'Ani, you can't keep just keep disarming me!'
'Your weapon is gone so the dual is over, right? I win!'
Sol resisted the urge to roll her eyes and sound a loud groan. Standing in the sparring circle with Anakin's blade to her throat, Sol motioned for the young man to sheath his lightsaber. She only needed to jerk her chin in an upwards jolt for Anakin to step away and press the button in the silver handle. The grin that once graced Anakin's tanned face shrunk as Sol headed for her lightsaber that had been thrown into the corner of the room. Underneath the window that displayed Coruscant's city, Sol crouched beside the silver cannister and snatched it into her hand with a sigh.
As she turned around and straightened from her crouched position, Anakin stood with his lightsaber in both hands. But at the half-lidded purple eyes that burned into his, Anakin couldn't help but shuffle his feet to be closer together, and his gaze shifted between the floor and back up to Sol. He didn't want to disappoint her, but his fighting style was so deeply rooted in his training that Anakin couldn't help but resort to his usual habits.
'Look,' Sol addressed Anakin from her place next to the window. 'This isn't about winning. I'm trying to teach you to use the Force more than you use your saber. Forget about disarming me.'
'Right...'
For once, Anakin was actually listening to Sol. All the past attempts to teach Anakin had ended in him storming off or challenging Sol every time she tried to give feedback. But now, they were Jedi Knights. They had been promoted from their Padawan status and Anakin believed that he had an image to uphold. He wanted to be better, and after losing his arm against Count Dooku, Anakin had to learn how to be swift and agile while using a bionic limb.
'We'll try something else,' Sol's voice made Anakin's head lift from his gloved hand. He was still getting used to it and the black glove that covered its metal joints made it easier for him to act as if it were still his flesh.
'Close your eyes.'
'You've got to be kidding me-'
'Don't complain. Just do it.'
Anakin wanted to argue. His blue eyes hardened at Sol's deadpan face that remained unmoving. But for the sake of improving his skills, Anakin exhaled loudly through his nostrils to rid his growing burn to refuse her request. With a shake of his head, Anakin closed his eyes just as Sol had instructed. He felt vulnerable in front of the woman who he had put almost all of his trust into as of recent, and with his lightsaber in his grip, Anakin didn't want to make a full of himself in front of her.
'Can you see my signature?' he heard Sol's voice. It had moved from where he had last seen Sol and was now coming from his right.
'Are you circling me-'
'Can you see it or not, Ani?'
'Yes, I can.'
Sol scoffed. She knew he was just talking to fill the silence. The sparring room was large without spectators that were usually comprised of Jedi Masters and Padawans, so every break in conversation was deafening.
As Sol lightened her footsteps against the tiles, she made it around Anakin and stopped on his left. She stared at his side profile and shamelessly took advantage of the fact that his eyes were closed.
'I want you to follow me around the room. In the Force, I want you to feel my presence and work out my strengths and weaknesses.'
While Sol listed off her demands, she studied Anakin. Without his Padawan braid and ponytail, his light brown hair was still short. It allowed Sol to see his sharp cheekbones and the way his jawline angled into an angled L-shape. His eyelashes fanned upwards, and Sol couldn't believe that a man could have such an elegant curl to accompany his clear, blue eyes. She was almost disappointed at not being able to see his eyes, but if she wanted to be sneaky about her admiration, Sol could live with imagining their intense effect.
'I see you.'
Sol jumped and felt a deep panic settle into her stomach. She was caught staring at the man who she was meant to be teaching in secret from the Order.
Before she could stop it, a deep blush settled onto her cheeks and Sol prayed that it wasn't as red as she felt it was. But when Sol looked through her embarrassment, Sol didn't see the blue irises that she had imagined among his full lashes. Anakin was yet to open his eyes despite claiming to have seen Sol. He remained in the middle of the room with his hands by his sides and his expression relaxed from being immersed in the Force.
Sol's shoulders sagged and she let out a silent sigh. With a hand to her chest, she threw her head back in relief and eased the blush from her cheeks. She was safe from the embarrassment of being caught by Anakin and had avoided a world full of teasing for another day.
'You're so...' Anakin spoke again, and Sol was taken with the smoothness and delicacy of his voice. 'Pure. You're beautiful, Solaris.'
Anakin's eyes appeared blazing with adoration. From what Sol had imagined in their absence was put to shame by the blue that she only saw in the skies of Naboo and in the kyber crystal of a blue lightsaber. Sol was unmoving as Anakin looked at her and when the shy smile grew onto his lips, Sol had to stop herself from becoming a giggling mess.
'You're not concentrating,' Sol said, forcing her hands behind her back to hide her fidgeting fingers.
'I am concentrating. How can I not focus on your signature when it's like looking into a burning star?'
Sol didn't know what to do. The way Anakin looked at her from the centre of the room made her want to melt into a puddle of flesh on the floor. He had immersed himself in the Force to the point of being overwhelmed by Sol's white signature, and when he opened his eyes, it was like Anakin was seeing Sol for the first time. The window behind her made the sunlight of the city glow around her, and her beige robes lightened to appear white against her pale skin. Her brown hair appeared to have silver threads throughout its maroon mass, and her eyes brightened to the most alluring shade of violet.
