Luke Skywalker woke up with a funny feeling on his chest.
He couldn't quite explain it, the sudden tingling on the small of his back. It wasn't a bad feeling; no, he was far too used to those that he'd instantaneously be able to tell if so. It was — a funny feeling, as far as he could describe.
He wouldn't worry about it, the Force wasn't giving him any reasons to. Mostly, a naïve part of him just couldn't wait to finally discover what it was all about.
He was almost — excited.
When talking to his twin sister about it, though — he got a whole other impression from her, and they obviously started fighting over it.
Like him, she wouldn't call it a bad feeling. Like him, she was too familiar with the nature of bad feelings, and she had reached a point in her affinity with the Force that she could easily pinpoint when trouble was about to knock on their doorstep. No; that was something entirely else.
An annoying feeling, she would dare to say.
"An annoying feeling?" Luke mocked her, "And what is an annoying feeling consisted of?"
Leia puffed angrily, insulted. "I think it's self-explanatory."
"Not to me."
"And what the hell is a funny feeling, anyway?" she provoked.
"It feels funny on my spine. Makes it tingle."
Leia rolled her eyes. "If that's the explanation you're looking for — my feeling makes me annoyed."
"You're gonna have to be a little more specific than that," Luke grunted, "Everything makes you annoyed."
"Bantha shit," Leia gasped at his accusation. "If I give the impression that I'm always annoyed when you see me, it's because you're an annoyance."
Displaying his lips flatly, Luke noticeably nodded with his head. "You have a really strong case going in your defense, I see."
Leia crossed her arms. "Because you're annoying me at this moment."
"Obviously."
"If you don't want to see me annoyed, then stop annoying me."
"And miss all this? I wouldn't dare."
"Then don't complain."
All this happened while Han, Padmé, and Ameera sat around the game table at the Falcon, playing sabacc and ignoring the responsibilities that came with the morning. If they only could ignore the loud bantering happening right next to them.
"Should we interfere?" Padmé asked, kicking Ameera's shin again after seeing her cheat by trying to peek at Padmé's cards.
"Are you crazy?" Han snapped, laying one of the cards over the table. "You should know by now never to mess with two Force sensitive people arguing."
Ameera nodded as if she was really experienced with those engagements. "Yes, Padmé. You never know when an object might come flying over your head."
Padmé rolled her eyes.
"I don't know. I feel like one of them might kill the other."
Han huffed. "Better them than us."
Ameera scoffed.
"I bet Leia will be the one to kill Luke today."
Padmé reprimanded the Twi'lek with a glare.
"The safety of my children's lives is not a betting pool."
"I'm in," Han quickly said, almost as if to annoy Padmé. "I'm betting on Leia, too."
"You can bet for someone other than your girlfriend, you know," Ameera said.
"And enter Leia's death list?! I wouldn't dare."
Ameera chortled at that. Padmé grunted at the two of them.
"Come on, Ma," Han teased her, "We need a counter bet."
"Well, that's not really fair, is it?" Padmé protested, "I have no choice but to bet on Luke or there's no game."
Ameera gave her a look, "Afraid you're gonna lose?"
"Afraid? Please, 'Meera," Padmé scolded her, "I know for a fact that I'm going to lose."
Smirking devilish, Han said, "It's on."
He said it just in time to hear Leia calling Luke an idiot. Luke rebuked her with a harebrained argument, almost as if he wanted to prove her point. He only realized what he had done after Leia offered him a look, and he walked away in consternation, joining them by the table while leaving his sister behind.
"Hi," he said, his voice so devoid of life and excitement that it got three people laughing at his expense.
"You're done being bullied?" Ameera teased him.
Like a child, Luke crossed his arms in protest. "As if I have any control over that."
They laughed at him again, and Luke chose to ignore them.
"What are you doing?"
Han glared at him. "I'll give you a hint. There are cards on the table."
"We're actually betting on which twin will make it through the day, which will not," Ameera broke to him as blatantly as possible.
"Which twin will—Wait, you're betting on which of us will kill each other first?"
He seemed so offended it was hilarious.
Then, interested, he leaned with his elbow on the table. "Soooooo, who's betting on me?"
"Your mother," Han stated the obvious. "Out of pity."
Horrified, Luke turned to look at her. "Mother!"
"I'm sorry…!" Padmé nearly cried, "You have to admit the odds don't look good for you."
"But! You're my mother," Luke protested, "You're supposed to have my back."
Padmé firmly nodded. "Which is why I bet on you."
"You don't have to worry, Luke," Leia called from behind him, at last joining them and sitting over Han's leg. "Out of pity, I won't kill you today."
He made a face. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
Leia shrugged, far more interested in Han's game than in her brother's whining.
