Chapter 1 – Memories Lost
Plot: An injury during their duel on Mustafar leaves Anakin and Obi-Wan memoryless. They have no idea how they ended up there, much less what is happening. All they can do is make the best of their situation and try to piece together the future that they lived and lost.
Author's Note: I've always wanted to do something with Anakin and Obi-Wan when Anakin is still a padawan, but when there's no canon content from that time, it's hard to come up with a worthwhile plot to write. And I've always been obsessed with amnesia AUs, so this insanity was born. XD
Also, this is a gift for lore_reyen on ao3, and this is for the SW Father-Son Appreciation Gift Exchange. :)
This fic is four chapters. The second chapter will be posted on Sunday, and then, the next two on each Sunday after that. ^-^
~ Tirana Sorki
The first thing Anakin notices when he slowly fades back into consciousness is that everything feels wrong. His eyes blink open, and he finds himself staring up at the ceiling of... somewhere. He doesn't know where he is, and he doesn't even remember coming here in the first place! Last he knew, he was training at the Temple with his master, so where in the world is he now?! And how did he get here?
His body feels weird, wrong, and he aches like he's been fighting for hours. And... for some reason his right arm feels almost numb.
The Force feels strangely dark and out of balance in a way he's never felt it before in his life, but maybe it's because of the planet they're on? He doesn't know but it scares him, because he's never felt this much death in the air before.
And he doesn't even know what's going on!
Slowly, Anakin pushes himself into a sitting position, abruptly struck by the realization he seems... taller. Maybe. Unless he's still dizzy from whatever knocked him unconscious in the first place.
And the next thing he realizes is that for some reason, there are dead bodies all over the floor in here, along with a few parts of destroyed droids. On the opposite side of the room, Obi-Wan – wait, why does he look so much older? – is starting to stir. He has no idea what's going on here, but he can't remember what mission the two of them were on. He knows things like memory loss can happen temporarily from a head injury, so maybe that has something to do with it?
Force, he hates this. Reaching down, Anakin picks up his lightsaber, only to realize that it's... not his? Well, the crystal inside feels like his, but it doesn't look like the one he had at all. What is going on here?
That's when Anakin notices that he can't feel in his hand. He can sense pressure but it's not the same. And why does he have a glove on it? Wariness suddenly pooling inside him, he reaches down, slipping the glove off, jerking back at the sight of the gold metal beneath it.
His hand is metal. Why is his hand metal?! How did this happen? When did this happen? Yes, he definitely missed a lot.
But Obi-Wan is here, so at least he will know what's happening.
Anakin slowly makes his way across the room over to him, wondering why his body feels so weird and... just not his size. It sounds so ludicrous to even think.
"Master?" Anakin asks, shaking his shoulder.
Obi-Wan opens his eyes, which promptly go wide. "Anakin – what?!" He jolts upright, looking about as mind-blown and half-panicked as Anakin is feeling right now. "What happened to you?!"
"... what do you mean?"
"You – you look like an adult! Where are we?!"
"I don't know! And you look strange too," Anakin protests.
"What do you mean?" he frowns.
"Older?" Anakin offers. Great, do they both have some serious brain damage here? "I don't know what's going on. The last I remember, we were at the Temple."
"That's the last I remember too," Obi-Wan replies, finally standing up, which is when Anakin realizes that yes, something is very, very wrong here.
"... you're short." Because yes, Obi-Wan is literally shorter than him, and now he's definitely beginning to panic, because this doesn't make any sense! Unless – no, that's not possible. He can't possibly have forgotten years of time, could he?!
"You're..." Obi-Wan pauses. "How did you get so tall?! Why do you look so old?"
"I don't know!" He's been wondering that this whole time too!
"It seems we both... need a checkup back at the Temple," Obi-Wan decides.
"I agree," Anakin mutters, turning to scan the room again. This is so confusing. He's never dealt with anything like this before, and he doesn't know where to start. And it doesn't seem like his master knows either.
"You're supposed to be fifteen," Obi-Wan says flatly, and Anakin looks back to see that he's still frowning up at his new height. It's beyond weird to be looking down at him.
"Well... I'm not?" Anakin offers.
"Clearly," Obi-Wan huffs, turning to look around the room, "What happened here?"
"That's what I was wondering," Anakin replies, moving a little closer, looking down at the bodies all over the place, "It looks like they were killed by a lightsaber." Which is so odd because he doesn't see very many weapons in the room to indicate that it was a battle.
"We were obviously fighting them," his master muses, "Maybe they did something that somehow led to our... memory loss."
