title Bringing Balance
author patientalien
rating PG
summary Anakin decides to stay behind on Mortis. AU of the end of "Overlords" (minor spoilers).
notes Thanks to citizenjess for the title and the ideas. :)

"Are you ready?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin looked up at him, then back at the Father and Mortis. The Father's words rang in his head - if he left, his selfishness would destroy him. The fact this, itself, was a selfish thought didn't cross his mind - logical thought was not one of his stronger suits.

He took a deep breath. "I'm staying here," he said. He couldn't even start to explain, he just had to trust Obi-Wan and Ahsoka would understand and not throw a tantrum. He had to trust Padme would understand. There was the possibility of bringing her here, once he was in control, but for now, she would have to understand.

"Anakin - " Obi-Wan sounded confused, hurt, on the verge of hissy fit. "What are you saying?"

Anakin looked down. "I need to stay here," he repeated. "Don't argue, just take Ahsoka and leave."

" 'Kay, bye," Ahsoka chirped from the top of the ramp, and Anakin frowned. Obi-Wan, at least, was showing some regret at his decision - Ahsoka could at the very least give some token protest.

"Right," Obi-Wan said, looking slightly torn. "Well. If this is what you think is best." He was inching up the ramp, his hand straying to the door control. Anakin had the very un-Jedi-like desire to stomp his feet until they shed tears that he wasn't returning with them. The realization that he technically would no longer be a Jedi made him almost go through with his tantrum plan, but by the time that thought had formed, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were already gone, the ship making its way into the upper atmosphere. Anakin suddenly felt very alone.

"Come," said Daughter, appearing out of kriffing nowhere. He'd really have to put a stop to that. The last thing he wanted to be known for was being the Chosen One who brought balance to the Force, but not before the Light Side startled him into wetting himself.

"Could you, uh, stop doing that?" he asked as they walked back towards the monastery. "Since I'm gonna be living here and all, there's really no need for all the theatrics."

"These are no theatrics," Son said, materializing beside him.

Anakin yelped and jumped backwards. "STOP that!" he exclaimed, resisting the urge to use his Big Boy Arena Voice. "Seriously, you guys need to cut that out. No more magically appearing, no more turning into bird-things, none of that."

Daughter and Son ignored him, and Anakin was beginning to suspect his ability to control them was somewhat over-stated. For one thing, they were almost certainly older than him. For another, he'd only been able to control them in the arena by harnessing the Force - he was pretty sure asking them nicely do to something wouldn't yield results.

"So, um," he said, bored of the silence already, "what's there to do around here?" Though he hadn't seen any evidence of further in-habitation of the planet, that didn't mean there couldn't be something to occupy one's time besides thinking about the Force. Even the Jedi Temple had Holonet terminals, after all.

"Do?" Daughter asked.

"Duty," Son added.

Anakin frowned slightly. "Uh, anything else?" he asked, following behind the siblings by a few paces. Looking around as they walked, he realized he hadn't seen one store or bar or restaurant on their path - maybe they were on the other side of the monastery. Maybe this was just farmland or something. Maybe, maybe...

The siblings didn't answer him this time as they walked up the great stone steps to the monastery's main chamber. Father sat, cross-legged, beneath the expansive statue. Son and Daughter knelt before him, but Anakin decided that he was just going to stay standing. "The time has come," Father intoned, and toppled sideways. Anakin felt a surge of the Force enter him and, to his chagrin, ended up on his knees despite his best efforts. Father's body disappeared, and Anakin suddenly felt incredibly out of his league.

He settled onto Father's throne and looked out over his kingdom.

Boredom set in fairly quickly. To Anakin's dismay, there really wasn't anything to do besides think about the Force.

Son and Daughter pretty much ignored him. They both had their own temples on opposite sides of the planet and hardly ever came "home", as it were. Anakin wasn't sure why this hurt his feelings, but it did. Sometimes Son came to fuck with his head, but Anakin was getting good at Force-throwing him across the room. Daughter was more aloof, spending days and weeks in her own sanctuary. Anakin was determined not to start talking to himself, but it was a very near thing. Instead, he worked on boosting his wrist-comm's frequency so he could get access to the Holonet, or at very least put in a call to Obi-Wan, who would assuredly provide more stimulating conversation.

"Growing weary of the monotony of this place?" a voice came from below him. Anakin peered over the edge of his throne's platform and saw... himself. Well, Son taking on the form of himself, he assumed. At least he hoped so - he'd only been here a couple months, he wasn't ready to go crazy yet.

"Don't you have better things to do?" Anakin asked, jumping down to stand level with Son, who mirrored Anakin's movements perfectly. It was more annoying than Anakin would have assumed.

"I can think of a few things we could do," Son-as-Anakin replied, licking his lips. "Don't tell me you're not attracted to me in this form."

"Uh, that's weird," Anakin said, but he had to admit, he was pretty attractive, and he knew how flexible he was, and to be honest, he was so kriffing bored he was seriously considering it. Then he realized that this was Son he was dealing with, which meant the personification of the Dark Side would probably turn into his mother mid-coitus, and the thought made Anakin gag. "No thanks," he said.

"Are you sure?" Son prompted, moving to open his tunic.

Anakin frowned, deciding the lack of alcohol on this planet was a huge deteriment. "Yeah. I'm sure," he responded shortly. "Go bug your sister or something."

Son pouted. "Fine," he snapped. "Whatever, you just don't get me!" He transformed into his winged-beast-thing form (despite Anakin's repeated requests not to) and flew away, leaving Anakin to daydream about cold beer and Holonet programs he couldn't watch anymore.

The only thing Anakin could think of that was good about his current situation was the fact food seemed to randomly appear out of nowhere every so often. He'd found the monastery's kitchen and, despite the fact there wasn't a single grocery store on Mortis, it always seemed stocked. The monastery was so big, though, that he frequently got lost on the way to the kitchen, which meant he was only able to get there once every few days.

One of his infrequent kitchen days was also one of the infrequent days both Son and Daughter had deigned to visit him. He decided, mostly out of desperate isolation, to make lunch for them. So far, it had been a huge ordeal. Neither of them wanted grilled cheese, since Daughter was vegan and Son just wanted to be difficult. Finally, he managed to get them to settle on what they wanted. However, once it was made and on the table, they both simply poked at it.

"Eat your lunch," he prompted, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice.

"I don't like this," Daughter said, pushing her plate away. "Give it to the less fortunate."

"It's what you asked for!" Anakin exclaimed, deciding not to bother telling her that there was nobody less fortunate on Mortis than him.

"This sandwich is bad and you should feel bad," Son added, throwing his plate against the wall.

"Hey!" Anakin shouted, standing. "You're supposed to obey me!"

"You're not our real Father!" Son snarled, and before Anakin could unleash unholy Force lightning on him, he ran out of the dining room.

Anakin and Daughter stared at each other for a long moment. "So, this isn't working," Anakin said.

"No," Daughter agreed.

"I'm going to have Obi-Wan come pick me up," Anakin said.

"Good idea," Daughter replied. "You were doing a terrible job, anyway."

"What made you change your mind?" Obi-Wan asked, days later, as Anakin all but ran up the boarding ramp.

"YOU try spending all your time meditating and preserving balance! With no booze!" Anakin snapped.

"Well, the first part of that sounds okay," Obi-Wan ventured thoughtfully, settling back into the co-pilot's seat.

"So what happens now?" Ahsoka asked. "Is there just not going to be balance, or what?"

Anakin gazed out the viewport at Mortis. "I don't care, Snips," he said, "I don't care."

-end-