Chapter Text
Coming home to Coruscant felt decidedly strange.
They’d arrived halfway through the day, Bail meeting them on a secret, previously decided-upon landing platform, all of them eager to avoid any form of media presence. Bail had pulled Padmé into a tight embrace before he did the same for both Obi-Wan and Anakin. Leia began immediately vying for his attention while also introducing her brother to the Alderaanian Senator. Luke quickly decided that Bail was the ideal victim to ask his endless questions about Coruscant, such as how it worked, and why it did that, and what it was that Bail did. At least until his mother derailed the interrogation in favour of getting them out of the public eye.
After a brief ride in an enclosed speeder, Bail surprised them all; he’d taken them and the clones to the Jedi Temple.
“I started having rooms made up once I knew you were coming,” Bail explained as they walked through the eerily quiet halls. “It was the easiest way to accommodate you all and those that I’m sure will follow. I know it’s not filled with the best memories just now, but if we don’t try, it won’t ever be again.”
Anakin couldn’t argue with that; He just wished he could still say the he couldn’t remember the last time he was here. Appo and Obi-Wan appeared to be the most disquieted by the Temple, while everyone else seeming to find the silence eerie. Luke and Leia were just excited by the enormous building with its ornate decor and towering statues.
They were housed in some of the larger accommodations, a little ways off from the Room of A Thousand Fountains and Anakin was glad he didn’t know who these rooms had originally belonged to. His family took what looked like a relatively spacious Master and Padawan suite, while the clones spread themselves out between three suites. Bail had left them soon after, citing what sounded like a complete logistical disaster in the Senate, and promising to be back tomorrow to collect Padmé, who needed to fill out a number of forms, undertake a medical exam, and jump through an alarming number of hoops in order to be legally resurrected.
“It’ll likely take a few days,” Bail had said with a sigh. “It may even take longer if they decide to give us the runaround. Oh, also I’ll send someone to bring you some clothes and food. It wouldn’t do to have you all starve.”
They all thanked Bail profusely for everything.
Anakin and his family spent the rest of that day alternating between keeping themselves busy in any way they could and sitting around uselessly and staring at the walls. Padmé seemed the most adjusted of all of them, and ended up falling asleep on one of the couches in their quarters while Luke and Leia refused to be in any room that at least one of their parents weren’t also in residence.
Once the promised food arrived, Anakin, his spouses, the children, and the clones spent the afternoon cleaning out the kitchen in the mess hall and making a large dinner to feed all ten of them. It was a quiet meal. Obi-Wan spent a lot of time staring at different places around the room and not a whole lot of time eating. The clones seemed to not be sure of what to do with themselves until Luke decided to drag them into a game of chase. Padmé appeared deep in thought and had typed out a few things on one of the holopads Bail had also had delivered to them.
Eventually, Anakin had been sucked into a card tournament with Wooley, Razor, Sinker, and Boost, Sinker absolutely wiping all of them out of their credits (read: spoons) very quickly. Cody ended up deep in quiet conversation with Obi-Wan and Padmé took the kids back to their quarters for an early bedtime. Anakin and Obi-Wan turned in perhaps an hour after that, finding Padmé laying across the bed and staring at the ceiling.
“It’s weird to be in the Temple,” Padmé noted. “I never spent much time here before.”
Before . What a word.
“We’ll make it work,” Obi-Wan assured her as they all climbed into bed.
It took awhile for any them to fall asleep.
The next morning Anakin woke to find the apartment far too quiet. A hastily scribbled note left on the counter stated that Padmé had to go meet with Bail to begin work on resurrecting herself officially, while Obi-Wan just wasn’t there. The twins were still asleep in their shared bed when he poked his head into their room.
Shrugging, Anakin set about making himself breakfast in the small kitchenette of their quarters. Of course, the moment the smell of warm toast began permeating the apartment, Luke and Leia burst from the bedroom asking for food. Well, it gave him something to do. Anakin gave up his toast to the twins, covering the thick slices in jam.
“Any good?” Anakin asked them as they tucked into the meal.
“It’s different,” Leia noted, chewing slowly.
“It’s a different berry than the jam we had on Tatooine,” Anakin explained. “Do you like it?”
Leia shrugged, muttering, “It’s okay,” but continued to eat it anyway.
Luke barely seemed to notice, scarfing down his food before scurrying off back to their room and reappearing with a small pile of paper and some pencils. “Mr Bail left us stuff,” he proclaimed, setting it on the small dining table and beginning a scribbled drawing. “Mom said we had to wait until after breakfast.”
Both children now fed and occupied, Anakin tried feeding himself again. He threw his toast together and ate it quietly while he watched the twins draw, offering the occasional suggestion. Once he’d eaten and finished tidying up the dishes, Anakin flopped unceremoniously onto the long couch, staring up at the ceiling.
He didn’t feel quite right and he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. It likely didn’t help that he kept having flashes of Sidious in his mind, which was making life a little bit difficult.
Anakin wished that there had been any other way they could have taken the Sith down, any way that meant he hadn’t had to dig down deep into the consciousness of the most vile man in the galaxy to accomplish their goal. Unfortunately, Anakin was fairly sure fighting him wouldn’t have worked, especially since he and Obi-Wan had been near-collapse by the time they had a chance to do anything. It had been an all round bad situation and they’d done what they had to get out alive.
Anakin just didn’t want any of the memories that came with it.
He knew he needed to talk to Obi-Wan and Padmé; he wanted to get it off his chest, but the thought of saying some of the stolen memories out loud just seemed so awful. His partners were giving him time, and Obi-Wan had been so supportive so far, holding him close when he’d been around and Anakin had been caught in the memories. He also just…didn’t want to worry them. They had finally done it . They had defeated Sidious . Everything was meant to be okay—
He heard the swish of the door.
“Where’d you go?” Anakin asked from the couch as Obi-Wan appeared in the doorway.
Obi-Wan startled, his eyes flashing up to Anakin’s, his right hand clenching around something Anakin couldn’t see.
“Very suspicious,” Anakin noted, sitting up. “What’s going on?”
Obi-Wan came further into the room and gave Anakin a guilty smile. “I was off booting up the Temple computer. The whole system was trying to have a little bit of a meltdown so it took longer than expected. I thought I’d be back before you woke up.”
“And?” Anakin pressed. He could feel a thin tremor of guilt humming along their bond, coming from Obi-Wan’s end.
Obi-Wan pressed his lips together, his eyes darting away for just a moment. “I was also removing the footage of the day the Temple fell from the computer. I didn’t think…” he trailed off. Obi-Wan took a deep breath, his voice gaining a stripe of steel. “I decided it would be a cruel thing to leave in the system for anyone to find, and I refuse to have your name dragged through the mud for something you didn’t do.”
“Oh.”
“I did…keep a copy though, just in case,” Obi-Wan said slowly, opening his clenched hand to show Anakin a small data-disk. “As much as I would love to destroy it, I thought it best to keep it and hide it on the off chance we ever should need it.”
Anakin nodded, trying not to think about it too hard. “That makes sense.”
“Do you want it? Or—”
“You keep it. Please,” Anakin said, looking away from the loathsome object. The last thing he needed in his life was another reminder that he’d had that monster in his head. “Don’t tell me where you hide it.”
“Of course, Anakin.”
Anakin set about distracting himself from even considering looking at where Obi-Wan stashed the thing. There was a tiny, guilty part of him that wanted to see the footage and confront what he had allowed to happen. However, the sensible part knew how terrible of an idea that would be and how completely unhelpful it would be in all senses.
By the time Obi-Wan reappeared to place a hand on his shoulder and nod seriously at him, Anakin was feeling restless.
“Shall we take the twins for a walk?” Obi-Wan suggested. “I’m sure there’s all sorts of thing in the Temple they’d love to see.”
Anakin nodded quickly, offering Obi-Wan a smile, and the two of them rounded up Luke and Leia. They began on a long walk through the temple, starting from their rooms and trawling through the surrounding hallways, both twins peeking in to nearly every doorway they passed.
Obi-Wan was clearly using the time to mentally catalogue everything they saw: what was run down, what was completely broken, and what still looked okay. Anakin ended up joining in, pointing out issues until Obi-Wan couldn’t resist any longer and pulled a small data-pad from his pocket, beginning to make a list. It was, of course, itemised and categorised by area.
The Room of a Thousand Fountains was silent and the water murky; Anakin quickly identified the water filters and pumps that needed fixing to clear the water properly. There was no power in the library, the source of which they couldn’t yet identify, but Anakin felt confident that if someone were to get into the walls, then the issue would likely present itself. Obi-Wan was concerned that Madame Nu had completed some kind of mass-wipe or hard reset of the system, worried that so much knowledge was just be gone, but Anakin hoped that it wasn’t that. The mats in all the training rooms were moth-bitten and dusty, and would definitely need to be replaced if they wanted to continue to use them. The classrooms were mostly okay, with only a few teaching screens having been damaged. The server room however, was a disaster . Sidious had clearly sent people in here in an attempt to get around Obi-Wan’s lockdown and had absolutely shredded lines and lines of wiring, and, Anakin noted, that many wires had been plugged into the wrong places. Whoever Sidious had sent clearly had no idea what they were doing.
Luke and Leia were fascinated by the whole thing. Luke had attempted to jump into the stagnant water of the Fountains, thankfully stopped mid-jump by Anakin’s quick use of the Force. They’d then had to have a serious conversation about swimming and how neither twin was allowed in here unless with an adult. The library bored them both, only briefly distracted by the busts of Jedi Masters. Obi-Wan had paused by Qui-Gon’s, muttering, “I wonder where he’s got off to,” before refocusing on their investigations. In the training rooms, Leia ran around and around the open spaces in excitement before leaping onto the mat and laughing when a plume of dust exploded out from beneath her. New, fun activity discovered, both twins spent some time throwing themselves at the mats until they had to remove Luke from the room due to sneezing. Leia also enjoyed the classrooms and spent some time fiddling with the computers after Obi-Wan and Anakin were done with them. Luke just used the whole time to climb the chairs until he discovered some training devices and began floating them around the room, the twins tossing the object back and forth to one another. By the time they got into the server room, the twins’ energy level were fading and Obi-Wan ended up carrying Luke in his arms while Leia hung off of Anakin’s arm, grumbling about being hungry.
That, of course, brought their initial investigation to a close. There was still miles of the Temple to explore, but both parents agreed that perhaps taking the twins with them was not the way to go about their search next time. If nothing else, however, they had begun a very important step in putting the Temple back together.
They took a detour past the kitchens, pulling together a selection of sandwiches—the twins were very closely monitored for fillings; no one had forgotten the adventurous picnic on Tatooine—before they took their food back to their rooms and dropped off half of the sandwiches with Sinker and Boost to feed everyone else.
The four of them ate together in the privacy of their quarters while Luke and Leia pestered the adults with questions about the Temple. Previously, their fathers talk of the Temple when they were still on Tatooine had not interested them in the slightest, but now that they were here and it was tangible, both younglings wanted to know everything .
After they had eaten and the twins had run away to play in their room, Anakin sat on the couch and stared at Obi-Wan’s back. He was leaning over the small desk in the corner, reading through something and noting things down on the holo-pad he’d been using earlier.
It felt familiar.
If they weren’t in a room that was clearly part of the Jedi Temple, they could have been home on Tatooine with Obi-Wan studiously working on something for the rebellion. Now the rebellion had accomplished its mission and—
He blinked suddenly, a realisation striking through his thoughts like a bolt of lightning.
Anakin stood up from the couch and slowly approached the back of the chair.
“So,” Anakin said, sidling up to Obi-Wan, curving over the low back of the chair and wrapping his arms around the other man’s shoulders to lean against his back and rest his head on Obi-Wan’s.
“Hmmm?” Obi-Wan asked, still focused on writing but leaning back into Anakin.
“Sidious is gone and the galaxy is back to normal.”
“True?”
“Well. We’re back in the Core and everything’s fine.”
Obi-Wan paused, tuning his head to try and look at him. “Anakin, you’re hedging around something, what is it?”
“Marry me?”
Obi-Wan went still, his blue-green eyes widening and staring in shock at Anakin.
Anakin immediately began panicking, his mouth running away from him. “I did say I would wait but you said something about it being Core-legal and we’ve kind of solved that problem and I thought that maybe now would be okay and we’ve all been dating for like four years and surely—”
“—Yes,” Obi-Wan said, smiling and twisting in the chair. “Of course, Anakin.”
All the breath left Anakin’s body in a rush, staring blankly at Obi-Wan for a moment. Then he moved, stepping around the chair and pulling Obi-Wan up to him, a loopy smile on his lips.
“Yeah?"
Obi-Wan chuckled, bringing his hand up to frame Anakin’s face, his fingers gripping just below his ears. “ Yes , Anakin.”
“Okay. I just wanted to hear it again,” Anakin said, leaning forward to rest their foreheads together.
Obi-Wan leant in, whispering, “ Yes , ” against his lips.
Anakin wasted no time in kissing him back, slotting their mouths together and leaning into the embrace. The contact sizzled its way down Anakin’s spine, desire and excitement mingling together to create a heady potion within his body. He just wanted closer . He wanted to kiss Obi-Wan until he couldn’t breathe. Obi-Wan kissed back with equal enthusiasm, his hands grasping at Anakin’s shirt and clutching him closer, a contented hum in the back of his throat. Anakin drank down the sound, tongue working its way into his lover’s mouth, demanding affection.
After one brief stumble, Anakin managed to wedge his partner on the edge of the desk, their legs slotting together perfectly. Anakin’s hands worked their way beneath Obi-Wan’s shirt, relishing the warm feeling of skin against skin, a nervous fluttering beginning to blossom in his chest.
“Hey, I’m home,” Padmé called, the whirring of the door just audible. There was a brief earthquake as two sets of feet dashed out of their bedroom and straight at their mother. Anakin noticed it, but didn’t bother to focus on it. Obi-Wan was taking up far too much of his brain space just now; warm and willing and all his. He was distantly aware of Padmé speaking to the twins.
Anakin doubled down, crowding himself against Obi-Wan, his hands sinking lower to grip his lover’s thighs and hitch them ever closer together. Obi-Wan let out a contented sigh against Anakin’s mouth, tilting his head to find a better angle. Anakin went with him, following his lead for a moment before dragging his mouth up the corner of his lips before setting a course of exploration towards his jaw, basking in the way it made Obi-Wan sigh and clutch him ever closer.
“Hello gentlemen,” Padmé greeted and Anakin finally released Obi-Wan.
“Hello,” Obi-Wan said, leaning around Anakin to look at Padmé. Anakin turned his head to see her looking at them affectionately. “How was your day?”
“Utterly hectic. There’s also something I need to discuss with you both, if you’re not too preoccupied?” she replied with a crooked smile.
“Alright,” Obi-Wan replied, and tapped Anakin’s shoulder. “Off you get.”
Anakin pouted, but stepped back, his fingers lingering on Obi-Wan’s thighs for just a little longer. Seeming to take pity on him, Obi-Wan stood up and kissed him again while twining their fingers together before leading him to sit on the couch with Padmé.
“So, while Bail and I were going through all my thrilling resurrection paperwork today, we realised the twins don’t have birth certificates.”
“That’s a slight issue,” Anakin said.
“Yes,” Padmé agreed, nodding. “Getting them forged shouldn’t be too hard at least, I contacted Kix earlier and he said Brato can do that easily.”
“What’s the issue then?” Obi-Wan asked.
“We need to finish naming the twins.”
“What?” Anakin asked.
Padmé sighed. “They have first names. We never chose a last name, or middle names for that matter.”
Obi-Wan and Anakin looked at each other for a moment, Anakin able to tell they were both feeling a very strong sense of ‘What do we do here? What does she want us to say? ’
Padmé sighed, looking between them. “Oh stop panicking, both of you. It’s not a trick question.”
They both just looked back at her.
“Gods help me,” Padmé muttered. “Look. I was thinking that since they were born on Tatooine that they should be Skywalkers. Also, I did choose their first names so that seems fair and I haven’t gotten the vibe that you’d want them to be Kenobi’s—”
Obi-Wan jumped in with, “Well, technically, they’re—”
“—Obi-Wan if you finish that sentence I will be forced to murder you,” Padmé said flatly and Obi-Wan smartly snapped his mouth shut. “I was hoping that you’d perhaps choose middle names.” She paused. “Or we can do literally anything else. What do the both of you think?”
“I think I would like them to be Skywalkers,” Anakin said softly. He liked the connection to his planet and his mother. That someone would carry on his family name warmed something unnamed and indescribable in his heart. “Also the middle name idea is nice.”
“Obi-Wan?” Padmé pressed when he continued to be silent.
“Sorry, I was thinking,” he said, blinking. “How long would I have to pick?”
Padmé made an apologetic face. “A couple of hours? I promised Kix I would get back to him as soon as I can, we need the certificates tomorrow. Sorry.”
“No, that’s okay. We probably should have thought of this before they were five years old.”
Padmé nodded, smiling. “That’s fair.”
“Also,” Anakin jumped in, “I officially just proposed, so…wedding?”
Padmé snorted. “I hope you’re both okay to have it on Naboo because if we do anything else we will all be banned from my family.”
“I thought that might be the case,” Anakin said. “Though I’d also be down with tomorrow.”
“The three of us are not doing what we did, Ani,” Padmé replied, though she was smiling at him. “We will have something official we can invite our friends and family to and it will be lovely.” She chewed on her lower lip. “If we push everything though the Senate relatively quickly though, we could feasibly get married within six months,” Padmé said slowly. “If I put Sola and Mother on the case they would be able to handle the Naboo end of things.”
“Did you not want to wait on the rest of you and Obi-Wan’s wedding outfits?” Anakin asked. “Six months seems rather short for the rate you two were going at.” An understatement. Neither Obi-Wan or Padmé had gotten any more items of clothing for one another since the shawl. Obi-Wan had bought Padmé a tunic in Mos Espa, but that didn’t seem like a wedding gift and Anakin was fairly sure he heard Padmé request the thing. Regardless, he didn’t want to hurry either of them if they wanted to do it the proper way.
“Kriff that,” Padmé said. “The gesture was great but I’d rather just marry Obi-Wan sooner.”
Obi-Wan looked up at that, a bright smile in his eyes. “Good to know we’re on the same page there.”
“Also, I’d rather like to marry you in front of some actual people this time,” Padmé said to Anakin. “And no, Artoo and Threepio definitely don’t count.” She paused. “You know I’d bet that little astromech filmed the ceremony given all the footage he showed us that he’d covertly taken at the Rebel summit. We should get some stills framed. That dress was a masterpiece and I’m still devastated no-one saw it.”
“You did look stunning,” Anakin said. “You can’t just wear it again?”
The look of affront she tossed him ruled that suggestion out entirely.
