A/N: can i just say that i was a little worried that yall wouldn't have enjoyed the concept of the twins being a dyad lol so thank you for all your lovely feedback in the last chapter !
When the front door to Padmé's apartment hissed open and revealed a former Jedi alongside a set of twins, both Padmé and Han immediately and synchronously sighed in relief.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Han spat, his arms gesticulating wide. Yet, the tension on his muscles magically vanished when Leia walked straight up to him and found comfort in an uninvited hug. After that, he had no choice but to wrap his arms around her.
"What Han means is, we're glad you're finally home," Padmé said softly, smiling as Luke greeted her with a kiss to the cheek before collapsing onto the couch. She didn't need to be Force sensitive to see how drained he was.
"I am glad you're home," Han whispered to Leia's hair. Chuckling, she bent her neck backward to properly look at him. "Are you hungry? I can go fix you dinner."
"Starving," she admitted.
"Hey, Han," Luke caught his attention, "I'm hungry too."
Han looked at him deviously. "Who do you think I am, your personal cook? Go fix your own food."
Luke's jaw essentially dropped. "Oh, but you're Leia's personal cook?!"
They both eyed him and said at the same time, "Yes."
He rolled his eyes.
"Fine. I guess I'll just starve to death here."
Han winked at him, but he left towards the kitchen still determined to heat enough leftovers for the both of them.
Leia collapsed across the couch from Luke, leaving a wide gap between the two of them. Almost like they were waiting and expecting that Padmé would take the seat between them — which Padmé gladly did.
Luke immediately curled up to her side, leaning his head on her shoulder and putting his feet up. Leia kept her composure but not her distance, and she gladly accepted Padmé's gentle hand on her.
"How was your day trip?" Padmé asked when she didn't know how else to address the events of the past twenty-four hours.
"Good."
"Exhaustive."
The twins said at the same time and frowned to themselves. Then, they tried again.
"Exhaustive."
"Good."
So, they gave up. At least their message had been delivered loud and clear.
Ahsoka chuckled, sitting clumsily over the arm of an armchair.
"You know, that's about the first time I've ever seen the two of you agreeing on something."
Padmé loudly scoffed. "You've been here five minutes, Ahsoka. You haven't seen anything."
"I've seen enough," Ahsoka assured.
"Look, if Luke decides to be optimistic about there still being good on Palpatine, he deserves to be bullied for it," Leia laid out, deadpan.
"I'd rather be a bright positive ray of lightness than to walk around the galaxy in a perpetual state of grumping," Luke threw back at her. "And I never saw good on Palpatine, okay?!"
"At least we clearly know who's going to die first," Leia accused, "Be warned, Luke, that I'm not gonna waste my Force energy on bringing you back to life if somehow Palpatine returns and you decided to save his poor mortal soul from darkness."
"Were they like this the entire day?" Padmé asked miserably, looking straight at the Togruta.
"They spent our entire journey back providing me with factual proof as to why each of them was the older sibling."
Padmé made a face at Luke, then at Leia. "You're twins."
"Still older than him," Leia claimed, indifferently, leaning back on the couch comfortably.
Padmé raised her index to silence Luke when he was opening his mouth to refute his sister. After that, he sighed and threw himself back as well.
Padmé smiled at the sound of silence, and Ahsoka exaggeratedly threw her hands up in gratitude. She fell from the manchette over to the armchair.
"What do you mean, you won't transfer your Force energy to him?" Padmé quoted, slightly frowning. She thought she understood enough of the Force in theory, but that was something she had never heard before.
A scowl took over Leia's face, as she was still uncertain as to how she felt regarding that concept. She had always been against so much power being concentrated on the hands of one individual only, and she found it ironic of the Force to curse her with special powers.
Luke, however, was still eager and excited over it, so he started babbling as soon as he heard Padmé's inquiry.
