AN: okay, so I may or may not have been amused with some of the reviews, but yes, fear makes people do crazy things, even Jedis my dear readers, that, and I needed Anakin to be a little bit of an anti-social kind of kid, it works with my future plot, as far as I can tell, the isolation. Anyway, we will get into more on why the Jedi Council deemed it fit for the moment to isolate Anakin for a little while, away from the rest of the group, and hopefully I can fully rationalize it as well, despite Obi-Wan voicing out the opposition of my thoughts…
Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this chapter…
A Twist in the Tales: Birthright
Chapter 2
Out in the Open
It's been nine years since Master Anakin had joined the Force, Shmi Skywalker thought as she helped process the different Jedi initiate on their tasks. Her mind often drifted to what her son would look like. She never held him, nor did she set her sights on him. After giving birth to him, she fell into unconsciousness, and when she woke up, the masters need not tell her what would happen to her. She already knew. She remember telling other Jedi who had born children the same thing. No contact, and will be reassigned elsewhere they cannot make contact.
It's funny how she used to think it was a normal thing, to feel detached, but never had she felt so detached until the day they told her she was reassigned to protect the initiates in the Agri Corps., facilitate their everyday lives. Ironic how she realized she was quite fond of kids and wanted one of her own…
Or at least, the chance to raise her own child. Projecting her sadness through the force, a fellow Jedi had approached her, "Is everything alright Shmi?"
"I had hoped I would forget," she started softly, "But it seems like absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder." She didn't need to elaborate, this Jedi was just one of the few that got reassigned due to an offspring produced…
The only difference was, she wanted the child, met the child…
"I am sorry. I'm sure Anakin is an excellent boy." Shmi smiled and the Jedi nodded and turned away, leaving Shmi alone in her thoughts…
She never did tell them that Anakin was the child of the Force, nor that he was probably half a Sith as he was half a Jedi. Suddenly there was a tingling sensation at the back of her neck, and she knew she was being watched.
"The boy has grown quite strong, and smart for one his age." Dooku said to Master Yoda as soon as he had asked how the boy was…
"Still, he lacks some control." Interjected Master Windu, "But yes, he has come a long way in a short amount of time."
"Focus, he lacks still, but control over the Force, he has mastered fully." Master Yoda finally said, "Time it is."
"Time?" asked Master Windu and Dooku, too, looked at his old master as well, but Master Yoda did not care to elaborate more…
"Summon Qui-Gon and Padawan Kenobi we will." Master Yoda said, "Summon the boy we will."
"So soon?" asked Dooku, clearly not convinced it was time…
"We should have done it years ago," Master Windu said, "I, for one, agree to this."
"But to let Qui-Gon be his master? He still has Kenobi, let me be the boy's master."
"No, Qui-Gon be the master, will not. Young Kenobi, chosen by the Force he was. Knight he will be. Ready he is."
"How can you be so sure?" asked Master Windu, projecting his worry through the Force. Master Yoda, looked at both masters and tapped his gimmer stick towards them…
"Told me the Force, years ago, it did. Kenobi, the boy will go to. Kenobi, the boy complete his training with." He said it so that made it clear there was no room for arguments. "Now, decided on a trial, I have. Need for Anakin, this does."
"Master, where are we going?" Obi-Wan answered as he walked side by side with his master, on the way to the Jedi Council, "I can't seem to recall doing anymore that could earn an audience with the Council."
"Don't say such nonsense Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said, "It's probably my doing and not yours." He looked at his padawan and winked and they both shared a laugh. Obi-Wan can't seem to shake the feeling that something was off. Master Dooku himself was the one that contacted them, summoned them. Usually it was one of the padawans or a Knight, but no it was Master Dooku. Something tells him this was a big assignment, and he needed to keep his head straight and focused…
They soon arrived, and Obi-Wan felt a familiar presence in the room, but he couldn't quite comprehend to whom it belonged. Stretching out his senses all the more, a flash of a boy of five-years-old appeared to him for a split second. Anakin, he thought, what was the boy doing in the council? Now that Obi-Wan realized, the room was heavily guarded, protected by some force wall…
"The council guards something." Qui-Gon said, as they waited outside for the guard to motion them in, "But what it is I cannot tell." He told Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan stared at his master and back to the closed doors. Was Anakin just some sort of wishful thinking? If so, why was he thinking about the boy? True, he had often wondered how the boy was faring, but it never made him think or feel the boy was just around the corner. And how come Master Qui-Gon couldn't sense Anakin if the boy really was present, when he can?