“Okay. I have it,” Obi-Wan said, jumping back into the previous conversation. “The middle names, that is, and, ah, assuming you like them, I was thinking Satine for Leia and Prestor for Luke?”
“Prestor?” Anakin asked, frowning.
“It’s Bail’s middle name,” Obi-Wan explained. “Considering how much he has done for us and the galaxy, it seemed appropriate. As for Satine, well, I think it would be a nice way to honour her memory. Also Leia does remind me of her sometimes.” There was a faint smile in his eyes as he said it, his gaze sliding to the door to the twins bedroom.
“Would you have really left the Order if Satine had asked?” Anakin asked. He’d always wanted to know, but Obi-Wan had been so stone-walled about it at the time, and then it had never really come up again. Then she had died and it just seemed disrespectful.
Obi-Wan looked up. “Yes, I would have. But then, neither of us did; we were both too focused on our ideals and our missions.”
Anakin was silent, thinking that through.
“I would have left if you had ever asked me to, Anakin.” He laughed. “Sith Hells, I was going to just follow you out the door if you ever left, regardless of asking.”
Anakin felt the truth of that statement though their bond and it utterly floored him. He would never get over the way he had somehow been so completely blind to the way Obi-Wan loved him back before the end of the war. Unable to find the right words, Anakin just smiled at him, shoving the most immense feeling of love and gratitude that he could along their bond.
“Okay, if you’re both done being romantic ?”
Obi-Wan sighed. “I suppose.”
“Nope,” Anakin replied, stood up, walked over to Padmé and climbed onto her lap, his knees on either side of her thighs.
She smiled and kissed him, before giving him a little shove. “I love you too, but let’s get back to the matter at hand. I’m on a time limit here.”
Anakin sighed theatrically, and fell from her lap to land on the rest of the couch, doing his best to look utterly rejected. He pouted when Obi-Wan caught his eye.
Padmé patted him on the leg. “Careful, or you’ll accidentally win some kind of holo-drama award. Now, are we all happy with the name choices? I think they’re great, personally.”
Anakin nodded where he lay. “I think so too.”
Obi-Wan smiled at them both, the worry falling away from his face to be replaced with clear happiness.
“Okay, well, I’d better call Kix back,” Padmé said, standing up. “No time like the present to forge some birth certificates.”
“I’ll help,” Anakin said pulling himself up from the couch. “I wanted to ask how the pack-up was going. Also I need to speak to Plo about how many rooms we should make up.”
“I wanted to go check out a few more areas in the Temple,” Obi-Wan said. “There’s a few key locations I want to look at.”
Anakin nodded. “We’ll see you later then.” He leant down for one final, lingering kiss, his hands coming to rest on Obi-Wan’s shoulders.
“See you both later,” Obi-Wan agreed and watched them leave the room.
Anakin led Padmé through the Temple to one of the communications rooms. He and Obi-Wan hadn’t checked it yet, and Anakin hoped they would have some luck with at least one console being in working order. The first one they tried refused to work in any sense of the word. The second through fifth made some worrying sounds in an attempt to start up before going quiet again. The sixth worked just fine and Anakin noted to himself that he should send Obi-Wan up here to add the whole room to his list.
They booted up the console and dialled their home number on Tatooine.
“Hey Kix, how are you?” Padmé greeted as the medic appeared before them in holographic form.
“Good,” Kix replied, “pretty busy.”
“How’s the pack up going?” Anakin asked.
There was a beat of silence as Kix seemed to weigh up his words.
“I’m not actually coming to Coruscant with the others,” Kix said suddenly. He sat just a little straighter as he said it, slipping into a more military stance. “I’m staying here.”
Anakin blinked. “Why?”
“I like it here,” Kix said. “The people here need more doctors, and now that everyone in slavery has been freed and their medical needs aren’t up to the whims of their owners, Brato and I are very busy.”
“Well, if it’s what you want,” Anakin said, nodding in understanding. “Keep the house then. I had thought of just selling it, but if you’re going to stay there, you might as well have it. Move some friends in, the place is big enough.”
Kix’s body lost it’s sharp posture, his shoulders dropping and a grin took up his face. “Thanks. I think I might do just that.”
Padmé put her hand on Anakin’s knee. “Perfect. That solves one problem. Now Kix, the three of us have decided on the twins’ names. I’ll type them out now and send them as a message so that we don’t mess up any spellings,” Padmé said as she did exactly that, pulling up another screen and sending the names through.
Kix nodded and became distracted for a moment as he opened up the correspondence on his end.
“Nice choices,” he said, his eyes flicking over the names. “Brato gave me the mostly completed forms, so I can throw them together pretty quickly. Did you want to speak to anyone else while I do it?”
“Plo, Luminara, or Rex if they’re around?” Anakin asked.
“Plo’s here,” Kix said. “Rex is in town with Luminara. I’ll go get Plo and then finish these forms.”
“Thank you again, Kix, and please thank Brato again for me,” Padmé said.
Kix nodded and then vanished from the hologram and Padmé and Anakin waited quietly for a couple of minutes. Padmé’s forehead was frowning, her hand fiddling with her lower lip as she clearly lost herself in thought. Anakin was caught on the fact that Kix was staying on Tatooine. On one hand, he was glad that Kix was happy and had found something he wanted to keep doing with his life. On the other, Anakin would definitely miss him. Well, he supposed they would just have to visit. Anakin should probably also visit…oh! Anakin’s mind finally tripped over the fact he should contact Owen and Beru.
“I’m going to hop onto another terminal for a bit,” Padmé said, startling Anakin from his thoughts. “I figure I don’t need to be involved in this chat, and Bail said he had sent me a few articles to look at.”
Anakin nodded and watched Padmé slip onto another chair and fire up the terminal. Anakin returned his focus to the empty blue fuzz before him. Then the scarred visage of his favourite Kel Dor slid onto the screen.
“Hey Plo,” Anakin greeted with a wave. “How’s everything going?”
“Excellently,” Plo replied, his antiox mask distorting the sound quality of the call even more. “We nearly have everything packed and ready to go. The children are mostly excited to be coming home, Caleb in particular is looking forward to it. Zaria seems indifferent and Zatt and Aulu seem to be a little torn on how to feel about it.”
“That’s part of what I wanted to discuss with you,” Anakin said. “We wanted to start clearing out rooms so they’re ready for your arrival. We’re all in the lower Master-Padawan quarters with the small communal areas, so I wanted to know how many rooms you think you’ll need.”
Plo nodded slowly. “How many rooms are you all in?”
“Between us and the clones? Four.”
“Four rooms will also do us then,” Plo said thoughtfully. “It should be fine for now. We can always adjust if we need to.”
“Sure,” Anakin replied, “we’ll get that done. Do you know how far away you all are?”
“I would estimate a week.”
“Excellent. It will be good to have you all back with us.”
Plo’s face crinkled happily, the Kel Dor’s voice warm as he said, “It will be wonderful to be home. I have missed the Temple. I also heard a rumour from Rex and Appo that you picked up Boost and Sinker?”
“We did yes, or rather your Wolfpack and the others found Obi-Wan and Padmé.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, please tell them both that Wolffe and I are very much looking forward to seeing them again.” Anakin nodded in agreement, unable to resist a small smile. ”Also, your friend Kitster came by a couple of days ago looking for you,” Plo said. “I informed him that you were on Coruscant and he requested you contact him when you could. It didn’t seem urgent.”
“Oh. Thank you. I’ll do that now.”
Kix suddenly shoved himself back into frame, Plo shuffling aside to accommodate the doctor. “All done,” Kix said proudly. “I’m just attaching the files now…” he trailed off for a moment, frowning and clearly fiddling with the console. “And done.”
“Thank you, Kix.”
Kix sent him a thumbs up.
Plo gave Anakin a solemn nod and a small wave. “May the Force be with you.”
“And with you all.”
“And Anakin?” Plo said, and waited until Anakin was looking at him before he added, “Thank you.”
With a very self-satisfied expression on Plo’s face and a roll of Kix’s eyes, Plo hung up the call.
Anakin shook his head. He’d better call Kitster then.
Anakin slowly inputted the planet code and local number from memory, hoping he wasn’t misremembering any of the details. When Kitster’s upper body appeared before him, he let out a sigh of relief and greeted his childhood friend.
“Hey Kitster.”
“Ani!” Kitster exclaimed, blinking quickly before breaking out into a wide smile. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d fallen into a black hole. I heard from your friend that you’re on Coruscant?”
“Yeah I am, it seemed like the thing to do after we, um,” Anakin dropped off as he spoke, unsure how much he could say.
“Overthrew the Hutts and killed the Emperor?” Kitster suggested mildly.
Anakin hummed noncommittally in response.
“Thank you again, by the way, we never could have gotten this far without you.”
Anakin perked up again. “How is it all going?”
“Great, actually,” Kitster said happily, “we managed to deal with the worst of the slavers still left in town, and the rest we convinced to let their ‘property’ go free. Given the offered alternative, most didn’t resist.”
“That’s good.”
“It is. We also managed to get everyone into safe accommodations and begin looking for real work. We at least had enough credits stashed away that those who need food will be looked after until we can get Tatooine properly back on its feet, which brings me to my next point.” The freedom fighter hesitated for a moment.
“Plo said you had something you wanted to talk about?” Anakin pressed.
“Yes a couple of things; what do you know about this Hondo person?” Kitster asked. “I know you said that he wouldn’t be another Jabba but…”
“He’s a weirdo?”
“He’s certainly something,” Kitster sighed.
Anakin smiled. “Hondo is…relatively trustworthy. He won’t go back on his word, but he may be a nuisance if the mood takes him. I’d personally describe him as a menace, but not evil. Why? What’s he done?”
“Well, he came into town nearly a week back, after we’d overthrown the other slavers, with a few choice bodies from Jabba’s palace,” Kitster explained. “He declared himself the Pirate King of Tatooine and then said that anyone who wanted a paying job and an exciting life of piracy to join him. A surprising number of people did.”
Anakin thought it a smart move on Hondo’s part. A lot of slaves would be very happy to take on any kind of paying job, moral ambiguity be damned. Getting food in mouths and keeping families in homes and together was more important.
“Let me know if he ever becomes a problem, but he always looked after his people back when he still had a real crew.” Anakin said. “He’ll probably keep to himself though.”
Kitster nodded thoughtfully. ”That’s good to know. Also,” Kitster paused. “Well, we’ve set up the beginnings of a government here. We all think the best way to make sure it happens and stays that way is to join the Republic. If nothing else, it affords us a bit more protection.”
Padmé, clearly having been listening, suddenly slid back into the chair beside Anakin. “Hi, you must be Kitster,” Padmé said brightly, giving his friend a wave.
Kitster’s hologram blinked a few times, looking seriously at Padmé. Anakin suddenly realised that Kitster hadn’t met Padmé on Tatooine, but must at least partly remember her from their childhood. If nothing else, Anakin talked about her enough that Kitster should be able to put the pieces together.
“If that’s the path you want to take, I’d be able to help,” Padmé continued. “It’s a complicated process, and you need to gain an endorsement from three existing Republic planets to even be considered.”
Kitster’s face looked more stressed with every word.
Padmé continued on. “It’s not impossible, so don’t worry. I have enough contacts who would be happy to do such a thing. I’ll get Anakin to give me your contact number and will send through all the necessary documents for you and whoever is helping you to start reading through. Then when you know exactly what you want to do, you can contact us and I’ll help walk you through the proceedings.”
“That would be…most appreciated,” Kitster said slowly. “Thank you Padmé.”
“It’s no problem,” she replied with a smile. “I’ll leave you two to finish catching up.”
He and Kitster did just that, mainly discussing the more detailed issues of Tatooine’s newly freed population and planning the next few steps together. They had created a vague plan for what to do if they reached this point, but like the planning Anakin had done with the Jedi about the future of the Order, it had been sketchy at best since the possibility of it happening had seemed so far off. They discussed initiatives and funding possibilities, while Padmé occasionally chimed in with the names of humanitarian organisations and news outlets they could get in touch with to help bolster support for the planet and those most in need. Slowly, their conversation wore down, and Kitster had to run off elsewhere; it seemed he had become a very busy man in the past couple of weeks.
The conversation he had with Owen, when he finally got the connection to work, was much simpler. His step-brother had been excited to see Anakin, and ravenous for accurate news on the events in the galaxy. He was an avid audience, spouting anger and outrage at the twins’ kidnapping, before dropping into a concerned silence as Anakin relayed some of the rest of the story, before pointing out that Owen should keep most of this to himself. Owen had nodded seriously and expressed his condolences that any of them had had to deal with such a mess.
“At least you get to go home now,” Owen said. “It must be nice to be back on Coruscant.”
“It’s…strange,” Anakin replied honestly. He paused, trying to figure out how best to word his next questions. “If you ever want to visit, or perhaps, move off Tatooine permanently, do let me know.”
Owen gave Anakin a slow, warm smile that reached his eyes. “I appreciate the offer Anakin, and I’ll discuss it with Beru, though I think she’ll want to stay.” He shrugged. “Besides, the planet seems to have lost a lot of scum over the past few weeks, and I think it’s worth sticking around to see what happens to Tatooine. Things are looking better here than they have in a long time.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“It’s a welcome change.” Owen sighed in a way that suggested an end to their conversation. “Well, if you ever come back our way, we’d love to see you and the kids again; don’t be a stranger, Anakin, we are family.”
“Thank you, Owen,” Anakin replied, smiling. “We’ll take you up on that."
They wrapped up their talk with well wishes and goodbyes before the room descended into silence, bar for the quiet tapping of Padmé working away on the other terminal.
“All done?” she asked, turning in her chair and glancing at Anakin.
Anakin nodded, stretching in his seat, feeling stiff at sitting here for so long. “Yeah. Kix said he’d sent through the kids paperwork.”
“Oh! Let’s take a look then,” Padmé said excitedly, coming back over to sit with Anakin.
They found the documents easily enough, Padmé quickly copying them onto a holodrive to take with her to the Senate tomorrow. Anakin stared down at the two documents on the screen, Luke Prestor Skywalker and Leia Satine Skywalker staring back at him. He also adored the way that Obi-Wan was listed as a parent on the form, both of their names next to one another under Father(s) . It was a very nice touch; trust Kix to know exactly what they needed.
The two documents soothed Anakin’s soul in a way he couldn’t really put into words.
It just felt right .
Anakin woke up feeling restless.
It had begun like a crawling feeling sometime yesterday evening, and slowly settled into his bones. Then he had had another rough night, waking up cold and breathless with Sidious’ voice in his head. He’d felt helpless and scared; disoriented for a few minutes as to where he was. He had escaped their bedroom and stood shaking in the living room. Somehow, he had managed to keep his shields up and not disturb anyone else. He’d paced around the room until Padmé appeared in the doorway. When asked what was wrong, he’d managed to stammer out some garbled explanation about feeling unsettled and worried about the memories and no he didn’t want to talk about the specifics . Padmé had nodded slowly, concern still evident in her eyes, but instead she’d curled up with him on the couch and the two of them had talked about wedding ideas until Anakin had passed out in her arms.
When he came to again, Luke and Leia were dressed and sitting on the opposite couch, the both of them looking cleaner and more groomed than Anakin thought they had ever been in their lives. He had no idea how long they’d been there, and he was confused as to how they hadn’t woken him. He frowned.
Sitting up and looking around revealed Obi-Wan and Padmé leaning up against the kitchen bench, tea in hand and quietly talking together, Obi-Wan still in sleep wear while Padmé was dressed up much like the twins. They both looked up as he moved from the couch.
“Morning,” Obi-Wan said, taking a sip of his tea.
“Good morning, darling,” Padmé greeted. “How are you feeling.”
Anakin shrugged. He was tired and something unnamed still sat uncomfortably in his chest.
“Hm. Well, I’m going to take the twins with me today,” Padmé said, worry resurfacing in her gaze. “We need photos for the both of them to go with their files once we’ve submitted their birth certificates.” She sighed. “Also, you both should probably be prepared for the media. Bail and I are doing our best to keep it all relatively quiet, but I can’t promise anything.” Padmé took a sip of her tea and mumbled grumpily into her cup, “You know they’re already wildly excited that I’m still alive, I cannot imagine how they’re going to take the fact that not only am I alive, I have two children with two rather attractive baby-daddies.
Obi-Wan’s head came around at that, his forehead wrinkling as he looked at her.
Padmé grinned up at him. “Oh, did I forget to mention I asked for both you and Anakin listed as their fathers?”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan replied, before turning his attention on Anakin. “Did you know about this?”
Anakin inclined his head. “I saw the documents yesterday.”
There was a gap of silence.
“Is that okay?” Padmé asked, more hesitant than before. “We can change it if you want?”
“No, no,” Obi-Wan stuttered out, his cheeks heating. “It’s fine—good even. I just…I wasn’t expecting it.”
Padmé gave him a long, serious look, before casually saying, “One day you’re going to accept that they’re as much yours as they are mine or Anakin's and stop second guessing yourself, you gorgeous, clever, insecure man.”
Obi-Wan just huffed out a laugh, stroking nervously at his chin. “I know they are, I just…didn’t expect that to be recognised legally.”
“Hmm, too bad,” Anakin noted lightly, and Obi-Wan threw him an exasperated look.
Glancing at the clock, Padmé’s eyes widened. “Damn, got to go.” She gulped the rest of her drink and dumped the mug in the sink. “Luke! Leia! It’s time to go!”
Luke let out an excited yell, and both twins came running into the kitchen with shining grins and sparkling eyes.
“Do try to keep out of trouble, both of you,” Padmé said to her current and soon-to-be husbands as she ushered the kids out the door. “See you tonight!"
The morning passed slowly, Anakin still feeling off-kilter and unsure of what to do about it. He did his best to keep himself busy, flitting from reading on the couch to lying on the floor and designing technology in his head to sitting at the small desk and trying to find that peaceful feeling he’d experienced yesterday in the moment that Obi-Wan said yes .
Obi-Wan kept sending him concerned glances that he probably thought were inconspicuous, but really weren’t, and it was only serving to make Anakin feel more on edge.
“Spar?” Anakin suggested finally, just needing something . Training had always been good for clearing his head.
Obi-Wan nodded and the two changed into something more appropriate for combat and rounded up their sabres. They entered the nearest training room they’d investigated the day before, the room still unbelievably dusty, but these matts were definitely in the best condition compared to the others.
Anakin and Obi-Wan stretched in silence, Anakin slipping into a light meditation to centre himself before they began. At an unheard signal, the pair faced one another and took opening stances. Anakin waited.
