Precipice by shadowsong26
Reunion: Chapter 5
"There's someone you should meet."
Padmẻ 's hand was warm in his, feeling exactly like it had ten years ago; Leia was right behind him, poking her head around for a better look; and Luke was on Padmẻ 's other side, a little shy, a little nervous, maybe; but both kids were practically vibrating with anticipation and curiosity. He probably wouldn't have needed the Force to pick that up.
If Anakin could have held on to this moment and made it last forever, he would have. Because the four of them were together again, at last, after ten years, and it was...it was...it was everything he'd ever hoped it could be. It was, if not actually perfect, the next best thing. Near enough that if it weren't for the wholly tactile sense of Padmẻ 's hand on his-and the fact that his actual dreams were never this happy-he wouldn't have believed it was real.
And Padmẻ - just seeing her again was...was...he didn't have the words for it. It was almost like picking up where they'd left off, in some ways. She hadn't changed all that much. Not in any way that mattered. Sure, there were were new lines decorating her face-soft smile lines at the corners of her eyes and worry lines traced across her forehead, but those just made her more beautiful. She was still small and dark-haired and perfect and brilliant, burning through his every sense with her bright light of courage and joy and kindness.
(She definitely hadn't changed as much as he had-he only hoped she wasn't disappointed in what she saw.)
She was happy, though-brilliantly, deliriously happy; just as happy as he was. There was that. He held on to that, as hard as he could.
In all honesty, he didn't want to take his eyes off of her-not ever, ever again-but this wasn't just about the two of them. There was Leia-and Luke.
Anakin let go of his wife's hand and turned his attention to his son, smiling down at him. "Hello, Luke," he said.
"Hi," he said, with a warm but slightly tentative smile of his own.
And, even though he'd spent probably way too much time over the past ten years planning and preparing for this moment, every possible thing Anakin could say flew right out of his head. "I'm. Uh. I'm your dad. You've...you've grown a lot, since the last time I saw you."
He was babbling. Oh, Force, he was babbling, why did he always do this.
Leia cut in then, much to his relief, stepping all the way out in front of him. Out of habit, and because he liked having her close, he rested his hands on her shoulders and squeezed lightly; trying to be encouraging.
Not that she seemed to need it. "I'm Leia," she said. "You're my brother."
She was a lot better at this kind of thing than he was. Just like her mother.
"Hi," Luke said, grinning at her, most of his shyness gone. "I always wanted a sister. Prob'ly should've figured out I already had one."
She beamed at him, with an open, easy confidence and familiarity that Anakin found extremely encouraging, if completely unsurprising. They'd been dreaming about one another for years, after all. And even without the dreams, Anakin suspected they would've recognized one another right away. They had always been tied together in the Force-two starbursts; that was how he'd seen them from the very beginning, before he even knew what he was looking at. Of course they greeted each other like old friends. Even if each of them had a parent they barely remembered, and that was a different story.
And, sure enough, Leia looked up at Padmẻ then, and Anakin felt a faint stab of uncertainty-almost matching the look Luke had given him-which she quickly covered up with a stubborn, determined smile. "Hi," she said.
Padmẻ smiled back. "Hello, Leia," she said. She paused for half a second there; as if even she wasn't totally sure what to say. "I've...I've missed you," she finally added. "So much."
It was all pretty overwhelming, Anakin thought. For all four of them.
"Yeah," Leia said. "It's good to meet you. Um. See you again." She flushed a little. "Hi."
"We have a lot of catching up to do, I know," Padmẻ said. "...can I give you a hug? I feel like that's a good place to start."
"Sure," Leia said, and Anakin let her go. She stepped into Padmẻ 's waiting arms; after a beat, she wrapped her own around her mother's waist.
And they just- fit. Everything settled into place around them, and that slightly uncertain tension that had been hovering around them at least mostly dissipated. Even though, like Padmẻ had said, they still had a lot of catching up to do-so much stolen time to make up for-they'd passed this first, awkward hurdle.
As with so many things, his wife had been absolutely right-hugs were an excellent place to start.
On that note…
Anakin half-turned back to Luke, and opened his arms in silent invitation.
Luke lit up and half-collided with him in his rush to accept, warm and bright and happy like another sun in the sky.
Anakin wasn't sure how long the four of them stayed like that-not long enough, in some ways, but...well, one step at a time. Like Padmẻ had said, this was just the beginning. They had three days together. There would be more hugs. There would be more of a lot of things.
So he let go, before it got awkward; around when Padmẻ let go of Leia. Since Luke didn't seem interested in pulling away, that was probably his best gauge for timing on all of this.
"Missed you, sunshine," he said, ruffling Luke's hair. And, by some miracle, managed to leave it at that.
"M'glad you and Leia could come, Dad," Luke said, which was-Anakin would have to ask other people with more than one kid, if that first time being called 'Dad' still felt special with each one. Because it sure as hell did for him.
There was a brief silence then, with none of them quite sure what to say after that. Leia finally broke the spell, which was another completely unsurprising thing, tugging on Anakin's sleeve to get his attention.
"Hey, Dad, can we go outside?" she asked. "'Cause I saw the gardens from the lift and they look really cool."
