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You coughed as the surrounding smoke filled your lungs. The Jedi academy on Yavin IV that you and Luke had worked so hard to build over the last few decades was burning and crumbling around you, the smoke turning the usually pretty twilight black. Most of your padawans were dead, and Luke and the son you shared were who knew where fighting for their lives. You could sense their fear and despair through the Force as you fought for your own.
“You don’t have to do this, Jacen!” you screamed as you blocked another blow from your nephew’s lightsaber. You had sensed him turning to the Dark Side a few years ago and although you and Luke had tried as hard as you could to help him, it was to no avail. He had fallen, slowly at first, then faster than you, Luke, or even his parents and sister could catch him. Then he’d just disappeared with a few other padawans, showing up yesterday with what could be considered a small army of Sith and battle droids to wreck what had become your peaceful little home. Although most of his lackeys lay destroyed around you, you still had him to contend with and he’d taken out nearly all of your current students.
Jacen didn’t reply, instead taking wild swings at you with his weapon. As you parried another blow, you could see his now yellow eyes glower at you, his teeth bared as if he wanted to reach out and bite. You could feel the hatred flowing through him and continued to defend yourself, having trouble summoning the courage to land a blow. You and Luke had tag-teamed to train him from the time he was seven and you had so many good memories: hand-drawn birthday cards, staying up all night making pastries with him when the nightmares became too much, taking breaks to play with him and Grogu, him hugging you tightly around you middle after giving him flying lessons with a heartfelt, “I love you, Y/N.”
“The Jedi,” Jacen panted, pushing your saber closer to your chest with his own, “need to fall.”
“We can help you—” You cried out as Jacen used the Force to launch you into an already crumbling wall. Your weight toppled what was left as you landed with a thud. You slowly sat up, the ache in your old joints a development in the last ten years that you weren’t a fan of. A brick landed hard on your head, making you fall back flat on your back.
Before you could register what was happening, Jacen Solo was on top of you. Searing pain exploded in your abdomen and you gasped, suddenly feeling like all the air had been sucked out of you, and lay there in shock. Jacen’s golden eyes suddenly turned sad, returning to the familiar brown you knew so well.
His lower lip trembled as he stared down at the saber arcing through your stomach. “I…I’m s-sorry.” He took a shuddery breath before turning off his saber and letting it fall to the ground, his hands hovering over your wound as you continued to gasp for air beneath him. “Wait…Wait, I didn’t mean—”
“Y/N!!!” Luke’s scream tore through the air and rippled through the Force in the distance. You felt the power roll off of him in waves and weren’t sure what he was doing, but it was apparently enough to scare the daylights out of your attackers.
A fellow Sith suddenly grabbed Jacen’s shoulders and yanked him out of your field of vision. “We have to go now!”
Unable to move, you heard the sound of several departing ships before seeing them race towards the planet’s atmosphere. All you were left with was the crackle of the flames. You closed your eyes for a minute, trying to take in a deep breath and failing, until you heard the sound of feet sprinting towards you.
You were lifted against a chest and registered your husband’s familiar smell. Your name came out on a shuddery exhale as his flesh hand lifted your face to look at his. He glanced down at your wound and tears filled his eyes. “Maker, no,” he breathed. His breath carried a welcome coolness to your overheated face and you ran a hand through his graying hair, still as soft as ever, before letting your fingers scratch at his beard. His blue eyes met yours, their spark unchanged by the years, but you could see the panic crawling behind them.
“Ben—” you breathed out.
“He’s safe with Grogu,” Luke answered, his voice cracking as he cradled you in his lap. He pressed his forehead to yours and you could feel him reaching deep into the Force for the healing power your little green padawan had taught you long ago. But you both knew it was too late as sounds around you started to fade and several white spots appeared in your vision.
“Don’t…” you took a shuddery breath in, feeling tears fill your own eyes as well, “don’t go to the Dark Side. Promise me.”
“Y/N—”
“Promise me.”
He stared at you for a moment, tears opening falling down his face and creating streaks in the dirt and sweat. “I promise.” He kissed you hard with salty lips before his shoulders began to shake and a strangled sob tore from his throat.
You brushed the tears away with weak, shaking fingers. “I love you so much, Luke.”
