#also. yes Leia called and told Rex she was married but not Luke

[flowerflamestars]

Beskar shine filled Luke’s immediate sightline, Din’s face ducked close. Past him, notable if only because the Force said look, see- because once more Luke felt a little too much heat, like he’d leaned over a fire- Luke caught a glimpse of Leia slowly pulling her face from Boba’s neck. He was also covering her eyes- laughing, as Leia tugged at his wrist, before letting go. Giving in, to replace the touch with his mouth to her brow, hand buried in her hair. Luke hazily put pieces together, empty glass in front of Din on the low table making him abruptly grin. “You know, I’ll close my eyes- whenever. Whenever you need a moment.” The burn in the Force was resolving- not Leia, not Boba, whose shields seemed purposefully shit- Din. That overheated, delightful too-much- sun gold red blood sunrise on sand ferocious- was Din. “I know,” he said.

What Cannot be Spoken (what needs to be said) Chapter 4 now on AO3

[kianraidelcam]

Reminiscence

Written by request for @ihavearandom. Adds on to the AU where Padme survives RoTS and throughout the OT. Our heroes gather on the Falcon, where Padme and Ahsoka remember the Clone Wars, with Force Ghost Anakin occasionally adding his two cents.

The Millennium Falcon was rarely host to such effervescent laughter. More often than not, it was a somber environment. It had seen the destruction of Alderaan, the death of one of the last Jedi Masters, and countless battles in which countless lives had been lost. It had also seen the death of an Empire today. As such, the mood was certainly not somber. Anakin Skywalker watches on from beyond, finally seeing what he robbed himself of all those years ago.

Padme Amidala lounged in the booth behind the holochess table next to one of her oldest friends. Ahsoka Tano grinned, looking more like her younger self than she had in years, as Padme’s grown children (and she suspected, her soon to be son-in-law), and the Wookie, Chewbacca, allowed their laughter to die down.

“Poor Rex quickly learned to hate the phrase ‘Up and away’. Retaking Geonosis was a hard fight, but his reaction to being thrown off the wall almost made the whole battle worth it. And that’s not the only, shall we say, prank, we pulled on him,” Anakin smiles as Ahsoka’s eyes glow with the vibrancy of the Living Force at the memory.

The smuggler’s amusement is rather easy to sense in the Force, even as he acts unsurprised by the amusing story. “After sticking around with Luke and hearing about the Jedi’s exploits during the Clone Wars, I’m not too surprised. You and your Force tricks make it hard to want to work with you all.”

Anakin rolls his eyes, or at least feels that he does. He couldn’t say he truly liked this scoundrel, although he admitted he was biased in his reasoning. Yes, and smugglers were so easy to work with as well, he thinks to himself.

Luke takes the comment in stride, “Of course, Han. And you were so easy to work with as well.” Anakin smiles, although perturbed by the comment; since Cloud City, he had been under the impression Han Solo and Luke Skywalker had been close friends since their reported meeting on Tatooine.

Chewbacca’s growl-like laughter echoes throughout the cabin as he expresses his agreement then shrugs his shoulders when the aforementioned rebel shoots him a look. Han holds out his arms, the gesture seeming to say, “Who? Me?” as Leia cuffs his shoulder good naturedly. Padme laughs, the sound still as melodious as Anakin remembered it. “I can name someone who was harder to work with; Hondo Ohnaka. I remember having to help send a ransom of spice and credits to him in exchange for Count Dooku,” she says. If Obi-Wan was there with him, Anakin likely would have laughed. The pirate had caused Obi-Wan in particular multiple headaches.

“Every spacer worth their ship has heard of that Weequay. Apparently, he was a minor player in the Clone Wars, despite being a pirate,” Han interrupts.

“He also helped a rebel on Lothal, Ezra Bridger, if I remember correctly,” Leia recalls fondly as Han tightens his grip on her.

Padme smiles at her daughter, she too remembered the young Jedi with an equal measure of fondness and sadness; she had assisted Leia with delivering a ship to him and the other rebels there years ago. It saddened her greatly to hear of his death on his home world after its liberation. “He is also the only pirate to capture a Sith Lord, a Jedi Master, and a Jedi Knight on the same day. Your father wasn’t particularly about pleased having to make that report to the Council. You quite enjoyed it, though, didn’t you ‘Soka?”

I didn’t stop hearing about it for days, especially after she told Captain Rex, Anakin thinks with a small measure of disgruntled humor.

Ahsoka’s fanged smile answers the question. “Obi-Wan was more forthcoming with the details, but even he held back a bit. From what I understand, barbs were exchanged, Dooku was called old, Anakin was called insolent, and Obi-Wan focused on antagonizing the Count. They had to be rescued by a Gungan named Jar Jar Binks.” We weren’t rescued, Anakin imagines himself crossing his arms in indignant protest, We had the situation under my complete control.

“And they made multiple escape attempts while chained to Dooku,” Padme’s eye are alight with laughter, although she holds it in. Her companions are not quite as reserved as the Nubian native.

We almost made it too, if we didn’t have to drag that old menace with us, the former Sith Lord recalls, If only Obi-Wan would have dropped him.

“Weren’t Kenobi and Va-,” Han stops himself as the laughter dies at the taboo syllable and he coughs before correcting himself, “Weren’t Kenobi and Skywalker, your dad, not you kid, supposed to be the Jedi’s best? How did they let themselves get captured?”

The Togruta’s smile is wide enough to span the galaxy, both Anakin and Padme observe, “From what I understand, they either got drunk, or got drunk and were subsequently drugged by their drinks. Either way, I still can’t believe they allowed themselves to drink in the pirates’ presence.”

Luke nudges Han, as if to insinuate Han would do such a thing and Anakin silently agrees. “I know you were a Senator, mother, but did you ever see him in action?” Luke asks before Han can retaliate.

Padme nods, “Of course, even before we were married. He was my bodyguard right before the start of the Clone Wars, and into the first days of the conflict. You should have seen him on Geonosis the day the war began. We were chained to pillars about to be executed and he used the reek attacking him to break his chains. Then, he tamed the creature with a Jedi mind trick of some sort, killed the nexu going after me, and we, if you believe it, rode it to save Obi-Wan and he jumped on as well. Shortly after Master Windu and his Jedi arrived, and the first battle of the Clone Wars began.”

If Anakin’s face were seen by Padme in that moment, she would have seen the pride and adoration for her reflected in the stars of his eyes. Inside, however, he is torn. The Empire, or what would be left of it in the coming years, would remember that battle differently. It was a lie he had helped to spread at his dark master’s bidding. The battle in Petranaki Arena, per Imperial propaganda against the Jedi, interrupted the lawful execution of Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Senator Padme Amidala, and was interrupted by Jedi Master Mace Windu and his “criminal gang.”

By the end of her tale, even Chewbacca is leaning forward in both suspense and awe. Han, however, is dubious. “Sounds like a tall tale to me.”

Before Anakin can even think of an unheard witty response, his wife beats him to it. “Ask Artoo if you won’t take my word for it. Threepio’s head somehow got attached to a battle droid after Artoo pushed him onto a factory conveyor belt. I thought I would go insane from his complaining after the fact. I even had to wipe his memory core!”

This time, Anakin joins in the laughter, the sound so pure it reaches his children and his former Padawan. And this time, he is grateful he remains unseen from his family, for if they could see him, he was sure that he could still cry in relief that the war was over.