His first instinct was to say yes, of course-the gardens here were beautiful, enough that he kind of wanted to explore them himself. Besides, it had been a long time since her last off-planet adventure, a long time with just the desert around her to see. And they'd never been able to sneak her into someplace like this. She should have this opportunity.
Still, while Anakin knew Senator Organa would've thought of this and made sure the kids would have time and a safe place to play outside together, he wasn't sure exactly what the boundaries were. And they still couldn't afford to be discovered.
So he deferred to Padmẻ . "What do you think?"
"I think that's a great idea," Padmẻ said. "We can all explore for a while, and get to know one another a little better."
"Sounds good," Anakin said. ...and then turned back to the door because he'd just realized that Obi-Wan had been standing there this entire time, on the fringes of their reunion, and they hadn't-Force, they hadn't introduced him to Luke, hadn't even really given him a chance to say hello to Padmẻ ...
Though, in their defense, they had had a pretty good reason to be distracted.
But Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head. "I'll leave you four to it," he said. "I should say hello to our hosts, anyway."
Which...well, a part of Anakin wanted to object. Obi-Wan was part of their family, too-an important part-and he had come to Alderaan with them for a reason. Beyond just coordinating and touching base with Senator Organa, on a more extended, in-depth basis than they'd been able to manage since Polis Massa. This reunion was for him, too.
But at the same time…
"You'll join us later, though?" Padmẻ asked.
"Absolutely," Obi-Wan assured her, with a smile. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." He nudged at Anakin's mind briefly- no, of course I don't feel left out, relax and enjoy this moment with them, we have three days to catch up all together.
Anakin grinned, and poked him back, thank you, brother, I love you, thank you. "We'll see you in a few hours, then," he said.
"I'll find you," he promised, then bowed briefly to Padmẻ and left with Arid to find the Senator.
"Bye, Uncle Obi-Wan," Leia called after him, then, redirecting with the speed that only a small child who had been promised a chance to play could manage, turned back to her parents. "Gardens now?"
"Yep," Anakin said.
"We need to stay behind the blue wall," Padmẻ said. "All right? There are a couple other areas that are safe for us to go, but for now, we'll stick to that. Don't wander off too far."
"We won't, Mom," Luke promised, and squeezed his sister's hand briefly.
"Good," she said, and smiled.
And then-well, the twins had each other, so Anakin bowed, as formal and courtly as he could manage, and offered Padmẻ his arm. Just like he used to, on those rare occasions when he could be near her in public. As a cover for what they really felt.
Which-kriffing hell, they didn't have to do that anymore, at least not here, and that felt strange and wonderful and terrifying and liberating all at once.
But the old patterns felt familiar, and comfortable, and romantic and electric and all those good things, so there they were.
"Milady," he said, softly.
Padmẻ 's eyes were sparkling, but she kept her face smooth and gave him a regal nod before accepting, threading her hand through his. Just like she used to do. Just as if they were ten years younger and on Coruscant again. "Master Jedi."
The twins looked at one another, then, in unison, rolled their eyes. Which made Padmẻ start giggling, which did sort of kill the moment, but in the best possible way.
Because they were all here. It was finally actually sinking in. They'd made it this far. He and Padmẻ and the twins-his family; most of the people he loved most in the world. And Obi-Wan was close, and even if Rex and Ahsoka weren't there in person…
This moment was still pretty damn perfect. This moment felt whole.
Their patterns were changing now, for the better.
And in the kids' defense, he did remember what being ten was like.
He laughed a little, and squeezed Padmẻ 's hand lightly. "I guess we are pretty gross, aren't we."
"Very," she agreed, solemnly, then leaned up and kissed his cheek.
Leia rolled her eyes again, then nudged Luke before dropping his hand. "Come on, I'll race you." And, without giving him a chance to answer, she was off like a shot.
"Hey, wait!" Luke said, already darting off, hard on her heels.
"H-stay where we can see you!" Anakin called after them, even though there wasn't really a point anymore. He frowned a little, but Padmẻ leaned into him a little, running a soothing hand down his back.
"Relax," she said. "Let them have their fun together. They'll be fine."
He took a breath, and let it out slowly. "I know," he said. They were good kids, clever and brave and resourceful. And he trusted Senator Organa's arrangements, or else he wouldn't be here. "I just…"
"Don't want to let them out of your sight right now?"
"Can you blame me?" he asked, a little sheepishly.
"Nope," she said, and kissed him again-properly, this time.
And, with no ten-year-olds to offend, he kissed her back, lingering. "I've missed you, my love," he murmured, when they at last pulled away.
"Me, too," she said. "The letters were...your letters were so wonderful, and they made it almost bearable, but…"
"It's not the same."
"It's not the same." She leaned into his chest for just a moment. "I'm glad you're here."
He kissed the top of her head. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."
One more kiss, and then she pulled away a little and smile. "We should probably go after them, though," she said. "They're our children, after all. Even if they stay in bounds…"
There was no end to the trouble Luke and Leia could get into together.
"You are absolutely right," he said. "Let's go find them before they start getting Ideas."
Padmẻ laughed and kissed his cheek again, then took his hand and tugged him toward the door.
And then, hand in hand, Anakin and Padmẻ stepped out into the sunlight to watch their children play.
Original Author's Notes: Sorry for the long delay, guys 3 Next chapter shouldn't take as long, lol.
Thanks so much for your patience, and see you next time! ~shadowsong