"Ahsoka was telling of how she thinks we're a dyad!" he exclaimed, "It's like, when we're two different people on the living sphere but the Force sees us as one. Ahsoka says this is a very rare phenomenon in the Force, and it probably only happened because Leia and I are the offspring of the Chosen One, as well as we shared a womb."
Ever so amazed by how passionately Luke talked about the things he enjoyed, Padmé turned towards him to simply listen to him and let him be.
"Being a dyad, we are given the ability to do things that not every Force user can do. Not only can we communicate with each other from opposite sides of the galaxy, but we also have the power to heal. To heal the wounded, be them sentient beings or not."
"We were born to heal the galaxy from the wound of our father's grip," Leia decided, and if that was the reason why the Force had blessed her with such powers, then she would accept it and take it as her mission to carry through.
"We were born on the day that Anakin turned, weren't we, mother?" Luke asked. "It was like the Force had taken the blown and tried to sprout light somewhere else. Even if that light would take time to bloom and darkness would prevail for a while, it was still trying to compensate."
"I'm not certain of the precise day that Anakin turned," Padmé said, keeping her voice neutral as if she were in the Galactic Senate as she spoke about him. "But I can see your reasoning. I can see how the Force would have something good derive from something terrible."
"Yeah," Luke became quiet and sad abruptly. "While in the Temple, we saw the place where Vader murdered the younglings. It was terrible, mother, it was — painful."
Padmé cupped his cheek gently, feeling for him. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Luke."
"Leia was the first one to sense it," he continued, slightly allowing the weight of his head onto Padmé's palm. "She was very empathic with the whole Temple. I'm a little relieved that I'm not as attuned to the fabric of the universe she is, because… I think I would be so worn out if I felt everything she did," he wandered. "Er, sorry, Leia. I don't mean to speak over you."
"It's fine," Leia commended simply. "I don't know how to properly put into words what walking around there felt like. It was like… I was walking within a graveyard. And it was almost harder to breathe when we passed the place where he did it."
Padmé placed her other hand on Leia's thigh, squeezing gently.
"Luke," Leia cried his name softly, although Padmé between them stole her view of him, so she didn't bother turning her head. "You can't start the Jedi Order over there. There's just — so many bad things happened there, Luke. The past haunts the place. The Jedi are meant to bring balance to the galaxy, but balance no longer exists there. As a Force sensitive person that has little to no knowledge at all about the Force, being there was suffocating. It disrupted me, and I'm certain I won't be the only person to feel that way there. You need to find somewhere else."
Ahsoka looked at her intrigued, impressed by her perspicacity.
They all expected Luke to disagree; he didn't.
"Where do you suggest I build it over, then?"
"That's up for you to figure out," Leia said, pulling one leg under her. "All I'm saying is that you can't do it here on Coruscant."
"I see," he said raspily. He might have not felt the shadows there as strongly as his sister, but he still recognized them and understood he would have to start somewhere else. He would have probably reached that conclusion even without Leia's insight. "Do you have any suggestions, though?"
"Luke," she rolled her eyes. "That's for you to figure out."
"Okay. I see you're useless. Mother, do you have any suggestions?" Padmé gave him a look. "Ahsoka…?"
"I'm not a Jedi," Ahsoka shot her shoulders.
Luke sighed in defeat.
"I ask because, well, the three of you know your way around the galaxy," he said, "Meanwhile, the only Core World I've ever been to is Coruscant, considering that ever since I joined the rebellion we've been hopping from Outer Rim world to Outer Rim world. My point is, I don't know as many places as you do."
"Start from there, then," Leia instructed. "The Core Worlds have always been elitist to their essence, Coruscant especially. If you want to create an order that'll be accessible to every citizen of the galaxy, don't do it in a Core World."
Luke tilted his head, considering.
"But if you do it on Tatooine," Leia threatened, "Be warned that I'll never come to visit you."
Luke laughed freely at that. "Don't worry, Leia, I don't plan on ever setting foot on that blasted place ever again, either."
"Good."
