Yay, thank you for all your lovely reviews, I'm glad you're interested in my rather twisted story – but it's interesting, I guarantee it!
This chapter, as the title suggests, covers TPM. A few changes, as I mentioned – Anakin is fourteen, not nine!
Enjoy, there's nothing too twisted here!
Chapter 1: The Phantom Menace
'Fear attracts the fearful. Be less afraid.' - Anakin Skywalker, The Phantom Menace
XXXXX
32 BBY, Naboo:
"They will try and jam your transmissions. That will be the sign for their invasion. You must leave if that happens." Sidious ordered his secret apprentice and second cousin.
"But how should we escape?" Queen Amidala asked. "If they have captured us…"
"The Chancellor will send Jedi as 'ambassadors'. They will let you escape."
XXXXX
In space a few days later:
"What are you doing, Padmé?" Sabé, her decoy, wanted to know.
"I'm going to join the Jedi." She informed her handmaiden.
"What? You know nothing about the planet, what if something happens?" Sabé looked horrified.
"Don't worry. I'll have a Jedi with me. Besides, I just have this feeling. Like I need to be out there. I don't know why."
"You're Force-sensitive." Sabé informed her blandly.
Padmé whipped around, staring at her friend. "What?"
"I know you are, Padmé. I can sense it. My father's a Jedi, hiding it from the Council. That's why my mother uses her maiden name, as do I."
"But…"
"Papa gave me some training." She looked at her friend angrily. "And I know enough to know that you are not using just the light side of the Force."
"I don't have a choice, Sabé." Padmé sighed. "He got to me when I was small. Family. But I think it's supposed to be this way. Like the Force is screaming in my ear…"
Sabé frowned. "You're being told to…"
"Be a Sith? Yes." Padmé held out a hand. "Hush. I'm not evil. I don't even want ridiculous amounts of power. I want to be free. But I also know that what is happening is happening for a reason. Please support me on this. I swear I'll never harm Naboo, but I have to obey the Force and my master."
"Who is he?"
"You'll work it out. He has no Force-presence – that's how much he shields it. And the Jedi can't even tell that." She sighed, frustrated. "We're lucky they sent out two of the strongest – many Jedi aren't nearly up to the standard of Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi."
"You're really going out there?"
"I must."
XXXXX
"So, are you from the moons of Iego?" A male voice asked.
Padmé turned to see a boy about her age, tinkering with some parts. As she deliberately read it, she could see his Force-aura as blindingly white, brighter than anything she'd seen. And she could almost discern a crimson cord connecting them.
"Where?"
"The moons of Iego. I heard angels were from there." He feigned a look of confusion. "You're not an angel?"
She blinked. "Are you flirting with me?"
"Gotta practise somewhere. 'Sides, you really are pretty enough to be an angel. Mom used to tell me all kinds of stories about them." He looked wistful. "'Sides, if I practise enough, I might hit the big ones, and get enough money to free us."
"Free? You're a slave?"
"I'm a person." He snapped.
"I'm sorry." She looked contrite, but was trying to hide the smile. "I'm not from here. This is a strange place to me."
"Don't worry, you're strange to this place."
She was about to reply to that tart comment when Qui-Gon re-entered.
"We need to leave."
The girl nodded, and looked back to the boy.
"I'm glad to have met you…"
"Anakin, Anakin Skywalker."
"Padmé Naberrie."
"Nice to meet you too!"
XXXXX
Padmé had been amazed by the teenage boy's willingness to give, and the ease with which he welcomed them. He seemed much too old for fourteen, a man's eyes in a teenager's face.
She had liked his comment that 'fear attracts the fearful'. Yes, a very promising comment.
She had also noticed Qui-Gon Jinn's interest in him. She had heard a lot of the Jedi, and all she could say was that he was a true Jedi. One of the last. He immersed himself in the supposedly weak Living Force. It was not weak. It was his strength. And it was screaming at him as much as it was at her that this boy was more than he seemed.
That this boy was a pure convergence of the Force, of midichlorians. She had overheard the count Master Jinn had taken.
And then, how easily this boy had won the race! Yet he'd never finished before. It was likely that he had a case of 'I have to help them' that helped him win the race. Many did.
