Daydream Believer Prologue
Skyhooks are banned on Coruscant, but the Chancellor found a loophole in the ban by housing endangered plants from other systems that couldn't survive on their ruined worlds. Let alone on a city-planet like Coruscant after a cut to the Public Botany funding. However, he does have a section devoted to more common plants, particularly those from Naboo. The Rominaria flowers are red and pink this year just as he said. The little puffballs smell like their babies' powder.
"I'm sorry for the lateness of the visit." Padmé says in Naboo since it's just them under the light of Shiraya's moon. She was supposed to visit a week ago, but the Senate kept her busy until now.
"No harm done." The Chancellor hums and gazes down at their children. "They are quite active."
Rori kicks the side of his stroller repeatedly, not satisfied with throwing his blanket out. Gallo looks at the divider separating him from his twin and wonders why it shakes so.
"They'll be up till midnight because of their late afternoon nap." She explains as she picks up Rori's blanket. She knows better than return it to him; he'll just kick it out again. She keeps it to herself.
"Wonder why that is." He comments wryly. His blue eyes notice Shmi hovering above Gallo's head. For a split second, the watery eyes turn into ice. But she blinks and just sees him smiling at the boys with his caring eyes.
I must be seeing things.
"Ani sang them a lullaby."
"I thought he was on Neimoidia. Unless our Jedi learned how to teleport through hyperspace."
"He just made a little recording for them." More like for Gallo. He gets so depressed when Anakin is away. He'll cry quietly and have even less of an appetite, but he gets better after a day. The recording soothes Gallo, and Rori likes to throw his blocks at Ani's holo.
"I didn't know he could sing." He admits softly.
"I have it with me!" She searches the diaper bag and retrieves the handheld holoprojector with Anakin's recording. She hands it to him. He activates it after a moment's hesitation.
His holo flickers into a blue and white figure no bigger than a child's doll. He flashes his charming, boyish smile.
"Hey, Gallo and Rori, when we're apart and you need me, I hope this song will bridge the distance."
And then Ani sings his song. He makes the guttural Huttese sound as soft as Naboo. He is not a classically trained singer of Core operas, but he has enough soul and heart to come close. Gallo smiles with all his gums, while Rori looks at the holo with sleepy eyes. Sheev's painfully blue eyes show such tenderness like they once did when he would hold Gallo, when Gallo wanted him to hold him. Now, Gallo wants only Anakin.
The song concludes with a dying hum.
"If Anakin wasn't a Jedi, he could have a career in music."
"He'd rather be a father to…the children." She knows that she should've used our, but she doesn't want to hurt him now. Or ever.
"Anakin would enjoy that."
"Once the war is over."
"Yes, once the war is over."
Author's Comments- There are no links this time.
In Legends/EU, Anakin can sing. In Alan Dean Foster's The Approaching Storm, Anakin sings as part of this pseudo-talent show with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luminara Unduli, and Barriss Offee. He is noted to sing well since he sang from the soul. I figure he'd perform similarly for his children. However, I can't put a singer to Anakin's voice quite yet. I've tried David Bowie of 1966, Jim Morrison, Donovan, Cat Stevens/Yusuf, Barry McGuire, and even The Monkees, but none of them struck me as Anakin's singing voice. It'll just be my luck by story's end I'll find the appropriate singer for him.
Currently, this will be a thirteen chapter, including the prologue, story, but that may go up or down depending on the chapters' length themselves. Also, I'm using a bit of James Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil for this prologue, but soon we'll enter RoTS, or my alternate take on it considering this AU. When I first watched RoTS back when it premiered, I thought the events took over the course of weeks. It turns out that the movie was over the course of THREE DAYS; no wonder, Anakin lost his mind!