Luke laid his head back on Padmé. "Oh, I've seen to have lost myself in my own ramblings. You were asking us about dyads, right, mother?"
Padmé huffed, having forgotten about it herself. "Yes, I believe I was."
"Well," he properly nested against his mother. "As a dyad, Leia and I have the power to heal somebody back to life, if we've found them immediately after death. But it takes a lot to do so, so if we ever tried to do it, we would end up dying to save the other person or creature. It's like, the Force always knows what it's doing, so if it takes a life, it still expects a requital of life energy if we tried to save them."
Padmé tensed, and she hoped her sudden uneasiness wasn't perceived by either of them. Statistically, she knew that the twins could die at any given moment, considering he was the Jedi known for bringing down Vader and Palpatine and she was the politician responsible for the rebellion and for the New Republic they were building. Emotionally, she wasn't all that comfortable with the concept that they could easily give up their own lives to save somebody else, some stranger that had died at the hands of injustice. Knowing them, they were selfless enough to do that.
She tried to relieve some of her anxiety by exhaling discreetly, which was when she caught Leia watching her enigmatically. Padmé offered her a smile, to assure her everything was fine, and then extended her hand to Leia's braids.
"Those are very tight," she said, obtusely changing the subject. "Aren't they giving you a headache?"
Leia merely shrugged.
"Luke, how's your headache?" Padmé abruptly asked, having remembered that Leia had come to fetch him some medicine just earlier that day. Honestly, her day had been so long she could have easily said an entire week had passed by.
"Hm? Yeah, it's fine," Luke stuttered, barely remembering it himself. "It was alright when we left for the Temple, and meditating with Leia and Ahsoka cleared any remnant of it."
Padmé was content to hear that. Next to her, Leia started to take the pins out of her head — maybe Padmé had reminded her of her own headache.
"Do you want help with that?" the mother asked.
She shrugged again. "Sure."
Padmé gave Luke's arm several little pats until he untangled himself from her — which he did unwillingly and grudgingly, confused as to why his own mother was refuting him affect until he saw her completely turning around from him and starting to work on his sister's hair.
He gasped at the audacity of his sister.
"That's so unfair," he grunted.
"Grow your hair down to your waist if you're so bothered," Leia snapped at him.
Han walked back in, juggling two bowls of steaming soup in his hands. Leia smiled at him gratefully as he passed one of them to her, while Luke salivated at the sight of food.
He had essentially stretched his arms to accept his own bowl when Han walked over to Ahsoka and gave it to her instead.
Luke gasped once more.
"Does anybody in this house care for my well-being?"
"No," Leia and Han spoke together again.
Laughing, Ahsoka passed the meal to him. "It's okay, you can have it."
"Thank you, Ahsoka."
Han sat on the arm of the couch, so he and Leia were facing each other while Padmé uncrafted her hair. For a while, he simply watched her as if she were the most precious things in his world, but the questions he had couldn't be held back for too long.
"Sweetheart, what the hell happened last night?!"
Leia dramatically sighed, and she noticed how Padmé briefly stopped, as she too had questions about it.
"We had a nightmare," she said, dragged. She was more interested in her dinner than in that specific topic, anyway.
"Yes, I live through your nightmares," he pointed out, "Your nightmares aren't like that."
"You're not listening to me," Leia monotonously referred. "We had a nightmare, Han."
He was still as clueless as before. "We…?"
"We as in Luke and Leia," Luke chipped in, although his eyes were equally attracted to his dinner.
"What he means is, we shared a dream last night," she laid it out to him. "We pulled ourselves into each other's nightmares. We lived through the same bad dream."
"You can do that?!" Han continued to ask, his reaction a mix of perplexity and worry.
"Apparently we can," she disclosed.
"Do you think it'll happen again?" Padmé asked, running her fingers through Leia's now loose strands of hair to untangle the knots.
"I don't know," she sadly admitted.
