If anyone has ever played Assassin's Creed Rogue, Anakin's OOC traits are roughly passed on Shay Patrick Cormac's traits with mixtures of Galen Marek from The Force Unleashed and Ragnar from Vikings.
Chapter Four: Making Plans
"You look hurt," Padmé commented, watching Anakin carefully.
Anakin shook his head. "My job is to protect you, Padmé. I'll heal," he replied. "Let's discuss your options..."
Padmé nodded and led Anakin over to the couches. "Are you sure you don't need me to clean those cuts?" she asked as he sat down, the young man stifling a groan.
Anakin looked down at his cuts, noticing why Padmé looked so concerned; the bloody scrapes were covered with dirt and dust. He looked back at Padmé. "I can clean them myself, milady. You don't need to worry about me," he replied softly; he had spent the last ten years taking care of himself, another day wouldn't change that.
Padmé shook her head at him. "You're not all powerful, Ani," she told him, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "For once in your life, will you let someone else help you for a change?"
Anakin slowly nodded, watching her walk over to grab a Medpac. She walked back over to him, sitting beside him. Keeping her eyes focused on his injuries, she quickly dealt with the wounds before they could become infected.
Anakin tensed every time she wiped his injuries but said nothing, looking distantly onto the skyline of Coruscant.
When she finally finished, she set the Medpac down and watched him as he rolled his shoulders. "What do you suggest I do?" she asked, noticing he was getting jumpy.
Anakin looked at her. "Your life is more important than a debate in a poisoned Senate," he started, making her frown at him. "You need to go into hiding, Padmé."
Padmé stood up and walked over to the window. "You are asking me to run away from something I have worked to gain for the length of my career as a Senator," she stated. "Do you know what you are asking me to do, Ani?"
"I'm asking you to be selfish for once. You can't win your fight if you are dead," Anakin stated, watching her carefully.
She turned back to him. "I do not like this idea of hiding."
Anakin nodded. "I know. But if you want this bounty hunter to be stopped, you need to be safe in order for it to happen."
"You trust the Jedi to find this bounty hunter?" she asked, watching him as he smirked darkly.
"They wouldn't want to ruin their reputation," he stated calmly. "But I would have others work behind the scenes too."
Padmé bit her bottom lip and looked out the window again. "Where would you suggest I go?" she eventually asked.
"Is there anywhere remote on Naboo that you can go?" he asked.
Padmé thought for a moment then nodded.
"I will accompany you there. Captain Typhoo and Dormé can stay here to protect whoever you choose to stand in while you wait for the Jedi to find the bounty hunter," he stated.
Padmé nodded. "I need to prepare orders for Representative Binks," she stated before leaving Anakin alone.
He watched her leave and sighed. He could feel her anger and disappointment at the idea of going into hiding. He leaned back on the seat and watched the skyline, letting Padmé's presence in the background fill his thoughts so he could keep an eye on her…
Jedi Council, Jedi Temple, Coruscant…
"Captain Typhoo hired Anakin Skywalker as Senator Amidala's protector?" Mace Windu repeated, watching Obi-Wan and Ahsoka carefully. "Why?"
"Anakin has become a Dark Jedi," Obi-Wan answered. "He uses his abilities as a mercenary."
"Is he a threat to the Senator?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked, tilting his head to the side.
"No. He seems very protective of the Senator, Master Ki. Skywalker showed distaste towards the Order but not to anyone else that was present," Ahsoka stated. "He suffered injuries in trying to catch the bounty hunters."
"He also continues to use the Force and has adapted a lightsaber form combined of Niman and Shien," Obi-Wan added. "He has become much stronger since he left the Order."
The Council looked at each other, surprise and worry clearly written over their faces.
"Meditate on this, I must," Yoda eventually stated. "Clouded, Skywalker's future is. No longer the boy from Tatooine, he is. Much darkness, I sense in him."
"For the meantime, you must track down this bounty hunter. Without Senator Amidala, we cannot stop the fact that the Senate will vote for a creation of an army," Mace Windu stated. "May the Force be with you, Master Kenobi, Tano."
Ahsoka and Obi-Wan bowed respectively before leaving the Council's chamber.
"Master, do you think it was wise informing the Council that Skywalker has become a Dark Jedi?" Ahsoka asked as they made their way through the Temple.
Obi-Wan was silent for a few minutes before finally answering. "I think it would be foolish not to tell them. Anakin could become our most formidable enemy. We can't take anything for granted."
Anakin waited in the Senator's bed chambers as the droids replaced the window Obi-Wan had dived out the night before. Padmé was packing her bags with what she needed for the trip from Coruscant to Naboo. They would be taking one of Anakin's acquired aircrafts that wasn't linked to either him or Padmé.
"Do you still follow the Jedi Code?" Padmé asked to break the silence.
Anakin turned and looked at her. "No," he finally answered. "The Jedi Code contradicted the Council," he informed her. "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force," he recited. "I follow my own code now."
Padmé looked at him. "And what is your code?" she asked.
Anakin smiled. "I have a lot of rules," he told her. "Stay my sabers from the flesh of innocents. Don't blindly follow when others tell you what to think. Honour the dead and give time to remember them. Every death is a tragedy, to someone somewhere; only be the reason for that tragedy if it is the only possible option because every life is important. True love is selfless because it's not about you anymore." He cocked his head to the side. "They're the main rules."
Padmé raised an eyebrow at him. "Yet you still carry your sabers," she commented.
Anakin nodded. "The lightsaber does not make the Jedi. The Jedi makes the saber," he answered. "I was the Jedi that made the lightsabers. I'm no longer Jedi who once wielded them."
