Chapter Text
Ahsoka felt the tears welling up in her eyes, it felt like she was being weighed down further with each step she took, away from the life she had known. She heard hurried footsteps behind her, one's that she recognized and took all of her strength not to go running towards. When she heard his voice calling her name, all she wanted to do was collapse, but she managed to keep herself standing as her feet refused to move anymore.
"Ahsoka wait! I need to talk to you!"
Ahsoka turned to see the face of her mast... no not anymore, Anakin, but that didn't feel right. Oh force did she wish this was all some sort of nightmare, that she would wake up, back in their rooms, the smell of oil and grease surrounding her, and her master there to comfort her back to sleep, to tell her none of this was real.
But there he was, the anger, confusion, fear, grief, and so much more so clear in his whole stance as he grew nearer.
"Ahsoka, why…?"
And just like that Ahsoka watched as the anger drained from him as he stared at her, his eyes softening, "oh, kriff it all." Ahsoka barely heard the words muttered under his breath before she felt him grab her shoulder and pull her against him.
She felt the rush of familiarity washed through her as her face was securely buried into his chest, the familiar scent of grease and metal flooded her as she finally lost control, tears streaming down her cheeks as a sob ripped through her.
His flesh hand was slowly stroking her back lekku as his metal hand was wrapped around her shoulder holding her tightly and his chin dropped to the spot between her montrals as he murmured to her.
"Hey it's okay, snips, it's all going to be okay. I'll make sure of it."
They stood there like that for a few minutes, Anakin holding her by the steps of the temple, he kept up his slow strokes on her lekku as she cried into his chest. He was long past being concerned who might see them. Slowly her sobs slowed to a stop, even if he wasn't ready to let her go yet.
"Ahsoka, are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do?" Her head tilted up to look at him, her baby blue eyes, red and face wet with tears.
"I can't go back." He heard the words that were left unsaid, and knew his decision and what he needed to do.
"Okay, okay" he gently pulled her so she was standing in front of him once again. "I just need to do one thing Ahsoka. Do you trust me?"
"Of course, why?"
"Just trust me." He reached back and unhooked a pair of lightsabers and handed them to her.
"But.."
"No buts, just trust me. Please."
Ahsoka nodded slowly taking in her lightsabers that just a minute ago she had thought she would never see again. She had clipped the sabers onto her belt as Anakin guided her down the steps of the temple towards the streat as he waved down a cab.
As she got in he gave some credits to the driver as well as instructions. "They are going to take you to Padme's just tell her whatever you are comfortable with. I'll be there as soon as I can. Are you okay with that?" Ahsoka just nodded as Anakin reached through the window and placed a light kiss between her montrals, "I'll be there soon Snips, I promise everything will be alright."
She stared out the window as she watched the jedi temple and Anakin grow smaller. Her whole body was buzzing, but it felt like her brain was just too overwhelmed to form any sort of coherent thought as she starred at nothing.
It wasn't till she felt someone grab her hand that Ahsoka was pulled back enough to realize they had arrived at Padme's. Padme knelt by the door, a hand on Ahsoka's, Ahsoka slowly pushed herself out of the hovercar into Padme's awaiting arms.
"Oh, sweetie. Let's get you inside."
Padme took Ahsoka to her living area wrapping her in blankets on her couch creating a nest for herself and Ahsoka. Ahsoka hadn't even noticed how cold she had been till she started feeling it eb away and replaced by the warmth that now surrounded her, even if her body was still buzzing and her mind still wouldn't allow for a coherent thought. But for some reason it felt like something had clicked at least, something that had taken some of the weight from her shoulders. She allowed her mind to wander into the warmth as Padme turned on a random reality holo that played in the background and she just sat and held Ahsoka.
They sat there like that for a little over an hour, Ahsoka wasn't sure if it felt like days or seconds when Anakin walked into Padme's place a pack slung over his shoulder that looked near busting, a bag of food with Dex's name written in large font. Artooie quickly followed on his heels.
