Padmé smiled—not her pleasant, restrained Senate smile, but the real smile that floated up from her very soul, kind and welcoming as a temperate summer morning, and before Ahsoka had time to wonder what she ought to do next, the older woman stepped forward and tucked her into a warm hug.

"Ahsoka, I'm so glad to see you."

There were many things which Ahsoka could, and perhaps should, have said—I'm so happy to see you too, where were you, how have you been—but, for some unaccountable reason, the first words out of her mouth were, "I swear, I never promised Luke anything about flying!"

Padmé burst into laughter, patting her shoulder reassuringly as she pulled away. "I didn't suppose you had. He's a little obsessed, as I'm sure you've observed. It didn't help that Obi-Wan let him sit on his lap and 'fly' the ship a couple of times on the way here."

"I wouldn't have thought he'd ever encourage a Skywalker to fly."

"I think it reminds him of old times with Anakin, before—" she broke off, her lips pursed in a small, tight frown.

There was a wash of muted grief in the Force around her, and the dry, quiet crackle of an anger faded, but not forgotten.

"I'm sorry if I mentioned something I shouldn't have," Ahsoka said. Padmé shook her head. "Please, don't worry about it. There's so much that neither of us knows about the other's last six years. Where have you been all this time?"

"It feels like I've been everywhere, mostly running missions for Bail."

"Alone?"

"No—I've made a few friends, and Rex goes with me sometimes."

Padmé's brows knit in confusion. "Rex, the 501st captain? How…?"

"Do you know about the chips?"

"Yes, some of my informants have spoken of them."

"They didn't exert perfect control. Rex was able to resist his long enough to have it removed. The others… they couldn't."

"I'm sorry."

No one spoke for a moment. As the silence began to verge on awkward, Ahsoka began again. "And you, what have you been up to? How have you managed to completely hide Obi-Wan from the Empire's notice? He's at the top of the wanted list for Jedi, and word has it that Vader would very much prefer to deal with him personally." She shrugged. "I guess some things never change."

"What things?" asked Luke, who had been quietly observing the exchange between his mother and his aunt.

"Things like your uncle being a villain magnet. Hasn't he ever told you about that?"

"I think he's avoided emphasizing that particular point," said Padmé.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Of course he has. Well, Luke, it seems that Uncle Ben has the knack of making himself the top priority of all his enemies."

"How?"

"I wish I knew." She turned back to Padmé. "So, where have you been hiding? There hasn't been so much as a whisper through the Imp grapevine that you might be alive. Which is weird, actually. You'd think there would be a few conspiracy theories, at least, but I guess Imperial command has cracked down on those. Anyway. Where've you been?"

"You'll never guess."

"Outer Rim?"

"Tatooine."

"Tatooine? But—but—the sand!" For a moment, it was outrageously funny, picturing her very annoyed master forced to dwell in a place covered in his most despised substance. Ahsoka's levity deflated quickly, however. Her master would never have been willing to live on Tatooine, much less to see his children raised there, and if Padmé had been on Tatooine with Luke, Leia, and Obi-Wan, then that must mean that Anakin hadn't been there. And if he hadn't been—

Force, no.

She pushed dread away to be dealt with later, determined not to shadow the joy of a reunion which was itself so much more than she had ever dared to hope for.

"Have you ever been to Tatooine, Aunt 'Soka?" Luke asked.

"Once, a long time ago. It was not long after I became your dad's padawan. We had to rescue Jabba's son."

Luke wrinkled his nose. "Aren't the Hutts bad?"

"Politics are complicated, Luke-boy."

"I like ships better."

"Oh, I'm sure you do," she laughed.

"Uncle Ben made ships for me! Wanna see?"

"Of course I do."

Beaming, he dashed away to retrieve his ships.

Ahsoka watched with amusement before turning back to Padmé. "So… you told them I was their aunt."

"It seemed right," Padmé replied. "Anakin always talked like you were his little sister, and if everything had turned out differently, we wanted to ask if you liked the idea. If you don't like it, though—"

She broke off as Ahsoka pulled her into another hug. "I love it. I love my nephew already, and I can't wait to meet my niece."

"She and Obi-Wan should be back soon. She found a spot she liked out in the jungle when they went for a walk yesterday, and she wanted to play there this afternoon. They went out several hours ago, so her attention span has probably just about reached its limit by now."

Luke soon returned, carrying a small box which he set down on the floor, plopping himself down beside it with the clear expectation that Ahsoka was to do the same. She did, accordingly. Luke, eyes closed, extended both hands toward the box, and the lid lifted, waveringly. He opened his eyes and looked up at Padmé in triumph. (The lid immediately dropped to the floor with a clunk.)