"... that doesn't make any sense, Master. They all must have been dead before we lost consciousness."
"Maybe some of them escaped," he offers, then looks up at Anakin again and frowns, "Where's your padawan braid?"
What? Anakin reaches up to feel for it, but there's nothing there. Instead, his hair is a lot longer than it was as a padawan and... Wait, does that mean he's a Knight? And he doesn't even remember any of this?! How many years did he forget?! "I... may be a Knight now?"
"You're way too young to be a Knight," his master retorts.
"How old do I look?" Anakin asks, warily.
Obi-Wan frowns again – actually he never stopped. "I don't know... Twenty?" He sounds completely appalled at the thought.
"... how is that 'too young'?"
"You have a very long way to go before you're even near ready for being Knighted," his master retorts. Does he? The comment stings the slightest amount, because there's many padawans who are ready to be knighted within a few years of the point he's at, but he's too mind-blown right now to worry about it.
"It has been at least... five years since what we remember," Anakin realizes, with growing alarm. How much have they missed?!
"Your height is still unacceptable," Obi-Wan says unhappily.
"Hey, I don't control that!" Anakin protests.
"What happened to your arm?" he asks abruptly.
He looks down at it again. It feels so fake. Like it isn't a part of him, and he doesn't even know what to think about it. "I... don't know."
"And I'd still like to know what happened to your face," Obi-Wan comments.
Anakin frowns. "What do you mean?"
"You have a scar, next to your eye."
"Oh... well, I still want to know what happened to your neck." He eyes the black and blue marks on it.
"What do you mean?"
"It looks like someone was strangling you,"
"It appears we've missed a lot," Obi-Wan grumbles, "But our ship has to be around here somewhere."
They head for the door, picking their way around the bodies all over the room.
"... Master?" Anakin calls, pausing his tracks.
"Yes?"
"This one looks a little like... Gunray." Unless he's completely imagining things. Which he highly doubts, because he remembers seeing what the Nemodian looked like. He could never forget him, after what he did to Naboo.
Obi-Wan stops, looking back. "Yes... he does," he agrees, looking decidedly perplexed. "Well, that explains the droids here. Maybe we were dealing with the Trade Federation?"
"Where even are we?" Anakin wonders, "The Force feels..." Dark, wild, in a way that's still scaring him. He doesn't know what it means, but it feels like death.
"I noticed," Obi-wan agrees, frowning, "Maybe this is a Dark Side planet."
Maybe. He doesn't know if that's the only problem though, because somehow it feels like it isn't. He doesn't argue it though, keeping the comments to himself as they head outside of the building onto a landing platform.
The sky is dark, completely covered in clouds, so he has no way to know the time of day. But what really stands out to him instantly is the orangish glow that's illuminating everything here. Beyond the landing platform, he can see rivers of lava running everywhere. And it's suffocatingly hot, enough to compete with Tatooine. Well... he still has no idea where they are but it definitely looks like the kind of planet the Trade Federation might be messing around on for one reason or another.
And that's when he promptly spot something else. On the far side of the platform, there's two ships waiting. One of them is a fighter, like one from the Temple, but instead of a second fighter, all he sees is... a Nubian ship? Very much like the one they were flying around during the Federation Blockades. Okay, if this couldn't get any weirder...
Force, there is nothing Anakin hates more than memory loss.
"Why would a Nubian ship be here?" Obi-Wan asks rhetorically.
"Maybe we... accompanied someone here?"
"Why would we be bringing someone from Naboo to a planet like this with Trade Federation members?"
Anakin shrugs. "Failed negotiations?" It sounds incredibly stupid, but he cannot figure out what else could possibly be happening here.
"Well, if we really escorted someone from Naboo, then where are they?"
"Maybe we can go on the ship?" he suggests hesitantly. The ramp is down, and there's no sign of anyone right out here, but it's probably the safest option. Though explaining to whoever's on board that they don't remember anything at all is going to be beyond awkward. Not like they have much of a choice.
They've only made it half-way across the platform when a much too familiar astromech droid suddenly rolls forward, furiously beeping.
"Artoo?!" Anakin exclaims eagerly as the droid stops in front of them. He kneels in front of it, resting a hand on its dome. "It's been a long time since I've seen you." Despite the situation, he can't quite contain his excitement at seeing the droid again. All things considered, it was one of the first and only friends he ever made after leaving Tatooine.
Artoo beeps, sounding almost confused.
Right. Because... wait, he was just out here with Artoo? Oh, of course.
"We appear to be... having a minor memory lapse?" Anakin offers, "Nothing serious you need to worry about."
