Owen shot across the desert and arrived at the farm before the suns set over the horizon. Whether it was the fear of Tusken Raiders, or the fear that Sol was about to give birth on his passenger seat, the Lars drove faster than he had ever before. His palms were indented with the ridges of the controls, and he was unaware of the fact that he would later check his engines with the dread from possibly burning them out. Nothing was more important than getting Sol to the farm, where Beru was waiting, and where Obi-wan would have hopefully arrived.
The speeder rushed to a stop and if Sol wasn't leaning back in the seat, she would have heaved forward. Her heavy breathing hadn't ceased, and she was getting to the point where her yelps and groans were filled with the base of a scream. It wouldn't be long until she would begin shouting in agony and letting the desert hear the extent of her pains.
The pressure on her pelvis caused it to ache, teamed with the splitting pain in her stomach was enough for Sol to want to let her Force signature show in all its pure glory. It was the only thing that she was concentrating on besides the urge to scream aloud, and if she were to let go, the feeling would be so much more bearable.
But even now, in the back of her mind, Sol was aware of the man who was the father of her children. She knew in her delirium that she had called out to him in the Force, but she believed that the connection she used to have with him was gone.
On Mustafar, when Sol watched Anakin and Obi-wan disappear down the river of lava, she had called out to him in the Force. She didn't receive a reply, and that didn't mean that he didn't hear her, but Sol told herself that their connection had gone when he had turned to the dark side. She didn't know the ways of the Sith, but being linked through the Force to the point of being able to speak in its realm, seemed like a light side aspect of the entity. But deep down, when Sol forgot about what Anakin had done, she yearned to have him hear her call. She wanted him by her side, because she knew she could get through it if her hand was in his.
'Quick! Get inside!'
Sol heard Beru's voice but was focusing on the fall of her sandals into the sand. Owen helped Sol out of the speeder and towards the stairs, where Beru stood glancing around at the surrounding desert. With whimpers, Sol descended down with Owen's arm around her back, and she was able to lift her head to see an absence of a particular animal beside the farm.
'W-Where's Obi? Where's Obi-wan?' she said, missing the sight of their Eopie. She didn't catch the look Owen and Beru exchanged behind her, but she was able to catch the concern in their signatures.
'Where is he?!'
She let out a groan as she made it to the floor of the complex. The countless stairs were painful, but when Beru rushed past to pull over a table on wheels, Sol saw that the end was in sight. Sol realised that they were in the workshop of the Lars farm, where Anakin showed his first signs of his deep hatred and uncontrollable rage. Sol couldn't help but link every place on Tatooine to how she first experienced it with Anakin. She assumed it was a form of nostalgia and a coping mechanism for being on such a desolate planet. The thought of Anakin and how he once was always made things better.
'H-He's not here yet,' Beru stammered while holding the table steady for Sol to lift up onto. 'But he should be here soon-'
'I'm not doing this without him!' Sol cried, looking through her stringy hair that had fallen in front of her face. 'I will not have these children without him here!'
Beru and Owen looked at each other in exasperation and slight frustration. They had assumed that Obi-wan would have turned up by now and that they wouldn't have to console the woman through her birth. They were just supposed to keep Sol breathing until the man showed up and he would be able to take over the act of hiding her Force signature.
They didn't know the first thing about the Force but judging by Sol's hysterics at not having Obi-wan present, they realised that she would be in deep danger if she was found by the Empire. They didn't know the extent of Darth Vader's power, nor the terror he brought. Neither of them had seen him in his new Sith way, but they knew what the Empire's army was like, and that was enough fear for the both of them.
'He'll be here! He'll be here, Sol!' Owen reassured her through his panic. 'Just, please, lie down!'
Sol was reluctant to lay back on the table. If she readied herself to give birth, she feared she wouldn't be able to stop the twins' arrival before Obi-wan arrived. With her strength failing in the Force, Sol laid back and let out a loud cry as the pain moved to centre of her stomach.
Beru moved around the table and gently lifted Sol's dress to look at her progress. Owen stayed near Sol's head, eyeing his wife who gulped at the sight underneath the linen. Beru straightened up and looked to her husband with her lip in between her teeth and her forehead creased with wrinkles.
'I fear we're minutes away,' she said, and Owen let out a quiet curse.
Sol stared at the ceiling. Her grip on the blanket that suffocated her white flame in the Force was slipping. Like it was being yanked from her hands, Sol felt the power she had diminishing as the pain in her stomach grew sharper.
With a grunt, more tears leaked from her eyes and Sol felt her signature creep through her hold. At last, the white ball of pure energy was revealed to the realm of the Force, and Sol was able to ease some of the pain.
With the new route for her power to rush to, Sol let out a shakey sigh. It didn't go unnoticed by Owen and Beru, who noticed how her head rolled around on the table and her purple eyes slid shut for a brief moment.They couldn't sense the release of her Force signature, but they saw the dulling of her tears and the ability to suppress her pained yelps.
