"You have good taste, my love," Breha murmured as they watched Obi-Wan settle Leia before she'd fully decided whether or not it was time to cry and set her back in her cot next to Luke's.

"Of course I do," Bail said. "I married you."

He didn't look at her, but his shit-eating grin made her sure he knew exactly what face she was making in response.

"You know perfectly well what I mean." Before she could elaborate, Obi-Wan turned and saw them in the doorway, affecting a look of polite confusion, rather than the soft expression he'd had looking at Leia. He was far better than he had been when he first arrived, but he was still more comfortable with the babies than he was with the two of them, despite all their efforts. They'd made it a game between them to see who could make him smile; Bail was currently winning, but they were both aware that she was largely trying to get Bail points, rather than competing against him.

"Did you need something?" Obi-Wan said.

Breha shook her head. "We heard Leia, but you had it well in hand." She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she would just scare him off, but went on to say, "It's good to see you happy. You deserve it."

Obi-Wan opened his mouth, probably to protest, but closed it without a sound, and made a small shrugging motion. "Leia's full of so much love, and she's so bright. They both are. They don't know how to shield anything yet, and it's easy to get caught up in it. It was one of my favourite things about — about the crèche."

"I'm glad they can give that to you," Bail said with a small smile.

Breha was impressed that Obi-Wan had managed to talk about the crèche without excusing himself to go be miserable in his room, or hide on the grounds somewhere. He still didn't speak of the Temple or the Jedi often, but he'd made progress.

After the murder of the Jedi and the declaration of the Empire, Bail had returned to Alderaan with a pair of newborn babies and an exhausted, injured Jedi Master. As Breha began to cry as she held Leia in her arms, Obi-Wan had tried to leave, stammering apologies, until Bail had grabbed his arm with the hand that wasn't cradling Luke.

"Don't," Breha had said as soon as she'd got herself under control enough to speak clearly. "I — I've dreamt of this. Having children. We couldn't—" Her throat closed up again. "Thank you," she said at last, trying to make him feel her gratitude. Jedi were supposed to be able to sense that kind of thing, weren't they?

"You're welcome," he said awkwardly. "I don't want to impose, so I'll just—"

"Don't you dare," Bail said, still holding onto his arm at the wrist. "You'll be killed. We can keep you safe."

"I can find somewhere in the Outer Rim—"

Bail shook his head. "Please let us keep you safe," he pleaded. "I couldn't live with myself if…" He closed his eyes, his expression full of pain. "We can't save the others, but we can save you."

Obi-Wan had relented for long enough that they were able to get the most urgent things organised for the twins and reconvene in the library to try to work out what the future looked like.

"I'll put you in danger," Obi-Wan insisted, sitting on his chair like he was ready to jump up at any moment. He hadn't even had the opportunity to change into something with fewer blaster holes, but they didn't want to let him out of their sight yet. "I'll put the twins in danger. I'm a wanted man."

Breha almost suggested setting him up in some village in Kathou remote enough that the authorities would never visit, but if they did that, he'd probably be on the first ship offworld — not to mention that he was possibly the most recognisable Jedi in the galaxy, so that wasn't an option. Everyone was silent, deep in thought, until Bail said, "We could change your face. You became Rako Hardeen — why not become someone else?"

Breha watched as Obi-Wan tried to come up with a reason that wouldn't work. He failed.

"It's rare technology," he said finally.

"Obi-Wan, I am the Queen of Alderaan. Do you truly think there's technology I can't get access to? I already have plenty of medical connections. Falling down a mountain will do that to you."

He had capitulated after that, once Bail had pointed out that given he was offworld so much and Breha had to rule a planet, they would need help with the twins, and it would be dangerous if someone else saw them use the Force accidentally.

It was in this way that Ben Antilles was born: his hair was black and curly, his beard fuller, his eyes brown, his face rounder. They did their best to change his appearance only enough to be unrecognisable in an attempt to mitigate the discomfort of seeing a face not his own in the mirror, but Obi-Wan avoided mirrors as much as he could anyway. He swallowed a droid to make his voice deeper, though he was able to mostly keep his accent, softening it a little and adding some Alderaanian in.

It was easy to get him documents, too, and set up a fake holonet history. Ben Antilles grew up on Coruscant and moved to Alderaan for university, though he didn't end up using his degree. Instead, he became a nanny for the nieces and nephews of Bail's aide. Sheltay had recommended him to Bail when she found out he was expecting children.

That had been months ago, and it finally felt like they were no longer playing catch-up — they had established rhythms, the beginnings of a balance between taking care of the twins and other duties, and Breha and Bail were making progress in bringing Obi-Wan out of himself, like tempting an anxious tooka from underneath a chair.