"You're malfunctioning?" Artoo asks.
"Something like that. What's going on here?"
The droid beeps again.
Anakin frowns. What?
"What's he saying?" Obi-Wan asks.
"That I came here to... I can't understand the rest of that. Deactivate someone?" he repeats, looking down at the droid.
The droid beeps again, but Anakin can't make out what he's trying to say.
"Do you have any idea what he's saying?"
"I'm not a protocol droid," Obi-Wan says, giving him a most unimpressed look.
"I don't remember what's going on," Anakin says, looking back to Artoo, "But perhaps we should leave."
He stands, and the three of them head onto the Nubian ship.
They've just made it up the ramp when a golden protocol droid rushes into view, looking greatly alarmed. "Oh, thank the maker!" he exclaims, "Master Anakin, I brought Mistress Padme on board. I believe her condition is serious."
Anakin freezes. Wait, wait –
"Threepio?" Anakin asks, incredulously.
"... yes?" the droid says, sounding completely confused.
Okay, this doesn't make any sense whatsoever. He left Threepio back at home with Mom! What is he doing here now? "You know this droid, too?" Obi-Wan asks, sounding almost amused.
"I don't know how he's here!" Anakin protests. So what if he sounds a little hysterical right now?! The day is making less and less sense with each passing moment, and he needs some answers right now.
"Mistress Padme brought me along," Threepio offers, uncertainly.
Right. Okay – wait. "Padme's here?!" he demands. He met Padme again?! When and how did that happen?!
"Yes, I brought her to one of the cabins," the droid replies.
"Perhaps your assumption is more accurate than I initially thought," Obi-Wan muses as the two hurry after Threepio to where Padme is waiting. And what did he mean earlier about her condition being serious? Did the negotiations they were here for totally collapse and someone hurt Padme? That would definitely explain the fight.
The door to the side room slides open where Padme is lying on a bed. The first thing that hits Anakin is how much older she looks, even if it's still so much like what he remembers her as.
"Padme?" Anakin asks, stepping forwards. then looks towards Threepio, "What happened to her?!"
Which is right when he realizes something else. Unless he's completely imagining things, she is... pregnant? What?!
From the very odd look on Obi-Wan's face, Anakin is pretty sure he figured out the same thing. Well, it has been many years and she's definitely over twenty, so Anakin supposes it wouldn't really be that strange if she finally married someone. It's just... the last thing he was expecting to see when he came here.
But what's really concerning him is how critical her condition seems, though he doesn't even see anything visibly wrong with her.
"I don't know," Threepio replies, "She was unconscious on the landing platform and I brought her on board. I didn't see you there." Well, that answers nothing.
Padme's eyes slowly blink open. For a moment Anakin half-hysterically wonders what will happen if sheis also experiencing memory loss. Her gaze lands on him, and a whirlwind of emotions rushes through her, things Anakin can't even put a label on, but he thinks the strongest are relief and... affection? A very strange level of which is almost enough to weird him out. Because... what? He didn't know Padme that well.
"Anakin," she breathes, slowly reaching out and taking his hand. What? Her grip is disturbingly weak, but he's too mind-blown to even react.
Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow at him and Anakin shrugs, feeling himself flush. He's confused too! It's not like he knows why she's acting like this!
She slowly looks past him, gaze landing on Obi-Wan. "You brought him back," she whispers, weakly.
"I'm sorry, brought who back?" Obi-Wan asks, sounding about as lost as Anakin is feeling. Are they talking about him? Why did Obi-Wan need to bring him anywhere? Or did something else go very wrong in these negotiations with the Trade Federation that he hasn't figured out yet?
Padme seems to be fading back into unconsciousness, though, so she doesn't answer, gaze refocusing on Anakin as she tightens her grip a little on his hand. "I knew you would come," she murmurs, "Our child..." She trails off, slipping into unconsciousness, leaving Anakin to stare at her. What?!
"What?!" he squeaks, hysterically.
"Is there something you'd like to confess?" Obi-Wan asks, raising an eyebrow as he eyes him.
Anakin pulls away from Padme, spinning around. "I told you I don't know what's happening anymore than you do! I don't know what she's talking about!"
"It appears," Obi-Wan says, sounding... Anakin can't even put a label on it, "That she's about to give birth, and you're the father."
"But that doesn't make any sense!"
"None of this does," his master deadpans, crossing his arms, "But let's get one thing straight, young one. Whether you're in the Order or not, you're not getting someone pregnant when you're in your teens ever again."
Anakin feels himself flushing furiously. "You said I look like I'm twenty!" he protests, desperately.
