Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything Star Wars-related. I think with the whole Iron Man 2 movie release, and then exciting stuff on Smallville (Final Season, September 24, hell yeah) I'd forgotten how amazing Star Wars is. But then...what happened to me recently? Uhh...I don't remember. But one of my friends and I are attempting to make a Jedi/Sith film on our own. Oh yeah! Star Tours closed at Disneyland last week! That's what it was. On Monday, my friend and I went to the park purely for that one ride...the last day. Very sad, but hey, at least they're not completely changing it-it'll be Star Tours II!
-STAR WARS-
Previously in Through the Force...
Out in the desert, a dark shadow passed over the abandoned, cursed Tusken camp. With his black hood covering his scarred face, a nameless, soulless menace grinned wickedly.
Everything is going according to plan…as it was so predicted. Soon young Solo will be ours. Conflicted emotions…so unsure is the future for this one. Even the power of the dark side cannot foresee it.
But now…he must wait. If he stuck at this moment, everything that he and his apprentice had trained for…had waited for…would have been for naught. For nothing. He smiled widely, his old, ruined, jagged teeth with golden fillings slightly shining in the pure dark…in both sight and feel.
But…oh, yes. Soon, we will be the ultimate power in the galaxy once again…
-STAR WARS-
Chapter 3: My Name is Anakin
-STAR WARS-
"You never did tell me how you wound up in the middle of a sandstorm," Kitster mentioned a few days later, distracting Anakin, who had been staring at a medium-sized Hutt. Though he'd traveled to each end of the galaxy and back, Tatooine was not at all what he had expected. "Or why."
"Huh?" Anakin blinked and shook his head. "Our ship crashed," he answered expressionlessly, his momentary smile fading. Kitster smiled gently.
"Your wife told me as much," he said. "But I can't help thinking that there's more to you than you say." Anakin shrugged.
"What do you expect to find?"
"I do know there was a battle up there," Kitster said, pointing up at the sky. Reflexively, the younger man looked up, and immediately looked down, the sun nearly having burned his eyes.
"So?"
"Were you a part of it?"
"No."
Kitster raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Anakin said, slightly annoyed. "I would never willingly bring my five-year-old son into a battle willingly. I know-"
"I understand, Master Jedi, but-"
"I came here to research what was lost of my family history during the time of the Empire," he said evenly. "Not foreseeing any danger, I brought my family with me. Our ship was shot down as we came out of hyperspace." Anakin looked down, ashamed at the fact he knew to be true. "It wasn't our war. There was no need to fight."
"But you did."
"Yes," he said shortly. "My brother and cousin were fighting. Ben's only a kid. I had to…I had to protect him." Kitster frowned slightly, but said nothing.
After a moment, he said, "I took you into my home. I've given you everything I can offer. But you never even told me your name." He trudged along the sandy path towards his home, clutching a bag of spare parts with his weathered hand. Anakin followed the older man, taking a deep breath.
I know Kitster's a good person. He won't ever betray us. But telling him my name…telling him who I am…wouldn't it just bring back memories of his old friend?
But another voice in Anakin's head whispered, that's what you came here for, isn't it? Don't you want to know about Anakin Skywalker…your grandfather?
"I'm sorry, Kitster," he said quietly, causing the dark-skinned man to turn around, confused. "My name is Anakin Solo. I didn't want…" Kitster gaped at him; the bag he had been carrying was now on the dirt.
"Anakin…Solo?" he asked, and grinned when the younger man gave him a slight nod. "You're just about a legend around here. Rumor has it…you saved the galaxy." Kitster's eyes twinkled brightly. Anakin smiled, but searched the old Tatooinian's face for any sign of recognition. When he found none, he sighed heavily.
"Kitster…you've been good to me and my family," he began, choosing his words carefully. "And I want you to know that I'll never turn on you. But…I need to ask you a few questions." Kitster's eyes narrowed.
"I asked you if you had a purpose here," he said. "But you've avoided the question every time. You've just been using my hospitality, haven't you?"
"No," Anakin said, as gentle as he could. "No, I haven't."
"Why else would a Jedi Knight waste time here?"
"I need…an…eyewitness account," he said quietly, his blue eyes penetrating the wide-open space that was Tatooine, "Of my grandfather's childhood."
"And you think I would be able to give it to you."
"You've mentioned him," Anakin said simply, looking up at the older man who held so many of his family secrets.
"Have I?"
"His name was Anakin Skywalker."
-STAR WARS-
Anakin breathed in heavily as he watched the twin suns set over the dunes. He kicked at the dirt with his worn boot and sighed as a few pebbles blew over the cliff and down to what he had come to regard as a giant tomb. He looked down at the old huts that had long since been deserted. Staring out at the endless dune sea, wind blew through the Jedi Knight's dark brown hair.
I don't know why…but it makes me sad. I always wanted to know more about him. I wanted to know who he was…why he turned. But maybe it's just better to let the ghosts of the past rest in peace. Maybe Jaina was right.