Obi-Wan moved first, stepping forward with a investigative swing at Anakin’s defences. He batted the blade away easily, dancing around Obi-Wan and striking back. Plumes of dust and dirt exploded beneath each of their steps, their footwork flawless as they danced back and forth, trading blows. Obi-Wan’s brows were furrowed with focus, contrasting with the faint smile on his lips and in his eyes as they practiced. Anakin suddenly twisted his blade with a flourish, taking the advantage, and disarming Obi-Wan in a split second, before knocking his legs out from under him, sending his fiancé to the floor, dust curling up into the air around him. Taking the advantage, Anakin threw one leg over Obi-Wan’s hips, pinning one hand with his free one, and holding his saber a few breaths above Obi-Wan.
“Yield.”
Obi-Wan smiled proudly at him, a warm hand coming to slide up to Anakin’s knee. “I yield; you win.”
He wanted to kiss Obi-Wan.
He couldn’t .
Anakin frowned and shook his head, the shaky feeling returning.
This hadn’t kriffing worked.
He was up and heading out the door before he could really think.
“I need a shower,” Anakin said over his shoulder.
“Anakin?” Obi-Wan called after him.
Anakin returned to their rooms and was undressed and in the shower within moments. He just needed to… kriff, he didn’t even know what. He was running on auto-pilot and that said ‘shower comes after spar’ but his heart longed for something else he couldn’t place and his whole body felt shaken. He was filled with so many conflicting emotions that he couldn’t even pick one out of the mess to start with. Anakin shoved his face into the warm spray of water and did his best to let his mind go blank.
“Anakin?”
Anakin opened his eyes and turned to look at Obi-Wan standing on the other side of the glass, still in the same clothes from their spar.
“Is everything okay?”
On impulse, he pulled open the glass door, grabbed Obi-Wan by the hand, and dragged him into the shower with him. Anakin then let instinct guide him, wrapping his arms around Obi-Wan and trying to kiss the concern off of his face.
He just wanted everything to go back to how it was.
Obi-Wan kissed back for a moment, clearly trying to slow Anakin down, refusing to meet the pace and fervour Anakin was bestowing upon him. Anakin attempted to press forward, searching for peace and quiet in his own mind, trying to bring Obi-Wan closer to him, trying—. His lover resisted him, giving up and pulling his mouth away, fixing Anakin with a concerned stare.
“Anakin, what do you need?” Obi-Wan asked, his hands cradling Anakin’s head, their mouths still only inches apart. “Please let me help you, my love.”
“I don’t know,” Anakin replied, leaning in closer so that Obi-Wan was leaning up against the wall of the shower, with Anakin plastered to his front. “Everything just feels wrong and I don’t know what it is, and I keep having those awful flashbacks about Sidious, and I just feel like I’m—like I’m too full. There’s too much. I just don’t know what to do .” His voice cracked on the last word, his hands tightening in Obi-Wan’s increasingly wet clothes.
“Okay,” Obi-Wan breathed out, clutching Anakin to himself. “Let’s work this back,” Obi-Wan said, running a rand up and down Anakin’s slick back. “Padmé said you had nightmare last night?”
Anakin nodded against his partner’s damp skin.
“Same as on the ship?”
“Yes.”
Obi-Wan kissed the side of his face, rivulets of water flowing over the gesture. “What upset you about our spar?” he asked. "You vanished pretty suddenly.”
Anakin frowned. “I wanted to kiss you.”
There was a pause. “Okay. Why couldn’t you?”
“I don’t know. Something felt wrong.”
Anakin felt a warm, wet hand grip his chin. A firm pressure guided Anakin’s head up to stare into gentle blue-green eyes.
“May I?”
Anakin nodded and felt lips meet his. Their mouths moved together with lazy affection, Obi-Wan soon slipping his tongue into Anakin’s mouth. Anakin leant into it, tilting his head just a little and pressing back insistently. This was what he needed. Obi-Wan felt like home, warm and affectionate and safe. Warmth began curling through his body, spreading outwards from his heart and stomach.
Then Obi-Wan was pulling away, asking, “Was that okay?”
“Yeah. Very much okay.” Truly excellent in Anakin’s opinion, and it was frustratingly unhelpful in solving his main issue. Also, he would rather like to follow that line of inquiry some more.
“Interesting.”
“You’re very overdressed for this shower,” Anakin noted, glancing down at the sopping wet clothes clinging to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan stared up at him, smiling. “And I wonder whose fault that is.”
“We could always remove the wet clothes?” Anakin suggested, canting his hips just a little, letting a wicked smile grace his lips.
“Maybe.” Obi-Wan’s eyes then seemed to click away from him, his thoughts clearly taking him somewhere.
Anakin took the time to lean back into his partner, feeling at least some of his anxiety dissipating along with the shower water. If nothing else, it made him feel better knowing that Obi-Wan wanted to help him figure this all out—
“Is it the Temple?” Obi-Wan asked, suddenly back in the room.
Anakin blinked. “What?”
“The Temple,” Obi-Wan repeated. “We’ve been away from it and living a lifestyle that would have been no way acceptable before all of this. I’ve felt a little uncomfortable, particularly when you kissed me after your proposal yesterday, as much as I enjoyed it. I felt...how to explain.” Obi-Wan paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “It was rather jarring; my old life confronting my new one like that. I’m wondering whether you’re getting some very conflicting feelings given how…confining you’ve always found the Temple.”
Anakin paused, thinking it over. “That…yeah, that makes sense.” His mind ticked over another idea. “I was so used to working, fixing things for people. I don’t—I don’t feel useful here.”
“So between Sidious and the change in lifestyle…I’d imagine you’re feeling rather out of control,” Obi-Wan mused, seemingly more to himself than Anakin.
“When the hell did you get so good at emotions,” Anakin muttered.
Anakin felt a kiss being pressed to his temple. “I learnt from the best.”
Anakin’s cheeks heated at the comment.
“I suppose I could help you out, if you wanted,” Obi-Wan suggested after a moment with a hint of fire in his voice. “We can find you some repair jobs to do, and have a kissing excursion around the temple—to help you acclimatise of course. Practice does, of course, make perfect.” Anakin smiled, and felt a hand slide purposefully down his back, warmth rising in Anakin’s chest. “We could also further discuss that little idea you had about getting me out of these wet clothes?”
Anakin growled, pressing forward and properly pinning Obi-Wan to the shower wall. “That can be arranged,” Anakin muttered, mouthing at Obi-Wan’s jaw.
Anakin felt his world re-orient itself slowly, finally having an outlet into which he could channel his uncertainties, carefully being wrapped up in the feeling that everything was heading in the right direction again. This was an excellent diversion and was doing a lot to soothe his worries.
Anakin lost himself in his lover, first through burning kisses and inquisitive fingers, before turning Obi-Wan around pressing him into the wall until Anakin could hear nothing but his own name echoing against the tiles.
After, the two of them sat together in the bottom of the shower, exhausted and very satisfied, Anakin turning over a few thoughts in his mind.
“I think I’m ready to try and talk about Sidious,” Anakin said softly. It wasn’t an entirely true statement; he didn’t want to talk about it, but he knew he had to or it was going to eat him from the inside-out. If nothing else, he should try talking about the less horrifying stuff first, and work his way up to the things that kept him awake at night. “Once the kids are in bed, I’d like to try talking to you both about it.”
Obi-Wan kissed him again. “I think that’s a good idea, my love.”
The two of them remained tangled together for a while longer, letting the water wash away the evidence of their activities and their worries. Anakin felt guilty about the water wastage, he still wasn’t quite used to not worrying about it. Water had been such a precious resource on Tatooine, and the last five years has reinforced his old childhood views about it.
“You know what was funny about the whole thing though?” Anakin muttered, resting his head a against Obi-Wan’s chest.
Obi-Wan hummed thoughtfully, his hand tracing swirls up Anakin’s thigh. “I can’t imagine many things. What?”
“Sidious tried to use his old tactics to try and get me to turn against you and Padmé,” he said, a smirk growing on his face. “He pointed out the way you held Padmé’s hand when he made me join him, going back into the old spiel of how the two of you are sneaking around and casually discussing all the things the two of you could be doing behind my back.” Anakin laughed. “It was so hard to keep him from finding out the truth and to stop myself from saying that I had personally seen you two doing all sorts of illicit things on a rather frequent basis. Often and enthusiastically, where I could see.”
A choked laugh burst from Obi-Wan, his chest movement jostling Anakin. “I would have loved to have seen his expression if he ever had found out about the sorts of things I have done with your wife. Things I would be glad to do again.”
Anakin laughed. “Soon she’ll be your wife too,” Anakin pointed out when he could breathe again.
“That she will,” Obi-Wan replied, leaning his head down to kiss the top of Anakin’s head. “And it looks like I will also be getting a wonderful husband.”
Anakin felt himself flush; the thought pleased him right down to his core. That he would be able to call Obi-Wan his husband was just so far beyond anything he could have ever thought he could have in his life.
“I love you too,” Anakin muttered.
“I hope you know that you made Bail cry, Obi-Wan,” Padmé said a few hours later as she walked through the door with Luke and Leia trotting in behind her. Obi-Wan and Anakin were dry again and relaxing on the couch together while Obi-Wan continued to work on his list. “He got one look at the birth certificates and then I nearly died in the world’s biggest, wettest hug.”
Obi-Wan smiled. “I’m glad he liked the choice then.”
“I told him it was yours, so do expect him to corner you too at some point,” Padmé added. “Did you two keep out of trouble?”
Anakin made a non-committal grunt and Obi-Wan wriggled his hand in a ‘so-so’ motion.
“We sorted it out,” Obi-Wan assured Padmé at her concerned frown. “How was your day?”
“So cool!” Luke exclaimed. “We gotta see the city an’ go to the Sen’it and I gotta meet Bail for real .”
“Was it good?” Anakin asked. “Not too boring?”
Leia shook her head emphatically. “There were so many people! So many! An’ Bail was so nice an’ so many people wanted to talk to Mom and it was amazing .”
That evening, after they’d eaten dinner in the hall with the clone contingent, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé sat around on their bed in a circle, Obi-Wan with a cup of tea cradled in his hands, while Padmé was absently plaiting her hair into tiny strands. Anakin was trying to breathe deeply.
It took time, and he had to start over twice until he could find the words, but ever so slowly, Anakin talked about Sidious. He started with the slightly easier things; the orders given, the deceptions, the lies… they all turned his stomach. Obi-Wan and Padmé listened quietly beside him, just letting Anakin talk. Padmé’s jaw was tight through the whole two hours while her eyes remained soft, with her eyebrows upturned in disquiet. He did feel better after though. Tired and emotionally drained, but lighter. Sleep still took a while to come though.
Over the following nights when Anakin felt up to it, he talked about it more, slowly dipping into the darker things he’d seen: the murders, the tortures, the kriffing genocides …Fives. Anakin had cried through that particular retelling, the guilt gripping his chest tight enough to hurt as he spoke of Palpatine doing everything he could to make Fives’ claims about the inhibitor chips become the ravings of a mad clone, goading the trooper into attacking him. Obi-Wan shuffled closer and tucked Anakin under his arm, twining their fingers together in a show of silent support.
He still couldn’t bring himself to talk about all of it, some events just catching in his throat. The Temple was one of those memories. He hadn’t had that memory before, but he had it now, and he desperately wished he didn’t.
A few days later, Anakin walked into the communications room to fix a few of the malfunctioning computers, when he found Padmé hunched over one of the terminals, her hand over her mouth as her shoulders shook and she cried into the screen.
“Padmé?” Anakin asked, putting down his tools and approaching her slowly.
His wife jumped, her head spinning around to face Anakin, eyes bright and wet in the light of the screen before her as her hand slipped to her chest. “Oh, Anakin,” she said, breathlessly. “You startled me.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, now close enough to rest his hand on the side of her face.
“Nothing,” Padmé said, smiling through her tears. She weakly gestured at the screen. “I just discovered that my old Senate holomail account was never deactivated. It seems people have been using as somewhere to send prayers for years.” She hiccuped, another tear escaping her eye. “I’ve been reading them. Yarro was right that I somehow became some kind of Saint after my ‘death’. For a while, most of the messages were people welcoming me back, and then, far enough back to when I was meant to be dead, and there’s just piles and piles of messages and prayers and thanks and—” she stopped, her breath catching and another sob wrenched itself from her chest.
Anakin crouched down beside her, wrapping his arms about her shoulders and pulling her in to him. Padmé came willingly, leaning into him for a long moment before pulling away and returning her attention to the screen.
Anakin stayed with her as she continued to read them. Messages filled with every emotion imaginable. People writing to her asking for help, for advice, for hope, for love, for family and friends, for the Empire to fall, and more. There were tens of thousands of them, all so personal and filled with the hopes and dreams from so many across the galaxy. They managed to get through another twenty messages before Padmé could barely breathe for the emotions choking her and Anakin had to drag her away.
“You can’t do this to yourself,” Anakin said gently, Padmé pressed up against him and sobbing into his shoulder. “You’re one person, Padmé, and you can only do so much. You’re amazing, but you’re not some omnipotent deity.”
“I know,” she breathed into his neck. “I know. I just wish I could do more.”
“You’ve done more and are still doing more than anyone could ever ask of you.”
Padmé nodded against his skin.
“I do want to read them all though,” she said. “I owe them that much.”
“Perhaps,” Anakin hedged, “but I think reading them all at once is a bad idea.”
She sighed, tightening her grip on Anakin’s waist. “You’re probably right.”
They spent some time in silence, Padmé taking the time to calm herself down. Her emotions rolled through the Force in waves, cresting every so often before receding into a quieter space each time. Anakin did his best to expel calm into the Force, wrapping Padmé up in the quiet and in his arms.
“What were you doing in here?” she asked finally, pulling away from his embrace and wiping at her face.
“Fixing things,” Anakin said, nodding at the consoles. “There’s a few terminals in here that needed looking at.”
“Do you mind if I stay while you work?” Padmé asked, fidgeting where she sat. “I think I would like some company.”
“Of course.”
Anakin got to work on the computers, fetching his tools from where he’d abandoned them by the door. He set his sights on the one that had looked easiest, cracking the nearby panelling open and searching for the problem. Padmé talked with him while he worked, mostly discussing more about how to go about refitting the temple and how everything in the Senate was going.
Anakin told her how he’d managed to fix the water filtration system in the Room of a Thousand Fountains so that the water was clean and running again. Anakin suggested they start taking the twins in there to learn how to swim. Padmé fell silent, a faint smile crawling along her lips, her eyes far-away as an idea clearly sprung to mind.
“I don’t trust that smile, Padmé,” Anakin noted, unscrewing another panel and following the faulty wire along the wall.
“You shouldn’t.” A pause. “Are you particularly busy tomorrow?”
Anakin looked up from his work. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Oh good.”
“Why?”
Padmé smiled wider at him, eyes still a little swollen from her earlier tears. “Just something Obi-Wan mentioned.”
Anakin hummed and ignored the way she was clearly trying to bait him. He returned his focus to the issue at hand and continued fixing the wiring.
Of course, he discovered exactly what she was alluding to hours later as they were preparing for bed. Obi-Wan was already settled in with a holopad in his hands, reading something that was causing him to glare at the object. Anakin was just preparing to pull off his clothes and get into his sleeping pants when Padmé appeared, pinning him with an excited look.
“Oh no, darling, put that back on,” she said, tugging Anakin’s shirt back onto his body.
Anakin frowned at her. “Okay?”
“Mind if I steal him for a little while?” Padmé asked Obi-Wan, grabbing Anakin’s hand and giving it a light tug.
“Please do,” Obi-Wan replied, not even looking up from his reading.
Anakin had a faint worry that there was some kind of conspiracy going on here.
“Excellent. Come on, my darling,” Padmé said, pulling Anakin from the room and out of their quarters.
“Padmé, it’s nearly midnight; what are we doing?”
Padmé looked back to grin at him. “It's a surprise.”
Knowing that continuing to ask would get him nowhere, Anakin allowed himself to be led through the Temple. Their steps were muffled as they moved since neither of them were wearing shoes. Anakin watched their shadows dance across the empty hallways, curling around pillars and stalking silently up walls beside them.
Then they were in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, the quiet rushing of the water alerting Anakin to their location first. This did nothing to help him decipher Padmé’s intentions. She continued to guide him through the space, passing the smaller fountains around the edge and into the heart of the room where the decorative foliage became denser and the fountains larger and more like pools and small lakes.
When they reached the edge of one of the larger bodies of water Padmé turned on him. She lunged, reversing her previous action and pulling Anakin’s shirt over his head with a wicked smile. “Pants too,” she whispered, pulling her own shirt off and making quick work of her pants.
“Are you serious?” Anakin asked, his brain trying and failing to understand exactly what was going on. Padmé seriously could not be asking him to skinny dip in the Temple fountains . Padmé just grinned ever wider, solidifying the idea in his mind. “Can I ask why?”
Padmé kicked off her underwear and stood naked and resplendent in the low, blue light of the room. Anakin couldn’t help but appreciate the view for a long moment, his eyes drinking Padmé in.
“Catch me and find out,” she whispered, before she turned and ran from him, leaping with a excited cry into the nearest pool. A loud splash echoed in the air and Anakin could do nothing but blink after her.
Apparently they were doing this. He wondered if Obi-Wan had known the specifics of what Padmé had had in mind.
Anakin let out a huff of air, caught between excitement and nervousness, and finished pulling of the remainder of his clothes. That done, he followed after Padmé.
He entered the water with less of a splash, wading in slowly, his eyes tracking around the room for glimpses of movement. In the end, she wasn’t hard to find. Padmé was floating on her back in the centre of the pool. Her eyes were closed as she lazily waved her arms beside her. Most of her body was hidden by the water, but the top of her face, arms, breasts and legs were just visible above the surface.
Anakin swam slowly closer, enjoying the quiet ambiance of the room. He’d never been in here when it had been so empty, and only occasionally been here at night.
Padmé opened her eyes as he approached, turning her head just enough to look at him. “You found me.”
Anakin laughed. “You didn’t seem to be trying very hard to hide.”
Padmé turned her head back and smiled at the ceiling. “It got you in the water though didn’t it.”
Damn. “True. Do I get an answer to my question at least?”
“Yes,” Padmé said, kicking her body back under the water and rotating to face Anakin. “Obi-Wan mentioned that you were having a bit of trouble adjusting to being back in the Temple while having a family and relationships,” Padmé said, her arms sliding through the water to keep herself afloat. “I thought this was both romantic and a little rebellious; it seemed perfect to help you adjust.” She swam a little closer, the light of the water reflecting in her eyes. “Also we haven’t had much time to ourselves recently and I thought we both deserved it.”
Oh.
“Thank you.”
Padmé smiled and swam just close enough to kiss Anakin’s shoulder while keeping her head above the water. “Everything will work itself out, but sometimes it helps to give it a little push. Obi-Wan said he was going to try and kiss you in as many places as possible, so I just figured I could do the same.”
