One inarguably nice thing about Varykino for Leia was that, with her birth mother's enthusiasm to look after Ben, she was allowed some time alone with Han. A precious commodity, to be sure.

It happened so rarely anymore, what with the constant battle to get the reinstated and reorganized Senate on track to actually accomplish anything and the fight to rein in the remnants of the Empire still clinging to their convictions, Han and Leia rarely had any time to themselves. What free time they did have they tried to devote to their son.

He was growing up without them. Already the little boy was four years old, a boisterous, curious ball of energy that had Han's mischievous cleverness, her stubbornness and even Luke's sensitivity—or arguably, Padme's sensitivity since Luke seemed to have inherited that from their mother.

And Ben had latched onto his grandmother with an unwavering devotion. Almost to the point where it inspired jealousy in Leia. But then, she had to accede that that was, to some extent, her own doing, no matter that the more unreasonable side of her was loathe to admit as much. For a great deal of his young life Ben had been safely tucked away on Naboo with Padme. It wasn't practical to be dragging a toddler around as she and Han were anxiously trying to fix the galaxy and neither would it have been fair to Ben. They had tried for a while, but it had only led to Han and Leia working themselves into an anxious misery trying to balance their duties to the Republic and their responsibilities to their child. More importantly, it left Ben simply miserable.

So, when Padme had offered to give Ben a stable place to stay whenever Han and Leia were needed elsewhere, the couple had been relieved to take her up on it. She was family, and there was no doubt the older woman adored her grandson. So while Leia lamented that she wasn't so close to her son as she would have been in an ideal galaxy, she was at least able to recognize that this was the best they could make of a less than ideal situation.

And it meant there were mornings like this.

Leia's arm tightened around Han's waist as they wandered aimlessly through the gardens of Varykino. The morning was warm but not warm enough to be unpleasant, the sun strong enough to have burned off the damp chill that sometimes lingered by the lakeside. The ambient sounds of the gardens were peaceful, the breeze whispering through the flowers and stalks, while insects fluttered and buzzed contentedly through the sweet-smelling air. Distantly she could hear the sound of Ben's high, joyful giggle, followed by her mother's cheerful admonishments and Luke's happy laughter. Leia smiled. It had been a nice surprise to find Luke here when she, Han and Ben had arrived the day before.

Admittedly, though, she had been less pleased to see Athara. Even after the years that had passed, and though she continued to prove her devotion to Luke and to mending the wrongs caused at her hands and the Empire's, Leia still couldn't manage to warm up to the former Imperial Agent. She was trying, though perhaps not quite as much as she insisted she was when Han questioned her on it. There was simply too much history there. There was too much pain to just set aside. Leia really was trying, but it wasn't easy.

Thankfully, Padme had appointed herself the keeper of the peace between the two younger women, and it certainly put her latent political skills to use. Thanks to the older woman, Leia and the former Imperial Agent had reached a tentative truce at least, especially when Athara and Luke had married in a quiet lakeside ceremony here at Varykino. But that still didn't mean Leia was happy when encountering the former Sith apprentice.

As though merely thinking on her rocky relationship with her new sister-in-law was enough to ensure her appearance, Leia had to bite back a noise of dismay when, upon turning a corner in the gardens to pass the back terrace, she and Han were no longer strictly alone.

Athara sat on a stone bench near the edge of the terrace, just looking out over the lake. She was curled up as best she could manage, leaning back against the warm-hued wall of the Villa's main building. Her growing belly made curling up virtually impossible, something Leia didn't remember fondly from her own pregnancy with Ben; she'd missed curling up, whether it was in a soft chair, a bunk on the Falcon or against Han's side. An involuntary pang of sympathy fluttered in Leia's chest, something the Alderaanian princess found distantly bewildering. The former Sith's hand massaged gently over the swell where her and Luke's baby grew, her expression distant. Leia frowned. Athara's face was nearly blank—admittedly not entirely unusual in her experience—but Leia was surprised by how troubled the former Imperial Agent seemed despite her schooled features.

Leia didn't even have to look up to Han to know the former smuggler wasn't about to just let them walk the other way, but they nevertheless exchanged a look that had Han silently asking Leia to be patient while he checked on his friend. Though there was likely a healthy dose of reserve in her eyes, Leia nodded in agreement, unable to help but grin with loving exasperation at the relieved glimmer in Han's eyes before he looked up again to their sister-in-law.

