Aaaah, we're here! Another fantastical one-shot with Anakin and Cadena, only this one is post 'All Too Well'...anyways, I was in the train the other day and I was listening to the song 'All Too Well' by Taylor Swift and if you all haven't heard that song already, LISTEN TO IT. It's heartbreaking and tragic but so beautiful and good to listen to and...well, I needed to write a song fic on this...now, I know that there's this rule about not writing song fics and copyright and all of that stuff, but what I did here was that I swapped up some of the lyrics and kind of spoofed up some of the lyrics to fit Anakin and Cadena's situation here...so some of these lyrics actually belong to me, so for those of you who are about to go tell me to remove this story, well, with all due respect, I did NOT copy/paste this from any other website but instead created my own little form of it! Some parts are the same, very little parts, though, but the majority of the lyrics have my own little touches. However, I'm gonna say it now-the original song of 'All Too Well' belongs to Taylor Swift from her Red album!
Cadena—
I walked to the door with you…the air was cold, but something 'bout it felt like home somehow and I left my Padawan braid there in Aamani's hand but you still got it in your cloak, even now.
I watched silently as my master, Anakin Skywalker, no, Darth Vader held a dark-haired Padawan braid in his hand, staring at it through his mask that covered his now-burned up face. I wish I could reach out to him and hold on to him, wishing that he knew that I was still here, but I couldn't. I was a mere Force-ghost, nothing more, nothing less. I couldn't tell if Vader could feel me but if he did, he didn't give any signs of acknowledgement.
He was standing in front of the ruins of the once-beautiful Temple and I sighed, remembering how he and I used to run through the doors every day in excitement of being back home.
Those days were gone now.
Oh, your sweet disposition and my wide-eyed gaze, we're singing in the speeder getting lost upstate. Neon lights flashing as pieces into places and I can picture it after all these days.
Even though I knew that Anakin was no longer a Jedi, but a Sith, I could still feel his real self struggling inside there, trying to break free of the bonds that held onto him tightly. I stood behind Vader, smiling sadly at the remembrance of Anakin's gruff exterior and cocky smile. He always tried to hide his emotions, but I knew him better than he thought. I always looked up to him…always. He was my big brother, my best friend.
I was innocent, and so naïve and I always thought that he knew better than me. There were those times when Anakin and I had fun together—singing in the speeder at the top of our lungs or racing up and down the streets of Coruscant, or sometimes starting a food fight at Dex's Diner or in the mess hall of the Temple.
It was such a strange, sad thing that I could remember all of that, even though I was, well…one with the Force.
And I know it's long gone and the bond's not here no more and I might be okay but I'm not fine at all…
I reached out my ghostly fingers that would be invisible to Anakin and my fingers stopped short, an inch away from his mask. I stopped and I felt sadness overwhelm me again.
'Cause there we are again in that Coruscant street, you almost won the red 'cause you were looking over me. Wind in my hair, I was there; I remember it all too well.
I looked around the damaged spots of Coruscant and could almost see Anakin and myself in a speeder, riding over to Dex's. I remember reaching over to him to stop the speeder after he almost crashed us into another person. I knew that he was hiding something from me—Senator Admidala. I also realized that day that he was worried over me, despite the fact that I kept telling him that I was going to be alright. I bit my lip. Anakin always looked over me…and now he's gone down so far.
Anakin—
Holo-album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red, you used to be a little kid with scabby knees in a twin-sized bed. And the younglings are telling stories about you eating bizi'grina berries, and you tell me 'bout your past thinking your future was me.
I walked through the diminished Temple halls, where a couple of parts of the walls were missing here and there, bodies were still strewn over the once-clean carpet and I found myself walking towards a familiar place inside the building.
A door slid open and I stepped inside my old quarters—Cadena and my quarters. I felt my hand clench in memory of Cadena rejecting my choice that I gave her. I gave her the chance to join me, but she turned away from it. Her death wasn't my fault! She brought it down on herself.
And yet, I moved to the holo-pad in the corner of the room and flicked through images of Cadena as a younger child. She was smirking at the person who was taking the image, her arms crossed and her eyes defiant as always. I flicked through another image and an unexpected lump lodged itself into my throat as I spotted the blue, hazy image of Cadena laughing as I held her up in the air.
That was the day after Cadena escaped being banished from the Order in the first month of her being my Padawan. I could still hear her words, telling me about her past, and then telling me that fateful day that she couldn't wait to begin her training with me.
In anger, I activated my light saber and swung it down on the holo-pad—hard.
The images of Cadena died out but the memories were still fresh in my mind.
And I know it's long gone and there's nothing else I could do and I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to…
Why was I here? Why did I bother coming in? I sat myself down on the couch and looked around the empty room. Everything about this place was hollow and stale. Nothing living existed in it anymore.
'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night. We're dancing around our room in the late, starry night. Down the stairs, I was there, I remember it all too well.
A beam of light landed in a patch on the ground and I flinched, thinking of how Cadena would begin dancing in the light, singing until her voice was hoarse and we were both sprawled out, laughing. It would always start off with Cadena signing, and then me telling her to stop, and at one point, I would become so annoyed, I'd throw a pillow at her.
She would begin shrieking but continue to sing. Cadena would begin twirling around in her Padawan tunic and try to get me to dance with her even though it was getting late.
I was always so annoyed with her, but just watching Cadena happy made me smile.
But now that was gone.
Cadena—
Hey, you call me up again just to break me like a promise! So casually cruel in the name of being honest. I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here 'cause I remember it all, all, all…too well.
I sat down on the ground and watched as Anakin stared at the window and curled myself into a ball. He told me that we were going to be safe…he promised me that he would never leave me! Why would he do this to me? To us?
Anakin—
Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it. After light saber training days and nights when we were laughing on our own, now you left everything and I walk home alone…
I stood up and walked out of my room, not wanting to go through another memory transition. Instead, I find myself thinking even more, remembering even more, and could still hear the laughter coming from that room.
I sighed. I was no longer Anakin Skywalker. I was someone else, someone who was going to rule the galaxy and show who is really weak and strong!
I gently took out Cadena's Padawan braid from my cloak and stared at it. My fingers traced over the pattern and stopped at a couple of burnt hairs where she had cut her braid off with her light saber, no doubt. I wish I was still my old self again…
Cadena—
But you keep my old braid from that very first week, 'cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me. You can't get rid of it, 'cause you remember it all too well…
Even with the mask on, I could see that Anakin was hurting deep inside. I sighed and leaned against the wall. My old Padawan braid was still in his hands. I remember how thrilled I was to have it with me, as a sign that I was no longer a youngling, but an apprentice of a Jedi Knight. I was so giddy that first day, even the first week and first month.
I smiled sadly. I can understand why my master kept it.
I can understand why.
Anakin—
'Cause there we are again where I loved you so, back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known! It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well!
I shoved the braid back into my cloak pocket and stormed out of the Temple, desperate to not let my emotions shine through.
My little sister was gone forever. She wouldn't be with me. She did this to herself. Why did she have to choose this way? Why couldn't she see that I cared what would happen?
Cadena—
Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all—
I ran after Anakin as he walks out of the Temple doors and felt a wind sweep by. It didn't move my hair as it used to, but I kept running.
Down the stairs, you were there, you remember it all—
Anakin ran down the stairs and I sprinted after him. He suddenly stops and I stopped right behind him. He slowly turns around and I smiled. I was standing at the bottom stare and for a second, his face was locked onto my position.
It was rare, I was there—
"I remember it all too well." I whispered and Anakin's eyes widened. I knew that he had heard my voice. I gave him a small smile and vanished.
