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“Commander Willard, please,” Wedge Antilles said, following the commander down the hallway. “It’s been almost two years-- they said I’d be back in the cockpit by the end of the year.”
“Look, Commander Antilles,” Willard said, with a sigh, “We’ve already given your run to Wexley and her team. This is the second time you’ve been injured seriously on a mission,” Wedge winced, remembering his leg injury from his first mission. He couldn’t allow his injuries from Akiva to ground him, not when he’d worked so hard to be here, “Maybe it’s time you think about retiring to commanding permanently.”
“I’m not going to retire, I can’t,” if Wedge was anything at all, he was a pilot. “The medical droids have already cleared me, I was cleared weeks ago. Commander Willard-” He was no longer walking with a cane, even Ackbar said he was looking better. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help. Man a freighter, anything.”
The man stopped, and sighed. He looked down at his datapad, and asked, “How many times have we had this conversation?” but shook his head, “I’ll see what I can do, Antilles. But no promises.”
“Alright, thank you,” he said, stepping back. The commander sighed, and stepped around him.
It was another few days before Wedge heard anything else from the commander. And in the end, it wasn’t even the commander himself who sent for him. His heart stuttered in his chest when he received a message on his datapad, just a few lines indicating the return of Luke Skywalker, and that he’d asked for Wedge himself to accompany him on a mission of unknown origin. Not much work, probably not much danger, but a mission still, a chance to climb back into a cockpit and fly under Red One again. But it wasn’t the possibility of a mission that had him pause, it was Luke.
He hadn’t seen him for a few months, but it wasn’t the longest gap he’d gone without seeing the man. Luke came to visit him on Chandrila, though he wasn’t under any presumptions Luke had just been there to see him when he’d been recovering. But. Still. It had been nice to see his face, to know that he cared, enough, to make his way through the city to the medical lounge, when he’d heard what happened to Wedge on Akiva. He’d acted like it was his fault, almost, that he hadn’t been part of that mission when Luke shouldn’t have been at all, when it had only been scouting missions.
Luke had a bit of a hero complex, Wedge noticed, but it wasn’t out of any kind of delusions of grandeur-- he knew Luke better than that. Luke simply wanted to be able to save them all, even the unsavable ones, his heart was purely kind.
But Wedge wasn’t going to get his hopes up-- Luke could have just been taking pity on Wedge, a good friend, since word must have gotten around to even him that Wedge had been unable to rejoin the fleet right away. What kind of easy mission would need Wedge’s backup anyway? But Luke was one of the best pilots in the galaxy, a Jedi Knight, asking for Wedge’s help? He was allowing himself to get his hopes up. But just barely.
But his hopes had no bearing on his heart or his head, as when he walked into the hanger upon notification of Luke’s arrival, Wedge saw Luke freeze at the sight of him. Luke was in all black, his damaged metal hand covered, and he looked-- good. Certainly better than Wedge must have looked, but-- he looked at Wedge as though he was taking Luke’s breath away, as though the way Wedge thought he must have surely been imagining them dancing around each other for the past few years hadn’t entirely been in his head-- like the last time Wedge had seen him in those very clothes had been when they’d seen each other on Endor, when the party had turned into celebratory kissing under the fireworks, and everyone around them had been kissing, and the two of them locked eyes-- but never crossed the distance between them--
“Wedge!” Luke said, the heartbeat of a moment passing, dropping the datapad in his hand onto his fighter, and making his way to his friend.
“Luke,” Wedge said, as the man pulled him into a hug, the distance between them closing.
“Hey, Wedge,” Luke said, pulling back from the embrace, but not quite letting him go, “It’s good to see you.”
“Yeah, it is, Luke,” Wedge said. “I haven’t seen you since, what, Vetine?” Luke nodded, it had been a few months, Wedge had been in recovery, and hearing that Wedge had been here, Luke had stopped in on his way out the door. “So what’s this secret mission?”
Luke laughed lightly, “It’s not so secret as it is... personal,” he said, and then pulled Wedge out of the way of a Mon Cala with a cart, “Hey, let's sit,” he said pulling Wedge to a set of out of the way stairs in view of the hanger. “It’s not going to be exciting-” But Wedge didn’t mind-- he liked the quiet. He’d had far too much excitement in the past year, the past five years since he met Luke.
“What is it?” Wedge asked, nudging Luke’s shoulder with his own.
Luke sighed, picking at a thread on his pants. “You know how I told you Darth Vader was my father? And that Leia is my sister?”
Wedge nodded. When Luke had first told him, sitting just like this on Endor, during the celebrations, he’d been shocked. The emperor’s enforcer was Luke Skywalker’s, the best pilot in the rebellion’s, father? And not only that- but he was also the father of their rebellion leader, Princess Leia? And thus, she was Luke’s twin? That had taken some mental adjustment. But Luke had needed someone to talk to, while his sister was off celebrating with Han, and Wedge had been there. Wedge had trusted Luke completely, ever since they’d flown missions together for the rebellion, and he knew, then, that Luke trusted him implicitly too.
After Endor, word had somehow gotten out about Luke and Leia, though not everyone believed their their golden boy and the princess could possibly be the children of that monster-- Wedge wouldn’t have believed it, had Luke not told him himself.
“But I didn’t say anything about my mother,” Luke said, looking up, and off into the distance. Wedge shook his head. Luke hadn’t said a word about her, but Wedge hadn’t thought anything of it. “You know, on Vetine, I was running with Shara Bey?”
Wedge nodded, “Good pilot, retired after she got back.”
Luke nodded in agreement, “That was partially my doing. She wanted to spend time with her family, her son and her husband and… it made me think about my family. I’ve been so focused on rebuilding the Jedi Order that I hadn’t had a chance to stop and think about what I want,” he said, and looked over at Wedge, causing Wedge’s heart to stand still in his chest. But he knew that-- wasn’t what Luke had meant at all. Luke looked away, back over the hanger bay, his hands clasped in his lap. “We don’t know much about my mother. My father was a Jedi, there should be records of him somewhere, but we don’t even know my mother’s name,” he sighed dejectedly. “There won’t be any records of her in relation to him, not with the Jedi. They had… a law, in the order, about attachment and marriage. That Jedi weren’t allowed to have them, weren’t allowed to love.”
“Oh,” Wedge said, looking at Luke. He wasn’t going to… ask, what that meant for Luke.
“Clearly that didn’t stop my father,” he said with an amused snort, looking over at Wedge. He shook his head, “Leia barely knows more than I do about her. Only that Leia’s nanny, Sabé, used to know her. She was a very important person from Naboo, which is probably how Leia’s dad came to take Leia. I don’t know.” He looked up at Wedge again, “We wanted to see if I could find anything out about her on Naboo, that maybe I’d recognize her if I found anything about her. And I wanted you to come with me, if you wanted. I wouldn’t rather have anyone flying beside me.”
Wedge nodded, but then was silent for a moment. “What, couldn’t get Han or Leia to fly with you?” he joked.
Luke gave him half a smile, and nudged him, “Is it so crazy that I’d want you with me over them?” Wedge raised an eyebrow, “Or that I’d want something a little more subtle than the Falcon,” Wedge snorted in agreement. “They’re busy on Coruscant, anyway,” Luke said, shaking his head. “Sorting out the New Republic with Mon Mothma and all of the other diplomats who used to be part of the senate. I was just there with them, I just got back. I’d been looking over the old Jedi temple records, what was left of them-- the emperor tried to have them all destroyed when he turned the temple on Coruscant into the Imperial Palace, but he wasn’t a Jedi, he couldn’t find everything,” Luke said a little smugly. “So are you with me?”
Of course he was, he couldn’t say no to Luke Skywalker.
They’d been aboard the freighter for several hours, when Wedge called out to Luke. “Luke?”
“Yeah?” he said, crossing into the cockpit. They’d taken turns sitting in the cockpit, though they’d had no trouble yet. Luke had been in the back, communicating with Leia, still in Coruscant. They’d declined to take the X-wings, Luke didn’t think they’d run into trouble. Though Wedge loved flying one, it was almost nice to be out of one, every once in awhile. Though last time he’d said something like that, he’d been flying over Akiva.
Wedge pointed to the panel, “Look at this. There’s a distress signal, but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“Let me look,” Luke said, sliding into the other chair. He leaned over the screen, squinting. “That’s… that shouldn’t be possible,” he said, sitting back.
“What? What is it?” Wedge asked, looking down at it.
“You know how I told you I was at the Jedi temple on Coruscant?” Wedge nodded, “When I was there, I found some things from the last days of the Republic, after the fall of the Jedi. There was a… recorded message, from my old master, back when he was my father’s master. It’s… from the old Jedi temple, a distress signal-- Artoo, come look at this--” he called back to his droid, “but it isn’t much like that one, it’s really… old.”
“Old enough that there aren’t people there who need rescuing anymore?” he asked.
