Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nothing about this place had made any sense, but the boy standing in front of them, examining his hands with awe and delight, was definitely the worst part of anything they’d found here.

“Get back,” Obi-Wan ordered, knowing neither Anakin or Ahsoka would listen and putting his arm out in a futile gesture anyway.

But before Anakin could start complaining that Obi-Wan couldn’t give him orders anymore, the boy in front of them said, “It’s okay. I’m a friend.”

A likely story. Obi-Wan hadn’t drawn his saber yet, but it was taking all of his strength not to. “Oh. And who, strange friend, are you?”

A smile. One that was almost familiar in its sadness and kindness. “I’m Luke Skywalker.”

Obi-Wan could feel Anakin freeze behind him. It didn’t sound like a lie. Didn’t feel like one. It wasn’t dangerous in the sense that it was a threat. But it felt ominous anyway. Overwhelming.

“Luke Skywalker?” Ahsoka repeated, and Obi-Wan could feel her curiosity bubbling up, her excitement. “Skyguy didn’t say he had any other family.”

“I don—“ But Anakin couldn’t finish the sentence and Obi-Wan could feel all of Anakin’s attention rushing towards Luke, exploring, trying to understand.

It was then that Leia and Cody and Rex caught up, bursting into the room of the twisted, dilapidated ruins with focused intent, skidding to a stop when they caught sight of the tableau.

Obi-Wan watched Leia blanch, caught between fear and fury, and level her blaster.

“Don’t shoot!” Luke shouted, throwing up his hands. “It’s just me!”

“Do not—“ Leia started.

“They call you Huttslayer,” Luke said calmly. “Father sent you here, to G—to Shmi. You can’t hear me inside anymore, can you?”

Anakin mouthed “Huttslayer” as Leia shifted, turning her attention in without lowering her weapon or taking her eyes off Luke. She made a sound like a whimper, staggering forward half a step.

And Luke moved. Was past Obi-Wan, past Anakin, wrapped around Leia, easing her to the ground as she grabbed him and shoved her face in his shoulder, shaking like Obi-Wan had never seen before, her hands fisted so tightly in Luke’s shirt Obi-Wan wasn’t sure she wouldn’t tear it.

“Oh,” Anakin said softly. “Oh.”

No, Obi-Wan thought, terrified. Surely not.

“It’s okay,” Luke was saying. “I’m here. I’m here. I’m not leaving.”

“Master Obi-Wan?” Ashoka asked, her eyes huge as she looked at him.

He didn’t dare say it. If he said it, if he was wrong…

Rex had lowered his weapon, looking more relaxed than he had any right to be. Cody at least still had Luke in his blaster sights. Obi-Wan’s saber was in his hands, even if it wasn’t on. He didn’t remember calling it. Anakin was useless, eyes wide with hope.

“Give them a moment,” Obi-Wan said. If he was wrong, if Leia got hurt… Well, Shmi would probably find some sort of suitable punishment.

If this was real…

Leia was babbling a thousand words a second as she pulled back and scrubbed aggressively at her face, one hand always touching her—Luke. And Luke was smiling, brushing away stray tears, murmuring quietly back to her, helping her to her feet, handing her back her blaster, firmly between her and Anakin.

When he turned around to look in Obi-Wan’s direction again, Anakin said, “You’re her brother. Aren’t you?”

Cody growled, weapon still out, his attention flicking to Obi-Wan long enough to confirm there wouldn’t be reprimands for this.

And while Obi-Wan was starting to be afraid this was actually real, he was grateful that his second was still holding it together. Because what was pouring off of Leia now was joy, and Obi-Wan couldn’t think of a single other time that he’d felt this much of her at all when it wasn’t something terrible.

“Yes,” Luke said. He looked over his shoulder at Cody and said, “I promise I’m not going to hurt you. I’m on Leia’s side.”

“That’s not all that reassuring,” Cody answered, sounding unusually flat even through the helmet.

Luke actually laughed. “Fair enough.”

He sounded like Leia. Not…their voices weren’t similar. Their laughs weren’t even the same. But something in the weight of his tone, in his immediate flippancy around danger. In how he was just rolling with this insanity like it wasn’t that far off from a normal day’s work.

Stars above, there were two of them.

