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It hadn't been intentional to serve the Skywalker family, and for as long as they had. Everything was purely coincidence and luck.
Artoo met Anakin as a small boy who was barely taller than itself. He was outgoing and fiesty. They watched as Anakin grew into a man who was taller than most, and held his head up high. It watched as he trained to become a Jedi, and fully embraced being a leader. It watched Anakin fall in love and marry Mistress Padme even though it was against the Jedi code.
Artoo thought it would always be by Anakin and Padme's sides until the day came when its battery ran down for the final time.
However that never came to pass. In a few short days Anakin was gone, replaced by a monster dressed in all black with a filter that changed his voice. To add insult to injury his Mistress was died while giving birth to Anakin's children.
It was completely alone.
Artoo thought that if it was possible for droids to cry, it'd be drowning in their own tears.
When they stumbled upon Luke, it didn't realize he was Anakin and Padme's son for quite a while. It was months after the Death Star when they picked it up. Luke may have never known his father, but he had taken a piece of Anakin with him.
Luke was their favorite. Maybe it was because Artoo had been with Luke the longest. Maybe because it felt safe and at peace around him.
Maybe it was because Luke cared for them most of all.
Artoo was elated that Anakin gained a grandson, and Luke a nephew. A rebellious boy who soaked up knowledge like a sponge, and used it to solve complex problems for the greater good.
Artoo was both of theirs for a time-- Ben and Luke's. They took care of Artoo equally, and it had never been more content. They were in-sync, in harmony. They all worked so well together. Artoo knew that someday it would belong to Ben and to Ben alone. It didn't think that would be so bad.
Artoo thought it should have seen it coming. It should have noticed the signs. They had seen it all before with Anakin. Ben falling to the Dark Side, and destroying everything that Luke had built in one fiery night haunted Artoo. Luke blamed himself. It would beep and twitter that it wasn't, trying to comfort their friend as best it could.
It hurt when Luke left them with a partial map, and told it to go to Leia and be her droid for now on. Luke promised that he'd see Artoo again.
Both of them knew that it wasn't likely.
It powered down for years. There wasn't a point to exist unless Luke was there. Until their family became whole once again.
It'd kept its sound system on, waiting for a sign that the rest of the map had been found. The day finally came, and it and the BeeBee droid matched up their parts to the puzzle, solving the mystery that had plagued Mistress Leia for so long.
The moment the Millennium Falcon landed on Ach-to Artoo felt alive with excitement. It hovered by Chewbacca's side as the Wookiee climbed the craggy hillside. When they reached the top, they saw Rey speaking with Luke. It's friend had his back to it. Artoo let out a low whine.
On cue Luke gasped and spun around. "Artoo," Luke whispered as if he were seeing a ghost from the past. "Artoo," he repeated more confidently. He strode past everyone and everything. Luke stopped in front of Artoo staring down like at any moment it would disappear. Luke mouthed their name before falling to his knees, throwing his arms around Artoo and resting his forehead on top of its dome. "My dearest friend," Luke sobbed. "It is so good to see you again."
Artoo emoted a series of rapid beeps. It was more than happy to see Luke after a decade apart. With Luke it felt like home.