Anakin smiled at her, paddling just a little bit closer. He closed in on Padmé’s body, his hands coming to rest on her hips, supporting himself though the Force. Anakin leant forward, moving to kiss her lips and smiled when he watched her close her eyes.
He tossed her into the air. Not too high, but enough to make Padmé shriek before she hit the water again.
“You jerk!” she cried as she resurfaced, splashing water in his face as he laughed. “And here I was trying to be romantic .”
Anakin just kept laughing, enjoying the wet and outraged face of his wife.
Then, quick and precise, Padmé launched herself at him, forcefully placing her hands on his shoulders and shoving him down beneath the water. Anakin held his breath as he went under, bubbles rising around him as the cool water enveloped him. He saw Padmé’s figure before him and did the same as before, wrapping his hands around her waist and launching her upwards as he surfaced again. He caught a flash of legs disappearing into the water as he wiped the spray from his face, grinning wildly. He felt a finger poke him in the side as a dark form swam around him beneath the water.
“Rude,” Padmé said, reappearing behind him, with only her head bobbing above the surface. She swatted another half-hearted wall of water at him.
Anakin turned again to smile at her, holding his arms before him in an offering of peace. Padmé continued to glare at him, but allowed herself to be drawn into his embrace again.
This time, he did actually kiss her, pulling her up from the water and leaning down to press their lips together. Padmé sighed into the kiss, her hands reaching up to rest on his chest, Anakin pulling her in closer until their bodies were lined up together perfectly, with only their legs swaying beneath them.
Anakin felt Padmé’s hand twirl the ends of his hair on her fingers as he pulled away, basking in the way Padmé looked right now. Wet all over, her hair sticking to her head and neck before blossoming out around her like flower petals as it hit the water. Droplets of water ran down the curvature of her face, tracing a damp line down her cheek and neck in tantalising stripes and clinging to the curve of her lips. But what caught the most of his attention were Padmé’s eyes, still breathtaking, luminous and reflective, and fixed entirely on him.
Unable to resist, Anakin mouthed at some of the lose droplets clinging to her skin, tracing lines along her jaw and down her neck. Padmé hummed contentedly at the motion, pressing her whole form against his and tightening her hold on him, her hands dipping to grasp his torso.
“Careful, Ani,” Padmé said lightly, pulling away from him, “we don’t want to get carried away in the water.”
“When you put it that way.”
Anakin released Padmé completely and splashed a wave of water into her face. She cried out and splashed back at him, darting out of his range while kicking waves of water at his face. They carried on as such for some time, filling the room with exclamations of surprise and joy, Anakin finding himself having more fun than he ever had before in the room. Their laughter echoed off the water and the glass, the Force around them filling with bright joy, chasing away some of the lingering negative energy of the Temple. Anakin could barely breathe for happiness by the time the two of them gave up on their little water war.
“Thank you for tonight,” Anakin whispered after they finally crawled out of the water to lie naked on the bank beneath the faint light of the cityscape coming through the glass above them. “You’ve certainly rearranged my memories of this room quite thoroughly.”
Padmé smiled and rolled to lie beside him, her hand lightly resting on his stomach. “Oh we’re not done just yet, my love,” she promised and mouthed at Anakin’s skin just above where her hand lay. The muscles in Anakin’s stomach danced at the attention, his breath catching in his throat. “Not by a long shot.”
Slowly, their lives began to right themselves into something more familiar.
Obi-Wan and Padmé were true to their words, finding increasingly public opportunities to kiss him around the Temple. It still felt weird the first few times, Anakin finally recognising the thrum of anxiety the affection caused, a bolt of fear at getting caught hitting him in anticipation of a scolding that would never come. Padmé would usually catch him around dinner time in the mess hall or the surrounding areas, in the presence of their pickups on the Star Destroyer who seemed to find it eternally hilarious to catcall them. Obi-Wan tended to corner Anakin in more secluded areas of the Temple, away from prying eyes, but always in rooms that seemed to maximise both their levels of discomfort.
“Really?” Anakin asked as he was crowded against a doorway to the Council Chambers.
“What?” Obi-Wan responded with a lazy smile, dipping forward to nip lightly at Anakin’s lips.
Anakin’s hands twisting into the fabric of his fiancé’s shirt. “The Council Room? Really? I never would have expected this from you.”
“Well, we have to be thorough in our mission, Anakin,” Obi-Wan murmured, before pausing and adding, “Just kissing though. I’ll never be able to return to this room otherwise.”
Anakin laughed and kissed him hard in return.
It was however, very effective retraining of all of their natural instincts in the Temple.
Besides that, Anakin kept his promise to Plo and spend a lot of time fixing as much of the Temple as he could. After breakfast he would go out, either with or without the twins depending on everyone else’s plans, and begin work. The day would then progress as he performed all sorts of repairs, before Obi-Wan, often with the kids in tow if they hadn’t been with Anakin already, would bring him lunch and the four of them would sit down and eat.
Anakin had stolen the list Obi-Wan had put together and written down all the jobs that he thought he could manually fix. All of the items listed to do with computer issues and unlocking and reprogramming all the technology in the Temple was left to Obi-Wan who had guiltily admitted to knowing Yoda’s access codes, so he was all set up to change literally anything he felt like doing. Padmé continued to go to the Senate everyday. She was becoming more and more frustrated. Not only were they still processing her application to be recognised as someone who was alive, but the Senate continued to wait on a number of Senators from around the galaxy to arrive to discuss the Empire and the future of the galaxy.
Then, right on schedule, Plo, Luminara, Caleb, Zatt, Aulu, Zaria, Wolffe, Rex, Appo, Jesse, and Threepio arrived at the Temple. The Wolfpack had descended upon each other in a flurry of limbs and tears; Sinker and Boost had tackled Wolffe to the ground before the Commander had even spotted them. A yell went up as the three brothers crashed to the floor, Plo’s laughter rasping beside them until he too was dragged into the fray. Anakin foolishly muttered something about a puppy-pile and received the three most terrifying glares of his life.
Caleb had been very excited to see Anakin again and demanded to hear everything that had happened since he’d left, and Anakin gave him a slightly more child appropriate run down of events a few hours later, though Anakin had the distinct feeling that Caleb had put the pieces together into the much more truthful and much less kid friendly version.
Welcoming hugs shared all around, with a particularly adorable hug between Luke and Zaria, they began the arduous task of unloading the ship and putting everyone into their rooms. Like back on Tatooine, Luminara took Zaria, Aulu paired up with Zatt, Caleb took his own quarters, and Plo and Wolffe shared. There was then some reshuffling of rooms by their clone contingent; Wooley kicked Razor out to share with Jesse, Razor joined back up with Appo, Cody and Rex decided to share given their long history together, while Sinker and Boost stayed as they were. Threepio was put in a room of his own, the droid utterly unable to stop talking about how excited he was to be back in ‘civilisation’.
Having their own things back felt amazing . Leia had cried when she’d been handed Gub back, while Luke had just about sold his soul to Rex for bringing him his wooden LAAT ship back. Anakin was just so glad to get his own tools and clothes again. Now that the others were here, the Temple started to feel just a little bit more like home. Jesse had sequestered himself in the kitchen upon discovering it, fawning over the range of utensils and the industrial sizes of everything. After that, no-one could get him to do anything else, the clone having decided that he was going to cook lunch and dinner for everyone, every day. Given the standard of his cooking, none of them objected and Cody had grumpily admitted that he now understood why the twins had been so horrified by the food on the Star Destroyer.
All the while, as the time went by, Anakin continued to talk about what he’d seen in Sidious’ head, even though it was hard and ofttimes felt like pulling rusted nails from his skin. Sometimes he cried through the retelling, sometimes he ended up filled with rage and resentment, and sometimes he just felt so very, very tired. No matter which it was though, Padmé and Obi-Wan sat beside him through each retelling, offering him support in every way they could.
Slowly but surely, the flashes of Sidious began fading from his mind, the edges losing their sharpness and the memories losing their sting.
Then everything began to happen all at once. Two weeks in and Padmé was officially declared alive and not a fraud, and all the Senators in the galaxy finally finished converging on Coruscant. Once the Senate sessions truly began, Padmé was barely at home, constantly at the Senate with Senators Organa and Mothma, putting forward the miles and miles of evidence they had piled against Chancellor Sheev Palpatine and the Empire. Padmé came home every night exhausted and wrung out. She would have enough sense to eat the food they put in front of her before falling into bed before she had to do it all over again. On the occasional chance Anakin got to see Bail, he could see the exhaustion weighing just as heavily on his shoulders. On the upside, Anakin was pleased to see that some of the things he’d seen in Sidious’ head had proven useful and Padmé had been able to find the secret cache of documents Sidious had hidden in a back-alley locker on the very lowest levels of Coruscant. They were particularly damning and Padmé deemed them instrumental in swaying the majority of the Senate to their side.
It took a full two weeks of constant Senate sessions for Padmé and the rebellion to present their case. When it was done however, they had done what they’d set out to do, and convinced the galaxy of Palpatine’s crimes and the Senate began dismantling the Empire piece by piece. Those who had been instrumental in the creation of the rebellions plans to re-create the Republic began their work in earnest, putting forward bills and reforms that would do just that. They removed emergency powers, began dismantling the Empire’s war machine and secret projects, started putting money back into infrastructure and relief efforts, and began work to have the many clones still left over from the wars to be recognised as individuals with rights. Bail, unsurprisingly, ended up in the position of Chancellor after nominations from multiple systems.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do in the long term,” Padmé muttered to Anakin and Obi-Wan one night. She’d had another long day in the Senate and was laying across the couch, her head pillowed in Obi-Wan’s lap. “Bail offered for me to join his staff but I don’t think I want to.”
“Why not?” Anakin asked. He’d thought that she’d do just about anything to remain in the Senate, at least in some capacity.
“It’s not…It’s not the same,” Padmé began, searching for the words.
“You do like being independent,” Obi-Wan noted.
Padmé nodded. “Yes. Exactly. I agree with Bail on most things, but not always. Also, Alderaan is not my planet and I cannot be trailing around the galaxy after Bail, and now that he’s Chancellor, the likelihood of being dragged around becomes even more likely. I don’t want to be forced apart from my family if I can help it.”
Obi-Wan stroked the beginnings of a beard on his chin—now that they were out of hiding, he seemed to be making some attempt to grow it back—and said, “Maybe you should look into being the Temple’s representative in the Senate. We did all decide we’d need one or two people to do that.”
Padmé made a considering sound, her eyes darting around in thought. “It wouldn’t be seen as a conflict of interest, given the two of you?”
“Neither of us are the Master of the Order,” Obi-Wan countered. “Unless you’ve had something going on with Plo that we don’t know about, we’re safe on that count.”
Anakin couldn’t resist a laugh and Obi-Wan tossed him a very silly smile.
“I’ll think about it,” Padmé said finally, rolling her eyes at the both of them.
One morning, about a month after killing Sidious, they woke up to a knock on the door. Anakin got to it first, pulling it open to be greeted by Plo Koon. He was looking a much better colour than he had over the past two years. Anakin had finally been able to get real replacement parts for his antiox mask while they waited on a whole new mask from Dorin. Now the Kel Dor’s breath had lost the faint rattle, even if the device still looked like a mess.
“Morning, Plo,” Anakin greeted, hiding his face as he yawned.
“Good morning,” the Kel-Dor replied. “We just had a visitor who dropped off this young lady. He said Padmé had offered to take her in. He also said her father would probably want her back but he didn’t have time to stay for that.”
Anakin blinked down at the girl, having missed her when he’d opened the door, her head only coming up to Plo’s waist.
“Jyn!” Leia yelled as she came running from her bedroom, her plaited hair tails flapping at the movement.
The other girl, Jyn, broke into a wide smile as she was hit with the full force of a speeding Leia.
“I see they have already met,” Plo said wryly. “I’ll organise for someone to bring an extra bed for you.”
“Thanks, Plo,” Anakin replied, both of them watching the two girls vanish back into their quarters. “We appreciate it. Are you still up for a spar later?”
Plo nodded. “After lunch would suit me perfectly. See you then.”
Padmé and Obi-Wan had been very surprised by the additional youngling in their home when they got up a few minutes later, Padmé blinking at Jyn until realisation had crawled across her face.
“Did Saw drop her off here?” Padmé asked.
Anakin nodded. “Apparently her father should come by and get her at some point.”
“That’s good,” Obi-Wan noted and began putting breakfast together for them all. Jyn’s eyes had gone wide in excitement at the food put in front of her, speaking through food to chat with Luke and Leia. Leia was taking great pride in introducing her brother to her friend.
Bail was then in the Temple an hour after Padmé messaged him to let him know that they were looking after Jyn.
“If you’re taking in children,” Bail began and Anakin was already very concerned about where that sentence was going, “we have a number of children in the rebellion whose parents were killed or are still out on a far-off assignment. Would the Temple mind looking after them until we can work out something more permanent? We’d been ferrying them around bases as best we could but I recognise it’s not a good arrangement.”
The look Padmé shot at him and Obi-Wan stated very clearly that nothing was going to stop Padmé from saying yes. Not that Anakin had any inclination to say no. They had stupid amounts of spare room in the temple and now that Jesse had eagerly taken up the role of head chef and roped a few of the other clones in with him, they had the ability to feed rather a lot of people. Also, the Temple still felt eerily quiet and he doubted anyone would say no to having a few more pairs of feet running up and down the halls.
Anakin and Obi-Wan both gave Padmé a small nod.
“Of course,” Padmé replied. “We’ll double check with Plo of course, but I don’t see him saying no.”
Bail nodded eagerly. “Perfect. Comm me later with the official response and I’ll put everything in motion.”
“How many?” Obi-Wan asked, clearly already three steps beyond them.
“Around forty,” Bail said. “Most of them have family out finishing up missions and packing up bases, but there's fifteen who have been orphaned, They may take a little longer to find homes for.”
Plo had no objections and suddenly the Temple was full of kids ranging from five to sixteen. The adults took turns keeping an eye on what could only be described as a pack of children and moved them all into other spare rooms. They managed to keep them entertained, though given the kids were used to being on rebel bases, they were pretty well behaved.
Anakin took them for swimming lessons, Plo would read to them as a group before bed, Obi-Wan would run games, Luminara would do crafts with them, and the clones would just come up with wild ideas to keep them entertained. One disastrous afternoon even saw most of the children trying to help Jesse in the kitchen. Needless to say, it didn’t happen again.
Another two weeks passed and saw Anakin working in one of the docking bays when a ship came in. He first noticed the new guests when Artoo beeped Guess who’s back assholes from across the bay.
Anakin had leapt up in excitement and rushed over to his favourite droid, rubbing the dome of Artoo’s casing with deep affection.
“How have you been, Artoo?”
Artoo whistled affirmatively that he was well and he would like an oil bath now, please and thank you. Anakin informed him there was a working bath two levels down. Artoo bailed immediately in favour of getting clean.
Anakin grinned after the speeding droid when two tall blue and white montrals caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.
“Snips!” Anakin called, waving.
“Hey, Anakin!”
“How are you?” Anakin asked, looking her over.
Ahsoka shrugged. “Fine, looking forward to a bit of down time honestly.”
“What happened to your Star Destroyer?” Anakin asked. “I was sure you said something about promising to look after it and take it for walks—”
“Ha, Ha, Skyguy, you’re hilarious,” Ahsoka replied flatly. “I had to give it back.” She sounded very disappointed about it. “From the rumours I’m hearing the majority of them are going to be decommissioned, since, ya’know, we’re not at war anymore.”
Anakin nodded. “Fun while it lasted though?”
“ So much fun having my own ship.” Ahsoka smiled at him, punching him on the arm. “Come on, show me where my little darlings are.”
They found the twins, Jyn, and Obi-Wan in the dining hall; the kids harassing Jesse and Razor in the kitchen while Obi-Wan was bent over several holopads and muttering to himself.
“What’re you up to?” Ahsoka asked, bending over to look at Obi-Wan’s work.
“Budgeting, planning, making lists of things to prioritise,” Obi-Wan said, rubbing his forehead. “Fun things.” He froze. “Ahsoka?” he asked, looking up from his work and staring at the young Togruta.
“In the flesh.”
Obi-Wan sprung up from his seat and pulled Ahsoka into a tight embrace. Anakin watched as a bright warmth lit in his heart. “It’s so good to see you. I swear you’ve gotten taller again,” he said, looking her up and down with a frown.
“Soka!” Luke yelled, spotting her through the window to the kitchen. The three kids ran out of the room and into the dining hall, Luke and Leia colliding with Ahsoka’s legs as both of them exclaimed about how much they’d missed her.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ahsoka replied, crouching down to hug them properly. “I missed you too.”
“Hi,” Jyn said standing a foot back from the Togruta and staring at her in awe.
“Jyn, right?” Ahsoka asked the other girl. “I thought you were staying with Saw.”
Jyn nodded. “I was. I’m staying here until my Papa comes to get me.” She grinned. “He won’t have to work for the Empire anymore. We can be a normal family again.”
“That sounds awesome,” Ahsoka replied.
“Do you want us to take them off your hands?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan, pressing a kiss to the back of his shoulder.
Obi-Wan smiled and turned his attention to Anakin. “If you wouldn’t mind? I really need to get this done tonight.”
Anakin nodded.
Eventually, Anakin, Ahsoka and the three children ended up in the Room of a Thousand Fountains again. Luke was obsessed with the water and any opportunity to swim, and the moment he had Ahsoka’s attention, Luke dragged her there with the rest of them trailing behind.
Anakin sat beside Ahsoka at the edge of one of the deeper pools, both of them tugging off their shoes and dipping their legs in the water.
“I missed this place,” Ahsoka muttered, putting her hand in the water and turning it in circles, creating a small whirlpools in the liquid.
“We’ve been teaching the twins to swim in here.”
“Going well?”
“Yeah.” Anakin began his next sentence carefully, “I know you chose to leave the Temple, but I was wondering if you would like to return? You know, now that it looks like we’re making some necessary changes to how things will be done.”
Ahsoka seemed to freeze for a moment, her eyes searching for something. She pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “Tell me more.”
Anakin did. He told her all about the plans they had made back on Tatooine and how they’d managed to bring Plo and Luminara on board. Anakin even reluctantly admitted to the fact that he and Qui-Gon believed it to be connected to bringing balance to the Force.
Ahsoka remained quiet through the whole retelling, her face betraying nothing of her thoughts. As Anakin wound the tale down he began to worry that it was not enough to make her stay. He knew her life was her own. He knew she was capable. And yet…Anakin dearly wanted to keep Ahsoka in his life, preferably where he could see her often.
“Also, we could really use an accomplished lightsaber teacher,” Anakin added at the end.
