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Living on Tatooine was hard for Padmé for multiple reasons. The first and foremost being that she had to leave one of her children behind. She knew why she had to. It was just too dangerous to have Luke and Leia with each other. They could be tracked by the sheer Force sensitivity they had together. Leia would be love with Bail and Breha. But it was hard to leave her behind. To stay with Luke and not Leia. But she was surviving. Another thing that made it hard was she could do so little to help. Obi-Wan assured her staying safe and raising Luke was doing a lot. But it felt like so little.
The last came from where she was staying on the desert planet. Not so much the place, the Lars farm was nice, but who she was living with. Owen and Beru were wonderful people who had a wonderful relationship. Which was the problem. Padmé was always so lost when they were together. Something inside of her was broken and the shards twisted when she was reminded just of what her housemates had.
At first it had made her angry. That the two of them had what she couldn't. What she had lost. But over the three years that she had been living with them the feelings had shifted. Away from anger to jealousy. Then from jealousy to something else that for a long time Padmé wasn't able to name.
That was until the day she was sitting out in the shady area with Luke and watching as Owen and Beru where they worked to fix one of their two speeders. They were so in sync with each other in their work and it was almost as if they didn't have to speak to one another. Something that Padmé only knew from her handmaidens so long ago.
Watching them she felt the feeling stronger than ever. And was finally able to understand what it was. It was longing. Not just the longing for partner. But longing for the two people who had brought her into their home, given her a place to stay, given her safety for both her and her son. She wanted more that to just live with them.
Padmé wanted to be a part of their relationship. Wanted both of them for her partners. Was falling in love with both of them.
"Is everything alright," Beru asked.
Padmé looked up from the shirt she was mending to Beru. She was sitting across the table from her, working on some knitting of her own. Except she had put the project down and was watching Padmé work.
"Of course," Padmé replied. "Why do you ask?"
She wasn't sure what had brought on the question. It had seemed to come completely out of nowhere. They had just been working in the quiet of Luke's nap time and enjoying each other's presence when she had asked the question.
"You have seemed off lately," Beru said. "Owen and I have been getting a bit worried."
"Is there something in particular that was getting you to feel that way?"
Padmé felt herself slipping into her more political persona. It didn't come out often after the years away, but it was so ingrained in her that it came out without her trying when confronted with a situation where she was missing information. She hadn't thought her behavior was all that different. It was a little after her epiphany about her feelings toward Owen and Beru. But not that different.
"You've seemed distant," Beru said. "You're withdrawing into yourself more than we've seen since you first moved in. I just want to know that you're okay."
Well, Padmé obviously hadn't hidden her feelings as well as she thought she had. Or at least not her reaction to the feelings. Pulling away hadn't been on purpose. She just didn't know what else to do. She didn't want to hurt either of the people who had been so kind to her for years.
"I've just been thinking about the past a bit more," she settled on saying. It wasn't the full truth but nor was it a lie either. Not when realizing she was falling in love again made her think so much of Anakin. "Getting lost in my memories now that Luke is starting to get older."
The look Beru gave her was a mix of sympathy and not quite belief. Like she knew that Padmé wasn't telling her the full truth. She reached out and look Padmé's hand. Padmé felt the warmth spread through her hand from the other woman's.
"Know that I am always here if you ever decide that you want to talk about it," Beru said calmly. "Often memories are easier to cope with when shared."
Padmé smiled sadly at her.
"I'm not ready to now but if I am ever am I will remember that."
Beru nodded in acceptance and let go of Padmé's hand. Then went back to her work while Padmé watched as she did. She thought that maybe one day she would be able to. The woman in front of her was understanding enough, she might even be able to tell her about how she had fallen in love with her and her husband. Though that wasn't something as likely. She didn't want to come between them.
"Would you be able to spare a bit of time?" Owen asked. "One of the vaporators needs some work that needs two sets of hands, and Beru won't be back until tomorrow."
She had gone to a trading outpost to sell a batch of her cheese. Padmé had offered to go with but it wasn't needed. Which left her alone with Owen. Which wasn't a problem. Other than things where he needed help. Especially when she had been mixing up new spice blends for their store. Something that was not easy for her to start and stop.
"Give me a moment to close this up and we can head out," she said.
"I'll get Luke ready while you do," Owen said.
A warm feeling spread through Padmé's heart when Owen said that. He had fondness in his voice and knew just what to do to get her son ready to go. Owen had at first not liked having a child around but once he had gotten used to Luke being in his home, he had taken to treating him like his own son. Which was more than Padmé could have ever hoped for.
She watched out of the corner of her eye as the two got ready to head out into the desert heat while she packed up what she had been doing. Then they all headed out to one of the speeders.
"Which one are we headed to?" Padmé asked as they climbed in.
"Seventeen," Owen replied.
That was one of the farthest ones from the homestead. Which meant they were going to be out for a while. She hoped that Luke would be willing to have his nap in the speeder if it came to that. He normally would but it also sometimes excited him to the point there was no chance of him sleeping.
They didn't talk on the ride out to the vaporator. The wind of the speeder was always much too loud to be able to easily hear without more equipment. And when traveling on their farm it wasn't worth setting up most of the time. Especially where there hadn't been any signs of trouble for a while.
Once they reached the spot Owen stopped the speeder and climbed out, before offering Padmé a hand out. Which she didn't need but always appreciated the thought. There were so few people that still treated her so kindly. She checked on Luke who had fallen asleep that time rather than get excited.
They didn't bother with talk, just started to set up the tools they would need to fix the vaporator. At least that was what she assumed they were doing. She still didn't fully understand how the machines worked. She was learning though.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked.
"Right now hold this," Owen said.
