Luke rose. He and Ahsoka pulled up the groaning Obi-Wan. They half carried him out, while Han staggered out with his blaster raised. They found the other two droids, smoke covered and damaged, waiting by the remains of the fighter Ahsoka had crashed. "What are they doing here?" Han demanded. Luke looked at Ahsoka, eyes wide. They sped up.
"Oh no." Han said.
In the distance, the other fighters were smoldering wrecks. The whole area was sparking and smoking, weapons that had been dormant were now tracking them.
"The weapons waited until we left the fighters." Han gasped. "What are they, droid operated? After all this time?"
Luke reached into the Force. "Leia. We need you."
Leia had been sitting in the cockpit pilot seat, staring out at the planet. Chewbacca had gone back to make sure the ship hadn't taken any damage on it's difficult journey. Padmé had taken his seat, dwarfed by the oversized chair. She gripped Leia's hand. Her daughter's brown eyes were wide, sometimes her brow furrowed. She didn't need to be a Jedi to see the fear there. Leia's hand was slick with sweat.
"Are you doing the meditations?" She finally asked.
"Yes." Leia whispered. "But it's so dark...I can feel fear and fighting..." Suddenly she dropped Padmé's hand and punched the controls, firing the sublight drive. "Luke's calling me!"
Chewbacca let out a startled roar from the engine area and ran back in. Padmé abandoned his seat and quickly fastened herself into one of the rear seats. The planet seemed to be rushing toward them like a monster ready to consume them...
"This here?" Anakin asked, aiming the lightsaber carefully and refusing to look at the shadow shape of the hooded Emperor on one side taunting and the one handed Mace Windu on the other, accusing. Artoo beeped an affirmative. That was the safety as far as he could tell. It would create a massive feedback loop. Unfortunately, they were relying purely on Anakin's Force sense, fuzzed as it was by the Dark Side throwing horrifying visions all around him and Artoo's interpretation of an alien computer. The visions were so real Anakin could almost feel the whisper of the Jedi Master's robes and sense the pulsating agony in the Force from the man's hand he'd cut off. He could hear Palpatine whispering in his ear, as he had often done telepathically. Then the hooded figure's head rose and his own face was revealed, wrinkled with yellow eyes. It dared him to strike. But the form hovered in front of Artoo, and Anakin knew he was being baited by the Dark Side, perhaps even by the alien tech itself, trying to defend itself. He turned away. Anakin clenched his eyes shut, slammed the lightsaber deep into the wall of the console, right through the blood channel where it intercepted the metal plate and ring of crystals. Blood in the channel sizzled and flew everywhere. He shuddered as it stained him.
Artoo squealed and his lights all went on at once and then something exploded. His domed head whirled madly and a spark raced back along his data port and into the console. Anakin's head whipped around. "Artoo?" The whole place rumbled violently and the droid fell over, all his lights out. Minor explosions flashed around the port connection. Anakin quickly yanked him free of the console and gave a mighty Force leap, throwing the astromech out of the well. "Artoo?"
Still no answer, and no time to check. He grabbed the droid by both stubby legs and with pure Force enhanced strength lifted him overhead and bolted after the others. The alien tech flickered in and out of his vision, replaced by the fallen bodies of Jedi padawans in the temple and a screaming Leia cowering before a torture droid. That nearly undid him, he jerked away only to nearly charge through Owen and Beru Lars, writhing in flame and yet somehow staring at him with accusing eyes. He retreated a half step, but they were between him and the exit. He gripped Artoo tighter, fingers digging into metal to stay focused on the reality of the moment. He closed his eyes and ran right through them, hearing them scream in his mind and almost feel flames lick him. He battled the instant terror and horror of the agony he'd felt on Mustafar. He was blowing hard now, between the oppressive ancient darkness his body was screaming. His mind was almost numb with exhaustion from the psychological conflict to stay centered in the dimly flickering light of the Force. His mind was now on one thing only: run.
He skidded to a halt, nearly unbalancing as he caught up with the others. The weapons systems out there were active but malfunctioning. They blasted randomly at nothing. "Oh. Not good." He said, voicing one of Obi-Wan's understatements. His eyes were glued to the wreckage of the fighters. "Very not good." His voice shook and he hoped no-one noticed. He set Artoo down near the other two droids who gave disturbed beeps at the comatose astromech. Even they were shaking and rocking with fright. The other's were all staying low, against the walls. Luke and Ahsoka stood in front of Obi-Wan, occasionally deflecting the powerful bolts. The backlash was incredible and threatened to knock them down.
