Ahsoka sat on the floor of the small Nubian cruiser, watching Anakin and Leia spar in the empty space in front of her. Lux sat beside her, his arm around her shoulders.
Both Anakin and Leia were using one of Ahsoka's lightsabers. They had been at it for what felt like hours, going back and forth while Anakin taught her how to wield a lightsaber and the force as one. Leia was a fast learner; she had no difficulty watching her father demonstrate a move and copying it almost exactly. Coordinating her moves with the force, however, was still a work in progress.
Anakin's attacks were far less powerful than Ahsoka remembered, but that was almost sixteen years ago, and he had been through quite a few physically stressful events since then. Almost immediately after he shifted his weight and made the first swing in each sequence, Ahsoka knew exactly where to block and where his vulnerable spots were for the rest of the moves of that particular combination. Some of them she'd learned from the Temple, but she attributed a good portion of her combat technique to her old master.
Leia would get there, eventually. Her first day training with Anakin was going much better than Ahsoka's first day.
She smiled at the memory and rested her head on Lux's shoulder.
"Do you know how much longer we have until we reach the fleet?" She asked. She hadn't been told exactly where the rendezvous point with the remaining rebels was, but she knew it wasn't near Naboo.
"No idea," he said. "Though if we were close, I suspect someone would come and get us."
She winced as Leia got tangled in her own feet and fell on the floor.
"Style and grace, or you'll fall on your face," Ahsoka said, remembering the line from an elementary acro training class at the Temple. "You have to be lighter on your feet or you'll keep tripping over yourself like that."
Leia rolled her eyes. "Easier said than done."
Anakin tossed Ahsoka lightsaber back and helped Leia to her feet. "I think that's enough for now. Nothing good happens when we're both tired."
She nodded and handed Ahsoka the other lightsaber. "I'm hungry. Do you want me to bring you any food?"
They all shook their heads, and Leia left to the bridge.
Anakin sat down in front of Ahsoka and Lux, leaning on the wall opposite of them. "You know, Snips, she's a lot like you were."
Ahsoka raised an eyebrow.
"I mean that she has this energy that comes out of nowhere and can channel it into her fighting very well."
"Why thank you, Master."
The door slid open, and Obi-Wan took a few steps inside. "May I join you?"
Anakin gestured to the empty space around them. "By all means, sit."
He sat in a chair by the door, and his serious demeanor melted. "If circumstances were different, we could've had one hell of a triple date."
They laughed.
Obi-Wan smiled. "I knew about Anakin, but Ahsoka was a surprise. I don't remember you being particularly interested in politicians, Ahsoka."
"I can make an exception for him." She looked up at Lux, and their eyes met for a brief second. "It's a good thing I'm not a Jedi anymore, so I don't have to hide it."
Anakin nodded. "Getting married was the best and worst decision of my life, but if I could go back, I would still do it. I'm glad you both are happy." He paused. "Obi-Wan and I... uh... have a proposition for you, Snips."
Ahsoka already knew what he was going to ask. "Nope, I'm not coming back to the Order, so don't waste your breath."
"Well, in case you didn't notice, the Order doesn't exactly exist anymore," Obi-Wan pointed out.
"So," Anakin continued, "we were thinking that we could rebuild it. All three of us. Together."
Ahsoka blinked. They had to be kidding. She left the Order because of the corruption, arrogance, and disrespect exhibited by members of the Council. It made no sense to rebuild an entity that was partially responsible for the way the galaxy was now. Not to mention she'd have to give up Lux, and Anakin would have to leave his family again. "You can't be serious." But she knew they were dead serious.
"We'd make changes, of course," Anakin said.
"Especially since we don't have an army to lead or a Senate to serve," Obi-Wan added. "We'd be our own private entity."
Ahsoka looked up at Lux, whose expression was frustratingly unreadable. Of course she wasn't going to do this unless he approved. "What do you think?" She asked.
"It's your decision, not mine."
They made eye contact for a moment, and Ahsoka could see where his mind was going. Reinstating the Jedi Order meant that Ahsoka would be away for months at a time for the rest of their lives. Ahsoka already knew he wanted to start a family, but he couldn't do it alone with all the limitations of his job. In Lux's mind, Ahsoka becoming a Jedi again meant giving up the possibility of them having a future together.
Regardless, she missed the way it felt to be a part of an ancient order much bigger than herself, but that was hardly a reason to sacrifice the life she'd built from the rubble the Jedi had left her all those years ago.
There would have to be some serious fine-tuning of rules if she was going to agree.
"You mentioned changes?"
"Yeah. I think the rules about attachment are stupid, so we can get rid of them," Anakin smirked at Obi-Wan, who just rolled his eyes.
"Now, Anakin, they have a purpose. Without attachments, it's impossible to jeopardize—"
"Yeah, yeah, got it. You're not going to change my mind about this one. For the love of the force, I have a wife and kids! There's no way I'm leaving them alone again, and my life has become so much richer because of them. Why deny everyone else the same opportunity?" He looked at Ahsoka and smiled. "And I fully expect to be Uncle Ani when you two have kids."
Ahsoka felt her face heat up, and she raised an eyebrow. "Only if they get to call Master Kenobi grandpa, of course."
Obi-Wan stood up. He was trying hard to keep his composure, but Ahsoka could feel his growing happiness. "Don't push your luck. I can easily crawl back to that hole on Tatooine for another ten years."
Lux shrugged. "We'll do family reunions there then."
They laughed, and the building tension in the room dissolved. Ahsoka didn't fully realize how much she missed her family until it was together again. Maybe there was a way to create a Jedi Order that would allow her avoid giving up everything she'd built since she left.
Ahsoka glanced back and forth between Anakin and Obi-Wan. "I don't know..." She came back to Onderon wanting to take a break from taking on mission after mission, but she let Lux talk her into a crazy plan that turned her reality upside down. Now, she had her family back and a lifelong handicap. Was this really a good idea?
"Don't lie to yourself," Lux said dryly, surprising her. "You tell me all the time that you miss being a Jedi, and here's the chance to have it all back. I don't need to be a force user to know you want in."
"But I can't do it without you, Lux. It's your decision, too."
"My decision is whatever makes you happiest." He kissed her cheek. "You know what I prefer, of course, but it's selfish of me to tell you no when I know how badly you wanted this. Whatever you choose, I'll be with you every step of the way."
Anakin reached fished in his pocket for a moment, and with a soft smile, he extended a hand to Ahsoka. In it were her silka beads signifying her rank as a Jedi Padawan.
Her heart stopped. "You still have those?"
"Call me sentimental, but yeah, I do. We're asking you back, Snips. Not the council, not the Order, not the Republic, just Obi-Wan and me. We can't do this without you. What do you say?"
She stared at beads in his hand. The moment she'd been fantasizing about for years was finally happening. She reached out her hand to take the beads, pausing first to slide her hand into Lux's and give it a gentle squeeze.
Her fingers closed around her beads, and she fastened them to the part of her headdress where they used to hang.
Anakin shook his head. "You don't need those anymore, other than for sentimental value, of course." He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome back the Order, General Tano, Jedi Knight."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this longer chapter! Leia is on her way to becoming a Jedi, and the Order has been officially reestablished. Though circumstances seem grim for our heroes, at least some things are going right.
I'm not sure when I'll have another chapter up. I'm going on a road trip this week, so I have a feeling it might be soon.
See you in the next update!