The guard soon motioned them in and they both stood in the council, and Obi-Wan could see Anakin dutifully standing beside the grand master. "Greetings to both of you we do." Master Yoda started, "Curious, to summoned you have we?" he asked, sending a knowing look to Obi-Wan…
"The question has crossed our minds a few times." Qui-Gon answered truthfully, "What can we be of service to?"
"Met Anakin, you have Padawan Kenobi, remember do you?"
"Yes masters." Obi-Wan answered, looking at the boy, who seemed more like a robot than a child. There was no emotion on his face, even his mental shields were steadfast in place. Never had he seen one so young achieve such a shield…
"Decide on a perfect trial we have."
"Trial?" Qui-Gon asked almost immediately. The words haven't even sunk in yet, when Obi-Wan realized what it meant, they were making him a knight! A jedi knight! "Thank you for deeming Obi-Wan ready." QUI-Gon said, projecting his gratitude and the other masters nodded.
"Trial for you, to go to Naboo, negotiate you will, as ordered by Chancellor Valorum." Master Yoda started, "Guided by Qui-Gon, you will be, but bring Anakin you shall." Master Yoda said and motioned the boy to step forward a little, "Keep the boy safe, and identity secret. If do this you can, pass the trials you will."
"A secret?"
"You must hide the raw power the boy has, and keep him in check. He already knows the basics of a mental shield, but his presence he cannot yet fully mask. We need you to cloak his force presence during the entire mission lest the Sith find him and worse, take him as one of them." Master Windu elaborated. It was obvious that the council was nervous, just as Obi-Wan was on being in charge of the boy. Obi-Wan at best was still getting into trouble himself, so how was he supposed to take care of another?
But perhaps that was the test, to be fully responsible for himself, and be able to protect what is truly needed to be protected. "I accept the trials Masters. I will not disappoint you."
"Dismissed you are." Master Yoda said…
"May the Force be with you." added Master Windu.
They had already boarded the ship, and still Obi-Wan didn't know how to even talk to the child, who, for the most part, was just staring at him. "You'll pass Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon said as he came up beside him, "Besides, Anakin's a good boy. The council had trained him well."
"Too well." he mumbled and approached the boy and took a seat in front of him. It was only moments ago that he probably realized that the boy never stepped foot outside of the Temple, and felt a pang of pity, but understood the misgivings of the council about exposing the boy…
"You'll pass." Anakin said and Obi-Wan let out a small smile…
"Thank you for the boost of confidence." He said and Anakin just stared at him...
"No, you will pass." He insisted, his face not morphing into any other emotion aside from impassiveness. Obi-Wan leaned in, curious, as did Qui-Gon…
"Well, how do you know?"
"I've seen it." Anakin said as a matter of fact, then turned his head to Qui-Gon, "Did you say goodbye? I think you should start, you don't have much time left." Said Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at his master then back at the boy…
"Why do you say so?" asked Qui-Gon at the boy…
"Because you'll die by the time the mission is over." If it had been just anyone, Obi-Wan would have brushed it off and never speak to that person again, but this was Anakin, the Chosen One of the Force, not to mention there are only a few Jedi around that the Force shows the future to, so why couldn't Anakin predict the future as well?
"Do you know how?" Obi-Wan asked, concerned for his master's safety…
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon warned, but it seemed like Anakin was taught to say everything he sees and hears as well, if not a little too well.
"The Sith kills him." And the three of them had gone on the rest of the trip trying not to let Anakin's words bother them. A sith? Obi-Wan looked at his master, wanting to tell him to go back to the Temple, have someone else be accompanying them…
"Relax young one." Qui-Gon said through their bond, "Always the future is in motion. Remember that."
"But why would the Force show such a thing to the boy?"