The Millenium Falcon was streaking through the atmosphere. It was erratically dodging the laser blasts in orbit. Luke felt Leia reaching out with rudimentary skills. It was a warning. "Pull back." He said. "Hurry!" He spun away and hit the ground hard.
From a great distance, the Falcon's weapons started pounding the ground weapons. Sparks flew, metal and ice sprayed the air and it left a sonic boom in it's wake. As the escapees hit the ground debris flew over their heads. The ship touched down hastily on the shaking ground. Anakin scooped up Artoo again while Luke and Ahsoka yanked up Obi-Wan. Han bolted up the ramp first with a yell. The other two terrified astromechs were up next. The ship burned out of the atmosphere as massive explosions buffeted the air. Smoke surrounded them, obscuring the view.
Luke dove into the top gun turrets. Leia was already in the bottom one. Anakin paused by Obi-Wan who was laying down, covered in blood and white as a ghost. Padmé smiled worriedly at him. "I've got him." He nodded, then he charged into the cockpit with Ahsoka at his heels. The planet below had massive blasts of smoke, cinders and ice shooting heavenward. The second planet, the icy one, shifted in orbit.
"Oh, wow." Han had taken the pilot seat and was steering through the violent blows hitting the shields. Someone give me exit coordinates and hurry!"
The explosions engulfed the bigger planet's dark shadow and the ice world was shoved away, spinning into a more normal orbit.
"If we don't jump, we never will!" Han warned as the space lanes and stars shifted, gravity changes threatening to cut off the only escape lane.
Anakin finished programming the coordinates. "Go."
Han yanked the levers and they felt one last impact before the ship leaped into the void.
The trip back, in spite of the difficult route, was thankfully uneventful. Obi-Wan spent it in a healing trance, purging the poison from his system. Padmé kept his wound bandaged and clean. Anakin and Luke focused on repairing Artoo Detoo. Anakin kept flexing his damaged left hand. He marveled a little at the pain he felt in it. Impressive technology, far more sensitive than what he'd had as Darth Vader. A positive thought. Pain wasn't to fuel his anger anymore, just to remind him how fortunate he was and warn him to be careful. He wasn't immortal. He could be killed. At least the prosthetic could be repaired easier than his real limb.
Leia sat with Ahsoka, hand on her chin, thinking. "So, was it as bad as you thought?" Leia dared to ask Anakin.
"Worse. That was Rakatan tech. I think it was a library and armory. The more he hurt Obi-Wan and bled him, the stronger the technology got. It powered it. The metal seemed to absorb and direct it. We even saw holos of stasis chambers. Fortunately it looked like nothing was left in them but skeletons."
Ahsoka shivered. "Creepy."
"So that's why you felt you needed to blow it up." Leia replied.
"Yes. I guarantee Obi-Wan wasn't the first sentient tortured and bled in the chamber. That's why the whole place radiates evil. That's what it was created for, preserving evil."
"But not Sith?"
"I bet the Sith were inspired by it, rather than vice versa." Anakin briefly wondered what Palpatine's medics had infused him with while he was in the suit. He'd been forced to trust their ministrations. Now that he was free of the dark, as well as the suit, he suspected not everything they'd done had been meant to heal him. It was a thought he'd not confronted until Han Solo brought it up.
Chewbacca came in with an interrogative grumble. Han followed, looking at the two fixing Artoo. "Chewie wants to know if Artoo will be all right? He doesn't want to listen to Threepio freak out at the sight of him when we get back."
"Definitely. He's hard to kill." Luke said. He glanced at his Father. The main worry was his memory circuits. They hit the switch after looking at each other together. Artoo squealed and came back to life. He gave an interrogative insistent beep. He wanted to know how they got out. Anakin laughed in relief... "Definitely all right."
Padmé came up from behind and hugged him. "Good. Now I hope Obi-Wan will be."
"Me too." He frowned. His friend had suffered terribly, both physically and mentally.
Obi-Wan spent a good amount of time trapped in the medical ship upon their return. He was healed, but totally exhausted. "I'm proud of you Anakin."
"Only did what I had too." Anakin smiled at him, before turning back to the large window. Obi-Wan had been given a room with an impressive view.
"I know." He smiled gently but wearily. "But that wasn't easy. Not at all. It was a place born of the Dark Side."
Anakin nodded. "I felt it calling me. But I reversed it. I focused on why I was afraid. And if I'm afraid for the people I love, well, then the only thing to fear is failing them. And only falling back to the dark will be a failure." His eyes were distant.
""Quite an epiphany."
"Adventure is growth." Anakin quoted Qui-Gon. His eyes were bright. "Painful and expensive growth, but still growth."
"Not all adventures are physical."
