DISCLAIMERS and SUMMARY see chapter 1
Sorry this took me so long to post. I lost the notebook I'd written this chappie in (oh horrors!) and I only just found it. thanx for your patience!
Thanx to Heather-Wan for reviewing!!! I wuv you!!
words in / / indicate thoughts, * * indicates emphasis, indicates memories
and so, on with my version of episode II!
Anakin woke to light chatter and a low, soft hum. Disoriented by sleep, it took him a while to remember he was at the Lars' homestead on Tatooine. With Padmé. The Jedi apprentice smiled, thinking of the beautiful Senator in his protection. Then he remembered his mother
His mother was lying there, a dead weight in his arms. Dead.she was dead. He carried his mother's body out of the filthy, stinking tent where the Tuskens had kept her for nearly a month. Tears traced silver tracks down his cheeks, splitting the light of Tatooine's twin suns into thousands of rainbows. Gently, he laid his mother's body on his speeder.
Fresh tears traced new tracks down his cheeks, splitting the light from his room's glowpanels into thousands of rainbows. The teen wiped his eyes, willed the flood of memories away. But the tide of memory was stopped by no man, and the visions in Anakin's head went on.
He turned away from the speeder and his mother's body, again facing the Tusken camp. A hunter's smile lit the lips of the Jedi Padawan, and he drew his lightsaber. The blue glow lit the camp with an eerie shade of blue, almost as if low-level lightning wreathed every tent. Anger and rage filled the teen, the echoes of which reverberated through Obi-Wan and Anakin's bond. The Tuskens tried to run, tried to hide from the dark warrior wielding the blue lightsaber. Anakin had taken a perverse delight in making the Tuskens scream as his mother had. The vengeful teen had cut down every last cowering Tusken, leaving their bodies for the krayt dragons. The Tuskens had been cowering in fear of *him*. *He* had the power. He, Anakin. Not Obi-wan, not the Council, *him*. And he loved it.
Anakin smiled, the same ruthless smile that had lit his face while he was slaughtering Tuskens. All thoughts of his mother had been driven out of his head by the rush of adrenaline from the memory. The feeling of having the power, of being in control, was back. Anakin allowed himself a small chuckle, then dressed and left the room.
Carefully masking his dark emotions, Anakin entered the kitchen/dining room of the small homestead. Mr Lars and Owen were already seated at the table. Mr Lars was talking cordially to someone on a comlink, and Owen was studying a datapad intently. To Anakin's surprise, Padmé was nowhere in sight. Perhaps she was in the kitchen. Yes, that was it. His beloved always liked being useful.
"Good morning, Anakin. Sleep well?" Owen had heard him come in, despite Anakin's best efforts at silence.
Carefully concealing his annoyance at the younger boy with a cheery smile, Anakin returned Owen's greeting. "Good morning, Owen. I slept well." As Mr. Lars was still chatting on the comlink, Anakin found it unnecessary to greet him. After looking around the table, Anakin questioned Owen "Where's Padmé? Still asleep?"
Mr. Lars finally finished his call, and turned to answer Anakin's question before Owen could open his mouth. "She took her cruiser and left in the middle of the night. I assume she had some emergency to attend to." The older Lars man squinted at Anakin. "I also assumed she took you"
/Aargh! She stranded me on this dustbowl! Why didn't I feel her leave? What the heck does she think she's doing, going to Coruscant without me? When I get my hands on her./ The fact that he loved her did not even cross the teen's anger-filled mind. Anakin turned to Mr. Lars "Well, your first assumption was probably correct. If she left that suddenly, something must have come up." The Padawan was dangerously close to loosing his composure.
Perhaps seeing something in the set of Anakin's jaw, Owen quickly spoke up "After breakfast, I can drive you down to Anchorhead or Mos Eisley, if Dad says its OK" Both teens looked expectantly at Mr. Lars.
The older man considered for a moment, the looked up. "Oh, all right." Both teens smiled at Mr. Lars. "Anakin, are you planning to come back here of you can't find transport?"
Anakin thought for a moment "No, I don't think I'll have to come back. I should be able to find transport to Coruscant, and I'll spend the night in a motel if I can't"
"All right" Mr. Lars sounded a bit put off. Perhaps he liked having a Jedi at home. "You have enough credits?"
"Yes, sir." Anakin answered the question calmly, but inside he was chuckling. /I have the Force. Why do I need credits?/
It took all of Anakin's hard-won self control to keep a smirk off of his face.
"That's good. While you're out, Owen, pick up a couple power converters and be back by sundown" The older man fished in his pockets and handed his son some crumpled credit notes. "This should take care of it."
Owen smiled at his father. " OK dad. If Beru calls, tell her I'm picking up some stuff and." Owen stopped, searching for the right thing to say "Tell her that I'll call her back as soon as I can" Owen, satisfied with this simple (and to Anakin, quite stupid) response, turned to the Padawan. "Ready to go?"
Anakin grinned at Owen, a grin that did not reach his eyes. "Almost. I just need to pack a few things."
Owen grinned back at Anakin. The moisture farmer's son's grin was real and true. "OK. I'll go get the speeder prepped. Meet me in the garage."
Anakin gave Owen a thumbs-up, and both boys left the room. As soon as they were gone, the older Lars heaved a long sigh. /I hope they don't get into trouble./
hope you liked it!!! Let me know what you think (even flames are welcome- but tell me what to do better)
Sorry this took me so long to post. I lost the notebook I'd written this chappie in (oh horrors!) and I only just found it. thanx for your patience!