“Did Mom tell Leia she’d adopt you too?” Anakin asked. “If you’d been alive?”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan started. That was the least important—

“Oh no,” Luke said cheerfully, dodging Leia’s attempts to cover his mouth. “I was raised Luke Skywalker. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were adamant about that.”

Something in the universe slipped sideways, even though the words meant almost nothing to Obi-Wan.

“Adamant?” Cody asked, as Ahsoka asked, “Isn’t that Shmi’s family?”

“Uncle Owen?” Anakin asked as Obi-Wan’s brain scrambled to catch up. And also to make sense of Leia growling and crawling over Luke, trying to get him pinned and probably silenced.

“One second,” Luke said, twisting to engage with Leia.

A mistake, and one that Luke recognized as soon as he did it, because Leia had him on the ground in two seconds, her hand squishing his face sideways into the floor, all the noises coming from his mouth barely intelligible.

“Will you shut up,” she hissed.

The, “Nope,” was distinguishable through the slurring, and sickeningly cheerful.

“I’m—“

The next squished word was harder, but Obi-Wan was pretty sure it was “Paranoid,” mostly because, well, Leia.

“I have a life here,” she growled. “A plan.”

Luke twisted enough to get his face up and say, “Not my plan, didn’t agree,” before Leia threw herself over him, shoving her arm in his mouth and sitting on his shoulders, leaving his legs flailing pretty ineffectually.

It was hard to decide if Obi-Wan should laugh or not.

(Leia’s brother was dead.)

“Uncle Owen,” Anakin repeated. “He called Owen his uncle.”

“He did,” Leia agreed in a tone that said asking more questions was not welcome.

But when had that ever dissuaded Anakin. “For Owen to be an uncle, he has to have a sibling that had a child,” Anakin said. “Well, children,” nodding at Leia.

“Astounding. Good work. You know what words mean.”

“Cliegg doesn’t have any other children,” Anakin said. “I asked Mom.”

Leia was starting to look enraged. “Drop it.”

“Technically,” Cody decided to be supremely unhelpful, “Shmi adopted you.”

“Technically she didn’t,” Leia snapped.

“Technically she adopted all the brothers,” Rex at least sounded like he as trying to be helpful. “Although we don’t have any kids.”

“Neither does Owen,” Anakin said. “He’s never raised one. Or two.” Still staring at Leia.

“I’m going to kill you,” she said to the wiggling mess of limbs beneath her. “You came back, and now I have to kill you. You bastard.”

Obi-Wan wondered why Luke hadn’t tried biting Leia’s arm and had the sudden realization that he probably had, or was, and Leia was just…not giving in. Because now there were two of them. (Did Obi-Wan have to tell the Council? Was Mace going to kill him?)

“Then how did he raise Luke?” Ahsoka asked. And added, “Hi. I was gonna ask if you’re as cool as Leia, but I think no.”

There was a choked laugh from Luke and a worthy attempt to buck Leia off, to try and grab her with his legs and yank her back.

What started was an agonizing pressure in the Force, Leia keeping those legs away from her, Luke pushing back with more than just physical strength, neither one of them giving a single inch. (Oh Force and stars there were two of them...)

It might have gone on for a while, but Anakin walked over, which made Leia split her attention. Luke didn’t get a chance to grab her because Anakin reached for her and Leia was working on getting him into a headlock before Obi-Wan could blink.

Sadly, while it didn’t take nearly as much as it should have to get Anakin under her power, this did stretch her attention just enough that Luke could roll away. He was smiling as he panted, watching Anakin try and escape and cackling.

“I’m still going to kill you,” Leia shouted at her brother. “As soon as I’m finished with this traitor.”

“I thought you missed me.”

“Yeah, I thought I did too!”

Cody’s weapon was casually tracking Luke, but even Obi-Wan’s commander seemed to be loosing a sense of danger. Which was bad, because the longer Luke just…existed, the more unstable everything felt. Like the world was collapsing around the three Skywalkers, drawn to them like light to a black hole.

They weren’t hurting anyone, but Obi-Wan couldn’t escape the feeling that this was the most dangerous thing that could have possibly happened. Ever. And there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

“So how is he your uncle?” Ahsoka asked, taking advantage of Leia’s fight to slid a little closer to Luke, Obi-Wan trailing helplessly after her.

