It truly was a happy time. Anakin had rushed off to find Padmé, Obi- Wan and Siri trying to keep up with him. Everything was seeming to go as it should have, if Anakin had never turned to the dark side in the first place.
Later that day, Luke and Leia were taken to the Council to be tested. Midi- chlorine counts were taken and everyone was surprised to find that Luke's count was double Anakin's, and that Leia's midi- chlorine count was about ten thousand less than Anakin's. After further testing the council concluded that both Luke and Leia were to be trained as Jedi.
~*~
Mara surprisingly went unpunished when Palpatine came into consciousness. She used the force to make her story more believable. She told him that she had been knocked unconscious by Luke, and had woken up only moments before he had woken up. She told him that everyone had somehow escaped. To her surprise, Palpatine believed her. Or if he didn't, he said nothing.
~*~
"Give to you the rank of Jedi Knight the council does." said Yoda at Anakin's formal ceremony.
Anakin bowed to Yoda, "Thank you Master."
He turned to bow to Obi- Wan, "Thank you Master," he said again, honestly thankful for everything Obi- Wan had done for him. From helping him with his first lessons at the temple to turning him away from the evil being he had become, Anakin was thankful for all Obi- Wan had done.
And although the dialogue was rehearsed and had been said my so many other master's, so many times before, Obi- Wan meant it when he said, "Thank you Anakin." Anakin had been the dearest friend he had ever had, Obi- Wan had learned so much from him, and was glad to have his best friend back.
At this point Obi- Wan would have cut Anakin's padawan braid off, however he didn't have one so the two of them left the Council chambers. A comfortable silence passed between the two. What should have happened many years previously had finally happened.
~*~
Padmé hugged Anakin tightly, she was so glad he was back, and now he was finally a Jedi Knight. On top of that both Luke and Leia would become Jedi as well, and both of them had been bouncing off the walls for the past half hour while waiting for Anakin and Obi- Wan to return.
"Anakin?" Padmé asked.
"Hm?"
"Who is going to train Luke and Leia?"
"I'm not sure. I could train one of them and... Hey, Obi- Wan?"
Obi- Wan didn't hear him, as he was explaining something to Luke and Leia. Then Luke got bored and started running around, but Leia was captivated and continued to listen.
Anakin laughed. "I think we know now." he said, gesturing at Leia and Obi- Wan.
Padmé nodded and kissed Anakin on the cheek, "I suppose."
"And I know." Anakin said, kissing her soundly on the lips.
~*~
Later that afternoon Anakin spoke to Obi- Wan.
"Obi- Wan?" he said, approaching his friend.
"Yes?"
"Do you think you want a Padawan?" he asked, "Both Luke and Leia will need training..."
Obi- Wan smiled slightly, "I'm not sure. If Mara were to come back-"
Anakin lowered his voice incase someone such as Luke might over hear, "Mara isn't going to come back anytime soon. Trust me, I know the lessons she'll have to learn. The next time we see her she'll be just as immersed in the dark side as I was, if not more. She's starting her training as a Sith at such a young age, its unlikely she will ever turn back. I managed to come back after five years of training, the next time we see her won't be in five years. I doubt it will even be in ten."
Obi- Wan nodded, "I don't know. I guess you're right. She probably won't ever come back will she? Fine. Then in response to your first question, yes, I am willing to train Luke or Leia as my Padawan."
~*~
Moments later, Anakin, Obi- Wan, Luke, and Leia went to the Jedi Council to finalize what Anakin and Obi- Wan had just discussed. Anakin was to take Luke as his Padawan, as Obi- Wan was to Leia.
"Back so soon, are you?" asked Yoda, when the group entered the council chambers.
"I would like to take my son, Luke Skywalker as my apprentice," Anakin told the council, his voice echoing through the chambers.
"We aren't surprised." said Adi Gallia with a slight smile.
"Then he is your Padawan." Mace Windu said, closing his eyes.
"Thank you Masters." Anakin said, bowing.
"And what is it you wanted, Master Kenobi?" Kloo Ploon asked.
"I wish to take Leia Skywalker as my Padawan learner." Obi- Wan told them confidently.
At this the council exchanged glances. This was unexpected. None of the Masters said anything for a few moments.
"Then you're Padawan, she shall be." Yoda said.