Under Anakin's narrowed stare, Sol couldn't bare to fidget any longer. She busied her fingers by grabbing her lightsaber and igniting its blade, making Anakin's eyes shift to its cyan colour. He almost jumped in surprise and Anakin fumbled with his own weapon. He had allowed himself to be caught off-guard and Sol was about to notice how unprepared and distracted he was by her new ethereal beauty.
'Ready?' Sol asked, forcing her lips to remain in a straight line. Anakin blinked and nodded unsurely, before he ignited his own blade. Before it was able to form, Sol ran at him with the Force propelling her speed and Anakin stepped backwards in panic.
'W-Wait, wait, wait!'
---
'Mummy, my eyes hurt!'
'I know, Leia, mine do too.'
'Why do we have to wear these contacts and Luke doesn't?!'
'Because Luke doesn't have the beautiful eyes that we do.'
Lie. It was one of the biggest lies Sol had ever told. Every time she looked into Luke's eyes; she was put into a state of bliss. The swirls of blue that were rimmed with an even deeper blue were an exact copy of Luke and Leia's father's eyes. While Leia had been plagued with the eyes of the galaxy's most wanted Jedi, Luke had no issue with showing off his bright irises to everyone who would care to look.
Sol glanced at the passenger seat of the speeder and caught Leia rubbing her eye with the back of her hand. With one hand still on the controls, Sol reached over and took hold of the girl's small wrist and pulled it away from her face.
'Stop, you'll only worsen it,' Sol scolded, before needing to put both hands on the controls. 'I know they hurt, baby, but it's only while we're in the city. You can take them out on the way home, okay?'
'Hmphf.'
Sol knew without looking that Leia's arms were crossed over her chest and her bottom lip had appeared in a pout. With one bloodshot eye, young Leia slumped in the passenger seat and stared at the dashboard as the only thing she could see at her height. The brown eyes that were meant to be purple were irritated and reddened, but it was insisted by her mother that she wear lenses whenever they ventured to Mos Eisley. The only thing that quietened the difficult girl was her mother's haunting words.
'Your eye colour is special, and we have to protect them otherwise someone might steal them.'
It scared Leia enough to keep the lenses over her eyeballs and it helped that Sol never failed to cover her own eyes with the brown lenses, making Leia feel less excluded. But it didn't help that her brother walked around irritation-free with his bright blue eyes, but much to Sol's relief, Leia was the most level-headed out of the two.
Pulling the speeder to a slow stop, Sol dreaded the moment the wind would die from its rush over the windshield. The suns were harsh and not having a convertible made the rushing winds while driving the only relief. Even on an Outer-Rim planet, Sol still couldn't find herself investing in a speeder with a roof. But at least the sun-bleached vehicle wasn't bright yellow like her last one.
'Luke!' Sol called out to the moisture farm. Her call came out in a singsong tone and Leia repeated it. Sol looked down at Leia with a shining smile and Leia returned it almost to in its entirety minus the one missing tooth in Leia's front row.
'Coming, Mum!'
From the Lars moisture farm that hadn't changed in its time of operation, emerged a blonde young Luke. In light robes wrapped at the waist and with white boots, the five-year-old boy ran from the stairs of the lowered dome and headed to Leia's side of the speeder. While his twin helped him over the side, Beru Lars appeared from the complex and headed to the driver's seat.
'How are you, Luke?' Sol asked once he settled into the seat with Leia.
'Good, Mum! Where's Uncle Obi?' the boy asked in a hopeful tone with his head looking over his shoulder to the backseat.
'He's working today because he didn't want to see your ugly mug!'
'Leia!'
'Don't say that about your brother,' Beru piped up after Sol once she reached the speeder. 'Remember that he's your twin and you have the same face.'
Leia's jaw dropped in offence and Luke burst out into laughter. While the twins started a harmless shoving war, Sol turned to Beru in a squint from the suns' glare. The Lars' fine lines had appeared in the five years that had passed, and it showed the life she had spent in the harsh suns of Tatooine. While Sol had barely gained a wrinkle after spending most of her time in the shade and was fortunate to have spent most of her life on a planet where the sunlight was dulled. If she were to remove her brown lenses, Sol would appear like the day she arrived on Tatooine, but with a happier glow to her face.
'I need to get a new part for the boiler,' Sol informed Beru. 'Any suggestions on the best place where I won't get scammed?'
'Try Molynaz's. It's near the scrap metal place. They'll give you a half-decent price,' Beru said, before glancing at the twins in the passenger seat. 'Be careful. The storm troopers are out again. Don't let them wander.'
'I won't. Thanks, Beru,' Sol tried to smile, but she was worried.
The fear of the Empire hadn't faded in the five years of its reign, and although she was able to go into the cities without being detected, Sol never lowered her guard. While Luke and Leia questioned why they could never stay in Mos Eisley to play with the other kids, Sol would die before she gave in to letting them run rampantly.
