DROP THE GAME
chapter one
Rubbing his temple and trying to ignore a sudden ache in his bones, Luke searched for his most recent memory.
There was biting, arcing pain. There was the weight of someone against his shoulder. There was desperation, then relief. There was love. Fear. And then…
And then there was nothing.
Luke stood in an empty hall in a building he didn't know. The place -- wherever it was -- was grand and held a feeling of importance and spirituality. Luke could feel the Force strongly here, stronger even than on Dagobah.
Luke wondered what that meant.
"Hello?" Luke called out tentatively, already reaching for his lightsaber. "Is anyone here?"
It was dark. Luke wondered if the inhabitants of this place were asleep, and if it were wise to disturb them. He quieted, unwilling to take the risk.
There was a gap in his memory. A gap that should have detailed the bridge between the destruction of the second Death Star and his arrival here. Worriedly, Luke wondered what had happened to Leia and Han, and reached out to find his twin and friend through the Force.
There was nothing. Luke's stomach lurched, and his heart nearly skipped a beat.
It was like reaching out where something should have been, where something had been for as long as you'd cared to find it, and being met with nothing but air. Like it had never been there at all.
It put him off balance. That, combined with the pain, forced him forward to lean against the wall. He groaned, but he stumbled onward.
The pain worsened, like piercing needles in his flesh. He had begun to twitch uncontrollably. It was difficult to walk, so Luke sunk to the floor. Desperately, Luke reached out for the only other person he could think of.
"Father…" he said, whispered into the emptiness. "Please…."
Anakin Skywalker awoke with a gasp. Followed by another gasp as he realized he could, in fact, breathe well enough to do so.
Heart thumping, Anakin reached up to feel a face no one had seen in over twenty years. Smooth skin, unmarred by battle or age or fire, felt under fingers of flesh and blood rather than durasteel. He had hair, too. Long, as it had been in his prime, in the final months of the Clone War.
Anakin shut his eyes, relished the feeling of being human again. This must be the afterlife, he thought. Anakin could remember clearly the face of his son as he had died, blue eyes wide and pleading. His heart clenched at the thought of Luke.
Almost automatically, his mind jumped to the idea that his son had perhaps not made it off the Death Star II. Anakin thought of how much time Luke had wasted trying to save him, how much energy he had expended carrying him, dragging him to a shuttle in the hopes of saving him.
But Luke hadn't needed to do that. Anakin had already been saved.
Anakin bit his lip, and looked around. He was back in his quarters at the Jedi Temple. Everything was just as he'd left it, too. Spare clothing strewn about, the unmade bed he'd awoken on, the model ships lining his shelves. Possessions he'd been discouraged to keep, yet had kept anyway.
"Father… please…."
Anakin stiffened. That was Luke's voice. What...
"Luke?" Anakin said, tentatively searching for his son's bright presence in the Force. Had he been right? Had Luke died only moments after him?
Luke didn't answer, and when Anakin pinpointed his presence in the Force he immediately knew something was amiss. His Force presence was not quite as bright as it should have been, was almost wilting and dull like a flower after a storm. Without a second thought, Anakin ran from his quarters and through the empty halls, feeling the magnetic pull of the Force between himself and his son.
Fear he'd known only when he'd come to the realization that he couldn't let Luke die, that his son would be killed by his master if Vader didn't do something, plagued him now worse than ever. His heart beat faster with every slap of his boots against the floor.
Finally, finally, Anakin rounded the final corner, only to find Luke half collapsed on the ground.
"Luke!" Anakin said, running to his son and falling to his knees in front of him. Fear gripped him. Luke's eyes fluttered, and as Anakin took him in his arms, he felt him twitching, almost like an uncontrollable shiver.
It was the Force lightning. It had to be.
Two things hit Anakin very hard in this moment. One: both he and his son were, somehow, very much alive. Two: Luke wouldn't be for very much longer if Anakin didn't do something.