Luke cracked a smile, easing slightly away from Leia. “Well, my dad is his brother, so—“

Leia launched Anakin across the room with a scream, tackling Luke and rolling them to the far side of the room.

“She’s worse,” Obi-Wan heard Cody groan. “How did she get worse?”

Rex sniggered. Obi-Wan wished he could go somewhere private to cry.

Chapter Text

It was always bad when the General got useless.

It didn't happen often. Cody wouldn't trust the man so damn much if he was always getting into his own head and fretting about things that he couldn't change. But those times it did happened correlated a little too closely to when a Skywalker was involved.

Like right now.

The scuffle in the middle of the floor was making the Commander laugh, clutching her belly as Leia somehow managed to take two fully grown men and make them look like clumsy clankers. He understood a little, though. If one of his brothers suddenly came back to life…

Well, he'd probably start punching things to avoid crying too.

"Just let him explain!" General Skywalker was begging from where he was nursing a trodden foot. Cody would have to remember that boots didn't slow her down much. "When he said that his father was Owen's brother—“

"We are not doing this," Leia snapped, flailing as her brother got an arm around her and over her mouth.

He yelped almost immediately and grumbled, "For a princess, you sure do revert to biting really fast."

"Princess?" Rex asked as Leia flung her whole body weight forward to launch her brother over her. He let go instead of taking them both to the ground, executing a neat little flip that had every hallmark of Jedi flare to it.

"I am going to kill you," Leia growled. Which sounded pretty damn convincing, even with the suggestion of tears in her eyes.

"When you were doing it alone, we did it your way," Luke said, holding up his hands and backing away from her as she lurched towards him. "But I'm here now, and I can do it my way if I want."

"You didn't even ask."

"I knew what you would say," he shrugged, then yelped as she charged. He dashed behind Rex, made a sharp pivot, and then climbed General Skywalker, making them both wobble a little as he sought the high ground.

Leia might have taken them both down. Her pivot was just as sharp and she threw herself to reclaim her momentum. But Rex managed to get his arms around her, not in a tight hold, but just enough that her own speed knocked her back into him. "Easy," he said. He had a gruffness that prevented it from sounding too condescending. "You can kill them later, once we get out of here."

She looked around, noticed General Kenobi hiding his face in his hands, Commander Tano with her fist shoved partway in her mouth to quiet her giggles. And Cody, who was still loosely holding his gun in her brother's general direction.

"He's not a threat," she snapped at him.

"You're not my general," he answered.

"Please don't shoot him," General Kenobi said. "I do not want to be responsible for whatever happens after."

"I'm not going to hurt anyone," Luke promised, clambering until he was perched on his toes on General Skywalker's shoulder. It looked awkward as all hells, but they were making it work.

Jedi.

"How did you get here?” Commander Tano asked. "I though you were dead?"

"Well," Luke said as Leia snarled, jerking in Rex's arms but letting him hold her back, "for a while I was in Leia's head."

General Kenobi made a high pitched noise that Cody didn't want to think about and so determined to investigate as soon as possible.

"In her head?" General Skywalker asked, looking up at Luke.

"Yup. I didn't really feel good about letting her come here by herself, so I tagged along. Not sure about this though," he gestured at his body. "It's something about this place. It’s…weird."

"Wait," Commander Tano asked, "does that mean you'll disappear once we leave?”

It was Leia's turned to make a high pitched, punched out sound. One that might have stirred Cody's sympathy just a bit.

"I don't know," Luke confessed, hopping down and walking over to his sister, grabbing her from Rex and pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry."

"You don't know," she growled. "And you still told everyone—“

"You need help," Luke said gently. "They can help you. You know they will."

"Help her what?" Cody demanded. Because it looked like General Skywalker was about to promise all the moons and stars of the nearest systems to these idiots.

"Oh, save the galaxy."

"We're already working on that."

"Yes," Luke agreed as Leia rolled her eyes. "But you could use some help. And some important information."

"Like what?" General Kenobi asked, looking just skeptical enough Cody could keep breathing.

"Like who the Sith Lord is," Luke said calmly. "And how many years you have until he builds a planet killer."

"The future is always in motion," General Kenobi murmured, looking more unsure.

It was General Skywalker who demanded, "Wait, who's the Sith Lord?”

