Star Wars: Secrets of the Jedi (AU)

Epilogue

Five Months Later

Naboo

Skywalker Residence

/

"He's so small," Anakin marveled at his new son.

The baby boy was only hours old. He had a small tuft of light blonde hair on his head and Anakin knew his eyes were blue.

Padme smiled at her husband and new son from her position on the bed where she cradled their daughter. "So is this little one here."

Anakin sat down next to his wife and smiled. "Her Force-signature was masking his the entire time. I never even sensed his presence."

Padme chuckled. "Maybe that's why he was born first; trying to get out of his sister's shadow."

"What are we going to name them?" Anakin wondered out loud.

Padme gazed at her dark-haired and dark-eyed daughter. "I was thinking, if you like it, that we could name her after my grandmother, Leia."

"Leia," Anakin said, testing the name. "Leia Skywalker. I like that. What shall we call Leia's big brother?"

"You pick," Padme told him.

After a few moments, Anakin had a small, somewhat sad smile on his face. "I asked my mother once why I didn't have any brothers or sisters like some of my friends. I don't remember her answer, but I do remember her telling me that if she'd had another son, she would have named him Luke. That had been the name of her younger brother."

Padme reached out and touched her tiny son's hand. His little fingers wrapped themselves around her index finger and he held tight.

"He's a strong one," she commented. "Luke Skywalker. I like them both, Ani."

Anakin gathered both of his children in his arms and walked out onto the veranda and looked around.

"Well, this is your home," he said softly. "You're mother I love you both very much."

He kissed each forehead as the babies drifted off to sleep and carried them back inside and placed them side-by-side in one cradle. He then crawled into bed next to Padme and gathered her into his arms.

"Let's get some sleep, my love," he whispered. "They'll be awake before we know it."

Cocooned in comfortable silence, the Skywalker family slept.

/

Alderaan

University of Alderaan

Since settling on Alderaan with Siri and Zakk five months earlier, Obi-Wan had accepted a position as the Galactic History professor at the university. He and Siri did not need the credits, but he enjoyed keeping busy and teaching was something that came naturally to him. He was popular with his students and had at minimum a cordial relationship with the other professors.

"Care to take lunch with your old man?" a deep voice rang out, breaking Obi-Wan from his thoughts.

He looked over and saw Xanatos Renashaii, his father. The man was only fifteen years his senior, yet a youthful indiscretion while still Qui-Gon Jinn's padawan had brought about Obi-Wan.

He'd supported completely Siri's desire to learn about her family, and when they'd arrived on Alderaan, the entire Tachi clan was more than welcoming. Siri's parents, Kellen and Shia were loving grandparents to Zakk. Siri's younger brothers, Kyan and Keeran were ecstatic to have a sister and Siri delighted in her two sisters-in-law as well as her nieces and nephews.

Obi-Wan was content with the Tachi/Organa family of which he was a member. Then Xanatos barged into his life, quite unexpectedly with the news that they were father and son. To say Obi-Wan was shocked and dismayed would have been an understatement.

He'd refused to believe it at first; that a man who had cast Qui-Gon and the Jedi aside for his own selfish reasons could not possibly be his father. He didn't sense darkness in Xanatos; far from it. The older man fairly radiated the light side of the Force. But Obi-Wan didn't want a father, and if he did, Xanatos wasn't who he'd choose.

"Alright," Obi-Wan replied, gathering a few datapads to take with him.

Xanatos gave him a small smile. They'd come a long way in five months. He'd been certain when Obi-Wan first saw him, had he been in possession of a lightsaber, Obi-Wan would have sliced him in half. After a few weeks, the questions had come.

Who was his mother? Why didn't Qui-Gon ever say anything? Where was he born?

Xanatos had patiently answered every question his son had asked.

His mother was Elara Kenobi, a young girl Xanatos' own age he'd met on a mission with Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon never said anything because as far as Xanatos knew, their shared Jedi Master never knew the truth.

He was born on Coruscant.

"Where are we going?" Obi-Wan questioned as the two men made their way out of the university and into the pleasant sunlight.

"Your brother is meeting us at that café you enjoy in Crevasse City," Xanatos said with a smile.

"Narek hates the place," was Obi-Wan's quip.

Xanatos sighed. "He's trying, Son."

Obi-Wan still bristled a bit when he heard that moniker coming from Xanatos. He had come to accept it from Kellen Tachi, albeit reluctantly.

Breathing deeply to quell his irritability, he spoke. "Just comm Narek and have him meet us at home. Siri wants to have the whole family together for Zakk's lifeday party this evening."

Xanatos frowned. "Isn't his lifeday still more than a month away?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "It's almost two, but we'll be on Naboo then and everyone is here now, so she wants to do it now so he can play with his cousins and his friends."

Xanatos comm'd his younger son and soon they were off, all to converge on the Kenobi residence.

/

"He's worn out," Xanatos commented as he saw Obi-Wan carrying Zakk to his room once the celebrations had died down.

Obi-Wan placed the boy in his bed and gently pulled the covers over him while Xanatos watched from the doorway. He placed a tender kiss on Zakk's forehead before backing away.

"You're a good father," Xanatos said out of the blue as they walked down the hallway back to the main living area. "I just...wanted you to know that."

Obi-Wan stopped walking and faced his father. In five months, he'd proven himself a kind and compassionate man; not the same one who drew his saber on his Jedi Master. He was gentle and playful with Zakk, caring and attentive towards Siri and accommodating to Obi-Wan himself.

Obi-Wan smiled. "So are you."

With that, he continued his journey down the hallway, never seeing the tears in his father's sapphire eyes.

/

"It was a good day today," Siri mumbled, on the edge of sleep.

Obi-Wan ran his fingers tenderly through her long blonde tresses. "Yes, it was. Zakk had a good time."

Siri pulled his hand and placed it on her gently-rounded belly and covered it with hers. "Next year, this little one will be here with us."

Obi-Wan grinned. "She's sleeping."

"He," Siri whispered. "We should sleep, my love. He'll be awake and kicking before we know it."

Cocooned in comfortable silence, the Kenobi family slept.