"See Mama? I've been practicing!"

Ahsoka raised one eyemarking. "Frivolous use of the Force?"

"Integrated practice of life skills," Padmé countered, and Ahsoka snorted.

"Arguments between you and the Negotiator must sound like dueling dictionaries."

"Leia'n me've learned lots of big words," Luke agreed. "But Aunt 'Soka, look!"

He held out a wedge-shaped toy ship, carved out of wood. "This's my Venator, and she's called Krayt II."

"Is there a Krayt I?"

He studied the floor rather sheepishly. "Um… there was? I kind of made her crash into a rock a while ago. But I was little then," he added, with all the dignity of his six years.

Ahsoka groaned. (Mostly in jest.) "Oh, Force help us—already crashing ships, and he hasn't even started flying yet. I don't know why the lot of you are called Skywalker, because Skyfaller seems a whole lot more appropriate."

Padmé's lips twitched as with amusement, but again the Force rippled with sadness, and again there was the dull rasp of old anger. There was a story there, Ahsoka thought, one which had something to do with her master. She did not ask, however. If it was relevant to her as Anakin's former padawan, Padmé would tell her. If it was not, then Ahsoka could respect the woman's silence.

The tour of Luke's fleet continued, the boy chattering happily about the finer points of each ship. His enthusiasm was contagious, and Ahsoka became sufficiently absorbed in his exposition so as to entirely miss the sound of the apartment door opening and the patter of footsteps that followed, and indeed not to notice the presence of newcomers until a tiny, brunette girl trotted over and plopped herself down beside Luke. "Whatcha doin'?"

Then she looked up at Ahsoka. "Are you Luke's new friend?"

"She's Aunt 'Soka!" Luke exclaimed, before Ahsoka had time to answer. "She's grown-up now, but it's her. Oh, Aunt 'Soka, this is Leia."

Leia leaned forward and held out her hand politely. "Hello, Aunt Ahsoka."

Ahsoka took the offered hand in her own. Though Leia's hand was diminutive and fragile-looking, her grip was firm and decided.

"It's nice to meet you," Leia said. Evidently having decided that she had had enough of formalities, she flopped forward to sprawl over her aunt's lap, and then looked up with wide, pleading eyes and just a hint of an adorable moue. "Will you tell us a story? Please? About when you were a padawan?"

"Hey, she's looking at my ships!"

"After you're done with Luke's ships?"

"We'll see. I need to see your uncle first."

As if on cue, Padmé—who had left the room upon Leia's arrival—reentered, followed by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who wore an expression of puzzlement. Both twins were on their feet in an instant, each tugging on one of Ahsoka's hands in an attempt to pull her to her feet.

"Uncle Ben!"

"Uncle Obi!"

"Look!"

"Aunt 'Soka's here!"

The Jedi master's look of puzzlement faded to—well, Ahsoka couldn't rightly say, for the world blurred before her eyes as she disentangled herself from the twins and bounded across the room in only a couple of strides, arms outstretched. She came up short, however, just a yard or so from her grandmaster, as she remembered that he had never been one for fervent displays of affection. There was an awkward pause for several seconds, as they stared at each other—Ahsoka looking for direction, and Obi-Wan… appraising, hesitant, even… cautious? Almost as if he doubted her identity—or her allegiance?

She reached out toward him with the Force. Hey, it's really me. And I may not be a Jedi, but like hells would I spy for the Imps. Without a training bond, he wouldn't hear the actual words, but they had spent enough time together that the sentiment would come across clear enough.

The tension in Obi-Wan's posture eased, and a smile crept in at the corners of his mouth. Ahsoka inched closer and held out her arms again. "Master Obi-Wan—can I—?"

For answer, her grandmaster stepped forward and enfolded her in a snug embrace, which, while unexpected, was not the least bit unwelcome. It seemed that the Negotiator had finally run out of words. Ahsoka buried her face in his shoulder like she had during a few campaigns, back in the war, when Anakin hadn't been there, and Obi-Wan had stepped in as surrogate comforter-after-nightmares. Unlike in those days, she now had to lean down to do it.

"Poor Master Obi-Wan," she said, with a rather wobbly giggle, "back to being the shortest of your lineage."

"Really, young one, is that an appropriate way to greet your grandmaster?" he replied, mock-chiding, but none too steady of voice himself.

Call it payback for letting me think you'd died again, she almost said, but this was not the time. She didn't want to spoil the happiness of reunion by mentioning old hurts, even in jest. So instead, she just hugged him a little tighter.

"I'm so glad you made it," she murmured into his now slightly-damp shoulder. "I thought everyone else was gone."