"Athara?" The former Sith apprentice jumped minutely at the sound of Han's voice. Leia couldn't stop the shock that no doubt came to her face at the fact that they had surprised Athara. That never happened. She snuck a glance at Han's face, satisfied with her own reaction in comparison to the look of abject bewilderment on her husband's face. He was even more astonished than Leia.

However, that astonishment shifted quickly enough to a mischievous glint that had Athara scowling.

"Switch off, Solo," she snapped without bite right as Han opened his mouth to make a smart comment. Leia couldn't help but giggle at the affronted look on her husband's face. Almost immediately his hands were rising in a gesture of surrender as his trademark crooked smirk tugged at his lips. Leia nearly snorted in amusement. At least he learned something from her pregnancy with Ben: don't get on the pregnant woman's bad side.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he said defensively, his tone somewhat at odds with the grin on his face. "I was only going to ask how you and Skywalker Jr. were doing." Athara quirked a sceptical brow at him, a flicker of amusement passing over her features. Not for the first time, Leia was struck by how at ease her husband was with the former Sith—and not for the first time she was vehemently denying the shard of jealousy at the camaraderie between the two of them.

"You were going to ask why I'm hiding," the former Imperial Agent quipped back dryly, fixing Han with a knowing look. Han shrugged away his involuntarily sheepish reaction, though his eyes narrowed slightly at the way his friend's expression seemed to be closing off further.

"Maybe I'm a little curious," he admitted, his grin widening. "I've barely seen you and the Kid apart since we got here. What, is he hovering?" And unreadable flash of emotion surfaced for a split-second on the other woman's face as she shifted in her seat, stifling a groan of discomfort as she did. While she may not know Athara well, Leia couldn't help but think Han had, if not hitting it outright, gotten at least close to the mark with his comment.

"He means well," Athara finally answered carefully, her tone fond if a little exasperated despite her still guarded expression. That, and a distinct note of exhaustion that Leia was a little surprised she caught on to.

Glancing up to her husband's rather sympathetic nod of understanding, Leia looked back to Athara, reading between the lines as the former Imperial shifted subtly again, the trace of exhaustion once again making its brief appearance. "Baby making it hard to sleep?" Leia surprised herself with the question, but she kept it to herself. Athara's lip quirked, lessening her troubled look by a fraction. Her hand rubbed unconsciously against her belly.

"Yeah. She knows that I—well, she apparently doesn't want to let me sleep anymore than my thoughts do." Han shot Athara a questioning look.

"She? You know it's a girl?"

Athara's gaze was blank for a different reason now; surprised rather than closed off. "Of course." Leia elbowed Han in the ribs, earning a splutter of indignation. Leia gave him a pointed look, easing up only when he caught on.

"Oh, right. The Force..."

Leia couldn't help but roll her eyes affectionately while Athara chuckled. No, she was giggling! The Dark Lady Obscura was giggling! The former senator glanced over to the former Sith apprentice, barely able to keep her astonishment to herself. She'd never understood how Han and Luke could speak so warmly of Athara. The other woman had always seemed so cold and distant to Leia. But watching her giggling at Han's embarrassed discomfiture allowed Leia a surprising glimpse behind Obscura, possibly Leia's first.

For a split-second, Leia got the feeling that, perhaps, had things been different, she and Athara might have been friends. It was an odd feeling.

Struck by a sudden impulse she was quite sure she'd probably think herself crazy for later, Leia gave Han's arm a gentle squeeze then, giving him a pointed look when he glanced down to her. Frowning a bit even as understanding lit in his eyes, he leaned in to place a quick kiss on her temple. Then, shooting Athara a quick grin of commiseration—babies made for sleepless nights both before and after birth after all, something Leia knew Han remembered well—before slipping away.

Leaving Leia alone with Athara.

Possibly for the first time. Ever.

At least, if one didn't count their time on the Death Star.

"I may not have Luke's or your uncanny ability to just 'know' things," she finally said softly, forcing any trace of tentativeness or habitual animosity from her voice, "but I can tell something's bothering you." Athara bristled defensively as the Alderaanian Princess broke the loaded silence that had descended as Han disappeared into the garden. But as Leia's implied question hung between them, the former Imperial Agent suddenly seemed to deflate, her eyes growing noticeably troubled despite managing to keep the emotion from appearing on her features.

But then she was looking away, gazing out over the lake again. It left Leia feeling like she'd overstepped, like the other woman was shutting herself away again after a moment of vulnerability. Yet, Leia couldn't help but edge closer, giving into the impulse to do so despite another part of her urging caution, still not entirely able to trust the woman.

When Athara finally spoke, though, it wasn't what Leia expected.

Not that she'd honestly been expecting the former Sith apprentice to answer at all...