“No-- I mean, yes, but it’s a lot older than that. I mean, a lot older.” Wedge frowned, and Luke continued, “It shouldn’t still be playing. Artoo, are you making any sense out of it?” the droid beeped in negatives, but still continued to try and analyze the signal from the computer port. “A Jedi wouldn’t be using it.”
“Think it’s a trap?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “It would seen like a really inefficient trap, but it’s from beyond the Outer Rim, there have been known Empire holdouts there. What do you think, Wedge? Should we go check it out?”
Wedge glanced from the repeating distress signal to Luke. He knew that Luke wouldn’t have hesitated to make the detour himself, and if Wedge wasn’t going to go along with whatever Luke was going to do anyway, then he shouldn’t have come. “Can’t be any more dangerous than going up against a Death Star,” he joked. Luke grinned, and Wedge knew he’d made the right decision.
“Tell the computer to change course, I’m going to call Leia again and tell her we’re going to make a temporary detour.”
“Got it,” Wedge said, and set the coordinates.
It was only a few hours away from their current position, the signal coming from the Chrelythiumn system, beyond the Outer Rim. When they pulled out of hyperspace, the craft groaning, Wedge pulled the ship to slow, suddenly wishing that they had, indeed, been flying an X-wing, just in case. The freighter had very little weapons capacity, for whatever they might be facing. But beside him, Luke was looking on only eagerly, not concerned in the slightest. Wedge knew that Luke would have said something if he’d felt it in the Force, but he hadn’t said a thing.
But when they pulled out of hyperspace, there was nothing around them for parsecs in any direction. Luke sat up. “What? That’s all there is?”
Wedge frowned, looking at the instruments. “That shouldn’t be right-- there should be something there. Artoo?” The droid beeped a negative, but then beeped something else.
“Artoo says he’s seen something like this before, in the very back of his memory core. Artoo?” Luke prompted, but suddenly, there was a flash of white light, originating from the exact point where the distress signal was coming from. And then everything went black.
Wedge heard a groan before he saw anything at all. Then, he felt a hand nudging him, and Luke’s groggy voice saying, “Wedge, are you alright?”
“Yeah, are you?” Wedge mumbled as he opened his eyes, just as the computers restarted, flickering on as the craft turned itself back on. “What happened?” Wedge said, rubbing his eyes and looking down at the computer screen. Less than ten seconds had passed from when they’d been knocked out by-- whatever it was.
“I don’t know,” Luke said, “But… it felt like the Force. A really concentrated burst of it. But it’s gone, like it was never there.” He was still frowning as he turned to his droid, “Artoo? What were you saying when we were all knocked out?” The droid whizzed and whirred, shaking it’s metalic dome, “What do you mean you don’t remember what you were going to say?” Luke said crossly to the droid, which only beeped back petulantly at him. “You were affected too? Helpful, Artoo,” Luke said, sitting back down. He flicked on the computer’s comm system, but received only static. “It looks like we’re either out of range or the comm system has been knocked out. Is navigation still working?” Wedge nodded, “Okay, well. The distress signal is completely gone, set the coordinates back to Naboo. We should be there by tomorrow morning,” he said with a sigh, settling back into his seat to stare out into space.
Luke was right-- when they pulled into the upper atmosphere above Theed, golden light was falling on the city’s vast buildings and green landscape. They pulled into the hangar with ease, and set the craft down in one of the empty spots. From the cockpit, they could see a few other pilots-- mostly Nabooian ones, Wedge assumed, since a majority of the ships in the hangar were the famous chromium-plated ships he’d only seen a few times. Funny-- he hadn’t thought there were quite so many of them left, and in such perfect condition. After the empire took over, chromium mining ceased to almost nothing-- most of the chromium was reserved for the emperor’s private ships, as the man had once been from Naboo.
“Let’s go see the hangar manager about storing the ship,” Luke said, “Artoo, wait here.” The droid beeped, and Wedge followed.
“How long will we be staying?” Wedge asked.
Luke shrugged, “Till I find something on my mother. If that’s even possible. But I have a good feeling we’ll find something here,” he said, throwing a smile Wedge’s way. “It shouldn’t be more than a week. Leia has some friends from the senate who are giving us a place to stay-” he cut off, suddenly pulling Wedge behind one of the Nabooian fighters. He held his finger to his lips, signaling Wedge to stay quiet. He peered around the edge of the ship, still holding onto Wedge’s arm. His other hand was on the lightsaber on his hip. He turned back to Wedge, “There’s a Stormtrooper,” Luke said, frowning. Wedge’s brow furrowed-- there shouldn’t be any Stormtroopers on Naboo. He looked around the corner, and then cursed. “Two more over by the blast door.
“Damn it,” Wedge cursed, “I left my blaster on the ship.”
“Go get it,” Luke said, “I’m going to go interrogate the trooper on why he’s here. See if the comms are working-- we have to warn Leia.” Wedge nodded in agreement, and with eyes still on Luke, he headed back towards the ship.
Wedge watched as Luke looked around the corner at the Stormtrooper. He had his back to Luke, but looking at him again, his armor seemed… different. Luke wasn’t incredibly familiar with the subtle differences of the Stormtrooper armor, but the design was certainly something he’d never seen-- confirmed when the trooper turned in Luke’s direction. The Stormtrooper was definitely different than all others that Luke had ever seen. His helmet and armor was marked with blue paint, and unlike all the mostly spotless troopers, this one’s armor was greatly tarnished.
But Luke hadn’t been spotted. If anything the trooper was lingering like he was waiting for someone, or something. Luke stepped out from the ship, and continued towards the trooper with one hand on his lightsaber. He wouldn’t draw it if he didn’t have to-- the Stormtrooper might not recognize him. But when the trooper noticed Luke, he didn’t shoot.
“Sir!” the trooper stood taller, saluting Luke. Which was… strange, to say the least. “Did General Gallia send you ahead? I thought she and Commander Tachi were coming.”
“Who?” Luke asked. He didn’t know a General in either the Rebellion or the Empire who had that name.
The Stormtrooper chuckled, “Sorry, Sir, I shouldn’t think all you Jedi know each other like we do.”
Luke frowned. The trooper knew he was a Jedi, but didn’t attack him? Was he a deserter, or was he an alliance member posing as a trooper, but to what end? “Are you with the Rebellion?”
“What Rebellion, Sir?”
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Luke said, and didn’t know why he was wasting his time. He could just Jedi mind trick the trooper into giving him what he wanted.The whole situation was bizarre- it didn’t feel right. The man was genuinely confused, Luke could feel that much. It was like he was trying to have a civil conversation with Luke like his kind hadn’t been trying to murder him and his friends for years.
“Sir, I’m not-”
“I didn’t even know the Empire had Stormtroopers on Naboo.” Then, “Are you a deserter?” Luke accused, his hand on his weapon.
At that, the Stormtrooper stood straighter, and scoffed. “Sir, we at the 501st never desert.” The trooper paused, and then pointed to himself. “Clone trooper.”
“What?” Luke said. “Sir, you called me a Stormtrooper. I’m a Clone trooper,” Luke could tell this trooper was getting fed up with Luke, but he wasn’t getting angry. More… concerned.
“I didn’t know the Empire still had Clone troopers,” Luke said, warily. He glanced behind himself, at the ship. He could see Wedge from the cockpit, but he didn’t look like he was getting much done. He turned back to the trooper.
“Sir, are you alright?” the trooper asked, and took a step forward, his blaster in his hand. Luke drew his lightsaber, just in case, though this whole interaction had been more bizarre than threatening. The Clone trooper immediately stepped back, and apologized, “Sorry General, I shouldn’t have stepped into your personal space.”
This was the second time the man had called him General-- Stormtroopers wouldn’t have called him by his Rebellion title. Luke was more confused with anything. His lightsaber was still lit, the green light reflecting off the trooper’s uniform. Before the trooper could answer, Luke heard footsteps, and whirled around, “Wedge?”
But the man certainly wasn’t Wedge. “Is there a problem, Captain Rex?” the man asked, putting his hand on his hips, where a lightsaber was resting.
Luke stared. It felt like a bizarre dream-- or a vision-- a Jedi was standing before him, in his robes, talking to the Clone trooper. Luke could feel the man through the Force, but it was more than that-- he felt almost familiar, as though Luke had met him before. He was taller than Luke-- human, but maybe a few years younger-- with sandy hair and a scar bisecting his right eyebrow, and was looking at Luke with complete and utter trust-- the kind of trust that only someone who had known him for years could give him-- or the kind afforded from a trusted institution, Luke realized. The other Jedi instantly trusted him because he was a Jedi. Luke withdrew his blade, attaching it to his belt.
“No, Sir,” the Clone trooper-- Captain Rex-- said, reacting to the other Jedi with a feeling of slight relief. They knew each other. “The general here is just confused, I was wondering if he was alright and he drew his blade. I think he thought I was threatening him. I apologize, General. Never worked with the clones before?” he asked.