Almost feverish in his daze, Luke met his father's gaze. "Who…"
Anakin brushed Luke's golden hair from his eyes, and his son's brow smoothed in understanding. "Father…"
Anakin smiled, softly. "Be calm, my son. You're safe."
Luke smiled, mouth trembling, his body weakening. He closed his eyes, and leaned into his father's embrace.
After a moment of watching his son's face, Anakin adjusted his hold on Luke so as to carry him comfortably. The memory of carrying his dead mother the same way lurked on the fringes of his mind, close enough to drive a foreboding chill down his spine. He tightened his hold on Luke.
Despite his son's worrisome condition he couldn't ignore the bizarre fact that they were both alive, in the Jedi Temple the way it had existed only before the Empire, and the same age.
Had they… time traveled?
The idea seemed ridiculous, but it was the only one Anakin could think of.
It should have been more shocking, and Anakin supposed it would be later, after his son was well and familiar faces made their appearances. He thought of Padme, Ahsoka -- of Obi-Wan and Yoda, the younglings he'd killed, and swallowed his regret. There was time for this later.
Anakin walked briskly to the medcenter, a journey he'd taken many, many times before. He didn't even have to think about the way -- it came to him like muscle memory.
It may have been the early hours of the morning, but one of the Jedi doctors was bustling about the empty center anyway, much to Anakin's relief.
"Hey!" Anakin said, setting Luke down on the nearest cot. "I need help over here!"
The young Jedi woman looked up in surprise. "Jedi Skywalker!" she said. "What seems to be the problem?"
She was too slow to approach, and infuriatingly calm. "My --" Anakin cut himself off with an annoyed growl. "This man needs emergency medical attention."
She came closer and touched Luke's forehead. Anakin grew even more concerned when Luke didn't respond to the touch. He was out cold.
"I have reason to believe he was electrocuted," Anakin said, getting straight to the point. "What do we need to do?"
"Electrocuted?" the Jedi raised an eyebrow. "Now what makes you say that, Skywalker?"
Anakin snarled. "We're wasting time."
The Jedi looked at him oddly, but did not push the issue. Calmly, she called upon the assistance of a medical droid, and said: "If he has been electrocuted, then a simple bacta treatment should suffice."
Anakin nodded, arms crossed. "Good."
"But I will first examine my patient, as I believe I am the doctor here, Skywalker."
Even though it irritated him, Anakin moved back a step, and allowed the Jedi to do her work.
She touched Luke's arm, and made a sound of interest. "I think you may be correct," she said. "These convulsions are like those of a victim of electric shock. And do you see the way his leg is slightly bent? It could be a minor break brought on by the initial, severe convulsion upon electrocution."
Anakin didn't say anything, a terrible feeling of guilt and worry settling in his stomach.
"But it looks minor enough," she continued. "B-34, prepare the tank with 1:4 bacta solution. I'll bandage the leg."
Anakin said suddenly, "Let me help."
The Jedi, who had bent over to retrieve something, turned and said, "Why?"
"You need help."
"I have my droid," she pointed out. "No. You want to help because you know this boy."
Anakin's eyes narrowed.
"But I suppose it doesn't matter. I sense no darkness or ill-will in him. You may help if you wish, if only because I know it's the only way you will allow me to do my job."
The Jedi set a roll of bandages and a pair of scissors on the small metal table beside the bed. "Make sure he doesn't move around too much while I bandage his leg. I don't want him hurting himself anymore."
Hours passed. Daylight broke. Luke floated in the bacta tank, unconscious, while his father waited anxiously.
The doctor -- Nali Anarth -- assured him with an annoyingly curious expression that Luke was well in the clear. Anakin would believe it when he saw it.
Anakin spared a glance for the chrono, and wondered if he was expected anywhere.
Anakin immediately decided it didn't matter.
"Anarth," he called to the woman across the room. "When will he wake?"
Anarth didn't look up from whatever she was working on. "You got him to me early enough that it should be anytime now."