Luke kissed you again, pressing his forehead to yours. “I love you, too. You and Ben are the best things that ever happened to me.” He pressed you closer to his chest and you could feel his devastation through the Force. You reached for Ben and felt similar despair and could sense he and Grogu were running towards you as fast as they could, but were still so far away. I love you and am proud of you, you sent to all three of them through the Force. And I will always be with you.
“I’ll find you through the Force again,” you whispered against Luke’s lips.
He nodded. “We’ll be together again one day…” His breath shuddered out as he pulled back to look at you, tears streaming down his face like a waterfall. His blue eyes were bright were more to come as he began, “I’m sorry—”
“Shhh,” you said, rubbing your thumbs back and forth across his cheeks as his hand fisted in your hair. “It’s not your fault…Take care of Ben and Grogu for me—and don’t forget yourself…I love you, Luke.” The last thing you saw was your husband’s face crumbling in a wail and felt his keen through the Force as your vision went white and suddenly, you couldn’t feel anything at all.
Six months later, Luke left your favorite flowers at your grave, still feeling torn in two—
A loud crash jerked Luke out of his slumber and he bolted upright in bed, panting. He looked around the dark room and recognized the bedroom he shared with you in the small, stone house on Yavin IV. He looked at his wrinkle-free hands and felt the smooth sides of his face before swinging his legs out of bed and bolting for the refresher. Flipping the light on, he sighed in relief at the shorter, brown hair staring back at him. He grabbed the edge of the sink and breathed a sigh of relief.
That relief was short-lived as he glanced over to the bed, expecting to see your sleeping form still curled up. You really could sleep through anything—except you weren’t there.
Panic gripped Luke’s chest and he could feel his breath becoming harder to reach. He rushed out of the bedroom and down the hall to where he heard movement from the kitchen. His chest slammed into yours as you also fled out the door to meet him halfway down the hall, letting out a muffled oof.
“Sorry,” you said just as he reached out to steady you so you wouldn’t fall. “Are you o—”
You let out another noise of surprise as Luke crushed you against his chest, burying his face in your neck. He took a deep breath, the first he felt he could take, as he inhaled the sweet scent of your skin, gathering your hair in his hands like coveted silk. “M-maker,” he stuttered out into your skin, holding you even tighter.
You held him equally as tight. “I can feel you panicking. What happened?”
Luke turned his head slightly so he could speak, forcing himself to register that you were alive, well, and warm in his arms. “A nightmare. I lost you and when I woke up and you weren’t there, I thought…” He forced himself to exhale, his breath blowing your hair.
“You’re shaking.” You rubbed your hands in gentle circles on the bare skin of his back. “I’m okay. You’re okay. Grogu’s okay.”
He frowned. “How do you know—”
“Your panic was strong. I saw some of the dream, but just the end.”
He finally pulled back to look at you, cradling your face reverently between his hands. “And the baby?”
“Ben’s asleep.” You glanced at his dark bedroom just a few doors down before turning back to your husband, cupping his wrists in your hands. “I just fed him. That’s why I was in the kitchen, putting the bottle away.”
Luke sighed and nodded, pressing a searing kiss to your lips, two more to each cheek, and one to your forehead before pulling you against his chest. He held you more gently this time, resting his cheek against your hair. “You don’t think I woke Grogu or the other students up, do you?”
You shook your head against him as his arms snaked around your middle, letting one of yours rest across his strong shoulders while the other traced the scars from the emperor’s Force lightning that littered his torso, arms, and lower neck. He sighed at the feeling. “I only know because I know you so well.” You paused, soaking in the feeling of being wrapped up in him. “I love you.”
“I love you, sweetheart, so much,” he breathed, letting the relief finally wash over him. He twisted to look at you and allowed himself a small smile before kissing your lips again, committing their taste to memory. Then, just in case he didn’t tell you enough, added, “You and Ben are the best things that have ever happened to me. I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
You smiled. “Me, too. But we should try to get some sleep before Ben wakes up again. He’ll probably get hungry again in a few hours.”
“You have bottles in the fridge?”
You nodded, closing your eyes as he pressed another kiss to your forehead. You two stayed in each other’s arms with your sides pressed together as you led him back to the bedroom, sending a strong wave of affection to him through the Force. It was reciprocated to you tenfold, along with a promise to protect and spend the rest of your long, hopefully Sith-free lives together.