Disclaimer: All things Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm.
Author's Note: This is the final installment of this story. Hope you all enjoyed it! J
In Dreams
by ami-padme
Endor. An understandable place for either one of them to dream about, he supposed. After all, so much had happened there six months ago…for the two of them, for the Rebellion, for the galaxy at large. Everything had changed since then. He had told Leia that he felt as though his life had started over, and a completely new phase had begun. He knew that she agreed with him.
Neither had been back to the planet since then, but the place it continued to hold in their thoughts was evident to Luke now. He was slowly making his way through the forest, trying to get through the thick brush with only his lightsaber illuminating his path. The quiet sounds of the night filled his ears: tree branches waving slowly in the wind, various animals scampering nearby and flying overhead, the pat of his footsteps on the soft ground. This was the exact way he had walked before – after the cremation of his father had finished. He had decided he should join the celebration in the Ewok village.
For Luke, it had been a very long walk. He had felt painfully alone and –
"Luke?"
He whirled around and saw Leia standing behind him. He reached out to take her hand, and the two continued to walk together. She didn't say a word, or question where they were going. Maybe she was finally getting used to this.
It had started right after Bespin, these strange dreams that neither could control nor even really understand. They would be both be there, or she would be there watching, or he'd actually be her, and vice versa…it was a scary thing, and not at all pleasant. Luke hadn't full control of his powers back then, and he couldn't begin to explain why it was happening, and why it only happened with her. She was furious at him. Many of her dreams were nightmares; memories of the myriad of terrible things that had happened to her in the past few years. And those were things she hadn't told him about, things she hadn't cared to discuss with anybody.
It wasn't until after they found out they were siblings that it made sense. Luke immediately figured that if they both tried to focus their powers in this regard, things might start to make a little more sense. She was reluctant, of course – Leia had been slow to deal with any of her powers at all. But eventually, she relented and they had started to work together to increase their bond, to figure out what all these dreams and such were supposed to mean. It hadn't been easy – it turned out that there were few answers to be found.
They could now see the clearing up ahead. The bonfires had been started, but there was no music, no sounds of celebration. The entire forest seemed empty except for the two of them. Almost desolate.
Luke glanced at his sister and shrugged. "This is my memory from Endor. But I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean."
Leia sighed. "Well…what were you thinking about then? What are you thinking about now?"
"Father," he replied quickly. "About…everything that had happened. About how much I missed him already." He paused thoughtfully. "I was thinking about our mother too. How I felt like I had just found them – but now there was nothing left of either of them, there was nothing I could find that could tell me about them." He shook his head and added, "It was…sobering. Despite everything that had happened, I just felt…lost. It's hard to describe."
They arrived at the campsite, and both sat on a large rock near the row of stormtrooper helmets. Leia tightened her grip on his hand. "I know what you mean. Sometimes I still feel that way." She looked away, towards one of the brightly burning fires. "A part of me wishes that I could have seen Father the way you did that day, when he was with Obi-Wan and Yoda. I know I wasn't prepared for it, but now –" her voice trailed off.
"I wish you could have known him the way I did," Luke said gently. "And I wish I could have known Mother at all."
They sat quietly for a few minutes, watching the fire burn, mulling over their thoughts, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. It was certainly the least eventful dream they had shared, and it left them both feeling somewhat unsettled.
"Maybe," Leia began tentatively, "this is trying to tell us to…move on?" Luke bristled, but didn't reply. "I mean, we're just sitting here, alone, wondering about them, and nothing's happening. Maybe…maybe we've been too focused on something we're never going to get the answers to."
Luke shook his head and stood up to pace around. He had wondered about that himself. Why hadn't he heard from Father since Endor? How was he supposed to find out anything about his mother when all the records were gone and her planet was destroyed? But still, "I don't want to give up, Leia. I feel like something's missing."
She simply nodded, and looked around helplessly. Her gaze wandered slowly, until it stopped and focused on a spot behind Luke at the other end of the campsite. He quickly turned around.
At the same fence where Luke had seen his father, Ben, and Yoda, stood a couple about their own age. They had the same ephemeral glow the Jedi had shown. They stood there, holding hands, watching the twins.
"Mother?" Leia whispered.
"That's Father," Luke said at the same moment.
"Can we talk to them?" Leia asked.
Luke shook his head no, though he wasn't quite sure how he knew that. It wasn't necessary for them to speak, just as it hadn't been necessary on Endor the first time. Seeing his Father take his rightful place beside his fellow Jedi had been enough to reassure Luke after that long lonely walk to the village. And seeing him now, with his mother, watching over them…
Leia glanced at him and smiled. Even without words, she felt a bond with them, felt a stronger bond with Luke, felt the bond between her mother and father, which had somehow survived everything.
Luke stood behind her and squeezed her shoulders. The two continued to stare, even as the image of their parents began to fade slowly.
Luke opened his eyes and stared out into his quarters. He knew that Leia had probably just woken up in her quarters as well. It was their custom to get up after one of these dreams, to talk about what happened while it was still fresh in their minds, to try to decide what it meant to them, and feel settled enough to go back to sleep.
Luke rolled over, but didn't sit up. That wasn't necessary this time…the dream was the reassurance. There was nothing they had to discuss. He had the feeling Leia had already fallen back asleep.
Luke shut his eyes, and sighed contentedly. As he began to drift off again, he heard a pair of voices say, We're always with you…
That night, the Skywalker family was at last at peace.