking, wanting to run to her room and lock the door. Anakin was the first to break the silence.
"You think you are, or you know?" He asked calmly.
"Well," Mercy stammered. "I-i-it's just a feeling, and I...I don't know if it's just a phase or not, but I'm pretty...pretty sure I'm gay." Anakin stood up. She tensed, and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry...for disappointing you."
Anakin walked around the coffee table, and folded his arms across his chest. "Oh, you're darn right I'm disappointed." She winced, and wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but there. Then, much to her surprise, she felt him step forward and wrap her up in a tight hug.
"I'm disappointed that you would doubt how much we love you." He murmured into her hair.
She stuttered, as she realized what he had just said. He knelt down, gripping her shoulders. He looked her right in the eyes. "You are my daughter, Myrcella Chansu Skywalker." He said sternly. "You always have been, and you always will be."
Padmé had gotten up, and walked around the other side of the table. "Oh, sweetie," She said, as she knelt down to look her daughter in the eye. "Why would you think we'd love you any less?"
Mercy's breath hitched, and tears welled up in her eyes. Beyond that, she didn't say anything. Her parents exchanged a look, and then both of them bent down to hug her with all the love they could muster.
"Baby," Anakin whispered. "You're still our daughter. That will never change."
"We love you, dear." Padmé added. "Don't ever forget that."
Mercy's hiccups morphed into full fledged tears, and she squeezed both of them tighter, crying loudly.
"I love you both...so much." She sobbed.
"We love you too, kid." Anakin said, rubbing small circles into Myrcella's back. After a few minutes, they pulled away. Mercy wiped the tears from her cheek, sniffling.
"So," Anakin started. "When do you plan on telling everyone else?"
Mercy sighed. "Probably tomorrow. I'm kinda outta energy right now. You probably can't tell, but just getting it out there into the world makes me feel like I just unloaded a huge weight from my shoulders." Anakin and Padmé laughed. "I'm going off to bed." She turned to go to bed.
"Mercy, wait." Padmé called out. The young Nekari turned to face her mother. "What was it that made you realize you were gay?"
"I think the more appropriate question," Anakin interjected with a smug grin. "would be to ask who it was that made you realize you were gay?"
Mercy blushed. "The really cute Hanatran girl who moved in last week." She replied.
"N'Tala Corunde?" Anakin asked. He had seen the girl in question, as well as her mother, recently at a PTA meeting that Padmé had encouraged (read: forced) him to go with her to. Mercy nodded. "Well, she certainly sounds like a nice girl, from what her mother told me."
Mercy chuckled. "Well, I'm off to bed."
"Goodnight, sweetie." Padmé smiled.
Mercy smiled back. "Night, Mom. Night, Dad." They began to make their way back to the kitchen. She paused. "And guys?" They looked at her. "Thanks, for understanding."
"Of course, my little Star." Padmé replied. "We love you."
Mercy smiled, as she turned to go to bed. She would certainly have a lot to talk about at training tomorrow.
A/N: So, there you have it. Myrcella Chansu Skywalker is canonically a lesbian now. As I've said, I wanted to get this little tidbit of information out there now, while I know I can. Just in case a certain stupid bit of legislature gets passed, and this website gets removed. Which I hope doesn't happen.
Like I said, if anyone out there has been in this situation where they had to come out to their parents, please, feel free to tell me if I handled it believably.
Also, to Starwarshobbitfics, I remember that you once left a review on Fates Rewritten asking how Mercy knew Ewokese so easily. Consider this my way of introducing the reason. Nekari are, in my canon, a race of humans that can learn nearly any language they hear. They are also known for their seemingly broken healing factor (I'm talking, like, Dante level healing factor here), which will come into play in the future, should the internet still be habitable for us creators by then.
But anyway, Janira and N'Tala will also play a larger role in this Storyverse, as will Ben Solo, Caleb and Celine Bridger, and Depa Jarrus, but you'll just have to wait and see. (Avatars for these characters can be found on my Deviantart page, Randomixx8991)
Until then, please be sure to Read, Review, Favorite, and Follow, and I'll see you all next time. Peace out, and may the Force be with you. Always.