Thank you so much for the lovely reviews! This chaoter is partly based on the episode 'Weapons Factory' from The Clone Wars TV show.
Geonosis
Geonosis was too much like Tattooine for comfort. Not to mention that the last time Anakin had been there he'd nearly been eaten along with Padme and Obi-Wan. The sand still got everywhere, it was unbearably hot and there were constant flickers at the edge of his awareness as clones fell across the planet.
Ahsoka had handed back his lightsabre as soon as she'd spotted him. Hurled it at him to be honest as he'd landed and entered into the fray. Having it back in his hands, ignited and being used finally in the way that it was meant to be… well, it was like finally being free again.
The factory was still impossible. It was on the other side of a thin rock bridge, almost on an island beyond, but without the water. The force field around it wasn't faltering; they had some powerful technology in that factory.
The carriers gave them some shelter. It was hardly helpful with all the sand, but at least it did minimise it all a little.
And rations. Force, he'd forgotten how bad those could be. He moved the sludge around in the metal tin and dialled the holonet.
Padme answered quickly and he caught his breath at the sight of her. She was in a simple dress, her hair loose and a smile on her face as she greeted him. "Hello," she said gently. "Any closer?"
"No," he sighed, shifting and watching the flickering image of her closely, hating that the colours were slightly distorted from the holo. "We're waiting for Luminara Unduli and her padawan to arrive. They've been studying the factory blueprints that we stole."
"I acquired," Padme corrected absently. "They can't just be transmitted?"
"They've studied them." He rolled his eyes because the pair were such…traditionalists in the order. He couldn't imagine what would have happened had he been given someone like Unduli as his master. "A lot."
He could almost feel her amusement, even if they were on different planets. Then she dragged in a breath. "I…um…we took Luke to a school today."
What?
He froze and stared at her, not sure what to do with that, a million and one thoughts flying around his head.
"Not for…just to see how he reacted. Almost a trial for when we return to Coruscant."
Oh. He'd had sudden images that Padme had suddenly decided to keep them in Naboo, despite their earlier agreement. Stupid. He needed to have more faith. Still, he'd missed it, missed Luke's first time at a school, whatever that looked like. Not feeling much better about it, Anakin shifted. "How did it go?" he asked, putting the food to one side, even as he struggled to picture it.
"He did well…at first." Padme shifted. "And…I think Luke needs to understand how to sit down for long periods of time. That went…less well."
Less well? What did that mean? Kids could be mean and Luke was so innocent and sunny and vulnerable. If anyone had-
"Luke climbed up the side of the school building," Padme confessed suddenly.
"Why?" Had someone being cruel or mean? Had he tried to escape? How long would it take him to get back-
"Why?" Padme asked. "Because he thought he might be able to manage it and there was an interesting bird at the top."
Anakin felt his lips twitch. He could almost picture it; Luke's rather baffled expression as to why that wouldn't be acceptable and his frank explanation that would have made perfect sense to him. That angelic expression as Luke probably shrugged off their explanations as if they were the ones being weird before he switched his attention to his next interest.
Force he missed the little boy. He loved being back in the action and doing something so worthwhile, but Luke was important too. And Padme. But Luke wouldn't have many firsts and he'd already missed so much of his son's life.
Speaking of, Luke suddenly wandered into the projection, eyes fixed on Anakin before he looked back at Padme. Unbelievably, the youngling was covered in mud and his hair was sticking up all over the place in wet thorns.
"What have you been doing?" Padme asked, sounding a little horrified.
"Went swimming with Jar-Jar," Luke replied, still looking at Anakin. "Jobal told him off." He turned his back to Anakin suddenly, focusing on Padme. "It was really fun. Can we go again?"
Padme was still blinking down at their son in disbelief. She looked up, almost as if asking Anakin for help. "Jar-Jar?" she asked weakly.
"Mm," Luke said, suddenly studying his elbow. "Jar-Jar can lick his elbow," he muttered and then tried to do it himself.
"Ani, I have to go and put him in the bath. A few times," Padme said, standing.
"Luke," Anakin tried, but Luke ignored it. That was maybe the hardest thing – Luke seemed to have an aversion to the holograms. Seeing him and being ignored was more painful than Anakin would like to admit.
Padme was close to the boy now, but she hesitated for a moment and Anakin couldn't figure out why until he saw her glance down at herself with an almost sad look before hauling Luke towards her.
Well, he thought as the image flickered and collapsed, they all had to make sacrifices. He was away from them, Padme was risking her wardrobe to look after Luke.
