Another chapter for you guys. I been releasing these as fast as I could so I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 12: Don't Leave Me
Anakin returns to the hangar and hops into the starfighter. It felt a little weird to take someone's ship but he knew that the man wanted him to have it and Anakin is grateful for that. He turns on the ship and exits the hangar flying straight out of Alderaan's atmosphere and into space.
He then punches in the coordinates for Tatooine in his navicomputer. Anakin couldn't wait any longer to kill Jabba so today is that slug's final day. As Anakin enters hyperspace he turns on the HoloNews.
"Let's watch this shit", he sighs to himself. He hated the Republic for a passion. The jedi and the senate were corrupt and used propaganda to manipulate the citizens into thinking that everything is okay. But it really isn't okay, crazy fucking murderers are running around and the police don't do shit about them, but they worry about me trying to kill those fucks.
"Hello Everyone thanks for tuning into Holonews, we have some major news to talk about. The most wanted man in the republic The Nightstalker has done his biggest attack ever. He came to Zygerria and murdered every high official and even the queen in the palace. Let's take it to our reporter who is in the ground", says the host.
"As you can see behind me, the freed slaves are setting the palace on fire and burning it down to a crisp", says the reporter.
Anakin smiles "Thank you, burn that shithole to the ground."
The reporter than walks to one of the freed slaves for an interview. "Hey mam is it okay if I ask you a couple of questions."
The woman nods "go ahead."
"How do you feel about the Nightstalker", says the reporter. Holonews hated the Nightstalker and everyone who worked there was against his actions.
"The Nightstalker is a good man, a hero to everyone here. We were living a life of torture, rape, and even death. He knew what that life was like and unlike anyone in the galaxy, he came to Zygerria and freed us all. The Nightstalker also ended their slave empire. That man will always be in our hearts not as a murderer but our savior, we appreciate everything he has done for the galaxy. He didn't even ask us to repay him. He just said have a family and live a good life. The media gets the Nightstalker all wrong he is the hero the galaxy needs", says the woman.
Anakin began shedding some tears. Never before had people seen him as a savior and a hero. He felt truly honored to save them all and they appreciate his work to save the galaxy.
The reporter rolls his eyes and the news goes back to the host. "Well as you can see the Nightstalker freed the slaves, but that doesn't mean he is a good man. He probably freed the slaves to manipulate the public that he is a hero but in reality he is a psychopath. Thanks for tuning into Holonews", says the host before ending the broadcast.
Anakin slams his hand against the ship. "Of course that pussy would say that. He is just jealous that people believe the truth behind my killings. They understand why I do it and see me as a hero, not a most wanted killer", Anakin grunts.
He exits hyperspace and enters Tatooine's atmosphere. "God I never missed this dust ball", he says. Anakin decided to land at his old house and see how it is. As he makes his way to the door he sees yellow tape and a sign Do Not Enter. Anakin rips the sign "It's my fucking home, I do what I please." He enters the home and looks around the place. Everything has been stripped, it was completely empty. Everything he lived with prior to leaving for Naboo was gone. All his pictures with his mom and other important items that belonged to her were missing.
All he had was the necklace and the one photo of her. His anger started radiating around him. He felt it rush through his bones. "Jabba your fucking dead", he screams. He puts his mask on and luckily finds his speeder hidden underneath the tarp he placed. Anakin hops on his speeder and slams the throttle. The engine roared and a second later he is off to Jabba's palace. Sand and dirt was kicking up on his mask but the dark side fuming around him burnt anything that came to close.
His eyes turned to an almost orange tint. Anakin later arrived at Jabba's palace. He equipped his lightsaber in his hand and walked to the two guards.
"Get out of he..." the one guard tries to say. Anakin picked them up and snapped their necks so quickly they didn't have any time to react. He force pushes the door open causing all heads inside to face the entrance. Through the smoke a masked figure approached slowly walking towards them lightsaber drawn.
"Who are you", Jabba shouts with two prostitutes on him.
"I'm your fucking Nightmare", Anakin shouts using the force to break the lights so it is completely dark. Jabba shouted and multiple guards came and protected the slug.
Anakin's face turned smug as he used the force to help him see. There he was the man who initiated his mom's murder. Anakin's anger was quickly unleashed picking up all the guards and crushing their bodies in seconds. Jabba tried to run but Anakin stopped him with the force.
"Fuck you, you piece of shit. Let me go", Jabba shouts. Anakin grabbed his vibroblade and cut open the slug's stomach causing all of his organs to plop out on the floor. Then Anakin grabbed his lightsaber and slowly started burning them causing the slug to scream so loud that everyone outside could hear it. The prostitutes began running out of the palace at the sight of the Nightstalker torturing the slug. Compared to the Zygerrian queen Anakin was more brutal to Jabba. Using the force he lifted Jabba up causing his organs to fall out. He gasped at the sight of the vigilante lifting him up. Jabba knew he fucked up but couldn't do anything about it.
