Well, here it is: the second chapter of Against the Odds. Hope you enjoy, and thanks so much to the two people who reviewed. I'm amazed: 99 visitors in two days, and only 2 people left me a review. It would be really useful for me if more of you left reviews, because then I would know if you wanted me to continue the story or not. If hardly anyone reviews, I might just think that you don't want me to continue with the story line and remove the story – so if you want to know what happens, plz leave me some reviews! :)
I know that the Padme and Obi-Wan scene isn't that good, but I felt that couldn't do it justice, so if any of you want to give it a go, feel free. If you want, send me your version of her reaction and full tirade against Obi-Wan, and I can add it into the story if you want it published - and if it fits in with the story, of course!
Anyway, I own nothing except a couple of characters that are my own creation: the rest is Lucus'.
Chapter Two
Fierfek squadron stayed for the medal ceremony at which Anakin, Luke and Han were presented with medals of honour to acknowledge their bravery, placed around their necks by Leia, as it was her duty as Princess of the Rebellion, before setting off for their 'home base' on Apliria, a distant planet in wild space that had been discovered by a Jedi on the run years ago, and where they had made their secret base.
But this time, they would not be returning alone. Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, C-3PO and R2-D2 were going to follow them in the Flacon with Han and Chewie piloting. Ferus, Strass and Katooni were taking their own ships, and would meet them there as well.
Anakin had given Han the frequency of their squadron's comm. links, and Ferus as well, so they were all able to stay in contact during the trip.
"So you really never turned to the Dark Side?" Obi-Wan asked, and winced when he heard Anakin swear colourfully at the other end of the line.
"How many times! NO!"
"Sorry! I'm just glad to see you again, I guess."
Anakin grunted, but didn't reply.
"So what have you been doing all these years, Master Kenobi?" A young male Jedi asked – Luke had learned earlier that his name was Whie, the one they had seen Anakin save in the holo-footage earlier.
"I've been watching over Luke," Obi-Wan replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable as all the people in the fighter squadron knew that he had separated the twins at birth both from each other and from their parents.
There was a kind of stony silence over the comm. before Oddball broke it.
"You raised him?"
Grateful for the question, Obi-Wan hurried to explain. "No, no: I kept my distance, staying out in the Dune Sea. His Aunt and Uncle raised him,"
"I am right here, you know." Luke muttered, a little pissed off by the fact that the older Jedi was speaking about him like he wasn't even there.
Obi-Wan smiled. "I know, Luke: I'm sorry."
"So did you enjoy farming, then Luke?" Anakin's voice came over the comm., and his son snorted with a scowl.
"No. I hated it – hated Tantooine, too." He replied sullenly, and Anakin chuckled a little.
"Yeah, I hate it there, too: can't say I would've enjoyed farming much, either." He added as an afterthought, and Luke heard Ahsoka snort with laughter.
"I honestly can't imagine you living a life where there isn't a stray blaster bolt coming your way every five seconds."
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Anakin protested while sniggers were heard from the other fighters.
Obi-Wan chuckled. "Anakin, you were that bad even back during the Clone Wars."
"Oh, yeah?" His former friend retorted, and Obi-Wan was pleased to hear a teasing hint back in his previously cold voice. "Like you were any better."
"General Kenobi didn't walk around with a giant 'Shoot Me!' sign strapped to his head, though," Fives pointed out mischievously, and Anakin glowered at his wind shield.
"Neither did I!"
"You might as well have," Aeyla Secura sniggered, and even Ferus chuckled a little with them.
"I'm surprised you didn't get yourself killed if half the stories are true, Skywalker," He remarked.
Anakin snorted. "It wasn't exactly hard to dodge their blasts: they were just droids, after all."
A furious tirade of whistles and beeps came over his comm. from the Falcon, and Anakin winced. "No offense, R2."
The droid made an indignant noise, and Ahsoka smiled.
"Hey, don't be like that, Artoo-ee," She said, "You know he doesn't mean you: just those evil battle droids."
The feisty little astromech let out another string of beeps, but sounded slightly less insulted.
