-8-
The wedding between Anakin and Lunae was one of the most beautiful events on Alderaan, with not only the Minx family in attendance but so many of the friends they had made on Alderaan. While Anakin had invited the Lars from Tatooine to attend, even offering them access to a ship to ferry them to and fro, they hadn't come with the excuse they were busy. Anakin was moderately torn about that; ever since Lunae had come into his life and she was now expecting their first baby, his beliefs and mindsets had shifted so dramatically; while he had blamed the Lars for being useless in keeping watch over his mother, and being useless in saving her, Anakin had realised they were not to blame. But he had decided to send the Lars some holos of the wedding, and a letter saying he was sorry about how things had gone between them.
To his surprise, Ahsoka had turned up. Lunae had been scared of meeting the Togrutan girl, afraid Ahsoka would not like her, but surprisingly they had hit it off. Likewise, Anakin had been worried about how Lunae and Ahsoka would interact, considering how sharp-tongued his former apprentice could be.
But to his astonishment and amazement, they got along wonderfully, and it wasn't long before he found them laughing at moments when he had done something stupid or weird…much to his horror. By this point, Lunae had collected a lot of evidence he had done some stupid and embarrassing things, and she was pleased to share them with Ahsoka, who had stories of her own.
Also in attendance were members of the Jedi Council, although he was surprised when Obi-Wan had actually contacted him out of curtesy and asked if it was alright instead of simply arriving like they were entitled to it and crashing the party, and Lunae agreed, and even a few knights and padawans came, including Caleb Dume, and some younglings. Anakin was surprised to see them; Obi-Wan later told him the Council wanted their Order to see something wonderful.
It was also something…special, and unique to see Jedi younglings interact with young children outside of their order for the very first time. Many of the guests were friends to Lunae, and to her family, so there were plenty of kids. One of the many things Anakin had never liked about the Jedi, was how they took children away from their families and forbade any kind of mixing outside the Temple, but there was nothing they could do about it here.
Privately, Anakin felt the Jedi Council had wanted to boost the morale of the Order after so many uncomfortable truths had spread beyond their control, but whatever the reason, Anakin and Luane had loved the younglings being present, especially when they played with other kids their ages.
Personally, Anakin felt that was one of the nicest things the Jedi could ever do, really; the younglings were removed from their families at a very young age. They never truly interacted with children from outside the Order. But Anakin was pleased they didn't care about that, and it was a joy to see their youthful delight at making new friends, but only time would tell if the Jedi Masters would allow those friendships to flourish.
As he watched the children play, Anakin rested a hand on the growing baby in Lunae. His new bride smiled at him, gently placing her hand on top of his.
"In another month, we'll be parents," Anakin's voice was filled with pure awe and fear. He had longed for a family his whole life, wanting to have children running around, and playing.
"I know. You've been getting the nursery ready for weeks now," Lunae's heart had lifted as if it had been levitated by repulsers when she had seen the level of dedication Anakin had shown in decorating the nursery. He had worked so hard, planning a small wardrobe, changing table, a toy chest, and the crib.
All by hand!
He had painted everything after getting the wood from some of his friends and new contacts here on Alderaan, but the level of care and the amount of his time he had invested in the project spoke of his nature. Just thinking about it made Lunae even more determined to reward her brand-new husband for his efforts.
Anakin smirked when he caught her thoughts. "Don't, Lunae," he warned.
"What do you mean, husband?" Lunae asked coyly.
"We'll be lucky to leave the bedroom!" Anakin chuckled, making his wife laugh.
-8-
Unknown to the Skywalkers, Obi-Wan Kenobi was watching with a great deal of envy. How he wished he and Satine had gotten where Anakin and Lunae were, but he was genuinely happy for his friend, but what he was even more pleasantly pleased about was how Lunae was totally different and dissimilar from Padme.
Oh, while the Twi'lek was strong-willed in her own way, Obi-Wan was delighted the complex relationship Anakin had once had with Padme was no longer here. He had never liked how involved his former apprentice had been with Padme, to say nothing of how he felt about how close Anakin was to Palpatine; politicians were always more trouble than they were worth, the only reason he'd tolerated both was because of how happy - seemingly - Anakin was with both Palpatine and with Padme, and truthfully, even now, Obi-Wan couldn't work out what happened to the once brave Padme Amidala.
It took a moment for Obi-Wan to realise someone had come up next to him.
"They're definitely happy," Sabe, one of Padme's oldest friends, commented.
"Yes, they are," Obi-Wan turned with a smile that wasn't tinged with pity anymore. He had learnt Sabe, along with many others in Padme's staff had resigned, apparently taking Anakin's own departure as a cue. But he did wonder what happened to the once noble Queen. "How are you, Lady Sabe, and may I say how surprising it is to see you?"
Sabe giggled. "Oh, I'm doing well, Master Kenobi, thank you for asking," she replied. "As for how I'm here…after Anakin divorced Padme, well, that was the cue for all of us to leave. We got in touch with Anakin, and soon we became friendly with Lunae and her family. In many ways, they remind us of the Naberries."
Obi-Wan felt her sadness towards her former best friend. "What happened with her anyway?" he asked, he had hoped this wouldn't come up, but his curiosity got the better of him.
