Epilogue

Author's Note: I hope that all of the fluff in here makes up for the pain in the rest. ^-^ Also, there is, again, a brief mention of graphic violence. You have been warned.

This is the end of the story, but not the end of this universe. I have quite a few plans in mind for possible future books in The Path series, as I call it, but I'm not sure when I will get to writing them. Just know that the third installment I'm considering is called The Dyad's Path, and it focuses on Obi-Wan and Custos who absolutely deserve to have more content with them, exploring their relationship.

If you liked the relationship drama in the first book, you'll definitely like this third one, too, whenever I write and post it. :)

PS. If any of you have any ideas at all for things that you would like to see or stories that you would like to be told in this universe, please do not hesitate to let me know! :D

Thank you all so much for reading, favoriting, following, and/or reviewing this fic! ^-^

~ Amina Gila

It isn't until late afternoon that Obi-Wan and Custos come for them, and by then, Anakin, Vader, and Ahsoka are all in the room where she's staying in the medbay. She needs time to heal from her burns, from the damage she suffered from her extensive electrocution. And then, she needs to be fitted with a prosthetic to replace the arm she lost.

They talk about it, and Anakin assures her that he'll help her modify the limb so she can truly make it her own in the same way he did his. It won't be easy for her, but Anakin can only take solace in the fact that she'll be able to recover with her family. She'll have all the time she needs, since she won't have to deal with a war like he did.

"I'm grateful," she replies, smiling. They joke about it a little, and though Anakin is relieved to see her – and Vader, too – acting so… optimistic, he doesn't miss the haunted look lurking in her blue eyes. Vader has it as well, though it's not quite so prominent for him. Or at least it's not much more prominent than it was in the past.

"I hate to say this," Obi-Wan tells them when he and Custos arrive, "But we need to go to Coruscant."

Silence follows his declaration. "What?" Vader blurts out. "Why?" His reluctance is obvious, and it's a reluctance that Anakin shares as well. Leaving will mean having to leave Ahsoka behind with the rest of their family and after nearly losing them, all he wants is to stay with them for the indefinite future.

The eldest two exchange looks. "Sidious is dead," Custos explains, reaching out and gripping his son's shoulder. "We have made a deal with Dooku and the Rebels cells run by Satine, Sabe, and Barriss. The Empire will be in chaos, and now is our time to strike. If we launch an attack now, we might be able to take Coruscant. We might be able to end this fight. I am sorry for I know this is not what you want to do. I will not push you, but we could use your help."

As he speaks, Anakin can't help but admit, grudgingly, that Custos is right. It would be easier for them, even if he isn't terribly keen on meeting Dooku again. If they succeed… all of this could be over. They could finally move back to Naboo. They could live a peaceful life in idyllic surroundings. They could recover from the losses, from the things that have happened, especially recently, and he knows that Ahsoka and Vader will need the time to recover. They will always bear scars – literally in Ahsoka's case – but they can still heal and move forwards.

"I don't want to go," Vader murmurs, reaching out to lay a hand on Ahsoka's arm while leaning into Custos' touch.

Custos cups his cheek, lightly brushing the skin. "I know, dear one."

Anakin can feel the way Obi-Wan's eyes slide towards him, and he senses his former master's intention a moment before he wraps an arm around Anakin's shoulders, pulling him against him, and rubbing circles on Anakin's arm, pressing a kiss to his temple. For some reason, if one of them starts openly showing affection, it somehow prompts the other to do likewise. Weird but not unwelcome.

"You know I'll go with you, Dad," Vader admits finally, shaking his head, "Even if I don't want to. I'm not letting you go alone. Any of you." He looks towards Anakin and Obi-Wan as he says it, and Anakin can't quite say who made the first move, but the next thing he knows, all five of them – awkwardly on Ahsoka's part – are sharing a group hug.

Which is highly irregular.

In fact, Anakin cannot remember a single time that Obi-Wan and Custos have ever even sort of hugged each other. But it's nice, and it seems to make Vader relax somewhat, sandwiched between their respective dads.

It still ends too soon, but then again, they have things they need to do, planets to conquer, Empires to topple… that sort of thing. They will have all the time in the world for snuggling when their next operation is complete.

**w**

Working work Dooku is strange, and Anakin doesn't know how much he likes it, but it's necessary for the greater good, so he bears with it. By the time their operation is over, Coruscant and the Empire are theirs, and Padme and Dooku have stepped forwards as the new leaders of the Empire, promising to transition everything back to peace, the way it always should have been.

Anakin wouldn't call him and Dooku friends by any means, since there is no love lost between them, but they are… allies, at least. He still doesn't really trust the Count, and he suspects the feeling is mutual. Which is strange given that Dooku gets along fine with Custos and Vader. Maybe he just has a thing against Jedi, in general.

None of them have any idea how peace will be obtained, but Padme is nothing if not persistent, and though she hasn't been in politics in many years, Anakin has utmost faith in her abilities. She, unsurprisingly, was not terribly thrilled about having to work with Dooku, but these have been difficult times. As an ally, Dooku is moderately trustworthy, and he pulled through when they needed him.