Luke shook his head, and the Jedi looked between them. “If everything is alright…” he said, raising his eyebrow, “I’ll be going. Thanks for the lift, Rex.”
“No problem, General Skywalker,” Captain Rex said. Luke’s eyes snapped to the trooper, almost to ask how he knew Luke’s name, but the trooper wasn’t referring to him, but the other Jedi. “Have a good time on your vacation.” The Jedi saluted with two fingers, and began to walk away.
Jedi Skywalker. With familiar sandy hair, and a silver lightsaber hanging from his waist. It couldn’t be-- it was impossible. But something in Luke told him that what he was sensing was true. He did know the man who had just stood before him, though he met him only once as the man he truly was. Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight.
Only this version of him looked to be about twenty one years old, still a Jedi.
Clone troopers, nearly perfect Naboo ships while his own ship was failing to send any kind of comm signal at all, Jedi as Generals, and a man who could be no other than Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father-- the thought was impossible, but Luke couldn’t interpret it any other way. He left the Clone trooper without another word, turning on his heel to spring back to Wedge at the ship.
“Wedge,” Luke said, before Wedge could say anything, “I don’t think we’re in the right place.”
Wedge looked up from where he and Artoo were taking apart the communicator panel, wires hanging out. “What do you mean, we’re in the wrong place? This is Naboo, isn’t it?”
“Not exactly,” Luke said, and offered a hand to Wedge to pull himself up with. “I don’t know how to say this, but… Come with me.”
He narrowed his eyes, “Back to the trooper?”
“Yeah, come on, trust me,” he said, pulling Wedge halfway across the hangar till he reached the trooper. “Captain Rex,” he said, and the trooper turned. Wedge looked him over, noting the same differences Luke had seen. “What’s the date?”
“The standard local time is-” the trooper started, but Luke cut him off.
“No, the date.” The trooper paused, and Luke could feel a wave of apprehension, but he listed off the date for him. The date in Republic standard years, approximately two years before the empire was established.
Wedged looked apprehensively at Luke, and then at the trooper. “Is this some kind of joke? Luke?”
“No joke,” Luke promised, and pulled him away from the trooper, so as not to be overheard, “I think we really just went twenty-six years into the past. I can’t explain it, except that it must somehow be related to the Force I felt when we went to the coordinates of the distress signal.”
He looked at him incredulously, “Then why didn’t we get sent back a few thousand years to that signal, then?”
Luke shrugged, “I don’t know, but Wedge… I think I just saw my father.”
Wedge blanched, “You just saw Darth Vader?”
Luke shook his head, “No, I just saw my father Anakin Skywalker. He’s still a Jedi, now-”
Wedge grabbed his arm, “Luke, if you’re right…” he said, and his rational mind wasn’t quite willing to accept that Luke might be, yet, “We have to be careful, about changing anything. We could change the history to be so much worse than the Empire if we do anything at all.” Luke nodded. “If we go back to that spot in the Outer Rim, that should fix it, shouldn’t it?”
“That’s a fair assessment.”
“Okay,” Wedge said wearily, and the two of them boarded the ship. Wedge settled back into the cockpit. This was already beginning to be more of an adventure than what he’d thought he’d been signing up for. “The coordinates are gone,” Wedge said, sitting straighter.
“What? We just came from there, they should still be in the system!”
“But they’re not.”
“Artoo!” Luke said, “What did you do with the coordinates? We need those!” the droid beeped, annoyed at it’s master. “What do you mean you didn’t do anything with the coordinates?” Luke said crossly to his droid, “They were just gone? All of them?” The droid beeped a confirmation. He sighed, “Alright, keep working on recovering those, okay?”
“What are we going to do?” Wedge asked.
Luke had the beginning of a bad idea, but it was too late now-- his mind was already racing. “Wedge, stay here. Artoo, work on recovering those coordinates!” he squeezed Wedge’s shoulder, and then took off down the ramp, not heeding Wedge’s calls as to where he was going.
He passed Captain Rex and the other two troopers, and crossed into a second hangar through the blast doors. Quickly searching the area, he found his father not to be in that one, so he continued onto the third adjoining. In the corner, mostly concealed, was a small Nabooian transport ship that appeared to have just landed, the ramp just being lowered. Anakin Skywalker was standing just in front of it, waiting for whoever was landing. As he crossed the hangar, in much less of a hurry now that he knew the man wasn’t going to disappear before he found him, Luke wondered if he was waiting for the one known as Gallia.
But it wasn’t a Jedi who stepped off the ship, but a small woman in a long, expensive-looking dress, her brown hair tied up in knots that he’d only ever seen the likeness of on Leia. The woman was beautiful. And like Anakin, Luke knew her face, too. He’d never seen it in person, but he saw it constantly in his sister. This woman could be no one else but their mother, still alive.
She hadn’t seen Luke, she ran directly into the arms of her husband, who squeezed her so tightly he lifted her off the ground. “Oh Ani,” he heard her say, and Luke was so distracted by his parents display of affection, he didn’t notice the toolbox in his direct path, tripping over them as they scattered underneath a ship, making a loud clattering noise as they did.
Luke’s parents stopped immediately, startled. But Anakin acted fast, moving his wife behind him, as he said, “Who’s there?” when he spotted Luke, instead of looking fearful-- although he was certainly alarmed at getting caught- he looked angry. “It’s you-- the Jedi who was fighting with Rex!”
“I wasn’t fighting with him!” Luke said, “I mean-- I need your help!”
“Who are you?” Anakin said darkly, his wife looking from behind him. She looked more anguished than he did.
“I’m Luke S-” Luke froze, remembering Wedge’s words. He couldn’t possibly tell his father that he was Luke Skywalker, his son from the future, who needed his help to get back to the future. He’d have to make something else up, another reason for being there, while trying to get his help. He hadn’t thought this through, he’d simply felt through the Force that what he was doing was right. Maybe Anakin would know what that light was, what to do-- even if they couldn’t tell him why. But he was blanking, and Anakin was looking at him expectantly, and he panicked, “Antilles. I’m Luke Antilles, Jedi Knight.” He paused, “I’m not going to turn you in to the, um, Jedi Order, I promise. I just-- we just need your help,” Luke said, but the man was still looking at him suspiciously.
Before any of them could say another word, Luke heard, “Luke?” echo across the hangar. “Where did you go?”
Anakin’s hand was still hovering over his lightsaber, prepared to draw it, so Luke said quickly, “He’s with me. Wedge!”
The man appeared around the side of a starship, and froze as he saw the two others. But Luke stepped over to him. Anakin’s gaze shot to Wedge, and he asked, “Who are you?”
“Wedge Antilles,” Wedge said, glancing at Luke with a confused expression. Just then Luke realized his mistake, but it was too late to change anything.
Anakin was still frowning, this time, slightly more confused. But behind him, his wife gasped in realization. “Anakin!” she said, tugging on him.
“What, Padmé?” he said, his tone softening as he turned to her.
“Ani, they need our help.”
“Yes, I know that, that’s what he just said.”
“No, they need our help,” she enunciated. When he wasn’t getting it, she sighed, “Anakin, he’s a Jedi. And they’re married. They need our help.”
Before Wedge could say anything to the contrary, Luke whispered, “Don’t say anything yet.” Wedge shut his mouth.
Luke watched as his parents quietly argued, his tiny mother looking up to his rather tall father. Finally, Anakin stepped back and crossed his arms as Padmé crossed the distance between them, and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Padmé Amidala, and I think you’ve already met my husband.”
Luke couldn’t help but smile back, and take her offered hand. “I’m Luke, this is Wedge.”
“We don’t know you, and I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but…” she looked genuinely concerned for them, “If I’m understanding correctly, you two are in the same boat as we are. You’re married-- and that goes against the Jedi code, so either you’re keeping it a secret like we are, or… you’ve just been caught, and have nowhere to turn to, because the Jedi Order is your whole life, like it is Anakin’s. And if it’s going by the way Anakin says your morning has been going with Rex…” she said, “I have a feeling it's the latter.”
Luke couldn’t feel an ounce of Force-sensitivity in her, but she was oddly perceptive-- even if she wasn’t nearly right at all. “Uh,” Luke said, unsure of what to say.
“Don’t worry,” Padmé said, “as stubborn as my husband is, he’ll come around to see my point of view. If you really need our help, it wouldn’t be a bother to us at all. We were going to stay in the lake country, like we always do when he comes to Naboo-- if you want, you can join us in the countryside while you figure things out. We’ll be there for two weeks.” Luke could feel that her offer was genuine, like the last thing in the world she wanted was for them to say no.
Luke wanted to say yes, wanted to join her and Anakin in the countryside, getting to know them for two weeks. He’d never know his mother like this from what he’d be able to read about her in records, even if he now knew her name. But… beside him, Wedge was standing stiffly, not saying a word. Luke glanced to him. “Thank you… Padmé, but… I have to discuss it with Wedge first.”
She nodded and smiled, heading back to her husband, and Luke ushered Wedge back over behind a starship.
