Author's Note
Hello everyone! This is my first ever fanfiction, so please keep that in mind as you read and review. This idea came to me when I was rewatching Revenge of the Sith. I thought things were pretty good for Anakin, and if he had just stayed in the Council Chamber when Mace Windu told him to, the story would have played out very differently. I hope you enjoy this version of the story, and please let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and Disney. This is purely a work of fanfiction, and I am not claiming these characters and situations as my own.
Dawn of the Alliance
By Katrina Blake
"If what you told me is true, you will have gained my trust, but for now remain here. Wait for us in the Council Chamber until we return."
Mace Windu departed from the Council Chamber and left in his ship.
Anakin stared at his hands, buried in the rough black cloth of his Jedi robes. What is happening?
There was a disturbance in the Force. It had been there for a long time, he had felt it. It manifested in his thoughts, stirred in his meditations, culminating in his nightmares.
Those nightmares. Those awful, awful nightmares that showed his beautiful wife in pain, calling out for him.
For him to help her. And the worst part - the part Anakin could feel echoed in every step he took, every move he made - was that he hadn't been there for her. He hadn't been able to help her.
He hadn't been able to save her.
That will not happen again, Anakin promised himself. His breaths drew shallower as he turned his thoughts over to how he could prevent this tragedy from occurring. The root of his problem, the only solution that had presented itself, lied with the Chancellor.
Palpatine, who earlier had proved to Anakin that he was the Sith Lord the Jedi had been looking for. The Sith Lord who had played the Republic right into his hands. The Sith Lord who had started this war that had weakened the Jedi so.
Anakin felt a surge of anger at the deception.
And yet, this was his mentor. Chancellor Palpatine had been nothing more than a good friend all these years. Anakin strived to emulate his confident dignity and thirsted for the Chancellor's praise when he knew his own master would not give him any.
He even had the power to save Padmé. The Chancellor had given him an answer when no one else had, opened up when no one else would. He may be a Sith Lord, but Anakin hardly felt threatened by the gentle old man.
Then there were the Jedi. Obi-Wan, his friend and mentor, had seemed confident in Anakin's ability and maturity when he left. Isn't that what he had said? That Anakin was strong and brave, and that he was proud of him?
He was proud of me.
For the first ten years Anakin had spent as a Jedi, he lived to please Obi-Wan. While kind and instructive, Obi-Wan did not give out praise freely. It was one of the reasons that Anakin had turned to the Chancellor. To feel that his old master had been proud, really proud of him, warmed Anakin to his core. It tempered the sharp anger he felt, the chaos that coursed through his veins.
What should I do?
Anakin rose and walked over to the edge of the Council Chambers. He gazed out upon the red and gold sunset over Coruscant. It was peaceful, serene. The complete opposite to how he felt.
Just then, he felt a presence.
Padmé.
The soft presence that never failed to comfort him, to bring him light, called to him now. From his vantage point in the Jedi Temple, he could almost see 500 Republica. He could feel Padmé's light through the Force, and - something else.
Something different, yet wholly familiar.
A Force presence.
Two of them.
Understanding dawned on Anakin, and the weight drove him to his knees.
His child.
His children.
Padmé was having twins, and he could sense their strong Force signatures from here.
Their presence soothed Anakin. The chaos coursing through him slowed, and he began to breathe more steadily. The instinct to protect was still there, but no longer did Anakin feel like his wife was in danger. A pair of Force-sensitive babies like the ones in her womb were going to come out perfectly safe. Padmé would be perfectly safe.
Suddenly, the pieces to the puzzle he had agonized over and over again in his head came together.
Obi-Wan seeming confident that his pending Mastership was not far away, and his kind words to his former Padawan.
Master Windu asking him to wait in the Council Chamber, the site of Master appointments, for when he returned with his newly gained trust for Anakin.
Padmé's words about the destruction of the Republic she loved so much.
Anakin would become a Master shortly. The youngest-ever Jedi Master, and one of the most powerful. He would become a father. A dutiful father to a pair of highly Force sensitive younglings. He would continue a healthy friendship with Obi-Wan, and have the trust of Master Windu, a man who had never accepted Anakin.
Things were looking up.
Anakin stood there, lost in his thoughts and mesmerized by the Coruscant skyline, until nightfall. Then many standard hours into night. Much, much later, Anakin snapped out of his reverie.
Something wasn't right.
Master Windu hadn't returned from the Chancellor's office. Had something gone wrong? Anakin closed his eyes, seeking an answer.
It came to him nearly immediately. Palpatine was a Sith Lord, capable of commandeering two armies, millions of soldiers, and the entire obtrusive Senate. Master Windu, while a competent Jedi, was no match for the powerful Sith.
