Ahh it's been a while... I'm sorry. I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas, if you celebrate. I have a new story out, it's just small one shots based off of this story! Well, chapter 11 is here so enjoy!
"What the hell do you want?" Korkie shot up from his chair and glared at his aunt. "If mum finds out I've been talking to you, she'll kill me."
Bo just laughed and crossed her arms across her chest, "Satine would kill you? Please, she's the least violent person I know." She strode over to Korkie and glared at him. "I don't want to cause any trouble, but I may know something about who killed Jinn."
"Qui-Gon?" Korkie asked wearily, wondering if she was telling the truth.
"What other Jinn's do you know?" Bo snapped. "Anyway, I can't tell you where I've been all these years. You're probably too young to hear it."
"I'm twenty-seven."
"Oh. Thought you were younger. Well I'm not telling you. But I can tell you that they've got him."
Korkie stared at her for a moment, wondering if maybe he heard her wrong. "They've got him? What do you mean?"
Bo rolled her eyes and picked up a picture from Korkie's desk. It was a picture of him and his mother when he was younger. Bo looked at the photo and her face seemed almost sad, but before Korkie could ask her about it the expression disappeared, and she looked up at him again.
"The guy who killed him. They have him in custody."
Korkie sat at his desk and tried to get his thoughts in order. Qui-Gon had practically been his grandfather, Korkie had only been seventeen when he died. A decade later, they finally got the person who murdered him.
"Is that all? I need to get home." Korkie was trying to keep his voice neutral, as if not to show how much the information affected him.
Bo glared at him and turned to walk out of the room, speaking as she went, "Whatever you do, don't tell anyone I told you about this. If… if he finds out" she turned back towards her nephew "He'll kill me." And with that she left.
Korkie sat there stunned for a few moments. Who did she mean by he? What was his aunt up to?
Half an hour later, Korkie had made it back to his apartment. He made himself some food and changed out of his work clothes, the whole time repeating what Bo-Katan had said over and over in his head, they have him in custody.
He had debated calling his father, to tell him that they could finally get some justice, but something was itching at his brain, telling him not to. Maybe they needed more evidence? How did he know his aunt was telling the truth? No, he would wait until he had more information. No reason to get his family's hopes up. But he had to tell someone.
He picked up his phone and called the one person he knew wouldn't tell anyone. Someone he trusted with his whole heart.
"Ahsoka? Yeah hi. I have so much to tell you."
Hera Syndulla was a very proud person, she rarely asked for help. But if someone offered to look after Jacen for a few hours so she could get some sleep, she wouldn't say no.
The little baby had her heart wrapped around his finger since the moment she found out she was pregnant, but he wouldn't sleep for longer than three hours at a time. She knew that people always said to cherish Jacen being a baby, as soon he would grow up right in front of her. She knew he would, the same happened with her other three children. If she could call them children anymore. Ezra would be nineteen in a few days. What had happened to that little four-year-old they had adopted?
It broke her heart to think about the kids' past. All of them had been through so much, yet they had managed to stay kind and caring through it all.
It was currently around four in the morning, and after Hera accepted that Jacen wasn't going back to sleep, she headed downstairs. Typically, as soon as she sat on the couch, Jacen's eyes started to droop and he fell back asleep, nestled in his mother's arms.
"Oh, little man, will you ever let us sleep?" She contemplated taking him back upstairs to his cot but decided against it at the thought of him waking again. Instead, she grabbed the TV remote and turned it on. Hera flicked through the channels, stopping when it came to a show about wedding dresses.
Her heart clenched in her chest. Her and Kanan had gotten married quickly while they were very young, she was nineteen and him twenty-two. She didn't regret it one bit. She loved Kanan Jarrus more than she ever thought she could love another human being. But part of her did wish they had done a proper wedding, and she knew her husband felt the same way.
But they couldn't afford it. Not now anyways. She pushed the though from her mind, feeling ashamed of wanting a big wedding. That's not who she was. She had never cared for big, expensive things.
After a few hours and many episodes of Say yes to the dress later, the living room door opened and Sabine walked in, her short pink hair messy from sleep.
"Mornin'" The girl said, her voice groggy from sleep. She flopped on the sofa and looked as if she were about to fall back asleep.
"Are you awake?" Hera asked, laughing as Sabine attempted to rub the sleep from her eyes, but missed and hit herself in the nose.
"Coffee." Sabine said, standing and walking into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she shuffled back into the living room, a mug in her hand.
Jacen started to whimper and Hera tried to shush him before he woke the whole house up. He stopped but made no sign of going back to sleep. She sighed and turned back to Sabine.
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah, did he cry in the night? I didn't hear anything." Sabine asked.
"Oh, he did. Your father was up with him for half the night. He just won't sleep unless someone's holding him."
Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, as well as laughing and then a bang.
"Ow you idiot, you pushed me into the wall."
"Serves you right for waking me up."
"I didn't wake you up. I fell into the door because you left your clothes in the middle of the room."
"Well, if you- uhhhh. I don't know but it's your fault!"
The door flung open, Ezra and Zeb pushing their way into the room. The bang of the door frightened Jacen and he began to wail. The boys both cringed and turned to Hera, "Sorry."
"Well, with Jacen's crying and you two practically tearing down the house, I bet your father's up. Could one of you take Jacen?"
Sabine stood and took the baby from her mother. The green-haired woman headed up the stairs, smiling as she heard the three kids teasing each other.
As she suspected, Kanan was up and trying to navigate around their bedroom. He was getting better, but still needed someone with him.
"Hey, Love. Want some help?" Hera didn't want to force her help and pity on him, but she also didn't want him getting hurt.
Kanan didn't answer. He felt around him for the bed, then sat down, holding his head in his hands. Hera could tell something was bothering him, and she sat down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Kanan, you alright?"
The man sighed and moved his hand, searching for Hera's. She moved her hand to his and he gripped it, bringing it up to his lips to kiss her knuckles.
"You know I love you, right?" He turned his head to her, and she took his face in her other hand.
"Of course I do. I love you too." She studied his face, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. "Love, what's up?"
"I just feel as if you're doing everything. For me, for the kids. I don't appreciate you enough. I just need you to know how much I love you."
Hera's heart broke as she looked at her husband. He had such a good heart, she hated to see him like this.
"You think I'm doing all of the work? Who was up for hours with Jacen last night? It wasn't me. And it wasn't me who helped Ezra send in his application. You do so much, for me and the kids. I know that things feel so difficult right now, but we will get there. For now, let's just take one day at a time."
Kanan smiled and Hera kissed him. He fell back on the bed, taking her with him. Hera laughed as she flopped on his chest. They were finally getting their moment, their first quiet moment in months. Well, it was quiet until the sound of arguing and a baby screaming came from downstairs.
Hera sighed and stood up off the bed, Kanan following her.
"Come on, I think our kids are about to tear down the house." Kanan said, taking Hera's hand and letting her help him down the stairs.
Artoo was a very strange dog. Luke had known this for a while, but his thoughts had been confirmed after the small terrier had run into the wall for the third time that day.
"Artoo, slow down! You're going to hurt yourself." Anakin said from his desk, shaking his head at the dog. He turned to Luke. "So, any particular reason you have come to bother me?"
"Nah, just thought I would come to annoy you." Luke responded, spinning around on the desk chair opposite his father.
"Well as long as you don't start asking 'why' all the time like when you were little, then I don't mind." Anakin started typing furiously on his laptop. "Can these people do anything when I'm not there?"
"What's going on?" Luke asked. Anakin's job fascinated him, it always had even when he was younger.
"Meetings with the Royal Air Force. The only person besides me who seems to know what they're doing is a British Wing Commander."
Luke spun around for a few more minutes, he wanted to bring something up with his dad but he didn't know how to. Anakin noticed something was on his mind.
"Alright, something's up. Spill."
Luke sighed; he couldn't hide anything from his family. "Do you think I'm right for the Air Force? Or do you think I'd be better at something else?"
Anakin looked at him for a moment. "Luke." He said his name in such a way that Luke thought he was going to be lectured. "What do you want to do?"
"Dad, I don't know. I just don't feel like the military is right for me."
"Kiddo, look. You're only eighteen, almost nineteen. You don't need to decide right now. We'll be proud of you no matter what, okay?" Anakin was quiet for a moment before adding "Just don't do something stupid. Even if it seems like the best option at the time. Think things through. Okay?"
His blue eyes, identical to Luke's, looked haunted and the younger male knew his father was thinking of his past.
"Dad?"
"I know. I need to tell you. Go get your sister."
Luke raced up the stairs and almost ran into his sister as she walked out of her room.
"Woah, careful. What's up?"
"Dad needs to talk to us."
The look on Leia's face was enough for Luke to see she understood. They walked back to the office where their father was sat, his knee bouncing. He was clearly anxious about this whole situation.
"Hi dad." Leia said quietly and Anakin's head shot up.
"Hey. I think I need to explain some thing's to you."
The twins nodded and Anakin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before explaining.
"You both know how my mother died when I was nine, that's how it all started. The idea of going into the foster system scared me so much, so I ran away. I was on my own for a few weeks. How I managed to get by I will never know."
His voice started to crack, and Luke and Leia could see the tears forming in his eyes.
