Chapter Text
Nothing about this place had made any sense, but the boy standing in front of them, examining his hands with awe and delight, was definitely the worst part of anything they’d found here.
“Get back,” Obi-Wan ordered, knowing neither Anakin or Ahsoka would listen and putting his arm out in a futile gesture anyway.
But before Anakin could start complaining that Obi-Wan couldn’t give him orders anymore, the boy in front of them said, “It’s okay. I’m a friend.”
A likely story. Obi-Wan hadn’t drawn his saber yet, but it was taking all of his strength not to. “Oh. And who, strange friend, are you?”
A smile. One that was almost familiar in its sadness and kindness. “I’m Luke Skywalker.”
Obi-Wan could feel Anakin freeze behind him. It didn’t sound like a lie. Didn’t feel like one. It wasn’t dangerous in the sense that it was a threat. But it felt ominous anyway. Overwhelming.
“Luke Skywalker?” Ahsoka repeated, and Obi-Wan could feel her curiosity bubbling up, her excitement. “Skyguy didn’t say he had any other family.”
“I don—“ But Anakin couldn’t finish the sentence and Obi-Wan could feel all of Anakin’s attention rushing towards Luke, exploring, trying to understand.
It was then that Leia and Cody and Rex caught up, bursting into the room of the twisted, dilapidated ruins with focused intent, skidding to a stop when they caught sight of the tableau.
Obi-Wan watched Leia blanch, caught between fear and fury, and level her blaster.
“Don’t shoot!” Luke shouted, throwing up his hands. “It’s just me!”
“Do not—“ Leia started.
“They call you Huttslayer,” Luke said calmly. “Father sent you here, to G—to Shmi. You can’t hear me inside anymore, can you?”
Anakin mouthed “Huttslayer” as Leia shifted, turning her attention in without lowering her weapon or taking her eyes off Luke. She made a sound like a whimper, staggering forward half a step.
And Luke moved. Was past Obi-Wan, past Anakin, wrapped around Leia, easing her to the ground as she grabbed him and shoved her face in his shoulder, shaking like Obi-Wan had never seen before, her hands fisted so tightly in Luke’s shirt Obi-Wan wasn’t sure she wouldn’t tear it.
“Oh,” Anakin said softly. “Oh.”
No, Obi-Wan thought, terrified. Surely not.
“It’s okay,” Luke was saying. “I’m here. I’m here. I’m not leaving.”
“Master Obi-Wan?” Ashoka asked, her eyes huge as she looked at him.
He didn’t dare say it. If he said it, if he was wrong…
Rex had lowered his weapon, looking more relaxed than he had any right to be. Cody at least still had Luke in his blaster sights. Obi-Wan’s saber was in his hands, even if it wasn’t on. He didn’t remember calling it. Anakin was useless, eyes wide with hope.
“Give them a moment,” Obi-Wan said. If he was wrong, if Leia got hurt… Well, Shmi would probably find some sort of suitable punishment.
If this was real…
Leia was babbling a thousand words a second as she pulled back and scrubbed aggressively at her face, one hand always touching her—Luke. And Luke was smiling, brushing away stray tears, murmuring quietly back to her, helping her to her feet, handing her back her blaster, firmly between her and Anakin.
When he turned around to look in Obi-Wan’s direction again, Anakin said, “You’re her brother. Aren’t you?”
Cody growled, weapon still out, his attention flicking to Obi-Wan long enough to confirm there wouldn’t be reprimands for this.
And while Obi-Wan was starting to be afraid this was actually real, he was grateful that his second was still holding it together. Because what was pouring off of Leia now was joy, and Obi-Wan couldn’t think of a single other time that he’d felt this much of her at all when it wasn’t something terrible.
“Yes,” Luke said. He looked over his shoulder at Cody and said, “I promise I’m not going to hurt you. I’m on Leia’s side.”
“That’s not all that reassuring,” Cody answered, sounding unusually flat even through the helmet.
Luke actually laughed. “Fair enough.”
He sounded like Leia. Not…their voices weren’t similar. Their laughs weren’t even the same. But something in the weight of his tone, in his immediate flippancy around danger. In how he was just rolling with this insanity like it wasn’t that far off from a normal day’s work.
Stars above, there were two of them.
“Did Mom tell Leia she’d adopt you too?” Anakin asked. “If you’d been alive?”
“Anakin,” Obi-Wan started. That was the least important—
“Oh no,” Luke said cheerfully, dodging Leia’s attempts to cover his mouth. “I was raised Luke Skywalker. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were adamant about that.”