"Not quite. But I didn't dare to hope that you would have survived. I feared that he would have—" he cut off, drawing back, his expression darkening into something grim that accentuated the lines around his mouth and the creases at the corners of his eyes, which were deeper than they should have been, even after six years on Tatooine. His hair, too, told of some dire strain, for the vivid ginger had begun to fade to grey at his temples, and his beard was likewise threaded with grey.

"Obi-Wan, what happened?" Ahsoka asked softly. "Who is this 'he' you're talking about? What were you afraid he would have done? What happened to you and Padmé? And—and Anakin?"

He turned away, but not quickly enough to hide the pain that flashed across his face. "It's a bit of a long story, and not a very pleasant one, I'm afraid."

She didn't want to make Obi-Wan relive unpleasant memories, but Maul's words to her on Mandalore had begun to echo in her mind with alarming persistency.

What do you want with Anakin Skywalker? she had asked.

He is the key to everything.

To bring balance to the Force?

To destroy. He has long been groomed for his role, as my master's new apprentice.

Obi-Wan's pain, Padmé's anger. Had Maul been right? He couldn't have been. Anakin wouldn't have turned. He would never. (Would he?) And if he would have turned, would it have been her fault for leaving, for abandoning him to the Chancellor's machinations?

"I need to know. About Anakin, at least. What happened to him?"

Her grandmaster heaved a sigh. "I will tell you later, after Luke and Leia are in bed. For now, though, I believe you have some rather important business to finish?" He gestured to the diminutive fleet spread on the floor before Luke, who was watching his aunt and uncle in an attitude of doleful long-suffering.

"Trying to get rid of me already, are you?" Ahsoka asked.

She said it lightly, but the words seemed to take on the weight of stone as they reached Obi-Wan. His shoulders rounded ever so slightly, as if beneath some burden, and he sighed again. "I'm sorry, Ahsoka. I should have done more. I should have looked for evidence, tried to persuade the Council…."

"Master, what are you—are you talking about the Temple bombing?"

"Yes. Can you forgive me?" he asked, gravely.

"What would I forgive? I know you voted for my innocence. I also know there's nothing you could have done to convince a majority. Besides, someone needed to stay in the Council's good graces, and of the three of us, it pretty much had to be you."

"You aren't angry?"

"Not anymore. Not with you anymore," she clarified. "I'm still kriffing pissed with the Council, for all the good that does. But not with you."

Maybe she still had been when she had gone to Mandalore, a year after the Order reviled her. Maybe she still would be, if her entire world hadn't been blown to smithereens. Maybe she still would be, if she hadn't believed that she had lost everything of her old home. But for six years, she had believed that, and it was impossible to be upset when a bit of the family she had lost was now restored.

So, with a what-the-hells shrug, she threw her arms around Obi-Wan one more time for good measure, lowering her shields just enough to let her happiness bubble forth. An unpleasant conversation loomed like towering storm clouds on the horizon, but for now she would dance in the sunlight.

When Rex answered his comm later that afternoon, he was met with a holo of the Commander. There was an odd little gleam in her eye, a faint twitch to the corner of her mouth, as of a grin just barely held in check, and a buoyancy of spirits about her that he hadn't seen since she was a padawan. And her tone was nothing short of smug as she held out her hand and said, "Pay up."

"Hey?"

"I'm collecting on an old bet. Credits. Now."

"Which old bet? The one about how many times General Kenobi would have to lose his lightsaber before Cody gave up and glued it to his hand? Or the one about whether General Skywalker would pretend to get himself killed in some horrifically gruesome way as revenge on General Kenobi?" (That second one had come about as a gallows-humor way to help the distract the distressed and frustrated grandpadawan during the fallout of the Rako Hardeen incident.)

"Nope. Neither. Try again."

"I can't think of anything."

He didn't really care to dedicate much thought to the matter, though. So many of the old bets had centered around the 501st and the Jedi, of course, and those that hadn't had mostly involved either the leaders of the CIS, or the General and the Senator. Thinking through those bets was akin to walking down a long road littered with the corpses of fallen comrades.

"Here's a hint: I met my nephew yesterday."

"You don't have a nephew."

"That's what you think!" The Commander was fairly giddy with mirth.

"'Soka, have you been drinking?"

"Only tea."

"Tea? You're not usually one for tea."

"I am when old friends offer."

"Which old friends would those be?" He tried running through a list of possibilities, but soon gave that up, unable to think of any possible survivors who could inspire Ahsoka to such lighthearted... bounciness.

"You'll have to come find out," she singsonged, and then provided him with her location. "And don't forget to bring twenty Republic credits with you."

"What do you think you're gonna do with Republic credits in this economy?"

"Keep them as spoils of my victory, of course. Now, hurry up. Come meet your niece and nephew." And she was gone.