Anakin started skinning the slug which made Jabba screech in utter agony.
"Kill me please just do it. Get it over with", says Jabba.
"NO", Anakin shouts. His mom died slowly in his arms so Jabba was going to die slower. Anakin dropped Jabba back on the ground and left him there.
"Where are you going", he chokes. Anakin turns around and smirks under his mask. "You filthy slug, you don't deserve to die a quick death", Anakin shouts.
He then goes downstairs and begins unlocking the cages where the slaves were held. Many of them thanked the Nightstalker then quickly ran out into the light. As Anakin was going to leave he saw a little girl around the age of 7 standing there. Anakin removed his mask and crouched down to the girls height.
"Are you okay, where are your parents", Anakin says softly. The girl started to sob "I don't have any."
Anakin's eyes quickly changed from yellow to deep blue.
The girl jumped into Anakin's arms and he began to cry. He met someone who went through the same pain as him. She lost her parents like how Anakin lost his mom. Anakin picked her up and carried her out of the palace.
"Don't worry you are safe now", he says. The girl embraces tightly around his neck while Anakin grabbed his lightsaber and lit the whole palace on fire with Jabba inside. As he made his way back to the speeder he can faintly hear the scream of Jabba as the fire began burning his whole body. Anakin couldn't help but smile, his mother's killer was now dead but now he has a new challenge to face.
He puts the little girl on his speeder and turns around for a bit. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. How can I take care of a little child. All I know is how to kill people not take care of one", Anakin says. He turns around and sees the girl widely smiling at him.
"Thank you", she mutters. Anakin's heart dropped this girl lived a rough life and seeing that he saved her, she wanted to stay by his side. He knows that he can't leave her, she has no one to turn too. "But maybe", Anakin says to himself. "I can sneak her into the Naboo palace, so when the others find her they can take care of her. She can't stay with me. My life is too dangerous, I can't put a child in the line of danger. That is no life for a kid", Anakin says. He finally made up his mind and decided to fly to Naboo. He hopped onto his speeder and put the girl in front of him. As they zoomed back to his ship the little girl started laughing. "She loves to go fast I guess", Anakin beams. She looked so cute, it made him want to adopt her but he knew he couldn't. He had a mission and to protect a girl while also murdering those pricks would be to hard for him. He wouldn't want to lose her and see her die. She is too young, "Maybe Senator Organa will take her in and let her live a good life on Alderaan. This girl deserves a better life", he says tearing up.
They soon made it back to Anakin's old home and he parked the speeder. He picked up the girl and carried her to the ship, lightly placing her in the co-pilot's seat.
"Daddy where are we going", the little girl asks. Anakin could barely take it anymore "She is calling me daddy. I can't be a father. I can't have a child living on the run because I am a wanted vigilante." Anakin didn't understand why she would call him daddy. She knew him for only 15 minutes but can you really blame her, she has no one and now that someone saved her. She is now attached to him.
Anakin take his mask off once again and looked into the girl's eyes.
"I can't be your daddy, I'm taking you to people who can give you a good life. I can't give you that, my life is rough and dangerous. You deserve better and that is not with me", Anakin says softly. The girl started to cry again and hugs Anakin.
"I want to be with you. I love you", she cries. Anakin's heart stopped beating for a second. Someone actually loved him, the only other person that loved him was his mom. Now a girl who shares the same experience as him wants to be with him.
"What's your name", Anakin says.
"Sophie", she responds.
"Hey Sophie, I'm Anakin", he says.
Sophie expresses a wide smile "Hey Daddy Anakin."
He let out a little chuckle. "God she is so adorable."
Anakin turned on the ship and wiped the tears flowing down his face. He slowly turned to the weeping girl and whispered "I love you too."
They took off and left that shitty dust ball. He punched his coordinates for Naboo and entered hyperspace.
While in hyperspace the little girl turned to Anakin who was crying.
"Why are you crying daddy", says the girl. Anakin didn't know how to respond. His emotions kept changing causing him to not think clearly. "Should I take this girl in. No I can't the mission. But Fuck the mission she needs you and you need her. I CAN'T", he shouts to himself.
Anakin faced the girl wiping his last tear from his face "I'm crying because of how beautiful you are. You share the same experience I had. I lost my mother, she was my only parent. After that I had no one, I lived alone. But now I found you", he smiles weakly.
