It wasn't raining. On Tatooine the temperature of the planet was so hot that Anakin could only dream of rain. He had just finished his day of work, and was wrapping up a task that Watto had given him.
As the last customer left, Watto hovered into the room. "Your work for today's done, boy," he rasped at Anakin in Huttese. "Go home. And be back bright and early tomorrow." Anakin only nodded at his Master, and headed outside.
The streets were bustling, and the suns of Tatooine bore down on him, and he wished it would rain. He wished he could just command the suns and the clouds to make rain. He looked to his right, and saw Kitster smiling at him. "Are you done with your work, Anakin?" he asked.
Anakin grinned. "Yeah." his expression changed and he stared up at the sky. "Do you ever wish it would rain? I know it's foolish to wish, but I can't help but do it…"
Kitster looked at him solemnly. "I wish it would rain too, Ani. Do you want to play today?"
Anakin apologized, "I'm sorry, I can't play today. I have to go help my mom out with something." He and Kitster waved goodbye and Anakin continued to walk slowly, still wishing for rain.
It didn't rain on Tatooine, and it never would. But sometimes the deep space pilots would tell Anakin stories of a time where Tatooine was a lush, green planet with lakes and oceans and rain. But they were just legends, and Anakin didn't know whether he should believe them or not. All he knew is that he would be grateful if Tatooine ever magically gave him rain. He and his friends would run out of their homes and jump for joy, and they would play. And maybe they would be lucky enough that their masters would give them the day off.
He finally reached his small home. He was unlucky to be a slave, but he was grateful that he had a home all to himself, one that he didn't have to share with any other slaves. He imagined it was raining and his mother was giving him shelter when she opened the door.
"Ani!" his mother smiled at him. "You're home!"
Anakin hugged his mother. "I will always come home to help you, Mom."
His mother looked down proudly on him. "I know you would. Now let's see where you can help me out. Come on."
Anakin took one last look outside, and imagined himself being splattered with raindrops when it rained before going inside to follow his mother.
It was dark, and the clouds were gloomy. He was standing alone on the empty land.
It was raining. The stars were glowing and Anakin was standing with his wife on the balcony of the lake retreat on Naboo. It was on one of the few vacations that Anakin ever got to be on with his wife. Their arms were around each other, both just grateful to be together at a peaceful place when the Clone Wars were raging throughout the galaxy.
Padmé looked up at her husband. The air was cold, and the raindrops were splattering on the lake. "I love you, you know."
Anakin's strong arms, one flesh and one made of mechanical parts, closed around his wife. "I know. I love you too. I will always love you."
Padmé gave a melancholy sigh. She whispered as she stared out to the island, "I wish it could always be this way… You and me, together."
Anakin bent down to kiss her hair. "You know that even if we're not really together, I will always come back to you. And I won't ever let you go."
Padmé stared out. "If only this rain would end."
Anakin smiled and unclasped his hands, letting Padmé and him sit down on a shaded bench. "I would always wish for rain. Rain is a blessing. Water is a blessing. On Tatooine-" his eyes hardened as he thought back to those days- "we would always wish for rain. We would cherish water. And I would always dream of it if it ever came to be true… and it never did."
Padmé leaned her head on his shoulder. "But Naboo has never been a place that looked beautiful with rain falling from the sky. We have lakes, rivers, and oceans… that's plenty of water." She was teasing her husband by now.
"Naboo will always be a beautiful planet, no matter whether it is raining or not. I love Naboo. It reminds me of you… and of what we share together." His voice dropped. "Would you ever consider having children?"
Padmé looked alarmed. "I would love it. But what would we do if it ever happened? Would we have to give him or her to the Jedi… I could never do that. Could you, Anakin? Could you live like that? Could you live when your precious child is but a stranger to you? I could not."
"I could never do that. But sometimes I wish… if the circumstances allowed us to, we would be raising a family. Here. I would leave the Jedi Order, or- or make them see that attachments are better for an individual as a whole."
Padmé frowned, her logical mind getting the better of her. "Anakin… Ani… not now, not here."
