#laniverse

Hanna City, Chandrila, 5 ABY

He’s talking to the baby when Andrie enters their apartment, and she can’t help but smile. Luke speaks to their four-month-old daughter just as he would anyone else: his voice calm and steady, no high-pitched tones or nonsense babbling.

“When you’re older,” he tells the infant, “your mother and I will teach you the ways of the Force. Maybe by then we’ll have it figured out.” Little Lani gurgles and coos, her blue eyes (nearly the same shade as his) sparkling in the mid-afternoon sun. Luke brushes back her silky red hair and touches those same fingers to her cheek. “But we don’t expect you to be a great Jedi. All we want is for you to be happy, and safe, and loved. Never, ever doubt how much we love you.”

“Wise words, General Skywalker,” Andrie calls to them as she hangs up her cloak. “For once.”

A wave of his affection washes over her, warm and comforting—and tinged with amusement. “I’m not a general anymore, remember?” Luke reminds her. “Just a Jedi.”

“No such thing,” counters Andrie, striding into the sitting room and joining her husband and daughter by the window. “I’ve learned that pretty quickly.” She presses a kiss to his cheek, then holds out her arms as Luke passes Lani to her. “Your father acts modest,” she tells the baby now snuggled to her chest, “but then again, all truly great heroes do.”

Luke’s face remains composed, but Andrie catches the pink dusting his face. “And your mother,” he counters with slightly raised eyebrows, “should know.” His words have their intended affect: she’s blushing now too. But she isn’t annoyed. Such moments prove he knows her better than anyone else.

In reply, Lani burbles a tiny giggle, curling her fist. Her parents share delighted smiles, once again in awe that she’s theirs; then they turn their gazes to the window and the bustling skyline of Hanna City beyond it. “Is the ship ready?” Luke wonders.

“Mm-hmm. The final maintenance checks came back clean. We can leave tomorrow.” Shifting Lani’s weight, Andrie’s eyes track an air taxi as it speeds past. “It’s finally happening…I almost can’t believe it.”

Luke’s mechanical hand rests on her mid-back, its presence a grounding. “Are you afraid?”

“Are you?” she immediately returns.

“…Not exactly, no,” he slowly answers. “Concerned, maybe, that Ossus won’t be all that we hope. I’ve considered waiting a bit longer, until we’ve collected more Jedi knowledge, and Lani and Ben are old enough to start training…” He sets his jaw and stands straighter. “But I trust the Force, and this is where it’s leading us. It has to be now.”

“I trust the Force too,” Andrie assures him. “And I trust you. We’ll go to Ossus and build our temple. The rest will follow as it’s meant to.”

Luke laughs softly. “You’re starting to sound like me.”

“Like I said: you do occasionally speak wisdom.” Andrie looks down at her daughter’s crown of red hair, so much like her own, and then at Luke. “No, I’m not afraid,” she declares. “But I am sad to be leaving the rest of our family. Lani won’t see them very much outside of holocalls—at least not until Ben comes to us.”

A frown creases Luke’s brow, the hand on Andrie’s back rubbing small circles. “I know,” he admits. “I miss them already. But Han and Leia understand, Andrie. They have important work of their own. We all have a part to play now.”

She nods, gaze flicking toward the direction of the Solos’ apartment. The warmth of her baby rests like a heated stone against her, this wonderful child, who cannot fathom the extraordinary things she will someday learn…and maybe even do herself. “What will her part be?” Andrie murmurs, patting Lani’s bottom.

“Master Yoda once told me that the Force is always in motion. It can show us the past, the future…or what the future might be, depending on our choices.” Luke regards his wife and child tenderly. “But whoever she becomes, the Force will always be with her.”

“And our love,” Andrie says resolutely. “No one can take that away.” She leans into Luke’s side and he carefully wraps his arm around her and Lani, the infant cooing again at the closeness of her father. The little family bask in that moment, Luke and Andrie all too aware of what was sacrificed to make it possible. And with the rising of the sun tomorrow, they will relinquish the comforts of Chandrila and set off to the wilds of Ossus, there to resurrect the Jedi Order and pass on its lessons to a new generation. One that will include their daughter and nephew—Anakin Skywalker’s grandchildren, the promise he once held born anew.

The responsibility is daunting, but they have the Force. They have each other. They are ready.

“What time did Leia want us for dinner?” Andrie questions, and Luke glances at the wall chrono.

“1900 hours,” he replies after briefly ruminating. “So we have a while yet. I think our little tooka kit—“ He tickles Lani’s chubby foot and grins at her shrill giggle. “Could use a nap.”

“Would you please stop referring to our child as a furry animal?” Andrie groans in mock-exasperation. “I’d expect it from Han, but you…”

If ever she needed proof that the farmboy from Tatooine still lived deep within the Jedi Knight, she finds it in his mischievous blue eyes and lopsided shrug. “You don’t seem to mind all the names we have for each other.”

“That’s different.”

“Not by much.”

With a sigh, Andrie concedes Luke’s point and steps back from the window. “Come on,” she beckons. “Help me put her down and we’ll have some tea.”

Luke follows them to the back bedroom, grateful for the opportunity of a small respite. There won’t be much time for that on Ossus…but then, they knew that going in. He chose to learn the ways of the Force from Obi-wan and Yoda, and Andrie in turn has chosen to learn them from him. It’s been difficult, to put it mildly, especially after Lani’s birth. It’s about to become harder still. But they know in their hearts they’d do it all over again.

“She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he admits as he draws up beside Andrie at the door. “Besides you, of course.”

“Funny,” mutters Andrie as she punches the unlock on the keypad (she’s not quite adept enough to do so with the Force yet). “I’ve thought the same thing about you.”