There was a knock on the door before Dormé stepped inside. "Milady, Master Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano have arrived," she announced.
"I'll be there momentarily, Dormé. Thank you," Padmé replied before turning back to Anakin. "Is your anger against the Order clouding the relationship you built with Obi-Wan?" she asked.
"I feel no rage against Obi-Wan or the Jedi. I feel anger and disappointment. But nothing that would make me wish ill against them. Only that they find the errors in their ways," he replied.
Padmé nodded. "Let's see what they want."
Anakin followed her out of the room, the two of them finding the two Jedi waiting for them.
"Master Jedi, what brings you here so early in the morning?" she greeted.
Obi-Wan's eyes lingered over where Padmé and Anakin had exited Padmé's bed chamber. "Where are you going, Senator? We do not have any major leads on the location of the bounty hunter," he asked.
Padmé kept a neutral face as she answered, "I have decided to leave Coruscant until the Order find whoever is responsible for the bounty hunter. Putting my life in jeopardy while you are still investigating is counter-productive. I have already arranged my protection and dealt with the Chancellor."
Obi-Wan looked at Anakin before looking back at Padmé. "Who will be going with you?" he asked.
"The less people who know, the better," Anakin answered. "The Senator's safety is the priority for all of us here."
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to protest but Ahsoka interrupted him. "Of course, the Senator's safety is the priority for all of us," she started. "But communication is key in making sure that we can all do our part to keep her safe."
Anakin raised an eyebrow at the young Padawan. "Jedi are not immune to mindreading," he stated. "You are only less likely to be able to crack. The less people who know, the better. We don't know who our enemies are."
"And you do?" Obi-Wan asked. "To you, everyone is your enemy."
"I am the Chosen One," Anakin replied dryly. "The deadliest predator is the one you cannot see."
Padmé noticed the anger on Obi-Wan's face. "You are blinded by what you can see, Anakin. We are not your enemies."
"Nor are you my friend," Anakin countered. "No true ally would stab me in the back. I found the truth your Order was hiding from everyone. And I left before you could betray me any further. There is no rage left in me," he continued. "Only sadness that Qui-Gon died in vain for this supposedly just Order."
Neither Ahsoka nor Padmé knew how to react. Obi-Wan's colour drained from his face. Anakin simply crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for a response.
"I wonder what Qui-Gon would say if he saw the Chosen One turn into this," Obi-Wan responded. "I have little hope in you, Anakin. Maybe Qui-Gon was wrong after all."
Anakin smirked. "I don't even trust myself. Why would I expect anyone to have any hope in me," he replied. Cocking his head to the side, he added, "We are who we choose to be."
Obi-Wan turned to Padmé. "Milady, I would endeavour you to inform the Council of your plans," he informed her before turning on his heels and walking out of the room. Ahsoka quickly followed her master as Padmé turned to Anakin.
"What have you just done?" she asked, watching him carefully.
Anakin looked at her. "Right and wrong don't come in black and white but in shades of grey. I simply showed him that I understand that now."
Padmé frowned. Before she could say anything else, he stated, "We will be leaving soon. Embo will have the ship ready for us." Padmé nodded, watching Anakin move to collect their bags.
"Who are you, Ani?" she whispered to herself...
To answer the reviews from the previous chapter:
Guest 3: Thank you :) I thought it would be a better idea to have something that fits better :)
Jadaerys: Thank you :) I'm not dead; I just have college and exams…
Guest 2: Here's more :)
Guest 1: Thank you :) I hope I have an unique style to this :) I'm a somewhat graphic writer when it will come to Anakin/Padmé scenes, just letting you know beforehand. Thank you :)
Blinded in a bolthole: May I ask how the sentences were awkward in chapter two? But I hope this is good enough for you.
Lord Lelouch: Thank you; I'm glad you thought it was a good chapter :)
I have had the idea of Anakin having left the order on bad terms for a while, so I'm happy that you didn't see that one coming :) Yes, both the Order and Anakin ended their relationship on bad terms and distrust each other. And Anakin is a Dark Jedi in many definitions but has his own definitions and styles too. Palpatine doesn't know about Anakin, or where he is or who he works for. I will reveal more in later chapters about Palpatine and his anger of losing his possible new apprentice.
Anakin was too naive in the prequel - I had to change that. I was going with a cross between Assassin's Creed's Shay Patrick Cormac, Galen Marek from The Force Unleashed and Ragnar, with focus on Shay and Galen mixed with Anakin and Darth Vader's personalities. Mature and stoic Anakin was needed - I think we all agree with that :) He is able to handle things better, more patience - Embo helped with this. He lets his anger burn cold and simmer - raging fire in canon Anakin was naive. It needed to change.
Thank you :) I thought it would be better to have Anakin and Padme discuss plans for her safety rather than her being ordered by the Jedi Council to go into hiding - she's a politician not a Jedi, she shouldn't be made follow their orders. Anakin is able to compartmentalise - but his feelings are still there. He will do, as best as he can, to protect those he cares for - but he's professional in doing so. More of why Anakin left will be explained in future chapters :)
Palpatine is planning and scheming away but not like in the canon - his plans got messed up.
My Anakin crossbreed will, hopefully, be very interesting :)
ForeverWildfire2.0: Thank you :) I hope this continues to be interesting :)
Tan-Sky: Thank you :) I hope this was worth the wait :)
ILDV: Thank you :) I hope this was just as good :)
Rangle: I must have been resurrected if I was supposedly dead :) Thank you :) I hope this was just as enjoyable :)
If anyone can pick out the quotes I used, you get a quicker update :)