State of Mine
Author
: Violet RavenRating
: PG-13Summary
: After a strange occurrence, Anakin is left questioning his sanity, and wondering what happened to the world he knew. ((Sort of AU))Disclaimer
: I don't own anything from the Star Wars universe, it is all property of George Lucas and affiliates. I can only dream.A/N
: This is a rather strange story that came out of a bored imagination ((thanks to summer vacation)) so I hope it is enjoyable. Please tell me what you think of it as I'm kind of unsure about it and would like some feedback. No flames-- but if you don't like it tell me why. Thanks :)------------
Eyes fluttered open, fighting against the heavy feeling weighing them down. Dark eyes adjusted to the light, or rather lack thereof, and looked around for any signs of life. There was none.
Where was he?
The boy tried to lift his head, but his neck felt like jelly, unable to support the incredible weight his head seemed to gain in a moment's time, and his head rolled back, hitting the hard floor with a 'thud'. He waited for a searing pain to jolt through his head, but it never came. Strange. His mind had no time to really grasp that concept, too many loose thoughts floated through his head that he found it difficult to form a solid thought.
His mouth wouldn't open without pulling the skin of his lips apart, and once that was accomplished he found he couldn't even swallow, it was so dry. He needed a drink. What was that liquid called….?
Before the boy could look for another clue as to where he was a door opened at one of the walls. It was unfamiliar to him, although it could have just been the groggy feeling running through his numb body.
The light that escaped into his room seemed to head straight for his sensitive eyes, and he clamped them shut immediately, letting a short moan escape his cracked lips.
"Sorry 'bout that," a voice spoke, seeming to come from where the door opened. The voice was female, and she sounded genuinely sorry for his small pain. There was a loud noise, and the boy assumed it was the door closing. The light was still there, though, he could see the yellow dancing on the inside of his lids. "Let me help you off of the floor."
Hands coming from nowhere reached under his arms and lifted him, half-dragging him onto something big and soft. A bed, me reminded himself, suddenly remembering the luxury. He sighed and let himself lay down.
It was then he realized that his hands were not free, even though he knew that he should have realized something like that a lot sooner. They were crossed over his chest and stuck in that uncomfortable position with a rough material of sorts. He tugged at them, but they wouldn't move, and after only a few tugs his head began to pound. So he stopped.
Once more the woman spoke, as though she could read his cluttered mind, even though he couldn't even see her face yet. "I apologize for our… methods, but you must understand- we are only trying to help you, and we can't have you pulling a weapon on anyone again."
Again? He cautiously lifted an eyelid, cringed, and once he was adjusted opened the other. He wished he knew what exactly was going on.
The woman in front of him was not what he had expected. She was elderly, probably about twice his age, with graying brown hair and an intense look that gave her a professional air. She wore a black business dress and held in her lap a board holding a small stack of paper and a pen which she held onto tightly, tapping it thoughtfully against her head. Her crystal blue eyes seemed to be attempting to read his mind, or that's what it appeared to be, as she looked at him during his silence.
Was she expecting him to answer something?
"Ok, well, I can see this is new to you, so let me start by explaining some things to you, John." She opened her mouth as if to continue speaking, but the boy cut her off.
"John?" His voice sounded sickly, cracked. He didn't remember what it was like before, but he knew this was wrong. He wondered if she could even understand him, or if his voice was too slurred.
She seemed to understand him. "Yes- John. You wouldn't tell us your name when you arrived here, so a lady at the front suggested the name John. Would you like to tell me your name now?"
'Actually', he wanted to say, 'no I don't want to tell you anything, I want to know what's going on and I want out of here'. But instead he just shook his head, realizing he couldn't quite recall his own name.
"Ok, John it is." She paused to write something down on the papers, and the looked back up at him, curiosity evident in her gaze. Instead of asking a question, like he suspected she was about to, she seemed to think better of it and decided to tell him a few things first. "My name is Missy, and you may call me that, or Dr. Jenkins, whichever you prefer. I'm going to be your therapist for awhile, until you get better."
He must have let his own confusion show, so she added, "I know you probably don't remember anything, but it will come back to you slowly. The tranquilizers we were forced to inject you with acts as a sort of memory inhibitor as well."
He nodded, not really understanding, but wanting to get on with whatever she was planning.
"Anyway, it's pointless for me to begin an actual session with you today, seeing as how you can't remember anything, but I just wanted to explain to you what exactly was going on before everything starts to come back to you. You were taken off of the streets by a policeman, do you remember that?"
The boy shook his head, not even sure what a 'policeman' was.
"I assumed as much, but I thought I'd ask. This policeman found you on the streets, ranting "obey one", or something like that. He assumed you were one of those zealous religious fanatics, and when approached, you became defensive, pulling out your… weapon, and eventually forced him to sedate you and bring you here."
After a moment, a scene flashed in his mind and he saw it being replayed in his memory.
One minute he was standing next to a friend, and the next he was in a place he didn't recognize, almost as if he has just appeared there out of nowhere. Confusion and worry set in immediately, and he called out to the man he had formerly been standing next to.
"Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan!"
There was no answer, and in truth he hadn't been expecting one. All he received were strange looks from passersby. But nothing made sense- how could he simply vanish from where he had been in a matter of seconds?