Thanx to Heather-Wan for reviewing!!! I wuv you!!
words in / / indicate thoughts, * * indicates emphasis, indicates memories
and so, on with my version of episode II!
Anakin woke to light chatter and a low, soft hum. Disoriented by sleep, it took him a while to remember he was at the Lars' homestead on Tatooine. With Padmé. The Jedi apprentice smiled, thinking of the beautiful Senator in his protection. Then he remembered his mother
His mother was lying there, a dead weight in his arms. Dead.she was dead. He carried his mother's body out of the filthy, stinking tent where the Tuskens had kept her for nearly a month. Tears traced silver tracks down his cheeks, splitting the light of Tatooine's twin suns into thousands of rainbows. Gently, he laid his mother's body on his speeder.
Fresh tears traced new tracks down his cheeks, splitting the light from his room's glowpanels into thousands of rainbows. The teen wiped his eyes, willed the flood of memories away. But the tide of memory was stopped by no man, and the visions in Anakin's head went on.
He turned away from the speeder and his mother's body, again facing the Tusken camp. A hunter's smile lit the lips of the Jedi Padawan, and he drew his lightsaber. The blue glow lit the camp with an eerie shade of blue, almost as if low-level lightning wreathed every tent. Anger and rage filled the teen, the echoes of which reverberated through Obi-Wan and Anakin's bond. The Tuskens tried to run, tried to hide from the dark warrior wielding the blue lightsaber. Anakin had taken a perverse delight in making the Tuskens scream as his mother had. The vengeful teen had cut down every last cowering Tusken, leaving their bodies for the krayt dragons. The Tuskens had been cowering in fear of *him*. *He* had the power. He, Anakin. Not Obi-wan, not the Council, *him*. And he loved it.
Anakin smiled, the same ruthless smile that had lit his face while he was slaughtering Tuskens. All thoughts of his mother had been driven out of his head by the rush of adrenaline from the memory. The feeling of having the power, of being in control, was back. Anakin allowed himself a small chuckle, then dressed and left the room.
Carefully masking his dark emotions, Anakin entered the kitchen/dining room of the small homestead. Mr Lars and Owen were already seated at the table. Mr Lars was talking cordially to someone on a comlink, and Owen was studying a datapad intently. To Anakin's surprise, Padmé was nowhere in sight. Perhaps she was in the kitchen. Yes, that was it. His beloved always liked being useful.
"Good morning, Anakin. Sleep well?" Owen had heard him come in, despite Anakin's best efforts at silence.
Carefully concealing his annoyance at the younger boy with a cheery smile, Anakin returned Owen's greeting. "Good morning, Owen. I slept well." As Mr. Lars was still chatting on the comlink, Anakin found it unnecessary to greet him. After looking around the table, Anakin questioned Owen "Where's Padmé? Still asleep?"
Mr. Lars finally finished his call, and turned to answer Anakin's question before Owen could open his mouth. "She took her cruiser and left in the middle of the night. I assume she had some emergency to attend to." The older Lars man squinted at Anakin. "I also assumed she took you"
/Aargh! She stranded me on this dustbowl! Why didn't I feel her leave? What the heck does she think she's doing, going to Coruscant without me? When I get my hands on her./ The fact that he loved her did not even cross the teen's anger-filled mind. Anakin turned to Mr. Lars "Well, your first assumption was probably correct. If she left that suddenly, something must have come up." The Padawan was dangerously close to loosing his composure.
Perhaps seeing something in the set of Anakin's jaw, Owen quickly spoke up "After breakfast, I can drive you down to Anchorhead or Mos Eisley, if Dad says its OK" Both teens looked expectantly at Mr. Lars.
The older man considered for a moment, the looked up. "Oh, all right." Both teens smiled at Mr. Lars. "Anakin, are you planning to come back here of you can't find transport?"
Anakin thought for a moment "No, I don't think I'll have to come back. I should be able to find transport to Coruscant, and I'll spend the night in a motel if I can't"
"All right" Mr. Lars sounded a bit put off. Perhaps he liked having a Jedi at home. "You have enough credits?"
"Yes, sir." Anakin answered the question calmly, but inside he was chuckling. /I have the Force. Why do I need credits?/
It took all of Anakin's hard-won self control to keep a smirk off of his face.
"That's good. While you're out, Owen, pick up a couple power converters and be back by sundown" The older man fished in his pockets and handed his son some crumpled credit notes. "This should take care of it."
Owen smiled at his father. " OK dad. If Beru calls, tell her I'm picking up some stuff and." Owen stopped, searching for the right thing to say "Tell her that I'll call her back as soon as I can" Owen, satisfied with this simple (and to Anakin, quite stupid) response, turned to the Padawan. "Ready to go?"
Anakin grinned at Owen, a grin that did not reach his eyes. "Almost. I just need to pack a few things."
Owen grinned back at Anakin. The moisture farmer's son's grin was real and true. "OK. I'll go get the speeder prepped. Meet me in the garage."
Anakin gave Owen a thumbs-up, and both boys left the room. As soon as they were gone, the older Lars heaved a long sigh. /I hope they don't get into trouble./
hope you liked it!!! Let me know what you think (even flames are welcome- but tell me what to do better)