"I think I'll change the nature of my feeling to a bullying feeling," Luke grunted.
"Suit yourself," Leia said. "I'm sticking to mine."
"Of course you are—"
"Hey," Han called out the two of them, "No bickering on the game table. If you're gonna keep doing it, go do it somewhere else. We, grownups, are busy here."
Leia gave Luke a look to mock Han's grumpiness, and Luke's facial expression agreed with her this time.
Ameera then watched with distress as the two of them started making faces at each other, as if they were having a debate but no sound came out of their lips.
"What the fuck are they doing," Ameera asked in a whisper, slightly leaning towards Padmé.
Padmé frowned at the question, but it all made perfect sense when she turned around to look at the twins.
"Oh, they're fighting each other through the Force now," she calmly commented. "Whatever that means."
Ameera scowled. "Isn't that cheating?"
"So long as there's silence," Han moaned, "I'll take it."
Then, it all changed by nightfall, when most people were already tucked into their bedrooms for the day.
That was when a loud alarm signaled all over the rebellion base, and everybody's hearts started beating a little faster than usual.
Protocol demanded that every soldier stayed put under such an occasion until they were given further instructions by their superiors, otherwise even more chaos would enfold. However, there were those few fighters that either thought the rules didn't apply to them or considered themselves too important not to be at the center of the action.
"We're being breached," Leia Organa informed her twin brother when she and Han stumbled onto him in the hall, all three determined to follow towards danger.
"Breached?!" Luke asked, perplexed, "I thought the base's location was secure!"
"So did we," Leia grunted, blaster safely attached to her hands, as was Han's.
Copying their stances, Luke grabbed his lightsaber's hilt. He didn't activate it as of the moment, but he was ready for anything that might come at them.
So, they all started marching down towards the point of breaking.
"Maybe you want to rethink the nature of your funny feeling?" Leia provoked her brother; clearly there wasn't a better place for an argument than the battlefield.
"I don't know, Leia. What about your annoying feeling?" he rebuked, "Wouldn't you say it's a little misplaced?"
"Not really," she supplied easily, "I don't know about you but an invasion makes me really annoyed."
Han, being a little ahead of the bickering siblings, stopped dead on his track, turned around, and spread his arms wide so the twins wouldn't escape past him.
"You're seriously going to do this right now?!"
Luke's cheeks went three shades redder; Leia shot him a death glare.
At least, Han thought to himself — they shut the fuck up.
The trio soon arrived by the hangar where an unknown craft was coming through. There were a few soldiers already stationed there, all with their blasters pointing at the ship, ready for combat. Luke, Han, and Leia took shelter behind a landspeeder.
"So, what's the plan?" Han asked as softly as possible, although the whirring of the raiding ship's engines didn't help.
"Hit and don't get hit," Luke said naturally.
Han rolled his eyes. "I was hoping for a little more than that."
"Let's all take a deep breath," Leia instructed, although her body language indicated she was doing the exact opposite. "We don't know who's there."
"They're attacking us," Han pointed out the obvious.
"It could be an injured pilot for all we know," Leia prompted, "Somebody on autopilot who passed out before they could contact the command center."
"Yeah. I ain't taking my chances," Han said, raising his blaster higher in the air.
Who was Leia kidding — neither was she.
The ship's hatch opened up, and a figure in grey flew out of there. Gracefully, like a feather dancing in the air, landing on the ground with an outstanding pose. All blasters were now pointed at them, but nobody dared to take the first shot.
The sentient being rose from their knees to a standing position; whoever they were, whatever they were — they weren't afraid.
Their face was hidden by their hood, and they seemed so used to living in the shadows that they made no effort to reveal their identity. They were tall, and their stance suggested they had some combat training. What attracted Luke's attention the most, however, wasn't the way they stood.
It was the shining gadgets hanging by their waist.
He was hiding behind the ship with his sister and friend; then, he was in the middle of the hangar, right in front of the stranger, lightsaber activated and its green glow lightening the place.
The intruder, however, didn't seem much in the mood to deal with Luke.
"Out of my way," they demanded, their voice thick and echoing throughout the entire hangar.
Luke made a face, tilting his head. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."
They rolled their eyes.
"There's no time to play swords, little boy," they belittled him. "I've got somewhere to be."
Luke pointed his lightsaber at them when they tried to take a step ahead.
"I said, you're not going anywhere," he reiterated, "Not until you've stated who you are and what you're doing here."
They crossed their arms, showing defiance.
"That's a nice lightsaber," they said, "Whom did you steal it from?"
"I didn't steal it," Luke frowned, "I made it myself."
They scoffed, and both their hands made their way to their lightsabers; like they were ready for this young boy to do something rather stupid.