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Ahsoka replied teasingly. “Okay, I’ll stick around for now; I’ll even give teaching a proper go. The Force knows your kids love me; I can’t abandon my adoring fans.” She glanced over to where Luke was attempting to crawl under a lush bush, before fixing Anakin with a steely gaze. “But if at any point I decide I don’t like it here, I’m out.”
“That seems fair.”
A gentle silence settled between the pair.
When Ahsoka next spoke, a sliver of anxiety had crept into the edge of her voice, “You really want me to stay? I mean…” she sighed, “you have a family, what do you really need me for?”
“Ahsoka,” Anakin said and waited for the Togruta to turn her blue eyes on him. “You are my family. I need you because I love you, and not having you in my life is always terrible. I love having you around. Obi-Wan and Padmé love you too. I know we joke around about it, but you are a daughter to me.” A thought clicked into place in Anakin’s head. “Is this why you’ve been more distant the past few years?”
Ahsoka nodded slowly, her eyes a little waterier than a few moments before. “I felt like I was intruding,” she muttered.
“Well, I can assure you that you are definitely not,” Anakin told her, bumping his shoulder against hers. “I’d love to see more of you. You’re welcome to move in with us.”
“Nice try, Dad ,” Ahsoka laughed. “ That’s not happening. I like having my own space.” She paused, letting the facade of bravado slip away. “I’ll definitely hang around more though.”
“That sounds good, Snips.”
Anakin’s eyes caught movement behind Ahsoka that made his heart stop and the smile drop from his face.
“Leia!” Anakin yelled, scrambling up from his seat. “Leia, you put Jyn down right now !”
Leia had Jyn suspended in the air, hovering above one of the taller trees, the other girl clearly focused on reaching a large cluster of fruits near the top. Jyn turned a disgruntled stare on Anakin, but he just latched onto the girl in the Force, overriding Leia’s grip, and carefully brought her back to the ground.
“We were just trying to get the fruit,” Jyn grumbled, her chin tilted up at Anakin in defiance.
Anakin sighed and sat down with both girls to have a serious discussion about safety and misusing the Force. Anakin suspected he would have be having this conversation a lot with his daughter in the future.
Ahsoka laughed at him the entire time.
For the first few days after her arrival, Ahsoka crashed in Rex and Cody’s quarters and spent her days surrounded by the many children the Temple seemed to be harbouring, though that number was slowly diminishing as rebel parents came to retrieve their kids. Then, once they’d had time to clean out a room for her, Ahsoka moved into her own small set of quarters and began really integrating herself back into temple life.
Plo had been ecstatic to discover that Ahsoka had decided to stay and the Kel Dor had taken a few days from all the reorganising he and Obi-Wan had been doing to catch up with his favourite student.
Ahsoka shone with the attention.
Two months after the death of Palpatine, the occupants of the Jedi Temple had a small celebration, though the reasons for it were three-fold. One, they had missed the twins fifth life day about a month and a half ago, all of them forgetting due to the massive upheaval in their lives; two, the Temple was well on its way to being rebuilt into a home; and three, the legislation declaring the clones citizens of the galaxy and individuals with rights had finally passed.
Jesse and his team (a mix of assorted responsible children plus Razor and Wooley) made an impressive spread of food. Ahsoka and Caleb ran games with the kids, always ensuring that the minimum child-yelling-quota was being reached at every moment. Anakin wished that the quota was lower, but couldn’t say no to the way the Force around them filled with happiness and excitement. Then as the children ran out of energy, they were escorted off to bed.
After all the children had been put to sleep, Rex appeared with a crate of black ale, and handed one to every adult in the room. Caleb had been very excited to be included with the adults, having turned eighteen recently. In the end, the clones ended up the least sober, with all of them drinking for every toast made. While they had started sensibly enough, toasting freedom and individuality, by the third hour they were toasting ‘alcohol’ and ‘that really cool hat Jesse has’. The end of the evening saw Cody draped over Padmé and tearfully thanking her for what she and the rebellion had done for them all. The others had ended up clustered together and singing all they songs they could remember from the war.
Anakin understood where they were coming from; freedom was a heady brew.
Three months after the fall of the Empire, Anakin found himself walking through the Temple to find a man standing in the entrance hall, staring up at the statues. He was broad-shouldered with a strong jaw and sharp eyes, with greying hair that came down to his ears. Anakin did not recognise him, the man plucking not even a single string of recognition in the Force.
“Hello,” Anakin greeted, approaching the man. His eyes swung around to look at Anakin, offering up a polite smile. “Can I help you?”
“Galen Erso,” the man replied, holding out his hand. “I believe my daughter is here somewhere.”
“Jyn,” Anakin said reflexively, shaking his hand. “You’re Jyn’s father.”
He nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“I’m Anakin Skywalker. Jyn’s been staying with us.”
Galen inclined his head. “Nice to meet you.”
“Saw mentioned you were forced to work for the Empire,” Anakin added conversationally as they began to walk through the nearest corridor, and then mentally kicked himself. What an opener. He’d really meant to keep that thought in his head.
Galen smiled at the floor. “Yes. They wanted me for my knowledge.” He let out a breath. “I would personally describe myself as a pacifist; I wanted to use my research to create unlimited clean energy for developing planets. Of course, the Republic and then the Empire wanted my research to create the ultimate weapon.”
Anakin blinked. He thought he’d heard Obi-Wan and Padmé talking about such a thing. He was also fairly certain he’d heard similar things in the media. Something about a secret project and a planet killer.
“It had something to do with kyber crystals, didn’t it?” Anakin asked, more to himself than Galen.
Galen nodded. “It did.” He didn’t elaborate further.
Anakin hummed thoughtfully and didn’t press the issue. That part he definitely remembered from the overheard conversations. Given what one small crystal could make in a light-saber, he could see how a lot of them could create an superweapon. He could also see how they could likely be harnessed to create clean energy. The things were damn powerful. Anakin resolved to read up on it later, suddenly interested in Galen’s suggestion of unlimited clean energy. Tatooine could do with some of that.
He pulled out his comm as they walked and called Obi-Wan.
“Yes, Anakin?” his voice came through as he picked up.
“Do you know where the kids are?” Anakin said. “I have Jyn’s father here.”
“Yes, Ahsoka took Jyn and the twins to the upper training rooms for practice,” Obi-Wan replied.
“Okay, thank you. I’ll see you later.”
Anakin felt a pulse of affection sing along their bond before vanishing behind thin shields.
They walked through the halls of the Temple in silence, Anakin catching Galen looking interestedly around at the decorations on the walls; the paintings and sculptures catching his eye as they walked.
“Has Jyn been well?” Galen asked as they entered the elevator.
Anakin nodded, selecting the appropriate level on the keypad. “She seems to have enjoyed her stay, though I think it mainly has to do with the fact that she and my daughter, Leia, have bonded quite closely. I will warn you that she does tend to have nightmares on occasion, though what they’re about she wouldn’t share.”
Galen pressed his lips together. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
The doors dinged open and the two of them stepped out into the hallway, Anakin leading the other man to the nearest training room. All four heads turned to look at them as they entered.
There was a pause in time.
“Papa?” Jyn’s voice was breathless and disbelieving, her eyes as wide as moons as she stared at her father.
“Hello, Stardust”
Jyn threw herself into her father’s arms, her small limbs wrapping around as much of his torso as she could reach.
“Papa!” Jyn cried into the fabric of her father’s shirt. “Papa, I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Jyn. Very much.”
Anakin looked away in an attempt to give them privacy. He ignored the way his own eyes prickled at the sight. Anakin had barely been able to keep himself together for a day after the twins had been taken. He could not imagine having to live that way for any extended period of time.
Leia trotted up to the three of them, Luke and Ahsoka still standing in the centre of the room and watching with interest. “What’s going on?” she asked Anakin, her hand tugging at his shirt. “Who’s that?
“That’s Jyn’s father, Leia. He’s come to take her home,” Anakin replied.
Leia’s bottom lip wobbled threateningly. “What?”
“Jyn has to go with her father, Leia,” Anakin said as gently as he could, kneeling down to speak with his daughter. “She can’t stay with us.”
Leia burst into tears, a number of nearby light bulbs shattering around them. Jyn leapt back from her father in surprise, and Galen looked around them in concern.
“Leia,” Anakin chastised, “you need to control yourself.”
His daughter nodded around her tears, and the ominous humming of several other bulbs dropped back to normal, though Leia continued to cry, launching herself at Anakin and wrapping her arms around his legs, sobbing into his tunic. “But I don—don’t wan’Jyn to go!” she cried. “She’s my—my best friend.”
At that, Jyn followed Leia’s lead and broke back into hard sobs, her face scrunching up as tears fell down her cheeks, the two girls staring at each other in dismay.
“You know,” Anakin said beside Galen as both fathers were faced with matching tear-streaked faces, “we have rather a lot of kyber crystals here. It would be very helpful to have someone around who knew a lot about them, someone who could perhaps continue his energy research at the same time?”
Galen turned to look at him with wet eyes and a little laugh. He examined Anakin closely. “I will consider it. I have had a few offers over the past week, and I would like to investigate them all thoroughly.”
Anakin nodded in understanding.
“However, if you would permit me, I would like to bring Jyn back to visit.” Galen smiled. “Our daughters seem to have become fast friends.”
With a promise of future visits, Leia and Jyn were placated and more easily separated from one another. Jyn was then lifted into her father’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder, staring back at the rest of them.
Leia waved sadly, still sniffing, and said, “I hope to see you again soon,” in a perfect imitation of her mother.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy for many of the children still in their care. Many had no parents to pick them up and no homes to return to.
The children whose parents had been away on missions all managed to get to Coruscant and collect their children within the first four months of the end of the Empire. Now, they were left with the remaining orphaned children still in need of a home. Bail had managed to find homes for nine of the orphaned children so far, mainly with other rebel families, which left them with six unclaimed children in the Temple.
Reaat, Sha, Herin, Cassian, Fenn, and Delmon were those still left behind, and all of them sick to death of waiting around in the Temple. In the end, given that they were becoming more and more restless and there were only a few of them now, Anakin decided to send them along to all the impromptu classes the Younglings and Padawans were taking. It was still highly unstructured and continued in the style and content that’d been taught on Tatooine, but it was better than nothing. It at least gave all the kids some more people to socialise with.
It didn’t take long for Fenn to begin displaying Force sensitivity, once she had cottoned on to what the others were doing. Plo had offered the young Bothan a permanent home in the Temple and to continue training as a Jedi, which Fenn had excitedly accepted. That brought down their orphan number down to five.
The others took to the classes with ranging interest. Cassian was a quiet and somber twelve year old who took his studies very seriously, and made quite close friends with Zatt, and in turn, Luke. Luke mainly because he had attached himself to Zatt’s side a few months ago and if Zatt thought Cassian was a good friend, then Luke was also on board with the idea. Reaat fell on the other end of the spectrum, very disinterested in the lessons and much more interested in making friends with everyone in the room. The other three did the minimum amount work, but were easy, likeable kids. Anakin didn’t doubt that Bail would be able to find them all homes soon enough.
Finally, beginning around the four month mark of the return of the Republic, Jedi truly started returning to the Temple. Seemingly, everyone had wanted to ensure the news was true and that the reformation of the Republic went forward as hoped. Now that both things have been proven accurate, more and more Jedi came out of the woodwork and returned home.
Vos was the first to arrive in suitably dramatic fashion by bursting into their quarters with some form of celebratory song on his lips. Luke had responded, quite reasonably Anakin thought to a strange, loud man being in their home, and blasted the cup in his hands straight at the Kiffar Jedi. Vos thankfully caught it and apologised to Luke. Following Quinlan in was a man the family didn’t recognise and who Vos introduced as Drun Cairnwick. The name had seemed vaguely familiar, and Vos pointed out that he’d been working in the outer rim during the War, and then after 66, had wound up falling in with the rebellion. Drun and Vos had accidentally met one another on one of the rebellion’s transport ships into Coruscant and had both had a good laugh that they’d somehow never come across one another while running jobs for Bail.
Jocasta Nu and Tera Sinube appeared suddenly around two weeks after that. From what they told Anakin and the others, the pair had escaped the Temple together after the purge and hidden on the lowermost levels of Coruscant using Master Sinube’s knowledge of the culture of the slums to get by. News had travelled swiftly to the lower levels that the Empire had been overthrown, but the knowledge that the Jedi were returning to the Temple and the details of the many reforms in the Senate had been much slower. Once they did finally hear that news, both Madame Nu and Master Sinube decided to return and see the changes for themselves. Ahsoka had been beside herself to discover that the old Cosian Master was still alive, if looking frailer than the last time she’d seen him. She’d hugged him as tight as she dared before the two fell into a long, warm discussion with one another.
Obi-Wan had been most thrilled by Madame Nu’s reappearance and within an hour of their arrival, both Jocasta and Obi-Wan vanished, only to be found hours later in the Library, carefully re-establishing the power to the system and rebooting the library. Jocasta had been smiling up at the library as tears dripped down her wizened cheeks. Obi-Wan had a comforting hand on her shoulder and Anakin quietly excused himself from the scene, deciding he could catch Obi-Wan later.
Shaak Ti walked into the temple one morning with a Padawan in tow. Anakin found out when Leia came running into the room he was working in, exclaiming something about there being another Soka in the the Temple. Confused and intrigued, Anakin was led through the Temple by his daughter to find Shaak Ti being interrogated by Luke. The Togrutan master was patiently answering all of Luke’s questions, statements, and excited jabberings, the Padawan beside her was just staring at Luke in confusion.
Shaak had looked up at Anakin with a warm smile and greeted him, expressing interest in the twins, though of course once Leia called him Dad again, she quickly surmised that they were his. She’d said something about explaining their presences in the Force and introduced the young girl next to her as Maris.
Anakin and the twins spoke to their two returning Jedi as he walked them to the administrative office a few of the clones had thrown together in search of something to do. From the sounds of it, Shaak Ti had spent some time alone after 66 before she found Maris and the two ended up spending most of the years on Felucia, living with the locals.
Wooley was manning the front desk when they approached, with Razor sitting on the desk beside him as the two of them chatted amongst themselves. Razor shouted, “Hey guys, Mum’s back!” and Anakin laughed as the Togrutan Jedi Master was swamped with over-excited clones appearing out from a nearby door, a games table visible just beyond it. Shaak Ti had been overjoyed to see her clones again, warmly greeting each and every one of them, quickly crushed in the embraces of so many men.
Yaddle appeared quietly one afternoon a few weeks after that, not even announcing her presence until Obi-Wan spotted her quietly sitting down at a table at the evening meal. A shout had gone up and the diminutive Jedi Master found herself quickly surrounded by old friends. Eeth Koth appeared in a similar manner around a week later, just walking in on a discussion about rostering people to work in the kitchen, greeting everyone, and then wandering back out the way he came.
With that, the tide had truly begun, multiple people arriving each week, either on their own or in small groups. There were even more Padawans beginning to trickle in with the masters. Jinx, a young Twi-lek Padawan arrived on his own one morning. Master T’ra Saa had appeared with Master Eekar Oki, Master Uvel turned up with Youngling Gungi, with Master Rig Nema and Padawan Katooni shortly after that. Master Thongla Jur another week later, and Master Coleman Kcaj had arrived with five younglings and one Padawan a week after that, and Anakin had seriously wondered how he’d managed to look after so many children on his own. Then, there were enough coming in that Anakin lost track of it, leaving it to those in admin to worry about it.
Around seven months after the Empire’s fall, the influx began to slow down again, and by the eighth month, it had died down to one or two per month. There was also a slow but constant influx of ex-clone troopers. Anakin didn’t know the vast majority of them, but there was usually someone in the Temple who would recognise them and give each man a warm welcome. Every new arrival was accepted warmly into the pack of clones already there, and would soon find himself with his own shared living space and as much or as little work as he wanted. Wooley had also started building contacts in Coruscant and was helping those clones who didn’t want to stay find work elsewhere.
Then a truly unexpected guest suddenly appeared in the form of a familiar Zabrak.
Anakin and Obi-Wan had decided to take the twins to Dex’s diner since Obi-Wan had promised he would on his first visit to his old friend’s restaurant a few months back. Upon arrival, Obi-Wan had been dragged into a terrifyingly tight hug from the Besalisk while Luke and Leia had stared up at the huge being with wide eyes.
Luke immediately burst out with, “You have four arms? That’s so cool! That’s…” he paused, looking at Anakin, “two more hands?”
Anakin nodded at his math.
“Wizard,” Luke muttered and went to introduce himself to Dex when Obi-Wan was finally released.
Dex was immediately taken by the twins, talking animatedly with the both of them before ushering the four of them plus Dex into a booth in the corner. After being thoroughly grilled by Luke, the three adults talked over a meal, the Besalisk fascinated to hear everything that had happened in the Senate from the source. In turn, Dex shared the rumours he’d heard or arms dealing on the lower floors related to Imperial soldiers who weren’t happy about the change. Anakin filed the information away for the future. He should probably tell Bail about it. They all knew that if they just told Padmé she would be down there with a blaster, solving the problem herself.
Anakin did his best to ignore the interested looks their party was getting, though thankfully everyone seemed deterred by the pointed stares Dex was handing out. It was, all in all, an enjoyable excursion. They didn’t often take the twins out into Coruscant proper, and the two of them absolutely lived for getting out of the Temple and seeing more of the City. Anakin was fairly sure Luke would happily just live on the street out here just to see all the beings coming and going.
“Thanks for coming by,” Dex said as he pulled them all in for a final goodbye hug. “Please bring the kids back again sometime.”
Obi-Wan agreed heartily and promised to even bring Padmé next time.
Then, as they left the building, heading out the back entrance to where they’d stashed their speeder, a black blur whizzed past them, nearly colliding with Obi-Wan. The shape tugged the hood off his head to reveal the spiked, red and black head of Maul. Anakin had yanked the twins behind him and a hand on his saber before he even spoke.
“Kenobi,” the soft voice hissed, stepping closer into Obi-Wan’s space. “My contacts tell me I must unfortunately bestow some thanks in your direction. We are even now. You will not see me again. Do not come looking.”
Then he was gone.
He leapt as a shadow up the nearest building, quickly disappearing over a roof-top. When Anakin looked back down, Obi-Wan was still standing there, looking after the darksider, dazed and perplexed.
“Well that was weird,” Anakin said, striding over to his partner, his brain tripping over the bizarre nature of the past minute. “So, do you think it’s something we should worry about?”
“I…don’t think so,” Obi-Wan replied slowly.
Anakin nodded, suggesting, “Maybe he’s grateful for the fact we killed Sidious?”
Obi-Wan nodded, pressing his lips together. “That would make the most sense.”
“Well, there’s no sense in dwelling on it,” Anakin said seriously, “if he said you won’t see him again, he probably meant it, the dramatic asshole.”
Obi-Wan just hummed.
“Who was that?” Luke asked, appearing between the two of them. “He looked like Brato but cooler .”