"I'm surprised that little rust buckets still going," Rex remarked, to which he received an angry tirade from the droid in question. "Alright, alright!" Rex held his hands up in defeat, even though nobody could see him. He didn't know what the little astromech was saying as he couldn't understand him like the General and the Commander could, but he got the general idea. "I'm sorry: I just meant that most droids don't last as long as you have – you're very resilient." He complimented, trying to placate it, and he heard sniggers from his brothers.
Rex gritted his teeth, and attempted to ignore them.
"R2 really flew with you in your fighter during the Clone Wars?" Leia asked her father curiously, and Anakin smiled.
"Yep. Best droid I could've asked for."
R2 let out a self-satisfied little fanfare at that, and everybody laughed.
"It must have been amazing, fighting in the Clone Wars," Luke said, a little eagerly even. "You'd get to see so many places in the galaxy!"
Anakin chuckled at the boys enthusiasm – he reminded him a lot of himself at that age, though more even tampered. "While it's true that we did go to a lot of places, they were mostly war zones. And that was hell: we were fighting an army hell bent on creating mass-genocide, and hardly got any time off."
"In other words, Skyguy couldn't see his illegal wife that much," Ahsoka cut in, and there were chuckles from all the various ships.
"True," Anakin admitted. "But she usually managed to find herself in a war zone anyway, so we saw each other a lot more than what we would've if she'd stayed in the Senate."
Ahsoka laughed. "Yeah, I suppose: but I think that's really good. I mean, she was willing to put her life on the line to help people more directly than she could in the Senate: how many Senators can you say that that was true for?"
"Hardly any," A young woman – Scout, she was called (well, that was her nickname anyway: Luke couldn't remember her whole name off the top of his head right now, it was so long) – agreed.
"So, this planet," Han asked after a few moments of comfortable silence. "Is it only Jedi and defected Clones who live there?"
Aeyla shook her head even though she knew that no one could see her. "No: there are others there too. Mostly humans who lived there before – there weren't very many on the planet at all, to be honest, just the few descendants of people who had crashed there long ago and had no way to return to the galaxy – it's that remote. But they welcomed us once we had explained about our situation, and we've even been training those who want to know how to fight: they said that if we ever needed any outside help, then they would be more than willing.
"Anyway, the Jedi have pretty much adapted normal lives – well, normal lives including all the Jedi training and military stuff, too – and we've just spread out around the planet. It's pretty small for a planet, though, so we can easily see each other without too long a journey. Towns and villages have been established, and such, but for the bigger stuff we need – like ships, and weapons and stuff like that – someone will travel off-world and back to the out-rim, usually, and get what we need. We have to be careful so that we're not recognised, so normally the humans that were here before us go, as they benefit from the supplies too."
"So the Jedi Order survived," Obi-Wan said, relieved that it wasn't extinct.
"Yep," Serra replied. "And it's growing every day."
"What?" He asked, confused.
"We got rid of the no attachment rule," Anakin explained briefly. "Jedi are allowed to have a family now.
"Anakin, I hardly think the Council would approve of that," Obi-Wan said sternly, missing his former Padawan's eye roll as he was on a different ship. "Master Windu wouldn't, and I certainly don't!"
"Well that's funny," Anakin snarled. "Because Windu was in complete agreement with us, as were the other Council members who came with us."
"Mace is alive?"
"Duh."
"Don't be cheeky." Obi-Wan immediately regretted this and he let out a sharp yelp of pain as Anakin gave him a vicious jab in his mind. Clutching his head, he glowered in the general direction of the other mans' ship.
Several hours later and after they had all gotten some sleep the journey was so long, all fifteen ships pulled out of hyperspace above a small green and blue planet, and began their descent into the atmosphere.
They all followed behind Anakin's ship as he streaked towards one particular little town, docking in the hanger while a young man came up to them with a smile on his face.
Anakin leapt out of his ship, and grinned back at Sors Bandeam.
"Master Skywalker!" The young human exclaimed. "You're back sooner than we expected."
"Ah, it was easier than we suspected," Anakin said with a smile. "And we wanted to get back as quickly as possible."
Sors looked over the older man's shoulder, and raised an enquiring eyebrow as Han, Chewie, Luke, Leia and the two droids stepped off the Millennium Falcon. His eyes widened as he saw Obi-Wan descend last, and his mouth dropped open comically.
"Master Kenobi!"
Obi-Wan looked at him curiously. "Sors Bandeam?"
