#lionobi

Checking one last time to make sure Luke and Leia weren’t disturbed by the noise, Anakin (reluctantly) left the nursery and strode down the hallway towards the cacophony.

He found his friends - although strangely, Fives was absent - gathered around the counter in the kitchen, all looking at something Lionel was holding in their hand.

“What are you all laughing at?”

The room went dead silent the second Anakin spoke, Lionel, Ahsoka, and Echo all freezing in place like they’d been miraculously turned to stone. Then Lionel cleared their throat.

“Nothin’,” they said, “just, uh, tellin’ a funny story. You know I have plenty of those!”

“Uh huh?” Anakin asked disbelievingly, “and it has nothing to do with whatever you’re hiding behind your back?”

Lionel’s eyes widened slightly, but they quickly returned to their cavalier expression. They opened their mouth to answer, but at that moment, Fives appeared from the opposite side of the kitchen with Tup just behind him.

“You have to hear this, Tuppie,” he was saying, “it might be the funniest thing I’ve learned about the general since Nel told us how he got his scar-”

He abruptly clamped his mouth shut when he saw that Anakin was standing there with his arms folded over his chest.

“Erm…” he muttered.

“No, go on,” Anakin encouraged sarcastically, “one of you has to tell me what you’ve found out that’s so funny.”

“Nothing!” Lionel repeated, “honestly, nothing! Just go back to fawning over the twins, you know you want to.”

Anakin eyed them suspiciously for a moment longer before slowly turning back to the nursery, deciding to just let them continue making fun of him - if that’s what was going on - for whatever reason they were doing so.

“Maybe you could wax poetic to them about how their eyes are as alluring as the midnight sky.” Lionel added, and Anakin whipped back around so fast it was a wonder he didn’t snap his neck.

“Nelli!” Ahsoka squeaked quietly, almost pleadingly, hitting Lionel’s shoulder with one hand while the other was clasped over her mouth. Echo and Fives were doing the same, Echo evidently biting his lips hard enough they started to turn red, and even Lionel seemed to be struggling not to laugh, their eyes dancing even as they continued to look Anakin in the face. Only Tup seemed confused, shooting Fives a few nervous glances like he wanted to ask what was going on but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

“What did you say?” Anakin demanded, striding up to Lionel so they were practically nose-to-nose.

Lionel shrugged nonchalantly, although their mouth wavered from a line into a cheeky smile for just a fraction of a second as they fought to keep a straight face.

“Oh, nothing,” they murmured, “I was just, uh… struggling to find the vernacular to express my deepest emotion.”

Fives put his head down on the counter, slamming his fist into it repeatedly as his whole body shuddered with the effort it took to hold back his laughter. Echo looked about ready to shove his mechanical hand in his mouth and bite down on it, and Ahsoka was now attempting to cover her whole face with one hand while the other gripped Lionel’s arm so hard her fingernails left little imprints on their skin.

“Where are you getting those quotes from?” Anakin asked, staring directly into Lionel’s eyes as they somehow managed to keep the stoneface act up a little longer.

“Quotes?” They echoed, and now it was clear that they were trying to wind him up - and enjoying it far too much, “who says I’m not coming up with them on my own?”

“I do,” Anakin said sternly, “because I remember writing them down six months ago.”

“You remember, do you?” Lionel responded cockily, “I guess that doesn’t surprise me, considering you spend every second you’re together with your one true love committing every detail of her face to memory forever, and shall you ever forget, you would surely perish from the devastation and despair.”

“Now you’re just bullying me,” Anakin grumbled dryly as Ahsoka practically crumpled against Lionel’s shoulder, and Echo started inaudibly begging under his breath, “where did you find my love letters to Padmé?”

“Find? She hung it on the fridge!” Lionel objected, “with one of them little heart-shaped magnets. Clearly she wanted it to be seen!”

Up until that moment, Anakin hadn’t felt embarrassed, but now he felt his face starting to turn red at the prospect of Padmé proudly displaying his love letters to her. Did she adore them so much that she was decorating the lakehouse with them? Had she always wanted to do that, but refrained because their marriage being a secret wouldn’t allow it?

“So why did you read it?” Anakin asked through gritted teeth, still trying to look as furious as possible.

“Have you never been bored?” Lionel shot back, “oh wait, I forgot - not a single second passes in her company that isn’t heart-racingly exciting, even if all that happens is laying in her arms with her hands in your hair.”

Fives suddenly grabbed Tup by the wrist and dragged him into the living room, with Ahsoka and Echo following just behind. The door closed, but Anakin still heard them all erupt in laughter so loud it made the walls tremble.

Lionel bit their lip, a finally allowing a smirk to curl the corner of their mouth.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Anakin groaned.