He'd bet a million credits she would hunt Jar-Jar down for that.
xxx
Watching Ashoka give a briefing was…well…weird.
"Let her do it," Obi-Wan muttered to him when Anakin automatically went to stand up at the front with her.
"I am," Anakin said, folding his arms. "But if she misses something-"
"Like the time you forgot to mention that there was a nest of Anoobas because-"
"Master," Anakin hissed at him. "Yes, fine." He looked around at the assembled troops, a few of whom were now shooting him amused glances. "But that's my point," he said, trying to keep his voice low. "She's still young."
The sidelong look that Obi-Wan gave him made Anakin roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Just because you are a father now does not make you old enough to know better than me," Obi-Wan said and then shook his head when Ahsoka started to speak. "Hush, Anakin. Listen to the briefing," he said, as if Anakin were being a petulant child.
Why had he missed the man again?
Above them, a squadron was flying in. The metal caught on the bright sun of Geonosis and made Anakin wince just a little. "Master Unduli is on her way then."
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, still watching Ahsoka. "Do you think you can avoid an argument?"
"Not a Jedi," Anakin said, and for the very first time that felt like freedom. "I don't see why I can't have a healthy, harmless-"
Obi-Wan folded his arms in a pointed gesture. "I do not want to listen to you attempt to wind her up like a backwater droid," he sniffed. "Mainly because you never do it well-"
"Master," Anakin said as the carriers descended and started to spray sand everywhere in showers that glinted in the sun like glass, "are you trying to tell me to stop or to do it better?"
Genuine hesitation showed on Obi-Wan's face. "Depends what attitude she has when she gets here," he said after a moment. The he seemed to relent a little. "She may have criticised one or two of our plans during a council briefing."
"Pride is not the way of the Jedi-" Anakin parroted, trying not to grin.
Obi-Wan smiled at him as the briefing finished. "Faith in my padawans is though," he said and then turned that smile on Ahsoka. "Well done. You even mentioned their packs."
"Thanks," Ahsoka said, bouncing a little from foot to foot. Her gaze though was on Anakin, searching for something in his face. "I think I covered everything. I'm sure I did."
"You did fine, Snips," Anakin said absently and almost frowned when he saw Obi-Wan's odd smile. But then Master Unduli was stepping out into the sunlight and her padawan was following.
"She really criticised?" Anakin asked as the three of them turned to greet her.
"Commented," Obi Wan amended. "At length. With detailed observations of the code and regulations. It was deeply appreciated."
"And my uh…marriage?"
Obi-Wan made an odd noise, almost as if he were thinking. "Let's leave that one alone," he said after a moment. "Suffice to say she was surprised I was surprised."
What did that mean?
But it was too late to ask, and wasn't Obi-Wan the master of that skill?! Anakin hung back a little as the Jedi reintroduced themselves and skulked off, not really wanting to see what Master Unduli's attitude to him would be.
That was probably against regulations too.
Xxx
Checking the weapons was something that he had rarely done as a Jedi Knight. But it seemed right and, once he'd started, he couldn't believe he hadn't done it more often. The blasters often could get jammed if the sand wasn't cleaned out and Anakin found himself hounding the clones more often than not about their weapon maintenance.
It was kind of like telling Luke to tidy his room, only Luke would get lost in some mechanical issue five minutes later and come padding out to show it to Anakin and then that would be half the day with the pair of them adjusting and adapting and then Padme would be telling them both to tidy up.
Stars, he did miss them.
"Skywalker," Master Unduli's voice rang out. "I was surprised you weren't at our meeting."
"Jedi business," Anakin said, continuing to check the blaster casing on the next weapons stock. "Seemed like me attending would be against regulation."
She said nothing, but he could feel the weight of her gaze. He was probably being petty, he knew that, but found he didn't actually care.
"It was strategy," she said slowly. "You and I have very different approaches, but listening to every point has its merits, even if we don't agree."
"Yeah," Anakin said as he closed the lid on the still functioning blasters and hauled that off to the side for the clones to pick up. He reached for the next case. "And what was decided?"
"That we need a distraction. You, Master Kenobi and I will provide that distraction with our squads. The padawans will enter via the catacombs to set a bomb inside the factory."
That, he didn't like. It was on the tip of his tongue to demand that he went with Ahsoka, but…
Strange. He'd never feared his own death before. He'd always been willing to sacrifice if the need called for it, or someone he cared about was in danger. Yet Luke's future…
He kept quiet. "Fine," he said, a little terse. "Anything else?"
