Chapter Text
Chapter One
Found Ourselves Back (In Love)
“Mom?”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears and Louis watched helplessly as they began to run down her face. Somewhere in the distance, there was a boom of thunder and dark clouds were gathering in the sky above them.
Staggering, the woman approached him and he was worried she would collapse to her knees right there in front of him. She didn’t, instead, reaching him with eyes drowning in salty tears.
“You’re alive! My baby!” She sobbed, reaching out with shaky arms to grab him by his shoulders. Louis, too stunned to think clearly, let her. He allowed himself to be pulled into her arms, her fingers clutching at the cloak around his shoulders. “My baby…” She cried, burying her face in his shoulder.
With awkward arms, Louis patted her back, twisting his head to glance as Marcellus, who was watching impassively, the only emotion shown on his face was a single, raised eyebrow.
She pulled away from, clutching his shoulders and sniffing loudly. “Louis, you’re so grown up, I can’t believe it.”
Louis chewed his lip, face burning, “Can’t believe I lived to this age even with the holocron embedded in my forehead?” He wondered, frowning, his own eyes burning like they wanted to start crying. Louis refused to let that happen.
His mother -Adiara, Harry had called her- looked shocked at his response, her tears coming to a halt but the trails still glistening in the dim light. “Baby, I never wanted you to be in danger. That’s why I took you to that planet, I knew you’d be safe.”
Louis shook his head, “My mother, the woman who raised me, found me in the trees, wrapped in nothing but a blanket, in the freezing night. It was lucky she was the one who happened to find me, for if it was anything else, I would have been left there.” Louis frowned deeply, pulling away from her. Her hands dropped away, her face twisted in shock.
“I… I didn’t know,” She stuttered, looking horrified. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed, stepping back from him.
Nodding, Louis stepped back too, his shoulders brushing against Marcellus and Edward’s arms. “It’s- It’s okay,” He told her, softly.
Rubbing her eyes, Adiara straightened her posture and spoke as if she hadn’t just been sobbing, “It’s not but I can make things better now. We can be a family, once again.”
It felt like the breath had been knocked right out of Louis. A family? She wanted to be a family? Louis felt his chest tighten like a rock was sitting on it. How often had he dreamed of finding his real family, meeting his real mother? The mother who had birthed him! And here she was, finally, standing before him and wanting to be a part of his life again. And suddenly he couldn’t think of anything else. He wasn’t thinking of his family back home or of Harry or the other boys. It was just him and this woman, him and his mother.
And slowly, he nodded his head, “A family,” he whispered. Adiara smiled.
“Come here, my boy.” She reached out and pulled him into another hug and squished his face into her shoulder. Louis went limp against her, breathing in the scent of ocean and rain that emulated from her.
“Louis,” growled a deep voice, causing Louis to pull away from his mother. Louis turned and looked over his shoulder at Edward, who had stepped forward with dark eyes and thinned lips.
“I… Edward,” Louis blurted, shocked as if he had forgotten the man was there. “Thank you for bringing me here. You two can return to the ship now.” He glanced at the brothers.
Edward snorted and crossed his arms, looking less than impressed with Louis. “I’m not leaving you on this island with them.” As soon as he spoke, the group that was with Adiara tensed and Louis thought they may try to charge at them.
Shaking his head, Louis reassured, “Edward, it’s fine.”
Shaking his head, Edward dropped a hand to his lightsaber. “No, Louis. I’m not leaving you.” His hand tightened on the hilt of the sabre, “Not again.”
Adiara clasped her hands together in front of her, “Thank you for bringing my son back to me but you need not worry. We will look after Louis now.” She smiled serenely and Louis could see the unchecked anger of Edward’s swirling in his eyes and curling at the corner of his mouth.
Edward sneered, “I will decide what and who I concern myself with. And it just so happens I concern myself with Louis.” Adiara frowned deeply and took a step back as if she had been slapped. She turned back to Louis and gave him an expectant look.
It took Louis a moment to realize that she was waiting for him to back her up but Louis found that he couldn’t. What else was he suppose to say to Edward? The man had all but admitted to caring for Louis. It made his heart flutter in his chest. It seemed like Edward had feelings -feelings for Louis- after all.
“Adiara,” Another woman spoke, looking older than Louis’s mother. “Why don’t we invite these boys to the village? I’m sure there’s plenty of things you and your son need to discuss.”
Nodding, Adiara turned to Louis, “Please join us,” she asked, strategically ignoring Marcellus and Edward.