They move to Coruscant, staying in Padme's old apartment again, since none of them have any desire to go to the Imperial Palace, which is nothing more than the former Jedi Temple. Blood stains those halls, and even at a distance, Anakin can still feel the Dark Side saturating the place. It will take many, many years for the effects of the massacre that transpired there to fade away. And that aside, none of them want to go to a place they had once called home – except Vader – to see how the once hallowed halls have been desecrated on Palpatine's command.

Sometimes, Anakin feels that Sidious' death was too fast, but he knows those are Dark thoughts, so he squashes them. None of them talk about that much, or about how Obi-Wan touched on the Dark Side again. He, like Anakin, is still perfectly Light, so it seems so inconsequential in the face of everything else that's going on.

Rex and Fives are staying with them part time, alternating between just hanging out, protecting Padme, and going on brief missions. There are few clones who are still alive, but they're working hard to track down all of their surviving brothers. Anakin wishes them well, even if he's not terribly optimistic about their chances of success, not given the radical anti-clone trend that seems to have swept through the Empire, no doubts thanks to Sidious himself; undoubtedly, he was feeling spiteful about how his plans didn't work out exactly as he'd hoped because the inhibitor chips were uncovered.

Instead of rebuilding the Jedi Order on Coruscant, the surviving Jedi, led by Anakin, Obi-Wan, Barriss, and a fellow ex-Padawan, Cal Kestis, though there are still other stragglers who join them almost every day, decide to settle down on Lothal. The planet is strong with the Force and it's sparsely populated, so an influx of Jedi survivors won't be too hard on the economy, and there will be room for everyone.

Owen and Beru decide to return to Tatooine, where the Lars family homestead is, because Owen doesn't want to abandon the settlement that his father and grandfather and great-grandfather, even, built, but since they have a starship, they promise to leave occasionally to visit.

Ahsoka and Vader slowly begin to recover once it finally sinks in that everything is over, and the entire story comes out in bits and pieces. Custos had been eerily quiet during the whole thing, eyes burning gold, and he'd left the room almost immediately after. Obi-Wan went after him, and Anakin doesn't know what transpired between them, though he could feel the violent storm of emotions – predominantly pain and guilt – that Custos experienced. It took an hour before the younger was calm enough to actually come back and when he did, all of them, including Padme, Luke, and Leia, this time, ended up in a cuddle pile on the floor, watching comedic holofilms and staying up late in an attempt to relax and feel normal.

It won't be easy for them, either of them, not after the torture they endured, but they will pull through. Anakin will make sure of it. All of them will make sure of it.

Every time he thinks about it, he can't help but seethe in a silent, helpless fury that Ahsoka had to go through that. He would have preferred it be him over her. Anything to spare her that pain. Her constant nightmares and sleepless nights made sense after hearing about it, and he'll admit to having nightmares himself about it sometimes, his mind coming up with the horrifying graphic details of the torture Ahsoka went through as her arm was slowly burned off.

It's not always easy, but after the first few months, it gets… easier. They're patching together their broken pieces, trying to heal and build something new for themselves, for the galaxy, for the future. In the end – sorry Yoda – all they can do is try.

**w**

One year later

With the Empire having officially been transitioned back to a Republic and Bail Organa having been elected as Chancellor, the entire family is finally free to leave Coruscant. In Anakin's opinion, it's way overdue. He had come to call Coruscant home, but that was years ago, before the Dark Side cast such a shroud over the planet. Tatooine became home again, and sometimes, strangely enough, he's found that he almost misses it.

They stop on Tatooine briefly, for a week, before going to Naboo to meet Padme's parents again and move back into the Lake House. Luke and Leia have never been here before, and Anakin finds that he very much enjoys watching them run around through the grass, chasing each other and the myriad of insects and birds. They're only nine, and they deserve the chance to have a totally normal childhood now that the galaxy doesn't need them anymore.

It's time for them, all of them, to… retire, to relax, to do something that they enjoy. It's time for them to truly build a life now that Sidious and the Empire are gone.

"I will never get over how… peaceful it is here," Vader comments wistfully, dropping onto the grassy hill next to Anakin, joining him in watching the children run around.

"Me either," he agrees, nudging his brother's shoulder. That's what they are. Brothers. Sometimes, Anakin thinks that Vader is just as much a son as he is a brother, but… Custos is Vader's father, and Anakin would never want that to change.

Ahsoka joins them, laying on her stomach next to Anakin, plucking flowers and weaving them together, her prosthetic fingers moving with the same nimbleness as her organic ones. She, unlike Anakin, chooses to keep them exposed, and the gold metal glints brightly in the sunlight.

"Is that… a flower crown?" Vader blurts out finally, sounding a little incredulous.

"For you," Ahsoka smirks, proudly holding it up.

He splutters. "There is pink in that, 'Soka. I am not wearing it."

"Would magenta look better?" she asks evilly.

"Yes," Anakin answers loudly as Vader says, "no."