He immediately made himself aware of his surroundings, making sure that nothing happened without his knowing. The last thing he needed now was for something to take him off guard in this foreign place. So he looked all around him to find tall buildings in the horizon, nothing elaborate like on Coruscant, and certainly nothing as advanced. But they were beautiful in their simplicity, he noticed.
Turning, he saw people all around him, but all of one species, which was perhaps the most amazing thing about this place. There was only one species, and luckily he blended right in with them. Aside from his long Jedi robe, and wardrobe underneath. It was raining out, though, so almost everyone else had something covering their heads, making his outfit, while strange, not quite as abnormal as he assumed it may at any other time.
He moved forward, his boots sloshing around in the myriad or puddles gathered on the ground. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew that standing around here wasn't going to do much. He had to find out how he had arrived here, and quickly.
Before he could move much further, he felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"Son? I can't… Hey, are you listening?"
He turned around, seeing a tall, dark-haired man dressed in all blue, what appeared to be a uniform of sorts, though he himself had never seen any uniforms like this one. The man held a smooth black stick in his hand, but it did not seem threatening.
"Son, I realize that your religion calls for this type of thing, but I can't have you doing that here, understand?"
No, he didn't understand, but he nodded anyway as the heavy winds blew his robe around. He turned to leave again, but the man's voice stopped him.
"Hold it right there, let me see that."
"That?" What was he talking about?
The man reached forward and grabbed a metal shaft from his belt. His lightsabre. "What the hell is this?" He seemed to be nothing more than curious, but the boy didn't want to take that chance, he couldn't have his lightsabre in the hands of a strange man who could not even be trusted yet.
"It's nothing, can I have it back?" He reached for it, but the uniformed man wouldn't give it up so easily. So he lurched forward and grabbed it from the man's hands, igniting it. A blue electric force appeared out of nowhere and cackled as the boy held it straight forward threateningly.
"Easy there, pal, just put… that thing down."
He didn't budge, keeping a close eye on the man. He had no intention of backing down, but the question was: how was he going to get out of here?
Looking up, he got an idea. After a moment's pause he jumped, used the force to push himself higher, then somersaulted over the man's head, breaking into a run. Before he got very far, however, he felt something sharp hit him in the back of the neck, and all of a sudden he felt drowsy like he had after days of travelling and training with Obi-Wan.
Within seconds he fell to the ground, unconscious in this new place, and lacking any direction at all.
The boy looked up and grimaced after this memory had replaced itself in his mind. "Oh yeah."
"You remember something?"
He nodded. "What was that thing in my neck?" he asked, rubbing his neck unconsciously.
"That was the sedative that knocked you out and made you forget everything. Normally police don't use tranqs unless the situation becomes extremely dangerous, but in this case you frightened him, and he had never seen anything like you before, so… here you are." Missy titled her head. "Want to tell me how you managed to jump over the head of a 6 foot man like that, John?"
"Anakin," he noted, finally having some pieces fall into place inside his head.
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Anakin." He wasn't sure if he should be telling her this, but for the moment he had nowhere else to go and maybe she could help him get home.
"Well," Missy said, nodding, and again writing something down, "that's a start. Ok, Anakin, want to explain that to me?"
He didn't really, but again, he had no one else to turn to. "I assume you've never heard of The Force?"
She shook her head, not liking that he would make any assumptions about her, but not wanting to interrupt his story now that she was finally going to know what was going on with him. He hadn't wanted to speak to anyone when he first arrived, so she considered this progress.
Anakin paused, then explained to her what exactly The Force was, and what he was- a Jedi Knight in training. She nodded occasionally- she seemed to be doing a lot of that- to reassure him that she was still listening, but other than that he had no indication. He kept speaking anyway.
"We had been travelling for days, just going from planet to planet without rest, looking for some renegade we had been hired to find. It got to the point where even Obi-Wan looked like he was going to pass out, and he has had far more training and I have. At that point I suggested we take a quick rest, that we weren't doing any good as long as our brains were as tired as they were. It took some convincing, but he agreed, and we stopped travelling for a short time, and when I woke up our room had been ransacked. I don't know what exactly happened because as soon as I stood up and tried to wake Obi-Wan, something hit me on the head. I wasn't unconscious, but my vision was a little cloudy. I felt Obi-Wan's presence next to me then, he had woken up. Lightsabres drawn, we stood ready to attack, but that's when I blinked and found myself here-- wherever here is."
Missy looked very interested. "I see. That's a… fascinating story, Anakin."
"Story?" What was she getting at?
She stood up. "Thank you for your time, I'll be back tomorrow and hopefully you'll be fully recovered from the effects. I see you're almost there. Then we can begin real therapy, and now I have somewhere to start."
"No, wait, what is going on? Where am I?" He had answered all of her questions, thoroughly in fact, and she had yet to even tell him where he was, and what he had done to be put here.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Anakin." She gestured to a camera above the door and it opened. Anakin saw guards watching the door as she left, and then the door slammed shut, and the lights were turned off again.
Anakin let out an aggravated shout, and pushed his body into the wall in frustration. He wanted out of here so badly. If only he had somewhere to go.
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