Hello everyone! I have not written in forever due to going to college and life stuff but I am eager to begin again. If anyone has been reading my other two Batman stories, I promise that I am trying to put out a chapter of both of them soon though if inspiration strikes me to finish one before the other I may do that as well. Below is an alternate reality version of Star Wars where Anakin did not turn to the dark side. I had started it a long time ago, as something had made me wonder how Leia and Han Solo would have turned out if the events of episodes IV-VI had never happened. This is just a kind of thought bubble/set up chapter and was purely for my own musings. If anyone has any interest in me finishing it (as in making a full length story) let me know in the comments and I will probably start the story from Leia's POV and do an actual adventure. Thanks for reading!

I do not own Star Wars- all content is now owned by Disney where they write out my favorite characters.

Anakin's fingers played with his wife's curly brown hair as she nestled thoughtfully in his arms. It felt like a lifetime since Obi-Wan had confronted the young couple about their impending child. With his calm demeanor and patient words, he had managed to talk Anakin off a ledge, though admittedly it may not have gone as well had it not been for Padme's soothing presence at his side. He also managed to convince the council to let him become a reserve member of the Jedi Knights instead of being cast out completely. There had been too many deaths and too few knights for them to oust one as powerful as he, though they had cautioned him once more against his arrogance.
Obi-Wan had also promised to help Anakin with Padme when the time came for her to give birth after the woman herself had hushed her husband and informed his master why her husband was courting the dark side. Once master and apprentice were reconciled it was easy for Anakin to avoid siding with Palpatine when he revealed that he was in fact the Sith Lord that had been plaguing the Republic. Though there was still a lot of aggression and anger on Anakin's end, he had managed to center himself with the force enough to see through the deceptions and emerge from the conflict relatively unscathed.

Now, sixteen years later, he was pleased with the outcome. He had a beautiful wife who stood by his side unflinchingly and two wonderful children that both showed force sensitivity. While his son, Luke, had joined the order and trained with his uncle, Obi-Wan, his daughter, Leia, had decided that politics was where her heart lay. Her father, however, had other ideas. Anakin could still remember the eight-year-old girl arguing with him over why she, the young politician, had to train just as hard as her brother, the padawan.
They had been outside their small home situated on one of the Nubian lakesides. Father and daughter stood opposite each other wielding training sabers while Padme watched encouragingly from the front porch. Leia's lightsaber had just gone flying for the fourth time of the day and, in true eight-year-old fashion, Leia dramatically collapsed to the ground, a tantrum's worth of tears streaming down her reddening cheeks. "This is stupid and pointless. I don't understand why I have to learn this. Luke is the padawan. I'm going to be a queen like Mommy." Anakin and Padme traded knowing looks.

Anakin lowered himself into a seated position by the girl as her mother meandered over, situating herself next to her daughter. "Do you remember how your daddy and I met?" The girl's eyes lit up. "You were on the run and in hiding from a bad guy and daddy and Uncle Obi-Wan and Master Quigon had to protect you and save Naboo!" Padme nodded and reached for her husband's hand. Anakin smiled at her for a moment before turning back to his daughter. "And do you remember the story of how your mother and I fell in love?"

Leia nodded, excited once more as all traces of her tears vanished. "You and Uncle Obi-Wan had to save her from a mean man who was trying to kill her!" Anakin ruffled his daughter's hair. "Your mommy is an amazing senator, Leia, just like I'm sure you will be one day, but whenever someone like your mom does such a wonderful job people become afraid."
Her voice became brave as she quoted in a serious voice. "And fear is the path to the dark side." Padme smirked as Anakin continued. "Your mom has been in danger more times that I can count, and I would do anything to make sure she is okay. If I can train you to be a Jedi, even though you are a politician, it would give your father peace of mind. I would much rather you be able to defend yourself rather than have to wait for a knight in shining armor to waltz in and save you."

His wife glared playfully. "Watch it, Mister. I remember saving your life a time or two as well." Leia giggled. "Don't worry, Daddy. I am going to become the most powerful Jedi ever and when I grow up and fall in love, I'm going to have to protect HIM from the bad guys."
The memory faded and Anakin smiled with pride over his daughter, even now eight years later. Padme finally withdrew from her thoughts and pressed a kiss to his neck. "I have something to tell you but you have to promise me that you won't get upset." Anakin frowned. "I don't think I have ever liked it when you started a conversation like that." Padme bit her lower lip and turned in his arms, sitting up slightly as she ran a hand down his bare chest in a comforting fashion. "Leia is going on her first date tomorrow. " Padme cringed as all their pillows simultaneously exploded, sending feathers floating through the room and hoped to the Force that Leia's boyfriend would feel the disturbance and run.

Three years had passed and while both Leia and her boyfriend had survived the apocalypse that was Anakin, Jedi Knight and father extraordinaire, their love did not. Like most young love it wasn't true and pretty soon Leia was past the boy and back to taking the political world by storm. Like her mother she was a wonderful leader and speaker, ascending the throne of Naboo at the age of seventeen. With her advisors, now selected slightly more carefully after the debacle that was Palpatine's infiltration, and her parents by her side she ruled Naboo with a kind but stern hand.