He closed his eyes and knelt at the edge of the cliff, in respect of the innocents who had died at the hands of the young man who would become Darth Vader…Anakin Skywalker.
No, he inwardly corrected himself. He must have already been Vader at this point…right?
Or had he? Had those murders just been the first of many during his lifetime?
Anakin shook his head in disgust, if only with a twinge of sympathy, and climbed back onto Kitster's sandspeeder.
I shouldn't be here. I should never have been here.
-STAR WARS-
Anakin felt his heart warm as Gavin laughed freely, the boy's blue eyes glistening in the evening light.
He has a good laugh. A happy laugh.
He brushed his son's light brown hair away from his face, smiling slightly when it fell back into place anyway. From a chair opposite Anakin, Tahiri looked at him meaningfully. He silently extended his hand, and she walked over, sitting beside him.
"I'm glad someone's having fun," she muttered, nodding at Gavin, who was now playing with Kitster's Holovid projector. Anakin smiled and sighed heavily.
"Yeah."
"Ani, what's going on?" she asked quietly, taking his hand in hers. He bent down and kissed her hand gently.
"I'm not sure," he admitted, staring out at the dunes as he had become accustomed to doing since he had arrived at Kitster's home. "I wish I knew."
"Is this about the camp…the Tuskens?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I feel…something," he said, concentrating on the outside, his eyes closed. "It's…dark. And it's clouding everything else." Tahiri frowned slightly, her eyebrows narrowing as Anakin looked back at her. "It was so wrong to come here."
"Do you think this has to do with Kitster?" she asked, worried. But he shook his head.
"No," he said with a frown. "This is beyond anything that he could be capable of. But I fear…I could be dragging him into it."
"So…this whole time…"
"Ever since we arrived here, I thought that this…darkness…was because of the Tusken camp," Anakin said quietly. "But I was wrong. The darkness that Gavin felt…was beyond it. Dark doesn't describe what I felt at that camp. It was fear…pain…anger…grief…but not dark."
"You mean there's something else," she said, her green eyes wide with understanding. "Something…bigger. That neither of us could feel." He gave Tahiri a slight nod.
"I just wish I was wrong."
-STAR WARS-
"I wish I knew what to tell you, Anakin," Grand Jedi Master Luke Skywalker's blurry hologram said, looking sadly at his nephew. "But…whatever this is…if it's strong…it's new." Anakin crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. "Otherwise I would have known it existed."
"I'm not so sure," the younger man argued.
You didn't know about the Tusken camp, did you, were the words that rested on the tip of his tongue, but Anakin knew better than to question his uncle.
"It almost feels ancient," Tahiri supported. "But…" He nodded in agreement.
"But…at the times when you do feel it…it almost feels new, like you said," Anakin continued, building on her statement. Her bright green eyes were narrowed, watching every subtle movement the Jedi Mater made. Luke sighed visibly.
"I'm not sure."
"It was almost like…" Anakin frowned and looked at his wife. "Almost like a poorly concealed Force presence." Tahiri raised her eyebrows.
"You think this has to do with Jacen," Luke realized slowly. Anakin raised his arms in surrender.
"You've got to admit, it does seem like something he would do," he defended. Though his tone was light, his own words weighed heavily on him.
How could Jacen turn to the dark side? After all we know about it…after all the destruction we've seen it cause…how could he still give in? How could he do it?
"Yes, but what exactly?" Tahiri asked. "All we've got is this 'dark' presence and your grudge against your brother."
"It's not a grudge!"
"Is too."
"It's the truth!" the younger man tried.
"You're paranoid."
"My brother, Tahiri," Anakin pleaded quietly, almost too much so. "My brother has turned. He's given himself up to the Sith. And I need you to understand that."
"Anakin, I think that you need more proof before you can accuse Jacen of anything," Luke said calmly, his hologram whirring. "I have to go. With luck, I'll hear more soon. I'll let you know." Anakin slightly bowed his head in acknowledgement.
"May the Force be with you," he said.
"May the Force be with you," his uncle echoed, the hologram fading.
Now what am I going to do? I don't know what Jacen's after. I don't know what he wants.
Do you even know it's Jacen? taunted a slight whisper in the back of Anakin's mind. He bit his lip.
Yes, he finally told himself, his teeth gritted. Yes, I just know.
-STAR WARS-
"Your grandfather…" Kitster studied Anakin carefully and sighed. "I wish there were words to describe him. But when I knew him…even at his young age…he was kind, caring…and he somehow had knowledge of the deepest secrets in the universe. He wanted to visit every planet out there…Ani had such dreams."
"So why didn't he?"
"Visit the planets, you mean?" When the younger man nodded, the Tatooinian replied, "He was a slave. We all were."
"A slave…" Anakin said slowly, his shocking blue eyes focused on the setting suns in the distance.
"Just a typical slave boy…but he brought so much hope…to so many," Kitster said. "Then…he just left. I never fully understood why. I always thought…he would come back. He said that when he was a Jedi, he would come back and free all the slaves. But I never saw him again." Anakin remained silent as Kitster wiped a few tears away from his overly wrinkled dark cheek. He looked towards the doorway, and realized that Tahiri had heard the entire conversation.