"You're angry."
He slammed the lid down and glared at her. "What did you say to Obi-Wan about my marriage?"
Her brow wrinkled. "You are a passionate man, Anakin. I doubted that the order would sustain you for long, that was all. I made no comment on your choice of wife, nor on the child." She scanned over him and then stepped close. "He is well?"
Luke? The thought of his son soothed him a little. "Last I saw he was covered head to toe in mud and ruining his mother's second favourite dress and was delighted with the swimming trip." He couldn't help the smile. "He's…starting to settle, I think."
"Indeed." She stepped a little closer again, until they were closer than he'd thought she'd be comfortable with. "I believe we each have a skill in life," she said gently. "A calling. Flying, being a Jedi. Cooking, negotiating. This," she said waving a hand at him, "is the first time I have ever seen you at ease, when you talk of your family. I do not believe you were suited as a Jedi, Anakin. That does not mean I think you are a bad person or unworthy of being heard. And it does not mean I do not appreciate you fighting at my side. I would be glad of your help."
It still annoyed him, a little. Something about it seemed preaching and sanctimonious, but he swallowed back the knee jerk reaction and nodded tightly.
It wasn't what she was looking for, he could tell. But she nodded and turned away all the same, leaving him to the blasters.
Xxx
The grand plan to distract the droids was simple. Painfully so. And unnerving, Anakin thought as they walked in a slow march towards the factory bridge and the entrance.
"This?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan with some disbelief. "This was the better plan?"
"Why complicate things?" Obi-Wan asked with that tone that Anakin really hated because he could never tell if the man was being wry or laughing at him or just being insanely serious. "It's a glorious invitation."
It was probably a lack of sanity. Obi-Wan had hit his head so many times by now, it was a miracle he even talked correctly.
"The droids are coming," Unduli said as they continued to walk.
"Steady," Obi-Wan called to the clones. "We continue marching." Then he sighed loudly. "They are taking their time in coming to meet us, aren't they?" he said quietly to Anakin.
"Well they need to make them first," Anakin pointed out as he reached for his lightsabre. "Maybe we can kill them faster than they can make 'em."
Obi-Wan snorted and ignited his own weapon, Master Unduli doing the same. "That didn't work the last time we tried it."
"Practise makes perfect!"
Xxx
Losing himself in the force was surprisingly easy. Blaster bolts were being fired from every angle and he swung his lightsabre to meet them all, as if they were travelling through swamp water. The droids were falling easily enough, the problem was that there were just so many of them. It hardly helped that the Geonosians were attacking from behind, the bugs flittering around the sky and shooting down at them, picking off the clones as they battled the seemingly unending amount of droid that were coming out of that kriffin' factory.
"How much longer before they're inside?" Anakin asked.
"They should be exiting the catacombs," Master Unduli replied as she dragged a droid forward to block the blaster shots. Anakin followed behind her turning and deflecting the blaster bolts back up at the bugs above them, pushing three droids back so that they crashed against the heavy rocks littering the entrance to the bridge to the factory. Slightly away from them, Obi-Wan almost appeared slightly bored as he cut through the droids, the ease of his movements shining through as he occasionally, casually, deflected a bolt meant for the clones around him.
"Having fun?" Anakin called.
"Oh, yes," Obi-Wan said emotionlessly. "Wading through droid parts is always the highlight of my day here. In fact-"
Whatever else he'd been about to say was lost when a sudden wave crashed over Anakin, blinding and deafening him to what was happening. A distant, panicked part registered that he was falling down, undefended in battle, but the rest was too overwhelmed as terror and confusion flooded him and it was agony. Like being caught in a tidal wave or the engine of a ship as it blasted off. The echo wouldn't let him go, like something was desperate to reach for him.
He faded in and out. The sound of blasters over his head echoed and he had to move, had a unit depending on him, but he couldn't focus. Another wave of horror surged around him and he wanted to scream and push everything away. For a second he was in Theed, pushing and pushing because he wanted it all to go away and the image to go away-
Luke, Anakin realised when he was released from that second wave. It was Luke.
He gasped, inhaling sand as he did. When he looked up, Obi-Wan was in front of him, crouched down. At some point, Obi-Wan must have dragged them to shelter because they were both behind a rock which Obi-Wan was hanging onto like his life depended on it.
"What…" Anakin looked around. Master Unduli was still fighting but she looked like she was struggling a little. "Luke," he managed to get out. "Something's wrong."