She held what he told her to and kept following his instructions. Owen even narrated what he was doing so she could follow along and learn more about what he was doing. It was something newer, something that he had only started doing once she had been clear about wanting to learn.
He was good at instructing, even through the gruff mannerisms that he had. To the point where he started having her do the majority of the work and not him. Felt the warmth of him close when they were working on the same thing and felt his presence nearby when they weren't. She felt the closeness of working with someone she cared deeply about. It was weirdly familiar to Padmé. I reminded her of times before she had come to Tatooine. Times when Anakin had done the same.
She forced herself to stop thinking about him as soon as she did, focused on the work in front of her. Didn't think about anything else but the mechanical bits in front of her.
Soon enough the work was done and she was closing the case to the vaporator. And turning to pack away the tools.
"Are you hurt?" Owen asked.
"What?" she asked back, startled.
She wasn't. Other than her heart.
"You're crying, Padmé."
She reached up and felt the tear tracks on her face. She hadn't even realized she was crying when she was so focused on getting the work done. The pain of loss and love.
"I'm fine," she said. "No physical injuries."
Owen looked at her. In a way that said he was looking deeper than the surface. Almost as if he could see all of her feelings.
"I'm no good at feelings," Owen said. "Not like Beru is. But if you want to talk, I'll listen."
She smiled.
"I'm fine, really. Working on this just brought back some memories," she said, hearing how her words echoed the same she gave to Beru only days earlier.
Owen dropped it then. Went back to backing up the tools and getting ready to head back. She went to check on Luke, who was still happily sleeping in the back of the speeder.
"I saw Isa while I was in Anchorhead," Owen said.
"Oh? How is she doing these days?" Beru asked, not looking back from the stove where she was cooking.
Padmé listened from where she was cleaning some parts for a play set of sorts they had been gifted for Luke since the Darklighters had no use for it. She didn't know who Isa was so she didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation.
"She's doing well," Owen said. "Her wife is expecting."
"Ali or Ostia?" Beru asked.
"Oatia," Owen said. "Her and Bovil decided it was time for them to have a kid."
"Good for them. We'll have to take something over as a congratulations," Beru said.
Padmé was confused. She hadn't met the family that the others were talking about. But it sounded like there were at least four people married to each other. Which was not something Padmé had seen in the human population in the years of living there.
"Who is this?" she asked.
"Oh right, you haven't met them yet," Beru said, finally turning from her cooking to look at Padmé. "Isa is an old friend of ours."
Owen snorted a laugh.
"That's putting it lightly. Isa was almost our wife," Owen said. "Until we all decided we didn't quite work together."
"Then she found her current spouses. Ali, Ostia, Bovil, and Dami. They are very sweet together," Beru said.
"They also live a third of the way around the planet. Hence why we don't see them very often," Owen said. "Or talk about them much."
They went back and forth quickly enough that Padmé didn't say anything. And was slightly stunned to silence by the idea that Owen and Beru were open to having another person in their marriage. It was one thing to know that they had friends who were in a larger marriage group, but another entirely different thing to want it for themselves. She found herself having a bit of hope in her heart that she hadn't felt for a long time.
"You almost married her?" Padmé repeated, questioning, just for confirmation.
They shared a look that almost looked nervous. Which Padmé understood. They didn't know how her home felt about the idea. Nor her own views.
Owen and Beru came to the table where Padmé was sitting, and joined her on the other side. The conversation was about to turn serious and they all knew it.
"We did," Beru said, slowly.
"Is that a problem?" Owen asked, getting right to the heart of things. Just like he always did.
"Not at all," Padmé said with a smile. "I just didn't know it about you. And am wondering if that is still something that you are still interested in."
There was another look between them. One that Padmé wasn't able to read. Not entirely anyway. Even after nearly four years of living with them there was still so much that she didn't know. As their conversation was proving.
"Only if the right person comes along," Owen said.
"But that won't threaten your place here," Beru said. "No matter what. This is yours and Luke's home too."
"I really appreciate that," Padmé said. "But that wasn't exactly where I was going with my line of questioning."
"Then where were you going?" Owen asked.
"I was going to ask if I was someone you would consider for a third."
Padmé decided she wasn't going to beat around the bush. She wanted to know. She had been holding in her feelings for too long and she didn't want to waste her time anymore. Life was too short to risk losing what happiness she could find in her new life.
Beru looked stunned at her statement. Owen looked a bit surprised but less so. Almost like part of him had suspected she may ask.
"It would depend on why you were interested," Owen said. "We only want someone who wants more than a business arrangement."
"We want love," Beru added. "That's why it didn't work with Isa. It felt more like a transaction than a relationship. We don't need that."
There hadn't been an outright rejection. They had just explained what they wanted. Padmé felt hope with that. There was a chance that they would be on the same page as her.
"That's what I want to," she said. "I don't want a marriage or any other form of relationship without love. But I know with you it wouldn't be loveless. At least not from my side."
"Are you sure?" Owen asked.
"I'm sure," Padmé said. "I have been falling in love with you for years."
She reached across the table and took one of each of their hands. They both gripped hers back as tightly as she was
"Why didn't you say anything?" Beru asked.
"I didn't know how you'd respond," Padmé said. "I didn't want to risk what we already had if you didn't respond favorably."
"I'm glad you decided to share now," Beru said.
"We had talked about asking you ourselves," Owen said. "But didn't want to risk upsetting you. Not until we were sure you were ready to move on."
Padmé could see the hope in their eyes, hope that mirrored her own.
"I want to try," she said. "I want to see what we can be together."
"I do too," Beru said.
"I do as well," Owen said.
Padmé smiled brighter than she had since before she had given birth. She was ready to take another step into their future together.