I love this construction of the Leia-Luke/Lucy dichotomy, how it's more complex (of course) than each of them taking after either parent. (Behavior genetics FTW!)
And: ...Anakin... heads off to Naboo as a twenty-three-year-old widower with two infant daughters....
My tears. ZOMG, my tears. A twenty-three-year-old widower. OMG, poor boy. Also, I love that he's under no circumstances giving up the girls. (Although I... kind of need more of your sense of his headspace about even going to Naboo at all, because left to myself, I'd have him spiriting them off to Bast Castle without a word to anyone, not trusting that anyone else would do anything other than come between him and his children, and also not wanting to let any chance of Palpatine finding out about them, because while he's not quite at the point of "Will overthrow my Sith master and set someone I love more up in his place" as he was with Padme, I think he takes for granted that his first loyalty is to the girls and that Palpatine won't tolerate rivals. And that babies are helpless and much more easily destroyed than grown-up badass Force-sensitives who've been raised by their doting papa to kick ass and take names.)
Re: I expect this will be a long reply
And:
My tears. ZOMG, my tears. A twenty-three-year-old widower. OMG, poor boy. Also, I love that he's under no circumstances giving up the girls. (Although I... kind of need more of your sense of his headspace about even going to Naboo at all, because left to myself, I'd have him spiriting them off to Bast Castle without a word to anyone, not trusting that anyone else would do anything other than come between him and his children, and also not wanting to let any chance of Palpatine finding out about them, because while he's not quite at the point of "Will overthrow my Sith master and set someone I love more up in his place" as he was with Padme, I think he takes for granted that his first loyalty is to the girls and that Palpatine won't tolerate rivals. And that babies are helpless and much more easily destroyed than grown-up badass Force-sensitives who've been raised by their doting papa to kick ass and take names.)