"I can understand now why the Jedi were effectively forbidden from having children," she said quietly, "I never could understand the logic...but now? I can. I would do anything for this baby. Anything, just like my Master did for...the fear, the worry; it's almost too much, especially for those who have known the Dark Side..."

A brittle smile drew across Athara's lips. "I would burn the Galaxy down if it meant keeping this child—my child, Luke's child—safe. I would do anything," she said softly, her tone low and earnest and woven threads of Darkness. It sent a shiver of fear through Leia. Never would she have expected the former Sith to open up like this. Never. Leia's throat constricted at the implications; it was only because of her exhaustion that the former Dark Lady's defenses were coming as close as they were to cracking.

Athara looked up to Leia then, her blue-grey eyes impossibly conflicted as they slid away from the glimmering water to meet Leia's.

And, Leia noticed with a start, unmistakably frightened.

"That scares me, Princess," she said softly, her voice almost emotionless as her eyes grew veiled and shadowed. "Everything I've done to turn away from the Dark Side? I can't let myself think like that—feel like that." She sighed heavily, turning back to the lake.

"And yet I do."

Leia was speechless, both from the candidness of the confession and the sheer potency of the emotions lingering just below the surface.

Was this why she always seemed so cool, even aloof?

Because she was hiding this?

It was then that Leia felt something she never thought she'd feel in relation to the former Imperial Agent.

A sense of kindred sympathy.

Having learned everything she had about her birth parents? About Anakin's fall? She'd been plagued by similar fears when expecting Ben.

Even now, those fears lingered...and had grown to include fear for her son as well.

Leia knew she was at risk to the Dark Side. She had always known her temper ran hot and that she sometimes let her anger and her fear get the better of her. It was something she'd been striving to control since she was a child and she was well aware that she was not always successful. Knowing now that she was Force-sensitive? It not only explained why her sometimes volatile temperament almost had a life of its own, but it made those traits dangerous to an extent that non-Force-sensitives never had to worry about.

So, bewildering as it felt, Leia could sympathize with the woman sitting before her.

Finally, Leia sighed herself, cautiously taking a seat on the far end of the stone bench Athara occupied. They weren't suddenly best friends, after all. There was a grateful glint in the former Sith's eye that said the choice to keep some distance was appreciated.

"It's hard," Leia admitted after a long, heavy moment, not quite able to look up to the woman sitting a scant few feet from her. "And it gets harder." She glanced over just as Athara did, easily recognizing the bleak look in her blue-grey eyes. The former Sith inhaled deeply, nodding faintly; she already knew as much.

"I was never meant to have this." Leia almost didn't hear the murmured, wistful words. Athara was no longer looking to the Alderaanian woman, her gaze unfocused as her eyes dropped to where her hand was gently caressing her growing belly. "I never dreamed..." Leia frowned, but before she could say a word in objection or otherwise, Athara was glancing back up to her, her expression expertly veiled again.

Almost.

"Who was ever going to fall in love with Lady Obscura, Princess, hmm?" The smile on Athara's face should have been cynical and bitter, but it came across only as sad.

"I did." Both women looked up at the sound of Luke's voice, both taking in the calm steadiness of his expression and the faint smile curling his lips as he looked to his wife. A shaky breath gusted out of the former Sith, her eyes growing bright.

"You didn't fall in love with Obscura, Luke," she objected softly, "You fell in love with Tamara...and somehow stayed in love with me, with Athara, something I still don't entirely understand." Or believe, Leia could nearly hear hanging in the air between them.

The former Imperial Senator could still feel the lingering animosity she held for the former Imperial agent nestled deep in her chest, but in that moment, Leia's heart ached for her brother's wife.

Obviously, Athara's tone affected Luke far more than it did Leia, and in an instant he was at her side, pulling his wife into his arms. It was a testament to how tired and heartsore the other woman was that after only a token protesting balk she was burrowing into her Jedi's embrace.

"There's nothing to understand," he said softly. "I love you. That's all that matters. You're fighting the Dark Side. And you'll keep fighting it, just as I will. That's all we can do; keep fighting our own Darkness." At once, Leia was looking away, acutely feeling like she was intruding on the private moment. It was just then that a hand landed on her own shoulder before easing around her back. Recognizing the touch, Leia looked up at Han as he sank down beside her, tucking her into his side.

Maybe Luke was right.

When it came right down to it? They would all keep fighting the temptation of Dark Side. And they would do it together.

She smiled back in response to her husband's crooked grin.    

A/N: Thanks for Reading!

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