'Sol? Sol, don't give up!' Beru called from the end of the table. 'You must hold on! You can't let him find you! Think of your children, Sol!'
But Sol couldn't hear her. She was so relieved from the easing of the pain that she couldn't think of anything worse than rerouting her energy to her Force signature. It was a small bliss in the agony, and Sol thought that she deserved some relief.
'I've got it! Don't worry, Sol, I've hidden you again!'
Beru and Owen sighed in great relief as Obi-wan Kenobi burst into the workshop. He had leapt off his Eopie and had dreaded to feel the white signature that oozed the light of the Force. He knew that he was late, but traveling on such a slow-moving animal was beyond his control. As soon as he felt Sol's signature when he arrived at the moisture farm, Obi-wan projected his power and made sure that the Force was unaware of Sol's presence once more.
But much to his dismay, for a few seconds, the Force was filled with the light and pain that Sol endured during her contractions. The galaxy was graced with her presence and all of those who were strong with the Force could feel her emotions, and were made aware that the light was still alive in the darkness.
'Oh, kriff, where have you been?!' Owen cried but he was ignored. Obi-wan stood beside the table and made the move to lay his hand on Sol's trembling one. His power covered the both of their signatures and at the feeling, Sol turned her head and couldn't help but smile at the sight of him.
'I'm sorry. I'm here, Sol. You're safe.'
'Thank you, Obi...'
Sol's body was hit with a particularly strong stabbing sensation, and she turned her face to the ceiling to let out another cry. Her eyes scrunched shut and Obi-wan squeezed her hand as her joints tensed beneath his fingers.
'I think we're ready,' Beru sounded and Obi-wan turned to the woman at the same time as her husband.
'Alright, Sol, you're going to need to put your knees up,' Beru instructed, and Sol did so willingly. 'Now do one long push!'
Obi-wan was amazed at Sol's strength to tense her lower half. She let out a muffled cry, before she relaxed. The man watched Beru grab what looked like a thin scarf that rested on the control panel against the wall before she looked back underneath Sol's dress. Obi-wan didn't want to think about what she was looking at, but he hoped that whatever was ricocheting through Sol's body would soon cease.
'Great! One more, Sol!' Beru urged, before an alarm rang out through the room. Three louds beeps sounded, and Obi-wan looked around the dimmly lit room in confusion. Beru looked to Owen from the end of the table and both the hummanoids wore panicked looks.
'What's that?' Obi-wan questioned from his place next to Sol. She continued to weep and whimper, unaware of the beeping that sounded throughout the workshop.
'It's like our doorbell,' Owen said and looked to the walkway that led to the stairs. 'Someone's here.'
'Oh, Maker,' Beru gasped.
Owen left the workshop in a hurry while saying he'll grab a weapon, which would most likely be a wrench or screwdriver. Beru called after him, but he was gone before she could finish. Another cry from Sol made Beru's attention turn back to the underside of the linen dress. She had to push aside her dread for who had turned up to the farm unannounced and focus on the situation at hand.
'Another push Sol! You can do it!' Beru said and Sol tensed again. The woman glanced towards Obi-wan, who looked evidentially worried.
'No one could have sensed her and arrived that quickly, right? That's impossible.'
'Only if they were already nearby. But I would have sensed them before. I don't understand...'
Obi-wan recognised the signatures but couldn't pinpoint them. There were two, and they were drawing closer. Obi-wan placed his freehand on his belt that was hidden underneath his beige poncho. He felt the cool metal of his lightsaber's handle and with one hand still gripping Sol's, he pulled it from its latch and held it by his side. If he had to defend Sol while she gave birth, Obi-wan would do all he could to ensure that the intruders were never able to lay a finger on her. If it happened to be Darth Vader, then he would finish what he should have done several months ago.
'I couldn't stop them. I'm sorry-'
Owen's voice was drowned out by a baby's cry. After another push from Sol, a great release was felt as her first child was brought into the workshop. Beru was forced to look away from the two intruders who rushed into the room and wrapped the screaming child in the thin scarf she held. Covered in thin blood and screaming something piercing, the baby fussed with flailing arms and had somehow become the attention of the room despite the appearance of two unexpected visitors.
Obi-wan wasn't able to lay his eyes on the child because he was too distracted by the intruders. He let go of Sol's hand and ignited his lightsaber, bathing the dark room in the hue of electric blue. As Owen slipped past the intruders and stood with his wife, who held the screaming baby in her arms, Obi-wan turned to face the two people who now stood in the workshop.
'Master Kenobi...'
He froze with his lightsaber held up and his eyes wide. He blocked Sol's face with his stance, and it made her unaware of who had made him halt in his attack. Obi-wan was shocked at the sight of the person who stood in front of him but held a sense of relief at the one who stood behind them. He knew now why their signatures were so familiar yet dulled, as they were hiding their presences in the Force just as he and Sol were.