"No. They aren't. Comparatively speaking, the physical part of this was easy." He fell silent again. Then he glanced at Obi-Wan. "But they are always better with the right companions at your side."
Obi-Wan smiled at this. "By the way, I will be out in the morning. And I will be supervising a training session. You are going to help with some lightsaber drills."
"Okay. Sure you're up for it?"
"All I need to do is sit, watch and give advice."
The next day, Anakin entered the command ship's gym. Obi-Wan had been oddly silent on the details of this exercise. Leia was quietly talking to Obi-Wan when he arrived. She was dressed in an Alliance military uniform. Anakin blinked at her. Blue shirt with a gray short sleeved tunic and gray pants, black boots, ready for action…something was up.
"Princess." He acknowledged her.
She gave him an odd look. Anakin's eyes widened as he saw what she held in her hand. He looked questioningly at Obi-Wan.
"Leia is going to learn some Moving meditations."
"With a training saber?"
"And with you. What better way to deal with the chaotic emotions you feel toward each other?"
Anakin stared at him. He was afraid to hurt her. He felt guilt for the many ways he already had.
"Are you sure about this?" The question was directed at both of them.
Leia nodded slowly. "I'm not going to sit back while everyone I care about stands between me, the Republic, and these dark side users. There aren't enough people left to do it." For once, there was no censure in her tone. No snap, reminding him whose fault it was.
They started slowly, Obi-Wan calling out the movements. Anakin hadn't done it this way since he been a padawan himself. But he centered himself and didn't let that bother him. Advance slowly, swing slowly, while she countered with her weapon. Twice Leia was too slow when they picked up speed and was slightly out of place. But Anakin stopped his training weapon just shy of striking. Obi-Wan always made them restart at that. Emotions interfered with them both on occasion, distracting and throwing their timing off. But before long it became a dance. Advance, retreat, strike, block, counterstrike, following the ancient movements of Jedi combat in slow motion. When they were done, they saluted each other and bowed.
Leia was flushed and her eyes were wide. She was awkward at the salute and the bow, as she slowly remembered who he was. She came out of the unexpected Force connection blinking in surprise. Anakin suddenly realized they had an audience. Padme and Luke were smiling. Ahsoka gave a respectful nod. and even Han was watching with surprise and awe. Bail Organa smiled at Leia and nodded with pride. He gave Anakin a long, searching look, then nodded respectfully. Their eyes met. Anakin was surprised by what he sensed. An accepting acknowledgement that he would not knowingly, willingly, harm her. It took his breath away and he glanced at Obi-Wan who also smiled in affirmation. Padme winked at him. Anakin felt a warm glow. Leia's eyes met his and for the first time he sensed a real difference. Respect.
Obi-Wan tapped his arm. "A moment please?" He drew him to the far side of the room. The old Jedi Master made a final, surprising announcement. "From now on, I stick to teaching. Consider me retired from active duty."
Anakin wondered if that was even possible, but he didn't ask. "So Luke and Ahsoka retrieve the rest of the Jedi legacy and find recruits on their own, while you turn into Jocasta Nu?"
"Madame Nu only had to maintain the archives. I can imagine her horror at having to put it all back together." Obi-Wan said casually. "You can split your time between helping them and helping me train. As soon as you build a new lightsaber."
Anakin stopped cold at this. He turned to stare at him. Obi-Wan continued, "You won't always have mine handy to borrow. A Jedi Master really should have his own."
Anakin's jaw dropped. He stared at him. "I don't…I can't…I'm not…"
"Traditionally, a knight became a Master when their first apprentice graduated. Well, I believe Ahsoka finally just graduated. She took a winding course, but she did. And however you intended it, you had a great deal to do with teaching Luke as well." Obi-Wan smiled at him.
Anakin blinked rapidly. "I don't know what to say." His eyes were watering.
"You could say thank you. Or you could ask what you did to deserve such harsh punishment. It's not easy being a Jedi Master. Look what it did to me. I'm not sure you should look on it as a reward."
Anakin let out a strangled noise which finally turned into a laugh. "Thanks. I think."
"You are going to Ilum."
"Ah…" Anakin looked uncertain.
"You can handle the visions. It certainly won't be worse then what you just went through."
"I certainly hope not." He murmured.
"And when you return, you get to claim your reward at last." Obi-Wan smiled. "You get to tell Ahsoka she's now a Jedi Knight."
Anakin's eyes met his. "I take it you've got new criteria?"
"Yes. I do." Obi-Wan slapped his shoulder. "And a new student. Leia plans on going through the training. She hopes to be both a Jedi specializing in diplomacy, but still help in founding the Republic."
