'I have barely even held them, and now you're asking me to choose who I want to part with?'
Obi-wan winced at the crack in Sol's voice. In the kitchen and dining space of the Lars' farm, there was a gathering of Jedi, a droid, and the moisture farmers who had been pulled into their chaos. Sol was sat with Leia wrapped in a bundle, while Luke was held by Beru. The two women were sat on the edges of the dining space benches and R2 stood in-between them with his extendable arm out of his front panel. He occupied himself by waving the silver arm around above Luke, who absently watched it move with his bright blue eyes. It bewildered R2 to see such a small human in the arms of another and was even more shaken to see the eyes of his old master in the newborn.
'If he has already threatened Padme, and that what she says is true, then it's too dangerous to have all three of you together,' Revan tried to reason, knowing that their request was beyond reasonable asking.
'But... they're so young,' Sol whispered as she looked down at Leia. The baby girl was enjoying a snooze and leaned her tiny head against her mother's chest. Sol's previous thought about not being able to part from the twins now that they had arrived hadn't strayed, but she was being told that it wasn't the reality.
R2's surprise arrival had been met with joy at first. Sol and Obi-wan grinned and put their hands on his domed head when his stabilising jets brought him down the many stairs into the complex. But the transmission he carried from Padme Amidala had erased any form of rejoicing from the two. While the room was silent, R2 projected the hologram of the Naboo senator, who was dressed in a dark purple gown, onto the kitchen floor.
'Vader suspects that I am behind the rebellion, and I assume that was his original objective when he arrived in my office,' Padme's hologram informed with her hands clasped in front of her. 'But then he demanded I tell him about your whereabouts. I feared he was about to unleash his rage, but something stopped him. He went into a trans-like state and before I knew it, he returned to his ship and left the planet before Captain Typho could come to my rescue. I think he must have felt something in the Force. I don't know about your Jedi abilities, but I think he may have sensed your presence, Sol, and perhaps the children's, as well.
If you receive this, I hope that you are okay, and that if the twins have arrived, that they are healthy and full of all the good that you and Anakin have.
Please, don't underestimate Vader. He's changed, well beyond what I had thought. I pray to the high heavens that you are all safe and that he never finds you.
Don't give up, Sol. The Empire is flawed, and I believe there is still good just waiting to prevail.'
Sol noticed the stiff posture of the senator and the formal language she used that was reserved for politics. They had been a part for so long that Padme had slipped back into addressing Sol with formalities and seriousness. Sol remembered how Padme used to treat her as a refuge to act herself and be the free-willed woman that she was besides being a Galactic senator. It saddened Sol to see Padme serious and somewhat frightened from her encounter, but it brought an urgency to the farm that may have gone amiss if her transmission had been any different.
Darth Vader had sensed Sol and the twins. He had sensed them from the few seconds where Sol had lost the ability to suppress their signatures without the help of Obi-wan's power. Even from Naboo, where Vader had gone to interrogate Padme, he had sensed their presence on Tatooine. Whether it was enough time for him to locate where their flames were coming from, Sol didn't know, but he must have been intrigued by the two extra Force signatures that simmered next to hers.
From the transmission, Ahsoka and Revan brought forward the discussion that had been brewing since their arrival. They had travelled to Tatooine not only to see the children, but to inform Sol and Obi-wan of how they could continue hiding for Darth Vader. It was first met with astoundment, and Sol wanted to burst into tears at hearing of what she would need to do to ensure Luke and Leia's safety.
'Obi-wan,' Sol said after some time of silence. She looked across the kitchen to the man who stood with a hand to his beard and his free arm bent to support his opposing elbow. He hadn't said much since R2's display of Padme's transmission, and Sol knew that it was from hearing that Vader was aware of their presence in the galaxy.
'Please... give some sense to this barbaric suggestion,' she pleaded, gripping Leia that little bit tighter as she spoke. Obi-wan looked at her with stormy eyes. From one stare, Sol knew that Obi-wan would be useless for her cause.
'It's what I had feared from the very beginning,' he started. 'With my power combined with your replenishing strength, we are covering our signatures for now. But this one slip up has already alerted him more than we would have liked.
I... I have to agree with Revan and Ahsoka. Having you three together is too identifiable in the Force. Vader is strong, and he'll now be looking for the three signatures that are so unbelievably light that the Emperor might even be aware of Luke and Leia's existence.'
The Emperor. How Sol dreaded to hear that man's title. The man who had clung to her nerves and worries ever since their meeting during the Republic, and had festered his way into her life. Emperor Palpatine was the man behind Vader, the Sith who plagued the man Sol loved. He had turned the father of Sol's children against everything they stood for, and Sol couldn't think of a person that she despised more than the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. The very fear and dread that sat in Sol and Obi-wan's stomachs was for the Emperor, which had transcended onto Vader because of what he had created out of a lost, young Jedi who was failed by the Order.
