Disclaimer: Disney owns Star Wars, not me. All the characters and places (except for my OC Analise Joy) belong to them.
"aaaa"-talking out loud."aaaa"-talking through a holo or com. 'aaaaa'-inner thoughts. aaaaa-talking through a Bond
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Chapter Forty-Eight
She had never thought that Tatooine could be so cold. Now it made sense why Anakin had insisted that she take the heavier cloak that Beru had pressed upon her.
At night in the middle of its endless desert it was cold. At night even the stars seemed to vanish, swallowed up by inky blackness that was lifted only by the lights of Jawa transports and scattered moisture farms.
Night on Tatooine could be deadly.
They followed no path, just hints and clues they had collected from those whose path they had crossed. The Tusken raiding party had cut a wide swath across from the Lars farm. Word had spread. Difficult in an area where beings were scattered few and far, but word had still spread. Those who caught wind that they were on or near the raiding party's path were quick to find a place to hide, to stay low until the murderous band had past.
Analise shivered even though the cloak Beru had lent her was warm. Warm because she and Anakin had surrounded themselves with the warmth of the Force, but she still shivered. Next to her Anakin sat, flying the speeder and pushing its speed to the max. He ignored the cold, the dark.. His eyes were hard as steel and glared out into the desert.
She shivered again. This was not an Anakin she saw often. This was her brother on the edge of his true form, the Sun of the Force. It's dark warrior serving the Light. Sun Level was the name she and Ahsoka had come up with when their brother's temper grew hot and his eyes flashed sun-gold.
It was dangerous when her brother slipped into his persona as Sun. He was still bathed in Light, but the Darkness was strong. Strong enough that one wrong step could result in the Darkness overtaking him for good. Only the Force's Moon, Analise was able to break her brother free from Sun Level.
Analise bit her lip. Still Anakin had never fully been taken over by the Sun before just as she had never fully been taken over by the Moon. If tonight was the night, if her brother's rage grew so strong the Sun took over, Analise worried that she might not be strong enough to break him free.
Anakin knew his twin was worried. Knew she could feel the rage that churned beneath his surface. He wanted to lash out at the Force, to scream. Why would the Force do this? Why would it allow his mother to be taken? To be hurt? Why would it let her die?
Ani...Promise me you won't forget who you are...Who we are no matter what we see or what happens.
I promise Ana.
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Night had fallen and the Tusken camp was silent. Banthas were tied up for the night, far enough away that were they to become agitated and break free from their ropes they would not trample the camp.
Very few Tuskens were up and about. Most were sleeping, curled up in the clumsly built tents they patched together from animal hides whenever they stopped their roaming of the sands.
Their lives were simple. The rules that guided them were strict, regulating everything from their movements across the planet to the very robes and masks they wore to cover every inch of skin. Very literally they believed in eye for an eye, flesh for flesh. When the life of Tusken was taken by an outsider, then the life of an outsider was owed in return.
That was why they had attacked the moisture farm. An farmer had killed a Tusken, claiming attack. Their tribe had lost a member so the outsiders had to loose one of their own. A female had been chosen. Old, past bearing age; but if properly broken, properly trained she might become a good Tusken.
Female outsiders were the only outsiders that if taken alive, were regularly offered the chance to become members of the tribe. Males were too wild, too hard to break and tame. Females were gentler creatures and all too willing most of the time to submit to their captors.
Not all females broke though. Just some. The female captured on the raid was not breaking. She had been beaten black and blue, whipped til her back was striped with blood and yet she did not break. Only babbled on words that few Tuskens understood about her son and daughter, how the pair would come for her.
The Tuskens scoffed at her foolish hope. They had spotted a younger male and female as they left the farm, but they had the looks of weaklings. They would not be brave or bold, foolish enough to chase after them. The female's children was not coming for her.
There was no one to rescue her.
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They left the speeder hidden behind a nearby dune. Close enough for a quick escape, far enough away that the Tuskens could see them.
