•Memory rubbing: Memory rubbing is a telepathic Force technique that allowed an individual to use the Force to alter or erase another's memories.•

Picture your dream wedding dress, I gave no description of it on purpose.

2.5k words

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Once Upon a Time

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(Y/n)'s POV
Ahsoka applied the final touch, a white Chrysanthemum in my hair.

She stared at me through the mirror, a smile on her face, though it seemed more sad than excited or happy. I know her, so I know the difference, "You look perfect."

For a moment I thought I saw tears pool in her eyes, but she turned and waked to the other side of the room before I could really see. Guilt clenched tightly against my chest, I know I was the source of her sadness, I'm her best friend and I've been lying to her for months, "Ahsoka." I stood in the chair and faced her, "You know I really wanted to tell you, I just—" I swallowed a lump in my throat, "I didn't want to put you in a difficult situation." I thought about telling her every single day, I really did, but if the council had found out and learned she knew, she too would have faced repercussions if anyone found out about him and I, "I'm so sorry, but I really was only trying to protect you."

Her back remained to me as she ran her fingers along the veil I had resting over a small table. A gift from Padme, it contained embroidered blue gems—my something blue, "I'm not mad at you (y/n), I understand." Her voice was low, a whisper.

"Then," I took a step closer, feeling desperate to know what she was thinking, "What's wrong?"

She turned her head to look at me, and stared for a few seconds too long, before she picked up the veil and walked towards me. She gently put the veil on me, covering my face with it. Her eyes then slowly drifting down to... "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

My hand went over my stomach on instinct, eyes slightly widening, "How did you know?" I didn't even know until a few hours ago, how did she figure it out so quickly?

She looked into my house, a small smile crept across her lips, "I'm your best friend, you think I wouldn't notice the glow and the fact that you've been eating enough food to satisfy every clone in your battalion?" She chuckled softly, adjusting the veil so it framed my face perfectly.

"You're not..." I tried thinking of the right word, "Upset?"

She shook her head immediately. "Of course not. I think it's the best thing ever that I get to be an aunt. I just want to make sure you two have a plan. This can get very ugly, very fast." Her eyes shimmered with that specific kind of worry only a best friend carries.

"We do have one," I assured her. "We're going to finish this war and leave the Order, together—"

"Why not now?" she cut in, her voice sharp with fear. "Why not get married today, tell the Council tomorrow, and go. Leave all of this behind. Just... go."

I exhaled slowly. "I understand why you're scared, I'm scared too, but Anakin thinks this is the best way and I agree with him. We don't want to raise our child in a galaxy like this, one that is in the middle of war and unpredictable and dangerous."

"Staying is what's dangerous," she snapped, tears rising to the surface. "You can't go out there in your condition. Something could happen to you, something will happen to you." She said it as if she knew what my future held.

"Ahsoka," I whispered, reaching for her, brushing a tear from her cheek, "I—"

And suddenly, she was gone.

The room changed, the warmth of the room dissolved into something cold. The walls shifted, the air thickened, and it was as if I wasn't in my own body anymore.

I saw orange fingers reach out and Force-pull a chair across the floor, then settle into it with slow, tense movements. I was Ahsoka—somewhere in her memory. I hadn't thought about my psychometry in some time, nor had I experienced it. I tried to back out, feeling like this was an invasion, but I couldn't.

"Okay, seat taken," she said to the woman on the other side of the glass cell.

"My name is Leia," the woman replied softly. "I'm Luke's sister—"

"Yeah, I got all that," Ahsoka cut her off. "You're Luke's sister who cooked up some master plan to get him here, all of that was heard and understood. What I need now is for you to make it all—" Ahsoka paused, and I felt her emotions. I felt her thoughts piecing together what to say and how to say it—it was a surreal experience. "Make sense. There are things you said that I can't seem to find any explanation for."

Leia wiped the remaining tears from her face. "We're from the future—"

Ahsoka laughed. "That's ridiculous. And not to mention impossible."

"World Between Worlds, honey. Look it up," Leia snarled, clearly getting frustrated. "Now let me explain this in a way your little brain will comprehend, and do not interrupt me again." Her tone was stern, and Ahsoka nodded, though I could feel her unease and utter confusion. "Once upon a time, there was a man who loved a woman more than anything in the galaxy. He was her mentor at first, and everyone around them thought they couldn't stand each other. What they didn't realize was that the hate was really love, something blooming between their souls. Neither of them knew how to handle it, how to embrace it, so it remained bottled up for a long time. Until one day, that bottle overflowed and the denial was swept away. They embraced it and realized the overwhelming emotion they'd been feeling wasn't hate at all, it was love." Leia sank down into a chair in her cell, her red-rimmed eyes locked on Ahsoka's. "They were happy for a time, until fear crept into the man's heart. He was haunted by visions and hallucinations of her dying, so much and so often that he began to wonder what was real and what wasn't. He began to worry that one of the times he saw her lifeless,  it would be real and it would destroy him. He didn't want to live without her, he would rather die than let that happen, he would rather lose himself than let that happen."

Ahsoka began tapping her foot with impatience. "What does any of this have to do—"

Leia held up a finger. "One, I said don't interrupt me. Two, have a little patience, I'm getting there." She cleared her throat. "And lose himself is exactly what he did. He went mad looking for a way to save her. It got worse when they found out she was pregnant. Twins; a boy and a girl."

Them, Ahsoka thought. This is her and Luke's story... I think.