"That's unlikely," they said. "You're just a child. The Jedi don't exist anymore and kyber crystals are almost impossible to find. You wouldn't know how to, nor be able to."
Luke shrugged. "Yet, I did."
Surprised with his provocation, they grabbed their lightsabers and activated them; now, alongside the green glow, there was a white light all around.
Luke tried to compress his bewilderment; he had never seen white lightsabers before, and he was almost mesmerized by them.
"I don't know who you are, but you should get out of my way," they demanded. "I have pressing matters to attend here."
"I don't know who you are, or how you've managed to come here," Luke rebuked, "I won't let you pass until I know I can trust you."
"Trust them?" Han spat, stunned. "They're threatening our security. Luke should just strike them down."
"Luke's got this," Leia assured. "He knows what he's doing."
Han offered her funny eyes. "You're telling me you're still not convinced of their obvious intention of ravaging this place?"
"I… I don't know," Leia confessed, insecure with her own self. "There's something — odd about them, I'd say. I don't feel anything bad coming from them, so I doubt Luke would feel something else entirely. He's just — assessing the situation the best he can."
All things considered — Han rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he had spent the entire day bearing with the twins' bickering over their Force feelings only to have the two of them team up now.
The figure in grey seemed to consider him for a moment, and when they finally spoke, they made sure to keep their lightsabers in place.
"Alright, then. I've come for Padmé Amidala."
Luke's eyes widened and his blood was now fueled with something other than his innate kindness and compassion. Before he could stop himself and further control his emotions, Jedi Luke Skywalker struck forward.
The stranger, caught by surprise, used both their lightsabers to defend themself from his attack.
"You will not take her!"
Luke attacked them again, maneuvering his lightsaber in the air like his Masters and his enemies had taught him. Never once yielding to the stranger and allowing them to find their balance. They knew how to handle their blades, sure, but they hadn't been expecting Luke's wrath to come at them at full force.
Luke would cut and thrust at them relentlessly, the sound of their lightsabers touching echoing all over. Eventually, the creature's hood fell from their head, revealing their characteristic lekkus and the markings on their face. The sudden glimpse into their identity was not enough for Luke to fall back.
He didn't care anymore; all he knew was that he couldn't lose his mother again. He had lost his parents at birth leaving an everlasting wound on his heart, so that he was so desperate for parental love that he sought it on Darth Vader of all people. Even then, he lost his father again. Now that his mother had come back for him, he wouldn't stand by idly as they threatened to take her away.
Nobody would ever steal her from him again; that much was a promise.
The creature dodged to their side, avoiding his strikes. They weren't as determined to attack them back as they were to simply deflect their jabs. There was something about him that they couldn't quite explain, but they felt it — they felt it all.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Leia turned around after having the fright of her life, only to find Padmé crouched behind them.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed, "It's not safe."
"The same argument could be applied to you," Padmé mumbled under her breath, leaning her hand on Leia's shoulder to slightly push herself up to get a better picture. "Wait—"
When Leia looked behind herself again, Padmé was no longer there.
"What the hell is she doing," Han grunted as he noticed Padmé going past their blockade directly into the battlefield. "She's going to get herself hurt, or worse."
"Fuck," Leia cussed, and before she could stop herself, she was sneaking after Padmé, ready to shoot at anyone who might try to hurt her.
"Leia—"
Padmé walked towards the battle with her head high and hands in the air, stating she was coming peacefully. She wasn't afraid; she knew that her son would sense her approaching — and so would the stranger.
She walked until she made herself seen, and when both sets of eyes were on her — although their blazes were still in contact — Padmé spoke as loudly as she could.
"Ahsoka?!"
Luke stumbled black, looking at his mother in confusion. His hands still grasped tightly to his lightsaber; he was terrified of letting go and losing his mother in the process.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka deactivated her sabers and her composure became serene again. She waited for Padmé to come to her — she wouldn't dare to go to Padmé herself and risk the young boy trying to strike her again — and when Padmé did, they smiled at each other.
"You always knew how to make an entrance," Padmé joked softly, their arms meeting in a warm gesture.
"What can I say," Ahsoka huffed, "I learned from the best."
"That you did," Padmé agreed with a nostalgic grin before stepping forward to fold her on her embrace. "My goodness, you've grown."
Ahsoka snorted; suddenly, she felt like a child again.
The commotion around them started to die down — all thanks to Leia easing the soldiers back into their quarters and alerting the High Council that the threat was nonexistent. Only then did Luke allow his guard down and put away his lightsaber.
The stern expression on his face, however, did not abate.
By the time the old friends pulled apart, it was just the five of them standing in the now empty hangar.
