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Luke knew he was in trouble the moment he touched the holocron, but it had been calling out for him for hours. He had been doing so well too, but then he couldn’t stand hearing its sad song any longer. He had planned on quieting it the way he’d seen his Mama do on the other items, but he remembered too late that he wasn’t allowed to touch it.
A bright light had blinded him the moment he had. He heard Mama and Leia scream, and then he couldn’t feel them, so he opened his eyes and found himself on a ship when it was an underground tunnel he had been in a few seconds ago. Instead, he was in an unknown ship, and in front of him was a stormtrooper.
He was going to be in so much trouble if he survived this—or maybe Mama and Leia would be too relieved he was okay and forgot... unlikely though.
Rex wasn’t sure how it happened, but he had been making his way to his commander’s quarters when he was blinded by a light that came from nowhere, or as general would say if he was here, from the Force.
He opened his eyes and immediately blanched. He had been mostly joking about the Force thing, but there was now a small child in front of him— a small child that hadn’t been there before—who shouldn’t be anywhere near or on this ship. The small child looked terrified at the sight of him.
"Hey, kid—'' he began to say when suddenly the air was knocked out of him because the kid had somehow shoved him into the wall, running off after.
Definitely a Force thing, he thought as he felt his eyes get heavy.
Anakin wasn’t expecting a kid to run into him as he walked out of the mess hall, and he definitely wasn’t expecting the kid to be Force sensitive. Yet, that was exactly what happened.
The kid looked up at him with wide eyes, fear ebbing away. He could feel the little one’s shock in the Force, so putting aside any confusion, he leaned down so he was at his level.
“Hey there, are you lost?”
The kid nodded his head slowly but stayed where he was. He might need help with this, so he tugged on his bond with Obi-Wan.
Come here please, he beckoned, and Obi-Wan sent his agreement back across their bond.
Going for a more direct approach, he said, “I’m Anakin Skywalker, what’s your name?”
The kid gasped, and then his presence completely disappeared. If he wasn’t already looking directly at him, Anakin knew he wouldn’t have been able to see him. Quicker than a kid had any right to be, he ran off past him, towards where he knew Obi-Wan would be.
Anakin got up and chased after him.
Obi-Wan was on his way to where he sensed his ex-padawan when something or rather someone ran into him. It was a child, a child that was very familiar to him in the Force for some reason. This must have been why Anakin had called him with urgency. As soon as the child looked into who he ran into, he realized who Obi-Wan was, wrapping his arms around him. Obi-Wan held him gently.
He pulled away, looking up at him with glassy eyes as he exclaimed, “Ben! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so confused. I know Mama said not to touch the holocron, but I did, and then there was this bright light, and I saw a stormtrooper, and then someone who called himself Anakin Skywalker when I know that—”
The child paused and scrutinized him, his brow furrowed and his distrust clear in the Force. Obi-Wan was unsure what was going on and why this child, who clearly knew and recognized him, called him Ben and why Obi-Wan didn’t remember him. He decided to save the questions for later. He didn’t want to scare him off as Anakin had surely done.
The boy took a step back and said, “You’re not Ben.”
“I’m afraid not, young one.” He felt a sharp sadness from him before it was smothered. “I am Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
The boy frowned and muttered, “Obi-Wan Kenobi? Ben Kenobi…” He looked up and glared. “Ben, why are you messing with me? Mama wouldn’t like that. She’ll be mad at you. Just because you're finally taking care of yourself like you promised her you would and wearing something different doesn’t mean I don’t recognize you. Besides, I can feel you.”
It was only then that Obi-Wan realized that he had a new bond with the young boy who just tugged on it.
He must be dreaming because it simply wasn't possible for a bond to form instantly in the Force... right?
Ahsoka woke from her nap with a start. Something was wrong in the Force, but specifically with her. Someone was calling for her, someone she didn't know but recognized all the same. They shared a bond with her, and they were crying out for her. They were here on this ship. She needed them—no, they needed her. They couldn’t feel her, so she did what any sleep-deprived person would do.
She ran right to where she felt their presence.
I'm coming, she projected, and she received pure delight back. It felt like the sun, warm and comforting, almost like Anakin, but she knew it wasn’t him.
On her way to them, she met Anakin, and he seemed to be following the same lead she was. She reached for them, and they reached back. She entered the area where she felt them and… it was a boy.
Her boy.
He turned away from Obi-Wan, his face lighting up as he ran into her arms and uttered a single word that had her heart racing and feeling very confused because it just felt so right despite being untrue.
“Mama!” He exclaimed.
When he hugged her, she knew he had spoken the truth. This was her son. His name for her rang true in the Force. What more, she could feel it—their bond. It wasn’t like her and Anakin’s or even her and Plo’s; it was different and so much stronger.
This was attachment, but she didn’t care.
And because it felt right, and it was lingering in the back of her mind, Ahsoka whispered, “Luke, my little light.”
He hugged her tighter, and she did the same. She ignored everyone else at that moment and placed a kiss on his head and took him fully in her arms. He felt tired, and she was exhausted. They both needed sleep, so she absconded away with him before anybody could say or do anything else.
Anakin knew Ahsoka wasn’t completely in her right mind when she joined him in his search for the child, but he didn’t try to stop her. When she was like this—more in tune with her instincts because she was still under the effects of anesthesia—he just let her do her thing. He watched as she used the Force to open the slide doors and in front of them were the boy and Obi-Wan.
As soon as the boy saw Ahsoka, he lit up in the Force. He hadn’t realized before, but he was strong in the Force—extremely so. He was almost so shocked he didn’t hear what he called his padawan.
Almost.
“Mama!” He shouted, jumping into Ahsoka’s—already open—arms, and he felt a bond snap into a place, like it had always been there, between the two of them.
Mama?
Ahsoka was too young to be anyone’s mother, let alone this child that was nearing a decade and looked nothing like her. A memory of a human and togruta couple entered his mind, their child had looked fully human. Did that mean Ahsoka looked like his mother? Looking closer at him, he saw familiar features on him, but they weren’t Ahsoka’s features he saw on him, but rather his own.
His mind blanked, even more so when Ahsoka called the boy a name he knew came from Tatooine.
“Luke, my little light.”
Then, she and Luke were gone from the room as Anakin tried to process the information. He looked to Obi-Wan, who looked as bewildered as he felt.
Breaking the silence, he told Obi-Wan, “So… I think that was my time traveling son.”
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and pinched his brow as he sighed, deep and long.
“I was trying not to think of the connotations of that, Anakin.”
Stumped, he asked, “Why not?”
Obi-Wan sighed again. “Did he or did he not refer to Ahsoka as his mother?”
Oh.
Oh.
“I guess now wouldn’t be the best time to mention that he didn’t recognize me, would it?”
“No, Anakin. No, it would not.”
Another silence, and then he remembered Ahsoka—who was still recovering from an injury—had taken Luke.
“We should go find them.”
“Probably.”
Neither moved.
Luke was safe; Ahsoka wouldn’t hurt him.
Since they were dealing with uncomfortable truths, should he put another one out there?
“No, Anakin. Please give me five minutes,” Obi-Wan ground. “Just five minutes of peace is all I ask for.”
Oops, he hadn’t meant to project like that.
“Okay, Master.”
He let his thoughts drift off.
How was he going to explain to Padmé he had a son with his very young padawan in the future and that said son didn't recognize him?
...
(Okay, so maybe Obi-Wan had the right idea of just not thinking for a while.)