Obi-Wan gaped down at him and then clenched his jaw. "How-"
There was another frantic wave. The sand and Obi-Wan were swallowed up by the image of a cracked paving stone and distant cries and all he could feel was Luke desperation.
He reached back. Luke.
But his son recoiled, still confused and terrified. A hand on Anakin's shoulder almost broke his concentration and then he felt Obi-Wan almost using him as a signal boost. Luke, Obi Wan said gently.
Luke's presence almost crashed into them in relief. And then there was a wobble of confusion and Luke almost contracted as if gearing up for the next wave.
Sleep Anakin forced into him. He hated it, despised himself for it, but he was in the middle of a battle on a different planet and he couldn't deal with both things at the same time, not at this intensity.
Unlike last time on Coruscant, he put his full power into it and Luke just went out like a light, instantly asleep and freeing them all from the tumbling confusion.
The world snapped back properly into focus and Anakin gasped at the sudden brightness of sensation again. He stared up at Obi-Wan, baffled and shocked. "He…he's on another planet," he murmured, stunned.
"Not now," Obi-Wan said, heaving Anakin up by his collar.
"I have to-"
"Get on a ship," Obi-Wan agreed. "Which we can't call for until this is over." He turned his attention to the battle and sucked in a breath when the giant doors that had been pumping out droids seemed to pause in production and the force quivered a warning out at them that something else was coming, something new and harder to fight. "And I doubt this is over, yet."
Ignoring Obi-Wan, Anakin reached out for Luke. The blinding force presence that had overwhelmed him was dim, but he could still find it through the command he was holding over his child. Luke was completely out, unconscious and he spared a moment's thought for how that probably looked before he shook it off.
As much as he hated it, he needed to get through this. Reigniting the lightsabre, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Obi-Wan and Master Unduli and faced the tanks that started to roll through the great jaw like doors.
xxxx
It took seven standard hours to arrive on Naboo.
Seven.
"I don't know what happened," Jobal was sobbing as Anakin walked in the room. "I didn't…he was fine. We were just getting some chocolate and-" she broke off spotting Anakin and Sola, who had been standing and listening, turned to stare at him.
"Where is he?" Anakin asked, striding in and ignoring Padme's parents as they sat looking shell-shocked in the corner. Behind him, he could feel Obi-Wan's disapproval, but found he honestly didn't care.
He wanted his son.
"He won't wake up," Jobal whispered. "Anakin, he won't-"
"We put him to sleep," Obi-Wan explained gently as Anakin headed for the stairs. "He is extraordinarily powerful and-"
Anakin didn't wait to hear that explanation. Didn't care. He took the stairs two at a time and almost ran into Luke's room where Padme was sat on the bed with him. It seemed so strangely quiet and cosy to be the scene of something so awful.
"He won't wake," Padme said instantly, standing. Dimly, he was aware that he had never seen her looked so flustered and messy; her hair was falling out haphazardly and she looked red eyed and pale. "Anakin-"
"I put him to sleep," Anakin explained, taking her seat. Luke was motionless on the bed, his little face slack and expressionless which made Anakin feel deeply uncomfortable. "What happened?"
"Mom took him into Theed centre. They were going to get something as a treat," Padme came close. "He started to scream."
"He was terrified," Anakin corrected and she sucked in a pained breath. "He…Padme we felt him. Couldn't help but feel him." Hadn't been able to think about anything else the moment a free ship had been sent down. Stars, what had Luke seen or, worse, remembered?
He was half sure that, in the mood he was in, he could reach into that kriffin' future and murder whatever had caused his son such pain.
"I've cleared the house," Obi-Wan said as he entered the room quietly and he was radiating calmness as if to soothe them both. "In case he wakes up and cannot regain control"
"Anakin said he was shielded," Padme said, crouching down by the bed to watch Luke's face. "That you can't really get through." She stroked his hair and looked between them nervously.
"No," Obi-Wan agreed. "You may need to be prepared to leave," he said gently. "We have no way of knowing how he'll respond when he wakes up. He might be fine or he might wake up in the middle of it all again."
Padme nodded, but Anakin was pretty sure that she was nodding in that absent way that meant she wasn't really going to do anything with it. Her deep brown eyes remained fixed upon their son as Anakin took a breath and reached for Luke.
He pulled away his command, simultaneously trying to project his love for his son, his concern and his desperation to protect.
"Gently," Obi-Wan urged, his voice very soft.