“Luke,” Wedge said, feeling lost, “I don’t understand half of what she just said right there.”
Luke winced, “I’m sorry, Wedge, it was Jedi stuff.”
“She looks like you,” Wedge said, quietly.
“Does she?” Luke said, eagerly peering around to look at her. But he stopped himself. “I wouldn’t think so-- she looks a lot like Leia, though. How did you know?”
“That she’s your mother?” Wedge asked, and Luke nodded. “It’s not hard, Luke, I’m not stupid.” He’d known he’d feel lost with all of this stuff about Luke’s mother, but this-- this was completely out of his realm. He was a pilot, and he understood Luke, the pilot, but… he hated feeling like this, out of his depth. “She acts like you, the way she smiled, eagerly. It looks like you,” he said, letting go of his anger. “You want to go with her?”
Luke nodded, “But Wedge, I won’t if you don’t want me to. I’m not going to leave you here. They might be our only hope at getting home, if they know anything, and… this might be my only hope to know my mother.” Wedge knew Luke wasn’t trying to guilt him, that he really would send these people on their way if he said the word-- but that only made it worse. He couldn’t say no.
“But Luke, we’ll have to tell her we aren’t married-- why does she think that anyway?”
Luke winced, “I panicked, I told her I was Luke Antilles.”
“Not Luke Organa, or Luke Solo?”
Luke winced again, “Sorry Wedge, I didn’t think about it. But…” he looked at Wedge sheepishly, “I was thinking…” Wedge narrowed his eyes at Luke, “What if we don’t let them know that we aren’t? We promised them that we had no intention to turn them into the Jedi council-- not that we could-- because they think I’m on the run because our relationship is forbidden.”
“So you want us to… pretend that we’re married?” Wedge said, almost uncomfortably. “Luke…” Wedge started, but Luke was looking at him pleadingly. Wedge couldn’t dash any hope of Luke ever knowing his parents, but… “You know I’m not good at this-- talking, lying. I’m a pilot.”
Luke brightened, “Is that… a maybe?” Wedge sighed, but nodded. Luke brightened even further, and it was almost worth it. But Luke had faith in him. “You don’t have to talk much, Wedge. I’ll do all the talking. We won’t stay with them long, just long enough to figure out how to get home.”
“I still can’t lie to save my life.”
“Then… don’t lie,” Luke said, reaching for his hand. Wedge looked down at it, “Tell the truth, if they ask. Just not anything that would get us in trouble, okay?” Wedge breathed easier, because that wouldn’t be lying, per se, but faking a relationship… “It won’t be that hard for you to pretend to be married to me, will it?” Wedge looked at him with wide eyes, and Luke clarified, “We won’t have to… do anything you don’t want to, Wedge. We can just hold hands and pretend that we’re in love. Just watch my parents,” he said, looking at Wedge with innocent eyes. “Can you do it?”
“I think I can manage,” Wedge choked. Luke gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and disappeared around the other side of the ship. Wedge waited a moment, taking a breath.
On the smaller transport ship, Wedge sat beside Luke. He had his eyes on Anakin, was watching him. “That’s really Darth Vader, isn’t it?”
Luke nodded. He was watching his mother. It was clear she and Anakin hadn’t seen each other in weeks, if not months, the way they were practically clinging to each other. He watched as she looked out of the front of the shuttle as they flew over the treetops, towards her summer home. She looked back at them-- she hadn’t been anything but accommodating with them.
She sat down across from the two of them, concern on her face. “How did you find us?” Padmé asked, “How did you know?”
Luke looked sheepish. “I didn’t. I just ran into-- Anakin, and when I saw him, I knew he could help us. I knew I had to trust my feelings.”
Padmé smiled, “That sounds like something Obi Wan would say, but I suppose that’s a Jedi thing, isn’t it?”
“You know Obi Wan?” Luke said, startled. He’d never told Luke he knew his mother, too.
Padmé nodded. “He was the first Jedi I’d ever met, along with his master. I was fourteen, the Queen of Naboo,” Luke choked, and she laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m not still the Queen, that was a two term sentence, many years ago. I’m now in the senate, representing my planet. But I met Obi Wan during a difficult time on my planet, and when we tried to escape, he and his master were forced to land my ship on Tatooine, where I met Anakin,” she laughed a little, “Of course, at the time, he was just a little boy, I didn’t dream that one day I’d marry him.”
“I can imagine,” Wedge said, glancing at Luke.
Padmé glanced up, feeling a hand on her shoulder. “Do you mind if I have a word with Master Antilles?” Anakin asked, standing behind her.
“Luke, that’s you,” Wedge said, nudging his shoulder.
“Oh,” Luke said, standing up. He followed Anakin to the front of the ship, watching the landscape of the swampy planet pass below them.
“Master Antilles,” Anakin said hesitantly. “I wanted to apologize, about earlier.”
“It’s alright,” Luke said, “And you can call me Luke. It’s not like anyone out here is going to hold us to the Jedi code.”
“You don’t seem much like other Jedi I’ve met,” Anakin admitted, “But that isn’t saying much,” he snorted, “Obi Wan would say the same about me, despite his best efforts to the contrary.”
Luke snorted, “He always speaks highly of you.” It couldn’t hurt to tell him that.
Anakin nodded, looking down at the console. “I’ll let you go back to your husband. Have you been together long?”
“Not very,” Luke said, looking back at Wedge, “But we’ve known each other a long time.” Anakin nodded, and Luke slipped away.
The house by the lakes was beautiful. Completely unlike anything Luke had ever seen. He’d seen his fair share of planets over the years, but he understood why Padmé would want to come back to this place time and time again. They’d pulled up in gondola speeders, Padmé and Anakin in one, Luke and Wedge in the other. There had been a small hoard of servants waiting at the steps for them to help them with their things-- the small bags Luke and Wedge had packed, thinking they’d only be on Naboo a few days.
When they’d gone back to the ship, Luke had grabbed a small communicator, and told Artoo, implicitly, not to leave the ship under any circumstances. From what he knew of the droids before they became his, they’d belonged to Ben, and Anakin and Padmé would have recognized him had they brought him along.
“Your house is beautiful,” Wedge told Padmé, for lack of anything more clever to say. The whole trip had been incredibly draining, though it was hardly late into the afternoon, and the transport had only taken them two hours from the capitol.
“Thank you,” she said, “Anakin hardly appreciates beauty.”
Behind them, Anakin scoffed, and crossed his arms, “Hey, that’s not true. I appreciate your beauty.”
Luke snickered beside him, “I like that one, sounds like something Han would say.”
“Thank you,” Anakin said, “someone appreciates me.”
“Oh you know I do,” Padmé said, “but you certainly don’t appreciate fashion or art as much as I do.” Wedge saw that was abundantly clear-- the whole villa was draped in finery, and the woman herself looked more like someone who had an event to go to than someone who might be visiting her own home. He wondered if she dressed like that always-- she’d told them she was a senator now, and from what he’d seen Leia wear the few times he’d seen her before Alderaan was destroyed, finery wasn’t completely out of place in her wardrobe either.
Padmé continued the tour around the villa, pointing to various rooms as they passed them, several sitting rooms, dining rooms, and dozens of bedrooms. She told them the Retreat belonged to her family, and was very accommodating of guests. Finally, she stopped at the doorway of one of the bedrooms overlooking the lake.
“If I’d known you were coming, I would have had them prepare the room better, but I only had time to call ahead once we knew you were,” she said, lingering in the doorway, “Anakin seems like he’s run off somewhere, I should go find him before dinner at eight. If you need anything, one of the servants should be around-- but I’ll leave you two alone,” she said with a smile, “I hope you like your accommodations.”
“They sound like they’re going to be just fine, thank you, very much,” Wedge said. Beside him, Luke nodded.
“Yeah, thank you. You have no idea what this means to us,” he told her. She smiled again, and shut the door behind herself.
Once they were alone, Wedge could breathe again. But being alone created an entirely new set of problems.
Luke dropped his bag on the side of the bed, and put his hands on his hips. “Well it won’t be the first time we’ve shared quarters before.”
“Much more comfortable than the times we’ve had to sleep on the ground,” Wedge said. Luke snickered, and dropped on the bed. It wasn’t particularly large, but like Luke had said, it wouldn’t be any sort of problem, really. They’d known each other long enough to where sharing the same quarters-- or even a bed-- wasn’t a first.
Wedge dropped his bag on the floor beside Luke’s, and walked around to the other side of the bed, and sank down onto it beside Luke. Luke was staring up at the ceiling, it had been a long time since Wedge had given up trying to guess what Luke was feeling. After while, Luke sat up, and they began to discuss their “story”-- to be referenced whenever they were asked.
It was a few hours before there was a knock on the door, a Nabooian woman standing at the door when Wedge answered it. Luke peered at her from behind him.
“My name is Sabé,” she said. “My lady has requested you for dinner,” she bowed respectfully, and waited for them to follow.