There was a brief scramble between the twins, but Luke managed to catch Leia's hands, meet her eyes, and communicate something that made her still, even if she still looked like she'd eaten two day old socks. Luke looked back to Anakin, his whole posture determined and grief open on his features.

Cody felt his stomach roll.

Chapter Text

As it turned out, Luke could exist outside of the odd ruins they'd found him in.

Which was…good. Obi-Wan was going to go with good. The careful neutrality on Leia's face as they'd exited the building and waited for Luke to follow them out wouldn't be leaving Obi-Wan's memory any time soon. (How many times had she lost people so dear to her?)

The ride back to his ship was quiet. The trip back to Coruscant to report to the Council was a very different story. Luke Skywalker apparently aimed to ingratiate himself with every single living, breathing (or not breathing) individual on the ship. He spent plenty of time around Leia and Anakin (and Obi-Wan was not thinking through all of the implications of Luke's assertions, than you very much), but Luke was just as eager to talk to any of the brothers. He had to be sat on to make him sleep, ate with relish (even the pasty, mealy rations), and managed to make no fewer than three generally grounded devices fly once he was told, in no uncertain terms, that he was not allowed to fly any of the fighters (especially Anakin's).

The less said about the afternoon that he learned about Artoo's rocket boosters, the better.

Leia was…

Leia was hovering. Lingering near her brother, like she expected someone to steal him away, or for him to just disappear. They spoke some in whispers, but there were also dozens of long looks that Obi-Wan was certain were silent conversations. Especially since they usually came before or after Luke said something that made Obi-Wan need to just…sit down.

He was still reeling from their revelation about the Chancellor.

Anakin was following the two of them around like a shadow. He could be tricked, from time to time, into engaging in an activity with Luke and laughing or smiling. The rest of the time…

Well. What had happened in those ruins when Anakin had called Leia a liar wasn’t…It was one of the things that Obi-Wan wasn't thinking about.

Ahsoka had been deeply troubled, but she was bouncing back with all the enthusiasm of youth and hope. Her presence when they meditated helped keep Obi-Wan both afloat and grounded. She believed them, without reservation, and was more than a little peeved at Anakin for doubting them. Obi-Wan was fairly certain she was tolerating him because he hadn't voiced any of his doubts out loud.

In her hearing.

"I know you don't believe us," Leia had said, corning him one evening on his way back to his quarters. "I don't expect you to."

"It's not 'don't believe,'" he'd protested. "It's 'what do I do if this is true?'"

"Whatever is necessary," she'd whispered. Like a memory. Or a prayer.

(She'd been looking towards Anakin's room.)

The only upside to the whole debacle, Obi-Wan decided, aside from hearing Leia's laughter about a hundred times more often as she interacted with her brother, was watching Mace Windu look like he was about to cry when they landed and explained who Luke was.

"I cannot," Master Windu said, crossing his arms over his chest, squeezing his eyes shut and taking deep breaths. "No. Just…no."

"We must see the full Council," Obi-Wan said as seriously as he could. Ahsoka was almost buzzing with energy, struggling not to bounce next to him. "As soon as possible."

"Master Kenobi," Master Windu protested.

"Please," Obi-Wan wouldn't beg, but he would press the issue.

"I'd like to see Master Yoda again," Luke said, making Obi-Wan flinch slightly. "I'm so jealous Leia's been able to talk to him before he went crazy."

For a brief moment, Obi-Wan got to see Master Windu's mouth drop open. In shock at the rudeness? For some other reason, who could say? But It would be indelibly seared into Obi-Wan's memory, and that just might make all of this worth it.

"I think," Master Windu said, eyeing them all suspiciously, "Master Yoda would have mentioned if he'd ever met a Skywalker before Anakin joined us. Or even after."

Obi-Wan ignored Leia's muttered, "Would he?" because Luke was saying, "I mean, I can quote all the weird things he taught me, if you'd like. I'm guessing they didn't change that much in twenty years."

Master Windu was starting to notice the time references and did not look happy about it. "I can see if he's available."

"I'll find him," Luke said cheerfully. "He's somewhere over there."

He pointed in a random direction, only it must not have been random because Anakin was nodding, which meant that was probably where Master Yoda's Force signature was, which meant there were three of them and Obi-Wan was still…not dealing with that.

"You're not allowed to wander the grounds," Leia told Luke.