Now at nineteen, however, things had begun to change. Leia strode into her childhood home in a funk, having ditched her many attendees so that she may have some peace. She paced the lengths of the kitchen muttering to herself. Finally, Padme set down her dish cloth and sought to intervene. "Something seems to be troubling you, my lovely." She stepped forward and pulled her daughter into a motherly hug and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"It's that stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy looking, nerfherder!" Padme's eyebrows drew together in confusion but she chuckled slightly. "What did your father do now?" Leia's anger was momentarily halted in its tracks as she began to laugh. "Dad didn't do anything, this time. It's a smuggler that the guards apprehended at the landing bay yesterday. He was caught with illegal goods and somehow managed to con a meeting with me. He spends twenty minutes feeding me the biggest load of bantha dung I have ever heard and the next thing I know the council is advising me to drop the charges!"

Padme frowned and stroked her daughter's hair softly. "What was he smuggling that they were being so lenient?" Leia froze. "I don't remember. All I can see is his smug face smirking at me. And then, if that's not enough, he flirted with me! In front of the entire advisory committee! And I don't mean simply remarking on my beauty or wisdom like those other tottering old fools who try to charm me, I mean he flirted." Padme brushed a strand of her daughter's dark hair, so much like her own, behind her ear. "Well, I may be biased, but I certainly believe you are the most beautiful young woman on Naboo. He would be foolish to think otherwise. My advice is to put this behind you, dear. It's not like you have to see him again."

Padme flinched away from her daughter as her words triggered another burst of her daughter's ire. Leia spun from her arms and began pacing the room again. "You are wrong there! Today I leave my bedroom and he's waiting outside! I immediately demanded how he got past the guards and once again he did nothing but feed me lines. I started yelling at him and he managed to come up with a decent argument for everything I said! I began to walk away and the next thing I knew I was pinned against the wall kissing him as if my life depended on it." Padme's brown eyes widened.

Leia had always been so grounded, not one to randomly kiss men she had just met in corridors of buildings in which she was meant to appear respectable. Of course, sudden passion and forbidden love was well inherited though Padme would have hastily told anyone who asked it was definitely from Anakin's gene pool and not her own. "And I think that I may have agreed to go out with him to dinner tonight? This is so going to doom my career."

A couple days had passed when Padme's holo went off. She had been tending the garden out front while Anakin was holed up in the garage 'fiddling'. Standing, the former senator brushed her dirty hands on her skirt and used her forearm to wipe sweat from her brow before answering the comm, her daughter's blue form appearing before her. "I don't know what to do!" Padme quietly waited for the flickering figure to continue. When Leia didn't, she began to pry. "Did the dinner go that badly?" Leia shook her head. "On the contrary...it was fantastic. He was his slightly charming self and he was completely different than any other guy I've ever dated. And I liked it. I began to talk to him about his smuggling, turns out he was smuggling jam of all things, and he began to give me tips on how to improve our planetary defense systems that are actually useful rather than the basic sludge the advisors give me.

"Then he walked me back to the palace, escorted me to my chambers, and then-" Padme cleared her throat. "Darling, I know you are an adult and a queen now, but if this story doesn't end appropriately for the entire family your mother is going to get that anxious pit in her stomach again." Leia growled. "That's just it! He gives me a peck on the cheek and walks away! Am I that bad a kisser that I don't rate a second kiss?!" Padme smiled knowingly as she seen the fire in her daughter's gaze. Her baby girl was in love.
"Judging by what you've told me about this man...what was his name?" Leia pouted. "Han Solo." Padme settled into a porch swing Anakin had built for her and pulled her feet under her. "I think this Han is just trying to get you worked up, Sweetie. Which is obviously working. Go clear your head and find something to keep yourself occupied. I think you will glean his intentions soon enough."

The river of time rushed by as it was known to do and soon months had passed. Padme had made the short journey from her and Anakin's small countryside cottage to the palace. The halls had long been etched into her memory and now she wandered to the queen's chamber without putting any thought into the route. Instead, her mind was on Leia. It had been two days since her handmaidens had sent word that she had barricaded herself in her room and as of that morning there hadn't been any change.

Even without her intimate knowledge of the palace, Padme would have found the queen's chambers by way of the two worried handmaidens guarding the doors as seriously as warriors. They seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief when they took sight of the retired queen and senator. "She's been crying again this morning, ma'am, but she won't let us in. She doesn't know we called you, you see." Padme nodded. "It's alright, ladies. I will handle everything.

The handmaidens stepped to the side and let the senator knock politely. "Answer your door, dear. You are turning your attendants into mother hens." It was silent a few moments before the girl opened the door, swinging it into a pitch-black room. Leia's long hair was in a tangled web down her back instead of the neat buns she normally wore and her eyes were heavily circled. Padme swept into the chambers wordlessly as she led her daughter back to the bed, sinking down into the luxurious silk sheets with her daughter encased tightly in her arms. "He left, Mom."