'Say goodbye to Aunt Beru, kids,' Sol started up the engine again and Luke and Leia beamed at the woman in the sand.
'Bye, Aunt Beru!'
'Bye, kids! Stay safe!'
Sol pulled the speeder away from the farm and headed in the direction of the city. The wind pushed her hair back and it entangled behind her in its mass of dead ends. She had been forced to hack at the locks with a rusted knife, making its shine dullen past her shoulders. It was always in a braid that she tried to wrap in a bun, but it was too much hair to bunch together. Sol had resorted to letting it fall down her back in a scruffy braid, but even then, it was getting heavy, and Sol longed to cut it off and start fresh.
'I might get my hair cut, today,' she pondered aloud. Over the rush of the wind and the sound of the speeder's engine, Luke and Leia looked up to their mother in surprise.
'Really?' Luke questioned, seeing the braid whipping behind the woman. 'You have never cut your hair.'
'Yeah, is it because it's all knotted?' Leia asked and Sol wanted to laugh at her daughter's lack of filter.
'Yes, Leia, it's because it's all knotted. But we need to get this boiler part first-'
'There's a hair place before Molynaz's,' Leia cut her mother off. 'You should go there. I've seen them cut Uncle Obi's hair before. I'm sure they could handle yours.'
'Alright, thank you, Leia.'
'That's okay, Mum.'
Sol rolled her eyes with a dumb smile. Luke went to mock his twin about her abrupt nature while Sol thought about the man that Leia inherited her personality from. The dream that Sol had the previous night was telling of how her daughter had gotten her unfiltered wit and unapologetic attitude. It was a blessing for Sol to have a dream, and even more of a moment for it to be about Anakin. They didn't come frequently, but when they did, Sol woke up happier and fresher for the day.
It didn't take long for Obi-wan to notice the changes in Sol when these dreams occurred. Even if her signature was being shielded constantly, he could still sense the happiness in the woman when she awoke in the mornings. Sol gave in to talking about her dreams with Obi-wan and just like he had always been, he was understanding of her tellings. He knew that she was holding on to the memories she had with Anakin, and the Kenobi wished he could somehow do the same. But unlike Sol, whenever he pictured the man he had considered his brother, he saw the fire that consumed him and saw the yellow eyes that were ringed with red.
While Luke and Leia grew, Sol and Obi-wan made sure to keep the twins close despite their distance between one another. Leia visited Luke every other day by either Sol or Obi-wan taking her in the family speeder, and the two were as close of twins as if they lived together like normal siblings. Luke grew up knowing that Owen and Beru were only his uncle and aunty but had questioned once or twice why he lived with them and not with his mother. It was a difficult question to answer, and Owen had resorted to saying it was because they needed help on the farm.
'We need a big strong man to help us do some work around here,' he would say, and Luke would grin.
'Hey! I'm just as strong as he is!' Leia would butt in.
Sol was grateful that they were still young and didn't question things too much. But when they inevitably aged, she was sure that the questions would get harder, and the answers would have to be more complex. Especially when they started asking who their father was, and Sol wasn't sure if she would ever tell them the truth.
Their father was still leading the Galactic Empire. From what Sol and Obi-wan had heard from Ahsoka, Darth Vader had continued to search for the light Force signatures he had sensed all those years ago. Ahsoka and Revan continued their fight with the rebellion, and Padme continued her leadership of its growing forces. The last Obi-wan and Sol heard from the Naboo senator, was that she resided on Hoth in the base that Sol had installed with the 336th legion while with the Order. It was now the new rebel base.
'It's mighty cold and I'm sure that I smell. But at least we're hidden, and that's all that matters,' Padme's transmission would say and Sol would laugh humourlessly.
'Who's that, Mum?' Leia would ask with wide eyes on the hologram of the beautiful woman.
'That's your Aunt Padme.'
'She's gorgeous.'
Ahsoka visited every year for the twins' birthday. She would appear with gifts spilling from her arms and Luke and Leia would jump up to cling to her waist. The Torgruta would walk as if they weren't weighing her down and would ensure to be life of the party when her favourite niece and nephew grew another year older.
Unfortunately, Revan had not returned since the twins' first birthday. When Sol asked Ahsoka about his absence, she said that he had been growing distant from the rebellion. Whether it was his return to his home planet of Concordia that had altered his priorities, Revan had made little effort to see his cousin on Tatooine. Sol tried not to take it to heart, as Revan had done a great deal for her in the Jedi Order and after its fall. Perhaps he was choosing to start his own life on Concordia, but Sol would appreciate a check-in at least once a year.
But life had been smooth for Sol. The twins grew up only knowing Tatooine and Obi-wan was still working at the Sand Whale harvesting plant. He made a good wage with the job and Sol was happy to take care of Leia and Luke when Owen and Beru were busy. Sol, of course, wished that things were different, and sometimes daydreamed about Luke and Leia playing with their father; the man who they each resembled in their own way. But in the five years she spent on Tatooine, she grew used to the quiet life as a single mother. There were no Jedi rules and the watch of the Empire was far from her doorstep.
Sol was happy, but she dreamt of being her happiest with Anakin and their children.