The young man grinned. "You remember me!"
"Who's he?" Han asked, not rudely, but just curiously.
"He was a youngling at the Jedi Temple during the days of the fall of the Republic. But I thought you were killed by Vader?"
The man shook his head. "No, Master Skywalker managed to get me, Jeswi and Shia out. Unfortunately, Vader had already killed the others by the time he got to us."
"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan murmured, and the young man nodded.
"Anyway, I maintain the hanger now." He said, in a more cheerful tone.
He then looked between Obi-Wan and Anakin. "Hang on…" He said slowly. "How come you're still in one piece?"
Anakin smirked a little. "Because I promised Padme I'd let her have first go at him."
Sors winced. "Well, good luck, Master." He said, and then more quietly under his breath: "You're gonna need it."
Anakin chuckled, and clapped the young man on the shoulder as he led the others past.
"Well, we'd best be off," Whie said once they were outside in the bright sunshine.
"Yeah, we wanna go see our kids," Scout said, with a smile and a wave before the pair walked off hand in hand in the opposite direction.
Anakin raised an eyebrow at Aeyla and Ahsoka. "You guys need to go too?"
Ahsoka nodded, with a bright smile. "Yep: I think I'll go surprise them."
Anakin chuckled. "Well, have fun."
"You too, Skyguy." Ahsoka said with a wave as she too left, along with Aeyla.
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Anakin, as the cones too walked off to their various houses and family/ friends.
"Whie and Scout?"
"Married."
Obi-Wan's mouth dropped open in shock. "And they have kids?"
"Yeah, three: two girls and a boy. Charlie and Isable are twins, and are nine, and Sky's the youngest girl at six."
Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "And Ahsoka?"
"She married Codi Ty – remember him?" Obi-Wan nodded – he did indeed remember the handsome young togrutan – yes, they were a good match, he thought with a slight smile as he remembered their various pranks at the Temple – well, people had just generally assumed it was them, they were very good at covering their tracks – a bit like Anakin and his friends in their Padawan days, he supposed. "Well, they have a boy and girl – Anna's the oldest at seven, and Kai's four."
"Aeyla?"
"She married Master Fisto, and they have a fifteen year old daughter – Kira."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Any other couples I should be aware of?"
Anakin smirked. "Plenty. But you'll find out about them later."
"Um, why?"
"Because first you need to deal with Padme – like I said, we'll talk if you survive her." Anakin glanced at Serra. "Serra, could you take the others to Ava's or something?"
Serra nodded, knowing that he'd rather introduce his twins to their mother without a large crowd present. "Sure, no problem: come on guys," She said, and Han, Chewie and Ferus followed her, while Strass and Katooni left to go do their own things.
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow as Anakin led the three of them up a nice garden path up to a beautiful house, which was much like the others they had passed: large, whitewashed and picturesque with a beautifully tended garden and flowers growing up the walls. "Ava's?"
"Tup's wife's café."
Obi-Wan was slightly surprised at this, but didn't let it show as Anakin unlocked the door and led them all into a welcoming hallway.
"Padme?" He called, and there was a thud from somewhere up the stairs, followed by the sound of giggles and running feet.
A little girl who looked about six years old with light brown hair and beautiful brown eyes appeared at the top of the stairs, and launched herself into Anakin's arms.
Anakin smiled as he caught his youngest daughter, and she hugged him tightly, before looking up and smiling brilliantly at him.
"Well, hey there Suki. How are you?"
"Better now you're home," She replied, squeezing her arms around his neck again, and Anakin smiled back at her.
"Well, I'm better now you're here, too." He replied. "But where's you mum? I need to talk to her."
"Bathing Col," The little girl replied, as she hopped down from his arms and shot a curious look at Luke, Leia and Obi-Wan. "He made a big mess." She chirruped happily, and then skipped away back up the stairs.
Anakin raised an eyebrow at this, and continued on down the hall with the others trailing after him, looking around at the nice house as they did so.
"Holy…" Anakin murmured, coming to a halt in the kitchen doorway, eyes wide as he took in the mess in front of him.
Luke's mouth dropped open as he peered over his father's shoulder, and Leia gasped. Obi-Wan just stood in a kind of shocked stupor.