"Perhaps it is a warning, or a signal that my time has come. Either way, there is nothing else we could do. Remember, one often meets its destiny on the path he takes to avoid it."
"Yes master."
" Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, please proceed to the cockpit immediately." Qui-Gon's comm. link sounded and Qui-Gon moved to follow, while Obi-Wan was about to stand up…
"No Obi-Wan, stay." Qui-Gon said, "Your mission lies with Anakin." He finishes and Obi-Wan sits back down, to accompany the boy. As soon as the door slides shut, Obi-Wan looks at Anakin once more and deciphers what he should do while on this mission: keep Anakin close to him at all costs; not let him wander off; for Force's sake, interact! The boy doesn't seem to know that the way he looks is a little bit downright creepy, with no emotions or whatsoever. He knows so far that the boy is excellent with his mental shields, but whenever he tries to get a grip on the boy's emotions…
There was none at all. No fear, no anticipation or whatsoever.
"You're thinking." The boy suddenly speaks, and Obi-Wan nods awkwardly, not knowing how he could convince the boy to not be a droid. "I'm no droid." It was a defensive statement, Obi-Wan knows because he thinks he feels a little annoyance with the boy. This gets Obi-Wan thinking, was the analogy between him and a droid so common? Is that why he got annoyed? "You ask too many questions."
"And you seem rather talkative." He remarks back, and for a moment, he thinks there was a small movement on the corner of Anakin's lips, but he isn't too sure, his face was still his usual poker of an expression…
"You project your thoughts loudly in the Force, if a Sith were here on board they would have known your deepest fears and desires already." He supplied in a monotonous voice, "You should at least know how to erect good mental shields-"
"Tell me Anakin," he said, cutting off the boy in a casual manner, which catches him off-guard, seemingly brushing off the implications he doesn't know how to erect good mental shields, "Are you fond of meditation?"
"Meditation is an activity where one immerses himself in the Force; it is a good thing to do when you do nothing."
"Yes, but are you fond of it?" a sense of confusion, the boy, as Obi-Wan sadly thinks, must have just been drilled with what he should and should not do. "How about we talk?"
"About what?"
"Anything."
"It's a pointless conversation then." And Obi-Wan finds that Anakin was done talking for the moment, and lets out a frustrated sigh.
"How do you think the boy is faring under Obi-Wan's care?" Master Windu asked as he came to sit in the meditation stools. Master Yoda scrunched up his nose in deep thought, as he stretches out his senses as far as he could to detect Obi-Wan's force signature…
"Difficult to see emotions, when concerning Anakin, hides it deeply, within mental shields he does." Master Yoda states, "Learned to release them, he has not yet." Master WIndu let out a soft sigh of resignation, "Concerned I am, that this be undoing of his." Master Yoda adds, "Sith seeks emotions to fuel the Dark Side, use it they will."
"Let's just hope there won't be a repeat of the last time." Master Windu said, and Master Yoda almost shuddered at the memory of the incident when the boy was still just a wee babe, only just a few days old…
Anakin Skywalker was placed among the other kids, in the middle of the night, when only a handful of Jedi sentinels were roaming to guard the temple, there was a huge disturbance of the Force, it flared in warning of a bright light when it turned to a bloody red shade before fading to black. The healers had immediately rushed towards the crèche, knowing the source was coming from there and were horrified of what had happened. Cribs were overturned and disarranged, forming a suspicious circle around Anakin's crib, who was crying relentlessly, when another burst of energy came from the baby's loud wails…
Fortunately, the Jedi healers recovered quickly enough, to stabilize most of the cribs, to avoid further harm, but some were already lost.
Anakin Skywalker was moved to a secluded part of the temple, one where not many Jedi would venture into. It was during that incident that the council decided to isolate the babe until such time it would learn to control the Force around him. Over the past few years, there were still bursts of energy released from the boy, especially when he falls asleep. Every master of the order soon took turns of watching over the boy, day in and day out, ready for anything…
"Ready, I hope, Obi-Wan is." Master Yoda said, "Need him, Anakin does." And just then a running Jedi Padawan came to a sudden halt in front of them almost bumping into them; alarm rang throughout the Force, signifying grave news from the boy…
"Masters!" she exclaimed, and Master Windu rested firm hands on her shoulders, "There- bomb – Agri Corps- gone-"
"Breathe padawan," Master Windu said, "Tell us properly."