Luke's eyes opened as Anakin dialled it back a little. His big blue eyes stared at Anakin and his breathing started to speed up as he looked around and-
Luke moved. So quickly that Anakin didn't even have a chance to grab at him. Then Luke was in Padme's arms, crying and mumbling and incomprehensible things as the force rumbled unsteadily around him.
Padme had been knocked down to the floor a little as Luke had thrown himself at her. His skinny arms were wrapped around her neck and she was rocking him a little, sushing him as Luke continued to sob at her, speaking at the speed of light but his words muffled by his sobs.
"Slow down, sweetheart," she said to the boy. "You need to calm down."
Luke just sobbed and Anakin felt his heart break. He slid down off the bed and sat next to them, oddly unsure of his place. He'd been gone for ten days and suddenly his place in this seemed strangely fragile.
"-canthappennotgoingtodontnotallowedcant-" Luke was garbling at Padme.
"What did you see?" Obi-Wan asked, but Luke just cried even harder and Padme closed her eyes, pulling him close. Anakin shifted a bit closer and placed a hesitant hand on Luke's back. His son didn't react but he could feel the tremors cascading down the little body.
He started to calm, or rather cry himself to exhaustion. All through it, Obi-Wan radiated calm and soothing feelings and waited patiently in the corner while Anakin and Padme held their son. Then, like a light flicking on, Luke snapped his head to Anakin.
"You stop it," he sobbed suddenly. "Don't let it happen. Stop it from happening. Please," his son begged him.
"Don't let what happen?" Anakin asked, cupping Luke's face, trying to get Luke to face him. His eyes were red and his face was blotchy.
Luke hesitated and then leaned in, their foreheads touching.
Theed was packed. Solemn crowds stood on every side, heads bowed as the funeral procession came through. Lights were everywhere as the sun set over the city.
The casket was open and Padme lay within. Her hair was loose and her hands were folded over a bump-
Anakin pulled out of it and turned, his emotions swirling in such a way that meant he couldn't cope.
His wife's funeral. He'd just seen his wife's funeral.
No. force, please, no.
A terrible chill radiated from within, a numbness that convinced him that he'd never be warm and that image of her, dead-
Please no.
Obi-Wan had leaned close, apparently looking at the same thing. His hand reached out to Anakin and no, no way, he wasn't going to see that again. Couldn't-
That horrific funeral faded into a medical bay with droids craning around. The vision was blurred, half faded and dim. Padme on a bench, her face exhausted and twisted with pain and sorrow, even as she reached out to the baby in Obi-Wan's arms and whispered the word 'Luke'.
And Obi-Wan was looking down sadly before he turned his attention to the baby in his arms. The tiny, fragile creature that was blinking up at the lights and whimpering just a little. And Padme gasped in pain and her face contracted in pain as the medical droids continued to fuss around her and Anakin stared in horror as he started to realise what was happening-
"Anakin," Obi-Wan whispered.
Padme was staring between them. "What?" she asked as Luke collapsed back into her, crying still, though with considerably less force.
He wanted to gather her up. Wanted to reassure himself that she was still alive. That she was there and would always be there. But the other thing, the other-
He stood and stumbled from the room, trying to keep it in. If he let loose, then Luke would feel and his son didn't need that. His child-
His child.
Obi-Wan caught up with him as he stumbled into the garden and caught him before he hit the ground, holding him tight as if to hold him together. "I know," he hissed in Anakin's ear. "I saw. I know."
Anakin let out a muffled sob. "Twins," he breathed. "There were twins."
Xxx
Padme stared at where Anakin had just stumbled through and Obi-Wan had followed. What on earth had they seen?
Thankfully, Luke was winding down. His sobs becoming softer and more like whimpers. She continued to rock him as he sighed and tightened his hand on her dress. Soon he completely stopped and she'd have thought he was asleep if not for the fact that he kept tightening his grip on her dress and then letting go.
"It's gonna happen, isn't it?" he asked in a tiny voice.
"What will?" she asked softly.
"It's the past, I'm in the past. That just means the bad things haven't happened yet," Luke whispered to her, his head ducked down so that he was almost whispering to her chest. "It's gonna get bad and it'll be worse."
For a split second, she hated Anakin for leaving. No matter what it was, he should be here, listing to their son finally start to let them in a bit, explain some of his fears. Help her soothe them.
"No," she said firmly, and lifted his chin with a finger. "You've changed so much," she said earnestly. "So, so much."
His eyes were red rimmed and threatening to spill over with huge tears. He searched her face, almost desperate for something.
