When a voice spoke, Anakin’s blue hues shifted their gaze up to the male, as he rubbed his finger against the inside of his robe. A sharp prick still hit at his nerves. His teeth clenched together, with a minimal groan splitting from both brims of his mouth. Placing what would be of his engine down, Anakin lightly brushed the grease from the tip of his fingers onto his left knee. The nib of his tongue brushed itself across his upper lip.
“ You’re here now, what is it?” The words fell from the brim of his mouth in soft but distant tone. He had never been very good with people, they were complicated. It had been weeks, since Anakin spent any time with anyone other than Padme and Ahsoka. Although his reunion with his former padawan did not go smoothly, she was still his family and really the only one who understood him other than Jaina, but it had been weeks since the two had seen each other.
The longer Anakin was in the presence of the other, the more he felt a powerful bond with him. Through this connection, the force told him that this was his son. As much as the former knight would like to deny the nonsensical claims, he felt it and knew it to be true, especially with his grandchildren in DC as well. With his blue hues now holding a burdened and saddened glance on the male, a weighed exhale of air departed from his throat. It was uncanny how much he resembled himself, but had the soft presence Anakin felt when Padme was near as well.
Silence filled the space between the two. His hues languidly diverted their glance down. With moments passing, suddenly Anakin could almost hear a robotic voice enter his thoughts. “ I am your father. ” It felt as if the voice was himself talking to another. Dismissing those thoughts from his mind, Anakin extended his robotic arm out and once again picked up one of his scraps, while moving his gaze back down to his project. Fixing things always made everything better.
Luke hadn’t felt a force this strong since before his arrival in the city. Since he had felt the cool, hard surface of a helmet beneath his fingertips. Since flames danced in front of his eyes. Since he could smell the mixture of wood and armor burning. Luke hadn’t felt this kind of force since the galaxy had ripped away the last remnants of a father he may have once had.
No force had ever truly felt like this one. Not even with Leia. His connection with Leia had always been powerful, but never like this. The tether holding them together, even before he knew, had felt nothing less than gravitational. The string that connected her soul with his had never felt like it had been pulled so taut it threatened to snap. That’s not what Leia was to him. Leia was a presence, his strength even in her absence.
This, though. There was only one person in the galaxy, universe, that felt like this. The force of which felt like it could tear him apart just as quickly and fiercely as it could mend each of his jagged edges. Luke let himself take in the man before him, perhaps no more than a year or two older than Luke himself. He’d never had the opportunity to acknowledge their likeness, but he couldn’t seem to think of anything else in the passing moments.
‘I was… I was hoping—‘ But what was it that he was hoping for? A fresh start? A second chance? A father? A family, even? He wasn’t sure, after everything, that the universe would allow him that. And yet, somehow, maybe that’s precisely what it wanted. It had put him here, had it not? Gave him back a piece of something he’d lost, the first piece of his unsolved puzzle. An offering. He couldn’t tempt fate simply because he was scared. ‘I’d like to talk.’ Luke answered finally, his heart dropping as the fear settled in his gut. ‘And I think you know what about, don’t you?’