Han seemed to be rather annoyed to be in the middle of the trouble when trouble turned out to be nothing. Meanwhile, the twins didn't look pleased at all.
"What are you doing here, Ahsoka?" Padmé asked although she couldn't deny her happiness.
"I watched the press conference," Ahsoka provided, "And I saw you there, so I knew I had to come to you. I should have expected you wouldn't have stayed put in some Outer Rim world as I told you to, instead finding your way to the middle of the combat."
Nodding, Padmé put her hand on her shoulder; they could get into details later.
"I'm so happy to see you."
There was a conspicuous clearing of throats behind them, and both ladies were forced to break apart and look behind them.
"Which brings us back to the question," Leia said with her voice strong, making them know that she had pried in the entirety of their brief interaction. "How did you get here? The location of this secret base is top secret, known to few only."
Because, in comparison to all the Alliance's hidden bases spread across the galaxy, the one they were at was the smallest of them all. It had to be if they planned on regaining political power from the bureaucratic center of the galaxy; therefore, only the members of the High Council and the intelligent command were lodged there, besides a few squadrons and battalions for protecting the brightest minds behind the rebellion in case their location was made.
"Turns out I'm one of the few," Ahsoka offered briefly.
Leia didn't seem all too pleased with her answer.
"Would it have killed to announce those other few that you were coming?" Leia snapped, "Would have spared us a lot of trouble."
Again, Ahsoka shrugged.
"Mon Mothma was asleep."
Padmé chortled at that, then quickly tried to disguise it as a cough.
Leia scowled at her.
"He could have killed you," Leia pointed at her brother.
"I can handle myself."
With a frown, Padmé gazed at her son. "Why did you launch at her? I didn't see the whole thing, but I noticed that you were having a civilized discussion beforehand."
Luke's eyes resembled death.
"She said she was here to take you. Padmé."
Padmé shivered at the animosity in his voice.
"No," Ahsoka was quick to debunk, "I said I had come for Padmé."
"What else was I supposed to have inferred from that?" Luke snapped. "You come here unannounced, chaos unfolding at your mere presence. I don't know you, you were deflecting my every question before you threatened Padmé. What was I supposed to do?"
Ahsoka crossed her arms. "I didn't threaten Padmé. Padmé is my friend."
Luke puffed ironically. "I can see that."
Leia placed her hand on her brother's arms, trying to soothe his edginess. Clearly he wasn't reacting very well to — whatever the hell that was.
"Well," Padmé cleared her throat. "This started off with the wrong foot."
"And whose fault is that?"
"Luke," Leia gently reprimanded him.
"Alright," Padmé tried to go past the tension in the air. "Why don't we start over?"
And then, a grim took over Padmé's face. Now past her initial euphoria, she remembered all the things from her past and who these people were to her. Starting over wouldn't be any less stressful.
Leia was quick to notice the sudden shift on Padmé's face. "What is it?"
"It's just," Padmé looked down on her feet, "I realize the conversations we're about to have aren't going to be easy."
The twins exchanged a sideways glance, one of those looks that they could easily interpret everything that the other was thinking; was everything in their lives supposed to be so damn hard?
Han was the first to strode away, taking them all by surprise.
"Where are you going?" Leia shouted for him.
"To the Falcon, obviously. Where else have we ever had our little heart to hearts?" he belittled, clearly mocking the simple prospect of more Skywalker family drama. He carried on walking, never once bothering to look over his shoulder. "I'll start running the kettle, yeah? Make us some tea to calm the nerves before the shouting starts."
The twins went after him without giving it a second thought. Padmé and Ahsoka gazed at each other, and although Padmé attempted to smile, nothing was reassuring there.
Once they were all sitting down, cups of tea in their hands, it was very hard to make eye contact. They all relied on Padmé to start talking, which only made her more uncomfortable to be there.
She couldn't explain how it was possible to be extremely happy to have these three people back into her life while also dreading their presence.
"Well," she eventually started speaking, once the silence was borderline unbearable. "Maybe we should start with introductions?"
"That might be for the best," Leia replied sardonically, although her sarcasm went unnoticed by Padmé.
"All right, then," she took in a sharp breath and gestured towards the Togruta. "This is Ahsoka. An old friend. I met her during the Clone Wars."
Ahsoka frowned discreetly at the simplification of her description.
"Ahsoka, these — ah, well, this is Han," she decided to start with the easiest one, the one that held no blood ties to her.
"Delighted," Han grunted, seemingly wanting to be anywhere else than through another family turmoil. Padmé knew he would never leave Leia alone, though.
"And this is," her finger twirled in the air, as she considered how she would present the twins. "This is Leia. Princess Leia Organa. I don't know if you'd remember, but…"
Ahsoka's eyes widened and her jaw fell down. Of course she remembered; how could she forget?