"We'll try to shield our minds better, so we don't slip into each other's subconsciousness again," Luke said, determined. He didn't want to ever experience something like that, not unless he and Leia learned how to dream of light instead of bringing out their every terror.
"That sounds very mentally draining," Padmé said, and she felt Leia shivering as she pulled her hair into a long loose braid down her back.
"We'll do what we have to do," Leia put it simply, accepting Han's offer of taking the bowl from her hands back to the kitchen as she was done with it. With his absence, she noticed that he wasn't the only one missing, and she frowned. "Where's Ameera?"
"She was nearly falling asleep over the couch waiting for you to come back," Padmé said. "I told her you wouldn't mind if she went to get some rest."
Leia shyly nodded. "She was having a bad night last night," she whispered, and only did so because Padmé had, in a way, become Ameera's confessor, so she was certain the matter would have come up. "I hope we didn't make matters worse for her."
"She wouldn't fault you," Padmé whispered as well, and they were speaking so low that only the two of them would hear their conversation
Han strode back into the room just as Padmé finished with Leia's hair, and Leia smiled gratefully at her, realizing that was indeed one less weight on her head.
Luke, mostly, just appreciated having a mother's arms to snuggle against again.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Han asked gravely. "Leia, I see your nightmares up close. They're never like that, they… They never take that much from you."
Leia sighed, looking at him with tired eyes. She didn't want to talk about it, not really, but she also knew that he had been stressing himself ever since the nightmare happened, especially considering that she had essentially kept him out to find peace with Luke — and he was too used to being the one she found solace in.
"It was Vader," she said, leaning back against the couch. She felt Ahsoka's eyes on her and ignored it.
"It was like he had come back from the grave to haunt us," Luke provided, focusing on the warmth of Padmé's presence next to him. "It was like he erased the light on us with a flick of his fingers. When Leia and I have been fighting the concept of darkness ever since we learned of our heritage, having him crush our light — hurt. Physically and spiritually, I mean. And because Leia and I had our existences intertwined, I believe we made the dream more real than dreams are supposed to be. While we were trapped in each other's minds, the dream was the only tangible reality we could reach. And it was — terrifying."
Leia was thankful for her brother's garrulity, as now everyone in the room had a sense of the terror they had faced and she hadn't needed to drain herself with words spoken aloud.
"Precisely, Luke," Ahsoka's voice commanded the room, "The concept of darkness, and just that."
Luke's lips turned up awkwardly, but he appreciated Ahsoka's mend.
"We're sorry for the turmoil we caused," Leia spoke diplomatically. Looking back, she was relieved it had happened there at Padmé's penthouse, while among family; had it happened while at the rebellion headquarters and she and Luke had caused a scene by waking up screaming in opposite sides of the base and having all too many strangers witnessing the manifestation of both their power and their trauma, she would have been so embarrassed.
"Come on, there's nothing to apologize," Han interfered.
Leia ignored him. "We didn't want to worry any of you, but after it happened, we also needed some space to understand what the hell had just happened. Luke and I — were terrified, trying to make sense of something that had never occurred before. But if he and I didn't understand what was happening, having to appease the rest of you who couldn't grasp the depth of that nightmare, would be more draining and brutal than the nightmare itself."
"We understand, Leia," Padmé assured. Like Han, she didn't think there was anything that the twins had to apologize for, but if it would ease Leia, she would happily accept it.
With a weight lifted from her chest, Leia searched for Han and intertwined her fingers on his. "Well, if there's nothing else, I think I'll call it a day."
"Me too," Luke jumped in, "I know you've been sitting around all day waiting for us, mother, but I really just want some rest."
"Don't worry about it, you two go on," she said, and the twins followed inside without a fuss, Han following Leia closely behind, unwilling to let her go.
Padmé expired tiredly, falling over to her side on the couch indecorously. She knew Ahsoka to be freely watching her, and with the twins gone, the two women had more room to talk about them.
"So?"
"So, what?" Ahsoka innocently asked, even though she knew the direction that conversation was heading to.