She remembered running towards the other Jedi's, sending the warning signals when the explosions started, something was not right. There had just been pure chaos, when she felt a familiar presence, but where and when she felt it escapes her thought. She knows it was coming for her, and there was a certain kind of fear gripping her very core. She's felt this sensations before, something tells her, it was after her…
It was coming for her, the darkness…
Snap-hiss
It was smoky, the place around her as she searched for more presences through the Force, but she can only sense one, and it was a dark entity, and only the red light was visible from where she was.
A Sith!
And soon flashes of red, her master's scream break through her mind, needles, large ones and yellow eyes invade her mind, making it ache so bad she drops to her knees, shouting in pain…
"Kill him, he's no use to me."
"Injection of midichlorians will soon be commencing."
"Hush now, you will be part of the greatest experiment in the entire History of the Sith…"
"No…" Shmi gasped in pain as the dark user stepped forward, "I know those eyes…"
"Sadly I wasn't around yet when you've met my master." He answered in that baritone voice and tilted his head, "My master wishes to me to bring you before him alive… but he didn't say how." He reached out his hand and started to invade her mind…
Searching for an answer…
"I know why you've come…" Shmi whispered, "You won't have him!" he growled at her and dug in deeper into her memories, and Shmi squirmed, forcing him out by strengthening her shields…
"Where is the child!?" he demanded after giving up on prying her mind and grabbed her through the force by her throat. She gasped, but she was smirking triumphantly at him…
"Away from you and your order…" she spat on him and smiled, causing him to grip her neck tighter, until she passed out. His master still did want Shmi alive.
"She's in danger." Anakin suddenly said softly, and Obi-Wan looked away from the door for a moment to look at the child, "My mother." Obi-Wan was a bit taken aback…
"Your mother?" he asked, as far as he knew, the boy never met her. "You sense Knight Skywalker?" he comes closer and sits in front of Anakin, who looks up at him with his eyes, before giving a curt nod of the head. "How?" Anakin reaches out a hand and levitates the water from the cup, making it float into a flat plane of a circle in front of them both…
"The Force is a mirror," the child starts, "All we have to do is find the courage to go past the murky waters and test it. Sometimes, when I'm alone, I tap through the Force, and I search for her…" her trails of and touches the center, causing ripples, "It resonates throughout the Force, but though I feel her, she doesn't tap back."
"It's for the best Anakin." Obi-Wan tells the child, "A Jedi is not supposed to have attachments."
"But what are attachments?" his child mind often wondered. How do you know these are the attachments that are wrong? He doesn't say it, he doesn't show it, but every little thing that surrounds him, had felt it. He feels everything. He and the Force are one, except, he's a physical manifestation, therefore he has been limited, but the Force is an entirely mysterious entity. Boundless, and formless, everywhere, and yet nowhere at the same time…
"Anything that makes you connected to someone or something. That's why the Jedi are raised differently than the rest, to provide sound council when needed and a logical solution for the betterment of most, instead of a few."
"But why are you attached to Master Qui-Gon? Why are the council members too attached to the code?" Obi-Wan didn't know what to say about the first question, so he opted not to answer that, and instead skipped to the second, hoping to placate the boy from his connection with his mother…
"Being obedient does not necessarily mean you are attached. Often times, the code serves as a guideline, and guidelines are there to… well… guide you to make sound decisions."
"But how will you know the decision you've made is sound?"
"Well, more people will benefit of it, rather than only a select few."
"So when you take away the babies who were force-sensitive, who's benefitting more?"
"Well, the people." Obi-Wan answered almost immediately…
"But how would you know?" Anakin persisted, and Obi-Wan finds himself a little more unnerved by the passionate questions, yet impassive expressions coming from the boy…
"I think that's enough for the day Anakin." Obi-Wan said and stood up. Master Qui-Gon had returned and he nodded to the both of them…
"Come along now, it's time for negotiating."