Something in the universe slipped sideways, even though the words meant almost nothing to Obi-Wan.
“Adamant?” Cody asked, as Ahsoka asked, “Isn’t that Shmi’s family?”
“Uncle Owen?” Anakin asked as Obi-Wan’s brain scrambled to catch up. And also to make sense of Leia growling and crawling over Luke, trying to get him pinned and probably silenced.
“One second,” Luke said, twisting to engage with Leia.
A mistake, and one that Luke recognized as soon as he did it, because Leia had him on the ground in two seconds, her hand squishing his face sideways into the floor, all the noises coming from his mouth barely intelligible.
“Will you shut up,” she hissed.
The, “Nope,” was distinguishable through the slurring, and sickeningly cheerful.
“I’m—“
The next squished word was harder, but Obi-Wan was pretty sure it was “Paranoid,” mostly because, well, Leia.
“I have a life here,” she growled. “A plan.”
Luke twisted enough to get his face up and say, “Not my plan, didn’t agree,” before Leia threw herself over him, shoving her arm in his mouth and sitting on his shoulders, leaving his legs flailing pretty ineffectually.
It was hard to decide if Obi-Wan should laugh or not.
(Leia’s brother was dead.)
“Uncle Owen,” Anakin repeated. “He called Owen his uncle.”
“He did,” Leia agreed in a tone that said asking more questions was not welcome.
But when had that ever dissuaded Anakin. “For Owen to be an uncle, he has to have a sibling that had a child,” Anakin said. “Well, children,” nodding at Leia.
“Astounding. Good work. You know what words mean.”
“Cliegg doesn’t have any other children,” Anakin said. “I asked Mom.”
Leia was starting to look enraged. “Drop it.”
“Technically,” Cody decided to be supremely unhelpful, “Shmi adopted you.”
“Technically she didn’t,” Leia snapped.
“Technically she adopted all the brothers,” Rex at least sounded like he as trying to be helpful. “Although we don’t have any kids.”
“Neither does Owen,” Anakin said. “He’s never raised one. Or two.” Still staring at Leia.
“I’m going to kill you,” she said to the wiggling mess of limbs beneath her. “You came back, and now I have to kill you. You bastard.”
Obi-Wan wondered why Luke hadn’t tried biting Leia’s arm and had the sudden realization that he probably had, or was, and Leia was just…not giving in. Because now there were two of them. (Did Obi-Wan have to tell the Council? Was Mace going to kill him?)
“Then how did he raise Luke?” Ahsoka asked. And added, “Hi. I was gonna ask if you’re as cool as Leia, but I think no.”
There was a choked laugh from Luke and a worthy attempt to buck Leia off, to try and grab her with his legs and yank her back.
What started was an agonizing pressure in the Force, Leia keeping those legs away from her, Luke pushing back with more than just physical strength, neither one of them giving a single inch. (Oh Force and stars there were two of them...)
It might have gone on for a while, but Anakin walked over, which made Leia split her attention. Luke didn’t get a chance to grab her because Anakin reached for her and Leia was working on getting him into a headlock before Obi-Wan could blink.
Sadly, while it didn’t take nearly as much as it should have to get Anakin under her power, this did stretch her attention just enough that Luke could roll away. He was smiling as he panted, watching Anakin try and escape and cackling.
“I’m still going to kill you,” Leia shouted at her brother. “As soon as I’m finished with this traitor.”
“I thought you missed me.”
“Yeah, I thought I did too!”
Cody’s weapon was casually tracking Luke, but even Obi-Wan’s commander seemed to be loosing a sense of danger. Which was bad, because the longer Luke just…existed, the more unstable everything felt. Like the world was collapsing around the three Skywalkers, drawn to them like light to a black hole.
They weren’t hurting anyone, but Obi-Wan couldn’t escape the feeling that this was the most dangerous thing that could have possibly happened. Ever. And there was nothing that he could do to stop it.
“So how is he your uncle?” Ahsoka asked, taking advantage of Leia’s fight to slid a little closer to Luke, Obi-Wan trailing helplessly after her.
Luke cracked a smile, easing slightly away from Leia. “Well, my dad is his brother, so—“
Leia launched Anakin across the room with a scream, tackling Luke and rolling them to the far side of the room.
“She’s worse,” Obi-Wan heard Cody groan. “How did she get worse?”
Rex sniggered. Obi-Wan wished he could go somewhere private to cry.