Star Wars: A Different Choice
Disclaimer: Warning, if you read fanfiction you are going to suffer from Spoilers! If you have never seen any of the Star Wars movies (Which I highly doubt) go watch the movies before reading this fic! If you have watched all 6 current Star Wars movies, even if you hate the prequals, please give this fic a go, it has action, adventure, romance (not the George Lucas style romance a lot of fans of the orginal trilogy hate about the prequals), a reduced amount of Jar Jar, and so much more! I do not own Star Wars…yet! Star Wars is owned by George Lucas and the Disney Corporation. Someday, I will own stock in Disney and therefore own a piece of Star Wars.
A/N: First, I want to thank all my readers, reviewers, followers, and favoritors who have taken the time out of their busy lives to read my first real multi-length chapter fic and first Star Wars fic. I'm sorry if I haven't reponded to most of your reviews, I love reading them but for the sake of suspense and keeping my story somewhat exciting I try to let my readers think what will happen next. I am open to any ideas you guys might have and I promise to try to respond to more of you in the future, this fanfic is far from complete. It's just I have been very busy with college and I now have a new job, hence the pause in my other wise biweekly updates. Good news is I'll be off of college for the summer so eventually my secheduel will even out again (at least until September). I take great care in writing these chapters, doing extensive research both online and at my local library to make the experience more like watching the movies (which I have always loved since I am a second-generation Star Wars fan). I hand write all my chapters and then revise them before typing them on my computer (which I revise at least once more) and uploading them to . The next chapter will be the end of Part I and the chapter after that will dive right into the Attack of the Clones timeline (with plenty of narrative and flashbacks to fill the ten year gap). I also created a new coverart that I think better suits this fic (now I feel like George Lucas, I love him but he practically invented changing what is already perfect and upsetting/angering a lot of fans, which is why I hope you guys like this new coverart and are not upset/angry with me) For any new readers, this fanfic takes place at the end of Star Wars Episode I: the Phantom Menace, specifically after Queen Amidala heads into her ship to return to Naboo but before she and the others land on the planet (Which I assume should take at least a couple of hours from Corscant to Naboo). Everything before this scene is unchanged as all the changes occur right before the Battle of Naboo, changes our main characters choose that make this AU fic A Different Choice.I removed the certain terms I had highlighted in bold for emphasis beacuse I feel like they are a bit of a distraction since I also use them for the titles. The structure of writing in this fic are as follows, normal text is present time, normal italics is a dream sequence or in some instances a company or title of an in-universe thing, bold is a chapter title or Author's Note, bold italics is an inner thought or flashback. Why did I choose today to update this fic? 1, I have off of work today though I have to go in tomarrow. But more importantly, it's Star Wars Day! My the fourth be with you all!
Plot Summary: Extended title: Star Wars: A Different Choice; Book 1 in "The Different Series" by: ASHtheMUSICALgirl13 What if nine year old Anakin chose not to become a Jedi because he has horrifying visions from his future. With a different choice comes repercussions, the question is will the outcome of the future be better or worse for young Skywalker…? This story starts at the end of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, than goes AU. Rated T for Dark Themes. Romance/Adventure.
Part I: The Phantom Menace
Prologue: Anakin's Worst Nightmare
After the Republic Senate failed to offer support to the invaded planet of Naboo, its Queen and her party re-boarded their ship, the brave fourteen year old on a mission to free her planet herself. Among Queen Amidala's travel companions are: her handmaidens, a Jedi Master and his Padawan, and a young former slave from Tatooine. The sandy-blonde haired, sapphire-eyed nine year old boy is Anakin Skywalker. A former slave whom had just left his mother behind to train as a Jedi, it hurt Anakin that the Jedi Council deemed him too old to be trained after he had left everything behind to do so. Sent out to travel with Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin is beginning to resent leaving his mother behind and doubting whether or not he even wants to be a Jedi anymore. Was he making the right decision?
Meanwhile, Queen Amidala, a beautiful petite, chocolate-brown haired, coffee-brown eyed girl in her early teens was recently elected to lead and rule the entire planet of Naboo. Having befriended the mischievous Gungan Jar Jar Binks, the astromech droid R2-D2, and Anakin as the royal handmaiden Padmé Nebierrie, Amidala has hidden her true identity to everyone, using her decoy/bodyguard/best friend Sabé to act in her place as queen. It helps that Amidala wears concealing white face paint and elaborate costumes that allow her to switch identities with her look alike best friend easily. In an attempt to reclaim her home planet from the Trade Federation's invasion force, Amidala plans to gain the support of the other Gungans on Naboo and together fight off the invaders.
