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When Padme first approached him ten years ago, her hands on her stomach, Anakin had no idea how much his life was going to turn upside down.
Nine months and a lot of screaming later, she gave birth to twins, one with golden hair and the other with brown. A boy and a girl, small and round and perfect. Anakin held them one after the other, tears of disbelief stinging his eyes and travelling down his cheeks. Padme beamed, her glow of sweat radiant, giving her an almost holy appearance. He remembered touching her cheek and whispering to her, his heart overflowing.
“We’re complete now.”
Even though Padme’s exhaustion was clear, her pride shone through. “We are,” she said, her lips resting on the crown of Luke’s head. “We’re a family now.”
Neither Luke nor Leia were supposed to exist. It was a forbidden love that drove Anakin into Padme’s arms again and again. The same force that threatened to rip them apart was the force that kept them together. When Luke and Leia were conceived, Anakin knew that nothing would separate him from Padme again. Not the Jedi, not the Sith, and not himself.
Years passed in relative secrecy until Leia was five and made the mistake of opening the door to the wrong person. Obi Wan saw her staring up at him, looked at Anakin, and made the leap in moments.
Anakin was ready to beg for his family’s life, and kill if he needed. Obi Wan had held up a hand, waited for a moment, then crouched in front of Leia so they were eye to eye.
“Are your parents home?” he asked solemnly.
“My daddy is there,” Leia said, pointing at Anakin. “My mummy is at work.”
“Where does she work?”
“At the senate.”
She stumbled over the word, and Obi Wan’s eyes crinkled at the edges of his smile. He put his hands on Leia’s shoulders.
“You should be very proud of them,” he said.
“I am!”
And, with that, Anakin knew that he was safe. Though the Jedi were a worry that sat heavy on Anakin’s shoulders, the secret threatening to pull him under, Obi Wan’s smile was genuine, his words sincere, and the aura around him nothing but accepting. From the moment he met Leia, and then Luke, Obi Wan stood by Anakin and Padme’s sides.
When Anakin needed him most, Obi Wan kept the secret as if it was his own. For that, Anakin would never be able to repay him.
Now, five years later, they were training on Anakin’s home planet, Leia twirling her lightsaber against his. Luke was back on Coruscant, learning from his tutors while Leia was shown the ways of the Force. Anakin dodged one of Leia’s blows, and then she lifted her hand and flung him across the field.
Anakin landed on his back, staring up at the sky. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs. Dirt billowed out from around him in a cloud that faded into the blue sky. Two suns burned his eyes. At his feet, Leia cheered, lifting her hands in triumph. The blue lightsaber she held with a white-knuckled grip whirred as it moved.
“Leia,” Obi Wan’s voice said. “What did we say about waving the lightsaber around?”
Leia pressed a button on the hilt of the lightsaber. The blue light disappeared with a whoosh. “Not to,” she said.
Anakin lifted his head and looked up at her. She was turned to Obi Wan, her eyes wide and her posture straight. Wisps poked out of her tight buns and fell into her eyes. There was a fire in them that threatened to burn him if he wasn’t careful. It would burn her if she let it, spread out from her in a destructive circle that would make his stomach clench if he thought she would ever let that happen.
“That’s right.” Obi Wan smiled and held out his hand. Without hesitation, she took it and he intertwined their fingers. “You’re getting too good at this. We’re going to have to send you to the Jedi temple soon.”
“I don’t want to be a Jedi,” she said, folding her arms. “I want to be like Mum.”
“And tell people what to do?” Anakin said, teasing.
Leia puffed out her cheeks and gave him the same look Padme did when she was upset. Just the sight of it made Anakin’s day. “Exactly,” she said.
Anakin pushed down a smile and stood, wincing at the ache in his muscles. Between her and Luke, he was starting to feel the strain of parenthood. It was a strain that he would feel over and over again, each time more glad than the next.
His greatest accomplishment stood before him, twirling the hilt of her lightsaber like a baton. “Dad,” she said, her bright eyes gazing up at him. She looked so much like Padme. “Do you think I could do what Mum does?”
“You could do anything you wanted,” Anakin said, ruffling her hair. “Anything that you put your mind to.”
“You’ll be excellent at it,” Obi Wan said, his eyes meeting Anakin’s. There was a warmth there that made Anakin smile back. “You would also make a fantastic Jedi, if you chose.”
Anakin took her other hand, holding it as tight as he could. “We should get your brother. Then we can all go out to meet your mother for dinner.”
Anakin glanced over at Obi Wan, who rubbed his chin. Mischief danced over his face and curved his lips upward. After a long pause, Leia pulled her hand away and pushed him.
“Meanie,” she said, but she was smiling.
“I’d love to come,” Obi Wan said. “You know how much I love having dinner with your family.”
“Yay!” Leia took Obi Wan’s hand again. “Come on, Mr. Kenobi! Come on, Dad! Let’s get going!”
She led them across the field back towards their ship, laughing all the while, dragging them behind her in her orbit.