"Oh."
Leia furrowed her brows together. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Ahsoka diverted her eyes to the table separating them, "I'm so sorry for your loss. For Alderaan."
Suddenly extremely uncomfortable, Leia crossed her arm and leaned slightly towards Han. She remained silent.
"I was friends with your father," Ahsoka confessed with a hoarse tone, "He was the one to lure me into the rebellion, long before the rebellion was even solidified. I never met you before but… More often than not I would walk into your father talking to you on the comm, you were so attached to him and you were the center of his universe. When I heard about Alderaan, I was devastated to know of the great friend I had lost. Bail was an exceptional man."
"Thank you," was all that Leia could utter in response. She wasn't comfortable with someone prying on her childhood conversations with her father, especially when she herself couldn't remember them, so her defiant face remained.
Recognizing Leia's hostility, Ahsoka dropped the matter.
"And this is," Padmé's index was now pointing to her son, "Luke Skywalker, you know—"
"The Jedi who defeated Palpatine and Vader," Ahsoka complemented, a trace of bitterness in her tongue when she spoke the latter name. "So you didn't steal the lightsaber, after all."
"To your dismay, no," Luke replied coldly. "I built it myself."
"Not to my dismay," Ahsoka mended softly, "It is always a great honor to meet a Jedi, but you can't fault me for having my suspicions when the Jedi haven't been for over two decades now."
"Yet, here you are."
"Oh, but I'm not a Jedi."
Luke frowned. "Where did you get your lightsabers, then?"
"I stole them," Ahsoka smirked, the sudden shock on Luke's face making it even funnier. "Worry not, Luke. He was a very bad guy."
"A sith?"
"An inquisitor," Ahsoka spoke gravely.
"I'm afraid I don't know what that is," Luke admitted, slightly embarrassed.
"They were an organization of Force sensitive dark agents, tasked by Vader to hunt down the few Jedi that survived the Great Jedi Purge, as well as identifying Force sensitive children across the galaxy and bringing them to the Emperor," Ahsoka said, her face written with distress.
Luke swallowed uncomfortably; underneath the table, Leia held his hand.
"I defeated this inquisitor when he was determined to kill me, and I stole his kyber crystal to build my lightsabers. I knew I needed a weapon to defend myself and to defend other people that came in harm's way."
"So you did build your lightsaber," Luke concluded. "I thought you said you weren't a Jedi? I — I'm afraid I don't understand."
"I'm not a Jedi," Ahsoka repeated. Sadly; her heart ached reminiscing the past. "Although I grew up in the temple and was trained in the Jedi ways, I walked away from creed when I was a teenager."
"Why?!" Luke obtusely asked; as someone who had spent the past years so desperately trying to learn anything from the Jedi, he couldn't understand how someone could just — walk away.
Ahsoka laughed uncomfortably under the scrutiny of his question.
"It was my choice."
Recognizing her barriers, Luke didn't push further into it.
"So, Skywalker—" Ahsoka leaned on her elbows over the table; like she was trying to fit in pieces of a puzzle together. "I wonder, is that a common name? In the Outer Rims, I'd say?"
Luke was taken aback by the bluntness of her question; of course, eventually, this query would arise as more people would remember and start to connect the dots, but it was too soon. He wasn't ready for that, for its consequences, so he turned his eyes to Padmé in pure fright, looking for aid.
"Actually, Ahsoka," Padmé called for her friend again, "That's where things… Get a little complicated."
Ahsoka frowned. "A little complicated?"
Padmé made a face, reconsidering her words. "Extremely complicated."
Ahsoka snorted. "I wouldn't expect any less relating to the Skywalker name."
Padmé couldn't bring herself to chuckle at the veracity behind her words. What Ahsoka couldn't understand, however, was why there were grimaces suddenly taking over Han and Leia's face, while Luke looked down with his cheeks flushed. So, she tried to sense their feelings for a little further insight into the situation; resignation from Hain and a lot of unsolved pain coming from Padmé.
Surprising her the most, though, was the emptiness coming from Luke and Leia.
Whoever they were — they knew just how to shield their emotions from strangers. Perhaps even from themselves.
"Okay, I'm gonna need someone to start talking," she demanded, offering each person in the room a piercing glare. It didn't work. "What the hell is going on?"
"Ahsoka," Padmé said her name for the thousandth time that evening. "Do you remember the last time we saw each other?"
"Of course I do," she answered, "It was right at the rise of the Empire. I will never forget."
"Yes, but…" she swallowed hard, "Do you remember the circumstances? My circumstances, to be precise."
Ahsoka was only getting more confused; was Padmé seeking validation regarding the terrible things that had happened to her?