While on board the royal silver Nubian ship, Anakin decides to take a short nap before the battle of Naboo will begin. As he loses consciousness, he thinks of Padmé and of what his future will be…
Anakin awakens and looks around, discovering that he is no longer on the ship. Looking at his hands, he sees that he is transparent and when he goes to touch a near-by tree his hand falls through it, like he is some sort of ghost. Anakin then notices what appears to be a clone or twin of himself who is walking around a marshy, swamp-like forest with R2-D2, Jar Jar, the two Jedi, Padmé, "Queen Amidala", several other handmaidens, Captain Panaka, and a few other people he did not recognize. Anakin watches as Padmé reveals her true identity to the Gungan Leader Boss Nass and gains his support in fighting the invasion force. The scene quickly changes to Anakin piloting a yellow Nubian Starfighter with the help of R2-D2, destroying the Trade Federation's Main Droid Control Ship in the process. The scene abruptly changes again until he is at a funeral of some sort. Releasing a breath of relief after he sees the real Queen Amidala alive though in mourning as well as himself, Anakin watches as Obi-Wan promises to train him as a Jedi, coming to the conclusion that Qui-Gon was the one who had died in the battle to liberate Naboo and that they were at the Master Jedi's funeral. The scene changes yet again to a happier one, a grand parade where Anakin notices Queen Amidala looks more like the Padmé he knew than the planet's newly elected monarch. Observing himself, Anakin notices the grin absent from his face that should be there, replaced with a contemplative frown. It looks like he was allowed to be trained as a Jedi after all, so why was he so upset?
The scene changes yet again until it appears to be many years later. Anakin sees himself now as a young man, a Jedi Padawan who has not seen his friends in over a decade. Training long and hard under Obi-Wan's apprenticeship, Anakin has a horrible feeling about the fate of his mother, his older counterpart seeming to have nightmares and calling out for her. What also troubles Anakin is that he could tell by mere observation that he and Padmé hadn't seen each other since the victory parade that has yet to happen in his own time. Not only have they not seen or spoken to each other in years, Padmé and the older Anakin act as if they are strangers. The younger Anakin can't help but feel worried as hears the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala's life and only feels slightly relieved that his other self will be her official Jedi Protector. The following scenes are confusing to the boy as he watches how both the older version of himself and the older Padmé both love each other but apparently can't be together because it goes against the Jedi Code. Anakin wishes this nightmare to end after witnessing his mother die in his arms and is also horrified to see the older him kill an entire Tuscan Raiders' Village out of pure revenge. When Padmé convinces the older Anakin to leave Tatooine to go rescue Master Obi-Wan, little Ani can't help but wonder if this nightmare couldn't get any worse. It takes facing their own executions and impending and almost certain deaths for Padmé to confess to Anakin how much she loves him. After escaping with the help of a few other Jedi Knights, Anakin faces the once Jedi Count Dooku who has turned to the Dark Side of the force. Young and impatient, the younger Anakin does his best to not scream out as Dooku cuts one arm off his teenage counter part and nearly kills the Padawan. With all that has happened so far including the beginning of a war for the once at peace Republic, the only happy moment the young Anakin has had since the victory parade on Naboo would be his wedding to Padmé, and even this scene is tainted with secrecy and a foreboding feeling of dark uncertainty.
The nine year old Anakin watching his future flash before his eyes, because there is no other way he could describe what he is both seeing and feeling, has a feeling things are only going to get worse. The loving innocent boy could never imagine himself as a cold hearted general leading his troops into battle while fighting a war that makes no sense. The older Anakin referred to as "the Hero With No Fear" appeared to have a lot of fear. The boy could sense his fully grown counterpart and the turmoil from within. A secret marriage and a gruesome war were taking its toll on the young man the Jedi called "the Chosen One." Ani hated this nickname the most since he never wanted to be god-like. All he wanted was to free his mother and the other slaves, and be with his true love Padmé. The Jedi were supposed to be the guardians of peace and save people, not fight in a war and kill people. And what was wrong with a Jedi being in love, love is the greatest thing in the galaxy! Ani could not help but admire how much Padmé loves him and how much she sacrifices so that they could be together. She would rather suffer and have Anakin live his dreams than force him to choose between being with her or being a Jedi.