Sabe sighed. "Power went to her head," she said with a sad expression. "It happened gradually, but it happened. When she was Queen, she was flattered when everyone celebrated her bravery in returning to deal with the occupation."
"That's not exactly fair," Obi-Wan couldn't help but point out, but he was sensing a lot of resentment and even some jealousy and hurt from Sabe, so he couldn't help but comment on it. "You were there, and you risked your own life."
"I know, and at first she took it with good grace, but then she began taking advantage of it. It was little things, but she would demand concessions by saying she had helped her people, stuff like that, but if you'd really like to know how she changed, it was how she treated us, her friends. Suddenly she made nasty jokes that were cruel, mocking us for not being elected, stuff like that, and she changed even more when she became a senator. I had hoped she would retire and just return to being the person she was, the friend I grew up with, and realise what she'd become. But she didn't. When she became a senator, she started being invited to parties, even visiting worlds like Zygerria."
Obi-Wan felt his heart chill for the moment, remembering the mission there, and how Anakin had felt….
As if sensing his thoughts, Sabe bit her lip, nodding. "She began forcing the slaves to do humiliating things for her, just for favours on the political ladder for her own benefit. But she made them do other things, and she even tortured a few of them; at first, she didn't like it, but she came to enjoy it. And when I say torture, I mean sexual torture."
Obi-Wan dearly didn't know for sure what was worse, the fact the young girl who had seen the slavery on Tatooine, or that she had turned around and realised she didn't care. He wondered what Padme had done, but then realised he didn't want to know.
But he wasn't sure if he wanted to know if Anakin even knew about this.
"What else did she do?" Obi-Wan asked.
"She began blackmailing senators into following the policies she supported and she even cheated on Anakin behind his back, mocking him for being a naive little boy."
"Does Anakin know about this?"
Sabe bit her lip again, nodding. "We told him when we found he was here, on Alderaan," she whispered as she recalled his reaction. "He was horrified by what she had done on Zygerria, but Lunae was able to reassure him about how she had cheated on him, justifying it all by saying he wasn't there. But she would do it even when he was, behind his back."
As the conversation moved on, thankfully to much more pleasant and politically absent topics, Obi-Wan rediscovered why this young woman was such a joy to be around.
-8-
Anakin had discovered many forms of dancing and waltzes in his time with Lunae.
His new wife was truly fond of it. She had taken many dancing lessons as a child, but truthfully she just loved to dance, and didn't really care much about the techniques as long as she danced. She had never truly liked how people believed dancing should be controlled, believing it an art form without direction.
"I think those two would make a lovely couple," Lunae whispered to him, and she turned him around so he could see Obi-Wan together with Sabe. Anakin smirked. "I think you're right," he murmured loud enough for his wife to hear him. "She's mature and his type. I've been worried about Obi-Wan for some time, now," he went on, "ever since the Duchess Satine was murdered on Mandalore, Obi-Wan has been changed because of it. They had a thing going for each other. I learnt they had met when he was a padawan himself. He even planned to leave the Order to be with her, but decided not to, and I think he's regretted that ever since."
Lunae closed her eyes, upset for the man. She had only spoken with the Jedi Master a handful of times, but she liked him and didn't like the thought of him being hurt. "I know enough about Jedi to know they move on," she said. "Do you think he'd move on to Sabe?"
"Only time would tell."
-8-
Out of politeness, Jedi Master Mace Windu was doing something he had never pictured himself doing, dancing at a wedding, with his former apprentice Depa Billaba. Ignoring the giggling younglings, but sending them a brief, kind smile, Mace and Depa danced as well as they could.
"They look like a lovely couple," Depa commented as she studied Obi-Wan and Sabe.
Mace turned and saw them. As the Master of the Order, he should be frowning at the sight, but things were changing. If there was one thing witnessing that possible future showing the fall of the Jedi Order, it was how they had become so complacent and stagnant over the centuries.
"They do," he murmured in agreement, and he wondered if those feelings Obi-Wan had when the Duchess Satine was murdered by that Sith animal were true.
Something told him they were.
"What exactly is Master Yoda going to do about the code?" Depa asked.
"I don't know, but I'm more worried about how the rest of the Order will take it. There's talk of the Order being moved to Tython and other planets; historically, that's a risk, as so many of us turned. But Yoda does not want the Order to fall, ever since he saw those visions in the Force after it came into balance."
"He thinks keeping the Order under one roof is a disaster waiting to happen?"
"He does, but I think after the way Barriss Offee bombed the temple, he wants to see us grow and change; that only came out when we saw those visions. He was shaken when it was discovered Palpatine was Darth Sidious and what could have happened, and he doesn't want that to happen again, ever."
"It's hard to believe so much is changing because of one single night," Depa flushed a little, and she couldn't help but glance in the direction she could sense Anakin and his new wife, her gaze fixating on the growing baby within Lunae's womb.
Mace followed her gaze, and agreed with her.
-8-
After saying goodbye to their guests, and heading for the hotel they would stay in for one night before they went on their honeymoon, Anakin prepared two glasses of non-alcoholic sparkling cider, but when Lunae walked in, naked, he forgot the drinks.