"Y—yes," she replied hesitantly. "I found you after childbirth, and I knew that the Empire — that Palpatine wouldn't let you live, not as long as you so openly opposed to him. He would do everything in his power to silence you, and I couldn't let that happen, not when we had already lost everybody else. Anakin, Obi-wan, Master Yoda. Everyone. So I took it upon my hands to fake your death, so even though you'd be out of the game, at least you'd be alive. Back then, that was all I could have done."
Ahsoka tried to look past the sadness in Padmé's eyes, but she only found further sorrow there.
"I don't understand what this has to do with Skywalker, though."
"You said you faked my death," Padmé carried on, ignoring her question. "Back then, I didn't ask you for details, as I was too in shock to properly process anything, but… Now, for all these years that have passed by, I do wonder how you pulled that off."
Ahsoka felt like she was being interrogated, but if answers were what Padmé sought, then answers she would give her.
"I had help, of course," she admitted. "I wouldn't be able to pull it off on my own."
"From whom?"
"I believe her name was Sabé," she recalled, "Your—"
"One of my handmaidens," Padmé whispered to herself, her eyes stinging. Of course, she should have expected it. Who else would rather than the person who would give their life for her? Her other half? The one with whom she shared not only a face but a soul?
Ahsoka nodded. "We went to Polis Massa, where you had been taken to give birth. I knew as much because I had had a vision of you; the Force wanted me to find you there. So, find you I did. All alone in a medbay, unconscious. I deceived the medical droid to mistake you for dead, I altered your charts to state as much, so even though you were still breathing, nobody else would know as much. We waited for the right opportunity and Sabé switched places with you, and while I was safely taking you to Raada, somewhere you'd be safe, Sabé was being buried in your place."
If Padmé did as much as nod, it went unnoticed by everyone else. Somewhere during the story, she had become frozen within herself, her eyes getting lost and not looking anywhere at all.
It all sounded so incredibly simple — hence why everybody else probably believed it was true.
"Padmé…" Luke called for her after a few moments of excruciating silence. "Are you — Are you okay?"
The sound of her son's voice seemed to bring her back to the present, and she took in a deep breath to certify she was still alive. Still, she didn't bring herself to answer him.
"Ahsoka," her voice was fainter than ever before, "I was pregnant…"
Ahsoka was hit by a wave of sorrow; so that was what all of this was about. The death of the child that Padmé had never brought herself to recover from.
"Your child died, Padmé," she said in clear words; Padmé needed to hear those words, no matter how much it hurt. "I'm so sorry, I truly am. But your child died in childbirth, there wasn't anything I could have done. By the time I got there, it was already too late."
Luke wanted nothing more than to interfere, to ease it for his mother. Unfortunately, he was aware that that was a battle that Padmé herself needed to see to its end.
"Did you ever see them?" Padmé asked, looking down. "My child, I mean."
"I did not," Ahsoka spoke coldly. "As I said, you were all alone by the time I got there. I even checked your medical chart; it said that your child had been born dead. There was nothing, nothing I could have done."
In response, there was only silence.
"Padmé, it's been twenty years," Ahsoka gently lectured her. "I don't understand the pain of losing a child, but I relate deeply to the grief of losing my dear ones. I lost all the Jedi, and it hurt. However, you have to move on. Being stuck in the past won't bring your child back."
Han instinctively wrapped his arm around Leia's shoulders; Leia was still navigating through the vastness of her grief, and he knew that hearing that wouldn't have been easy.
"That's the thing, Ahsoka," Padmé now spoke sternly, an accusatory tone in her voice that couldn't be missed. "I had moved on. Even though the death of my child was always my first thought in the morning and my last before I fell asleep at night, I had moved on. Until I learned that I had been living a lie for the past two decades."
Ahsoka compressed her lips on a thin line, now having become aware of where this conversation would lead. Padmé had, at last, discovered the truth of Vader's real identity, and she was grieving for the friend they had all lost. Had Anakin died, it would have all been so incredibly easier.
She couldn't comprehend why Padmé was bringing it up in front of three strangers; they might have been her friends so she'd trust them with that knowledge, but they weren't there in the middle of it, in the middle of the heartbreak. Sith forbade — they didn't even resemble old enough to being alive back then.
Wishing to make it easier for her, Padmé locked eyes with the twins sat across from her. She found comfort in them, knowing they were there for her, despite Leia's cold face and Luke's controlled expression.
"Ahsoka, I introduced you to the Jedi Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa," she said. "But they're more than that. They're also — my children."
Padmé hoped saying it aloud would help evaporate the tension. Instead, it only made it stronger.
"I know," Ahsoka automatically replied, already prepared with the Vader conversation they were about to have. Only then did she truly hear the words, and she leaned back in confusion. "Wait. What?!"
