Chapter Text
Leia was laying on her bed ( Which was still too soft ) staring out the window at the speeders passing by. Has news of Palpatine’s treachery reached them yet? Did the people in the cars moving too fast to really see know what she had done? She didn't regret it- of course not- she had just never been in the spotlight this way. Luke had destroyed the Death Star and defeated Palpatine the last time ( Of course he always credited their fa- Vader for this, but she knows he had more to do with it than he would ever realize ) and she had simply been the Princess. The discomfort would leave her soon enough- soon they would be home and things would be normal again and this would be some insane fever dream. The knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts, and she sat up quickly.
“Come in!”
The door slid open, revealing Anakin. Leia felt her mouth tug down into a frown and her back straightened.
“Hello.” Anakin said, stepping into the room as the door whizzed shut again.
Leia nodded at him in greeting. He swallowed around the lump in his throat as his eyes observed the room. His eyes landed on the chair in front of the vanity as he sat in it. Her gaze followed him silently, not rebuking him but not welcoming him in either. They sat in silence for a moment as he tried to understand what he wanted to say. His mouth opened and shut a couple times, and Leia did not feel like extending the mercy of starting a conversation with him first. He had come here for a reason, he could figure it out.
“I know…” He started, stopped, cleared his throat, “I know in your timeline. In your life, I am not your father.” He did not look at her, instead focusing on his gloved prosthetic. “I know that your version of me is evil, and I am sorry you had to live with the consequences of his actions.”
He looked up at her now, and his chest ached at the cold look in her eyes. She looked like Padme. She looked like him .
“I don’t know why your Anakin turned to the Dark Side, but I can certainly guess. I know what I struggle with, I know the war I fight internally everyday. The only thing that matters to me is Padme. I have… dreams. I’ve been having dreams of her dying in childbirth.” His voice cracked a little bit, and he cleared his throat again before continuing. “Now that I know Palpatine is the Sith Lord… I am forced to think perhaps those were never my dreams at all.” He put his hands together, “All I have ever wanted is a family. And with Padme I have that. We’ve talked about kids. I would leave the Order to be with her freely… her and any kids we would have. I have to imagine that all your Anakin would want is to protect her and them.” He stopped, blowing air out as he did.
She was still just looking at him quietly and coldly. Anakin couldn’t shake the feeling this was the battle in a long war. She huffed, looked out the window, and then quickly looked at him again.
“When Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star, Darth Vader’s hand was on my shoulder. I was tortured for hours to give up the location of the rebel base, and after I was told Alderaan could survive if I did so, it was destroyed anyway. Alderaan is nothing more than an asteroid belt now.” She doesn’t cry over this fact anymore- at least not in front of anyone else. “Luke’s aunt, uncle, and best friend were all killed by Vader’s order. He’s better than me. I can't forgive. Or maybe he’s just more naive.”
He didn’t know what else to say- “I’m sorry. I…. I’m sorry.” He breathed in sharply, “I would never do that. I don’t know about Darth Vader. Obviously that’s the worst version of me I could be. But who I am now… I would never do that.”
“Palpatine’s dead. You know more now than you ever could. If you were to fall then maybe you were always supposed to.”
“I’m leaving the Order.” She shot her head up to look at him, “In the next six months I’m leaving. I am going to oversee the removal of troops and the establishment of peacekeeping efforts in some systems and then I’m gone.”
“That’s good.” She said.
“I’m not going to give myself the chance to become…
that
.”
She took another deep breath, “From what I understand it’s not really your choice. The Force is neither good nor bad. It just is. And it wants balance. You and Palpatine were meant to be the weight opposite me and Luke. Luke and I might not exist now. But another Sith will come if he hasn’t already. The only thing now is you don’t know who it is.”
“Who taught you that?”
“Luke.” she laughed, “Though he may have gotten it from Obi-Wan. Or Yoda.” Her face grew somber again. “I’m never going to forgive you. I’m never going to look at you with the same adoration as Luke does. It’s not in my nature.”
“It’s because you take after me.” He smiled softly, and tried to hide it by looking down at his shoes quickly.
“Maybe.”
They sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke again, “I know you can’t forgive me. I understand that. And I’m still sorry that you have suffered the way you have. But either way, I hope that Padme and I have our own Leia and Luke. And I hope she’s just like you.”
She looked at him and smiled tightly. She was never going to be able to forgive Darth Vader. She wasn’t capable of forgiving Anakin after he was Darth Vader. She didn’t care if he turned to the Light or not. But maybe she could accept the man in front of her. She would never love him like Luke does. Was not sure she could even like him. But she could accept him.
“Then you’ll have your hands full.”
And then he laughed. It shocked Leia a little bit to hear it.
“I’ll consider it my penance for all I put Obi-Wan through.”
“Ah, then it is certainly well deserved.”