"Tell me your thoughts, your opinions, everything," Padmé begged. "You understand them in a depth I won't ever be able to, and I care for your insight."
"Well," Ahsoka laid on her side, throwing her legs over the arm of the armchair where she was lodged. "First things first, they're infuriating."
"Why?" Padmé asked, suddenly concerned. Had her children not been behaving in public?
"You see, they do this thing, it's very annoying," Ahsoka gesticulated, "Where they're talking and they suddenly become very quiet but you know something's wrong because they're pulling faces at each other and you've clearly been cast aside."
Padmé snorted loudly. "Oh, that."
"Yes, that," Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "I don't know how many times I've been misled today in out-of-context conversations."
"You get used to it. Actually, you get used to ignoring them when they start doing it," Padmé huffed. "I think it's sweet that they're comfortable enough to do it. A couple of months ago, the mere suggestion of it would be cause for tension. In fact, they were incapable of doing it."
Ahsoka frowned. "How so? They told me they've shared this connection for over a year now."
"Yeah but… They shattered it, for a while," Padmé cleared her throat, speaking low. "She did it, to be precise."
"I didn't know that they could do that," she commented, understanding the gravity of Padmé's story while also being once again amazed at how powerful the twins were.
"I don't think they knew so, either. I don't think she even intended for that to happen, but it did," she reminisced sourly. "She was going through — something, and Luke tried to help her by easing her feelings through their connection. She panicked and severed their link."
"Just like I tried to do last night," Ahsoka sighed, still remembering vividly their push when she tried to ease their minds. "She did tell me, today, that she doesn't like people going through her head. I wondered if there was more to it than I'm aware."
"That's how he tortured her," Padmé whispered. She didn't think she needed to specify who she was referring to. "Ever since then, she'll tell people — Luke — to stay out of her head. Thinking about it, I'm not certain of how they managed to reestablish it, but they did. Every time she accepts Luke into her head, she's one step away from the horrors that he did to her on that blasted day."
Ahsoka breathed in heavily. "She's right to hate him, you know."
"I know."
"I can't believe — I can't believe Anakin, our Anakin, would ever do such a thing," she cried. "But he did, and if I ever have the chance or the forgiveness in my heart to face him again — like Luke said I could — I will give him hell, Padmé. I swear I will. I won't fucking let him breathe for everything he did."
Padmé smiled sadly. "I know."
And she was happy that Ahsoka would; if Padmé could never talk to him again and speak of his every sin to his face, so he would understand the pain that he put her through, then she trusted Ahsoka to do the job alright.
Ahsoka inhaled deeply to cool off her brief moment of outrage.
"Padmé, you have two phenomenal children," Ahsoka changed the subject. "I know you don't get the credit as to how they turned out, but honestly? You deserve more credit than — Anakin. I can see your innate goodness so clearly on them."
"But…?"
"No buts," she guaranteed. "I know I had my doubts when I first came here and met them, and learned who they were, but I was wrong. Well, I don't think I was wrong for being afraid, but it was nothing more than that — fright. Today especially, when I took them to the temple and answered their every question, their every hesitation about the Force, when I meditated with them — it felt right. Above all, it felt light. They still have a lot to work through, but I have faith in them."
"You also had faith in Anakin," Padmé pointed out with a raspy voice.
"Yeah," she agreed, "But I've grown a lot, ever since then. I also learned what darkness is. Back then, we — and I speak on behalf of every Jedi — knew of darkness, but we didn't know darkness. Maybe, if he had, we would have seen the signs, and we would have been able to help Anakin and guide him through troubles. The twins — they know what darkness is beforehand, and they chose to forsake it. At every single chance they were offered the easy way by turning to darkness, they walked away. That shows not only their strength but the goodness in their hearts as well. I am so honored that I had the chance of meeting the two beacons of light in this galaxy."
Padmé's eyes teared up; she didn't necessarily spend her days worrying about the possibility of them ever turning, but it was still refreshing to hear another Jedi speak so assuredly of them.