“I’m not doing anything to you!” Lionel protested, “I’m just readin’ a letter!”

They produced said letter from behind their back and looked as if they were about to read more from it before Anakin snatched it from their hand.

“Give me that!” He exclaimed in exasperation.

“Hey, in all fairness, it’s kinda cute!” Lionel said, spreading their hands innocently, “even though you get a bit verbose in the second paragraph, seriously, twice is too many times to use the word ‘pulchritudinous’ - I had to look that one up, y’know! I thought it was an insult at first!”

“No word is too big to describe Padmé’s beauty.” Anakin huffed, tucking the letter into his robe before Lionel could try and get their hands back on it.

“Oh, puke,” Lionel muttered, “you’re so adorable it disgusts me sometimes, you know that?”

“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or a criticism.”

“Take it as both, ya big dork.”

The roaring laughter from the living room had slowly quieted, and now Fives, Echo, Tup, and Ahsoka filed back into the kitchen, all wiping tears from their eyes and breathing like they’d just come out of a battle.

Lionel grinned, and Anakin jabbed them in the chest with one finger as he put the pieces together.

“I know what you’re doing!” He exclaimed, “you just can’t resist being the one who makes everyone laugh, can you?”

“And according to that letter you can’t resist stealing a kiss from those honey sweet lips-” Lionel began.

“Oh, Nelli, PLEASE!” Ahsoka gasped out, clutching her ribs, “my stomach hurts, I can’t do this anymore!”

Lionel chuckled, and Anakin continued to glare at them.

“Alright, fine!” They said after a moment had passed, once again raising their arms as if they were surrendering, “so I like being the funny one in the room, you know that!”

“But why does it always have to be at my expense?” Anakin just about whined.

“It’s not at your expense!” Lionel argued, “it’s just how I show affection, you know that too! Plus… it’s not like I’m gonna run out of material anytime soon, I mean, ‘your love is the rainfall I prayed for on Tatooine’? You gotta be kidding!”

Behind them, Fives let out a muffled squeal into his hands, squeezing his eyes shut.

“What’s going on out here?” Obi-Wan’s voice suddenly asked from across the room, and all eyes immediately turned to him.

“Your joyfriend is making fun of me again.” Anakin replied huffily.

“Again, you could stop giving me material in the form of the mushiest love letters I’ve ever read.” Lionel shot back.

“Love letters?” Obi-Wan repeated, raising an eyebrow, “I didn’t know you were the type to write love letters, Anakin.”

“And neither did anyone else except Padmé until tonight.” Anakin growled, staring blaster-holes into the back of Lionel’s head.

“Blame her for that, she’s the one who put it on the fridge!” Lionel objected.

“What’s there to make fun of?” Obi-Wan cut in, “you were always a lovely writer, Anakin.”

“You wanna hear it?!” Lionel demanded, somehow managing to swipe Anakin’s letter from where he’d tucked it so fast that he couldn’t stop them.

“NEL!” Anakin barked, but it was too late.

“He starts off; Dearest Padmé, I miss you as the sky misses the stars when dawn turns to day.”

They paused for dramatic effect, and Obi-Wan pursed his lips, immediately covering his mouth with one hand before abruptly retreating back down the hallway to the bedroom he and Lionel shared.

Anakin still distinctly heard him chuckling once the door was closed behind him. He sighed loudly.

“Listen,” Lionel murmured, turning back to him, “you gotta know all this comes from love, Kenni. But if you really don’t like it… I’ll stop.”

They handed the letter back to Anakin, and he quickly took it, though he offered them a small smile as he did so.

“No,” he murmured after a moment, “no, I don’t mind it. As long as you didn’t see the most embarrassing part of this letter.”

“The most embarrassing part?” Lionel echoed, tilting their head to the side, “whaddya mean?”

“I think I know.”

Now everyone turned to look behind Anakin as Padmé suddenly appeared in the hallway in her gown, looking like she’d been napping just as the twins had been.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Ani,” she added, “if you’re talking about what I think you are.”

“What is it, Padmé?” Ahsoka demanded excitedly as she, Echo, Tup, and Fives all crowded around Lionel.

“The way you signed the letter,” Padmé said with an adoring smile, gently taking the slip of paper from Anakin’s hand, “you never did it before on any other love letter you sent me, but it’s why I cherish this one in particular. ‘Just know that I love you more than anything else in this universe, Padmé. Your husband forevermore, Anakin Naberrie’.”

She beamed at Anakin, brown eyes glimmering so brightly it was clear that they were welling with tears. Anakin wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her, but he was frozen, waiting for the second bout of taunting laughter from the others.