"Why not? This is the Jedi Temple. I'm a Jedi."

It was sort of adorable how Master Windu and Leia's pinched expressions matched. "Luke," Leia protested, while Master Windu said, "We have no record—“

"I am a Jedi," Luke said, facing Master Windu fully. Turning so quickly from cheerful teasing to careful solemnity, it made Obi-Wan dizzy, even though he'd seen it several times now. "Like my father before me. In spite of all the Emperor did to stop me. Maybe not the way you want me to be. Maybe not the way Ben thought I'd be when I destroyed the Death Star, or when he told me to go to Dagobah. But I am. And if the Emperor couldn't take that from me, I won't let you either."

Leia Skywalker was too stubborn to cry in front of such a crowd, but Obi-Wan could see her fighting it. He wasn't sure if it was cruelty or kindness that Luke wasn't looking at her, or reaching out.

It was Anakin that said, "What happened to him?" The question worn around the edges in ways that said he'd been begging for that answer their entire trip and Luke and Leia hadn't given it to him.

"And what's a Death Star?" Ahsoka asked, either missing the mood, or filled with that unique teenage need to crush it and absorb its attention.

"Oh," Luke said, "the Death Star is a moon sized battle station that can destroy planets."

Somehow, from there, the day still ended up getting worse.

Chapter Text

Luke had taken up permanent residence on the couch since he'd been released from the Order's custody. He wanted to know what the current popular media was, what all the most up to date technical specs were on ships and droids, and what places were considered the best to eat on Coruscant. Not that he wanted to eat at most of them. He scoffed at their ornate decorations and beautifully plated strange shapes and colors. But he still wanted to know.

"You live here," he told Leia, and Shmi, and Anakin (he carefully did not look at Padmé, Leia noted). "I want to know about the world you're in."

But what Luke seemed to want most of all was not to go outside. His sensitivity to lifeforms had begun its development on a desert planet. Not dead, but quiet and careful. And often predatory. He'd survived in the Rebellion because of how often he'd been on the move, and how many people they'd lost so quickly. Coruscant was a strain on his nerves, as it had been for Anakin and Shmi when they’d first arrived.

Leia felt guilty that she'd never noticed. She'd been raised in the palace of Aldera, and had been surrounded by people her whole life. Yes, it had always been overwhelming, but she'd learned to distance herself from those feelings.

She was coming to understand a lot about herself that she'd never considered before.

Padmé was frustrated with Leia's oblique answers about how Luke had gotten here and what the Order planned to do about him, but she'd expressed real joy that Leia had been reunited with her family.

"He's good for you," Padmé said one night, when everyone else had gone to bed and they'd been alone, perched on the balcony. Leia's guilt had gnawed at her in that moment, especially given what Anakin knew that Padmé did not. "I'm glad you have someone you can smile with so easily."

It had been easier to smile. To laugh and to cry. One of the only times Luke had left the house was when he and Leia had found a quiet place to mourn their lost friends together. They'd planned for several days, trying to pile on as many commemorations from the hodge podge of cultures and backgrounds their friends and family had come from, and eventually culled the jumbled mess into something simpler that was mostly just for them. Leia remembered being able to cry and having someone holding her hand who actually understood all that she had lost. Shmi and Anakin had been waiting for them when they'd come back, with comfort food and soothing drinks and gentle silence and hugs. But that moment, with just her and Luke, where they'd looked at each other and just known…

Twin or not, Leia had needed someone who could give her that. Who had needed no explanation.

She tried to remember that moment, that need, as she watched him sprawl across the couch and halfway onto the floor, datapad in one hand, watching a holovid on the low table near his head, remnants of snacks scattered around him, his hair uncombed, one of his socks sliding halfway off his foot.

"This has got to stop," she said, stomping over and turning the vid off. "You've been lazing about for days. You hate lazing about--"

"They won't let me do anything useful," Luke pointed out, the “they” standing in for the Order, and probably the GAR too. “They want to pick at my brain and make me make you come to heel. I'm not doing that—”

"I know."

“—so what else am I supposed to do? Besides," he smirked. "I've never gotten to enjoy the high life like this before. You could at least give me another week before dragging me back to work with you."