“Sabé?” Luke asked, practically tripping over himself. Wedge raised an eyebrow, and Luke gave him an I’ll tell you later look.
Wedge, who hadn’t realized how hungry he was until she mentioned dinner, followed Sabé much more closely than Luke. Luke trailed behind them, glancing into every room he passed, until he felt a hand on his arm. He turned, startled. He wasn’t used to being snuck up on, but he supposed his mother did have practice.
She smiled at him warmly. She’d changed into something else much more elaborate than what she’d been wearing earlier, though Luke could hardly tell the difference between them. Leia’s hardly ever bothered to wear anything like it except for special occasions, and dinner hardly seemed like a special occasion. Padmé squeezed his hand, nodding towards the table where Wedge and Anakin were sitting as she whispered, “We’re alone here, you don’t have to worry, you can be affectionate.” She sat down beside her husband, giving him a kiss on the cheek as she did.
Yeah, Luke thought, he could do this. He sat down beside his friend, and leaned over before he could talk himself out of it, kissing him on the cheek. When Wedge turned, it was with a roll in his mouth, and the hint of surprise in his eyes. Luke smiled with what he hoped was reassurance in his eyes, trying not to betray his own feelings.
After dinner, while waiting for dessert, Padmé brought the conversation back around to Wedge and Luke, though Luke had been trying to steer the conversation away from them as much as he could. Wedge had hardly been talking at all.
"So why did you come to Naboo, then?" Padmé asked, resting her chin on her hands. She was smiling at him, and in that moment, Luke wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth. She had kind eyes.
"I came here looking for my family."
Her eyes became sorrowful, then, and drew back. She glanced towards her husband, and said, lowly, "I know you- the Jedi- are taken away from your family, so young... will you be able to find them? Will they be able to help you?"
Luke hesitated, but gave her the closest thing he could-- it was the truth, really-- "My parents are.... both dead. I mostly came to find information on my mother, and then I saw you."
She smiled, "We'll help you, if we can," she nodded, firmly. "You two aren't the only lost cause I've been working on," she said with a smart smile and a nod in Anakin's direction.
When Wedge woke, he was alone in the bed. The room was blueish in light, the sun must have barely been over the horizon. “Luke?” but his voice just echoed off the walls. Wedge pulled himself out of bed, tucking his loose shirt back into his pants as he walked through the hallways. It didn’t seem like anyone else was out of bed yet-- none of the servants, and certainly not Padmé and Anakin. Wedge followed the hallway out of the house, onto the balcony overlooking the water. He spotted a familiar blond head sitting on the steps.
He must have heard Wedge, but he didn’t look up as Wedge sat down beside him. He could still see one of the planet’s moons as the sun rose low over the water.
“Luke, hat’s wrong?” Wedge finally asked, nudging his friend. He couldn’t read minds, but he did think he knew his friend well enough to know when something is wrong. Was it his parents? He seemed to be getting along with them well enough last night, and he’d fallen asleep easily last night, even easier than Wedge had.
For a moment, Wedge didn’t think Luke was going to tell him. Luke had never been one for secrets, but lately, he hadn’t been the young pilot that Wedge taught everything he knew. But Luke sighed, relenting, “Leia got married. On Endor.”
“Oh,” Wedge said. He didn’t know what else to say. He would have congratulated her and Han if he knew, or Luke now, if he didn’t look so… something. Not dissapointed, but melancholy, maybe.
“It’s not like-- like I’m not happy for them, I am--” Luke said, suddenly more interested in the threads of his Jedi robe than anything, “Do you remember what I told you about the Jedi Code?” Wedge nodded. He didn’t know much about the Jedi-- until meeting Luke’s father, Luke was one of the only ones he’d ever met-- but the little crash course Luke had given him had highlighted the important bits. Including why he and Luke were ‘on the run’, why Padmé and Anakin had to be in secret: the Jedi code didn’t allow for relationships. “I’m rebuilding the Jedi order,” Luke told him, and Wedge nodded. That should have been fairly obvious, but he hadn’t quite thought about it.
“That’s part of why I’m here. I didn’t say anything before, I mean I know I’m supposed to be here investigating my mother, that is why I’m here, but… I didn’t come just for the reason I told Leia. Leia’s been wanting to know about her forever, but now that she’s married… she doesn’t want to have a family without knowing where we came from. I wanted to know about her too, but… for different reasons. I was looking into the part that prevented relationships, love, marriage… all of that.”
Wedge nodded along for lack of anything better to do, he felt his heart constricting in his chest. Oh.
Luke changed the subject almost abruptly, and Wedge had never been so glad, “It’s strange, seeing them like this,” he said, looking over the water at the rising sun. “My father is younger than I am now, by two or three years I’d guess. They have no idea what’s coming,” Luke glanced down. “Jedi were trained for their whole lives, they knew the history of the Order by the time they’re half as old as I am now. And here I am, and my own father is calling me ‘Master.’”
Wedge didn’t know what to say, just put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
Luke looked up at him, “What am I saying? You’ve lost people too, Wedge, just as much as I have.”
He sighed, looking over the water too, “Not that that makes any difference in how you’re feeling, Luke,” Wedge said. “We’ve all lost people. It doesn’t make it half as crazy that this happens.” He smiled, reassuringly.
The next few days, Luke asked as many questions as he could get away with, and then a few more after that, keeping Wedge close by, just in case. The more questions Luke asked, the more he could tell that Leia was more like him than she was like their mother. He wasn’t asking Anakin much, mostly Padmé, but the more he asked the more agitated his father became, just like Leia had been when they’d first met. After a while, Anakin just began crossing his arms and watching them suspiciously. Suspicion of what, Luke didn’t know-- he couldn’t possibly have any idea what they were really doing there.
Luke stood in the sitting room, leaning up against a post. He hadn’t meant to overhear their conversation, but he’d walked up and…. they’d been talking about him. Anakin and Padmé were in the adjoining room, Anakin pacing in front of his sighing wife. “I still think they’re hiding something,” he told her.
“Yes, you’ve said,” Padmé said, sighing.
“I don’t think-- they mean to do us any harm,” Anakin said, sounding frustrated, Luke could almost imagine him clenching his fist. He didn’t catch what Padmé said in return, only Anakin’s reply, “Yes, Padmé-- Wedge doesn’t have any Force sensitivity, as far as I can tell. But Luke…. he’s one of the strongest Force users I’ve ever felt, and it’s so… light. Like he’s faced his trials already and come out stronger than before. But they’re hiding something.”
“Is that so hard to understand?” he heard her say gently, “Aren’t we all?”
From behind Luke, he heard a shuffling, and could feel Wedge approaching. He turned before Wedge could say anything, holding a finger to his lips, whispering, “Shh.”
But the voices from the other room had already stopped, and he could heard them coming towards them. Force! Luke panicked, doing the only thing he could think of, and said, “Sorry, Wedge,” and kissed him.
Wedge didn’t even think about it, sinking into the kiss, as Luke pressed him against the post. He didn’t open his eyes until he heard Anakin clearing his throat, looking rather awkward-- whether at interrupting or because of the kiss, Wedge didn’t know. He was a little disoriented himself. It wasn’t anything near his first kiss, he’d almost been engaged before, for Force sake, but…. he’d never quite felt anything like this with anyone, not even her.
Luke grinned sheepishly, as though they’d caught them off guard, and Wedge managed a small smile. Anakin couldn’t help smirking, in the end tho, nudging Padmé as she rolled her eyes.
Later, Wedge found Luke sitting out in the sun in the hottest part of the day. It didn’t seem to bother Luke, he hadn’t even taken off his shirt. Wedge supposed growing up with two suns made you not mind the heat as much. Biggs used to be the same way.
His feet were dangling in the water off the edge, and Wedge took off his own shoes to dip his feet in beside him. Luke was eyeing the islands across the water, the ones with sandy beaches.
Luke nodded towards them, “Think we can swim to that island?”
Wedge squinted out to the island, “Probably. ‘Least I can, don’t know about you desert boys.”
Luke stood up and stripped off his shirt, scoffing, “Race ya,” with a wink. He stripped down to his underwear, Wedge following just behind him, hopping out of his pants as Luke dove into the water.
“Hey!” Wedge yelled.
“See if you can keep up!” Luke said over his shoulder. Wedge pulled off the last of his clothes, diving in after him. Luke just barely beat him to the beach, Wedge dragging himself out onto the sand, flopping over next to Luke, just a hairsbreadth away if he reached out his hand.
“You got a head start,” Wedge mumbled, and Luke laughed. It was getting late, as they laid out in the sun, drying themselves on the beach. Wedge finally looked over at Luke-- Luke, who was already looking at him, and he wondered what it might be like if he were to kiss him again.
Luke kept glancing between the two of them, and finally Padmé just smiled, and raised an eyebrow, “I’m a politician, Luke, I can tell when someone wants something from me. What is it?”