"Now he was terrified of losing them all. His desperation led him to search for a cure for death. His mind, already in a fragile state, broke, and there was a Sith who took advantage of that. He told him the dark side held the power to save people from dying. Of course, that foolish man believed him. He fell, he fell so far he was nearly unrecognizable in the end. After that, they tried to keep her and his children away from him. That was a big mistake," Leia's voice hardened. "So what did he do? He killed everyone who stood between him and them. He stormed the Jedi Temple and slaughtered every knight, general, padawan, and youngling he could find. He searched the entire building for her, but she wasn't there. They had taken her, hidden her. He tortured it out of a surviving council member, found the planet they'd taken her to, and went after her. It was there that he fought those he loved, fought them to the death, and in the middle of that chaos, he killed her." Her voice dropped to a whisper, trembling. "Sad, isn't it? He killed the very person he was trying to save, he didn't mean to, he wasn't evil, not really despite it all. He was manipulated, all he wanted was her and his kids to be safe, alive, and happy." She sobbed. "She jumped in front of his strike during a fight. She thought she could save his soul if she stopped him from killing a man he loved like a brother. She died thinking it would redeem him. She died wrong."

Ahsoka lifted her hand and wiped a tear from her cheek. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying. But with a story like that... who wouldn't?

"After that, the children were taken away and hidden from him. He scoured the galaxy looking for them, his last connection to her, but it only made him worse. So much worse than anyone believed possible. He became a thing of nightmares, he had no remorse, no soul, and not a single ounce of mercy left in him."

"And those children..." Leia took a breath. "Those children are us. Me and Luke. We came back to make sure that story has a different ending. We want our father to keep his soul, and we want our mother to keep her life."

She had every right to sound insane, but Ahsoka believed her. She believed every word, every emotion Leia laid bare. It all seemed so genuine, Leia didn't look like anything other than a heart broken daughter, desperate for her parents. It can be felt as well as it can be seen.

"Do you swear this is true?" Ahsoka asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Leia nodded slowly, her hand pressed to the glass. "My father is Anakin Skywalker, and I know you already know who my mother is, based on that alone."

Ahsoka choked on a sob, and I was ripped from the memory like I'd been punched in the stomach. The air was knocked out of me. I struggled to breathe, falling to my knees while my hand clutched my abdomen.

Luke. Leia. They're mine?

And Anakin... he's—no.

I looked up to meet Ahsoka's worried eyes, she had no idea that I just violated her mind.

"That can't be true," I whispered. "It's impossible, that was not real. Nothing I saw or nothing she said!" My voice raised high as denial clutched to every inch of my skin and nerves.

It's not real, she's lying, he would never hurt me or anyone.

The memory of him and the sand people filled my head, he is capable. He might be, but I saw that moment, I saw the regret, I saw the hurt, the fear, I saw his heart for what it was—filled with remorse.

Realization crossed Ahsoka's features as she dropped down to me, taking my face in her hands the same way I had held hers just moments ago. "You weren't supposed to see that," she whispered, tears slipping from her eyes. "You weren't supposed to know." Her voice cracked into a sob. "You weren't supposed to be burdened with this like me."

"What—" A voice that belonged to neither of us filled the room, and I looked up to see him. "What is going on in here?" Luke stood there with flowers in his hand and worry written all over his face. "I'm sorry I came unannounced. I know you're probably wondering how I know, but I can explain—"

In an instant, I moved Ahsoka aside and went to him. I held his face and looked into his eyes, really looked.
They were the same shade as Anakin's, I had noticed that once before. Why hadn't I looked more closely since then?

"Tell me the truth," I said, my voice quiet but urgent. "Are you mine?"

He blinked, horror flooding his expression.

"Are you my baby?" I repeated, louder this time but still soft, gentle in that instinctual, maternal way.
I didn't know how to react to any of this, but I knew that looking at him now, I felt something that had always been there, now it was just clear. "Is Anakin—" I choked. "Is what I learned true? Is he in trouble? And do not lie to me anymore. I can handle the truth."

He dropped the flowers. His eyes filled with tears as he reached out and grabbed my wrists, holding my hands where they were. "I can show you," he whispered.

And he did.

I saw everything, every detail of his life, and Leia, my girl, and Anakin...who he became. My heart was whole and shattered all at once.Suddenly, I was back in the room, looking into Luke's eyes.

"You're so beautiful," I told him, the very first words he had said to me in the temple. Now it all made so much sense.

Was I still freaking out? Yes. But maybe, now that I knew, I could do something about it. I can help, if there's anyone here capable of keeping Anakin in the light, it's me.

My Luke, he cried, a sob tearing from his throat as he pulled my hands down, "You know I love you more than anything. You have to know that."

"I love you too, Luke," I said, unable to stop myself. This was a tragedy, but it was also something beautiful, because here he was. My perfect baby and my girl was out there somewhere. She needed me, they both did.

"You have no idea how much I've been dying to hear those words from you." He pulled me close and kissed my forehead, then cupped my face in his hands. "Forgive me." I felt pain, and then—

I pulled back from the hug and looked up, my brows furrowed. "Luke? When did you get here? What are you doing here?"

He stared down at me, crying—visibly crying—and it only deepened my confusion.

"I told him," Ahsoka said softly from beside me. "He can be trusted. Don't worry, (y/n), we're all so excited for you two." She was crying too as she kissed my cheek.

My wedding, it's my wedding day, and everyone is crying with joy. Even me, it seems I thought as I wiped a tear from my cheek.

A headache lingered as I tried to remember when he had walked through the door, but that thought quickly vanished when Padmé knocked and came in, smiling wide. "It's time."

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Totally listened to Saturn by Sleeping at Last on repeat while I wrote this.