The attack from Darth Maul had not been unexpected. Her Master needed a visible apprentice, and Jinn and Kenobi were enemies that had to be destroyed at some point. They would believe it to be searching for her, that his master was behind the Trade Federation's invasion. Of course, he was, but not in the way, or for the reason, anyone believed.
She sighed as she dressed back into the handmaiden uniform and walked towards the cargo-hold to listen to the message.
XXXXX
Anakin turned the trinket in his hands, looking at it carefully as he thought.
The last few days had been incredible. That girl, Padmé, that his senses had screamed out at him over. They screamed that she was dangerous, hiding something, but also that her fate was inextricably linked with his. He could almost see a cord of crimson fire linking them through the haze he saw surrounding everything.
Even his mother didn't know of his 'seeing' ability, and with a Jedi nearby to compare to others, he had realised that he was seeing something to do with someone's strength with the Force. An aura of some kind.
His own, when he'd peered in mirrors, had always been bright white, but shot through with multi-changing cords. Only the crimson cord and a minutely-thin cord of black were permanent in the white mass. The crimson linked him to Padmé. The black… he assumed it symbolised his darkness. It was more concentrated that the barely perceptible thread in his mother, but less so than most on Tatooine. It was also a characteristic of all slaves. It was the anger, vengefulness, bitterness that they felt towards cruel masters and careless others. It was that streak that had made him bait Sebulba, and fight with a Rodian who claimed he cheated.
Master Jinn's aura was calm, a vibrant, living green, shot with white and red, the blackness about his level. He figured most Jedi had seen dreadful things in their lives. That blackness showed that. The life in the aura showed someone who lived for the moment, who cared. Red, he believed, was a symbol of love. And from the way that red twined with black, for grief, it was a love the man had lost.
He had only seen Kenobi for a moment, but his aura was as strong, if not stronger, than Master Jinn's, though by no means as tame. Blue of varying shades, vines of green, again a cord of crimson, and a cord of black.
He mused. Both of the Jedi had loved, deeply, at some point. Yet what Qui-Gon had said of the Jedi Code forbid them romantic love and attachment. Odd.
Padmé's aura was confusing, as though she was trying to suppress it. The crimson link was obvious. Black and white warred while blue, green and pink shot through the fight like lightning. It was confusing, and slightly worrying. She didn't feel dark the way Gardulla the Hutt had felt when he was a small boy, but Padmé, nonetheless, held a quality he could not decipher.
He pushed away his musings of what he had now termed 'Force-sight'. He thought about the podrace, of knowing that he had to win, to help them. He thought of his mother, who let him go, knowing he would have a better life. He thought of Qui-Gon, who had won him his freedom.
"You'll be freed, Mom." Anakin had told his mother. "I know you will. If it's not me, someone else who loves you will free you."
His mother had been startled, but held him close. "Go on, Ani. Walk, and don't look back. Remember what I've taught you. Make me proud. Be the man you were meant to be."
Anakin had obeyed, to a point. He had looked back at her and smiled.
He was going to be a Jedi now. He hoped. He wanted to fight the injustices in the galaxy, even as he wanted to pilot a ship and enjoy his new freedom. But Jedi weren't necessarily as free as anyone else.
He turned over the japor snippet. He'd carved it in his spare time, intending to give it to his mother, but now he felt that someone else needed it.
Padmé entered the cargo-hold. He watched her listen to a recorded message, from her homeplanet.
He wondered if a single word said was true. She heard him move.
"How're you feeling?" She asked with a light smile. The flame coloured dress-robe covered her hair completely, and part of her face, making her look older than she was.
"Cold. I couldn't find a blanket."
Padmé turned to pick one up. "You're from a warm planet, Ani. Too hot for my tastes." She smiled, inviting him to share the joke. "Space is cold."
He nodded, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, a need to be warm overcoming any need to impress.
He took her hand and placed the pendant within it.
"I carved it from a japor snippet. It's supposed to bring good fortune. I was going to give it to Mom, but I think you and your people could use all the luck you can get." He smiled jokingly.
"Thank you." She turned it over in her hands, examining it, and she smiled. "It's beautiful."
"I don't know if we'll see each other when we reach Coruscant, Padmé. I just want to say thank you, and I hope you consider me a friend."
"Ani, many things will change when we reach the capital, but I will still care for you. We practically owe you our lives. Nothing can erase a friendship born from that." She explained.