“Uh,” Luke said, clearly not expecting to be caught. Anakin was looking at him, frowning, and in that moment, he looked just like Leia. “I was just… wondering about you. About how you… met, and everything.”
Padmé’s expression softened, and she reached for Anakin’s hand. “We were wondering that too, about the only other Jedi couple out there.”
“That’s not important,” Luke coughed, looking at Wedge. “We’d rather hear about you two.”
Padmé looked at her husband fondly, and said, “It all started when Anakin was charged with protecting me when I was newly appointed to the senate…”
“How did you two meet, then? How did this happen?” Anakin nodded at the two of them, when Padmé was done telling them.
“Luke here was the best pilot I’ve ever seen,” Wedge beamed, “beat my score on the simulator by thirty seconds. It was after he saved P- his sister, on the way to Alderaan,” he said, “she came in, dragging behind her Han and Luke, and it took me four years to realize they were siblings, and not something else,” he admitted, even though it was a little too close to home. But it felt nice to be able to tell the truth, for once this very bizarre trip.
Luke laughed, “Don’t worry, it took me just as much time myself to figure that out, Han was so mad!”
Padmé smiled, “Are you from Alderaan too, then? Any relation to Queen Breha?”
“No, Ma’am,” Wedge shook his head, “I’m from Corellia. We’ve got the best pilots in the system. I just worked for her.”
“So you-- knew your family too?” Anakin asked. “I was raised by my mother, I joined the Order later. I think that’s why I-- had so much trouble letting go,” he told them. “There’s something wrong with the Order sometimes, we aren’t even allowed to feel and-- here we all are.”
Luke nodded. “My sister- she’s a politician. But you wouldn’t know her,” he was quick to say, “She’s from Alderaan.”
That was apparently the wrong thing to say- or the right thing, because Padmé’s face lit up at that, and she said, “She’ll know Bail-- Senator Organa--” she corrected herself. Luke choked.
While Wedge patted him on the back, muttering, “Smooth,” Luke managed to cough up a few words.
“Yeah, she certainly knows him.”
Padmé paused then, “I thought the Jedi weren’t allowed attachments, how do you know of your sister? Is she not a Jedi too?” she glanced to Anakin.
“We aren’t allowed attachments,” Anakin frowned.
“She isn’t a Jedi,” Luke said, shaking his head. “We were adopted by different people, and she didn’t grow up to be one like me,” careful not to mention her name, or her family.
“If your sister lives on Alderaan, why couldn’t you go to her for help?” Padmé asked, and Anakin gave her a look. “What? Anakin! I was the one who wanted to help them in the first place, I’m just asking him.”
“It’s okay, Anakin,” Luke said, “My sister is, uh, she’s not on Alderaan anymore. Right now. She can’t help us,” he said, wincing at his own explanation. “Our parents are dead, and so are Wedge’s. There’s not many we could turn to. It’s just luck we ran into you when we did.”
“Or the Force,” Anakin said, looking at him strangely. “This past week I’ve felt like I’ve known you, despite the fact I’m sure we’ve never met. Who was your master?”
Luke knew this question was coming, and he couldn’t have said any of the obvious Ben Kenobi, or as you know him, Father, Obi Wan! so Luke said, “Yoda,” hoping it wasn’t too farfetched in this era. “I didn’t fully complete my training till last year, though, I left, for awhile.”
Anakin frowned, “I didn’t know Master Yoda had any apprentices, he’s almost nine hundred years old. The last student he taught was Count Dooku-”
“Not too old to teach me,” Luke muttered, “always ‘Focus, you must!’ He didn’t really appreciate me running off to go save-- Wedge,” he said. Of course he’d gone off to save Leia and Han, but in this fictional lifetime he’d created, they weren’t an issue like his relationship with Wedge was. “I came back to finish my training, and I completed it but…”
“That’s when he figured out about you and Wedge?” Anakin supplied, gently.
Grateful for the lie he didn’t have to tell, he nodded, smiling.
Anakin nodded, “Master Obi Wan said the same thing about me and Padmé, once.”
Luke shook his head as they settled down for bed. “I don’t know what she sees in him,” he said about his father. “He’s really whiny,” Luke said, making a face. Wedge snorted.
“Nothing at all like you then,” Wedge said, with a yawn. “I don’t know, but he’s rather handsome. I suppose if she just blocked him out when he was speaking…”
Luke stared at him. “You think Darth Vader is handsome?”
Wedge rolled his eyes, “No, idiot, I think Anakin Skywalker is handsome, he looks just like you, but with Leia’s personality. You’re lucky both your parents were this attractive, just inheriting your father’s personality would have been terrible if your sister didn’t-”
“Have the face of my mom? Or the upbringing of a princess?”
Wedge shrugged, “Hey, if you’d’ve been raised by your family you could have grown up to be a King like your mother, or a Jedi like your father anyway. As would have Leia.”
Luke snorted. “So you think I’m handsome?”
Wedge shoved him, causing Luke to laugh so hard he almost fell off the bed.
Wedge walked into the dining room to find Luke already sitting at the table, munching on some kind of native fruit, watching Anakin on the holocomm with someone just outside on the balcony. Wedge sat down beside Luke, who leaned over to say, “He’s on the comm with his Padawan. He has a Padawan!”
The girl on the holo was a Togruta teenager, her arms crossed, looking particularly annoyed. “Master!”
“C’mon Ahsoka, I’m only leaving you with Obi Wan for a week!”
"Ahsoka Tano?" Wedge said, his head jerking up.
"Yeah?" Anakin said, frowning from across the room. "Heard of her?"
Wedge glanced to Luke, eyes wide, before turning back to the other Jedi. He nodded, "You could say that. She saved my life once."
Anakin looked proud, and nodded, "That's my girl."
“Who’s that?” Ahsoka asked, craning her neck as if to see, though the holo only projected the nearest people to the screen.
“Uh-- no you stay over there,” Anakin said, pointing at them. Then he looked at Luke, “Actually, Master Antilles!” he said, and Luke stood immediately. He was getting better at answering to that. Anakin hurriedly waved him over, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “Ahsoka! Master Antilles and I are on a secret Jedi retreat. Don’t tell Obi Wan. Gotta go, bye!” he said, clicking off the holo before Ahsoka could say a word of protest.
Anakin sighed, dropping his arm from Luke’s shoulder, sitting down across the table from Wedge. “Padawans, am I right?”
“I actually don’t have a Padawan,” Luke said with a shrug. “I was hoping-- a while ago, I was hoping to train some myself, but…”
Anakin nodded solemnly. “So… how old are you, Master Antilles?”
“Twenty four,” Luke said. Anakin raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What? Don’t tell me I look younger, I get enough of that from Wedge.”
“I can’t help it, compared to me you’re a baby,” Wedge said, grinning.
“Wedge, you’re twenty-eight!” Wedge laughed.
Anakin shook his head, “I don’t know why, but… I wasn’t expecting that,” he said to Luke. “You are older than me, but I suppose not everyone can have a Padawan.”
Luke shrugged. It wasn’t like he was actually from Anakin’s time, there were even less potential Padawans in his time. But Wedge seemed unusually affronted by this. He was frowning, “He has seen war, you know.”
Anakin looked to him, “I know. It was just a joke, Wedge. We’ve all seen war.”
“Not like we have, not yet,” Wedge said, standing.
“Wedge--” Luke reached for his hand, but grasping it loosely, Wedge stepped away, letting it drop.
“Sorry, Luke,” Wedge said, “It’s just-- you know,” Darth Vader. None of them had any ideas of the horror of the empire to come, much less his part in it. Wedge, admittedly, couldn’t blame this man as much as he thought he would. This man was just a man, a husband, Luke’s father. But Wedge still… had suffered at their hands.
“Yeah,” Luke said, understanding. He watched as Wedge slipped from the room.
“So he’s seen a lot?” Anakin finally asked, causing Luke to draw his eyes from the doorway that Wedge had disappeared through.
“Yeah,” Luke said, “He was, uh… he and I were on a lot of missions together, but when I was on Coruscant working on Jedi business, he… he was captured and tortured and… I wasn’t there.”
Anakin looked grim, angry. “Kriffing separatists. They tried to assassinate Padmé more than once-- they’ve taken my Padawan and my master, my troopers…” he shook his head, “I mean, you understand, you’ve seen it. Padmé only sees the politics, she hasn’t seen the awful side of war.” Luke was still drawn to the doorway where Wedge had stepped out. “You should go after him. You want to.”
Luke was going to protest, but he found he couldn’t. He nodded, and stood, following Wedge from the room. He was just outside, looking up at the sky. When he heard Luke’s footsteps, he turned. “Luke. Sorry-- about, with your father,” he said with a sigh. “It’s just-- I knew Ahsoka.”
So he’d said. Luke joined him along the balcony. “So…” Luke started, and then frowned. “Wait. She isn’t… she isn’t the girl… is she?” Wedge frowned, “What girl?”