She looked at him, the brightness that was once in her eyes…nowhere to be found. It had long since been gone.
"I'm sorry," he said gently, placing a hand on the older man's shoulder.
"He had such hopes…" Kitster tried to say, "And dreams. I never knew a person with a bigger heart than Ani. He was truly a bright light in everything that was dark. But…" The elderly man looked away from Anakin's inquiring blue eyes that were so much like those of his oldest friend.
"But what?"
"Nothing," he said, forcing a smile onto his face. "Nothing at all."
Anakin opened his mouth, but Tahiri shot him a warning glance. He sighed, but allowed her a slight nod to show that he understood, if nothing else.
I know. No pressure or anything, right?
After Kitster had left the room, Anakin stared out the viewpane helplessly. He breathed in heavily. A moment of silence passed before he turned around. After looking at Tahiri for a second, he slammed his fists against the wall with anger.
"Anakin!" she said, shocked. "What's gotten into you?" He sat down on the couch, head in his hands.
"I don't know, Tahiri," he told his wife hoarsely. "Am I even…I don't even care anymore."
"What do you mean, you don't care anymore?" she asked, her voice holding disbelief and slight anger. "You have to realize-"
"I have to realize what?" He stood up, his eyes fiery with rage.
"Anakin, you can't forget who you are!" Tahiri said firmly, grasping his shoulders. "You are Anakin Solo, Jedi Knight, son of Han and Leia Solo…grandson of Anakin Skywalker. You are my husband, father of Gavin Solo." He fell back onto the couch, his body shaking.
"Tahiri-" he started to say weakly. He gently touched her hand, and she grasped it, sitting down beside him. Biting her lip, she pulled him into a warm embrace. "I'm sorry."
"Me too, Ani."
"This is all my…all my fault." She said nothing in reply. Anakin stared past her, out into the desert once again.
There's something more powerful out there…that we can't see. But why can't we see it? What could be stronger than us? The Sith are all but destroyed.
But even still…a voice nagged him in the back of his mind, saying, but Jacen is one. And you know this to be true…in your heart, if nowhere else. You will have to accept it before you can even dream of defeating him.
-STAR WARS-
"Jedi Knights…"
"Gavin Solo…destiny of a Jedi…"
"…so brittle…"
"Don't listen to him!"
"…so weak."
"…will die like a Jedi."
"Ani, no!"
"But can't you see?"
"Anakin, please!"
"It's the only way."
Anakin's eyes opened and he scanned the room warily, sitting up slowly. Shaking his head, his brown hair hung in front of his eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back. Feeling the blankets rustle, he quickly spun around. Seeing only Tahiri, he relaxed and smiled softly. She turned over in her sleep, her back to Anakin.
How long can this last?
He stood up and pulled on a shirt, his bare feet padding silently across the cool, smooth floor of Kitster's modest home. He sighed heavily, remembering his childhood at the Jedi Academy…before things were…complicated. When you knew who your friends were…and your enemy was your roommate that you didn't get along with.
Sometimes…I just wish things could be how they used to be.
He turned the corner and headed into the living room. He made to sit on the couch, but seeing the shadow of a young boy ahead of him, Anakin frowned. As he stepped closer, he heard quiet sniffles and…almost…desperate…tears. He bowed his head, feeling his heart split in two.
"You okay, pal?" he asked quietly. Gavin turned around and looked up at his father with the piercing blue eyes that he had inherited from the Skywalker line. He did not shake his head, nor did he nod. Anakin sighed sadly and lifted the boy into his arms. Gavin rested his head on his father's shoulder.
"I want to go home," he said through his tears, his small voice almost scared. Feeling his son's small, gentle hands around his neck, Anakin found himself trying to hold back tears of his own.
"I know," he whispered into Gavin's caramel-colored hair. He kissed the boy's forehead lightly. "So do I."
"But-"
"But we need to be strong, Gavin," Anakin murmured. "We'll be going home soon, all right? I promise."
The five-year-old did not respond, his eyes closed, the rhythmic beating within his chest slow and steady. Anakin lightly rested his head on top of his son's, brushing light brown hair that had grown long out of the boy's face. He took one look out the viewpane, his eyes scanning what he knew was somewhere out in the desert, past the mesas, with deepest sympathy and utmost disgust. Turning his back to whatever haunted the barren desert, he carried his innocent, sleeping son deeper into the interior of the home.
The sooner we finish our business here…the better.
I'm not leaving the fate of my family to be found out here in the desert.
To be continued...
-STAR WARS-
Well...what'd you think? I personally liked the chapter, but...hehe...that's probably having to do with the fact that I wrote it. haha :) Um...I know that probably not a lot of people read Anakin/Tahiri stories, but I really do appreciate every review I get and especially author/story alerts. They mean a lot, even if there aren't many.
Oh, have you caught on to the twist in the story yet? If so, please tell me. I'll either be impressed with your deduction or angry at myself for making it too obvious.
Please review, and thanks-
William D. J. Watson