Reawakening Anakin

The three Force users walked in silence to Clone Technologies. Ferus wondered when he would be able to tell Master Obi-Wan his secret. Not a soul in the galaxy who remembered Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi would ever have believed things would have turned out the way they were. They were lucky to have gotten Anakin out of Vader's suit otherwise; there would have been no disguising his identity. The whole Empire would have known within hours. When they asked for Anakin's name, Obi-Wan smiled slightly as he answered. "Nikana Starkiller." It was an alias Anakin had come up with years ago. Soon Darth Vader's vision blurred and he was vaguely aware of Obi-Wan's voice, "Leave the right arm."

Anakin Skywalker was on Coruscant in the arms of his beloved, forbidden wife. She kissed his lips and felt his strong back, making sure he was really there. "There were whispers that you'd been killed."

He pulled her back to stare down into her beautiful face, "Never believe stories like that. Never. I will always come for you. I promise."

"I've lived a year for every hour you were away."

"It's been a lifetime, Padme. Two."

Padme reached up and touched a burn scar on his face left by Dark Jedi Ventress. "You were hurt," she asked concerned.

"Nothing serious, my love. Just an unfriendly reminder to keep up with my lightsaber practice."

"Five months, Anakin. How could they do this to us?" He chuckled, low and deep, and he kissed her. She kissed him and the world faded away. "Not here," she whispered, looking around and pulling away.

"No, here," Anakin argued. "Exactly here. I'm tired of all the deception, of all the sneaking and the lying." Anakin held her close whispering into her mouth. "We love each other, and we are married just like billions of beings in the galaxy. This is something we should shout, not whisper."

She pulled back to look into his eyes, "No, Anakin. Not like everyone else. They are not Jedi. We can't allow our love to force you out of the order."

"Force me out of the order? Is that a pun?" He pulled her closer and suddenly frowned. "Something's changed."

"Everything's changed."



"There's someone else. Don't lie to me, Padme. I can feel it."

"Ani, oh. Ani, I'm pregnant."

"Why…that's wonderful," he said smiling down into her face, letting her see all the joy that her news brought.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, biting on her lip and looking worried.

"Do? We're going to be happy, and we are going to be together. All three of us."

"But…"

"No buts and no worries. Besides, you worry too much as it is."

"I have too," she said wrapping her arms around him. "Because you don't worry at all.

Darth Vader awoke, not in the arms of Anakin's wife, but in a bacca tank. The Force was all around him whispering to him of things he hadn't considered, easily accessible. It was whispering that Emperor Palpatine had caused him every hurt he had endured to turn him into that monster, the slave he had been. Had he been a monster? Of course not, he had just followed the Empire. He had done nothing wrong? Would Padme see it that way, Anakin asked him. He reached into the Force and opened the bacca tank feeling weaker and yet stronger. He noticed that his arm felt so light. He examined it closely, pinching it. "Ouch," he said. He felt pain, there were nerve endings! There were even tiny hairs and veins on his arm. It was real! Flesh and blood and human! He was not a machine. It brought unshed tears to his blue eyes.

"Well, Hello there," he heard from his ears, not audio sensors feeding into his brain.

"We've been waiting for you to awaken," Ferus said. He turned and saw both Obi-Wan and Ferus Olin smiling up at him. They watched as an illuminous smile lit up the face of Anakin Skywalker before he stumbled and fell down, taking things too fast as usual.

"Be careful," Obi-Wan amolished, "They stumble who run fast. You must first learn to crawl before you walk."

"Obi-Wan," the figure of Anakin threw at him, "I've been FLYING since before I could walk," the voice replied in Anakin's usual arrogance. "Am I dreaming?"

"No, this is all very real." As quickly as the smile came it disappeared and a look of confusion replaced it.

"Who am I?" he asked very seriously. "Am I the slave boy with an extraordinary gift for machines? The legendary podracer? Am I the unruly, high-spirited, trouble-prone student of a great Jedi Master? The Star Pilot? The Hero With No Fear? The lover? The Jedi Knight? The Dark Lord of the Sith? The Executioner? Can I be any of those things with all that I have done?"



"I can't answer that for you, Anakin," Obi-Wan said as he and Ferus exchanged glances. They had awoken the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker. He had a great fight ahead of him, of that there was no doubt. "There was something I was once told as a Padawan. What is Good if not the teacher of Evil? What is Evil if not the Task of the Good?"

Anakin nodded thoughtfully. "Can you leave me alone? I have a lot to think about. I haven't been connected to the Living Force in so long, I forgot what a punch it packs. It's a little exhausting. You've made me connect to it again. It was easier gazing at life from afar. I don't know who I want to be right now. Why can't I be just like everyone else?"

"It's not your destiny. No matter what you can't just sit idly by. You know that. You have a great destiny, you always have. No one man has ever had a greater impact on the fate of the galaxy."

"I know, Obi-Wan."

"There's still good in you, Anakin. Those were her last words. She was right, I only wished I had believed her sooner." Obi-Wan said as he and Ferus left the room, leaving the man who looked very much like Anakin Skywalker alone with his thoughts. Leaving before Anakin endangered a young boy on the planet of Tattooine.