“The one you said you loved,” Luke said, barely looking at him.
“The-” Wedge suddenly laughed, “Luke, no! Ahsoka recruited me to the rebellion, after the girl I had loved died.”
“Oh,” Luke said, “So I guess you don’t have a thing for Jedi, then,” he grinned.
“Just one,” Wedge said, with a teasing, “my husband, Luke Antilles, of course.”
Luke snorted, “Wedge, if we were really married, you’d be Wedge Skywalker.”
If Luke had to pick one element of his parents’ relationship to say was his favorite, he’d have to say it was watching his mother bully his father into doing things that she wanted. In her defence, Luke noted, she was usually right about it. He tried to pretend like he couldn’t see Padmé and Anakin out of politeness, though it was clear that they were talking about him by the way Padmé was nudging him in their direction. Finally he relented, standing over them and clearing his throat.
He was holding a basket, and said, “We know we haven’t left you two alone much,” he said, glancing back at Padmé, who was encouraging him, “so we thought you might like to take a picnic without us. It’s very isolated out here in Lake Country-- Padmé and I spent quite some time out here before our marriage.”
Wedge and Luke exchanged glances, “We couldn’t-”
“Oh no, we insist,” Anakin said, shoving the basket their way, and retreating back to a giggling Padmé.
“Sabé will show you to the gondola speeders!” she said as Anakin pulled her from their line of sight.
They looked down at the basket, and Wedge said, “Do you think they were just trying to get rid of us so they could have some alone time?”
Luke shuttered, “Force, probably. C’mon, lets get out of here before anything happens. It’ll be like old times,” he said, pulling himself up, and offering a hand to Wedge. Old times, where they could pretend like they weren’t thirty years in the past, like it was just the two of them spending time together like they used to, back before they were always gone on separate missions. “I hear they have something like Womp Rats here!” Wedge took the hand, groaning, and not just because of his leg.
‘Alone time,’ apparently meant just a few hours, because after a little while Luke’s parents joined them in the field over by the lake they’d been instructed to visit. They’d brought a pair of land speeders with them, because Anakin heard Wedge was a pretty decent pilot, and wanted to see him in action. They’d been speeding all over the hills and across the water, Luke watching them from the grasses.
“I might not be Force sensitive, but I can tell you’re struggling with something,” Padmé said. She settled down beside him, not minding her skirt.
"The Jedi code forbids attachment," Luke said, looking over the water.
"And yet you married him anyway," Padmé said gently. Luke jerked back.
"Y- yeah," he said, settling down. He’d forgotten, for just a little while, that they were pretending to be married.
"It's hard to let go of that, isn't it? Your duty?" she said, "In that way, you're more like me than Anakin. But you mustn't keep it from yourself. I see what it does to him-- what it does to Obi Wan, to Ahsoka." She sighed, and looked away. "If there was just one thing- that I could change-" Luke looked at her, expectantly, "I'd remove that one line. From the Order,” she told him. “It does more harm than good. Everything is becoming more difficult,” she said, pulling the wild grasses. For the first time, Luke could see her sorrow, “with the senate, too. We’re in the middle of a war too. We don’t want to fight, I don’t understand what this is all for-- if we could all just sit down and discuss it diplomatically,” she said, looking up with a sad smile. Luke was jolted by it-- this must have been the same smile Leia had seen, just that once.
“You’re starting to sound like my sister,” Luke joked, but there was a sadness there too. He heard the speeders pull up, and looked up to see Wedge and Anakin slide off their speeders, both grinning like they had a fine time.
“Your husband here was giving me trouble for a few minutes there,” Anakin said, out of breath.
Wedge pulled off his helmet, and ran his hand through windswept hair. He dropped down beside Luke, and kissed him on the cheek, abruptly, pulling back with an unreadable grin. “I can see where you get it from, Luke,” he said. “I mean-- the Order must have taught you well.”
Periodically, Luke would check up with Artoo. As usual, there wasn’t much to report on. Artoo had been working on searching the ship’s computer for over a week, as well as his own memory banks, and there wasn’t a trace of the coordinates on the ship. When the comm ended, Wedge sighed, looking at Luke. He hated to be the voice of reason, but this… lying around has almost been as bad as just commanding, sometimes. At least there, he was being useful. Here, he’s-- he’s just an interloper, doesn’t even belong. He’s not Luke’s husband, not his family.
“Luke, how long are we going to be here?” he asked, wearily.
Luke sat up from the side of the bed he was lying down on, and said, “I don’t know Wedge. This is what we came for, isn’t it? To find out more about my mother?”
Wedge sighed, “But this isn’t what we came for, Luke! We’ve been having picnics with your dead parents, and pretending like we’re married for over a week!” he said, shortly.
“Well what do you want me to do, Wedge? We only have a general idea where we’re supposed to be going, and we can’t even ask them if they have any idea what happened to us because we can’t tell them about the future!”
“I don’t know, Luke! We’ve gotten out of worse situations!” Wedge crossed his arms, “I’m beginning to think you don’t want to leave.”
“So what if I don’t!” Luke said.
Wedge was about to respond when they heard Anakin’s voice from outside the door. “Hey Master!” he said, the door swinging open, “Let’s see what you can do!” He stopped when the door opened, looking between them. “Uh, is this a bad time?” Anakin said, “I can go-”
“No,” Luke said shortly, “this was great timing. Let's go, Anakin,” he said, not looking back at Wedge as he stormed out the door.
It was only when he stepped outside that Luke actually had a chance to think about it. He’d grabbed his lightsaber instinctively, but the last time he’d fought his father…. well, it hadn’t exactly gone well.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked, as he and Anakin traveled to the back of the retreat, to find somewhere that wouldn’t get quite so damaged if something went wrong.
There was a bit of warming up, but then they went right into the duel. They were pretty evenly matched, though Anakin had a more varied set of skills than Luke had. They didn’t destroy Padmé’s flower pots or the steps, but they were both sweating, and Luke pulled off his glove because his robot hand was bothering him. he winced when he saw the light scorching that Anakin must have given him, remembering how he lost the hand in the first place.
“Ah!” Luke said as it shocked him.
“Not bad, Master,” Anakin said, almost out of breath.
“Please stop calling me that we’re the same age,” Luke said, with a pained grin.
“If Obi Wan knew you were saying things like that…”
“I’d be kicked out of the Order?” Luke laughed. He could see the balcony of their room from where they were. The lights were out. “I, uh--” he gestured to the room, “gotta go.”
He hesitated at the door. He didn’t know why. Wedge was probably asleep, it was pretty late. Luke was sore-- he hadn’t fought anyone with a lightsaber in years.
He opened the door. It was dark inside, but through the light of the moons from the window, he could see Wedge sitting up on Luke’s side of the bed. He stood quickly, turning to Luke.
Wedge started, “I’m s-”
“No, Wedge, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out like that.”
“No, let me finish,” Wedge said, “I’m sorry. I just-- hate feeling useless, and I can’t do anything here.”
Luke closed the distance between them in a hug, holding his friend tightly as he said, “I hate it. I hate being here because it’s not real-- I can’t have any of this, it’s not going to last.”
“You can have it,” Wedge said, muffled into Luke’s shoulder. “You have Leia, Han….”
“You too, right?” Luke said, after a moment.
“Yeah, always,” he said. They were still embracing, and Wedge sniffed. “You could probably use a sonic, you’re kind of gross,” he laughed.
“Yeah probably,” Luke said, laughing too. He let his friend go, through for a brief moment they held eye contact, before Luke pulled away, ducking into the refresher. It wasn’t a sonic shower, though-- they had a real one here, with real water. Seemed silly to bring up at the time. They’d never been able to afford anything like that on Tatooine, but here, water was in an abundance.
By the time he was out, Wedge was already asleep, curled up on his own side, clearly favoring the side of his better leg. Luke crawled in beside him, laying his head on Wedge’s shoulder. He’d probably move by morning.
The next morning, they were sitting on the floor near the kitchen, caf in hand. Luke didn’t know whether he’d woken up on Wedge’s shoulder, because by the time he’d woken up, Wedge was already up and changing. It seemed like they weren’t the only ones to have a good night, because he could see his parents in the kitchen, with his father wrapped around his mother, and she was smiling happily.
Wedge looked at Luke, “What are you thinking?”
“We could tell them. We could warn them, about order 66. About the emperor... about Darth Vader.”
Wedge paused, before asking, “What year were you born?” Luke listed off the date. “Luke,” Wedge said gently, “That’s two years from now.”
“Yeah?”
“You and Leia would never be born,” Wedge said.
Luke paused, and then, looking away from Wedge, said, “Would that be so bad, knowing we saved the galaxy from the Empire?” he said, slowly. “They’d be happy, they’d never know what they’d missed. We’d never know.” He turned to look at Wedge, then. “They hurt your family, Wedge, your girl. You’d be, what, two now? You’d be fine. You’d probably grow up fine, join the republic, marry her. You’ll never know you almost met Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker,” he said, with a sharp grin.