A young girl who looked like she was in her early teens at the latest looked round and rolled her vivid blue eyes, flipping long chestnut hair out of her face as she went back to scrubbing a counter. "Col tried to make cookies."
"Ah," Anakin replied, "Well, that would explain all this then," He fixed his daughter with a penetrating stare. "What it doesn't explain is why he was able to get away with making all this mess."
The girl rolled her eyes again. "Alright, alright: I'm already being punished for not watching him when I was meant to be."
"And how exactly are you being punished?"
Luke watched as the girl scowled. "Mum's making me scrub the entire kitchen."
Anakin chuckled a little, but disguised it as a cough under his second-eldest daughter's disgusted look. "Well, since your little brother managed to wreck the entire kitchen when you were meant to be watching him for five minutes, I think that's a fitting punishment."
Suki – who had snuck up behind them without anyone noticing – giggled at the mess. "Col was all messy, too! He was all white!"
Anakin chuckled, "Well, given his fondness of flour, I don't think that's surprising, sweetheart."
The teenage girl nodded at Luke, Leia and Obi-Wan. "Who're they?"
"This is Luke and Leia." Anakin replied, and was vaguely amused when her mouth dropped open and she dropped the wet sponge with a soft splat.
Behind him, Luke heard Suki let out a little gasp, and then she began running in circles around them and doing a funny little dance while saying: "Oh my Force! Oh my Force!" over and over again, very fast.
"Allie, how's it coming in there?" A woman's voice came, and a second later a stunningly beautiful woman entered from the other door, holding a little boy in her arms. She froze when she caught sight of Luke and Leia, and her beautiful brown eyes widened.
She thrust the baby into her husband's arms, and then embraced her oldest children tightly.
Tears were once again streaming down both Luke and Leia's faces by now as they hugged their mother for the first time in their lives, closely followed by their littlest sister, who was still jumping around and begging for attention.
Allie hugged them next, dropping the sulky teenager attitude and grinning widely; pleased to meet the twins she had always longed to know.
"Oh, look at you both," Padme said, smoothing Luke's hair out of his eyes as tears trickled down her cheeks. "You look just like your father, honey."
"That's a good thing, right?" Luke asked with a smile, and his mother grinned back.
"Oh yes," She said, shooting a look at her husband. "That is a very good thing – especially if you're trying to get a girlfriend." She added.
"Mum…" Luke whined playfully, and Padme laughed, embracing Leia once more.
"Oh, honey, you're so beautiful!"
Leia smiled a watery smile. "Thanks Mum. It's so good to meet you!" She hugged the woman tightly – a gesture which was eagerly returned.
Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan's collar as the older Jedi attempted to sneak out unnoticed.
"Not so fast, Kenobi."
Padme looked round at the sound of his name, and her eyes immediately hardened, fury flashing in the bright orbs.
"Kids, why don't you step outside a minute," She said.
"Oh, but Mum…" Allie and Suki started to complain, but Padme cut them off.
"No but's: now go. And take your brother, Allie."
Grumbling and complaining, the two girls slouched out of the room, Allie taking Col from her fathers' arms as she passed.
"Maybe you should move this into a room with less sharp objects, angel." Anakin murmured in Padme's ear, and only received a small scowl in return.
She turned on her heel and marched through to the living room – where there was also less breakable objects as well as less sharp – and a look from Anakin told Obi-Wan that he had no choice but to follow.
With a sigh, he resigned himself to his fate and quietly followed after her, seeming to draw into himself as his shoulders slumped and he seemed to shrink in size before their very eyes.
Anakin glanced around at the twins, and smiled slightly at their anxious expressions. "Don't worry about him: he'll be fine."
"But you said earlier that he might not survive…"
Anakin snorted. "I just said that to frighten him. She won't actually kill him: just injure him with words, probably. Your mother is a gifted politician, and she isn't afraid to put those skills to good use in any situation."
Luke nodded, looking slightly less alarmed. "So…are Allie, Suki and Col our siblings?"
Anakin smiled. "Yeah. You have another brother, too, but he's out at a friends at the moment – I think. Anyway, Allie's real name is Alyson, but she isn't very fond of it, and Col is Colin – but everyone just calls him Col for short. Then Kitster's nine – but he's usually just called Kit."
Leia nodded, and smiled. "They seem sweet."