"Thank you Masters." said Obi- Wan, "I will not fail."
~*~
Anakin took Luke and Leia back to their apartment while Obi- Wan stayed at the temple saying he was tired. On his way to his quarters he ran directly into Siri. Siri rubbed her head and said, "Was that absolutely necessary?"
Obi- Wan grinned, took her hand to pull himself up, and told her, "Sorry, my mind was another place completely."
"I told you that there was such a thing as to much meditating!" Siri mock scolded.
"Ha ha, very funny." said Obi- Wan, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, what are you doing here anyway? I figured you would be with Anakin, I mean, I suppose you've just begun to catch up with him."
Obi- Wan shook his head, "No, I figured Anakin and Padmé would want some time alone, and time with Luke and Leia. I told them I was tired and I was heading to my room. What are you doing? This area is no where near your quarters."
"I was bored I guess. I'm trying to keep my mind off of- well you know. I was going to go to the practice halls and see if anyone wanted to have a mock battle. I need to do something, anything really. In the mood to fight?" Siri asked, knowing Obi- Wan would likely say no.
She was right, he started to tell her that he was to tired but she interrupted him and said, "What, getting to old, Obi- Wan? Afraid I'll beat you?" she grinned, knowing that there was no way he would say no now.
Obi- Wan laughed, "You know me to well." he said, "Fine, I'll go."
"You're right, I do." Siri said, and she began to walk off towards the practice halls.
Obi- Wan shook his head and followed, though the didn't realize it at the time, their friendship would become something vital in both their lives, and what they also didn't realize was that that friendship that they had had for so many years, might just turn into something more than friendship.
~*~
And so everything was finally right with the Skywalkers. It was amazing what fate had in store for them. They all knew that no matter what would happen they would remain strong, and stand together through everything. So many hardships would ensue them over the next years but they would overcome each one, a little stronger because of it.
Upon their returning from seeing the council they stood at the window of their apartment and looked out at the Courescant skyline. Anakin put his arm around Padme's shoulder, Luke and Leia by their sides. The galaxy was a forever changed place due to the events of the last weeks. Anakin kissed her forehead, perfectly content. She smiled up at him. When she had first met that little boy on Tatooine all those years ago, she had had no idea where that simple twist of fate would take her.
It was then that a vision came to Anakin. It was of himself and Leia. He saw himself torturing Leia. However he wasn't himself, he was Darth Vader, and Leia was much older, probably around age 20. Anakin shuddered, and the vision changed to himself- or rather Darth Vader- having a light saber duel with Luke. He cut his own son's hand off, and then Luke screamed as he heard himself telling Luke that he was his Father. This vision too faded, and he saw himself dying, Luke was there. Anakin shuddered again and the vision faded back to reality. He was thankful for all that had happened, and knew that something similar to those visions would have happened if not for Padmé, Obi- Wan, Luke, Leia, and even Mara. He decided that he definitely liked his current state, and probable future much more than the one he might have had if not for them.
Anakin smiled, just happy with everything as it currently was, he shut his eyes and thought to himself, May the force be with us, always.
_*_
AN: Everyone, thanks so much for all of your reviews, I love you so much! I honestly can't believe it's actually over. Thanks to all of you, my writing style and writing skills have progressed so much over the last year. Those of you who have been with me since the begging know how utterly terrible my first few chapters were. To think that was only a year ago. I nearly cry when I realize how badly written they were and I can't believe I ever posted something like them. I will, in all likelihood rewrite the first 5 or 6 chapters as I think I could have done so much better.
I again want to thank everyone who has reviewed. None of this story would have ever been written if not for you. I also want to thank my beta reader, and best friend in the entire world, Juli, the whole last half of this story was beta- read by her and I can't thank her enough. I also want to thank my friend Sharon. She's been able to criticize me (after I posted that is) in places where Juli wouldn't (Juli is way to nice to ever say anything bad about my fanfic and most of her betaing was grammar errors, spelling, and a few dialogue changes). Anyways, Sharon encouraged me to my face to write whenever I was having trouble.
Oh, and by the way, you can expect a sequel within the next three weeks or so. I will probably call it "Changed Times," so you can be on the lookout for that. If you could, could you please tell me what you would expect in a sequel? I have an idea in my head, and I would like to know what all of you would like to see happen.
- Sarah