The girl hugs Anakin "I'm sorry you had to live through that daddy".
"It's okay I moved on", he sobs "My mom will always be apart of me, she watches me and guides my actions", Anakin mutters. He never cried this much in a long time. The last time he was ever this emotional was when his mother died in his arms. They finally exited hyperspace and entered Naboo's atmosphere. Anakin had to get to the palace undetected so he searched through the buttons and luckily he found a cloaking device.
"Thank you for creating such an amazing ship", Anakin laughs. With cloaking enabled he can land very close to the palace without being detected. He landed behind the palace and hopped out of the ship. He softly carried the girl out and used the force to reach to the nearest window. He pushed the window open and luckily it didn't make a noise. He entered the dark lounge hall with the girl by his side. Anakin heard laughter coming from the room to his right.
1 hour earlier
"What", Padme says leaning in closer.
"The Nightstalker he told me everything, he warned me about..." Obi Wan choked on his words. Nothing was able to leave his mouth. Sabe grabbed Obi Wan's face and stared at him intently.
"What did he say Obi", Sabe says worriedly.
Obi Wan wiped the sweat flowing down his face. He never fought with these emotions before. He always been able to suppress them but this one felt different.
"He warned me about the jedi. He said I should leave the order", Obi Wan says. Padme's face widened Obi Wan couldn't leave the jedi it meant everything to him.
"You can't leave the jedi order means everything to you", Padme responds.
"I know but seeing what the Nightstalker told me, he was right all along. He knew the corruption he saw it. The vigilante told me if I try to fix the order I will ruin my life and Sabe's life as well. The jedi aren't the peacekeepers anymore. They are just glorified law enforcement, who kill and rape people", Obi Wan says pouring out all the info he remembered. But he stopped himself at the part when the Nightstalker warned him about Shaak Ti and Aayla. He also didn't say to Padme and Sabe that the Nightstalker sensed an attack will be coming. He didn't want to cause panic in Padme and Sabe. He felt they weren't ready to hear it so he kept his mouth shut.
"All he told me was that the jedi are wrong, and that I have a chance to a new life with a beautiful woman. I shouldn't throw that all away", Obi Wan says wholeheartedly. Sabe leaned in and kissed Obi Wan.
"Let's go eat dinner shall we", says Sabe. Obi Wan nods and slowly gets off the bed. Padme followed behind him.
As they made it to the dining room Obi Wan spotted the two jedi masters and instantly remembered what the vigilante told him. "Keep a close eye on the two other jedi. You may trust them with your life but they might not feel the same." That was all Obi Wan kept thinking about. But he quickly dismissed those thoughts and acted normal, he didn't want them to sense his suspicion towards both of them.
Bail Organa started talking about his wife forcing him to do chores when he returns back to Alderaan. Everyone started laughing at when he told them that he would have to give Breha a massage and a pedicure every night for a month.
Anakin pulled Sophie to the wall and he peeked the corner and there they were. Bail Organa, Sabe, Padme, and the others enjoying a nice meal.
Sophie tugged on Anakin's robe as he put his mask back on.
"Daddy please don't leave", she says quietly sobbing.
Anakin looked at her and hugged her.
"I'm sorrry but I can't, my life isn't fit for a child. The last thing I want to see happen is for you to get hurt. I love you", he says tearing up through his mask. Even though he barely knew her, he felt that he did. She was so similar to him that it made it hard for Anakin to leave her but it was for the best.
He grabbed Sophie and had her peek the corner and pointed to Bail.
"That is going to be your new daddy. He will take better care of you than me. He also has a wife that will be your mommy. I don't have a wife", Anakin softly says trying to hold back his tears.
"Daddy please", she argues.
"Sophie listen to me. I love you so much, they will be your new parents. But don't worry I won't forget about you, I will come to visit you I promise", Anakin says.
The girl wipes the tears falling down her face "You promise."
"Yes I promise. I will never stop thinking about you. Your going to live a good life with them trust me. I will visit you as much as I can and then we can have all the fun in the world", he reassures her. Anakin felt his other part of him kick in. The normal side of Anakin, he felt like a father to her. He was no vigilante, no murderer, he was a daddy to her. He was daddy Anakin.
She hugged him and jumped with joy. "Damn am I a stuffed animal or what, she is really attached to me", Anakin smirks but Sophie accidentally bumped into the table causing a vase to fall over and break creating a loud *bang*.
"Fuck me", Anakin shouts to himself. This wasn't how the plan was supposed to go. He was to leave Sophie here then say goodbye and leave. Then they would find her and take her in. But now Anakin will have to face the group. He tightened his mask and threw his hood over it. He picked up Sophie and waited for whoever would come. He thought of trying to escape but it would be too late they would see him leave.
