Please see the first chapter for disclaimer and other info
A/N: I would like to proudly announce that this is the second last chapter of this fic! I am sad it has wound down to an end but I hope you all won't be disappointed. You can thank the Star Wars marathon I had last week for inspiration :)
Ch 16: The Revelation
Despite the silence in the room, Anakin was sure he spied the beginnings of a smile on his wife's face. Smiling himself he put his arm around her. He could also feel Luke's amusement from behind him as he placed an arm on his mother's free shoulder.
"This is absurd!" the Prince exclaimed looking at Bail and Breha. "You promised me her hand in marriage!"
Ever the politician, Bail stepped forward and attempted to placate the distraught Prince. "Prince Isolder, our only bargain was to present the option to our adopted daughter. It is clear that she has declined...your generous offer."
And there is was. The Prince turned back to the newlyweds and just as he was about to let his childish anger get the better of him, and punch the scoundrel right in the face, Leia's more Jedi-like side suddenly took priority, sending the Prince flying across the room. Landing straight on his posterior, Leia simply walked up to him and bowed.
"Thank you for your company at this celebratory weekend, Prince Isolder of Hapes. Unfortunately, our dealings have come to a close and with all due-respect, please see yourself off our planet immediately. My husband and I have a honeymoon to attend to."
Leia then grabbed Han's hand and triumphantly stormed out of the room.
--
"Did you know about this?" Padmé demanded as they returned to their quarters. Anakin shrugged as he pulled off his boots and let himself sprawl onto the bed.
"I found them after they'd done the deed," Anakin said, allowing his eyes to rest for a moment, before realising what he'd said. "Gotten married, I mean," he quickly amended. He had had enough visuals over his lifetime to scare him from going down that particular road again.
"And you simply allowed your daughter to get married by some strange Holy Man in Corellia of all places," Padmé began to rant. "What is wrong with you? Who are you and what have you done with my husband?"
Anakin chuckled. Yes, his own actions had even surprised him. Why was he so calm? He didn't even have any Dark Side thoughts towards his new son-in-law. He had fought internally over whether or not to decapitate Prince Isolder over the debacle at Base One only hours ago, but thankfully his good Jedi Master side had won out.
"Padmé, if you remember, not too long ago, two people hired an extremely suspicious looking Holy Man to marry them very much illegally at a Lake Retreat in Naboo. That turned out alright didn't it? No-one got decapitated, and the union did bear some very interesting and misbehaving offspring," Anakin said bringing his wife down onto the bed with him. He had missed her and all this worrying about Leia was interrupting his "who's your daddy" time with his wife.
"Anakin she's my only daughter. I wanted to be there when she finally married the man of her dreams."
"Man of her nightmares, more like it," Anakin snickered, prompting Padmé to roll her eyes in reply.
"Seriously Anakin. She's my baby girl and I missed out on her wedding day. Nothing will ever replace that."
Just as Anakin was about to comfort his wife the only way he knew how, a knock at the door forced him to stop his artificial hand from vibrating. Knowing that it was his daughter, Anakin smiled and let his wife answer the door.
"Mother," Leia addressed Padmé as she walked into the room. "Father."
"Leia, sweetheart, please sit down." Padmé said as she ushered her newlywed daughter into the room. Leia gratefully sat down facing her parents.
"Han regrets he couldn't come up with me, but he Luke and Chewie are busy celebrating on the Falcon," she said genuinely, a smile coming up on her face as she recalled the reason for their celebrations. "But there was something I—well we—wanted to ask you."
"What is it?" Anakin asked, hoping it wasn't another desperate cry to help her. Anakin had travelled the galaxy quite enough for one weekend.
"Well since our marriage was rushed, Han and I were thinking, well hoping, that we could have a proper wedding. Apart from every holoreporter on Coruscant being there, Han and I really wanted a wedding where you both could be there."
Anakin felt his heart soar. As devastated as Padmé was about missing their little girl's wedding, now that he thought about it, busting up an elopement was not the way he wanted to be involved in Leia's wedding.
Anakin had never heard Padmé squeal before in his entire life—and was surely never to again. But at that moment she did and enveloped her daughter in a motherly embrace.
Clearly Anakin was getting mushy in his old age as he fought fatherly tears coming to his eyes. If Obi-Wan caught him sobbing like a little girl like he did after Anakin had come home from the temple after being pushed over by Kit Fisto in his first year at the temple, it would only ever be at this moment.
"Consider it done," he said and joined in on the family hug.
Leia was happy, Padmé was happy and he was happy. And now that Solo was finally to become part of the family, perhaps his constant urges to relieve Solo of his unnecessary appendages, such as his head, would finally disappear in time.
And with that, the moment of truth had finally arrived. Anakin Skywalker liked Han Solo.
Revelations according to Anakin Skywalker
A revelation only occurs when a great turning point or a crescendo is reached regarding a certain decision or situation. Perhaps like the time Anakin decided not to reveal his discovery that Obi-Wan Kenobi was certainly an alcoholic of sorts, or when he discovered a brand-new use for artificial limbs on his honeymoon or even when he realised his dear, sweet mother had given him the middle name of Fergus. The revelation that Anakin Skywalker did not wish to inflict grievous bodily harm onto his new son-in-law proved that while Anakin was the world's best pilot, Jedi, lover and fighter, but he was the world's best father as well.