"My children," Padmé repeated.
Ahsoka turned to look at them. It didn't make sense.
"Wait. You got pregnant again? Twice?"
It didn't make any sense at all.
Padmé giggled nervously. "No. I'm afraid these are the twins I gave birth to all those years ago. When I was given for dead — and so were they."
Ahsoka looked at one twin, then at the other, then at the other. She raised her hand in the air, struggling to process the information so bluntly being thrown at her.
"No — it can't be."
"I'm afraid it is."
"They were dead. I saw it with my own eyes."
"You never saw their bodies."
Ahsoka tilted her head; going after the dead body of her friend's stillborn child had never been a concern of hers, not at all.
Luke discreetly cleared his throat, claiming the ground.
"I'd assume, Ahsoka, that just as you faked Padmé's death, Leia and I's were also forged, for our protection. Whether they had intended or not to keep us together, they saw it that the safest way to keep us alive was to alter the records so we'd be given for dead the moment we were born."
Although she was hearing every word he was saying, he might as well be speaking a foreign language to her.
"There — There was a record of only one of you," she pointed her index at Luke.
"Another ploy to keep us safe, I presume," Luke said. "So even if one of us was discovered, they wouldn't be aware of the existence of the other."
Then, she pointed her index at Leia. This clearly wasn't how she predicted her reunion with Padmé would go.
Padmé.
She turned back towards her friend, tears threatening her eyes.
"I ruined your life."
Padmé breathed in and breathed out quite slowly.
"You did."
She lowered her head, embarrassed, but she still allowed the accusation to linger in the air for a brief moment.
"You didn't know," Padmé then divulged quietly. "You never intended to bring us any harm. You were only acting on the kindness of your heart."
Whether Padmé was speaking to Ahsoka or to herself, they couldn't know.
"I am so sorry," Ahsoka cried, regardless of Padmé's faux attempt at absolving her. "Padmé, I'm so sorry."
Padmé tried to smile. "You said it yourself. Regretting the past won't change it."
"It doesn't make it any less painful."
"No," Padmé admitted. "But I've learned how to live through my pain nonetheless."
"Padmé…"
"I've got them back now," she stated firmly, "It won't ever make up for the years we lost, but I have them again. I wouldn't trade them now for any conjecture of a past that will never exist."
Luke extended his arm across the table, hoping Padmé would take his hand. She did.
"Against all odds, we found our way back to each other," Luke tried to ease it, "The three of us."
Ahsoka noticed that the third member of the family was keeping their distance, not once having spoken regarding Padmé's misfortunes.
"You're Bail's daughter," Ahsoka said, looking at Leia. She tried to remember any times that Bail might have hinted at her the true heritage of his daughter, but her memory failed her.
"I am."
Bail, who was not only a powerful politician of the Core Worlds but also the leader of the Rebellion. Bail, raising the daughter of Padmé and—
Ahsoka abruptly turned to face Padmé again. "Who's their father?"
"Come on now," Padmé restlessly answered, "You know that already."
"No, I have my suspicions and no tangible proof to corroborate my suppositions," Ahsoka debunked. "I need you to tell me."
"Well. Of course it's him, Ahsoka," Padmé said.
"Say his name, Padmé."
Padmé looked at her dead in the eyes. "Anakin Skywalker. Ani is their father."
Ahsoka brought her hand to her forehead, rubbing her temples. Well — that complicated things.
As if things weren't complicated enough.
Luke stared at her curiously, trying to understand the sudden shift of her emotions.
"You know, don't you?"
"Know what?"
"Whatever it is that you're suddenly so anxious to talk to us about," Luke leaned his head condescendingly. "You don't have to worry. Everybody in this room already knows."
Still, Ahsoka was hesitant. She had carried the burden of this knowledge for years now, and she didn't know how to share it with other people — especially people that hadn't known Anakin Skywalker as she did.
"How did you find out?"
"He told me," Luke sighed melancholically; the memories of that particular day were never easy to revisit. "I then told Leia, upon learning that she was my twin sister. Then, she told Han. And Padmé—"
"I was aware that Anakin had turned during my last confrontation with him, but I was still in denial, and couldn't believe the man I had fallen in love with would be capable of ever hurting anyone," Padmé reminisced with a heavy chest. "Then, you told me that Anakin had died, and it was so much easier than the crude reality. I wanted nothing more than to believe that, but when I first saw Vader — I knew it was him."
Ahsoka dropped her chin; more than anyone, she knew exactly what it was like to deny Anakin's terrible fate.
"Did you know my father, Ahsoka?"