'Ahsoka... Revan... you're here,' he gaped and was able to sheath his lightsaber through his shock.
While Revan remained the same, Ahsoka had changed so much. She was older with the montrals on top of her head sharper and more defined. Her lekku had grown down her shoulders and back, and the large eyes she once held had shrunken to a fox-eyed squint. The white details on her face had stretched with her growth, and much like Obi-wan, she wore a poncho over her utility belt that held two lightsabers.
Revan was the first to step towards Beru and Sol's first child. His eyes were wide, and his lips parted at the sight of the newborn. Unaware of his relation to the Jedi, Beru went to the other side of the table with the baby in her arms. She had glanced down at its wriggling form and allowed Sol to have a closer look, while now being able to see the man who stepped into sight from around Obi-wan's figure.
'Revan...' Sol whispered, the tears streaming into her hairline. 'You came..'
'I did...' he said while staring at the baby in a state of awe. 'We both came.'
Sol was about to question the 'we', when she turned to look at the baby in Beru's arms and lost all sense of reasonable confusion. She had never seen something so beautiful and perfectly formed. Beru angled herself to stand on the side and allowed Sol to look up at the whining child, and Sol felt nothing but love and compassion despite only just laying eyes on the newborn.
'It's a boy, Sol,' Beru informed, a smile wanting to pinch at her cheeks.
'Oh my...' Sol muttered and reached out to touch the boy's flailing foot. 'Luke. Little Luke...'
Another pain struck through Sol's body, and she was forced to look away from her Luke. Owen, who stood at the end of the table with Revan, looked panicked with one glance underneath Sol's dress making him pale to white. He looked up to Beru, who wordlessly moved back to her station and forced the baby into Revan's arms. She put a great deal of trust into the man she didn't know, and turned back to where another child was being born into the workshop.
'Yes, go on, Sol! Keep pushing!' Beru encouraged. Owen stepped to the side and resisted looking at what he would probably remember for the rest of his life.
As Sol let out another pain-filled cry, Revan shuffled away from the table with uneasy steps. The boy who had just been named Luke was squirming against his robes, and he looked up to the two other people in the room who were available to help.
Obi-wan and Ahsoka turned from their staring wars and took in their first sight of baby Luke. As he reattached his lightsaber to his belt, Obi-wan stepped forward with the Torgruta trailing behind. They gathered around the Shan who held Sol's child and were in awe at the plump cheeks and tiny fingers of the young human.
Obi-wan had never seen such a small person. With eyes yet to open and a mouth constantly moving with screams, the baby boy was a sight to behold by the Jedi Master. Of all the missions he had completed and of all the things he had seen in his time in the galaxy, Obi-wan knew that he was looking at one of the purest things to grace his eyes. There were few times where the bearded man had cried, and they had been short-lived, but this moment pushed him to the edge. Tears gathered along his waterline and Obi-wan had to wrinkle his nose in order to stop it from becoming a mess in front of the newborn.
Ahsoka beamed with sparkling irises. She had travelled far to reach Tatooine in time and she was so glad that she had made it. To see what Sol had worked at tirelessly to keep safe now living and screaming was a moment of admiration. Ahsoka didn't think that when she left the Order that the next time she would see Sol, would be on the table of a workshop with her stomach half-bulging. None the less, Ahsoka knew that the Force had made sure that she would arrive at the moisture farm as the twins were born, and she kept faith in the rebirth of its light.
Yet another cry bounced off the light walls and Sol felt the ultimate relief. A release from her pelvis put a stop to the agony at last and Sol lifted her head to see her second flailing child. There were short cries as Beru wrapped them in another scarf, but their screams ceased much quicker than the older twin. With scrunched eyes, the second baby was brought around the table to Sol's side and Beru beamed as she held forward the female child.
'Leia... oh... definitely Leia,' Sol whispered with her eyes on the quieter twin. She let her legs fall from their upright position and she was thankful that it was all over. With glazed eyes and a watery smile, Sol lifted a weak arm to touch the fingers of her Leia and never knew something could be as beautiful as her two children.
Exactly the same in looks but subdued in her screams, Leia was contained in the scarf without a struggle. Beru was able to hold the girl without the need to adjust her grip or to palm Leia off for someone else to console her.
Maybe it was the relief Sol felt after birthing two children consecutively, but Sol wanted to lay back and stare at the quiet twin for eternity. With her hairless head and scrunching fingers, Leia laid unbeknowing to her mother's day, and unaware of how much light she and her brother had now brought to the Force.
'You can rest now, Sol,' Obi-wan stepped to be beside the table again and Sol turned to look up at him. Her eyelids were drooping and as she looked over his shoulder towards Revan, who held a still sniffling Luke, and Ahsoka, Sol smiled at the return of almost everyone she held dear.
'Oh, Ani... if you only you were here...'