Padme blinked. "This Han fellow you have been so entranced with?" Leia nodded. "I know that I should be above this. I mean, a guy shouldn't define me. I'm a Queen for Force's sakes, but it just hurts so much." Padme rested her head gently on Leia's. "What happened, pet?"

Leia sniffled and Padme could feel warm, damp tears hit her arm. "We were out in the courtyard and he had kissed me, bring his normal charming self." Leia said charming the same way she normally did when speaking of her paramour, as in obnoxious. "And when I pulled away, I told him I loved him." Padme's heart lurched as Leia's voice cracked. "He just stared at me for a second with this weird expression on his face. Then he said 'I know' and made some lame excuses before telling me he had to go off world. Can you believe that?"
Padme stroked her daughter's hair. "Are you sure he's not just off world on a mission or something like that?" Leia wiped at her eyes. "It's been two weeks now, Mom, and I haven't even gotten a communication from him. I could feel him through the Force, but then a few days ago it changed. I think I might have scared him away." Padme eased Leia out of her arms and looked her in the eyes with the full weight of a mother's love, taking her hands in her own. "Darling, what does your heart say?" Leia swallowed roughly and chewed on her bottom lip a moment before replying. "That he loves me. That we belong together even though we are complete opposites and drive each other to the brink of insanity. It tells me he's a stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy looking, nerfherder. But he is my stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy looking, nerfherder."

"And if your father was here, he would tell you to center yourself and see what the Force tells you." Leia closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Padme stayed quiet as she observed her daughter. So much time had passed since Anakin had taught her the ways of the Force, and though she did not have the same mastery of it her twin possessed, merely because she had never shown it the same level of interest, she was still a powerful jedi in her own right. Padme couldn't help but be in awe at how wonderful her daughter truly was.

When Leia opened her eyes, however, instead of the calmness Padme had hoped to see she seen a weighty measure of fear and pain. Leia's voice came out a terrified whisper. "I think he's in trouble, Mom. He is arrogant, self-centered, egotistical, cocky, and reckless, but I don't think that he would intentionally leave me. I know he hasn't said it, but I do think he loves me back. I sense he is in danger and I have this feeling that if I don't go to him he will never come back to me." Padme nodded, understanding the emotion completely. If it were Anakin in danger, no one would have been able to keep her away from his side either. "Go then. I will have your father prepare his X-Wing and get R2 ready for you." Leia's eyes widened. "Mom, what about my people? The queen can't suddenly go missing from her post!" Padme smirked. "Dear, I think you are forgetting who you are dealing with. I was once queen, you know. I am pretty sure that an ex-queen and senator as well as her husband, the former jedi knight, can keep Naboo running while you are gone. It will be fine."

Leia stood to the left of the X-Wing nervously as her father double checked the landing gear for the twelfth time. She had so many unknowns facing her! While her father had made sure she could pilot most vessels by the time she was fifteen, she felt very rusty, not to mention the fact that she was about to go off world without family, friends, or security to hunt down a missing boyfriend without any idea to which system he may have headed. Taking another deep breath, she pulled her mother in for one last hug. "Thanks, Mom. I don't know what I would do without you." Padme smiled. "Honey, you are one of the bravest people I know. As much as your father and I would like to take credit for that I firmly believe that you would be this strong, independent woman no matter what universe you were in."

She turned next to her father who looked both worried and proud. "Now, don't forget to take it easy coming out of hyperdrive. It's easy to accidentally land in the middle of an asteroid field. And don't forget to keep your lightsaber concealed under your cloak unless it is absolutely necessary. They go for a large number of credits on the black markets and that weapon is your lifeline." Leia rolled her eyes. "Dad, I could tell you that speech in my sleep. You've been telling me this since I was a youngling." Anakin frowned. "You're my little girl, Leia, it is taking everything for me not to go with you."

Leia smiled. It had taken hours to convince her father to stay on Naboo. Finally, he had to admit defeat to Padme as she had reasoned that they did not know what kind of danger Han was in, if any at all. If Anakin insisted on accompanying Leia, it would only serve to raise red flags to the Nubian council and possibly prevent Leia the freedom to travel off world. As a compromise, if Leia felt like she needed back up, she was to get a message to Luke and Uncle Obi-Wan. Anakin reached out and pulled Leia into his arms. "Once you rescue this boy, I fully expect you to bring him home and properly introduce us. I would love to see if I still have a knack for aggressive negotiations." Padme snorted with laughter behind the pair as Leia pulled out of her father's arms in outrage. "Daddy!" Anakin smiled at her and joined his wife in laughter. "May the Force be with you." Leia nodded. "And with you, Father." With that she climbed into the X-Wing and began her ascent to Naboo's orbit.
Padme moved to stand at her husband's side and laid her head on his shoulder.. "I have a good feeling about this."

Thanks for reading! Once again, I plan to one day write the adventure from Leia's point of view but if there is any interest me continuing this let me know and I will try to get it together in a more timely fashion.