"I told them that I had complete trust in them to build the New Republic and the Jedi Order again," Ahsoka carried on. "It was so — amazing to watch them work together today. Despite the direness of the circumstances, it was so clear that they were so synched to one another. When we passed by that god damn room, Leia was the one to immediately perceive it. I think she's so in control of her own emotions when out in public that she was the power to seize things more strongly, more… Personally. And after she pointed it out, Luke came to her side and he touched the signature of that place, and just like that, he saw what had happened there as clear as the day. I know that she isn't very interested in furthering her studies of the Force, neither would I want her to force herself into a path that isn't hers, but the things they would be able to achieve and prevent if they worked together… It brings me chills just thinking about it."
"Do you honestly think they're so powerful, Ahsoka?" Padmé genuinely asked. "They look so — normal."
Ahsoka choked a laugh at that. "Well, they might look normal, but they're still quite powerful inside. I'm certain of it. When we were meditating, I allowed myself to be with them, and their presence was… Comforting. Despite their troubles and their traumas, it was peaceful. It was like standing steadily in light."
Padmé hummed, proudly.
"Will you train them?"
"They don't need me to train them," Ahsoka replied simply. "Luke's had all the guidance he already needs, from his previous Masters. And Leia — Well, if Leia ever wants to train, she'll find everything she needs with Luke. They don't need me."
Padmé eyed her warily.
"Which brings me back to your request," Ahsoka offered her a pointed look. "You asked me to help them, and… I think I did. I'm certain that I've given all the help I can give them today."
Padmé pushed herself into a seating position. "You did?"
"The things that they most need help — dealing with Vader, dealing with their past — is not something I can assist them with. That kind of support has to come from within family, and I'm not family, not really. I'm just someone who happened to know Anakin. But the things I could offer them, my knowledge of the Force mostly, that I gave them all that I had. And I think it worked. I think, today, they're a little closer to fully understanding who they truly are."
"But the rest of the journey is on them," Padmé inferred, pulling her knees against her chest.
"It's on them, yes, but they won't be alone," Ahsoka smiled gently. "You'll be there for them. In the end, that's all they want. It's all they need."
"I'm not Force sensitive, Ahsoka," Padmé pointed out hoarsely. "I wouldn't know what they need."
"That doesn't matter," Ahsoka discarded her worries. "Padmé, nobody anymore is Force sensitive. Palpatine did a fine job in wiping every one of them out. They're the only ones left, for the time being, and that's okay, because they have one another. Above all, they have a family who won't condemn them for being different, and even if said family doesn't understand, they provide support and care either way. That's what they need. To be able to screw up and not have their loved ones turn on them."
Padmé's thoughts went back to the last time she had seen Anakin, and how she was willing to forgive everything he had done if only he renounced the darkness on him. She loved him, but the love for one's child was significantly beyond a love for one's partners, and Padmé knew she would do everything to prevent her children from hurting as much as Anakin did that would eventually have them turn.
"You're leaving, then," Padmé concluded, looking down. She knew Ahsoka wouldn't stay forever, but their time was coming to an ending all too soon. She appreciated Ahsoka's presence there, she enjoyed having someone from her past with whom she could freely talk.
Ahsoka shrugged. "I've never been the settling type."
Her lips turned up sadly. "Regardless, it was still nice. Having you here."
"I enjoyed coming here, I don't regret it — despite your son almost murdering me at our first encounter," Ahsoka laughed. "It was nice to meet my niece and my nephew, even though they drove me insane. But I guess that's what nieces and nephews are for."
Padmé smiled fondly.
"You know, it's so interesting to see that they're opposites, and yet they complete each other so rightfully," Ahsoka commented. "I think that's what amazed me the most as I came to know them. Leia is so calculating and perceptive, she doesn't take shit from anyone and she knows exactly what she wants, and she's unwilling to let her fear ever hold her back — and the girl has so many fears inside, she's just too good at hiding them. Meanwhile, Luke is so caring and attentive, he has the biggest heart I've ever seen and even though he's belittled for it, his strength emerges from the kindness there. And when they're together, it's like putting the last two pieces of a puzzle together. It fits."