'I can't believe this...' Sol said, looking from Obi-wan, to Ahsoka, and to Revan. 'How could I choose to part with them? With either of them?! You might as well drive a knife through my heart while you're at it!'
'Sol, please, we only want you to be safe,' Ahsoka stepped forward, her eyes glazed with a worry for the vulnerable mother. 'If the times were different, we would never think of asking you this. But there have been Sith who were taken from their parents as children and grew into some of the most destructive people in history. Don't make this a story that works in the favour of the dark side.'
Ahsoka had become so wise. If she hadn't been asking the impossible, Sol would have teased her about how much she had changed since leaving the Order. If only Anakin could see what his Padawan had become because of the Order's betrayal. Sol thought that he would have been proud of the one he used to called Snips.
Leia yawned and her puffy eyes peeled open. Sol's lips wobbled as she saw her baby girl wake and stare at her with the shade of eyes lighter than her own. Barely even knowing who her mother was yet, Leia lay quietly in Sol's arms. Sol looked over to Luke, who watched R2's moving arm intently while letting out mindless gurgles. They had become her everything in 24 hours, and she was about to do what a mother shouldn't never have to do; choose.
Like her heart was being pulled in two, Sol looked at the way Beru stared down at Luke. She remembered Beru's wise words about being a woman and about having the chance to create life was something to take advantage of. Sol had never asked her to elaborate, as it wasn't difficult to assume her meaning. And at the way the small faced woman stared down at baby Luke, Sol knew that any child under the care of the Lars couple, would live a good life.
'Beru...' Sol called out through the ball forming in her throat. The woman looked up from Luke, the smile still lingering on her young face.
'You would be an amazing mother...'
---
'That was an extremely difficult thing to do, Sol. You're incredibly strong.'
Sol didn't feel strong. The only thing that kept Sol from dropping into the sand and laying in its shifting hold was the singular baby she held in her arms. Ahsoka's attempt to give Sol some solitude after making such a difficult decision was heard but did nothing to soothe the pressure on Sol's chest.
Ahsoka and Revan's ships were parked beside Obi-wan's Eopie. The departing Jedi offered to give Sol and Obi-wan a lift to their home in the Wastelands, but Sol couldn't show her gratitude after declining the offer.
She arrived at the moisture farm carrying two children, but she was leaving with only one. It didn't feel right to leave a baby behind even though Sol didn't question the parenting and care that Beru and Owen Lars would provide. It was the act of having chose which child to leave that ruined Sol, and with one bundle in her arms, she silently walked with Ahsoka towards her ship with an absent mind.
'We'll be back when we're able to analyse Luke and Leia's presence in the Force,' Ahsoka said after not receiving a reply from her friend. 'But I'm sure you and Master Obi-wan will do just fine with theirs' and your protection. I don't doubt it for a second.'
'Then why am I leaving Luke behind?'
Ahsoka stopped and looked over her shoulder at the mother who had stopped in her slow walk. Biting her lip, the Torgruta put her hands behind her back and walked back to stand with Sol. She saw a resistance to see the truth in Sol's face as she stood staring at Ahsoka.
At being in the desert heat for the first time, Leia groaned and shifted in Sol's arms. This made her mother glance down and rush to cover the baby girl's exposed face with the end of the blanket, and it gave Ahsoka a moment to craft her reply.
'Sol, you and I know what Anakin can do,' she said, and Sol looked back up with a fearful look. 'What the Emperor can do. You have been blessed with a light that has been passed on to your children, and now you must preserve it. I'm sure that Satele has told you this already.'
Ahsoka was right, and Sol knew that it was impossible to ignore. It made her want to laugh at how Ahsoka was in the place that she had once been in instead. On Ahch-To, Sol remembered when she advocated for Anakin to take Ahsoka onto his ship. She acted as a negotiator, and now, Ahsoka was enlightening Sol to a truth that was painful yet unavoidable.
'You sound like Master Yoda...'
Ahsoka chuckled lightly before glancing down to Leia in Sol's arms. No one doubted that Owen and Beru Lars would be able to take care of Luke just as anyone else would, but of course, Ahsoka didn't expect any less of a reaction from his own mother. Sol would be close to Luke while in the Wastelands and would be far enough away for their signatures to be protected separately, but would also be far enough for Sol to feel like she was failing as mother. Leia would be with her always, but Luke would be across a desert. It didn't feel right to have twins, yet one had the priviledge to be with their mother, while the other would be with their Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.
'What will their names be?' Ahsoka decided to ask, and Sol turned to her with a confused look. 'Their last names, I mean?'
'Skywalker, of course.'
'Are you sure? That could be dangerous-'
'The Empire is under the impression that all the Jedi were wiped out. I can't imagine that they'll listen for the name of some dead Jedi from the Republic.'
