Epilogue
My two-year-old son's peals of delighted laughter float over to me from the Nabooan garden beyond. He's currently being tossed about between two sets of doting grandparents, and they are more than happy to yield to his childish demands to be thrown higher. His white-blond curls bounce and glint brightly in the glowing sun with each assent, glowing almost as intensely as his Force presence. The pure joy that he has for life is astounding. Sometimes, it's hard to believe that a being of such pure, blinding light truly came from me.
His obvious glee not only sparks the prideful joy of his grandparents but also all of Varykino's servants. With his uncle, aunts, cousins, and dozens upon dozens of extended family members to dote on him constantly, it is no wonder my son thinks he is the center of the universe. He is, inarguably, the most spoiled child in all the Galactic Republic. There is not a single person present who doesn't love that boy to distraction, most especially me.
"Can you see me, Daddy?" he calls out to me gleefully, "Can you see me? I'm flying!"
"I see you, Luke!" I call back to him, laughing. "I can see you flying."
It is Empire Day.
Or…what would have been Empire Day if the Force hadn't shown me extraordinary kindness. Once upon a time, on this day, I had irrevocably destroyed everything that I had held dear to me. I had no mother, no wife, no son, and no friends. Even my connection to the Force had been twisted into something dark and distorted. But I've forged a new future for myself, one free from those incredible losses, one filled with so much love that sometimes I don't know if my heart can possibly contain it all. I still can't fathom what I ever did to deserve it.
The old wounds still fester. I continue to be plagued with nightmares from my past, emotional scars gouged into my soul from sins for which I can never fully atone. However, my guilt over that no longer defines who I am. Hope is what shapes me now, continually molding me into the man I had once imagined myself…the one I've always wanted to be.
I sense Padmé's approach from behind me long before her swollen belly brushes my back. I feel our unborn daughter flutter and kick, as if she's aware of my proximity. I suspect that she is. I can already sense that the Force will be strong with her, just as it is with her older brother. When Padmé wraps her arms around me, I pull her closer, marveling at the sensation, at the connection that I'm already forming with my daughter in the Force.
"Why are you hiding over here by yourself, husband?" Padmé whispers.
"Just thinking, wife…"
"About…"
"About how much I adore you and how much I love my life."
She peeks around my flank to favor me with a knowing look. "Really? Because you're crying, Ani."
"Am I?" I lightly touch my cheek, stunned to realize that it's true. I offer Padmé a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, my love. I'm happy."
"Are you sure you're not having second thoughts about taking Luke to the Temple?" she frets, shifting around to face me fully, "It would be alright if you wanted to change your mind."
"Luke is very powerful with the Force. He must be trained. It's time."
"And you can't train him?"
"When the time comes for him to be taken as a padawan, he won't have a better master than Yoda, Padmé."
She hugs me again, her cheek pressed firmly to my chest. "I'm going to miss him very much. He's still a baby…my baby."
"The Order won't keep us from him. Yoda assured me that we can see him whenever we wish. But we should probably keep our distance in the beginning, so he won't be distracted."
"And you're sure that you're not having second thoughts about letting him go?" she presses with a perceptive look.
My feelings regarding the Order remain complicated, but I recognize that lingering mistrust as being mostly a remnant of my past experiences with them. It has little to do with what the Order has become. They have made themselves over in the aftermath of Sidious' war just as I have remade myself. I have every confidence that my son's experience will not be a repeat of my own and I tell that to Padmé with all sincerity.
"Besides Ahsoka will be there with him every step of the way. She'll watch over him. And Obi-Wan too," I reassure Padmé, "He won't be alone."
She tips her head back and smiles happily, her love for me shining so brightly in her eyes that it causes a lump of pure emotion to form in my throat. "Whatever will we do with all of our free time once he's gone away to the Temple and not making himself at home in our bed every night?"
"I don't know," I whisper, smiling when she rises against me to receive my kiss, "but I'm sure we'll think of something."
