FORBIDDEN ATTACHMENTS ─ star wars

LXXIII. The Twin Suns

Chapter Seventy-Three
Aiden

I wake up to the sound of Leia's crying, which brings me out of a dreamless sleep. I glance over at Padmé, who has just now fallen asleep after days of not being able to.

I push myself out of bed, rubbing at my eyes as I walk out Padmé and my bedroom and into the guest room that we are using for Leia's room. Until Padmé and I can find a house of our own, we are staying in her family home. It's actually been very helpful having my mother and sister in law around to help with Leia. It's been nice in general to have them around, I've missed spending time with them over the past few years, with both Padmé and I being so busy in the senate. I like being around my whole family.

Once I reach Leia's crib I reach down and pick her up, cradling her head and pressing her against my chest, hushing her in an attempt to calm her down.

Leia already has such personality even though she's only a few days old. She is so filled with life and curiosity, she doesn't ever want to sit still, she constantly wants to see the world and explore. She reminds me of her mother, and every time I think of her it still makes me feel like I can't breathe.

All this pain and chaos of the past several days has distracted me from a truth that has just now started to set in; I'm a father. As I look down at Leia, at the crying baby in my arms, I realize that I'm a parent now. It's something I've wanted for a long time, but most people have time to prepare for the arrival of a baby. I had no preparation, no time to even think, because I didn't need to. I wasn't going to let Fallon and Anakin's daughter be sent off to some stranger, it was a no brainer that we would be the ones to take her.

Her crying starts to die down, her normal look of curiosity and wonder setting in. I smile at my daughter, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Her wondering eyes fall onto something behind me, and I turn around to find Padmé standing in the doorway, smiling at the both of us.

She seems to know exactly what I had been thinking. "We'll get the hang of it, of being parents."

I nod, rubbing Leia's back gently, bobbing her up and down. "I know, I know I just haven't had a lot of time to process everything. But despite the unfortunate circumstance, I am happy we have her."

Padmé approaches us, wrapping her arms around my waist from behind, leaning her head against my back. "So am I. And I know she'll grow up to be an incredible woman one day, just like her mother."

"Like both of her mothers," I tell her, turning around to face her fully. I wrap one of my arms around her shoulders while keeping the other around Leia, kissing my wife on the top of her head. "Leia is lucky to have you as a mother, and Fallon would be proud if Leia ended up even half the woman you are."

Padmé smiles at me genuinely, her first real smile in days. She leans her head against my shoulder, her arms still wrapped around my waist as she murmurs; "I love you, Aiden Parr," she says. "I feel like it's something you need to hear right now. I know that things are changing and we don't know what the future holds, but my love for you will never change."

I lean my head down and kiss her gently on the lips, feeling her hair brush against my face from the wind that blows in through the slightly open window behind us. As I pull back from her I brush her hair behind her ear, cupping her face in my hand. "Neither will it for me. We can face everything that is yet to come, because we'll be together. It's the three of us now."

Padmé nods, bringing her other hand up to brush Leia's cheek, a smile still on her face as she agrees; "The three of us." She says softly, kissing Leia's head gently before hugging onto us both tightly. I hold onto them both as well, onto my family. I firmly believe what we said is true; that we can overcome whatever the Emporer has to throw our way, because the three of us have each other, and that kind of love is something the dark lord will never be able to beat.

-

Obi Wan

The plan to fake our deaths went smoothly. I boarded a ship in the middle of the capital on Coruscant and was immediately set upon by clone troopers. As soon as I got to the edge of the atmosphere I had the ship blown up, with Jayce and I escaping in an escape pod at just the right moment for our escape to go unnoticed. Yoda's ship was close by, where I picked up baby Luke.

Before we parted ways, Yoda told me he wished me and Jayce well. He said we will meet again when the time is right, and for now he would be in exile on a swamp planet called Dagobah. I wished my master farewell as well, hoping that he would stay safe and hidden during the man hunt going on for all Jedi. After all, the Emporer knows he escaped their fight, he knows he's alive.

Tatooine is just as unpleasant as I remember, and it will definitely take some getting used to living here. I already have found a cave Jayce and I can stay in while I either find us a house or build one. The cave is close to the Lars homestead, so it was only a short speeder ride to endure. I bought the speeder with the credits I got from selling the republic starship I arrived here in.

I had called on Owen Lars before arriving on Tatooine, telling him the whole truth of Anakin and Fallon and the baby boy they left behind. He and his newly wedded wife are more than happy to take care of their nephew.

And indeed as I get out of my speeder, with baby Luke bundled up in my arms, Beru and Owen Lars light up in joy as they come out of their humble home to meet the new addition to their family. Both thank me for bringing him to them, clearly ecstatic about the hand they've been dealt. So, with a final goodbye, they make their way back into their home, whispering happy to each other, taking a slumbering Luke with them.

I had left Jayce back in the speeder, and I find him looking around curiously at his new home planet, amazed by all the new sights he's seeing today. I reach inside and pick Jayce up, hugging him tightly to my chest as the twin suns of Tatooine begin to set. As the sky is painted in deep oranges and reds, beginning to sink more and more into darkness, I feel a smile spread on my face.

I look down at Jayce, finding him smiling at me as well. It's this small moment that makes me believe that he and I will be alright. After all we have each other, and nothing, not even the Emporer can break us apart. So I watch the sunset with my son, feeling like as this day ends as does our old life, and with the rise of the twin suns tomorrow, a new future begins for the both of us.