"They are," Anakin replied as they walked down the hallway and out the front door again. "But don't let outward appearances fool you: they can be devious when they want to be, and have a mischievous streak a mile wide."
"They get that from you," Someone called across the road, and Anakin shot the man a withering look.
"Whatever, Pavan: like your kids are any better."
The man snorted. "Yeah, but my kids aren't Skywalkers."
Anakin just rolled his eyes, and the trio continued on while the man went in the other direction.
"Who was that?" Luke asked, curious.
"Jax Pavan: he was a friend at the Jedi Temple. He has three kids with another old friend of mine – Laura, Matt, and Ayesha. Laura's probably about the nearest to you age wise, unless you count some of the younger younglings that we managed to get out of the Temple: she's sixteen, Matt's twelve, and Ayesha's seven. I'm sure you'll meet them later."
Leia nodded. "Where are we going?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to meet anymore of your family, before Padme's let eighteen years of frustration out of her system?"
Luke grinned. "Sounds good. Do we have anymore siblings we need to know about?"
"Besides Allie, Kit, Suki and Col? Nope. But you do have cousins, if you want to go see them."
Luke and Leia glanced at each other but there really was no question: "Yes," They both answered simultaneously, and Anakin grinned.
"Great."
He led them across the road to a house just a couple down from their own, and knocked on the door.
A middle-aged woman opened the door, and smiled when she saw Anakin. "Anakin! You're back: that was quick." She hugged him briefly, and he smiled back at her.
"Hey Sara." He turned to Luke and Leia. "Guys, this is Sara Nabrynski – Jax Pavan's wife. Sara, this is Luke and Leia."
Sara smiled at them, as she stood back to let them pass. "It's great to meet you," She said warmly, and Luke and Leia found themselves instantly liking her. She looked younger than her actual age, as they had found with the other adults they had seen around here: they supposed that a life time spent in physical activity helped keep you young – either that or Jedi just have great skin.
"You'll be here to see Aeyla, then?" She asked Anakin, and he nodded. "This way,"
She led them down a hallway similar to the one back at the Skywalker house, and into a spacious living room.
A young woman who looked just a couple of years younger than Anakin and who looked a lot like him looked up from the baby in her lap and smiled.
"Hey, Ani."
"Hey," He replied, smiling at the baby in her arms as she stood up. "And how's my favourite niece today?"
The woman – Aeyla, Leia assumed – laughed. "She's been fussy all morning: like she's been expecting something to happen." She smiled at Luke and Leia. "I guess she was right. I'm Aeyla – Anakin's sister."
Luke smiled back. "So you're our aunt?"
"Yep, I guess so." She smiled down at the wide-eyed baby in her arms. "This is Reecé – your youngest cousin."
Leia looked down at the baby, and felt her heart melt. "Oh, she's adorable!" She cooed at the baby, and Aeyla smiled. She was practically glowing: motherhood definitely suited her.
At that moment another little girl toddled in, holding tightly onto a young man who looked a lot like Sara's hands.
"Ma!" She cried, grinning toothlessly at Aeyla, and Aeyla smiled back.
"Sadie!" She mimicked the little girl, and the toddler let out an infectious laugh, which Luke and Leia instantly found themselves smiling at.
Anakin noticed their smiles, and grinned. "Wait till you meet Cin," He said quietly. "He's still in the terrible twos."
"Yeah, and he's three – he should be over it!" The young man grumbled, overhearing Anakin's comment, and then he smiled at the twins.
"You must be Luke and Leia: I'm Dan Nabrynski – Aeyla's husband. I guess that makes me your Uncle, too."
Leia smiled. "It's nice to meet you."
Dan smiled back. "And you as well, Princess. And you Luke."
Luke smiled back, "Nice to meet you, as well."
"So, I heard you helped blow up the Death Star?" He asked with a grin as he sat down on the comfortable sofa and bounced his eldest daughter on his knee while she giggled and chanted quietly to herself: "Ho'sy, ho'sy, don't you stop!"
Luke flushed a little. "Er…"
"He did," Leia said with a grin, smiling down at the little baby in her aunts arms. "Oh, she is just so cute!" She shot a slightly nervous but enquiring glance at the young mother. "May I?"