"I…if you…please don't die," he begged almost shaking. She had a flitter of thought to move, to wrap him up so that he was warm, but she doubted that it would do any favours to suggest even for a second that she was going to let him go. "It'll be worse this time."
The last was said so quietly that she barely heard him. But she did. This time.
"I will not leave you," she said to him, her grip tightening maybe a bit too much. "I won't," she said when he tried to pull away looking doubtful.
Luke snuck a look at her. It broke her that her son had the same reluctant look on his face that she'd seen on the war orphans across the galaxy. The reluctance to have hope, to risk their little hearts once more.
But that was what her son was, she realised. He was one of those little war orphans and that would always be with him.
"You've already saved us," she said to him, shifting a bit so they could keep eye contact easily. "You have," she said when Luke made a doubtful noise. "That future, your future, it's gone, sweetheart."
He was thinking. Upset and thinking and she wished she had the force to see into his head. To catch a glimpse of the complicated thoughts that were likely swirling around and causing her son to fear being happy.
"Trust me," she urged.
It seemed to strike something within him. Luke stared at her and she was struck just how much he looked like Anakin when he was about to go into battle. At a glance, people always commented how much he looked like Anakin but it was their colouring. Most here agreed he was a Naberrie with his slight frame and delicate features. And he didn't have Anakin's temperament at all, even if they did share so many interests.
But this, she realised, this was the same. And there was a threatening terror that one day she would probably be watching her son go off and find a way to help people and have that same look on his face as his father did when he prepared himself to do something he was actually a little bit frightened of.
Luke's eyes slid closed and he swallowed. "Are you…" his jaw clenched and that too was Anakin, "my mom?"
"Yes," she said, so quickly that she wasn't sure he'd heard. "You know I am, Luke."
His eyes opened and he stared up at her. "But…" he looked away and then shook his head. "She's dead. She dies."
"No," she said, gathering him close once more and laying her cheek on his head. "I won't. I won't leave you alone, Luke. Neither of us will leave you alone again."
He remained tense in her arms, and she understood that it would take more than their conversation for him to relax and trust her when she said that. But he would. She'd give up the senate and drag Anakin to the quietest, dullest corner of the galaxy if that was what it would take for Luke to believe them.
Xxx
The Naberrie family kitchen seemed strange without Jobal in it. Anakin had a moment to wonder where his in-laws had gone but it wasn't pressing enough to really worry about it. He was sure they had friends all over the city; they were those kinds of people.
Watching Obi-Wan in the kitchen was surreal as he put some of Jobal's herbal tea on to boil. Anakin watched him silently, not sure what was bothering him until he saw Obi-Wan's face catch the light oddly.
"You haven't been back here, have you?" Anakin asked. "Not since Qui-Gon."
Obi-Wan shook his head as he poured them both some tea. "Is that really what you want to talk about?" he asked mildly.
"I'd rather that," Anakin muttered, accepting the mug and then staring down at the liquid as if he'd forgotten what to do next. "There was that celebration through the streets of Theed. You looked like you'd rather be anywhere else."
"You were unimpressed with the padawan haircut if I recall," Obi-Wan said as he sat opposite Anakin. "It was my highlight, I have to say."
Anakin smiled slightly at the memory. "She was in ceremonial robes. Padme," he explained when Obi-Wan looked at him curiously. "I realised I'd have to work hard to be able to impress her."
"Even then," Obi-Wan said with a defeated sigh before he took a sip. "You are single minded, Anakin. And stubborn. I'll give you that."
Yeah. He didn't feel it now. The liquid in the cup was dark, almost bottomless and he stared into its depths, almost wanting to get lost in it. "How do I tell her?" he asked. "How can I tell her?"
"It was her child too," Obi-Wan said slowly. "Your wife has a right to know."
Was.
"Luke would have been the only one of us to live," Anakin said, not really listening. "The only one to survive. Alone. Hunted." He felt numb. Almost desensitised to the information at the moment. "You were with her when he was born."
Obi-Wan said nothing.
"It was…" Anakin trailed off unsure, suddenly realising how little he knew of childbirth. "Clinical. Is it always so clinical?" he asked, and then grunted to himself when Obi-Wan gave a helpless shrug. His mind scanned the scene again, trying desperately to avoid the sight of Padme, struggling as she gave birth to their second child, and instead focusing on the baby in Obi-Wan's arms. "He was so tiny," Anakin whispered. "How did he survive when the rest of us didn't?"
The answer, he knew, lay in the man opposite him.