"Hey you two, I picked up some dinner." He walked over to the couch where the two girls sat curled up together, giving Padme a quick peck on her cheek and Ahsoka another kiss between her montrals before lifting the blankets and curling up on the other side of Ahsoka and handing out the food. Padme got her favorite stew, Anakin got his ronto wrap, and Ahsoka got the meatiest sandwich Anakin could find, as well as a blue milkshake.
As they ate, all curled up together Padme and Anakin debated what to watch, Padme wanted to keep watching the reality holo and Anakin wanted to watch some sort of action film. As they argued Ahsoka took a chance to steal a fry from Anakin's plate, causing Anakin to give her a scandalized look. Ahsoka couldn't help but laugh, Padme joining in. Some more of the weight lifted.
Eventually they had settled on some drama holo that Ahsoka had never heard of, but was fine for her, in all honesty she wasn't even paying much attention. Once the food had been finished she had found herself wrapped in two sets of arms and wrapped tightly in a layer of blankets. Shehalf sat in Anakin's lap with her head resting on his chest, Padme leaning on her other side, her head tucked neatly by Ahsoka's.
Ahsoka wasn't sure what she was feeling, but it felt...warm? No, that wasn't it, it was warm, but it was so much more. She had felt like she had lost, well, everything, who she was, who she had always thought she would be, all she had once loved and believed in, and so much more. But now… well she wasn't sure, she had still lost so much, but there was something else now. She still didn't know what tomorrow would be, but she felt warm and… safe. She felt okay, and for tonight, for tonight, that was more than enough.
Anakin felt Ahsoka slowly start to slump against his chest, a little bit of the tension that he had felt in her for days melting away as he heard her breaths grow deeper. He took a deep breath himself. He had been so scared too, scared that he would fail her, that he would lose her to death or too her losing her trust in him. But she could have just left, she could have kept walking, ignored him, turned away. But she hadn't, she wasn't gone, not yet, she was here, he had her. He could stay here with her and Padme, forever, all of them safe and tucked together, like a puzzle that was finally complete.
He had known that leaving the Jedi would never be easy, but in some way he knew it was right. He had talked about it before with Padme, they had always said he would know when he was supposed too. When Ahsoka turned down the order, well, if it wasn't then, Anakin wasn't sure when he would. The Jedi without Ahsoka just felt empty, sure Obi-wan would be there, but Anakin knew that just because he left, there was no doubt in his mind that Obi-wan would still find him, plus he had the rest of the council. Ahsoka though, Ahsoka would have had no one.
He shared a glance with Padme, Ahsoka softly snoring. Carefully Padme got up, wrapping Ahsoka in the blankets and moving things for Anakin to more easily get up with her. Anakin gently carried Ahsoka to Padme's guest room. Padme pulls out a night gown and gestures for Anakin to leave for a moment. When Anakin came back in Ahsoka had woken slightly, but she also looked like she was about to pass right back out. He lifted her up as Padme pulled the blankets down, placing her down as Padme tucked her in and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.
"Good night Ahsoka, sleep well."
Anakin replaced her and gave Ahsoka a kiss on either of her diamond marks on her forehead tracing the markings on her cheeks.
"Get some rest, Snips. I'll see you in the morning."
"Skyguy…" he heard Ahsoka mumble under her breath.
"I'm right here Snips."
"Thank you"
He chuckled running another finger over her cheek.
"Get some sleep, you’ve earned it. We can talk tomorrow."
Padme and him slowly backed out of the room, making sure the lights were off and the door was closed. They made their way to the kitchen Padme quickly grabbing a bottle of their favorite wine and pouring them both a glass.
"How are you doing, Ani?"
He took his glass gratefully before answering, "right now? I feel fine, it felt right. I'm just happy Ahsoka is okay, and that we are here. I'm sure it'll hit me eventually, but we'll handle it." Anakin took her hand as he took a sip. Padme smiled up at her husband as she took a sip from her own glass.
"You said we."