To her delight, Aeyla smiled. "Sure." She carefully handed her newest child to the young princess, and Leia smiled adoringly down at her littlest cousin, already feeling that this little girl would have a hold on her heart for ever, with those cute blue eyes, wide, toothless smile and her inquisitive gaze.
The baby gurgled up at her, and Leia's smile broadened. Little Reecé had just recently discovered the use of her own voice, and was anything but shy about using it.
As for Leia, she had thought before that having a family was something that she could never do, given her career, but now…looking down at little Reecé, she found herself hoping to have a baby of her own one day.
Obi-Wan swallowed nervously as he stood awkwardly in the centre of the Skywalker's comfortable sitting room, acutely feeling Padme's glare burning holes in his lowered head.
"Well?" Her voice was low and hard, and Obi-Wan could practically feel the anger emanating from everything about her. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Obi-Wan shrugged miserably, suddenly feeling like a little kid again, being told off by a very strict – not to mention scary! – master.
"Sorry?" He said tentatively, and Padme's eyes flashed angrily.
"SORRY?!" She yelled. "YOU STEAL MY CHILDREN FROM ME AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS SORRY?!"
Obi-Wan gulped visibly while Padme took a deep, soothing breath to calm herself down.
"But I really am, Padme." He said quietly, regaining some of his courage. "I thought that you were dead – your vital signs, they were so low! – and then there was the fact that I thought Anakin had turned to the Dark Side –"
"Yes, and why did you think that, Kenobi?" Padme asked coldly. "You knew Anakin: how could you possibly believe something like that?!" He heard the desperation in her words, the longing to have been able to raise her oldest children with her husband, and it made Obi-Wan feel even more lousy.
"I am truly sorry, Padme – words cannot properly express how sorry! But I know that sorry isn't good enough, and I don't know how I'll make it up to you, but I swear that one day I will."
Padme scowled at him, and he knew he was in for a long berating, from a very skilled politician…
Two hours later Obi-Wan walked into Ava's café with Padme to meet the others.
Anakin raised an eyebrow at his wife, seeing that she was slightly less angry, and assumed that they had sorted out their differences – well, mostly. His wife was obviously still not happy with Obi-Wan, and would no doubt take some time to forgive him fully, but for now they were on speaking terms at least.
Padme smiled at her children: Anakin had picked Allie, Suki and Col up on the way to the café with his sister and her family.
Aeyla leapt to her feet as Obi-Wan came over to their group of tables pushed together, and scowled ferociously.
"You!" She snarled, and stalked angrily up to him, fury emanating from her every pore. "How the hell could you do that?!" She drew back her bunched fist to strike him, but a sharp cry from Reecé stopped her. The baby had sensed her mothers' anger, and reacted because of it.
Aeyla sent a vicious glower at the Jedi Master, before picking up her baby and rocking her gently. "You're bloody lucky Reecé is here, or else you'd have one hell of a shiner."
Obi-Wan regarded her curiously. "Who are you?"
"None, of your business." She replied snappily, shushing her baby.
Obi-Wan sighed. "Must everyone be so hostile?" He muttered under his breath, and Dan snorted.
"Well, what did you expect?! Us all to welcome you back with open arms, after all you've done to this family?"
Obi-Wan looked confused for a moment. "This family? You speak as though you are a part of it, Nabrynski."
"Well, I am, Kenobi," He growled back, cradling Sadie on his lap as she watched on in interest. "You've met my wife, right?" he added sweetly, and Obi-Wan's eyes widened as his gaze flickered to the young woman who had come so close to hitting him, and who sent him a powerful glower in return now.
"Yes, that's all very well and good," He replied sarcastically. "But you being married does not make you a part of the Skywalker family."
"True, but it does since he's married to my sister." Anakin replied, and the esteemed Jedi Master's mouth fell open comically, as Padme took as seat next to her husband and relieved Allie of her youngest brother.
"You have a sister?"
"You know he does, slemo," Serra spat. "Remember? I told you back on Yavin."
Obi-Wan swallowed, as he did indeed remember – he had just hoped that no one else would. It's my worst nightmare come to pass, He thought to himself, only half joking. Multiple Skywalker's running around, creating havoc throughout the galaxy.
"Ah," He said out loud. "Yes, well, now that you mention it; I do remember you saying something along those lines. So…what's your name?" He asked, attempting to lighten the mood.