Anakin looked down at her, capturing and holding her eyes. "But would you do it? Would you stay with me forever so we can live the life we want to live?"
Padmé looked away. "I want children as much as you do. But we can talk about it when the time is right. When the Clone Wars are finished and when the Republic has won. When we find where the corruption in the Senate comes from, and make our society peaceful again."
Anakin gently pressed his lips against her cheek. "Let's stop doing this… we only have mere days left before I have to go back to the Jedi, and you going back to serve the Senate. I love you. I will do anything for you. And here on Naboo, it's just you and me, and love, and simply being together."
Padmé turned her head to meet his gaze. Her brown eyes searched his, and her lips formed themselves into a smile. She took his hands, and they faced each other as they kneeled on the bench. "I love you too. I will always love you, it doesn't matter what you look like, or what you do. I love you, and that's all that will ever matter to me."
Anakin gave her a loving smile, and bent down to meet her lips, their shadows touching each other in the dim light of the retreat and the rain-filled sky.
He stood, and looked up to the sky. His lightsaber sizzled.
"Ani!" Padmé's voice called out to her husband. "Luke and Leia are getting into trouble with the shaaks again! And it's starting to rain!"
Anakin looked up from his datapad, holding news from the Republic HoloNet. In the wake of Palpatine's defeat, the Senate was reforming itself into something more powerful, driving the corruption to near extinction.
He stood up and stretched. He was a Jedi Master now, the Jedi having granted him the title upon him destroying the Sith and bringing balance to the Force. They had given him five days of a break when he requested some time with his family. The Jedi had been corrupted during the Clone Wars, but now that the shroud of darkness was gone, they had once again become guardians of peace.
At first, they hadn't agreed to Anakin starting a family of his own. But seeing the pregnant Padmé Amidala heavy with child, they knew it would be wrong to deny the Chosen One happiness after him winning the war for them.
Sometimes Anakin couldn't believe it himself that he had fulfilled the prophecy. That fateful night when Mace Windu had weakened Sidious, Anakin had seen the lies behind the Sith Lord's words. He did not want to become a slave to Sidious. And he thought that if he destroyed the Sith, the Jedi would let him become a Master. Along with the ability to better serve the Jedi Order as a Master, Anakin could at the same time find the secrets in the Archives to save Padmé. But it turned out that he had no need to do so, as his dreams were only dreams, as Obi-Wan had promised.
Life had become nearly perfect. Padmé had unexpectedly given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and since both Anakin and his wife were correct in the baby's gender, gave them the names they had thought of for them: Luke and Leia. Luke was a talented Padawan in his father's care, and Leia was taking some time off of the Jedi to get a taste of politics and Padmé as Supreme Chancellor and near the end of her term.
Anakin stood there for a moment, pondering the past. Padmé walked up to him and put an arm around him. "Is everything okay?" she asked, her melodic voice making him even more joyful and grateful than he already was.
He gave her a passionate kiss. "Perfect. Just perfect. I love you, Padmé," he whispered.
She broke off the kiss and reminded him that Luke and Leia were still outside and then spoke against his neck. "I love you too."
Anakin walked out, the spring rain a pleasure to be in. He had wished for rain as a child, and his wish had finally been fulfilled. He knew he looked childish, but he couldn't help opening his mouth to taste one of the delicious, cool raindrops.
His eyes snapped open. He stared into the monstrous, stormy clouds, his head tilted up. He could not taste the rain even if he wanted to. The rain had killed all of the plants on the land where he stood, for it was acidic and the sky would never be clear again. Because, on that fateful night, he had not killed Palpatine. And it had cost him everything he ever cared about.
And so he was forever alone.
It was sunset. Anakin, Padmé, Luke, and Leia all climbed to the balcony where Anakin and Padmé had gotten married so many years ago. They stood together, arms around each other, a family united. Padmé asked Anakin how he felt now that he had fulfilled his destiny.
"My family is all I ever wanted," he told them, the shadow gone from his eyes, replaced with a joyful light that had never been there before. "I could never be more complete." he closed his eyes as if he was speaking to the Force itself. "You were right..."
His voice was heard by all as it echoed across the dimension of stars.