Wedge leaned back against the support column, “You don’t know that,” he looked down, crossing his arms, “You could deprive the Rebellion of the greatest couple of generals we’ve ever seen, and your father could still become Darth Vader, with no one to help him.”
“Wedge-”
“C’mon Luke, you know as well as anybody that I’d like to see a galaxy where the Empire was never around, but that’s just too risky. I can’t risk losing what we’ve already done,” can’t risk losing you, already in the air between them. “But I don’t know, Luke, the Force is your thing. Maybe it’s telling you something I can’t hear.”
“It’s not telling me anything,” Luke said, frowning. “I don’t know what to do. I wish Yoda or Ben was here.” He glanced up, and before Wedge could say anything, he raised his hands, “I know! They’re still here, but they’re not the Yoda and Ben I know.”
"Your father wasn't- your father wasn't everything in the Empire. The emperor. Everyone else who went along with them. Even if you manage to stop Darth Vader, the emperor might still rise to power. Who will be there to stop him then?"
"But they'll be happy," Luke said miserably.
"But what about the rest of us?" Wedge said.
Luke's eyes snapped to him. "Wedge, that's not-"
"Nevermind, Luke," Wedge said abruptly. He stood, shaking his head.
"-fair," Luke said, as he watched him walk away. "You wouldn't even know me to miss me," he said to the empty air, as he pulled one leg up to his chest to wrap his arms around it.
Wedge wasn’t paying attention as he rounded the corner, causing him to run directly into Luke’s mother. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, and turned around. He stopped, in the doorway, turning back to her. “How do you do it? Being in love with a Jedi?”
Padmé smiled, kindly, but sad. She put her hand on his arm, “I’ll tell you when I figure it out.”
Padmé rejoined Anakin in the kitchen. She’d stepped out to offer Luke and Wedge a refill of caf-- they’d let the servants have the day off, since it was a Nabooian holiday-- when she’d run into Wedge. She could see Luke still sitting there, watching the sun rise, albeit unhappily. Anakin was watching him, frowning, from where she’d just come back from giving Luke another cup.
"I don't like how he-- looks at you," Anakin said, petulantly, "Like he's trying to-- memorize your face."
She laughed, ever so softly. "Ani-" she shook her head, "Can't you see how in love they are? Like it's tearing them apart."
It was getting late in the afternoon, the sun setting over the lake, when Padmé walked out with a holovid playing. Though Luke couldn’t tell who it was on the vid, he could tell that it made her feel conflicted. She looked almost happy, but troubled, and it appeared that Luke wasn’t the only one who picked it up. Anakin stood immediately, and strode across the room to meet her. “Padmé,” he said, taking her into his arms, “What’s wrong, my love?”
“Nothing is-- wrong,” she said with a shake of her head, “it’s just, my parents. They know I’m on Naboo. They want me to come visit them for the holiday, and I can’t say no, without reason--”
“I’ll come with you,” Anakin said, “Don’t worry.”
“Even if it means hiding our relationship from my parents?” she asked, her voice with a hopeful lit.
“Anything,” Anakin said, and kissed the top of her head.
After a moment, she turned towards Luke and Wedge, “You don’t mind being left here for the weekend, when we’re traveling to my parents?” she asked them.
Before Luke could quite think it through, he said, “Can we come with you?” it seemed ridiculous, actually, but… they were his grandparents, one half of them anyway. He’d never known his grandparents on his father’s side, all he knew from his uncle Owen was that they’d died a few years before Luke came to live with them.
Padmé frowned, but nodded, “Of course. I’ll holo my parents back, and tell them to expect guests for the holidays. We have more than enough room at home.”
By the time they arrived, the party was in full swing. The house was full, but Padmé maneuvered through the crowd with the ease of a politician, the three men following her in a hustle. She finally located the people she was looking for when an older woman with dark hair practically screamed, throwing her arms around Padmé. “Mother!” she said.
“Padmé, darling, it’s so good to see you,” she said, stepping back to grasp hands with her husband. “Who are your friends?”
“Mother, you surely must remember Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker,” she said, hopefully.
“Oh yes, Padmé-- you aren’t in danger again, are you?” she asked, fearfully.
“Oh no, ma’am,” Anakin said, “I was just on a-- uh-- Jedi retreat with our friends here,” he gestured, “Luke and Wedge Antilles.”
“Luke, Wedge,” Padmé said, “these are my parents, Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie.”
“Naberrie?” Wedge asked, surprised. “But your last name is Amidala.”
“Oh,” her mother, Jobal, laughed, “That was her royal name. She took it when she became queen.”
“Oh, naturally,” Wedge said. Luke nudged him.
“Where’s your sister?” Ruwee said, looking around his wife, “she and the kids should be around here somewhere.” He and Padmé started looking around for her sister, but Wedge was looking at Luke, who looked more starstruck than anything.
“Luke, are you alright?” Wedge asked, nudging him.
“Yeah,” Luke said, shaking himself, “I just didn’t think I’d ever be able to meet any of them. I thought Leia was all I had left. She should be here, Wedge.”
“I know,” he nodded.
The rest of the party was a blur of meeting Padmé’s family, and all of their closest friends. Neither Luke nor Wedge were familiar with the nature of the holiday, but it apparently continued on into the next day, full of colorful celebrations and by the time the evening party was over, they were exhausted.
Wedge was used to waking early, and was a light sleeper due to his missions, even after all this time, but Luke almost always had him beat. When he woke up, he was alone in bed. The sun was rising, so he had an idea of where Luke might have gone. He stopped by the kitchens for a cup of caf, and climbed up the stairs to the roof, where he found Luke, watching the sunrise. He sat down next to him, and offered him a sip. Luke shook his head.
The celebrations had apparently already started for some people, colored bits of paper were streaming in the air, flowing over the walls of the garden and into the air.
Luke’s knees were pulled to his chest as he told Wedge, “I don’t understand-- if this is the Force giving me what I asked for, what I wanted-- why hasn’t the signal come back? Why are we still here? I commed Artoo this morning. Nothing,” he said, tossing the comm across the roof.
Wedge didn’t say anything. He didn’t know much about the Force, only the mysterious side of it from stories his parents used to tell him, and what he knew from Luke. “Maybe you didn’t get everything you’d wanted,” Wedge finally suggested. Perhaps Luke had wanted to get to know his father better, too. Or he wanted to see the Jedi order, in all of it’s glory. Or maybe, Luke had been right all along, and his destiny was now to save his father from what he would become.
“Wedge,” he heard Luke say, jolting him back to reality. It was clear it wasn’t the first time he’d said his name, “Wedge.” Luke tugged on his sleeve, and looked at him. Strangely. Wedge wasn’t sure what to do when Luke edged closer, his mouth only inches from Wedge’s. He closed the distance, and pressed his lips to Wedge’s. This felt different, from all the other kisses they’d shared.
For instance, “Your parents aren’t around,” Wedge said softly.
Luke hummed, “I know.”
“Oh,” Wedge said, strangled. What did that mean?
“I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile, now,” Luke told him. “Just the two of us.”
“Since Endor?”
Luke shook his head. Wedge felt his heart fall, until Luke said, “Since Hoth,” he grinned, and Wedge felt himself smiling back. Luke’s hand dropped to rest on top of Wedge’s. “That wasn’t the only thing I’d wanted to do,” he admitted, “and I guess, if I was going to do that anyway, I might as well tell you that I love you.”
“What about the Jedi code of yours?” Wedge said, hating that his voice sounded strangled again.
Luke’s face scrunched up, “I was thinking about that. What it did to my parents, how the Jedi allowed my father to fall to the dark side by not allowing him to feel things. So I’m going to change that.” Luke was beginning to look worried. “Wedge?”
“Hm?”
“Aren’t you going to say it back?” Luke asked, with wide eyes.
“Oh,” Wedge said, “Yes. I love you, too.”
Luke’s face split into a grin, “Thank the Force,” he said, leaning in for another kiss, “I was beginning to get worried.”
The comm beside them beeped. “Artoo?” he said into it, “There’s a distress signal from the Chrelythiumn system?” They exchanged glances.
“I think that’s our sign, isn’t it?”
Luke smiled, “Should we go say goodbye?”
The door didn’t look all that different than the last time Luke had seen it, but it was probably a fresh coat of paint hiding the fact the door had aged thirty years in just a few weeks. The four of them had walked through the streets of Theed to arrive at the door, a doorway that two of them-- Luke and Wedge-- had just seen.
Squeezing Leia’s hand, Luke knocked on the door. They heard the shuffling of feet, and an elderly voice, and then the door opened to an elderly couple, who had aged much more than the door ever would. “Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie?” Luke asked.
“Yes?” the woman-- their grandmother, Jobal-- said.
Glancing one last time at Leia, Luke said, “My name is Luke Skywalker, and this is my sister, Leia Organa. We’re Padmé’s children.”