Chancellor Palpatine ordering the young Jedi Knight to kill the unarmed Count Dooku shocked Anakin to his very soul, the older man seemed friendly to Anakin and had even befriended the former slave. Now it seems Palpatine could not be trusted according to little Anakin. The scene shifted to one where Anakin is reunited with his wife, who reveals to him that she is pregnant. The joy the young man feels is short lived, having nightmares of his wife's death in childbirth. However, the boy notices something that his counterpart doesn't seem to be paying attention to. He notices that in the nightmare, Padmé is with Obi-Wan-not him. Somehow Anakin's absence at the birth of his own child, children?, is the major key behind the whole nightmare. As the older Anakin struggles with his feelings, the young one can only watch and realize that being a Jedi has driven him insane. If Anakin was doubting his decision to become a Jedi before, he has no more doubts now. However, not only does Ani have to watch himself give into the Dark Side and become Darth Vader in a vain attempt to save his beloved Padmé, not only does he have to watch the slaughter of innocent younglings by his own hand, but he must watch a scene that makes him violently ill, though still his presence goes unnoticed has it has through out these visions. On the volcanic planet of Mustafar, little Ani looks on as Darth Vader and his wife embrace. Something else that has shaken Anakin up would be that he grows up to be so arrogant, so heartless. Is this what becoming a Jedi will do to him? How could Padmé still love him after everything he has done so far, let alone joining the Dark Side? He may still be a nine year old boy, but this experience, dream or potential future, has changed Anakin, hopefully for the better. It is this scene and one more thereafter that will convince Anakin to decline the Jedi's offer for him to be trained. Whatever he will do, wherever he will go, Anakin will not be a Jedi, which he hopes will keep him from turning to the Dark Side…
After watching Darth Vader kill the Separatist Leaders, Anakin notices that another ship is entering the Mustafar Surface. Anakin ponders that its either the same ship he was supposed to be on right now or one just like it, either way the one person on the ship who came to his mind immediately was a concerned, pregnant Padmé. The boy knew she was in great danger but he is powerless to prevent the events that will unfold before his very eyes in a moment or two.
Padmé rushes to her misguided husband in great fear and utter disbelief in what he has become. They embrace quickly and while Padmé feels relived that Anakin seems to be okay, her husband is suspicious of why she had disobeyed him when he told her to stay at her apartment.
"Padmé! I saw your ship…" the older Anakin states bewildered at his wife's presence.
"Oh, Anakin!" Padmé interrupts him, her concern for him expressed openly to their unseen audience. Little Anakin is shaking and is feeling more fear than he has ever felt in his entire short life, not for himself, but for his Angel.
"It's alright, you're safe now. What are you doing out here?" asks the Jedi turned Sith.
"I was so worried about you. Obi-Wan told me terrible things. He said you've turned to the Darkside…that you killed younglings!" cries his heavily pregnant wife hysterically.
"Obi-Wan was with you?" yells the older Anakin, at this point he is more Darth Vader than his true self, "Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me! I've become more powerful than any Jedi dreamed of and I've done it for you. To protect you!"
"I don't want your power or your protection! Anakin, all I want is your love!" pleads Padmé desperately.
"Love won't save you, only my new powers can do that. I won't lose you the way I lost my mother!" proclaims Vader, trying and failing to lower his voice and control his temper, "We don't have to hide anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Chancellor…I can overthrow him, and together you and I can rule the Galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be!"
"I don't believe what I'm hearing…Obi-Wan was right," mumbles Padmé in shock of what her Anakin has become.
"I don't want to hear anymore about Obi-Wan!" growls Vader angrily, "The Jedi turned against me. The Republic turned against me. Don't you turn against me!"
The younger Anakin wants to close his eyes and will himself away from this nightmare, but his body wont listen to him and forces the boy to continue watching as the scene unfolds…
"Anakin, I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I cannot follow!" cries a heartbroken Padmé.
"Because of Obi-Wan!" accuses Vader, little Anakin hardly believing he would ever yell at or hurt Padmé this way.
"Because of what you're doing…what you plan to do!" exclaims Padmé, not noticing that Obi-Wan has just left her ship from his hiding spot as she had not allowed him to come near her husband, "Anakin, please come back to me…I love you!"
"Liar!" Vader shouts furiously, starting to use the force to choke his wife while his younger self cries out, "You're with him! You betrayed me…you brought him here to kill me!"
"No! Anakin…I swear," Padmé coughs as she tries to use her hands to stop the choking Anakin is doing with the force. Ani is beyond shocked and horrified as he watches as his Angel is being tortured by his own hand for something she did not even do.
"Let her go Anakin!" demands Obi-Wan angrily. When his former apprentice continues his choking, Obi-Wan repeats even angrier, "Let her go!"
"You will not take her from me!" shouts Anakin as he throws Padmé to the ground using the force, causing her to go limp and unconscious. Little Anakin walks closer to Padmé, wishing he could touch her and comfort her though he knows he cannot. He also cannot stop the tears freely flowing out of his eyes, believing he has never cried so much in his life, even in spite of his life as a slave.