Ahsoka sounded an exhale through her nose. She eyed Sol, who appeared unmoving to her previous statement. Anakin wasn't just some Jedi and Ahsoka knew that Sol was aware of that. But perhaps it was Sol's way of keeping the memory of Luke and Leia's father alive. If they were going to live their lives under the impression that their father was no longer around, then they could at least have his last name that used to be a sign of the Republic's rule of democracy.
'And you?' Ahsoka asked again. 'What will you go by?'
Sol bit her lip. Now that the twins were born and her strength would soon come back to her, Sol would have to begin living a normal life of Tatooine. She would have to venture to nearby towns and be approached by storm troopers that would unavoidably be looking for her. She would need a name that would go by unnoticed. Sol also couldn't be selfish and force Leia to go by the name of Leia Skywalker with her purple eyes and dark brown hair. Sol and Leia were too identifiable, and if they were going to continue to hide from the Empire, then something had to change.
'Do you think Satele would be objective at using her name?' Sol asked with slight hesitancy. 'Anakin never heard about her. And coloured eye lenses aren't too hard to come by.'
'It's up to you. I think Revan would be glad to hear it.'
The corner of Sol's lips hitched up in a small smile. A simple Jedi mind-trick could help with Leia's eye colour while she was too young for lenses, but Sol knew that she had already scolded Obi-wan for attempting to slip Imperial credits as a valid currency. She would have to think of something at a later date, but with all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, Sol just wanted to go home and rest.
'Where will you go?' Sol glanced towards the ships that Ahsoka and Revan had arrived in. 'Will you see Padme?'
'I may do. If it's true that Vader suspects that she's a rebel leader, we may have to figure out some relocation for a base. The rebellion is still new, so at least it can be rearranged easily.'
'I should have guessed you would have been with the rebellion,' Sol's words were weaved with a laugh. 'You were never one for rules.'
'Only from the influence of you and my Master. You two had an entire relationship while in the Order, and you expected me to turn out law-abiding? It's like you don't know me at all.'
Sol actually laughed. It was the first time since arriving on Tatooine that Sol had let out more than just a scoff. Even at the mention of Anakin, Sol didn't feel an ache in her chest at the talk of how he was before Darth Vader. It seemed that after giving birth, Sol felt like things were looking up and that she could make something good out of the situation. She could watch her children grow up away from the Empire and with Tatooine being on Outer-Rim, they could go their whole lives without seeing a star destroyer.
'You ready to go?' Revan appeared from the moisture farm with Obi-wan in tow. Ahsoka and Sol turned to see that Obi-wan was holding Luke in his arms, and that the two appeared to be in high spirits.
As Revan joined Ahsoka, Obi-wan stopped beside Sol. She looked down at Luke, who had been coerced into a sleep and laid comfortably in his blanket. Obi-wan made the movement to cover his face just as Sol had done from the two suns, and it made Sol look up to the man who had stood by her through everything. She believed that Obi-wan had to have been some angel that was sent to help her, and he had been relentless in his desire to make sure that her children and her were safe. She was eternally grateful for Obi-wan, and when he looked down at Luke with the softest of smiles, she knew that he would be just as protective of him as he was of her.
'We'll keep in touch,' Revan said, making Sol and Obi-wan look up to the two rebels. 'Padme will want to hear from you. If we can figure out a secure channel to communicate on, we'll send a transmission through.'
'Or I'll make the trip!'
The beeps of R2 made the group turn to the droid who had taken his time up the stairs from the complex. His wheels trailed through the sand to stop between Sol and Revan. At his exclamation, Sol and Obi-wan beamed down at the droid who somehow always made his way into the centre of all the attention.
'Artoo's right,' Obi-wan said. 'If all else fails us, he can make the runs from the core to the Outer-Rim. It'll be a slow transmission, but it'll be effective.'
After the ex-Jedi all laughed, Revan and Ahsoka bid their goodbyes. With R2, the members of the rebellion turned to head towards their respected ships. R2 went with Ahsoka into her significantly larger ship, while Revan headed to his x-wing. Obi-wan and Sol watched as the ships powered up before they lifted into the air, sending sand flying into their faces. They squinted and made sure to protect Luke and Leia, whose blankets whipped from the winds.
Ahsoka and Revan left Tatooine towards the core, where they would attempt to make contact with Padme. They would give the information about Sol's birth before planning to relocate to avoid another confrontation from Darth Vader. But that was all worlds away from Sol and Obi-wan, who would now spend their time protecting Luke and Leia from the Empire.
'I think we should invest in a speeder,' Obi-wan said out of the blue, and Sol looked from where the ships disappeared to the man beside her. He was looking over his shoulder at the grey speeder of the Lars family, and Sol looked at their Eopie who stood next to it.
'You think?'
'I do. The Eopie's too slow. Besides, a people carrier is much more efficient for a small family.'