Obi-Wan scoffed.
“He was someone we knew before the war,” Anakin replied, placing his hand on Luke’s back and giving him a small push towards the speeder they’d borrowed from the temple. Leia was already standing by it, staring up at the sky and the speeders soaring by above them.
“Come on,” Anakin said, grabbing Obi-Wan’s arm and dragging him toward the speeder. “Padmé wanted us to decide on food and drinks for the wedding before she got home, and we’ve got training with the kids in an hour so we’d better make a quick decision.”
“I now completely understand why you married secretly,” Obi-Wan muttered disdainfully as they finished climbing into the vehicle. “There’s far too much that goes into all this.”
“Agreed.”
“Can I help?” Leia asked, leaning forward in her seat. “Mom said she wanted four—no, um—five blossom bread.”
“Did she?” Obi-Wan asked, turning to look at their daughter.
“I think I remember that being a special occasion food on Naboo,” Anakin muttered, trying to place the food. It stirred a sweet flavour in his mind and he just couldn’t— “Oh, that’s right, Padmé gave me some once, she had a secret stash of it on Coruscant. It was really nice.”
“See, I can help,” Leia urged. “Please? I really want to.”
“Sure, if you really want. It’s not going to be particularly fun though,” Obi-Wan pointed out.
Leia nodded excitedly. “Yeah, I do.”
“Okay then,” Anakin agreed. “Luke, do you want to help before training?”
Luke shook his head. “No, I wanna practice with Zaria. I promised her I’d help. Can I do that?”
“So long as you stay in sight of an adult,” Anakin agreed.
Luke nodded excitedly and the four of them returned home.
Not long after their strange run in with Maul, Qui-Gon suddenly reappeared, scaring the living daylights out of a communal meditation session that Obi-Wan was leading. Shaak Ti had sworn colourfully at the disembodied Jedi Master after throwing her shoe at his form. Yaddle had given him the dressing down of his afterlife, berating him for what sounded like every mistake he had ever committed followed by the most sincere voicing of her joy at seeing him again. Qui-Gon stood there with a pleasant smile, impassively taking the telling off, and then dragged Obi-Wan, Plo, and the other present Jedi masters off to talk. Caleb took over leading the younger students left behind.
“Yoda has decided to not return,” Qui-Gon informed them. “He feels that his time has come to step away from the Order and let you all take over for the future.”
Anakin blinked. That had not been what he was expecting at all.
Obi-Wan asked the question they were all thinking; “Why?”
Qui-Gon took a moment to consider his words. “The two of us have spoken at length over the past five years, particularly debating interpretations of Anakin’s prophecy—” Anakin did his best not to twitch at the mention of himself, feeling a number of eyes flicking over to him, “—and how much of a role Sidious truly played in the downfall of the Jedi and how much we brought it on ourselves. Yoda decided that his traditional outlook was and is not what we need moving forward.”
“You bullied him into admitting you were right, you mean,” Plo said evenly.
Qui-Gon smiled serenely at him.
“You’re just as infuriating in death as you were in life, Master Jinn,” Yaddle said and made her way towards the door. “I’m going to have a cup of tea. I’m too old for this nonsense. Tell Yoda I expect him to visit.”
Qui-Gon nodded in agreement.
Now that it was clear that Yoda was not returning, Plo began organising weekly meetings with all the remaining Masters to discuss the future of the Jedi Order. No-one objected to Plo taking up the mantle of Master of the Order, and it was easier than Anakin had imagined to bring the other Masters around the ideas they had posited on Tatooine. Strangely enough, it seemed that between the experiences of the Clone Wars and the five years in hiding after the purge had changed a number of opinions about attachment and emotion and how the Order had done things in the past.
Over the first couple of meetings they all agreed on the Temple working more like a boarding school and not completely removing children from their families. The single Master-Padawan system was removed to be replaced with the less structured training regimes usually saved for the Younglings. They also agreed that functioning separately from the Senate was definitely a good idea. Instead it was decided that they should have a team of two working as liaison between the two bodies, one individual from within the Jedi Order and a sympathetic outsider. Anakin quickly made it known that Padmé had expressed some interest in the position. They also all agreed that the clones should be allowed to remain if they wished, and would be put on the payroll of the Temple for whatever positions they chose.They lifted the ban on attachments with only a short discussion which lifted the final weight from Anakin’s shoulders. Obi-Wan had shot him a flirtatious little wink that had not been missed by a fair portion of the other Masters and Anakin felt himself turn an embarrassing shade of pink.
There was also the surprising new change, suggested by Shaak Ti, that they set the minimum age limit for admittance to the temple at five standard years old, and to remove restrictions on maximum ages. Her argument was that they should be offering training to anyone who needed it. They didn’t have to fully train anyone, and if someone came to the Temple looking to just learn how to control their power at the most basic level, then that option should be open. “Not everyone wants to be a Jedi,” she said, “but everyone should have the right to learn how to use their connection to the Force safely.” This was the debate that took the longest, with some vocal disagreement from some of the older Masters. In the end though, their biggest opponent were brought around to the idea through Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti’s calm and well thought out arguments. It also meant that any adults who had aged out or chosen to work for the Corps, could return to the Temple for further training if they wished. Obi-Wan in particular had been a big supporter of that move.
Then, everyone put in requests and recommendations for who should fill what roles within the newly organized Order. The next time they met a week later, roles were handed out officially, in the presence of all the residents of the Temple, Jedi, clone, and civilian alike.
Plo Koon was bestowed the honour of Master of the Order with Obi-Wan was named his second if the Kel Dor was ever off world or unable to perform his duties, a decision which surprised no-one but Obi-Wan. Madame Nu was given her library back officially, while Padmé and Shaak Ti became the liaison team for the Senate, both women looking forward to working with one another. Ahsoka and Vos were pleased to be placed in charge of ‘saber training, while a selection of other Jedi masters were also given teaching roles that fit their skillset.
Anakin ended up as crèche master, though the role was shaping up to be rather different given the changes to admittance rules. From the discussions he, Plo, and Obi-Wan had, the role was no longer a matter of living with and raising the Younglings in one large crèche, but rather being the first point of contact for anything a Youngling or Padawan might need. He was also to be in charge of keeping them organised, motivated, and on track in their studies. Plo had described the role to him as more like a school’s headmaster or classroom teacher, than that of a pseudo-parent as it had been previously.
Jesse was given the role of head chef and Wolffe given charge of security. Inevitably, all members of the Wolfpack still in the Temple, a few more members appearing over the preceding months, jumped into security roles very happily, with a smattering of a few members other battalions joining as well. Wooley offered up his services as head of administration, with Razor working as his main assistant. Rex and Cody took up teaching roles, with Rex on non-lightsaber combat, and Cody on strategy. Anakin liked to think that they would never be actively involved in war again, but he knew that planets were likely to ask for help with military issues, and it would be best if anyone sent to help actually knew what they were doing. Appo and a number of others opted to work as maintenance crew, and spent a lot of time working with Anakin to get the Temple back up and running. The rest of the clones chose to remain in administration for now and continue to do odd jobs until they found the niche they wanted to fill, or until they decided to find work elsewhere. A number quickly flocked into Jesse’s kitchen once they discovered the joy of cooking and the sheer deliciousness of their brother’s food.
Roles and changes thus made, the Jedi Order began to fall back into a working routine, with everyone slipping into their respective roles. In some ways, it felt as though the purge never happened, in others, there was such a marked way in which the Temple and the Order had changed, that nothing short of a genocide could have possibly been the catalyst.
There were more civilians coming in and out of the Temple then there ever had been in the past. Galen, as promised, would often drop Jyn off to spend time with Leia, and would then spend a few hours speaking with the recently returned kyber specialist in the Temple. He didn’t end up taking Anakin up on his initial offer of work, eventually taking up a position at Coruscant's biggest power provider. However, Galen had come back to Anakin and offered to help those in the Temple, wanting to share what he had learned with his research in return for learning more about what the Jedi knew about the crystals. The scientist ended up implementing one of his experimental power designs in the Temple with some of their damaged and unusable crystals, which had absolutely revolutionised their power levels. Galen had been then been fascinated by the more spiritual attributes of the crystal, and the lightsaber’s inner workings which he was currently having an exciting time redesigning. From what he’d told Anakin, he was trying to figure out a way to give the blade more than one setting of ‘instant destruction’, searching for a way to perhaps create more of a taser-like effect. So far, the main issue was keeping the blade’s structural integrity while on a lower power setting. If nothing else, Galen seemed to enjoy the challenge.
Bail also often visited the Temple to check in on their orphaned charges. In the past few months, he had found homes for Reaat, Sha, and Delmon, leaving only Herin and Cassian still in the Temple. Bail would come visit them, taking time to catch up with Padmé before sitting down with the two orphans for a conversation and, when he could spare the time given that being Chancellor meant that most of his time belonged to the government, taking them out into Coruscant.
Other Senators would drop in from time to time too, usually on the pretence of catching up with Padmé, but oftentimes such visits ended in them being shown the Temple and discussing the proposed changes to how the Jedi would run with either Anakin, Obi-Wan, or Plo. While it wasn’t particularly convenient, it did seem to be doing wonders for their public perception and helping put all the new legislation through the Senate.
Other things changed too; Ahsoka was Knighted within the first fortnight of the Order’s restoration. Anakin had suggested to Plo that she complete her Trials, but the Master of the Order had waved him off, stating that Ahsoka had more than proved herself worthy of the title over the previous years. She’d initially not believed him, calling Anakin ‘hilarious’ and challenging him to a practice fight. Anakin had stood his ground and repeated that he and Plo and the rest of the council had all agreed and she was expected in the Council Room now, if she wanted it. Ahsoka had thrown her arms around him and cried into his shoulder for a good five minutes, mumbling all sort of things against his shoulder that he couldn’t make out. Ahsoka had accepted her position as Knight with puffy eyes and a wide smile.
Then, on Anakin and Luminara’s suggestion, Caleb went for his Trails. The Padawan had initially been very excited about the nomination, facing the upcoming tests with serious determination and throwing himself back into his training. The night before the Trials began saw Caleb sitting in the Skywalker quarters the whole night before, fretting and stressing over the impeding day. Caleb did at least have two Trials already completed, the Council deciding that given the past five years and the ordeal of losing his Master and surviving the Purge, they had already passed him on the Trial of the Flesh and the Trial of Courage. All he had to prove tomorrow was that he could pass the Trials of Skill, Spirit, and Insight.
Anakin sat with him through the night, talking and encouraging his student while Padmé, Obi-Wan, and the twins retired to bed at a more reasonable hour. As the evening progressed, Caleb relaxed more and more, the two of them dropping onto more philosophical discussions and Anakin providing non-specific examples of his Trials to bolster his student’s confidence. Then, Caleb had fallen asleep on the couch, curled around a cushion, his face losing all signs of worry.
The next morning, they’d eaten an early breakfast in silence before Anakin walked him up to the Council chambers.
“May the Force be with you,” Anakin said and received a serious nod in response. Then Anakin watched his student walk through the chamber doors.
He went about his normal duties for the rest of the morning, shepherding Younglings and Padawans off to classes and dealing with whatever odd issues sprang up over the course of the day, until he was summoned back to the Council chambers. Caleb was already waiting outside for him.
Anakin raised his eyebrows in question but Caleb just shook his head, although he was smiling.
“I passed the Trial of Skill and the Trial of the Spirit but I…I purposefully failed the Trial of Insight,” the young man admitted quietly. “It’s just that…it didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel ready to be a Knight; I wanted to be one so badly, I didn’t stop to think if I was ready in my heart.”
Anakin looked at his student in contemplation.
Caleb dropped his eyes. “I’m sorry, Anakin.”
“No, no, don’t be sorry,” Anakin said, pulling Caleb into a one-armed hug. “You are wise to put your Knighthood off if you do not feel ready. I’m proud of you.”
Caleb broke into an unrestrained smile and the Knight and Padawan went to have a celebratory dinner together.
Obi-Wan and Padmé continued to go about their duties with the single-minded conviction he adored in the both of them.
Obi-Wan was constantly running around the Temple, making sure everything was running smoothly and that everyone was relatively happy. He and Plo would meet regularly, much like Anakin noted Mace and Yoda did in the past, the two of them keeping the Temple together and functional just by their combined forces of will. Anakin was still so glad that Plo had accepted the position as Master of the Order, given his warm disposition, wealth of experience, and his level head, Anakin really couldn’t have thought of anyone better.
Padmé and Shaak Ti could often be found together in the Temple or the Senate, working relentlessly to make sure the Temple’s autonomy was respected and ensuring all the changes proposed by the Jedi were accepted. Over time, the two women became fast friends and would spend time together socially, often found drinking tea in various locations around the Temple with a few kids scattered around them. Padmé’s time was also divided by her duties to the Temple and communicating with her family and continuing to work out wedding details. Anakin had really never known that a marriage was such a huge production and the whole thing was mind-boggling in its entirety. Both he and Obi-Wan were very glad that Padmé was happy to take the helm on most of it, though she included the two of them in decisions wherever she could.
Otherwise, their lives continued as they had been. While they were apart for the day, they all came home together in the evenings. Sometimes the three affianced would go out on proper, actual dates, which was very strange for all three of them, but still highly enjoyable. He’d also taken to spending at least one evening a week just with Ahsoka, the two of them sneaking out to participate in pod or swoop racing in the lower levels, or just going out into town for fun. Once Rex and Cody and the others discovered their little practice, they would sometimes invite themselves along.
He and Obi-Wan also made time to spend time with the clones, organising outings around Coruscant or running games and tournaments in the Temple. One particularly fun activity they came up with was a mass game of hide and seek with the children, which devolved into a wild game of chase, with children shrieking in the halls as the clones chased them down, throwing the younglings over their shoulders. Obi-Wan had spent the whole afternoon doubled over in laughter, particularly when Rex decided that Ahsoka counted as a child and abducted her from a desk where she had been working. The other children found it hilarious to see Ahsoka shrieking at her friend and wriggling as hard as she could to get out of his hold. Of course, her revenge came two days later when Rex woke up with his bed floating in the middle of one of the larger pools of water in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.
It was good to have laughter in the Temple again.
Eight months after the fall of the Empire, and two months since the proper re-establishment of the Jedi Temple, Anakin sat at the edge of the garden, watching some of the children train under the shady grove of trees before him. Padmé was seated beside Anakin, her shoulder pressed tightly against his as she was typing into her holopad. Obi-Wan was with the children, giving them some extra training, though given that Galen had dropped Jyn off earlier, Leia was rather distracted. Luke, Zatt, Cassian, and Zaria were closely listening to Obi-Wan as he talked them through a tricky movement in the Kata they were practicing.
Cassian wasn’t particularly good at any of the Kata’s, missing the essential link to the Force to really feel what he was meant to be doing, but that did not stop him from trying. He was also now the last orphan of the rebellion left in the Temple, Herin having found a home in the last few weeks. Cassian was becoming more despondent with each passing day, and Anakin hoped that Bail either found him a home soon, or that they decided to just let Cassian stay in the Temple permanently. This state of uncertainty was not good for a child. Anakin understood that more than most.
He looked up as he suddenly sensed an unfamiliar presence in the Force trailing behind Bail’s easily recognisable signature coming from the nearby elevators. Anakin looked up to see two people approaching them, a woman walking beside Bail, a long and intricately detailed dress trailing along the ground around her in a stunning midnight blue. Her black hair was twisted up around her head while her dark eyes stared around the garden interestedly. Though Anakin had never seen her in person before, this could only be Queen Breha of Alderaan.
Anakin elbowed Padmé and nodded in the pair’s direction.
“Breha!” Padmé exclaimed, her eyes widening in excitement as she put her holopad down and rushed forward to meet the other woman. “I didn’t know you were on Coruscant.”
“Padmé, oh how good to see you! It’s been too long.” Breha pulled Padmé into a close hold. “I arrived yesterday. I finally found some time to get off Alderaan and come visit.”
“I must imagine it’s been very busy with the death of the Empire,” Padmé said, clearly sympathetic.
Breha pressed her lips together, widening her eyes, and nodding. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Or rather, I’m sure you really would.”
Padmé laughed. “What are you doing here?”
“Well for one, to visit you all, and...the other was Bail’s idea,” Breha said cryptically. “Do you mind if we…?” Breha gestured towards where the children were still gathered around Obi-Wan, and watching him perform the next motion.
Padmé nodded and Anakin stood up, wrapping his arm around Padmé’s waist and following after the Organas. Obi-Wan spotted them first, pausing in his demonstration to wave at them. All five children immediately spun around to see who it was, Luke jumping up from his seat and running at Bail with an exclamation of welcome. The others followed at a more sedate pace, following after Luke to say hello to their visitors.
Breha garnered a lot of attention from the children. Leia in particular was highly interested in her dress, circling around the Queen and gently touching the sheer fabric. Luke, Zatt, Jyn, and Cassian all said a polite hello and Breha introduced herself to them as Bail’s wife.
“That means you’re…the Queen of Alderaan. Right?” Cassian asked, frowning in concentration, clearly trying to drag up the things he’d learned in their politics class.
“Yes, I am,” Breha said warmly.
Jyn and Leia cooed interestedly, Leia dragging Jyn around the back of the dress to show her the intricate embroidery at the back, the image of a silver dragon spread across the hem. All five adults watched the interaction with amusement. Anakin watched Bail step closer to Obi-Wan and mutter something in his ear.
Obi-Wan startled for a moment, smiling at Bail, before calling out, “Luke, Leia, Jyn, and Zatt, it’s time to return to our lesson and leave our guests in peace.”
Anakin watched the realisation that his name had not been mentioned cross Cassian’s face, his stance tightening where he stood. Anakin took a few steps away with Padmé, sensing a need for privacy. It did not however stop either of them from listening and watching from the corner of their eyes.
Once the other children wandered back to Obi-Wan as Breha knelt down on the ground in front of Cassian, her dress spreading around her like a flower in bloom.
“Did you want to talk to me?” Cassian asked, not looking at any of them, an edge of guarded fear in his voice as he watched the other children return to their lesson.
“Yes, we do. Getting right to the point, Cassian, we would like to adopt you,” Breha said with a smile, looking at the young boy.
Cassian’s eyes went wide and his head swivelled around the look at the Alderaanian Queen properly.
“What?”
“Would you like that, Cassian?” Bail asked. “I understand it’s—”
“Do you mean it?” Cassian asked, frowning seriously at them both.
“Of course,” Breha replied and smiled over at Bail. “My husband tells me he’s loved the time he’s spent with you over the past few months—”
“Why though?” Cassian asked.
“We cannot have children of our own, Cassian,” Breha said gently. “We both have wanted a child for years, and then Bail met you. He’s constantly telling me how kind and clever you are and we both think you would be a wonderful addition to our family, if you would like to.”