Leia was not waiting another week. She was not waiting another day. She loved her brother and she was glad to have him back, but when she wasn't actively, aching grateful for his presence, she found herself constantly wanting to strangle him. “I’m not dragging you to work anywhere. But I'm sure you could find something to do. If the Order won't let you help, you could at least go with Shmi—”

"Don't drag me into this," Shmi called from the kitchen. "It's between the two of you."

Luke snickered and Leia rolled her eyes. “If you don't want him—”

"I never said that," Shmi said as she came into the room, Anakin trailing after her. He still looked sort of haunted when he watched them, like he didn't know what to do with himself. Or them. "But as much as I would love his help, you are not pushing him off onto me to avoid dealing with his concerns."

“I am not—” Leia protested.

"Oooo, ouch," Luke said and Leia threw the nearest piece of trash at his face, making him snicker as he blocked it.

"Luke," Shmi chastised, shaking her head and turning back to the kitchen. "Let me know when the two of you are ready to have an actual conversation."

"Do you want to go with Mom?" Anakin asked, shuffling a bit from foot to foot. Leia hadn't seen him this uncertain since he'd first protected Padmé. "It would be good for her to have someone with her. Someone who knows the truth. And she's been learning a bit of meditation."

Like a switch had flipped, Luke sat all the way up, perched on the edge of the couch, attentive. "I don't have any specific objections to going with Grandmother. But I had meant to try and stay here a little while longer first." He glanced at Leia and added, "The Order is still deciding what to do with me, and I'm hoping that their investigation turns up information soon."

Anakin winced at the reference to the Chancellor, another blow he hadn't really recovered from. Luke had at least, mercifully, been short on details as to Anakin's involvement with the man in their past life. "I don't know," Anakin said. "I know the investigation is their highest priority. But they have to conduct it without anyone noticing. And even with the details you both gave them, it's been…difficult, I think. He’s…he's really good at looking like something other that what he is.

"He is," Luke agreed. Then added, "I was surprised by that, watching through Leia's eyes. I knew he was clever. He kept the whole galaxy afraid of him, spun it into his hands. But it was all more or less out in the open. The violence, the malevolence. Coming here and seeing him acting so small and simple was really jarring."

It was strange for Leia too, although she'd seen him keeping up aspects of that act, giving Vader the roll of walking horror. It had distracted a lot of foes who decided that targeting the Emperor's guard dog was the best first step to taking him out. They'd learned the hard way that Vader was an impenetrable wall.

“I didn’t—” Anakin started, stopped, glanced at Leia, glanced at the floor. "I'm glad you told me. The truth."

There was an accusation in there. One that Anakin had been trying to swallow for a long time. Leia could feel the anger roiling just under Anakin's skin. But he'd kept it to himself so far.

Worse in some ways was Shmi's anger. Quieter, but no less fierce. She'd understood Leia's reasoning, to a point. But she'd been frustrated that Leia had kept so much, for so long. It was…hard. Leia knew she needed to address it. That it was part of the reason Luke was really staying. Because he knew it needed to be done and he didn't trust her to do it without supervision.

Annoying. But not wrong.

"A certain point of view," Luke murmured.

Leia's face scrunched, and Anakin looked up. "What?"

"Something that Ben—Obi-Wan—told me at one point. He said he hadn't lied to me about something. That it was true from a certain point of view. I'm still mad about it," Luke confessed. "It wasn't something I thought he should keep from me. I felt like he was trying to control my actions by not telling me."

Anakin glanced at Leia again, then back to Luke. "Yeah. That's the worst part. Feeling…feeling like you're not in control."

Leia had known, for years, that her skills as a spy were going to lose her friends. Setting aside the actual espionage, her whole skill set revolved around making people do what she wanted them to. Even just as a princess, she'd been drilled in rhetoric and persuasion until her brain started ossifying. She knew a lot about how to word things, how to control messages, how to persuade people by limiting information, and dropping key hints at the right moment.

It was as much a part of her as her temper at this point.

So she understood why Anakin was angry. And she was fairly certain she wasn't going to get any trust back from him over this. It was…Leia couldn't just change this. She couldn't just erase who she was.

"I pitied him too," Luke said, making Anakin perk up. "He was so caught up in that point of view that he missed something. Something terrible and wonderful. And I was the one who had to carry the burden of it, in the end."

"I'm sorry," Anakin said. "That does sort of sound like Obi-Wan, though."