There was a certain guilelessness behind Luke's question that caught her off guard. The boy who had never met the man before the mask still held to a childish adoration of him; she wasn't expecting it.
Especially when she had met Vader and she knew exactly what he was capable of. She couldn't fathom how far Vader was willing to go to destroy his offsprings.
"I… I did," she said after a few moments of contemplation. "I met him when I was 14, just a Padawan in the Jedi Temple. Anakin was my Master, and we fought alongside each other in the Clone Wars."
"You were his Padawan?" Luke asked, captivated with the concept. "What was it like? What was he like?"
Because even though he had already gathered so much from Padmé, she had never known him outside of their love story. Luke longed to know of him to somebody who had grown with him.
"Anakin — was the most reckless man I've ever met," Ahsoka said, slightly smiling to herself; the memories that came along still brought her a sense of warmth that she couldn't find anywhere else. "Serving with him, being his Padawan, was one of the greatest honors of my life. He was a phenomenal leader, and even though he had the craziest plans and ideas that never, ever worked out in the heat of battle, he unconditionally cared for every clone in his battalion. He took the time to know them personally and to know their names, even though they all shared the same face. Anakin had one of the biggest hearts I've ever known, and his willingness to go to the extremes to save those he loved and cared for… Well, in the end, I guess that's what drove him to his fall."
Luke listened to her while his eyes glowed; his heart ached for the man he had never truly known.
Deciding she had had enough, Leia made herself heard for the first time. "Well, since we've reached the Anakin appreciation hour," she spat out his name, "I'll excuse myself and leave you to talk."
She didn't wait for anyone to address her, getting up to leave without as much as saying goodnight. Han, forgotten of everybody in the room that wasn't her, left behind her barely one second later.
"You'll have to excuse her," Luke defended his sister, "She's the only one of us that never shared a genuine moment with the man that Anakin was."
"There's barely anything to be excused," Ahsoka indulged; she would hardly pin over the young girl's head her hatred for Vader. Then, she frowned at Luke, "Because you have?"
"I have," Luke strongly nodded. "The story that I defeated Palpatine — it's a cover, a setup, because the galaxy at large will never be ready to learn of what truly happened on board the second Death Star."
Ahsoka eyed him suspiciously. "And that is…?"
"That Anakin saved me from Palpatine's wrath when I was about to die by killing him," Luke said, anticipating Ahsoka's reaction. "Vader chose to save me in the end, and that's when Anakin returned to the light. He renounced darkness to save me, his son."
The tables turned and Ahsoka was the one to allow her emotions to get the best of her.
"Anakin… Came back?"
"He did," Luke smiled fondly. "I get to share this one moment with him. My sister — has only known pain and suffering from Vader, and we don't get to discredit her feelings regarding him just because we were lucky enough to have known Anakin."
Ahsoka didn't miss the threatening advice there; she wasn't allowed to crossfire his sister or she'd face the consequences. Considering the depth and place of their conversation, it was almost comical.
"I've met Vader, Luke," Ahsoka said. "You don't have to worry. I'm well aware of the monster that he is."
She turned back to Padmé, who had become so silent during their Anakin talk that Ahsoka had almost forgotten she was still there.
"You must be happy, to know that Anakin came back in the end."
"True happiness would come if Anakin had never turned to the dark side and caused all the damage that he did," Padmé stated. "I am — placated that Anakin found his way back to the light, but I choose to find my happiness in other places."
"Such as your children," Ahsoka inferred.
"Yes," she agreed, flashing a smile towards Luke — amused that he would blush at her simple gesture of love and appreciation. "They are everything a mother would wish her children became, and even though I can't claim credit for that, their selfless hearts still bring me immeasurable pride."
By then, Luke's cheeks were as red as Vader's lightsaber.
"Would you like me to leave as well so you can talk about me?" he prompted, but he hadn't foreseen their answer—
"Yes," Ahsoka responded, deadpan.
His jaw nearly dropped at that, even more so when Padmé offered him a look encouraging him to go away. After that, he was forced to swallow his pride.
"I guess this is goodnight, then," he said, trying to keep his cool and failing miserably. Padmé placed her hand over her mouth to hide her sneer.
"Be a good boy," Ahsoka demanded. "Kiss your mother goodnight."
"I was going to," Luke replied despite his embarrassment. He did just that and disappeared without looking back, finally giving the two women the privacy to catch up on everything they had missed since the last time they had seen each other.
A/N: this one is for all the people who have been pestering me about ahsoka for the past 40 chapters (and i say that in the nicest way possible, I love being pestered by you.)
are you happy? please tell me you're happy. i need you to be happy.
also - someone asked for a badass luke fight scene a long time ago, and I think him dueling ahsoka out of fear that she had come to take padmé was the perfect place for it.