He nodded. "I owe my freedom to you and Master Jinn. I hope we'll never have to break our friendship."
"So do I."
XXXXX
Coruscant:
"Chancellor Valorum is controlled by the bureaucrats. But I control them. If you were to, say, call for a vote of no confidence…"
"You intend to become Chancellor, Master?" Padmé, or Darth Bana, asked, surprised.
"Indeed. Then it will not be long before I have control of the Senate. And our plans will come to fruition."
She nodded. "This will take time."
"Years, certainly. But we are Sith. We are patient. We will have our reward when the time comes. What is this stray the Jedi picked up?"
"A boy, Master, a former slave, Anakin Skywalker. He is a skilled pilot – he won a podrace, Master. He's extremely Force-sensitive. Apparently his midichlorian count is off the charts."
"He could be a danger to us."
"Master, if I may…" Padmé interrupted, unsure of why. "I can feel a… connection to him. The Force is telling me that he must stay alive. That he will be valuable. If he is that strong and could be turned…"
"Yes. Yes, that would work. Or even if he could not, his exceptional power could be passed onto children. He could breed…" Palpatine snickered.
Padmé ignored the odd feeling in her stomach as he said 'children'. "Maul is following us?"
"He will attack you when appropriate. Ideally, he'll engage the Jedi. You have a plan?"
"I will return to Naboo." She answered. "The Gungans have an army. If we can convince them to ally with us…"
"You'll have someone to pit against the droid army. Very good, my young apprentice. You are becoming quite the strategist."
"Thank you, my master."
"Go. You must not be missed."
XXXXX
The Senate Building:
"Queen Amidala of the Naboo, will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?"
Amidala spoke with anger and righteousness. "I will not defer… I have come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now. I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee. If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed. I move for a vote of no confidence… in Chancellor Valorum's leadership."
"What? No…" Valorum's eyes widened and he almost seemed to fall back.
In the background, the Alderaan Senator seconded the motion.
Sidious in his guise of Palpatine smiled as he played Senator to his unknown apprentice, the young queen.
"You see, Your Majesty, the tide is with us… Valorum will be voted out, I assure you, and they will elect in a new Chancellor, a strong Chancellor, one who will not let our tragedy continue…"
Amidala could feel the Senator's pleasure at the turn the tide had taken.
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Jedi High Council Chambers:
Anakin was stood in the middle of the Council Chambers being tested. He was nervous. Did they really think he was going to be calm in these conditions? They were doing it on purpose he was sure.
"A cup…" He murmured, sensing what was on the other side of the screen with a speed that startled the Jedi Masters. "A speeder… Some kind of plant, I've not seen many before… a rose?"
Yoda's eyes widened as the boy correctly deciphered the flower – how could he recognise it if he had never seen it before?
Mace Windu turned off the viewer, nodding towards Yoda.
"Good, young one. How feel you?"
"Cold, sir. And nervous. Are you doing that on purpose?" Anakin wanted to know.
"What?" Mace Windu blurted out in surprise before he could contain himself.
"Sorry." Anakin looked contrite. "I'm still getting used to actually being able to say things aloud. I'm trying to distinguish the difference, but Mom always taught me to tell the truth."
"Yes, your mother. Worried about her, you are?" Yoda asked.
Anakin nodded. "I know Watto won't hurt her, and she's going to be freed at some point soon, but it's hard not to worry. Tatooine's a hard place to live…"
"Tatooine. Homeplanet, that is?"
Anakin shrugged. "I don't know. I've been there since I can remember. Mom was kidnapped when she was little. Home's always been where Mom is. Family was the only thing we had."
"And your father?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked, wondering if this boy had any more information.
Anakin shrugged. "I don't have one. And I don't mean he raped her, or used her, or was a former owner, I mean I literally don't have one. And I don't understand why. But when Watto did a scan of us when I was… eight, I think, I was entirely made up from Mom's g-genes? Just different ones activated, and somehow male."
They stared at the boy. There was intelligence there. And a surprising amount of wisdom. A man in a child's body.
"Your thoughts dwell on your mother." Ki-Adi observed.