The young woman glowered at him for a moment, but then sighed. "Aeyla," She grunted. "My name's Aeyla."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Aeyla," Judging by Aeyla's glare, however, she did not return the sentiment.
Obi-Wan sighed, and awkwardly took a seat next to Captain Solo – the young man and his wookie companion had been watching on in interest as he was severely berated and almost walloped by the Skywalkers.
"So, are you guys friends now?" Luke asked his mother, and she smiled thinly.
"I wouldn't say 'friends', dear, no." She replied. "More like…acquaintances."
Her son grinned. "Well, it's a start I suppose."
Obi-Wan turned hesitantly to Anakin. "So…are we OK now?"
Anakin regarded him for a moment with a cool stare. "That depends,"
"On what?" His former mentor and former friend asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"How you do out here, I suppose."
"What?" Obi-Wan asked, confused as to what he meant.
"You can either adapt to our way of life and stay, or you can cling to your precious Code and leave: simple as that."
"But where would I go?"
Anakin shrugged, as if he didn't really care. "Whatever hole you crawled out of, I suppose."
Suki frowned. "Daddy, I thought you said we weren't allowed to say that to people?" She asked innocently, and Padme hurried to placate her.
"You're not, honey: Daddy was just being very bad."
"Does he have to go sit on the naughty step?" She asked, and Luke saw Anakin hide a smile, while Padme seemed to be struggling to hold one off her face as well.
"No, sweetie: but he should."
Anakin pouted at his wife, playing along. "Ah, you're so mean!"
Suki giggled, as he sounded just like her older brother when he did that. Serra, Sara, Dan, Aeyla, Padme and Allie also stifled their chuckles, while the others were just confused and perplexed.
Anakin spotted his daughters confused frown, and smiled slightly. "You'll understand later," He promised, and she smiled.
"Well, I look forward to it."
Obi-Wan cleared his throat, knowing that he might cause a little strife with his next question – it was, after all, a touchy subject.
"Anakin?" He began cautiously, and the younger man's head swivelled in his direction, one eyebrow raised questioningly. "You know how you didn't turn to the Dark Side," Obi-Wan saw his former Padawan's eyes flash with anger, and hurried to finish his question. "So, since you're not Vader…who is?"
An unnatural stillness fell over the table as those who knew the truth exchanged an uneasy glance.
"That's…not the best thing to talk about right now," Anakin said hesitantly, his eyes flickering to Allie and Suki, and Obi-Wan suddenly understood that they didn't know: whoever Vader was – or rather, had been – their parents clearly hadn't told their children.
Allie frowned. "You guys knew Vader before he was in that suit, didn't you."
Anakin and Aeyla exchanged an uneasy look, but didn't reply.
Allie looked between the two of them, her frown deepening. "Oh, come on, Dad! Why won't you tell us?"
"Because it's none of your business," Her father replied in a tone that Allie knew she mustn't argue with. "Who he was before doesn't matter: he's a Sith now, and there is no redeeming him. Not with the amount of darkness in his soul."
"So…was he a Jedi? Y'know…before?" Allie asked hesitantly, and Anakin sighed.
"No, Al: he wasn't a Jedi. Now let it go."
The girl sighed, but relented, knowing she shouldn't push her father much further, unless she wanted to be grounded and forced into a gruelling training session. She usually loved training to fight and learning to use the Force, but her father could be cruel with his workouts when he wanted to punish her – she knew this from past experiences…lots of past experiences. Her mother had come up with a good way for her to control her unruly temper when she was a little girl, too: every time she lost her temper or got overly angry at something, her mother would give her a chore to do that she knew her daughter hater. At the time Allie had been resentful for it, but she soon came to realise that she was losing her temper less often, as she wanted to avoid doing all the extra chores.
Now Obi-Wan was really intrigued. Who was Vader? And how had Anakin known him.
A young-ish woman came over to their table with a sunny smile and sparkling green eyes. Her skin was olive coloured, and she had a slightly exotic look about her.
"Hey there, guys," She said, with an infectious smile. "How are you all doing?"
Anakin smiled back at her, glad of the distraction. "Hello, Ava. We're alright; and yourself?"
She smiled. "Oh, I'm great."