"Well, of course, if it wasn't for you and Ahsoka and I wouldn't have made it this far. And I have a feeling that leaving the jedi isn't as simple as just leaving."
Padme moved to wrap her arms around him, "we are a family Ani. We'll get through it together, all three of us."
"You mean that?"
"Ani, you know I love you, more than I can say. And as for Ahsoka, you know how I feel about her, I told you from the moment you accepted her as your padawan, she is a part of our family, now and always, no matter what."
Anakin gently captured his wife's lips in a kiss. He tried to communicate how thankful he was and how much he loved her as she melted into him. When they finally pulled away from each other they rested their foreheads together as Anakin took in the details of his wife's face, wondering if he would get the chance to see it every morning now, now that his family could actually be, at least almost.
"Padme, do you remember what you showed me when we were preparing for the trail?" Padme's eyes grew wide as she cautiously nodded, "can you get it?"
"Yeah, yes I can. I'll be right back." Padme half sprinted from the room and quickly returned with a folder held gingerly as she approached Anakin. "We should really talk about this with Ahsoka first."
"We can talk with her tomorrow, she needs some rest tonight. I just need to know that this is real, that this can really happen."
He sat down at the table and opened the folder pulling out the papers that had the words 'adoption form' in large bold text on the top of them. Just below it he saw 'Ahsoka Tano' written in Padme's neat handwriting.
"What do we need to do?"
Padme lowered herself beside him, taking the papers. "I already signed, you just need to sign besides my signatures. Since the Jedi technically gave up their custody of her when they expelled her and we have no documentation of her biological family, in the eyes of the Republic, she is a ward of the Republic and orphaned. According to the laws on Naboo, since we are legally married there, all we need to do is have it signed by an official and it is finalized."
"What sort of official?"
"Well I think the queen might be a good bet."
Anakin laughed so hard he almost doubled over. "Yeah, yeah she might." He gasped between laughs, Padme letting out her own giggles.
Once they had calmed down Padme spoke again, "I should be done here in the next couple of days, then we can go to Naboo. Or if you and Ahsoka want to get out of here early, you two can go tomorrow and I'll join you as soon as I can. Of course we'll need to talk about it with Ahsoka first, and I should probably call the queen tomorrow as well, especially if Ahsoka agrees to let us adopt her. Oh! We should take her shopping when we get to Naboo, she will need some new clothing, I know she likes her current look, but I think something other than jedi robes and battle outfits would be nice for her to have. For that matter we should get you some new clothes too. I have a few guest rooms, she can choose which one she likes the most and we can turn it into her room, we can have her pick out whatever she wants for it while we are at the shops. We'll also have to look into schooling for her, there are a few nice schools she could go too, of course she will have to pass the entrance exams and be placed in an appropriate year. We could also look into trade schools for her if that might be a better fit. Oh, and of course I need to call my parents…." Padme trailed off as a smile grew wide on her face, "Ani, we don't have to hide anymore, we can be a proper husband and wife, the three of us can be a family publicly. Please tell me this is real. Anakin, please tell me this isn't a dream." Padme whispered, her eyes wide and hand clinging tightly to Anakin's as she looked at him.
Anakin for his part also felt it finally sink into him what all of it meant, he felt like he was floating, like all the weight that had rested on his shoulders from hiding his marriage and attachment to Padme, the worries of war, and the constant fear that one day he would fail Ahsoka, that he would lose her forever, came off his shoulders.
"It's real Padme, it's so real."
The young couple that had spent so much time pretending they're emotions didn't exist, finally realized their holds on their emotions, falling from their chairs and onto the floor heaped together a mess of laughter and tears of joy. They finally let themselves feel hope, for their future and their small little family. A young togruta girl slept a few doors down, the exhaustion of everything she had gone through rendering her all but dead to the universe. Though, even now a small smile reached across her face and the force floated the strong sense of joy and love that her old master projected towards her. A family that she was unaware of waiting excitedly for the morning, to find out her answer to their invitation to join them in a more official way.