"I will go check", Padme says standing up. She walks over to the lounge hall and turns on the lights. She immediately stands there in shock. It was the Nightstalker and he was holding a young girl in his arms.
Bail looked concerned at why Padme was standing there still so he walked to her. Obi Wan and the others followed. They all had the same reaction as Padme.
The vigilante was in the palace, literally right in front of them. Anakin lightly placed Sophie on the ground and turned her to face him. "Sophie", he says "These people will take care of you. Now go and live an amazing life you deserve it", he continues.
Padme turned to Bail and whispered "Do you know what's going on." Bail shook his head "No I don't."
Obi Wan was dazed, the Nightstalker was there all his visions about what he said flooded his memory. He needed to talk to the vigilante.
Sophie embraced Anakin sobbing all over him "I will miss you daddy."
Anakin began crying uncontrollably as well "I will miss you too, but hey go to your new daddy", Anakin says pointing to Bail.
Padme couldn't think straight. She felt the vigilante's human side, she never heard him cry before. It stuck her heart how genuine he was to the little girl.
Bail stood there in disbelief as the little girl ran to him and looked at him. "Your my new daddy", she says expressing a wide smile.
"I'm your new daddy", he repeats in confusion he turned to the vigilante who was standing there with his arms crossed.
"Why", he said to Anakin.
Anakin was crying beneath his mask but he was glad no one else could see it.
"When I went to kill Jabba, I found her in a cage. Her parents were both killed and she had no one. Kinda like how I was. I thought of taking her in as my own but I can't. My life is unfit for a kid, she will always have to be on the run worrying about danger. I can't live to see her through that. So I thought I sneak her in here and that you can take her in and raise her to live a good life on Alderaan. I promised her that I would see her periodically, so I have to keep my promise", Anakin says.
Bail nods "You are a good man Nightstalker. You are always welcome to visit her on Alderaan.
"Thanks she is probably more excited than me", he chuckles.
Padme's heart began aching at the vigilante's laugh. She feels that she remembers it from somewhere but can't figure it out. Hopefully the man stays and she can find out what he looks like beneath the mask.
"Why don't you stay for the night", Sabe says calmly.
"I can't I have to go", he says disappointed. Then Sophie ran up to him and tugged on his leg.
"Daddy please don't go now. Just stay one night, for me please", she says giving Anakin the puppy eyes. "God fucking dammit", he shouts to himself. He knows he has to leave that is what his vigilante said is telling him. But Sophie is bringing his normal side out of him. He wants to stay the night for her and only her.
"But the mission", he screams to himself. Suddenly a voice so familiar spoke to him.
"Ani", the voice says.
"Mom", he mutters to himself.
"Yes my son, why are you so conflicted", she asks.
Anakin looked up at the ceiling. "Sophie wants me to stay the night. She is like me mom. She lost her parents and now I'm leaving her with Senator Organa to live a better life but she wants me to stay. I can't though because of the mission."
"Ani stay, be there for her at least one more time. The mission is important I get that. But you can't live your life focused on one thing. Ani you have to have fun and live normal for once", Shmi says. Anakin knew his mom was right, he was so caught up in fulfilling the mission that he doesn't give himself time to relax and enjoy life. He is always moving and working to rid these pests from the galaxy.
"Your right mom. I will stay for her, just for the night", he says to himself.
"Thank you my son. I am so proud of you, I love you", she says before leaving his mind.
"I love you", he whispers to himself. He then turns to Sophie and let's out a big sigh.
"Okay Sophie I will stay for the night, just for you", he says softly. Sophie hugs him and jumps with joy
"Thank you, thank you, daddy".
Anakin stands up and stares at the others.
Padme felt her body shake in excitement it finally happened the vigilante is staying the night.
"Nightstalker come with us, let's have a nice talk", Bail says politely. Anakin grabs Sophie in his arms and follows the others.
Padme turned to Bail and smiled. He beamed back at her "It worked Padme, we got the man to stay", he whispers.
"No we didn't, she did", Padme says glancing over at Sophie who was playing with the vigilante's robe.
Anakin took a deep breath "Mom I'm doing this for you and for Sophie", he says to himself. He felt skeptical and nervous about staying the night. He didn't know what they would try to do to him. He feels it is a trap but throws those thoughts in the back of his head. Right now he is there for Sophie, so his attention should be focused on her having a fun time with him.
End of Chapter 12
Thanks for Reading. Anakin now is in the palace with the others. He acts more like Anakin than the Nightstalker. Padme will try to get close to him and learn more about him. She has suspicions to who the man beneath the mask might be but is unsure. May the Force Be With You.