"So this wasn't just a one time thing? And here I was afraid I'd turned her off. Okay, Master Kenobi. And congratulations on rejoining the Jedi Council." Anakin rose his brow. "As the only member."
"No. I'm one of two. I need you on the Council too. One can't be a council of one. Besides, who am I going to pull rank on without you?"
Anakin snorted and rolled his eyes at this. "It figures. When do I leave?"
"Now. Luke's going with you as far as the caves at least. He's never been there and you can introduce him. But go the rest of the way on your own.
The caves were as cold as he remembered. Luke looked around in awe. Following Ahsoka's map, they found the old tunnels.
"I'm on my own from here."
"Okay." Luke said slowly, staring at the ancient, simple images on the walls. "How can you tell the crystals from the ice formations?"
"The Force tells you."
"Oh." Luke looked back at him. "I feel like I should do a little crystal harvesting myself. Mine is artificial."
"Go for it. But beware the visions."
The first time he'd been here, Anakin had seen Darth Maul. His vision warned that he needed and wanted power to save his Mother. Now that vision was long past. His fear challenged him in the form of the Emperor and his wicked laughter, his taunts that he would always be bound to him by the spilled blood of the innocent. It challenged him with the Jedi Darth Vader had killed. But Anakin acknowledged his mistake, and it's cause. Fear of losing those he loved. Refusal to let go of the pain of the past. Now that fear had lost hold. Not because he didn't love them, but because it was far worse to lose them due to his own selfishness. He didn't lash out at the vision, just countered it by focusing on his love for his family, of their selfless example. He meditated on the Jedi code and felt it's edges and where it conflicted with personal belief and desires. He didn't argue with it, nor accept it all. He just focused on being aware of the places his resolution was in doubt, without yielding to it. He was scarcely aware of repeating the ancient mantra.
The crystal is the heart of the blade.
The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. He hesitated. His heart made all the difference. It had to stay pure for him to be a Jedi.
The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. But only if he let it direct him and trusted it to take care of those he loved in the meantime.
The Force is the blade of the heart. It revealed things about himself, forcing him to recognize where his nature was neither dark or light, but could go either way. It cut away the lies he would want to hide behind.
All are intertwined.
The crystal, the blade, the Jedi.
We are one.
And when he returned to Luke, he had a new lightsaber that glowed with new, unstained blue light.
"How are you doing this exactly? Without a Council?" Anakin asked.
"We are doing this." Obi-Wan motioned to Luke, took him aside and motioned to Anakin to bring Ahsoka in. Others were there, Padmé, Leia, arms folded in front of her, nervously, Bail Organa, Mon Mothma. Several curious officers of the High Command were looking on. Padmé had a huge smile. Ahsoka however, remained uninformed. Still, Padmé's grin told her something important was happening.
Anakin motioned Ahsoka to the center of the room. She stepped forward uncertainly. "I'm glad you and Leia are working things out."
"Me too." His eyes searched hers. A slight smile tugged his lips. "You ready?"
"For what?" She frowned suspiciously. "Sparring?"
He shook his head. "Something long overdue."
Luke and Obi-Wan rejoined the circle. Luke's eyes were wide as he glanced at Anakin. He was chewing his lip. He'd never had this, himself. Ahsoka glanced around in confusion, then her eyes met Anakin's, registering that smile. Her mouth opened slightly.
"Kneel please."
Ahsoka's eyes were enormous. Luke was having trouble holding still.
Obi-Wan began to speak. "We are all Jedi. The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed." His eyes met Ahsoka's as three lightsaber's lit. "By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee, Knight of the Republic."
Ahsoka was blinking fast and glanced at Anakin. Her eyes glued to his new lightsaber. His lips twitched again, a proud smile, proud of her, finally broke loose.
So much for protocol. "Thank you." She whispered.
"Contrary to the old protocol of things, we have one new Knight and a new Jedi Master to celebrate. And I'm quite sure there are people here who want to share that." Whether they agreed with the latter or not.
"Impressive celebration." Anakin said later. He had an arm around his wife and was sipping Naboo wine while Luke talked to Ahsoka and Obi-Wan chatted with Bail, Leia and Mon Mothma.
"Not at all like my knighting." He said slowly.
"Yours was rushed. Luke didn't get a traditional one at all."
Anakin smiled as he looked at her. "This one is better. We get to celebrate with the ones we love."
The End
Okay, so this alternate universe has run away with me and I have more sequels in the wings. (Well, why not?)
Next up: Tatooine Quest: Anakin and Obi-Wan feel Anakin is needed on Tatooine. He's being drawn by the Force itself, to face his past, and if he succeeds, he may find hope for the future of the Jedi.