Bail took over the conversation. “We would of course understand if that’s not what you want. I spend much of my time on Coruscant away from Breha, and we are both under a lot of scrutiny from the public.”
Cassian nodded along seriously, his lips pressed together in thought. Anakin could feel a twisting mixture of excitement and fear swamping the Force around Cassian. “Would I still be able to visit the Temple?”
“Yes, of course,” Bail assured him. “You can choose to remain on Coruscant with me, or stay on Alderaan with Breha, or any mix of the two. You also would not inherit Breha’s title as monarch, that will go to one of Breha’s cousins. All we want from you, Cassian, is a family.”
The Force around Cassian began to settle, determination settling into the young boy’s shoulders. “Then yes, I would like that.”
“Thank you, Cassian.” Breha’s face broke into a blinding smile, holding her hands out to Cassian, palms up. Cassian looked at them for half a second, before placing his hand over hers. “I bid you welcome to House Organa, and I look forward to having you as part of our family.”
A hopeful smile grew on Cassian’s face, the light reaching his eyes as he stared at Breha and Bail.
In the end, Cassian ended up staying in the Temple for a week longer, Bail and Breha not feeling comfortable immediately dragging him from what had been his home for over seven months. Instead, one or both of them would come each day and pick him up from the Temple to spend time with him.
It also provided Padmé an opportunity to catch up with Breha when she brought Cassian back in the evenings. Throughout that week, Anakin would often come home to find both women tucked up on the couch together, a cup of tea in hand while talking animatedly about anything from child-rearing to wedding planning to the latest policy debates. Obi-Wan joined them once, settling in next to Padmé and offering some thoughts on the Trade disputes going on between Malastare and Devaron but, generally, he and Obi-Wan left them to it.
Zatt and Luke were sad to see their friend go, but also understood that leaving would make Cassian happy. Of course, Luke was then wildly excited to discover that this meant Cassian would be coming to his parents’ wedding.
All of a sudden, just over nine months after the Empire’s demise, their marriage was upon them. The five of them left Coruscant for Naboo, with Ahsoka and Rex alongside them. Plo had wanted to come, but was unable to find any time in the schedule, especially since Obi-Wan unequivocally had to attend the wedding. Plo and the other Masters had expressed their well wishes and expected there to be many holos for them to look through upon the happy trio’s return. Obi-Wan had turned pink for that entire conversation, the Council having decided that it was an excellent topic to discuss in an official capacity. Anakin had had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
They’d managed to get a little more than three weeks organised to be away from the Temple. One week for travel there and back, one week before the wedding to prepare, and one week for a brief honeymoon on Naboo afterwards. Ahsoka and Rex had even offered to look after the twins for that final week, which their parents had gladly accepted.
Now Anakin found himself waiting in a room with Obi-Wan, the both of them dressed up to their ears in Nabooian finery and waiting on the ceremony to start. According to Naboo tradition, the bride was kept apart for three days before the wedding. For some backwards reason, that meant Anakin and Obi-Wan could at least still see each other. It also hadn’t stopped Padmé from sneaking into their room last night. Anakin shook that particular thought from his head and focused on what was in front of him.
Obi-Wan looked breathtaking.
Anakin had very rare chances in the past to see Obi-Wan in anything other than his Jedi robes, and then after 66, anything other than plain Tatooine tunics. Currently, Obi-Wan was in an incredibly flattering set of deep blue clothes; his pants and undershirt fit him perfectly, hugging all the right places and showing of Obi-Wan’s very well cut figure. The edges of those particular garments were scattered with artistic swirling patterns in rich silver embroidery and small shining gems, but it was the outer cloak that really dazzled. It had a high collar that fit snugly around Obi-Wan’s neck, before falling over his shoulders and arms, the fabric bunching artfully around him. The cloak was heavily embroidered in gold, silver, and bronze, swirling in beautiful, intricate shapes and also scattered with small shining gems. There was definitely a Jedi bent to the design which Anakin appreciated. They also very nearly matched. Anakin’s clothes were in more of a deep green, but of a similar design in general shape. The embroidery on his clothes were more floral where Obi-Wan’s resembled the stars and galaxy above.
“I feel ridiculous,” Obi-Wan said, catching Anakin’s eyes on him.
“You look amazing,” Anakin assured him, stepping forward and resting a hand on Obi-Wan’s. He smirked. “You’d look even better out of them.”
A nervous laugh burst from Obi-Wan, some of the tension dropping from his shoulders as he looked at Anakin properly. “I like the green of yours,” he noted, letting go of Anakin’s hand and tracing one of the designs on Anakin’s cloak. “It suits your hair.”
His hair had finally been tamed, the front portions being pulled to the back of his had and clasped into place by what had to be the galaxy’s heaviest clip. The rest had been allowed to fall free over the back of his shoulders. Obi-Wan’s hair was still short enough to just be brushed into place, the scruffy beginnings of the beard he had been regrowing was trimmed back into a neat dusting around his jaw and mouth.
Anakin smiled and leant forward, brushing their lips together.
“Nervous?” Anakin asked, lacing their fingers back together, feeling a faint tremor there.
Obi-Wan smiled. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”
Anakin leant his head forward, letting their noses touch. “It’ll be fine. Just remember to say yes and we should be okay.”
Obi-Wan smiled at him up through his eyelashes.
“Oi!” Ahsoka yelled, coming into the room. “Illegal! You’re not married, there’s no kissing.”
They both laughed and Obi-Wan took a step back for propriety's sake. “Sorry, Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan replied with a grin.
“I knew we shouldn’t have let you two stay together, I don’t care what Naboo customs say,” she growled at them. “You two cannot be trusted.”
“You look great, Ahsoka,” Anakin noted, examining her traditional Togruta garb. It was all sky-blues and draped fabrics, decorated with beads and complicated patterns while Ahsoka was also decorated from head to toe in shining beads and jewellery.
Ahsoka put her hands on her hips, looking down at her long skirts. “You think so? Shaak Ti leant them to me.”
“You look very smart,” Obi-Wan confirmed.
Ahsoka grinned proudly.
“How’d it go getting Rex and the kids into anything vaguely formal?” Anakin asked.
Ahsoka snorted. “We got there eventually .”
Said clone ducked his head into the room and Anakin was surprised to see he’d finally cut his hair back to a more tidy length. “Ready?” Rex asked.
“Just rounding them up,” Ahsoka confirmed. “ Are you ready?”
Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan’s hand and they both nodded.
Ahsoka led them from the room and into the wedding chamber. Their friends and family lined the chairs before the altar, Anakin not even registering who was sitting there because his gaze was captured by the vision at the end of the aisle.
Anakin felt Obi-Wan’s grip on his hand tighten as they both caught sight of Padmé.
She was clad in a golden dress, in some ways similar to her last wedding dress, but still wildly different. The intricate lace pearling still featured heavily, but this sparkled more, with gems seemingly stitched into her clothes, much like theirs. The fabric on her torso clung tightly to her skin before falling loose below her elbows into waves of fabric. The skirt of the dress fanned outwards at her waist, layers upon layers of fabric building outwards and hanging like the petals of a rose around her. Padmé’s hair was loose around her shoulders with a golden lace veil falling from the top of her head and down her back. She smiled with red lips as she glimpsed the two of them, her eyes darting over both their forms, her brown eyes drinking in every inch of them.
Before he knew it, Anakin found himself in front of the officiant alongside Padmé and Obi-Wan. They stood together, each holding hands in a small circle while facing the officiant. His heart beat heavily in his chest as the three of them stood there, trying not to tear up before they even began. In the end, Anakin barely heard a word the officiant said, though honestly he didn’t think he heard any of it the first time either. He was far too enraptured with the two beautiful, wonderful people before his eyes.
Suddenly the twins were there beside them, both of them carrying a small box each. Luke was in a clean white shirt and pants with a sky blue cape hanging from his shoulder. Leia was in matching colours with a loose white dress and blue shawl draped over her shoulders and falling down her back. Both of them had their hair pulled off of their faces with intricate braiding littered with beads and ribbons. They looked utterly adorable.
“Mommy, you look so beautiful,” Luke whispered.
“You look wonderful too,” Padmé whispered back. “I love your hair, darling.”
“Me too?” Leia asked.
“You as well,” Anakin assured him. “You look very beautiful. Now did you two have something for us?”
“Oh!” Luke exclaimed, holding out his box in front of him. “Yeah.”
Leia did the same to Padmé saying, “Ahsoka said to give you these.”
Good to know that someone knew what was meant to be happening.
Their jobs completed, Luke and Leia rushed back to where Ahsoka was standing off to the side with Rex. Ahsoka shot them a thumbs up, which Anakin readily returned.
Anakin flicked open the box to reveal a single small ring that looked to be Padmé’s size. She must have theirs then. The ring was a plain band of polished chromium set in a small black silk pillow. He knew that he and Obi-Wan would likely only rarely wear the rings on their fingers given how they would hinder blade-work and cause damage to both their sabres and the rings. Anakin had sneakily purchased a couple of necklace chains to solve the issue and he looked forward to giving Obi-Wan his later.
As both Obi-Wan and Padmé in turn affirmed each of their vows, rings began to be exchanged, and Anakin felt his heart-rate jump at each word.
Then it was his turn.
He promised to love the both of them forever, and to be there for them no matter what. He swore to share the good and the bad, and to support their family in every way he could. He accepted his role as husband, and watched in wonder as Obi-Wan slid the chromium ring onto his left middle finger as was traditional on Naboo.
A delighted, irresistible smile broke out onto his face as he stared at the band around his finger.
This was real .
Then the officiant said something about kissing and Anakin was there . He gripped Padmé’s hand tightly as he surged forward and pressed his lips against Obi-Wan’s, his husband returning the kiss in kind, a warm hand coming up to cup the back of his head. Then Padmé’s hip bumped his and Anakin let go to watch Padmé do exactly the same thing to their shared partner, leaning in and slotting their mouths together, the both of them wearing matching smiles.
Anakin quietly added another memory to his list of best things to ever happen to him.
Then Padmé was kissing him and Anakin poured out all the love he could muster into their connection. Her eyes sparkled as they pulled apart.
Thankfully, once the ceremony was over, Naboo custom basically boiled down to ‘have a wonderful party’ and that was a sentiment Anakin could get behind. He was just about shaking with excitement.
They were married .
Anakin felt a corresponding thrill of joy dance across his and Obi-Wan’s bond, Anakin feeling a strong hand coming to rest on his hip and Obi-Wan slid a little closer and pressed a kiss to the side of Anakin’s face.
“Come on, my two beautiful husbands,” Padmé said, leaning in to kiss them both again, a glowing smile on her lips. “It’s time to celebrate.”
They were initially cornered by Padmé’s family who had been moved to tears by the ceremony. Padmé had kept in frequent touch with her family over the past nine months; she would call them at least once a fortnight to talk, Padmé unable to get away to Naboo for any length of time, and her family unable to get enough time off from their respective work to come to Coruscant. They had all been instrumental in putting the wedding together, a fact which had Anakin and Obi-Wan thanking them multiple times in the week leading up to the ceremony.
It had been good to spend time with them in that week. Anakin had been fawned over by Padmé’s mother, Jobal, who seemed to be making up for the lost years by spending as much time with Anakin and Obi-Wan as possible. Jobal certainly went out of her way to make sure Anakin and Obi-Wan felt included in what they were doing. It was nice having a motherly figure in his life again. Ruwee kept to himself more, mainly seeming less enthusiastic about wedding planning, however one evening did see him and Obi-Wan sitting around with a few glasses of wine and discussing the different merits of each. Anakin still maintained that wine was just wine.
Bail, Breha, and Cassian were also in attendance, all three of them looking every inch of royalty that they were. Cassian, in his formal Alderaanian robes, had relocated to sit at the table with Luke and Leia, the three of them looking terribly classy together, mimicking the formal behaviours of the adults around them. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé greeted them warmly, Bail and Breha offering up their sincerest congratulations, fetching them a glass of Toniray wine each.
Then they had found Owen and Beru who had managed to get a neighbour to watch their farm for a few days. Padmé’s family had been very kind and had housed Anakin’s family in their home for the few days they were there. Anakin embraced his step-brother, the two of them getting into a somber discussion about how much both their parents would have loved to be here.
He and Obi-Wan even had a brief conversation with Qui-Gon in a secluded corner of the room so as to not look like complete lunatics as the Force ghost of Obi-Wan’s former master wished them a sincere congratulations.
The greatest surprise came in the unexpected form of Quinlan Vos, dressed in his nicest Jedi robes and flirting with one of Padmé’s distant cousins by the drinks table.
“What, you think I’d miss this?” Vos asked, pulling Obi-Wan into a tight, one armed hug. “Not a chance. Someone had to come send you off in style.”
Obi-Wan laughed. “Thank you, Quinlan. Though I also think you just can’t resist a party.”
“Ah,” Vos exclaimed, “you’ve got me there.”
The celebration went on for some time, Anakin particularly enjoyed the dance between a equally tipsy Ahsoka and Rex, the both of them trying to lead and neither being any good at it. Anakin had taken the chance to jump in, taking Ahsoka’s hand for a spin around the floor. He let her lead.
“Thank you for your help,” Anakin said as they moved across the dance floor.
Ahsoka shrugged. “It was fun. Thank you for including me.”
“Of course. We couldn’t have it without you.”
Ahsoka grinned brightly at him.
“My turn?” Obi-Wan asked, suddenly beside them, and Anakin moved to take his hand.
“Oh no,” Obi-Wan said, smiling and stepping closer to Ahsoka. “Padmé wants you, I think it’s my turn with the lovely Ahsoka here. Save one for me later.”
Ahsoka laughed at Anakin’s scowl and he went hunting for his wife.
“I see he’s already left us for a younger woman,” Padmé joked, nodding her head at where Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were dancing.
Anakin snorted a laugh, wrapping his hands around hers and leaning in for a kiss. “Seems that way. Will you dance with me?”
Padmé kissed him again. “Of course.”
There was a short round-robin of dancing, Anakin pairing up with Padmé, Luke, Bail, Leia, and a brief twirl with Rex, before he finally managed to catch Obi-Wan after his dance with Vos. Obi-Wan’s hands were warm and gentle as they took Anakin’s, pulling him closer.
“Happy?” Anakin asked, pressing his face to the side of Obi-Wan’s head and inhaling deeply, his heart fit to bursting.
“More than I can ever convey, dear one.” Anakin felt his husband send a burst of emotion along their bond, a burning feeling of love and happiness searing through his whole body, matching Anakin’s emotions near-exactly.
Anakin breathed out a sigh of contentment, and closed his eyes as he kissed Obi-Wan’s lips.
Slowly, the evening began to wear down.
Anakin yawned through a smile as he watched Obi-Wan twirl Leia around the floor, their daughter smiling widely as her dress fanned out around her. Then Jobal was tapping at his shoulder and rounding up Padmé and Obi-Wan to be secreted out a back door and into a waiting speeder.
“Congratulations, and have a wonderful week,” she said, kissing each of them on the cheek. “We’ll make sure to help Ahsoka and Rex with the kids. You three make sure you have fun.”
“We will. Thank you, Mama,” Padmé said, gripping her mother’s hand tightly.
Then they were off.
The trip only took about an hour, but Obi-Wan was making great strides toward falling asleep, his head pillowed against Anakin’s shoulder. When they arrived at the lake house, Padmé had taken it upon herself to wake Obi-Wan up with a string of kisses along his jaw and mouth. It had been a very effective method.
“Come on,” Padmé urged him, pulling Obi-Wan from the vehicle with Anakin’s assistance. “You’re going to love this place.”
Padmé led them both through the house and out onto the far balcony to stare out at the lake and the water glistening with the last light of the sun. Anakin watched Obi-Wan and Padmé stand at the edge of the balcony, the gems and beads in their clothes sparkling in the light. They looked like ethereal Gods in Anakin’s eyes. the two most beautiful beings in the galaxy, here, beside him, standing resplendent in the evening light.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Anakin breathed, staring out at the last rays of the sunset as it painted pinks and purples over the horizon.
Obi-Wan hummed. “I’ve seen better.” He fixed the two of them with a pointed stare.
“You utter sap ,” Padmé accused and threw her arms around Obi-Wan’s shoulders, leaning up to kiss his neck. “Awful, just awful,” she muttered between kisses.
Eventually, the three of them escaped their clothes. It took much longer than any of them would have liked—twenty minutes was far too long to remove a few pieces of fabric from a body—but soon enough Anakin was greeted by the glorious sight of Obi-Wan and Padmé laying together on the bed, with Anakin sitting on the edge as he pulled the last part of his shirt over his head.
“Shall we just sleep tonight?” Anakin suggested, watching the way tiredness was clinging to the edge of Obi-Wan, with Padmé also looking like she too was beginning to flag. He snuggled in between the two of them, laying on his back and catching each of their hands in his. “We have all week to have other kinds of fun.”
Obi-Wan chuckled and softly kissed his cheek, a hand coming to rest on Anakin’s stomach. “Sounds wonderful. I look forward to it.”
Padmé hummed in agreement and pressed her face into the skin of Anakin’s shoulder. “I love you both so much.”
They fell asleep in a pile of limbs and silent adoration.
The week they spent on Naboo after the wedding was perfect. The trio spent their first day in bed together, with no responsibilities or children to drag them from each others arms. It was a luxury they hadn’t had in a long time, and Anakin was determined not to squander it. Thankfully, his spouses seemed to share his enthusiasm, and the three of them enjoyed one another's bodies until they were boneless wrecks, unable to do anything but hold each other close. The second day saw them picnicking and swimming by the lakeside, Padmé inevitably starting another water fight, determined to win this one. The rest of the week was spent in utter relaxation. Just doing whatever took their fancy and making use of the free time to lie around listlessly, wrapped up in one another, and thanking their lucky stars for the past five years turning out the way they had.
In the months following their wedding, the last quarter of the year passed in a much more relaxed fashion.
One of the first things that Anakin began work on upon their return was to build rooms for the Younglings and Padawans with the assistance of the maintenance crew. Currently, the children were spread around between adults or given their own small quarters, which had worked for the first little while, but was now becoming inconvenient.
Anakin and Appo designed the new accomodations to be a series of rooms that would be better for accomodating children, and one larger living space that would better accommodate his entire family so that Anakin could remain close to his charges.
The design for the Skywalker quarters involved an large open kitchen and living room area as you entered it, with two doors on the opposite wall, and two doors on the right hand wall. The two doors on the right would be Luke and Leia’s rooms; they were still happy to share for now, but they all anticipated that this would not be the case forever, and so planned on having one as a playroom and office space for now. The rooms opposite the entryway were Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé’s bedroom on the left, and a spacious bathroom on the right.
