Synopsis:
Many years have passed since the Sith Lord, Darth Vader, died in the arms of his son, Luke. Even longer, it has been, since Anakin Skywalker turned to the darkness. As a new threat arises, the Force has plans for the fallen Chosen One.
Ahsoka Tano has spent many years in seclusion, hidden from her enemies upon her home world of Shili. Her only companion being a young boy named Tehr Ahn, orphaned as a child. Having found Tehr in the wreckage of a ship, Ahsoka, following the will of the Force, trained the boy in the ways of the Force. On her deathbed, Ahsoka gives her young charge a dangerous mission to fulfill.
His mission: find Ahsoka Tano's long lost master, Anakin Skywalker.
Prologue: The Awakening
It was cold. It was dark. It was death. Then his eyes snapped open.
He gasped in air desperately as his senses overwhelmed him. The touch of the rough stone pricked his skin like a thousand needles. The ringing in his ears reverberated in his head. The smell of rust and earth consumed him. The taste of iron on his tongue made him recoil.
He curled in on his side as he writhed in agony. In a feeble attempt to escape the pain, he pressed his hands over his ears with his eyes screwed shut. Slowly, his senses adjusted to the overstimulation. He continued to lay on the cold surface, taking deep breaths. Hours seemed to pass before he became aware of his surroundings. In the dark, cold place, his memories had become elusive and misplaced. As he came back to himself, their pieces began to reassemble like a puzzle.
Ani remembered kindness, his mother. Emotions flooded him, and tears spilled from his eyes. Happiness flowed through him. He remembered hope for his future. He began to sob—pride for his Padawan. Then Anakin felt love, Padme, and with love came fear. Fear that he would lose the only person who truly loved him. Suddenly his emotions began to rot. Pride turned to hate. Hope turned to pain. Kindness turned to anger. Happiness became despair. His tears dried as he remembered the Darkness. Darth Vader.
He sat up quickly. The Emperor… Luke. Where was Luke? Did he live? And what of his twin sister?
The room spun as blood rushed to his head. He blinked a few times and took a moment to observe his surroundings. For the first time, he realized that he lay upon a large stone altar situated in the center of a cavernous chamber. Faint light streamed in through fissures in the domed roof far above. Dust permeated every surface, and pillars lay broken upon the mossy stones of the floor. There stood enormous stone doors framed on either side by tall hooded statues to the right and left sides of the room. The walls, where they were not crumbling, were marred with line after line of worn text.
On the ceiling, Anakin could see the fragments of a large mural. In the dim light, he could faintly make out strange images. Twelve separate images appeared to depict a sequence of events or a cycle. Unfortunately, where parts of the mural were faded beyond repair or were part of the stone which had long ago fallen away.
Silence filled the chamber. The only noise seemed to be a quiet hum—the faint vibrations of the Force, inaudible to the human ear. The Force was strong in this place. Anakin could feel it in the stale air. It flowed through the chamber as if reminiscing the distant past. However, Anakin had never felt the Force in this state. It was unmarred. The Force in its purest form. It was neither Light nor Dark. It was merely the Force. Anakin closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He felt peace wash over him in the presence of balance, something he had rarely ever felt.
Anakin opened his eyes and swung his legs over the edge of the altar. Shock froze him in his movement as he looked down. His legs, they were flesh. Clothed only in a thin grey robe, Anakin could see perfectly smooth skin and hair where there had once been metal and wires. Raising a shaking hand to his mouth, he noticed that his hands had also been completely regrown. He ran his hands over his face as he stood. He began to sob once more. After so long stuck in that terrible contraption, he was finally free.
He wondered what this all meant. He questioned how he had gotten to this place. The last thing he could remember was Luke, speaking to him. My poor child, he thought, what have I done?
"Padme… how will you ever forgive me," he cried in a croaked whisper. Hearing his voice without the methodical Shaaa-Shhhiii of the breathing contraption felt strange to him. It echoed through the chamber like a ghost's voice, someone who had been dead for many long years. It was, like his limbs, belonging to the phantom who he had once been.
Who am I? Am I Vader, or am I Anakin Skywalker? He questioned himself. For so long, he had suppressed the part of himself that was Anakin. The part of himself that yearned for freedom. He had allowed himself to become consumed by hate and fear. Only at the discovery of his son had he allowed himself to remember Anakin Skywalker. He had once more opened himself to love and kindness. I may once more be Anakin Skywalker, but Darth Vader will always be a part of me. I will never be able to escape what I have done.
"Why am I not dead? I deserve pain," he said in melancholy.
Anakin was confused. He did not understand why he was not dead. Why had the Force brought him back? Was it to pay for all of his sins? To suffer the pain of life? For he knew that only the Force could return him to the plane of the living. He knew deep within himself that he had been dead.
Anakin gathered himself, took a deep breath, and stood on his own two feet for the first time in a very long time.
"I need answers," he spoke loudly. He did not know whether he was simply talking to himself or if there was a part of himself that expected a reply.
After waiting for a second in silence, Anakin Skywalker, step by step, made his way towards one of the giant stone doors.
A/N: Updates will be sporadic. If there is any information about Star Wars that I get wrong, please tell me. Please leave a review and thank you for reading.