"It doesn't matter. That's still too young."
"Can't you save this for when I remember doing it?!" Because he's about to die of embarrassment for something he doesn't even remember.
"I will," Obi-Wan promises fiercely, "Now we need to get her to a medbay."
**w**
Suffice it to say, Obi-Wan doesn't think he's been in a crazier situation in his life. Short term memory loss is one thing, but it seems like they both forget at least five or so years. And how in the world is Anakin this much taller than him?! This is not okay! Yes, he kind of expected it, since last he remembers, the boy was practically his height, but this is different. And apparently, he's already a Knight – unless he left the Order or something – and Obi-Wan can't even imagine that either.
"Where should we go?" Anakin objects.
"Probably back to Coruscant," Obi-Wan replies, as the two settle into the seats in the cockpit.
Artoo rolls forwards, urgently beeping.
"He's saying – we can't go to Coruscant?" Anakin says, frowning. "Or that we probably don't want to. Why not?"
If that isn't odd... Obi-Wan reaches forwards, flipping through the navicomputer on the ship. They'll have to leave the fighter behind because they're staying together in something like this. It looks like they're on Mustafar. Good to know, though it isn't terribly helpful at explaining what's happening. "He says that there's ..." Anakin freezes, expression twisting. "What are you talking about?!"
He sounds almost panicked, and suddenly, Obi-Wan does not have a good feeling about this. Artoo rolls forwards, plugging into the side of the ship so its words can appear on the screen.
"Jedi were declared traitors to the Republic," it announces, "If you go back to Coruscant, you will be deactivated."
Wait – what?!
"How is that possible?! That's ridiculous!" Obi-Wan exclaims. And then he remembers the darkness he feels in the Force, and... Force, no. This does not sound good at all. It would be easier to believe this is just a nightmare.
"They committed treason," the droid replies, "The clone army has been ordered to deactivate all Jedi on sight."
"Clone army?" both of them repeat incredulously.
"What is the last thing you remember?" Artoo asks.
"I was fifteen," Anakin offers.
The droid beeps exasperatedly.
"There was a galactic war," it explains, and Obi-Wan stares. A war encompassing the entire galaxy? He doesn't even want to believe the droid, but he wouldn't be lying about it.
"How? What for?" he asks.
"Whatever organics usually fight about," Artoo offers unhelpfully.
That doesn't help at all, but that's hardly the most important part right now. "So what happened to the Jedi?" Obi-Wan demands.
"They were deactivated," Artoo repeats, "I was not informed of the details."
Very unhelpful. He doesn't understand any of this. The Jedi couldn't be destroyed. There's way too many of them for that to happen.
"How?" Anakin asks, faintly.
The droid beeps uncertainly.
It makes sense why they can't go back to Coruscant but then... None of this feels real. He needs to find another Jedi to talk to about what happened, or something. "Do you know of anywhere safe?" Obi-Wan demands.
The droid beeps in the negative.
"There has to be someone still out there," Obi-Wan says, firmly. The implications of Artoo's words won't sink in yet, and maybe that's for the best, because he doesn't even know how to start dealing with such a thing. He can only be glad that Anakin was safely here with him, when everything happened.
He reaches over, dialing the frequency for the Jedi communicator used only during emergencies.
And... the last person he was expecting to pick up the call is Bail Organa.
"Master Kenobi?" he greets, worriedly.
"What's... happening?" Obi-Wan inquires. He doesn't want to get into a long explanation about memory loss right now. Maybe if he can figure out where to take Queen Amidala – is she still the queen?! – then they can take it from there, when they're actually in person. Or maybe he'll start to remember things on the way.
"Master Yoda would like to know where you are," he replies.
He briefly explains he's on Mustafar, and Bail tells him to come to Polis Massa before ending the call.
"I don't understand how this could have happened," Anakin speaks up, after many long moments of silence.
"I don't either," Obi-Wan responds, shaking his head, "We forgot a lot, apparently. Maybe when we get to the medical center on Polis Massa, they'll be able to do something about it." He can only hope because they cannot keep functioning like this. None of it makes any sense, and he can't accept that the Jedi are gone. They've stood for thousands of years. It's impossible. He knows the remaining Sith – whoever he was – must be to blame, but that explains nothing.
It does fill him with a steadily growing anger, though. This Sith destroyed the Jedi. Whoever he is, however he did it, he isn't going to get away with what he's done.
"What are we going to do?" Anakin asks, quietly.
"There's got to be some bacta around here. We can treat our injuries," – the ones he doesn't even remember getting – "And then perhaps we can try meditating together. It may... help." Not likely, though. The problem is something physical – from whatever battle he and Anakin had been fighting, so it's unlikely meditating is going to solve anything. He can hope, though.