"That's why you think they're — a dyad," Padmé hesitated, still unsure as to what all of that meant.
"It makes sense," she said. "It's not as — as threatening as being the chosen one feels like. It's just a rare phenomenon in the Force that makes them a little more powerful than the rest of us. It unites them, and their bond makes them stronger. Spiritually stronger, strength isn't necessarily measured by physical aptitudes."
Padmé nodded.
Ahsoka sat up, and spoke very seriously all of sudden. "You don't have to be afraid of them, Padmé."
Padmé frowned. "I'm not afraid of them."
"Okay, but you're afraid of what they could become," Ahsoka laid out. "That's understandable, considering all that Anakin put you through. But I helped them, and now I must help you: you don't have to worry about losing them."
Padmé folded her hands over her lap.
"I believe you."
Ahsoka firmly nodded. "Good."
Padmé took a moment to admire the woman that Ahsoka had become. From a little girl so dependent on the Jedi to a bright wise woman who had learned how to live outside of an ancient dogma, as the old ways weren't always necessarily the best. She looked at her and she was pleased that, despite everything, Ahsoka had never lost her essence.
"Anakin would be proud of you."
Ahsoka blushed, and she awkwardly looked down. "Anakin lost the right to feel anything related to me a long time ago."
"Hm," Padmé noticed how she still had a lot of things to resolve with Anakin himself, and that her fun stories of the Clone Wars to Luke were no more than a cover to conceal the betrayal she felt inside. Padmé wouldn't push the matter or even question it; she knew firsthand that one would only reach peace with Anakin's fate at their own tempo. "I'm proud of you."
Although still gazing down, a shy grin shaped the corner of Ahsoka's lips. "I can accept that."
Padmé laughed with her shoulders.
"Do you ever wish things were different, Padmé?"
"All the time," Padmé said. "But then I look at them, at my children, at the people they've become, and I learn that I'm quite content just to have the chance of being here with them."
It was just before dawn, and the Togruta had her hood once again pulled over her lekkus.
She stepped carefully into the living room, trying to make the least noise possible. The sky outside was purple as the first rays of sunshine started to break through, illuminating the apartment with a beautiful shade. Ahsoka smiled tranquilly, allowing the peace and beauty of the place to brighten her mood.
She would miss it, just like she would miss the chaos that morning brought with Han on the kitchen trying to fix them all breakfast while Ameera mocked him endlessly for it and the twins had verbal — and sometimes mental too — sparrings against each other, all while Padmé blessed the place with her mere existence. It was hell, it was family — she loved it.
She would miss it, just like she would miss them all.
But the galaxy was always evolving, and so was she.
"So you're leaving just like that?"
Ahsoka turned her back slightly startled; she had been so absolved to the moment that she hadn't sensed someone approaching.
She looked curiously at Leia in her black robe and hair up in a poorly done bun. Leia didn't look tired, but she didn't look like she had been sleeping either.
"You're ambushing me just like that?" Ahsoka threw back at her, one of her brows shot up.
"It's not an ambush, it's just a question," Leia said calmly, arms crossed in front of her.
"How did you know I was leaving?"
"Dinner," she replied, "It felt very final."
Ahsoka revisited their last meal together, where they had popped a few bottles of wine, and conversation had lasted until late hours of the night. Ahsoka hadn't orchestrated any of it, but she thanked the Force for giving her one last taste of family.
"It's time to move on," she said, decidedly. "I can't stay forever. The galaxy needs me elsewhere."
Leia dragged her head up and down. "Luke will be heartbroken when he wakes up and sees you're gone."
"Yeah? What about you?" Ahsoka asked. "I don't see him awaken to watch me leave."