As if on cue -- and it might have been, as the Force seemed to have a penchant for the theatrical -- Luke opened his eyes.
They found Anakin's immediately. Anakin reached out with his flesh left hand to touch the glass -- Luke did the same.
"Anarth," he called again, unable to help the relieved grin that spread across his face. "It seems you were correct."
Ahsoka Tano leaned against the wall of the hangar, painfully bored. Anakin had told her to meet him here at exactly 0800 standard hours.
Twenty minutes had passed since then, and Ahsoka was getting tired of waiting.
Anakin would tell her to be patient (and maybe that's what this was -- a test of her patience), but Ahsoka had never been one to sit around and do nothing. Even if it was only for a few minutes.
"Ugh," she said, kicking the ground with the toe of her boot. "Hurry up, Skyguy!"
"Is Anakin keeping you waiting?"
Ahsoka turned around, and found Master Kenobi watching her with a knowing smile.
Grimacing like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't, Ahsoka said, "Yeah… But I'm sure he's got a good reason!"
Obi-Wan chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure."
Ahsoka thought for a moment. "Do you think I should go and look for him?"
"I don't see why not," Obi-Wan said. "I may just join you."
"Did you need to talk to Anakin about something?" Ahsoka asked, before biting her lip. Was that too prying?
"You and Anakin have been directed to report to the council for a briefing very soon. It's in all our best interests that we find Anakin," Obi-Wan said with a smile.
"Oh." Ahsoka said. "Okay."
Obi-Wan led the way out of the hangar.
The Jedi Anarth had left the medcenter, and for that Anakin was grateful. For the first time (ever), Anakin and Luke spoke, unburdened by the fate of the galaxy or the looming threat of the Emperor. It was… enjoyable.
"Don't push yourself too hard," Anakin said, gently pushing Luke back down into the heavily pillowed bed. (Anakin had gathered all of the unused pillows to make his son as comfortable as possible. If Anarth had found that strange, she hadn't said a thing.) "Just rest for now."
Luke rolled his eyes, but grinned nonetheless. It was clear his son didn't really mind Anakin's hovering.
"I feel fine, Father," Luke assured him, reaching out for his hand. It seemed Luke was as starved for contact as Anakin -- or maybe he just knew it was what Anakin wanted.
It had been so long since Anakin had been so close to another being. Even longer since he had felt anything like this -- like love.
Love. He loved his son. Did Luke know that?
Anakin squeezed Luke's clammy hand between his own. "This is my fault, Luke. I hope you can forgive me."
Luke looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I let the Emperor hurt you, and in such a terrible way." (That didn't even compare to what Vader -- Anakin -- had done. Suddenly, Luke's hand clasped inside his own was no longer a source of comfort, but of pain and guilt.) "His Force lightning is what did this to you. If only I'd been sooner to see the light…"
Almost involuntarily, Anakin had begun to pull away from Luke. Luke tightened his hold on Anakin's hands, and said: "Please don't do this to yourself."
A sudden, powerful wave of emotion washed over Anakin. Luke was so very much like his mother, it hurt.
"Oh, my son," Anakin said, his eyes growing warm with unshed tears, "what did I ever do to deserve you?"
Luke smiled softly. "I forgave you a long time ago, for everything. I want you to know that."
For Bespin.
"I don't deserve it," Anakin said again, voice thick and barely above a whisper.
Luke looked down for a moment, and Anakin knew his son couldn't argue. "Maybe," he agreed, slowly. "But you can."
Anakin blinked.
"You told me this is the past," Luke said. "And from everything that I've seen, and with you… looking like you do, I think you're right. That means you have a second chance. And you have me, too." His son grinned. "I'll keep you on the straight and narrow, don't worry."
Anakin chuckled, and reached up to run a hand through Luke's damp hair. "Like my parole officer, huh?"
Luke smirked. "Yep."
Anakin straightened, and stood from his perch on Luke's bed.