"I owe you," Anakin whispered. "You kept him alive. Even when we failed him, you were there."
"He's your son. What else would I do?" Obi-Wan asked gently. "I…have to confess being at the birth…I hadn't realised I'd had charge of him from the day he was born. I must have taken him to your step-brother."
It still annoyed him. "I hate Tattooine."
"I know." Obi-Wan shook his head. "I don't believe I would have made that choice lightly, Anakin."
Probably not. "He's never mentioned a twin," Anakin said looking down at the tea again. "Or any other child really. It-" he broke off, hating that he didn't know which pronoun to use, "do you think the other twin survived birth?"
"I don't know," Obi-Wan said honestly. "I…I'd like to think it would explain why I had to leave Luke. Keeping two untrained twins away from each other would have been the only way to keep them safe. They'd have reached out to each other otherwise, made it easy to track them. But… she was struggling to give birth."
Alone. Or rather without him. Because by that point he'd been dead and had left his pregnant wife, his children to fend for themselves.
And he was doing it now. Padme and Luke were upstairs and he'd run out but…he couldn't bear to tell her. Couldn't risk that Luke would feel his turmoil and react.
He'd never felt so useless or so much like a coward.
xxx
As dawn crept through into the room, so too did Anakin.
Padme watched him from her position against the wall, Luke naturally asleep in her lap. She watched her husband silently as he slowly walked over until he was crouching down by her side. He didn't meet her eyes, instead keeping his gaze on Luke.
There was so much that she wanted to say to him. To yell at him for leaving, for not telling her that he had been the one to send Luke to sleep earlier. She wanted to sob in his arms at the trauma their son had experienced, share her joy that he was starting to understand who they were and had actually asked her if she was his mother.
She said nothing though, just watched Anakin stroke Luke's hair and then bend to give him a kiss, his head bent over Luke's for a long moment, as if he were trying to find strength.
"He's worried that at some point his future will happen," she said and force, she barely recognised her own voice. "He's waiting for the bad things to happen."
Anakin's hand clenched where he was resting on it, tearing up part of the carpet with the metal. He looked up at her and she was startled to realise that he'd been crying too.
"He did…" she hesitated because part of her knew that it might hurt him not to have had the same experience, "he asked if I was his mom."
She knew her husband well enough to spot the instant reaction of jealousy. But hope bloomed soon after, as if he realised that it wouldn't be long before Luke might ask a similar question.
"He's afraid we'll die."
Anakin's expression shifted to the one she had seen in Luke's face and she let out a breath, trying to brace herself for whatever he was about to say.
"He…your funeral," Anakin said and his throat sounded almost blocked. "It was here, in Theed." He looked away and shook his head. "And you died in a medical ship."
Oh.
It was…how strange to be told that. Had Luke not have come along, that would have been her fate. It seemed…so distant now. Surreal and yet, it had been painfully real for her son. It had been his past. "After I gave birth?" she asked, not really connecting to the information.
Anakin looked back down at Luke and she could feel him hesitate. Then he reached for Luke and carefully lifted him up into his arms. It was almost cold without his little body on her and Padme shifted, surprised by the ache that she felt from being in the same position with him for so long.
She watched them. Luke looked so small in Anakin's arms and she could see the way that he cradled Luke, the care that he took as he lay their son into the bed and tucked him in.
A strange thrill of fear shot through her as she watched Anakin. He hesitated and then came back over, sitting with his back against the wall next to her, one leg drawn up so that his arm could rest upon it.
"You…you gave birth to Luke in a medical ship," Anakin said softly. "Surrounded by droids and with Obi-Wan there. He held Luke and you named him. You… you smiled at him, and reached out a hand for him."
She could almost picture it, but couldn't. She couldn't see the baby that Luke had been, wished she could. Wished she had known how he had looked, how he had been, how big or small or what his weight had been…
"But…" Anakin turned to her, an arm sliding around her back as he pulled her close. "You…you were still in labour."
It didn't sink in at first.
Still in labour…
"Twins," Anakin said dully. "We had twins."
No. She gasped and was almost shocked when it came out as a full-bodied sob of sorrow as the enormity of that fully hit her.
She'd had another baby. Another child. And she adored Luke with everything and now there was a child that she didn't know.
Could never know.
"Why didn't Obi-Wan send them both through?" she demanded, suddenly pulling away. Anakin glanced at the bed and his eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned his attention back to her as she stood. "Why send one?"
Anakin remained silent, but he watched her. Almost as if he was waiting for something.
