Judgment Day

Epilogue

Author's Note: Enjoy the ending! And thank you all for reading, voting, and/or commenting! 

In a couple months, we'll be starting another Anakin-Luke-centric fic called 'Wartorn' where the CW happen later and Luke is Anakin's sort-of-but-not-really-its-complicated padawan. :D

~ Amina Gila

It's been ten years. Ten years since he first met Luke, since the Empire formed and was eventually slowly reintegrated into a new Republic. And then, years since... he got a family. One he can openly call one.

Squeals split the air, and Leia races past Anakin and Luke, following her droid, Lola, heading for the trees behind their house on Naboo.

Anakin doesn't miss the almost wistful look on Luke's face as he watches her. It wasn't easy for Luke to slowly adjust to the fact that he would never see anyone he used to know again, and it was really the hardest for Leia. He doesn't see the young Leia as the same and, maybe in some ways, that's what makes it so much harder for him, because of how similar the Leias are. And, of course, seeing her relationship with Lior. Luke never got to grow up with her, and now he'll never have a chance to even try making up for it.

It's been enough years that he knows Luke has... accepted it and adores this Leia and Lior as his little siblings, but sometimes, Anakin can tell that he still misses his own sister. He probably always will. How could he not?

"Are you alright?" he queries quietly, looking over at him.

Luke's eyes trace after Leia for a few moments, before he looks up at Anakin. "Yeah," he nods, "I just remember... when my Leia was telling me that she used to have a 'Lola' too. And she loved climbing the trees on Alderaan." Anakin knew as much, of course. It had been on Luke's insistence in the first place that they got Leia a droid like that. And it was also on his insistence that they've occasionally taken the twins to see the Organas and Lars.

Anakin doesn't have the chance to reply before Obi-Wan suddenly yelps from around the corner.

Luke chokes on a laugh, and Anakin doesn't quite manage to suppress a smirk. "Lior!" he calls.

"Yes, Father?" the small blond-haired boy asks, darting into the room, holding the remote control for his toy ship in one hand.

"What did I tell you about shocking people?"

"Not to do it, but it was an accident!" he protests, before he runs out the door, the ship flying in front of him. Anakin just might have given it a lot of extra capabilities that it didn't have before when they first bought it.

"I think I should keep an eye on them," Luke says, still clearly amused, as he heads for the door after his siblings.

"Wanna race with us?" he hears Leia calling gleefully. "See who gets to the trees first?"

"You'll lose," Luke challenges, obviously smirking.

"No, we won't!" Lior calls back, voice from a distance away, "Just cuz I'm like your clone doesn't mean you're faster!"

"We'll see," Luke throws back, and Anakin hears their giggles grow fainter as they take off running.

Anakin is considering following when Obi-Wan steps around the corner, a trademark scowl on his face. He doesn't actually live here, but he still spends all the time he can with them. He knows how much it upset Obi-Wan at first when he told him he wasn't coming back to the Order, and maybe it was partly that which had made him never speak up about it before – and the war of course – but the time came, and he couldn't put it off anymore.

Obi-Wan... accepted it in time, and sometimes, Anakin thinks they might even spend more time together this way than they would have otherwise. His former master helps somewhat with the rebuilt Order, but otherwise, they stay together.