Luke laughed. "I'll bet. No. I stilled loved him. I was grateful to him for everything he had given me. But it was hard to put aside the hurt from that betrayal."

Leia worked not to grind her teeth together. She got the picture.

But what Luke had really been going for worked, because Anakin finally turned to Leia and demanded, "Why didn't you tell me?"

If the anger had come after her, she could have resisted. If he'd attacked, she would have seen Vader and gone on the defensive. But this was Anakin, and what she got, at a safe distance, was a wave of hurt, aching and bleeding in the Force. She made herself ride it out, knowing it wasn't an attack and still feeling jittery and on edge.

"I didn't tell anyone," Leia said as firmly as she could. “I didn't have any proof—”

"You're proof!" Anakin protested. "The Force is proof. I would have believed you!"

"Would you?" Leia snapped back. "That first day, on Coruscant, when we were trying to hide Padmé? On Naboo, when you were trying to save Obi-Wan? If I'd told you then, would you really have believed me?"

"Yes," Anakin said. "At least, by Naboo, yes. Maybe not the first time."

Leia scoffed. “You still don't want to believe the Chancellor is evil—”

"I'm trying! And I would have believed you if you said you were my daughter. I knew that was true when Luke said it."

"How is that any better?” Leia threw her arms up in the air. "How is me telling you I'm your daughter to make you believe everything I say less manipulative than not telling you what I don't even know you'll believe?"

"Because it's not lying!"

"I have to lie! Always! You're not exempt from that!"

"I'm your family!"

"No you weren't!"

The room ached with silence, the strain of it filtering even from the kitchen. Anakin's eyes were wide with hurt. “But—”

"He wasn't my family," Leia said, so angry at Luke for making her say this. “He wasn't my father. I had a father, a good one. And he—”

No. No she couldn't.

She glared at Luke, trapped between only having pain to offer and Anakin's demand for "the truth." Luke whooshed out a breath, a hint of tears in his eyes as he said, "It was a bad galaxy, for years, where we came from. We lost a lot, fighting to try and free it. Some things after we'd loved them most of our lives. Some things before we ever had the chance."

"Each other," Shmi said softly, from where she'd snuck back into the room. “You were separated as children, you said. Until you were grown.”

"Yes," Luke said.

"Me," Anakin whispered. “Something happened to me. And…”

"And our mother," Leia said. "Whoever she was."

Luke prodded her in the Force, but thankfully didn't say anything. He at least understood the consequences of them uttering that suspicion out loud.

(Although, honestly, could Anakin imagine anyone else?)

"You trusted Mom," Anakin said. "But not me."

"And only so far," Shmi said. "But then, you came from such a great distance. How could you know how far someone could travel with you? Who else had ever traveled that far?"

Luke had. And she'd missed him for so long, lurking in her mind.

But he was here now, nodding along to what Shmi said. "Leia's much better at being sneaky than I am," Luke said. “I can pretend to be pretty dumb, or insignificant. But Leia…” He glanced over at her. "She had to worry about a lot of things for a long time that I never had to deal with."

"Who would have thought Tatooine would have been the safer option," Shmi said, a little smile peeking out. "We dreamed for so long of escaping that place."

"Oh, I did too," Luke laughed. "But yeah, it kept me pretty safe, all things considered."

"I was safe," Leia muttered.

Luke just stared at her.

"So your arrival here was the first time you'd been to Tatooine?" Shmi asked. "You seemed surprisingly comf—What?"

Leia had managed to keep her face passive, but Luke had flinched. In a way that immediately brought out Shmi's mom tone, no less.

"I've been to Tatooine before," Leia said. "Briefly."

"How briefly?" Shmi crossed her arms. She knew Leia well enough to know which questions were the right ones to dig with.

Usually. "Very," Leia said. "A few weeks, and not even all of that on planet the entire time."

"Long enough," Luke muttered.

“And whose fault was that?” Leia shoved at him mentally. Yes, they'd had a plan to get Han out, and yes it had relied on Leia taking a huge risk with Luke as backup. But it had been his plan. He was the local expert.

"Long enough for what?" Shmi demanded. Leia could read tension building in Anakin too.

Don't, she sent Luke. But he only replied, It'll be okay. "Long enough to get named Huttslayer."

"Huttslayer," Anakin sputtered, eyes lighting up.