Then, to the left of their quarters, they planned a hallway leading down to the students quarters. They went back and forth on ideas, but eventually decided on a mixture of individual and double rooms. The individual rooms were planned to be for the older children, and the shared rooms would be for the younger students. Each set of rooms would have a bathroom, a bedroom each, and a work space each. The idea was to give the kids a place of their own to go relax or work, but not somewhere to hide away for an extended period of time. They were planning to create a few shared spaces around the Temple for the students to hang out in.
They planned of having these student rooms take up one of the upper floor of the Temple, as a number of the kids were still anxious about the previous fate of the Temple, and being further away from the entrance seemed to soothe a lot of their worries. It also put them a bit closer to the classrooms, the meal area, and the training rooms, which meant they didn’t have too far to travel for most locations they’d have to go on a regular basis. All in all, Anakin and Appo were very pleased with their plans.
Once that was all decided, funding was organised, Plo gave them the all clear, and construction began. All in all, with constant work, Anakin and the team of clones managed to get the rooms they needed constructed within a month. It wasn’t all they wanted to do, knowing that they’d need more rooms as more children joined the Order, but it was enough to accomodate the number they currently had.
That sorted, they began moving everyone into their new quarters. Anakin’s spouses had been ecstatic to have more room to live in, a Master-Padawan suite designed for two people had been okay in the short term, but was increasingly frustrating for a group of five. Now it was more the size of their home on Tatooine at the start of their stay which was much more manageable. Luke and Leia hadn’t really noticed the difference, the both of them just happy to have a little more space in the living room to hang about in. They were also pleased that they were now closer to all the other children in the temple. The Younglings and Padawans loved their rooms too, particularly the fact that it gave them a little freedom, while still staying close to Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé.
All the while, Padmé threw herself back into her work in the Senate with Shaak Ti. The pair were a force to be reckoned with—pun entirely intended—and managed to maintain the autonomy of the Temple and it’s goals, while keeping the Senate content and managing disagreements like the seasoned professionals they were.
Obi-Wan was equally diligent in his duties, always darting around the Temple and ready to manage any and all problems that arose. For the most part, he and Plo managed the day to day life in the Temple and, as of about ten months after the Empire’s fall, began handing out missions for Jedi, and sometimes an additional Padawan, to take.
Even now, with the Temple and Jedi back in a semblance of order, their lives stayed much the same as it had on Tatooine. They made time for one another, they always spent the evening together unless something truly urgent came up, and their love for each other only continued to grow. Anakin and Obi-Wan only took short missions if absolutely necessary so as not to be away from home for too long, while Padmé almost never had to go off world for work. Anakin’s flashbacks of Sidious had stopped entirely a few months ago, and none of them still held onto the anxieties they’d encountered on their first return to the Temple.
Luke and Leia’s formal education was progressing increasingly well. It had chafed them initially to suddenly go from the very loose educational structure on Tatooine, to something much more rigid that didn’t directly involve their parents. It was good for them. Both of the twins had been highly dependent on their parents, and this was slightly exacerbated after the incident with Sidious, so the forced separation and independence had to happen eventually. Some of the frustration the twins faced was negated somewhat by the fact that Anakin was in charge of all the Younglings, so they got to see him often throughout the day. Their power and control continued to develop at an almost equal rate, which reduced some of the worries of some of their teachers. They were good students, even if Leia seemed to fight authority at every turn, and Luke was far too excitable for his own good. Regardless, they were loved.
Artoo and Threepio continued on as they always had, bickering amongst themselves and proving to be more of a nuisance than any kind of help. Threepio ended up spending the majority of his time in the Library assisting Madame Nu, who had developed a soft spot for the protocol droid, or assisting Master Koon in diplomatic areas. Artoo did whatever he felt like. Sometimes he would assist on mission, sometimes he would put on holograms for the kids in one of the communal spaces, sometimes he would follow Anakin around and try to teach the Padawans how to swear in binary. Most of the time, Artoo would order around the other droids and make sure that the Temple was always in tip-top shape. It seemed to have become a matter of pride to the astromech.
The Jedi continued to thrive under the guiding hand of Master Plo Koon, the Order running smoothly and cohesively, even after such a devastating blow. The Younglings and Padawans continued to make great strides forward, particularly with the change to the Order’s stance on emotion. The ex-clone troopers also seemed very happy. While it had taken time for both the Jedi and the clones to adjust to the shift in power dynamics, as time had passed the ex-troopers stopped snapping to attention if a Jedi so much as twitched, and the Jedi were very careful in how they requested things. Some clones ended up leaving the Temple, finding work elsewhere or deciding that this wasn’t the path they wanted to take. Those that chose to stay however, were very contented, fitting seamlessly into life at the Temple and helping to fill its lingering emptiness.
It was, in a word, perfect.
As it was coming up to a year after the death of the Empire, Anakin felt the itch to return to Tatooine. Kitster still called on occasion to talk to Anakin or discuss the ongoing application of Tatooine to join the Republic, and Anakin wanted to go back and see how it had all changed in the past year. He wanted to visit Kix, and he wanted to see Kitster again, and more than anything, he wanted to see what a Hutt-free Tatooine looked like. Also, he should probably check in that Hondo wasn’t destroying anything too important. That, and, well, Luke had made a very strange scarf and declared it was a gift for Hondo the next time he visited. Anakin had had to explain that Hondo probably wouldn’t visit them on Coruscant, but that he would give Hondo the gift the next time he saw him. Anakin also felt a horrible desire to invite the pirate to visit them in the Temple. Obi-Wan had looked at him like he’d lost his mind when he’d suggested it, only to then sigh and mumble something about owing the pirate.
In the end, Anakin decided to go alone. Obi-Wan and Padmé couldn’t find the time between the three of them to go with him, and the twins would miss far too much class in the few weeks they would have be away. He’d even offered for Artoo to come along, but the droid had whistled angrily about getting sand in his servoes again, and went to hide in Ahsoka’s room. Anakin had taken it as a no.
It was nice in some ways; he was able to borrow a one man ship and have a quiet ride across the galaxy; feel the cosmic winds in his hair and have some time to think.
Anakin didn’t think he’d ever been happier in his life; he had Padmé and Obi-Wan in his heart, Luke and Leia safe and growing well, Ahsoka happy back in the Temple, the Jedi back where they belonged, and the clones were free and doing whatever they pleased with their lives. Anakin, somehow, miraculously, got to have the life he always wanted, Jedi and family and freedom all in one…although it had cost the lives of so many to get there. There was the matter of the prophecy, but now it too had been addressed and the solution apparently found, the weight of it around his neck had fallen away from his shoulders like a heavy mantle losing its grip of him. He felt lighter in so many ways.Anakin watched the stars fly past him, his free hand fiddling with the ring around his neck, and thanked every one of them for the past few years.
Upon arriving on Tatooine Anakin was met by Kix at the Mos Espa spaceport, his once-medic waving enthusiastically from the edge of the landing strip. Kix’s hair had lost much of the decorative shaving patterns on his hair, now with a more locally inspired spiralling design through the side of his head. Anakin thought it suited him.
Anakin pulled Kix into a quick, one armed embrace.
“Kix, how’ve you been?”
“Busy,” the doctor replied, “much the same as before you left, just with more free people. You?”
“Really good,” Anakin said. “The Temple is recovering well and the family is very happy.”
Kix nodded. “I hear your wedding was nice. Rex told me all about it. Sorry I couldn’t make it.”
“It’s fine, the people here need you,” Anakin said, waving the apology away. “You’re still happy here?”
Kix looked back at the city. “Yeah. I miss the others, but I have purpose here. That makes me happy.”
Anakin nodded in understanding.
“Come on, lemme buy you a drink before we head home,” Kix said, slapping him on the back. “I’m sure there’s a few people around who’d like to see you.”
That turned out to be a massive understatement.
A fair portion of patrons recognised him as Seripas, legendary thing-fixer and general kind soul, while the other half recognised him from holos over the past year as Anakin Skywalker, Jedi hero and famous local pod-racer. Watching both people collide in the collective memory of the populace was very strange and ultimately resulted in the same solution; buying Anakin a drink. Kix helped him for a while, Anakin sliding him drinks when people weren’t watching, and drinking the rest. By the end, Anakin didn’t think he’d ever been this drunk. In fact, thoughts in general were not really happening just now. Kix just seemed to become louder and more prone to laugher the deeper into their cups they got.
Then…it all went a little fuzzy until he woke up the next morning.
He woke up to a buzz of his comm-device a message from Obi-Wan on his comm device requesting he call them. He was disoriented at first, confused as to where he was until the red-orange stone around him swam into focus. Tatooine. Anakin sat up, the room swimming oddly as his stomach churned. His eyes hurt.
Dragging himself out of the bed he had no memory of getting into, Anakin exited the room and found himself in a small living room.
“Morning,” Kix greeted, sitting at a round table in the corner of the room.
Anakin grumbled, “Mornin’” in return. Kix seemed far better off than he was.
The ex-clone trooper laughed at his attitude.
“Do you mind if I use your comm?” Anakin asked, nodding at the old device sitting on the corner of the table that Anakin recognised from their home out in the wastes. “Obi-Wan wanted me to call him.”
“Knock yourself out,” Kix replied, and vanished through a doorway. Anakin peeked in after him to find a small kitchen. Curiosity settled, he sent a reply to Obi-Wan and dialled home.
“Hey,” Anakin greeted, waving as Obi-Wan and Padmé appeared before him.
“What on earth did you get up to last night, dear one?” Obi-Wan asked. His voice was infinitely patient as he and Padmé watched Anakin with expectant looks.
Anakin blinked. “I went for drinks with Kix and then…half of Tatooine…I think.”
Padmé snorted. “Yeah, that explains it,” she said to Obi-Wan.
“Explains what?”
Obi-Wan smiled, clearly trying to resist the urge to do so. “We received some rather sweet and flirtatious messages last night. Then they just got…increasingly graphic.”
“Oh.” Anakin ignored the way Kix broke into guffawing laughter behind him, feeling the heat of embarrassment crawling up his neck. “I don’t remember sending them.”
“You should look back over them,” Padmé said lightly. “There were some rather inspired ones in there I think we should talk about when you get back.”
Kix’s laughter died at that as he darted back into the room, exclaiming, “No! No, I don’t want to hear any of it. This conversion is over.”
This time it was Padmé’s turn to laugh, apologising to Kix before turning the conversation onto something more mundane. They spoke about the goings on in the Temple, with Luke briefly appearing to say hello to his father and telling him about how he and Aulu had been able to master the latest Force exercise.
“Come on,” Kix called eventually. “You’re gonna be late if you don’t get a move on, Kitster’s waiting for you.”
“Call back in a few days?” Padmé asked.
“I will,” Anakin promised before hanging up the call and yelling “Coming!” after Kix.
“Where are we?” Anakin asked. “Still Mos Espa?”
“Yeah” Kix confirmed. “I ended up renting out the farm to a couple of families for cheap. I figured you all wouldn’t mind.”
Anakin shook his head. “No, that’s fine. I’m glad the house is being used. Do you live here by yourself?”
“Nah. I share with Brato now—he left hours ago; something about a broken leg—We figured it’d be easier for everyone to find a doctor in a rush if we stayed in the same place. Also, it cut my commute down by a lot.”
“Smart.”
Kix retreated to the kitchen before reappearing and plonking a plate of bread and a cup of water down in front of Anakin. “Eat. Then go. Kitster dropped in earlier and said to meet him at his house.”
“Thanks, Kix”
He felt much better after rehydrating and eating, though he could have definitely gone for a long nap to chase off the rest of his hangover. Kix then shoved him out the door, informed him to play nice with his friends and be home in time for dinner, before shutting the door in his face. Anakin could do nothing but chuckle and do as he was told.
Mos Espa looked different. Not radically, but different enough that it was noticeable. No-one was in chains. No-one was being dragged after an angry master or in such a clear state of mistreatment. There was still poverty and crime, but Anakin couldn’t see a single hint or suggestion that any of these people were belongings .
He had to stop for a long moment and pull himself to the side of the road, a tight feeling rising in his throat as he stared at the town that had been his home, filled with free citizens of the galaxy. Anakin found himself sobbing into his hand as he watched the mundanities of life move past him. He’d accomplished the one thing he’d promised himself as a child. He’d kriffing done it. Tatooine was free.
Finally, when he could breathe again and had wiped the tears from his eyes with the hem of his cloak, Anakin moved forwards. He weaved through the streets of his home, taking the well-trodden backstreets to Kitster’s home. He spotted him leaning up against the side of a building, blue tunics standing out against the sandy orange of the architecture.
“Kitster!” Anakin called, jogging over to his friend.
Kitster grinner and clasped their hands together. “Ani! It’s so good to see you again, my friend.”
“You as well. How’ve you been?”
The pair of them walked and talked, Kitster recounting much of his year, and Anakin responding in turn. Everything Kitster was saying boded well for the future of Tatooine; they’d managed to chase off the few slaver rings that had come sniffing around and all the ex-slaves had found some kind of paying work, though it sounded like there was still a lot of headway that could be made there. Kitster also talked about how their application to the Senate was going (which was well, if buried in paperwork), and that Hondo had kept his word and generally kept to himself.
As they talked, Kitster toured him around what had once been the slave quarters and his home. They looked cleaner than Anakin had ever seen them in his life, and once he was taken inside, the were also somewhat larger. Walls had been demolished and families had joined their small lodgings together into something more homely. Amenities and furniture were still falling apart at the seams, but that was going to take time. If nothing else, all the now-free people of Tatooine were just that; free, and from what Anakin saw, generally happy.
The rest of his week on Tatooine was taken up by spending time with Kitster during the day as his friend showed him around, and spending the evenings catching up with Kix and Brato and hearing about what they’d been up to for the past year. Then as the week wore on, Anakin inevitably ended up helping fix things around town. He was still recognised at the go to man for tricky fixes, and kriff were there more than a few of those. In the end, on an excellent suggestion by Kitster, Anakin spent two days showing a variety of people how to do basic troubleshooting and maintenance on common items. Three of his pupils showed particular promise, and Anakin had high hopes of them being able to do what he had while they’d lived on Tatooine. He also offered to come back again within the year to hold more lessons, a suggestion that Kitster had excitedly agreed on. He’d also managed to find an afternoon in which to go visit Owen and Beru in which the three of them had caught up over lunch, their lives continuing in much the same avenue as it ever had, the both of them still content to stay on Tatooine.
Before he left, Anakin took the time to visit his mother’s grave, kneeling before her battered headstone and spoken softly about the past year. The twins, the Temple, his marriage, and everything in between. He spoke of his worries and his triumphs and wished how she could have seen a free Tatooine.
He wished she could see his family.
He imagined that she would be proud.
Then, on his final day before going home, Anakin finally got around to the one thing he’d be actively avoiding; going to visit Hondo.
He’d said his goodbyes to Kix, Brato, and Kitster earlier, wishing them all the best and inviting them for a visit to Coruscant if they ever felt like it. Kitster suggested that he probably would soon when their application moved onto the next stage though Kix and Brato had been less inclined, but the offer remained if the mood ever took them. Then he’d gone to the spaceport and picked up his ship, flying the distance from Mos Espa to what the locals now called ‘Hondo’s Palace’.
Anakin’s first surprise was how easily he could just walk in the front door. The second surprise was how drastically different the decor was; where Jabba had enjoyed plain stone walls with some carved decoration, Hondo and his crew had covered the place in paintings, rugs, tapestries, masks, carvings, and all sorts of unidentifiable things. It felt, strangely enough, homey .
Hondo had met him in what had been the throne room (now with one-hundred-percent less dead bodies) to greet Anakin, before ushering him into a corridor and into a smaller room with a long, curved couch, buried in a wide variety of soft pillows.
“Much more pleasant to do business in private,” Hondo said, sitting down at one end of the couch and leaning back. “Now, tell me, how are my beautiful cousins?”
Anakin ignored the last part of the question. “They’re well,” he replied. “In fact, Luke sent me with something for you.”
The pirate’s eyes lit up with excitement. He clapped his hands together. “Yes! A gift for Hondo! Ah, I knew they loved me.”
Anakin smiled and pulled the scarf from his bag adding, “He made it himself.” Well, mostly. Padmé had helped.
Hondo graciously took the scarf, feeling the fabric between his fingers. It was made from six different fabrics that had been painstakingly plaited together. It was a little rough around the edges, but what truly made it interesting was the vast ranges of colours, none of which were particularly nice together, an odd mash of greens, pinks and purples.
“I love it,” Hondo declared and wrapped the garment around his neck, clashing loudly with everything else he was wearing. “I too have some gifts saved for them.”
Anakin resisted sighing and watched the pirate begin digging through a trunk in the corner of the room.
“For Luke,” Hondo said, handing Anakin a helmet that looked very similar to the one Hondo often wore. He then dug further into the trunk and pulled out a blue crystal the size of his fist. He dropped it into Anakin’s lap, “That’s for Leia.”
Anakin stared at the gem in confusion.
“It is worth nothing,” Hondo assured him, “but it is pretty.”
“Thank you, I’ll make sure they get them.”
The conversation from there was stilted. Anakin had never had the…particular brand of relationship with Hondo that Obi-Wan had, not that Obi-Wan particularly wanted that relationship. They spoke of nothing, Hondo dancing around the fact that he was actively practicing piracy in the surrounding systems, and Anakin doing his utmost to not give Hondo any kind of useful information. Anakin had even suggested Hondo visit, so long as he didn’t do anything questionable.
“Mmm,” Hondo mused, his hand stroking the spikes on his chin. “Coruscant is not for dear old Hondo, but I will consider it.”
When they ran out of things to talk about, Hondo waved Anakin goodbye with a wide grin that was half hidden in Luke’s scarf while Anakin wondered how his life had even reached to this point. Anakin just shook his head and waved back.
With one final backwards glance at the desert landscape around him, spending a long moment to take in the rich red and golds of the land, Anakin climbed into his ship.
The flight home was as relaxing as the flight out, the familiarity of the stars and the galaxy bolstering his heart as he raced past countless systems, the Force keeping him company the whole way.
Then before he realised it, he was landing on Coruscant.
Anakin watched from the ship as the landing ramp lowered to the platform of the Jedi Temple.
His family was waiting for him on the platform below, Padmé and Obi-Wan standing side by side, their arms linked together at the elbows. Obi-Wan’s auburn and grey-streaked hair bent towards their wife, attentively listening to what she was saying as they waited on Anakin. The twins were next to them, watching the ship with excited eyes, while Ahsoka crouched beside them, saying something to the twins above the hum of the engines.
Anakin smiled as he walked down the ramp to the sound of two excited yells and his two youngest children rushed forward to throw themselves at his legs, clamouring for his attention. Anakin greeted them both, pulling them in for a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead, before looking up to see Padmé and Obi-Wan standing in front of him with warm eyes.
“Welcome home.”