Luke looked alarmed. "Father? What is it?"
"Obi-Wan," Anakin breathed, feeling decidedly unprepared for such a reunion. "And --"
"Skyguy! There you are!" Ahsoka Tano, looking every bit the snippy young Togruta she'd been when Anakin had first met her, bounded into the medcenter. "Master Kenobi and I have been looking everywhere for you!"
Sure enough, there followed Kenobi, watching Ahsoka with an amused smile.
Anakin blinked, stunned. He saw red Malachor and the durasteel Death Star in his mind's eye. He remembered how good it had felt running Kenobi through. He remembered the pain of losing his legs and his arm to the man he'd viewed as a father and a brother. The way the fire had consumed him, how Kenobi had turned his back on him after telling him after all this time he'd loved him--
He remembered that it was Kenobi who had stolen his wife and children from him. Anakin's fists clenched, and for a moment he struggled with his control.
Father. Luke's voice rang clear in his mind, stern and loving. It anchored him. It seemed Luke could sense the dark thoughts swirling in his mind. Parole officer, he sent lightly.
"Anakin?" Kenobi's amused smile had turned into a concerned frown. "Are you alright?"
Ahsoka watched him, her brow puckered in confusion. "What's wrong, Master?"
Anakin shook his head slightly. It was a struggle to find the words. "Nothing. I... didn't get a lot of sleep last night. That's all." That certainly wasn't a lie.
He looked down at Luke, unable to look at the two across the room. They were coming closer, too. Luke's hand moved a little, like he was thinking of reaching out to him, but thought better of it.
"Hey, who's this?" Ahsoka asked, pointing at Luke. Anakin had honestly forgotten how chipper his old padawan was.
He'd missed her, too. Unlike Kenobi, there was nothing to forgive her for. It was Anakin who needed to ask for forgiveness.
Luke propped himself up against the (honestly ridiculous) mountain of pillows. "I'm Luke Darklighter," his son said, holding out a hand. "Nice to meet you…."
"Ahsoka Tano," Ahsoka said. "Nice meeting you, Luke. And I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly are you doing in the Jedi Temple? I've never seen you around."
Luke looked at Anakin, at a loss.
"Is this what has been keeping you, Anakin?" Kenobi asked with a raised brow, taking a step closer. The way he said it made Anakin want to strangle him. Or at the very least, throw him clear across the room. "Your apprentice --" Luke blinked wide in surprise "-- was telling me that you'd promised to meet her in the hangar bay this morning. Not to mention the council has requested a meeting with the two of you, as you should well know. So, who is this young man you've brought into the Temple?"
It took Anakin a long moment to respond. For the sake of his son and perhaps Ahsoka, Anakin pushed his anger with Kenobi down. He would deal with this, in whatever way, a different time. "I found him just outside," Anakin finally said. This was a poor story, but he'd been too distracted to come up with one better. He almost dared Kenobi to challenge it. "He was injured, so I brought him here. I've asked Luke what happened, but it seems there is some memory loss."
Luke fidgeted at the attention Kenobi and Ahsoka were giving him.
"I see," Kenobi said after a long moment, stroking his beard. Anakin could tell he was skeptical. Bastard was among the many insults running circles in his head. Why couldn't he just leave?
"Well, Luke," Kenobi started (Anakin didn't like hearing his son's name in this man's voice -- didn't like the way he said it), "I'm afraid we haven't the time to speak properly. Anakin, the council is expecting you. Let's not keep them waiting."
Reluctantly, Anakin stepped forward, keeping closer to Ahsoka. I'll be back soon, he sent to Luke. Try and get some sleep.
Anakin could feel Luke's eyes on his back. Just try and behave, Father, Luke sent back, only half joking.
okay guys, this is just something old i wrote, reread and liked. i have no idea if this will be continued because i am not a strong writer. i still love this setup, though, so if i have the inspiration you can bet your butts this is getting an update.