"Your anger and your lust for power have already done that!" interjects Obi-Wan.
"You turned her against me!" yells the young Sith.
"You did that yourself," replies the Jedi Master, "You've let the Dark Lord twist your point of view until you've become the very thing you swore to destroy!"
"Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the Darkside as you do!" rants Vader, "I have brought peace and security to my new empire…"
"Your new empire!" intrrupts Obi-Wan, "My allegience is to the Republic, to democracy! Anakin…"
"If you are not with me," Darth Vader declares, "Then you are my enemy!"
Ani continues to watch as his older self and Obi-Wan fight to the death, running to keep up with them in the process. He cries out again as he watches Obi-Wan cut off his older self's three remaining flesh limbs and leaves him behind to burn to death.
Little Anakin barely notices as the scene changes again, this time to dark, medical room that looks more like a garage. Ani sees the hooded Palpitine approach a mass of black leather and robotics, a man that is more machine than man. He somehow knows that this is him even before the Dark Sith Lord addresses the cyborg.
"Lord Vader, can you hear me?" asks the Emperor calmly.
"Yes, my master," replies Vader with his new, deeper machinacle voice, needing a body suit and mask to breathe, "Where is Padmé? Is she safe?"
"I'm afraid she died," answers Palpatine with false concern, "It seems in your anger…You killed her."
"Noooooooooo!" cries/shouts Darth Vader painfully.
"Nooooooooo!" cries Anakin, speaking for the first time since he entered this nightmare he cannot seem to escape, he would never yell at nor hurt his Angel, let alone kill her, "Noooooooo…"
"Ani, wake-up!" yells Padmé, the fourteen year old version, "Come on Anakin, it's just a dream, snap out of it!"
"Huh?" asks Anakin still half-asleep, waking fully when he sees his Angel alive and well, "Padmé, you're alive!" The boy quickly crushes the queen in a nearly bone breaking bear hug. Fearing that something else maybe wrong, Padmé quickly returns the hug.
"Ani are you alright?" Padmé asks, her voice full of nearly identical concern to the future Padmé, "What happened? You were crying and screaming in your sleep when I came to get you, the others are already out of the ship and ready to head off on our mission."
"You proably wont believe me and call me a funny little boy again," Anakin sniffles, realizing he was finally out of that nightmare, at least mostly. He feels like that nightmare will never leave him fully.
"No, Anakin I wont, and I'm sorry" replies Padmé sincerely, "Now come on, you can tell me anything, I promise to believe you. Did you have another vision?"
"Yes," Anakin answers, the horror still evident in his eyes, "I dreamed of my future…our future. We will be successful in freeing your home…your highness."
"I know you're really Queen Amidala," continues Anakin feeling a little better from his ordeal, Padmé meanwhile only watches him in rapt attention, not saying a word, "Soon after I become a Jedi like I always wanted to only it's not what I thought it would be."
"I will be miserable, Padmé! I change into an evil monster," Anakin reveals, "And we don't see each other for many years and when we do we act like complete strangers! The Jedi aren't allowed to love and I cannot live without it!"
"Master Qui-Gon said I had a choice on whether or not I want to become a Jedi," states Anakin, "At first I was so excited, until the Council refused to let me become one."
"But now, after seeing my future, I know why. I don't want to be a Jedi anymore," confesses Anakin, "me becoming a Jedi Knight is the main reason why you will die in only a few years and my attempt to save you with their powers will only make things worse!"
"Whether or not you become a Jedi is your choice Anakin," comforts Padmé with a slight rosy blush, "No matter what happens, I will always care about you, though I have no idea why, I just do."
"You really are an Angel, Padmé," Anakin says, blushing madly, "You will sacrifice so much for me, especially if I become a Jedi. I will not let that happen, you deserve so much more happiness and me being a Jedi will only hurt the both of us."
"Well, lets not continue this right now," comments Padmé trying to get their minds re-focused on the plan to take Naboo back from the Trade Federation, "We have a misson to fullfill. Your assurance in our success gives me new hope in accomplishing our goals. So get ready, we'll be leaving soon."
"On my way," replies Anakin teasingly, "Your Highness."
"Just two more things I need to say," announces the girl queen, "One, don't call me Your Highness when its just the two of us or when I am disguised as a handmaiden. Two, you're not a funny little boy, you're a clever little boy for figuring out who I really was when two Jedi knights could not."
Anakin smiled broadly as Padmé walked out of the room, than out of the ship. He quickly put away the blanket and pillow he had used for his nap before following his Angel out of the ship and back to everyone else. It was time to push other things aside until later. They had a battle to win after all…