In that moment there was more peace between the two of them than Leia could have ever hoped to achieve. Not that she ever wanted to achieve peace, she was quite content hating him. But she couldn’t deny the sense of right that filled her. Or maybe it wasn’t right that filled her. It was a shimmery gold light that was starting to expand from her stomach.
“Leia?” Anakin asked, panicked.
She didn’t say anything, instead running to the living room where Luke was, calling out his name. She could hear Anakin’s solid footsteps behind her. Han’s door whizzed open and he also made his way to the room quickly, all the while smacking his stomach where the gold light was.
“Stay calm, I think this is just us going home.” Luke said, watching curiously as the gold light moved up to his chest.
“Home?” Padme asked sharply.
“Our mission is done,” Was all he said, touching her arm fondly, “Do not be afraid.”
“We knew this would happen.” Leia agreed, calmed now that she knew what this was.
“It happened faster last time.” Han grumbled, the gold light now encompassing half his body.
“So this is it?” Anakin asked, looking between his two children.
“It’s okay. I think you’ll be seeing us again sooner rather than later.” Luke laughed.
Padme and Anakin looked at one another, brows furrowed. Then Anakin extended his mind, seeking what, he was not entirely sure. And then he felt. Under Padme’s stomach, two little specks. Faintly visible in the Force, not quite there yet but almost. His jaw dropped slightly, joy overtaking his heart.
“What? What?” Padme looked between the two. This was insane, she hated the Force she thought. Anakin just gave her a look and she knew.
“Oh.” Was all she could say, delicately placing her hand on her stomach, a laugh bubbling in her throat. “Oh my stars!” Her smile almost broke her face.
“Guess you’ll be dealing with me again soon enough.” Leia said to Anakin jokingly.
“Can’t wait.” He smiled down at her. And she couldn’t help the thought that maybe he would be a good dad. And in another universe maybe she and him would have been close. Loved each other, even. She was sure she’d never know.
The light had expanded, and was now covering their whole bodies, the gold shimmered around the three, and a magnificent heat filled their bones and stole their breath. Actually, Han thought he might throw up.
The light quickly blinded them, and stole their parents from their sight.
Tears filled Padme’s eyes as she watched her children disappear, a hand still resting on her stomach. Anakin stood next to her immobile, a stale fear filled him as he realized he did not know where they would end up, or what timeline they were returning to. How would this end? What universe were they going to? One where he raised and loved them, together with his wife in some Nubian villa? Or another one where his children were separated, his son raised on Tatooine by a step-brother he barely knew, and his daughter forever traumatized by her biological father destroying her family and planet?
He was sure he’d never know.
____________________________________
Han threw up.
Luckily he made it to a waste bin. Barely , but he did.
Leia’s hands roamed her body and face quickly, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. She was never a tall woman, but she was immeasurably grateful she was at her previous height.
Luke gingerly laid himself onto the cool metal of the Falcon and rested his body against the floor. All he could do was groan as he watched Han heave.
“That was brutal.” Han said in between heaves.
“It’s okay, I doubt we’ll ever need to do that again.” Leia assured him, rubbing his back.
“That was insane.” Luke groaned.
“I… yea. I don’t know how we are going to process that…” Leia then whirled to Luke suddenly, “
I
killed a Sith Lord.” She said gleefully. “
I
killed Darth Sidious! We are 1-0 on Sith Lords!”
Luke groaned again, but for different reasons.
“It’s not a competition!” He protested weakly.
“It absolutely is. Suffer though!” She said happily.
Luke suddenly grabbed at his wrist.
“Leia!”
“What?”
“My hand!” He held it up in between them.
Where there had once been a prosthetic, a good prosthetic, but a prosthetic nonetheless, was a flesh hand.
Leia’s jaw dropped. And then everyone was on their knees again.
Memories Leia had never made flooded her head.
Her and Luke at five toddling along a Nubian lakeside. Being picked up like she weighed nothing at 10 by her dad, no by Anakin , who seemed about 8 feet tall from that perspective. Squealing with joy at 15 as Luke piloted their dad’s speeder they had just stolen across grassy plains, and then getting caught by their mom when they were returning it. And then 20, studying politics at a university on Coruscant, her mom coming from the Senate to visit her and take her out to lunch. And now, at 23, her mom and dad had seen them off on vacation. The Millenium Falcon. She met Han on Coruscant. They weren’t on a mission, they were going on summer vacation. The Empire never rose, they had always lived in a Republic where their mom defended democracy and their dad was a defense consultant.
It was a splitting headache as these memories forced their way into her skull, and the old ones left. Then it was over. No one would remember the old Luke, Leia, or Han.
There was never a Leia Organa. There was always a Leia Skywalker. Well Leia Naberrie Skywalker if you wanted to get specific. It was disorienting and Leia needed a nap. As she picked her way through the ship to her bunk she got an incoming call on her comm.
Dad .
She picked up, “Hello?”
“Hey kiddo, how's the trip?”
She smiled happily, “It’s great!”
The Skywalkers were alright.