Louis glanced over his shoulder at the brothers, chewing his lip. They both looked like they wanted to leave but Louis jerked his head at them and turned back to his mother. “We would love to.”
Following after the group of people dropped in robes, Louis fell into step behind his mother, Edward and Marcellus behind him. They stalked up the steep cliffs, following the narrow stone steps that lined them. They were slick from the humid environment and Louis nearly slipped several times trying to keep up with his mother. Eventually, they made it to a plateau, where there was a handful of stone huts perched.
“The original Jedi temple…” Louis breathed and Adiara turned and looked at him, smiling.
“Yes, it is. We’ve kept it in good condition since Master Skywalker’s death.”
Louis turned and looked at Edward who had tensed at the name.
“Master Skywalker?” Louis repeated, frowning.
She nodded, “Master Luke Skywalker. He died on this very island.” She clasped her hands together, “This is where he spent his self-imposed exile and where he passed away to join the Force. We have built our lives around keeping the peace and honouring him and his memory. It’s what he would have wanted.”
Louis nodded, ignoring the scoff from Edward.
“And what about keeping the peace in the galaxy? Or do you not care?” Edward sneered. There were mutters of discontentment from the Jedi, all giving Edward and Marcellus dark looks.
“Of course we care!” Adiara gasped as they stepped onto the stone platform the temples sat on. “We’ve been training and building up our strength but we’ve been waiting for Louis. Louis is the only one who has the power to stop The Underlord. We need him and his knowledge, the Holocron’s power to stop Zidar and reclaim the galaxy for the Republic.”
“You’ve been waiting for the Holocron to make a reappearance, not knowing if your son was alive or not,” Edward growled.
Adiara turned away from him, “Louis, who are these boys? Why are they with you?”
Frowning, Louis explained, “They’re my friends. They’re the ones who brought me here when I needed too.” Adiara didn’t look convinced but she nodded anyway, still glowering at Edward and Marcellus.
Beckoning at Louis, Adiara led him into one of the temple domes. It was made of stacked rocks and the inside had old wood furniture including a table and chairs, a bed with a thin mattress and a hearth. “You’ll be able to stay here.” She told him. Louis nodded dumbly, peering around at the sparse living quarters. “We have much to discuss, Louis. There’s so much I want to tell you. And I have something I want to give you.”
Ignoring Edward and Marcellus, Adiara excused herself and left through the front door of the shack, leaving the three of them alone. As soon as they were left alone, Louis dropped down onto the bed, the wood creaking beneath his weight. Looking up at Edward and Marcellus, he said, “Thank you for doing this for me. You don’t need to stay.” Marcellus squirmed, glancing at his brother.
Edward shook his head, “You think I would leave you alone with these people? A woman who abandoned you?”
Louis opened his mouth, shocked, “But, it wasn’t her fault. I was in danger-,”
“And is it not a mother’s duty to protect her child, no matter what the cost?” Louis gazed hopelessly at Edward, before looking at Marcellus for help. Marcellus’s eyes were hard and Louis knew that he agreed with Edward. Louis looked away, his mind racing with what Edward said. Edward sighed at his reaction and crossed his arms, “We’ll stay here with you,” He told him, frowning, “Until we know you’re safe, we’ll stay.”
Louis swallowed loudly, “I didn’t think you cared, Edward,” he managed.
Edward flicked his forehead, making Louis huff, but he didn’t respond.
That night the people of the temple had a fire. It was roaring into the night sky, basking everything in an orange glow. The people were sitting around it on wooden stools, murmuring to each other in low voices as Louis and the brothers walked out from their stone dwelling and approached the fire.
Louis hesitated before the fire, feeling eyes flickering to him. He was about to suggest going back to the shack when his mother emerged from the shadows, “Louis, dear, I have something for you.” People glanced over at her before looking back at Louis with fire-lit, curious eyes.
Approaching her, Louis spotted something in her hands: a piece of old animal skin, tanned and worn. It was bundled around something stout and fat. “It was your father’s. He passed away some years ago but he would want you to have this.” She flipped open the hide to reveal a hilt of a lightsaber.
Louis accepted it, feeling the cool metal in his palm. It didn’t feel right. It was too fat, too long and too cold for his hand. “Oh, uh, thank you,” he stuttered.
Adiara smiled serenely, “You’re welcome. I know you’ll do great things.” She clutched at his hand which was wrapped around the sabre’s hilt.
Something heavy settled on Louis’s shoulders and he managed a nod. Great things…