Ahsoka plops the flower wreath onto Vader's head anyways, despite his half-hearted complaints, and when she isn't looking, Anakin catches him smiling, small and pleased. It makes Anakin happy to see them so happy. This is one of Ahsoka's better days where she isn't being haunted by what Sidious did to her, and he intends to make the most of it. If they can build enough light-hearted and happy memories, maybe the pain of the past won't weigh on her as much. Maybe her eyes won't look so haunted sometimes.

(He knows that's not how it works, but he can hope, right?)

By the time that Obi-Wan and Custos come out and join them, Padme and Ahsoka are giggling as they see who can make the most elaborate flower crown with Luke and Leia eagerly running around and picking flowers for their mother and sister to weave together.

"Oh dear, you look like you've been rolling around in a flower bed," Obi-Wan comments with wry amusement.

Next to him, Custos snickers.

"Flower field," Anakin corrects lazily, delicately adjusting the flowers that were – forcibly – wrapped around his arms. After all, each of them only has one head and neck, and there's a limit to how many crowns and chains they can reasonably wear.

Luke and Leia come running back, shrieking with glee at that very moment, carrying even more flowers. "We found the moondust flowers, Mom!" Luke yells, waving his hands, "And it'll be a full moon tonight, so they'll glow!"

Ahsoka's grin looks predatory. "And oh, look at that, we have someone else to decorate now!"

"What?" Custos practically squawks.

Ahsoka cackles.

Obi-Wan and Custos exchange a look, and without saying a word, hastily turn to make a retreat back to the safety of the house. "Daaaad!" Vader yells, sounding betrayed. "You can't just leave me here! That's not fair!"

"I'm sure you can handle it," Custos calls over his shoulder.

Luke and Leia nod to each other, and before Anakin has a chance to yell a warning, they're barreling straight for the escaping duo. With a squeal, Leia throws herself at Obi-Wan, and they both go down, crashing onto the ground. Anakin can feel Obi-Wan's resignation as Leia dramatically begins to braid a moonflower into his hair, still half-sitting on top of him while he's lying on the ground. And Luke has managed to coerce Custos into joining them, albeit very, very reluctantly.

And within an hour, all of them are covered in flowers and flower chains and wreaths of every color, shape, and size. Obi-Wan has a long-suffering look on his face as Anakin and Vader poke fun at him, and soon, they're all teasing each other and laughing together.

It has been a very long time since Anakin has felt so at peace, and they're still there when night falls and the moon rises, the moondust flowers glowing soft shades of red, gold, and blue in the moonlight and lighting all of them up. His family looks positively ethereal like this, he thinks; they almost resemble angels or fairies or some sort of mythological creatures from fairytales.

"It's so beautiful," Anakin murmurs, glancing sideways at Obi-Wan, careful to keep his voice quiet so he doesn't wake up Luke or Leia who are sleeping curled between Padme and Ahsoka. He does his best not to laugh at all the red, glowing flowers braided into Obi-Wan's hair. The flowers in Custos' hair are blue, despite how much the duo had protested the colors, given their respective statuses as Sith and Jedi.

The flowers in Anakin's hair are gold, and he absently touches the end of one of the tiny, glowing petals, marveling at the softness of it.

"And peaceful," Obi-Wan replies, one hand tracing circles on Vader's side; he's half laying in Custos' lap, who is on Anakin's other side, and he's somewhat sprawled on Anakin as well.

"It is," Custos agrees, and even Vader makes a quiet sound of agreement.

"I wish it could… always be like this: so peaceful," Anakin says softly, unsure how to articulate what he's thinking. "We – So much has happened, and it's – so much has changed." He doesn't need to look at Ahsoka or even mention her for the other three to know to what he's referring. "I like when everyone seems… happy."

"Healing is a process, Anakin. It does not happen overnight," Custos reminds him, nudging his shoulder and carding his fingers through Vader's hair. "It takes time."

"I know. I know. I wish… it was easier," he admits, eyes lingering on Ahsoka, where she's laying in the grass, breathing evenly as she sleeps.

"We all do," Obi-Wan offers, wrapping his other arm around Anakin's shoulders. "It's not, though, but this is something we can do together. We have all the time in the world, dear one."

Anakin inhales slowly before blowing out a breath and letting his guilt go with it. He doesn't feel guilt as strongly as Vader does, but he still feels it. He needs to let it go, at least for now, and take each moment as it comes. There's no use worrying about tomorrow or later when he can simply enjoy this peaceful, happy moment while it's here.

And he's with his family, his entire family.

The galaxy is getting better, and they can get better too. Nothing will happen overnight, like Obi-Wan said, but they will heal together. And really, Anakin couldn't ask for anything else.

"I love you," he whispers to Obi-Wan, to Vader, to Custos, to everyone. They are his family, and he will do everything in his power to protect them. Maybe he won't always succeed. Maybe some of them will be hurt. But at the end of the day, he'll be here for them, and he'll help them heal. They'll help him heal if he's hurt, too. Because they are a family. Bound together by blood and by choice.

And with them here, Anakin neither needs nor wants anything else.

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