"I'm made of tougher stuff," Leia said, although she didn't mean to belittle her brother's tendency to take matters to his heart. She admired him for it.
"Are you?" Ahsoka provoked. "You're used to losing people, not to people walking out on you."
Leia shot her shoulders up and down. "People leave either way."
Ahsoka smiled sadly at that.
"I left Luke a note. It's for the best," she said, "He would become very sad if I told him beforehand that I was leaving. It's easier this way, when he sees I've gone away but that I still left part of myself with him. Because, Leia, nobody is ever truly gone."
"That doesn't mean we don't miss them every time we take a breath, knowing they were stolen from theirs," Leia coldly pointed out.
"It doesn't. But that's life, isn't it?" Ahsoka prompted, and Leia agreed with a simple gesture. "I didn't leave you a note."
"Why not?"
"A little bird told me you're made of tougher stuff."
Leia snorted. She didn't mind it.
"Where are you going next?"
"I don't know," Ahsoka shrugged, "Wherever the Force takes me. Wherever I'm needed."
"Is that why you stayed for so long?" Leia probed, "Because you were needed here?"
"Yes," she concurred. "I just have yet to figure out if you needed me or I needed you."
Leia pouted. "Probably both."
Ahsoka huffed; that was probably the first time since she arrived that Leia had verbally recognized she appreciated Ahsoka's effort at helping her.
Sensing where Ahsoka's thoughts had taken her, Leia lowered her head.
"I am thankful for everything you've done for us. For me," she said. "You showed me a deeper understanding of myself, and that there isn't anything wrong with me for being Force sensitive. I can't thank you enough for guiding me towards that peace of spirit."
"I guided you towards it, yeah," Ahsoka agreed, "But the credit for accepting it and achieving it is still all yours."
Leia shrugged, "Both that wouldn't be possible if you weren't here. Ahsoka, you don't understand how lucky we were for having you here when we had that stupid — nightmare. Otherwise, well, I can't speak for Luke, but I'm certain I wouldn't be getting any sleep any time so soon."
Leia sighed, leaning herself over the manchette of the couch.
"I know that, when you first got here, I spent a long time antagonizing you. I was wrong, by all means."
"Apology accepted."
"That wasn't an apology, I would still do it the same way."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes.
"That said, I'm relieved that we reached a relationship that I'm comfortable enough to say that I will miss you. Not only your teachings but your company, too."
Chuckling, Ahsoka walked closer to her. "I will miss you, too, Leia. But for what it's worth, I'm quite positive we'll see each other again."
"I'd like to believe that's true," Leia smiled with her lips closed. "Anyway — I didn't mean to ambush you. I just wanted to talk to you before you went away."
"Yeah? How so?"
"I've already had too many people I love going away without saying goodbye," she admitted. "Perhaps I'm not as tough as I make myself look."
"There's no shame in showing emotions, Leia," Ahsoka instructed, her last bit of advice before she went away. "Keep that in mind, next time you feel sad or angry. You have people to turn to."
"I know," she spoke softly. "Either way — thank you for being one of those people."
"You're welcome, kiddo," Ahsoka smiled genuinely, placing her hand over Leia's shoulder. "Look after yourself, Leia."
"You too."
"Until we meet again."
Leia forced herself to smile, holding back her emotions until she saw Ahsoka offering her a glare. She choked a laugh, allowing herself to be sad that the person who had offered her so much insight and knowledge was going away.
And go away Ahsoka did. After that, Leia returned to bed and snuggled closer to Han. Relieved that so many moons before she had decided that letting them all in would be worth it.
A/N: this chapter exists for the sole reasons of a) i wanted a more domestic scene to ease the drama of the last chapters b) i don't think yall would have appreciated it ahsoka simply vanished without a proper exit lol
I confess I was a little torn on having that last scene with leia and ahsoka or luke and ahsoka, but since, as emmaybe/em you guys have noticed, leia is my absolutely favorite character, so i decided to go with her lmao
anyway, feedback appreciated !