Title: A Rose By Any Other Name

Summary: ...may smell just as sweet, but would it be recognized as a rose? Of Luke, Leia, and the Skywalker name, throughout the AUs.

Words: 564

Genre: Drama, Family

Characters: Luke, Leia

Pairings: None

Era(s): The Original Trilogy/Mild AUs


It usually began with an introduction.

It didn't matter who they were being introduced too; Imps, rebels, civilians, smugglers- They all asked the same question.

Skywalker? Any relation to Anakin Skywalker?

It also didn't matter how they answered, Yes-No-I Don't Know. The suspicion was planted. That person would usually watch them after that.

And, as the rumors spread, so did everyone else.

Flying, conduct, temper, flying- everything they did was scrutinized for a trace resemblance to the great Anakin Skywalker.

(Even decades later, he was still a powerful symbol of freedom and right. It was rare that any learned who - what - he had become.)

The child of Skywalker would make a great ally- and a great enemy. Everyone recognized this, and tried to recruit them.

The one that shared his name, anyway.

Very few people noticed the other twin, the one who didn't bear his name.

That twin stood in the shadows, dismissed as unimportant by those who remembered old days. Safe under a different name, they could watch and wait.

The failsafe.

The backup.

The hidden weapon.

No matter who they were that time - pilot, royalty, outlaw, padawan - all resemblance to their father was passed over. No one thought to look.

(They encouraged this, sometimes. It was easier, to have one of them out of the spotlight.)

Even when they were an adoptive child of the Royal House of Alderaan, they could stand before the emperor (Vader) and be confident that their secret would not be guessed.

No one would remark on Luke's appearance, nor Leia's personality.

Skywalker's legacy was subtle, without his name.


The Skywalker and the shadow-child will (re)meet, eventually.

No one will look twice between them. No one will think of how similarly they hold themselves, how similarly they talk, fly, and fight. No one will notice the faint resemblance in their features.

The smuggler and the Wookie will know them for years and not realize anything. (Years of wasted jealousy, the former will later lament.)

Hidden, maybe too well.

They wonder, sometimes, what would happen if neither of them were the Skywalker. If they were both a secret.

They don't really want to find out.

For the rebellion's (true) beginning will always be when the Death Star plans are stolen, and an old hermit (Jedi) is summoned out of his self-imposed exile.

But the (true) ending will begin only when an aide stands before a Sith Lord.

And the name?

…Skywalker, my lord.


A/N: This is loosely based on an idea hovering in my back-brain (Luke and Leia get sent to universe after universe, to bring balance where Anakin didn't/needs a push to do it) and noticing that in both canon and most fanfics, the adopted twin gets completely ignored by the galaxy at large (unless, of course, they're one of the only surviving members of a Alderaan).

So this fic was the result.

Like it? Hate it? Please tell me in a review, along with anything I could do to improve.