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"She was reckless."
It had taken all of Luke's courage to finally ask the question. He knows Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Yoda would each give different answers. He expects they would conflict. With each other. With Naboo's historic record. With Leia's vague musings. He wants something true and truth is, well, a point of view.
He asked Obi-Wan first, thinking Yoda's view too distant, Anakin's too close. But they are all both in their own way.
"Constantly flinging herself into danger," the old ghost continues, with obvious and wistful fondness. Luke's whole face lights up in response. "And then your father would run after her and I would run after him." He shakes his head, rueful. "No, that's not accurate. They both came to my rescue on many occasions. I needed saving. And Anakin. . ."
A deep pain pierces his eyes. A pain that will never be excised, cannot be, even at Anakin's return. Regret has been his shroud too long.
She might have saved him, if.
He might never have needed saving, if.
If only he'd understood. He'd seen it -- of course he'd seen it! Love emanated from Anakin in waves whenever she appeared, and reflected back just as strong with her smile. He'd seen it all, but remained blind.
She might have saved him. She might have saved them all.
Obi-Wan pulls back from his memories, returns his focus to the boy, the man, in front of him. In a way she did save Anakin, through their son. A flickering sensation surrounds them at the thought. He recognizes it as Anakin's spirit, here and not here. Luke looks up, considers a long, quiet moment and finally nods. The blue glow around Obi-Wan brightens as Anakin blinks into view beside him.
"Artoo," he says, excitedly.
Anakin, like Obi-Wan, flutters between appearances as a man old before his time, tired and scarred, and the young hero Luke always imagined, and yearned to know. Yearned to be. Standing side by side, in a manner of speaking, they appear to be the same age, and, in a manner of speaking, carry the same burdens. But neither looks it in the moment.
"Artoo?" Luke repeats, eyes narrowing in confusion.
"Before he was your droid," Anakin explains, "or Leia's," Luke and Obi-Wan startle at the name, spoken so easily by this Anakin. Both are more used to tension and timidity as regards their relationship. But Anakin is exhilarated and barely notices. "He was mine. Gifted to me by your mother." He remembers the first time he'd seen them. Together. For so long those memories were shut away in the prison of Vader. Now he grins to set them free. "He was hers first."
Luke frowns. Why hadn't Artoo said anything? Why hadn't Obi-Wan? Not that either were forthcoming. But then, neither was Anakin. So why was he telling him now?
"You want to know who your mother is," Anakin answers his unspoken question. "Artoo can show you."
Luke looks up, eyes bright as comprehension dawns. Obi-Wan considers the many meetings, mistakes, moments the little droid witnessed through the years. It seems impossible the records remain, but Artoo was always special.
"You deserve to know her exactly as she was, through your own eyes." Anakin glances between the others, the shadow of Vader, of pain and regret, creeping into his visage. "I wish I could give that to you. And your sister." This time he stumbles over the word. "You all deserve so much. So much better."
An awkward silence falls, Anakin and Luke caught between reaching out and shying away, their shared mentor worrying he doesn't belong at all. All wanting to connect, none knowing how to go about it.
Padmé would know.
Obi-Wan clears his throat.
"Padmé was a shining star," he tells Luke, so eager to listen, and Anakin, so desperate to remember. "The whole time I knew her she was a target for the darkness that eventually overtook the galaxy." Anakin looks away, haunted as much as he haunts. "She never let it stop her, never let it change her. She was a light across the galaxy, always."
"Like you," Anakin adds, so soft Luke isn't certain he spoke aloud. But he heard.
"Artoo," his father says again, turning back to meet his gaze with a quiet smile. A familiar smile. Luke nods and he fades into the night.