Anakin nods his agreement, and they slip into the hold where Threepio is, asking directions for any onboard medical supplies.
"How do you know that droid?" Obi-Wan wonders as they head to the supplies area.
"I made him," Anakin explains.
Obi-Wan frowns. "You made him? When?"
"Before I left Tatooine. I don't understand why he's here, either."
That is... not what he was expecting. And it doesn't make sense either, but it's not as if Anakin has any more answers than he does. "That's the protocol droid you said you built when you were younger than nine?"
Anakin shrugs awkwardly. "Yeah."
They take care of their injuries quickly enough, though it leaves Obi-Wan really wondering what in the world he's been doing recently. Seriously, there is nothing as frustrating as memory loss, especially at a time like this. He still isn't fully convinced he isn't imagining all of this – and frankly, believing something completely irrational like that they got transported to some other universe almost sounds more believable.
Anakin is in the room with Padme again when he goes to find him, standing next to her bedside.
"How is she?" Obi-Wan queries, approaching.
"I don't know," Anakin says grimly, looking up, "She hasn't woken up again. The sooner we get to Polis Massa the better."
"No one can dispute that," Obi-Wan agrees, before advising that they meditate together.
Anakin nods, throwing a final glance at Padme – it is absolutely not okay that they apparently have a relationship, for more reasons than just the Code – before following him to the hold. They settle on the floor across from each other, and Obi-Wan reaches into the Force. It's actually far from calming at this point, when he can feel so much death in the air. And the Light that always permeates the galaxy is gone. Because the Jedi are gone. He didn't believe it before, but he's not sure he can keep denying it now.
When he tries to reach into the blank spot of his mind, all it does is make his head ache. But for a moment, he thinks he can almost pick up on vague impressions of... Emotions, perhaps? Maybe. He doesn't know.
But all he can pick up on for a moment is a burning anger at... someone. The Sith behind everything, he thinks.
And through the buried haze of nothingness, he thinks there's... also a lot of anger directed at... Anakin? Unless he's just imagining it.
Maybe his padawan did something unbearably stupid that and messed everything up on Mustafar, whatever they were doing here. That would explain a few things. (Though it wouldn't explain the strange mixture of something like betrayal in all of that.)
He doesn't have any answers, though, and there probably isn't a way to get any, at least not for now.
**w**
Anakin tries to meditate, but with so much darkness everywhere it's pretty much the opposite of calming. The more he focuses on the blank spot in his memory, trying to see if he can get any answers about anything – aside from the ache in his head – it does give him some impressions.
First and foremost, he notices even stronger the odd feelings that he's been getting towards Obi-Wan, feelings that don't really make any sense. It's a strange jumble of anger, resentment, betrayal, and fear? There's maybe some... shame? And longing there too, that unending desire to please him, all the while knowing that it will never happen.
It's almost like an extremely magnified feeling of how he feels towards Obi-Wan now, except he can't imagine what would ever make him that upset with his master. Yes, he has his problems with him sometimes but... it's nothing like this.
And... if this is supposed to be how he feels towards Obi-Wan in the future – well now technically, though he doesn't remember why – it actually scares him. He doesn't want this. He doesn't want their relationship to be like that. He's hit with a sudden overwhelming urge to throw his arms around him, despite the complaints he knows will follow, to convince himself that... their relationship could never be like this.
And then there's Padme. The way he feels towards her now is nothing like how he did when he knew her in the past. The affection, the... commitment? and protectiveness towards her... If they're really in a relationship, it makes sense. But either way, her condition is not good right now and it scares him. He doesn't want anything to happen to her.
There's someone else too, he thinks, who he really misses right now, but he has absolutely no idea who it is, and when he tries to pull up an image, the only thing his mind can come up with is "orange". Which says absolutely nothing.
This doesn't make any sense, and he wishes he knew what was going on, even though there's a part of him that almost doesn't want to know. Maybe. That's probably stupid. But the feelings he's getting scare him.
He finally settles for reaching out with the Force, intertwining his presence with his master's, lowering the insane amount of shielding on their bond. There's other bonds he has now too, he thinks, that he can't identify who they're with.
Even if mediating doesn't calm him, holding onto the feel of Obi-Wan's presence does, at least marginally. It's calming, grounding, like rain.
He doesn't know why he's getting those feelings about him because... despite how Obi-Wan can be a lot of the time, Anakin also knows that he'll... always take care of him, within reason of the Jedi Code, of course.
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