Shmi looked interested, and Leia…

She was proud of that title. As proud as she was of anything. She'd earned it with her own two hands. It hadn't even been a goal of the mission, just something she'd determined to do the first time she'd been dragged up to Jabba's face without a mask between them and felt what he'd wanted from her. Not merely to be a decoration, but to be humiliated, subjugated. The chain had been a symbol, the stripping had, the stupid clothes. Just the tip of what he'd wanted to impose on her. Not merely her body, but her very soul and spirit.

So she was proud that she'd defied him. And in such a way.

But…

"How?" Anakin breathed. “Who? Which—which one—”

"Jabba," Luke said when Leia wouldn't. And he was solemn about it, not gleeful at least.

Anakin and Shmi both choked.

"Jabba?" Anakin squeaked. "He’s—You would have had the whole syndicate after you!"

"Already had the Empire," Leia shrugged. "There wasn't a safe habitable planet for us in the galaxy. Not really."

"Empire?" Shmi asked. Because Anakin had been read in, and Shmi had been given a basic explanation. But Leia had managed to make Luke shut up about the details.

"Empire," Leia confirmed. “It's a long story—”

"How did you even get close to him?" Anakin asked, still focused on the least helpful details.

Even Luke couldn't bring himself to offer up that detail, apparently. "The traditional way," Leia said blankly. Shmi seemed to catch on, but at Anakin's confusion she added, "Became someone he didn't fear could act against him."

"Leia…” Shmi breathed. Luke looked away and Anakin…

Anakin looked blank, suddenly.

“You—” he choked.

"For a day," Leia said. "Our plan was on a tight timetable. It wasn’t—I was fine." Shmi looked skeptical, and Anakin still looked deeply shaken. "I'd been a spy, a rebel, for years at that point. Captured, tor—interrogated. I had much worse experiences. What they did was terrible," she added, not wanted to undermine anything the Skywalkers might have experienced at Hutt hands. Slavery was terrible, even when it wasn't physically degrading. "But…”

But, well. The worst things that had ever happened to her hadn't been at Jabba's hand. They'd been at—

Leia glanced at Anakin, then looked at Luke, pleading, “Fix this!”

"I came for her, and our friends, as soon as I could. It was my fault. Leia's right about that. I encouraged us to take this risk. But it was necessary."

"Why?" Anakin demanded. He was taking this much worse than Shmi. She was sad, yes, but not gutted the way Leia could tell Anakin was.

"For someone we loved," Luke said softly. "Our friend was in debt to Jabba. Because he'd been helping us fight the Empire. The Empire had captured him and let a bounty hunter turn him over to the Hutts. We had to come for him."

He was still trembling, but Anakin nodded, accepting that answer. Then his face crumpled again as he asked, “You went through worse? Worse than Jabba? Than—Than being—”

He couldn't say it. Leia wished it was for the reason that she couldn't. Because she could barely bring herself to call what had happened to her being enslaved. Captured yes. More than that? But Anakin did seem to think it counted. Counted as much as anything that had happened to him, or his mother. And was trying to imagine something worse.

(He would never imagine the truth. It was worse than anything he could imagine.)

(Green and fire and nothing. Vader's arm holding her back.)

(Black claws, digging through her mind.)

"We survived," Luke said, taking Leia's hand, watching her, not the Skywalkers. "It was terrible. And heartbreaking. But we survived."

Shmi crossed the room to pull them both into a hug, tears slipping down her face. Luke kissed her cheek, murmuring reassurances.

And Leia. Leia looked over at Anakin. Who stood still in the middle of the room, hands shaking.

"I should have been there," he hissed. "I should have—I should have protected you."

"Yes," Leia agreed, a dark shadow clawing at the back of her mind, stealing and breaking everything she loved. She wondered if her voice sounded as dead to everyone else as it did to her. "You should have."

"Leia," Luke whispered, bleeding quiet agony.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said, his voice cracking. “Leia, I'm so sorry, I—”

"It wasn't your fault," Leia made herself say, still bleeding at the edges. "What happened—it isn't your fault."

"But it could have been," he countered, gazing out the window, where the Senate lurked behind the tall buildings. "Could still be."

"Not anymore," Luke promised.

But the look Anakin gave Leia told her he knew that wasn't a promise anyone else could make.