"A man found me one day. He said he was part of a group of people. I trusted him because I was a scared nine-year-old. I didn't realise that by group of people he meant a gang. His name was Maul. I don't really remember much about him, to be honest. He's like a blurry image in my head. Anyway, he fed me and kept a roof, albeit a rickety roof, over my head. In return, I had to help them on jobs. By the time I was eleven I had been a part of multiple robberies."
Anakin was fully crying now, and Luke realised why he kept this from them for so long. Not because he didn't trust them, it was just too hard to talk about.
"When I was twelve, Maul told me that a man and his son were staying in one of the hotels in the area. He had been watching them and wanted me to steal from them. That's how I met Qui-Gon."
"They caught me, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. They must have known something was up because they didn't call the police or anything. When Qui-Gon mentioned social workers, I begged him not to let them take me because I didn't want to go into the foster system."
"I think I said something along the lines of 'Please, can you just adopt me?' I was scared. While they were in Arizona they took care of me, let me stay with them, bought me new clothes that weren't ripped and dirty and actually fit. I grew close to them in the weeks they were there. I told them all about Maul and the gang. I trusted them."
Leia had started to cry and Luke didn't blame her, the mention of their grandfather was enough to start the water works.
"When it was time for them to head back to New York, they gave me an option. They let me choose, they didn't force me to do anything. Did I want to stay in Arizona, or did I want to go with them to New York?"
"I'm guessing you went with them?" Luke asked, his voice quiet.
"Yeah, I did. They adopted me and I was safe. But I would get nightmares about Maul coming for me. I still do." He trailed off a little bit before shaking his head and focusing on what he was saying.
"A few months later a social worker turned up at our house. I thought they were going to take me away, I ripped a hole in Obi-Wan's jumper because I was holding onto him so tight. But they didn't take me. They just came to inform us that Maul had been found dead. I just started crying, out of relief or grief I don't know. But he was gone, and I was safe with a family who loved me."
Luke sat there for a moment, processing everything he had just found out. He knew about his grandmother dying, and he knew his father came from Arizona. He knew Anakin had a history, but it was a lot to take in.
He saw Leia stand up and walk around the desk before wrapping her arms around their dad. Luke followed her.
"I'm so sorry. I messed up."
Luke hugged his father tighter. "You made a mistake because you were young and scared. We're not blaming you for anything or judging you. You're still our dad and you have given all of us such amazing lives. We love you so much, no matter what history you have. Right, Leia?"
"Couldn't have put it better myself, Lukey."
Anakin wrapped his arms around his children, hugging them close to him. "I love you both so much."
"We love you too." The twins replied simultaneously
"So, you told them Ani?" A voice said from the doorway and the three looked up to see Padmé, smiling at her family.
"Yeah, I did. We made some pretty amazing kids." Anakin said, smiling at his wife.
Padmé nodded, "We did. Wanna make more?" She walked over and kissed her husband, ignoring the twins shouts of disgust.
"Come on you lot, let's go for food." Anakin headed for the door, but turned and said "The last one to finish getting ready has to pay."
Luke had never gotten dressed so quickly in his life. As he and his father waited for the other two, Luke asked his father something.
"Do you think I'd be a good teacher?"
Anakin looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, you'd be a great teacher. Remember, you don't need to decide now."
As they ate their food a little while later, Luke thought about how grateful he was for his family. How proud he was of his father for talking about his past, how grateful he was for his mother's love and how much he loved having a built in best friend since the day he was born.
When they got home, entirely stuffed and exhausted, Luke realised that he hadn't spoken to the other important person in his life yet.
The phone rang a few times before Ezra picked up.
"Helloooo." He said in a singsong voice.
They chatted about their days for a while, but then it went quiet. Luke started to wonder if the line had cut off when he heard his boyfriend's voice again.
"Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"You love me right?"
"Of course I do. I love you so much. Why do you ask?"
Ezra was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.
"Sometimes I panic that you're going to leave me…"
"Hey, don't worry, I love you. So much. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
"I love you too."
"Do you want to go for food or something tomorrow?" Luke asked, hoping Ezra wasn't busy. It had been too long since he had last seen him.
"Yeah, definitely! I've missed you."
"I've missed you too. Pick you up at seven?"
"That works. Okay, mom just put dinner out so I've got to go. I love you, Lukey."
"I love you too, Ez."
He hung up and realised he was smiling uncontrollably. He sat down on his bed and jumped when his door flew open to reveal Leia stood there, her face contorted with disgust.
"What is it with me and walking in on people?!" She said before she started rubbing her eyes, claiming she would have to bleach her eyes.
Luke just laughed until his sides hurt.
Wooooooo, a lot of stuff going on here. I've had this document open for ages, but I just couldn't get Anakin's past right in the way of wording it. I like how this chapter turned out in the end though so that's good. I hope you all enjoyed!