"I miss her. I'm not afraid to dedicate my life to something I believe in, but… Love and compassion are vital." He looked on them. "That's what Jedi are, aren't they? The avatars of peace, justice, compassion and love? Maybe not romantic, but I don't think any of you haven't felt that way at some point…" Then he smacked his lips shut, realising he had given too much away.
"What do you know, Anakin Skywalker?" Mace Windu asked. "You hide from us behind walls so thick we cannot penetrate them, but they are glass. We see through them. You are too old for the training, but exceptions can always be made."
"I can see it. I don't know what, but I can see love. I can see darkness. I can see the sides of the Force. In everyone. It's not invulnerable, and I can't see past well-erected masks, but… I can see." He sighed. "I can see darkness from grief and pain that has formed in Master Jinn, but it is one of the weakest I have ever seen in a human. I can see love in Master Mundi." He gestured to the Cerean, who was married due to his culture. "I can see the conflicted feelings of Padawan Kenobi, he struggles to embrace the Living Force because he fears his own power." He shook his head. "I see centuries of pain, Master Yoda. I see pain, and I see love in every one of you."
"Your future, clouded is, Anakin Skywalker. But a Jedi you must become." Yoda declared.
XXXXX
An hour later, Jedi High Council Chambers:
"Correct, you were, Qui-Gon." Yoda stated.
"His cells contain a high concentration of midichlorians." Mace Windu added.
"The Force is strong with him." Ki-Adi murmured.
"He is to be trained then?"
The Council members exchanged looks. "He is. But his Master will not be decided today."
"Why not?" Qui-Gon looked confused.
"The Senate is voting for a new Supreme Chancellor. Queen Amidala is returning home, which will put pressure on the Federation and possibly widen the conflict." Mace explained.
"And draw out the Queen's attacker." Yoda added.
"The Sith." Qui-Gon murmured, perceptible only to Obi-Wan and Anakin.
"Events are moving fast… too fast." Mundi sighed.
"Go with the Queen to Naboo and discover the identity of the dark warrior. That is the clue we need to unravel the mystery of the Sith."
"And Anakin?"
"Your ward, he is, for now. Decided his fate will be, when over, this crisis is." Yoda decided.
"Take him with you. Both of you must begin his training." Obi-Wan looked surprised at that order from Ki-Adi-Mundi.
"Protect the Queen, but do not intercede if it comes to war until we have the Senate's approval." Mace ordered.
"And may the Force be with you."
XXXXX
The Royal Naboo Cruiser, back to Naboo:
Anakin was sat in his cabin, attempting to calm his turbulent mind. Something was coming. Danger.
Obi-Wan walked in. Anakin had the feeling that Obi-Wan either didn't entirely trust him, or was upset about something.
"What's up, Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked.
"What?" The padawan frowned at the boy, who was less than ten years his junior.
"Do you not like me? Have I upset you?" Anakin asked curiously.
Obi-Wan looked at the boy in wonder. Sometimes he seemed far older than his years, and other times he seemed much younger in his questions. Anakin had had an even less ordinary childhood than a Jedi. At least the Younglings had a chance to play. Anakin had been working since he was old enough to walk.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "It's nothing, Anakin. I'm just… confused, is all. Did someone say you built a droid?"
Anakin nodded. "See-Threepio. I built him to help Mom. I think he must've been a protocol droid originally, but I barely had anything to work from. We, Kitster and I, that is, found him in a junkyard in pieces. I fixed him up." He grinned. "Anything mechanical, really. It's the only reason I lasted so long with Watto. He'd've sold me if I wasn't so good at fixing things."
"He'd have split you from your mother?"
Anakin seemed to consider this. "I don't know. Perhaps. He wasn't bad, really, as masters go. Threatened us, but never carried through. Not like Gardulla." He shuddered.
"The Hutt?"
Anakin nodded, and Obi-Wan had the feeling that it was a subject that shouldn't be touched on.
"What're midichlorians?"
"What?"
"Midichlorians. Everyone's been talking about them, and I don't understand a word."
"Oh. Well, they're microscopic organisms that live inside our cells. All living cells, actually. They give us our connection to the Force. We're symbiotic – we live to mutual advantage. Without them, there'd be no life or knowledge of the Force. They speak to us, telling us the will of the Force. The higher your count, the more midichlorians you have and the greater potential for communicating with the Force you have."
"So I'm strong?"
"Very."