Breha no longer felt a dissonance between Obi-Wan's voice and his new appearance, and had even started recognising what his footsteps sounded like. Sometimes, when they were alone, Bail would mourn the differences between the Obi-Wan he knew before and the much quieter one Breha was getting to know now; even so, they got glimpses of the man Bail described, and Breha liked to imagine he was returning, bit by bit.

hr /

"You can kiss him, you know," Breha said to Obi-Wan once Bail had left the room. He had received a message from one of the Rylothian senator's aides, asking for a datafile he kept in his office. It was late enough that Bail, Breha and Obi-Wan were a little drunk, taking advantage of the fact that the twins were sleeping longer now. Unfortunately, the time difference between Alderaan and Coruscant meant that it was still the middle of the day over there, and Bail had said it would only take a minute to send them the file.

She caught Obi-Wan off-guard with her non sequitur, which was what she wanted — he was less likely to find some way to argue why he didn't deserve it. The alcohol was also hopefully in her favour.

After pausing for too long, Obi-Wan said, "I don't know what you mean." He didn't sound very convincing, but he also didn't fold under her sceptical stare. She wasn't sure if the flush in his cheeks was from her statement or the wine.

"I've seen you looking at him," she pointed out, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice, with mixed results. The way he looked at Bail was a way she was familiar with —she'd seen it on her sister's face when Celly was a teenager and in love with her tragically heterosexual best friend: a mix of longing and resignation. When he was especially exhausted, he would sometimes reach for Bail before remembering that was something he didn't do anymore and abort the movement.

She'd seen the way he looked at her, too — his gaze lingering too long sometimes, his distraction when she wore certain dresses. But making him comfortable with Bail would be easier, since they had a history. They could raise further possibilities later.

Bail had noticed, too, though he didn't want to talk to Obi-Wan about it. He was concerned that it would seem like he was pressuring Obi-Wan or forcing him out of the comfort zone he had created in the wake of the Republic's fall before he was ready.

Breha, for her part, thought they would never get anywhere without someone broaching the topic. She'd never known Bail to be hesitant in this regard — he had been extremely upfront about his interest in her from the beginning, when she was the crown princess and he was just a junior senatorial aide.

Obi-Wan looked guilty, which wasn't her intention. "Truly," she said. "I gave you both my blessing during the war and you still have it now."

Obi-Wan's expression morphed to confusion, which… wasn't ideal, but she decided it was better than guilt, at any rate.

"That was only because Bail didn't have you during the war," he said. "Why would he want me when he's at home?"

Breha did a frankly remarkable job of not rolling her eyes. "Bail doesn't have a girl in every starport. He survived before the war just fine. What you two had was about you, not me."

This was apparently entirely new information, and Breha had the opportunity to see it play out on Obi-Wan's face. He may have been drunker than she thought.

"Even so," Obi-Wan objected, "I look completely different now. I've accepted that it's a thing that was good while it lasted, but I can't have it back, now that…" He waved his hand in a circular motion to encompass everything.

"You're still Obi-Wan," she said. "That's enough. He did try to be affectionate when you first came, but you shied away, and he didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Oh," Obi-Wan said, though he was still frowning.

Breha heard a door close downstairs, and said, "I'm not saying you have to do anything now, but just… think about it, alright? We both just want you to be happy."

Obi-Wan nodded a little absently. His frown now looked more like he was deep in thought rather than miserable. "Alright."

They sat in silence, Breha content to let him comprehend those revelations rather than make conversation, until Bail returned. "Absolutely no more work until tomorrow, I promise," he said as he sat down and put his arm around her.

The rest of the evening was consumed by a terrible holodrama, complete with running commentary. Obi-Wan correctly predicted a plot twist, and looked self-satisfied in a way Breha hadn't seen before. For all that the galaxy was becoming a worse place every day, there was still the potential good things. They weren't sure what to do about the galaxy yet, but she was sure she'd done the right thing about this.

hr /

It was weeks later that Breha pulled up short in the doorway of the library — Bail and Obi-Wan were on the couch, Obi-Wan with his hands in Bail's hair and Bail cradling Obi-Wan's face as they kissed. For a moment, it didn't seem like either of them had noticed her, but Bail opened his eyes, made eye contact with her, and winked. She retreated before her laughter could alert Obi-Wan to her presence and resolved to get the whole story out of Bail later.

It was only after she sat down in her study that she remembered she'd gone up to cross-reference a detail in the proposal she was writing, but she could do that later. [a last line i guess?]

[this scene ends somehow? And perhaps breha walks in on them kissing a few weeks later and is happy for them?]