EPILOGUE

The lake retreat was brimming with guests, all anxious to pay their good wishes to the proud parents on this day, the day when young Luke and Leia Skywalker would become officially welcomed into their families. The Welcoming had become a tradition in the Naberrie family many years earlier, and it was one that Padmé was thrilled to celebrate with her new family.

A touch of autumn was in the air, the forests surrounding the lake were tinged with gold and orange as the guests mingled and enjoyed themselves on the enormous terrace of the estate. Luke and Leia, who were now three months old, watched in amusement and wonder at the garlands of lights and flowers that bedecked the terrace and at the many interesting faces that surrounded them.

"She's getting so big," Obi-Wan commented as he and Anakin stood with him, holding Leia. She seemed fascinated by the smoothness of the leather tabard that Anakin wore, and ran her fingers over it repeatedly, commenting every so often on it.

"She is," Anakin agreed. "She's a real little spitfire this one," he added with a grin.

"Like her father then," Obi-Wan remarked with a smile.

Anakin laughed. "I suppose so," he replied. "And Luke seems calmer, like Padmé."

"They are equally gifted, though," Obi-Wan said. "I can notice their force sense already."

Anakin nodded. "My mother says they remind her a lot of me when I was a baby," he told him.

"I'm not surprised," Obi-Wan replied. "Qui-Gon had a feeling about you from the moment he met you," he remembered. "He would have been so proud of you, Anakin; to see you wear the Jedi robes at last."

"You know, this might sound crazy, but sometimes I think he's close by," Anakin told him. "As though in some way he is able to come back to this world."

"There are theories that say that such a thing is possible," Obi-Wan replied. "So you never know, Anakin. He may indeed be closer than you think."

Anakin nodded. "Maybe so," he replied, noticing that Leia was now starting to chew her father's tabard. "Looks like someone is hungry," he remarked with a smile. "Guess it's time to find Mom."

Anakin found Padmé inside, where she was nursing Luke in the privacy of one of the estate's many bedrooms.

"Hungry?" Padmé asked.

Anakin pointed to his now wet tabard. "I'd say so," he replied with a smile.

Padmé laughed as Anakin sat on the edge of the bed. "You want to burp?"

"Sure," Anakin replied, setting Leia down and taking Luke from Padmé. He put him over one shoulder and gently patted and rubbed to boy's back.

"You do that like a pro," Padmé commented as she picked up Leia and set her in the crook of her arm.

"Well, practice makes perfect," Anakin remarked. Luke soon let out a rather impressive burp. "Good boy," Anakin said, pulling him from his shoulder and laying him on the bed. Anakin lay beside him, face to face with his son. "I think he looks like me," he told Padmé "What do you think?"

Padmé nodded. "Most definitely," she said. "I will be chasing girls away from him when he's older."

Anakin grinned. "You think so?"

"If he's like his father, absolutely," she replied. "Ani, do you think the Jedi Council will let them get married if they want?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I like to think that they will eventually realize that having emotional attachments is not a bad thing for a Jedi. Look at me, were it not for the love I have for you and my mother I never would have made it out of the darkness."

"Yes, that's true," Padmé replied. "Hopefully one day they'll change their minds."

Anakin nodded, gazing at his son who was equally fascinated by his father's face. "What do you think, Luke?" he asked. "Are you going to shake things up one day like your old man?"

Luke smiled, and then let out a little coo of excitement as he waved his little hands at his father's face.

Anakin grinned, capturing one tiny hand in his. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

THE END