Anakin drew up the hood of Analise's borrowed cloak. If the moonlight was bright enough, her hair would shimmer as it did when the sunlight hit it. "Stay close to me Analise."
"Yes Anakin." Clasping hands tightly, Anakin lead the way, sneaking up to the camp.
It was silent. Silent as a tomb, a grave. Death and Darkness seemed to stalk them as they made their way through the camp. Analise's old fear of the dark seemed to return and she clung to Anakin even tighter. Anakin wrapped an arm around her, keeping her as close as he dared while searching through the Force for Shmi.
One tent stood further apart than the other. Two armed Tuskens stood outside. The Force screamed at them, filled with pain and sadness. When Analise searched the Force around the tent, it was tinged red. Red as blood.
The twins crept past the guards and beasts wrestling over bones dumped on the ground. Anakin released Analise who stood back. He powered on his lightsaber, just enough to cut through the hides and created an opening for them.
It was crowded with junk that other Tuskens did not want, but the tribe felt they still might need. Torches stuck into the ground provided some sort of dim light.
The whole tent stunk of blood, sweat, and tears. Fear and bravery waged war with each other within the Force.
An area in the center had been cleared. A rack was set up in the space. A rack that was used for drying out bantha meat into the tough strips the Tuskens favored during their travels across the dunes or hides that could be turned into leather for clothes or patches for tents.
But it was not meat or hides that hung from the rack this night. It was a woman. Her dark hair loose and graying with age. The plain clothes she had worn had one time been neat and clean. Now they were ripped and stained. Her skin was tinted shades of blue, black, purple, and green. Blood ran down her arms and back. Skin that wasn't the colors of bruises or wet with red was covered with dirt and grim.
"MOM!" The heartbroken cry bust forth from Anakin's lips and he barreled through the junk to her side. Analise followed in his wake, silent tears streaming down her face. Her first time seeing their mother since their birth and it was because the Tuskens had taken her.
Tears ran from the twins eyes upon the beaten flesh and broken body. The Force itself seemed to weep silent tears of its own. Shmi had been chosen to bear its children because of her gentle and brave nature, traits that been passed down to the twins. This was not the fate that the Force had wanted for such a kind woman who had never given up no matter what life had thrown at her, but some things were out of its hands. A balance must be kept so the Dark had to be allowed to have a say, a part to play.
Together shaking hands undid the knots in the ropes that held Shmi to the rack, that had rubbed her wrists raw. They ignored the burns, the cuts from sharp edges. The only thing on their minds was getting Shmi down and making sure she was safe.
The ropes fell away and Shmi fell limp and lifeless from the rack. Anakin caught her in his arms and slowly fell to his knees. Analise collapsed on the ground next to him, holding on of Shmi's hands in her own.
"Mom wake-up. It's me. It's Anakin, your Ani."
"Please wake up Mom. Please...I'm finally here to meet you."
It seemed as though years passed before Shmi's eyes finally began to open. They were glazed over with pain, her mind fading in and out. Analise squeezed her hand tighter. Slowly, slowly recognition dawned on her face. "Anakin...My sweet Ani."
"Yeah Mom, it's me and look who came with me." He turned his mother's head gently as he cradled her against his chest. "Ana is here too."
"Ana?" Her voice faint, her eyes fell on her beautiful daughter. The daughter whom she had never forgotten, never stopped loving. Here in the flesh at long last her little girl.
"I'm here Mom. Right here." Analise squeezed the hand she held in hers.
"My twins...Sun and Moon together. Just like I was promised." She smiled and lifted a weak, shaking hand to Anakin's face. Analise pressed the hand she held to her face. "My handsome son and beautiful daughter. How brave you both are, my two Jedi...You are here and my dream has come true..." Her eyes closed, the pain too much for her weakening body.
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
The rage, it boiled. It ran hot in his blood. Something powerful was coiling within his soul, a power within the Force that he held within himself and had touched but barely. Anakin had always kept the rage in check, never letting it fully free.