"Huh. Explains podracing then. I'm the only human who can do it."
"You and other Jedi, yes. But your skills seem most in tune with piloting."
"I've been piloting since I could walk." Anakin grinned.
Obi-Wan shuddered.
"Don't like flying?" Anakin asked.
"With Master Qui-Gon? He doesn't fly, Anakin, he tries to cheat death…"
XXXXX
After the Battle of Naboo, Theed Palace:
Padmé felt cross that Master Jinn had been killed. He was a true Jedi, one that could have been used to her advantage. Fortunately, Maul had been killed. By Kenobi. That had been interesting, and the rush of power beneath the palace had been distracting and intoxicating despite the fight. Part of it was dark power, Rage, but there was also the tapping of his true potential, finally succeeding with the Living Force.
And Anakin! Yes, he was going to be exceptional given time. And, from what she could tell, handsome too. But he was presently adolescent, going through that awkward phase that boys always found far more awkward than girls.
She remembered his face when she had revealed herself to Boss Nass. That had been so entertaining. The Jedi had exchanged looks, perhaps they had realised, and then Anakin looked measuring, as if remembering something.
His skills had been proven in that cockpit. He had been warned to hide and stay out of trouble due to a lack of training and ended up essentially going on a joyride and destroying the droid ship. The Gungans loved him.
She wondered now how Anakin and Obi-Wan felt, with the loss of a man so important to them…
XXXXX
Anakin stared at the body of the man who had freed him. A man he had wished to be the father he lacked. He looked at Obi-Wan. Perhaps, though, he now had a brother.
"Grief is a natural part of life." Obi-Wan murmured, as though recalling a lesson. "But do not let it take over. Celebrate his joining with the Force, for he is now at utter peace."
Anakin sighed.
"There is no death; there is the Force."
"Jedi Code?" Anakin asked.
"Yes."
"Isn't it wrong though? Because Qui-Gon looks dead. We won't see him anymore. He won't train anyone else, free anyone else, love anyone else…"
"Tahl became one with the Force long ago."
"Tahl? That's who he loved and lost?"
"How did you…"
"Apparently, I have some unique abilities."
"That doesn't surprise me."
"What's going to happen now?"
"I don't know, Anakin, I don't know."
XXXXX
Several days later:
"You are granted the status of Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi." Mace Windu stated formally. "But we have a request."
"Yes?"
"We would like you to take Anakin as your Padawan. We believe he is the best partnership for you both."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I was going to request it… But I may require some help. I'm not experienced enough…"
"Help you will have." Yoda nodded, looking at Anakin. "Help you will need."
Anakin looked slightly affronted, and grinned at Obi-Wan. "I don't mind being your Padawan."
"Good. I, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, take Anakin Skywalker as my Padawan learner."
"I, Anakin Skywalker, pledge myself to Obi-Wan Kenobi as his apprentice." Anakin said formally.
Anakin's hair was cut to form the style of a Jedi Padawan.
XXXXX
Sidious smiled at his apprentice.
"Bana, this has gone well."
"I am sorry for the loss of Maul, Master."
"Not to worry. I shall find another apprentice." Sidious told her flippantly. "As long as my true apprentice stays unknown."
"Yes, Master."
"Now, we must plan ahead. Master Sifo-Dyas of the Jedi has made an interesting offer to the Kaminoans. A clone army. I will have my new apprentice kill him and take over the operation. In ten years, the galaxy will fall into civil war."
"Master, I…"
"It is the only way, Bana."
"Yes, of course."
"I am Chancellor, I can predict when things will happen. And there will be a Military Creation Act proposed. You will oppose it."
"Master?"
"You will become Senator for Naboo, after your term is finished."
"Yes, Master."
"There will be a bounty hunter tracking you. And I will request the Jedi to protect you. If he makes it through, Anakin Skywalker will be one of those protecting you."
"Yes, Master."
"And then you will seduce him."
XXXXX
A/N:
So, what do you think? Assume that the things that weren't written happened pretty much how they did in the film. What do you think of the changes?
Next chapter's a bridge chapter, of the ten years.
I'm posting up Bloody Sands, a one-shot of Anakin's time on Tatooine. It elaborates on a story told in Chapter 6, when Anakin mentions that his mother was brutally raped when he was five.
Please review!
Lol, Tanydwr