"No," she whispered as she suddenly realised. "No, Ani," she begged, the sorrow wracking through her like electricity and she almost lost the ability to stand. But he was there, holding her and rocking her as she cried in agony against him.
"What was it?" she asked desperately. "Ani, please, what was it?"
"I don't know," he said, sounding wrecked himself. "I didn't…we didn't see."
No. She needed to know. A gender, a name. A face. She was a mother and she'd never meet her baby. The joy she took in Luke would never be replicated for his twin. A lost child that she would never be able to claim or hold or really mourn. An echo of what would have been and a child that she never would have been able to truly meet.
She wrapped her arms around her husband as she felt his shudder and all they could do was hold on to each other.
Xxx
Dr Firra was on Naboo. Luke thought Padme might have told her to come.
They sat outside by the lake because Luke liked it there. There was a house there and it was just them most of the time. Sometimes other people came to visit and he liked it better like that. They could decide who came in and that was new and great. Plus, the whole place was beautiful which made sense because it was Padme's favourite place.
He'd never seen anything like the lake side and Anakin took chairs out there so that Luke could curl up with a holoshow or a datapad because sometimes reading was good now that he was starting to remember the sounds and the shapes. Anakin would sit with him, but often he wouldn't have anything with him. Most of the time he seemed to be thinking hard.
He'd been like that since he'd come back from saving people with his lightsabre attached to his belt again. Luke had gotten lost in his head and then Anakin and Old Ben had come back and brought him back and Padme had started to make it better.
"Do you feel like want to say it today?"
He nodded slowly and scrunched up his toes as he swung his legs a little. Then drew them up to make himself small because it helped, somehow.
"My Mom was from Naboo. Padme is from Naboo. My Mom is from Naboo," Luke plucked at the thread on his sleeve, keeping his knees to his chest like it might stop his heart from thumping out of his chest when he said that out loud.
"Now your father," Dr Firra encouraged. "Tell me something you know."
"My Dad…" Luke frowned. "Was a Jedi. Anakin was a Jedi. My Dad was a Jedi."
"What about his flying?" Dr Firra asked with a small smile.
"My Dad was a pilot. Anakin is a pilot. My Dad is a pilot."
"Well done," she praised.
Down the beach, Padme and Anakin were stood gazing out over the lake. They looked good together, he thought. Anakin's hair already looked lighter here because of the sun and Padme fit just into the crook of his chin.
They were like story characters, Luke thought.
They'd been sad lately, he thought. They'd asked him strange questions days after he'd had that horrible vision. They'd asked him about friends and other children his age. He'd tried to remember his friends on Tattooine or onboard some of the ships that had kids too, but he didn't think it had been what they were looking for.
They were sad and he wished they weren't. Sometimes the things in his head upset them and he wondered if maybe they didn't always have to know what was in there.
They were the story tale characters, but sometimes they needed to be looked after too.
He pushed his foot down into the ground as he sat up properly and took a deep breath. "My Mom and Dad are on the beach," he tried and a juddering terror swept through him. What if they weren't there? What if he went back to the future? What if he got used to it and then they all vanished and he was alone again?
Mom and Dad were heroes. Are heroes.
"Tell me about a day," Dr Firra suggested quietly.
"P…Mom wakes me up," Luke said, and the juddering terror began again. "And we meditate together while…while Dad does exercises. M…Mom and I swim and then Dad finds us-" His voice failed because that was…that was a story that he was describing. A silly fantasy that he'd had as a baby.
She waited.
"And…" his voice was barely there. "And we go exploring while Mom works. And then we eat together. Sometimes Dad takes me flying or we explore. Then, at night, we watch something on the holonet or Mom reads a story and I get a bath. I go to bed and if I have bad dreams, I can wake up Mom and Dad and they hug me.
"And Dad is strong," Luke added, his voice gaining bit of strength. "And brave. And good. And he says no-one will ever hurt me. And he makes my Delta 7 fly. And he gave up being a Jedi to be my Dad. And Mum is clever and wise and people listen to her because everyone knows she has good ideas. And she's beautiful and swims really well, better than Dad."
"What's your father's name?"
"Anakin," Luke replied, a little braver now because they'd done this a few times. "And Mom is Padme and I've already changed their lives so they might not die." His jaw clenched and then he looked up, meeting her gaze firmly. He could see the moment of surprise in her eyes.
"But it doesn't matter 'cause I'm gonna save them," he told her, clenching his jaw and tilting his head like his Mom did when she was gonna tell people what to do. "'cause they saved me."