This time he didn't want to hold back. This time he wanted to let the rage run free. The Tuskens had hurt his mother, they deserved to feel that pain. To have death brought to them.
"Analise..." His twin looked up at him and became worry. She could see the Force swirling and dancing around her brother. He still shone with golden light, but it was darker. Dimer. The power of the Force filled his voice. It was not the voice of her loving and gentle brother. This was the harden voice of a warrior. A cold solider whose soul had been dealt a serious blow and would seek to right a wrong. "Stay here with Mom."
"Where are you going?"
"Stay here." His voice booked no arguement and he gentle laid their mother on the floor. Analise clung to the limp hand as her eyes watched her brother march out of the tent. She heard the snap-hiss of his lightsaber and shivered. There was something different in the sound of his blade.
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There would be no mercy. These Raiders had gone against a core belife of those who followed the Force by not honoring another's life. They had stolen their mother's life. His beloved sister had not met their mother until just the moments before.
The woman in the tent had raised him, taught him to be kind and love others. Taught him far more in a way than he had learned with the Jedi. His mother was the kindest person he knew. Although it had broken her heart, she had sent his twin away knowing that she would be safer raised by strangers than with them.
How cruel life was. Hold cold was fate. His mother did not derserve this. His sister did not deserve this. The Tuskens had to pay.
Cold and calm, deadly he raised his lightsaber and dealt punishing blows to any male Tusken that crossed his path. He would not harm the women or children. Somehow he knew they had played no part in what happened to his mother. It was the men who had hurt her to the point of death.
The Force watched worried as its son brought death and destruction to the camp. Tuskens fled in terror, children cried for dead and wounded fathers and sons. Women knelt by the sides of sons and husbands.
He was not Anakin, he was Sun.
It was too soon. The Force retreated from the scene and reached for its daughter. It was too soon for the twins to grasp hold of the sleeping power deep within, though they called each other Sun and Moon when faced with threats and uncertain paths, but to them it was mostly a joke.
They were not ready, but the Force could not like Anakin, Sun continue his slaughter. The Moon would to awaken.
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Analise...My daughter...
Who's there?
Fear not my daughter. I am the one who has watched over you since before you were born.
You're the Force?
Yes Analise, it is I...I do not want to do this for you are not ready, but I need you to become Moon.
Moon?
It is the only way to help your brother. You mother yet lives and if you can break Anakin free from Sun, the pair of you will be able to take her back to the farm.
I am not ready.
No you are not ready, but this was planned by the Darkness to force you to reach that level.
Mom deserves to go home to rest.
You are strong my daughter and brave. Look deep inside yourself, in the Force. Unlock what is hidden and save your brother.
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He paused in his rampage, sun-gold eyes looking at all that he had caused. Chaos swept in waves across the camp and behind him lay the bodies of the tribe's warriors. Still the blood-lust in him had not faded away. It remained strong, demanding more.
"Sun!" She came behind him, refusing to look at the bodies that lay in her path. A gentle hand on his arm and he turned to look down into moon-sliver eyes. "It is time to stop." Tears fell from her face to his sleeve.
"Your tender-heart speaks for you sister if you weep for these killers. They deserve nothing less for the harm and hurt they have caused us and our mother Moon!."
"My tears are for you my brother as well as them. Remember, I cry when you cannot." She wrapped her hands around the ones holding tight to his saber. "Vengeance is not our path Sun and this is not our time."
"I am tired of waiting! Every day the Darkness grows and grows."
"But it is not our time." A little twist and the glowing blue blade vanished. "Let go Sun and let us return to our resting places."
A sigh and the young man nodded. "If you wish Moon." A smirk. "I cannot say no to my sister, my other half."
The raging currents of the Force pulled away from the twins, returning to dim silver and gold glows that only they could see.
"Let's go get Mom Ani and return to the farm. We might still be able to save her."