Anakin gasped as the realization came that maybe none of the Jedi that had entered the Council to fight Palpatine had left. The idea of such losses pained Anakin. His first reaction was to go to the Senate Building to assist Master Windu, but he decided against it. Padmé needed him, and his children needed him.
If a Sith Lord took over the planet, they all were in grave danger. Anakin had to get Padmé off the planet and somewhere safe immediately.
Satisfied with his thoughtful, logical decision (if only Obi-Wan were here to see!), Anakin rushed down the steps of the Jedi Temple. He jumped in the nearest speeder with no regard to looks or speed capabilities.
He needed to get to Padmé before the Chancellor did.
The situation played out in Anakin's head as he dodged traffic and weaved in between other speeders, not unlike the chase he had been in three years ago.
Padmé would be a target of Palpatine. She, along with several of her colleagues, openly opposed the Chancellor's growing list of powers. Anakin was confident that Padmé, along with her other vocal friends like Senator Organa and Senator Mothma, would be targeted as Palpatine gained power.
She would need to leave, but so would the other Senators. He would get them to safety, then return to assist the Jedi as they fought against Palpatine.
The Republic would live to see the dawn.
Padmé couldn't sleep. The baby was making every position she tried uncomfortable, until she gave up and walked to her balcony. The wide, sweeping balcony where one could imagine they saw all of Coruscant on. She loved the view, and it always helped her to calm down.
She felt pulled to the Jedi Temple, where Anakin had departed this morning. The tall spires marked the building as a landmark on Coruscant, a place of immense knowledge and wisdom. The sun set over the great city.
Padmé felt a twinge in her lower belly. She smiled. A kick. Her baby had been so active lately, almost like it knew it was ready to come out soon.
"We're almost there, little one. Then we'll be able to meet you. Me, your mother - and Anakin. We'll both be there for you."
Padmé cradled her belly with love as she continued to gaze at the skyline.
She was disrupted by a speeder pulling up to the edge of the balcony. Anakin, dark against the night in his black Jedi robes, jumped out of the speeder and ran to greet her.
"Anakin!" Padmé managed to exclaim before he caught her lips in his. She sighed and leaned into the embrace. The Outer Rim sieges had strained their marriage, and they had been apart for far too long. Padmé fully intended to make the most of every moment with him.
All too soon, Anakin pulled away. "You need to leave."
Padme gaped at him, still breathless from the kiss. "What?"
"You need to leave. The Chancellor - Palpatine - is the Sith Lord we've been looking for. He killed Master Windu and orchestrated this whole war, and I have a feeling he had other things, worse things, planned."
Padmé shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe it. The Chancellor has always been a good friend, a mentor to you." Granted, he had given himself far too much power in the past few years, an act that Padmé vehemently opposed, but he had often provided her husband with some much-needed words of advice.
He was a politician. A crafty one, to be sure, but a politician. Not a Sith Lord.
"I don't believe it," Padmé repeated, shaking her head, her eyes glazed over as she stared into the distance. If Palpatine was a Sith Lord, then the Republic they had been fighting to keep intact truly no longer existed.
Anakin sighed and drew her close into his arms. "I know it's frightening. But I have a plan, and I must stop this. Please, Padmé. Trust me."
Padmé took a deep breath and leaned back to face Anakin. "I love you, Anakin. I've always trusted you, and I see no reason not to now. I will do what you ask."
Senator Bail Organa listened to the hasty hologram sent by Senator Amidala in horror. It turned out that Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith Lord, and planning on bringing about the destruction of the Republic.
Also, him, Amidala, and Mothma were in grave danger. They would need to leave Coruscant immediately if they were to survive.
Bail listened to his close friend as she spoke, already formulating plans in his mind. He would need to leave at a moment's notice. He was due for a visit back to Alderaan - and Breha - anyway.
Senator Amidala stopped speaking. "What do you think, Bail? How are we going to solve this?"
"Let's go home," Bail said in his deep voice. "Back to our home planets. Lie low, watch as the Chancellor makes his next moves. We will do what we can to assist the Republic and the Jedi. Let us reconvene at a later date to assess our options."
Padmé nodded. "I agree, Senator. Until then…"
Bail finished her sentence. "I will see you on the other side of this war."
Chancellor Palpatine rose and walked over to his desk, stepping over the bodies of four Jedi, and opened the small drawer near the left leg. He pulled out a single communications circle and positioned it in his hand.
After a small press of a button, the blue flickering form of Commander Cody came into view.
"It is time," he rasped, injured from his last battle with the Jedi. A small grin graced his grotesque face. This moment was it—the culmination of over a decade of plotting and conspiring. In this moment, the final phase of his plan would be enacted. And it started with the Jedi.
"Execute Order 66."