Obi-Wan noticed that the woman had a sort of glow about her, and wondered who she was. Wait, had Anakin said Ava? This must be the woman who owned the café – and Tup's wife.
Padme smiled at the woman. "Hey, Ava: how's the baby?"
Ava smiled brightly, and laid a hand on her still flat stomach tenderly. "Baby's fine, Padme – but mighty hungry! This baby's going to have some strange eating habits, if these cravings are anything to go by!"
Padme laughed. "Oh, they'll pass soon enough," She smiled. "I used to get them all the time when I was pregnant."
Dan rolled his eyes. "Jeez, I remember Aeya's: bloody nightmare." He grumbled, and his wife stomped on his foot – hard. Wincing, Dan turned back to Ava. "How's Tup holding up?"
Ava laughed. "Oh, he's going crazy: out of his mind," She snorted with laughter, "It's hilarious, actually."
Aeyla rolled her eyes. "Oh, it'll stop being funny after a while," She said, with a mock glare at her husband. "Then it just gets annoying, what with them hovering around you all the time – especially in the later months,"
"Yeah," Padme agreed, and both Dan and Anakin glowered at their spouses, recognising the not-so-subtle jabs.
Ava laughed. "Well, I'll keep that in mind." She glanced over as the door to her café opened and some more people came in. "Oh, well: I'd better get going. Got customers to see to!" She shot them a grin and a wink, before leaving, giving the children a cheerful wave as Suki said goodbye heartily, waving manically until Padme finally managed to calm her down.
"So," Obi-Wan said after a few moments of silence. "Tup's going to be a father."
Anakin chuckled. "I know: weird thought, isn't it?"
Obi-Wan chuckled, and things almost felt like they had before he had made the biggest mistake of his life as the two of them shared an amused smile.
The moment passed, however, and that feeling of underlying resentment returned. Obi-Wan quickly looked away again as the smile faded from Anakin's eyes.
The next stop that the Skywalkers and co. made was the villages B&B. Being in Wild Space, there was never many visitors to Apliria, but people often visited from other villages, though the couple who ran the one in this village – Boil and his wife Rashima – rarely charged for their services, especially not for people they knew well and who visited regularly -so, in other words, other Jedi Generals who often visited to discuss battle strategies and such at their main base of operations on the outskirts of the village.
Obi-Wan, Han, Chewie and Ferus were all going to stay there, while Luke and Leia were given rooms in the Skywalker household. R2-D2 was overjoyed to see Anakin and Ahsoka again, and even the Clones. He and 3-PO came back to the Skywalker household with them, where 3-PO's erased memory was returned to him, so that he now knew exactly who they and most of the other Jedi were.
As Obi-Wan lay in the comfortable bed in his single room at the B&B, he couldn't help but smile a little. To be able to watch as Luke and Leia met their parents was a true blessing, and one he had never thought he would get the pleasure of seeing, given who he thought that Anakin was. To see Anakin and Padme so happy to have their eldest children back – even though their separation had been his fault – was truly wonderful, and Obi-Wan wouldn't trade it for the world.
Well…maybe he would trade it to go back in time and change what he had done all those years ago, but then again he would gladly trade anything to fix that particular past mistake.
He found himself enjoying the company of Allie and her little sister Suki as the six year old held fort at the table at the café with her various antics and her older sister's embarrassed exasperation. And even little Col, who seemed to have inherited his father's mischievous spirit that was becoming apparent even at his young age – as evidence from his flour party earlier when trying to make cookies.
He had yet to meet Kitster, as he was sleeping over at a friend's house for the night, and wouldn't be back until around lunchtime the next day.
Obi-Wan rolled over onto his other side, and found himself hoping that with a new day would come new experiences, and hopefully Anakin and Padme would have forgiven him even a little after a night…
So, how was it? Plz leave me a review letting me know what you think so far. And if anyone wants to pm me or anything with any questions or anything, then feel free, and I'll answer everything as best I can without giving the storyline away.
Thank you as well to the others who reviewed the last chapter: I know I said only two did at the start, but a couple more have since I started typing this one.
Anyway, I'll get the next update up as soon as I can, but it'll probably be after Can't Escape the Past, and won't be updated as regularly since this is just a bit of a side project and a change from my Padme-Clovis-Marriage series.
:)