See 1st Chapter for disclaimers.
Thanks for the reviews. As I warned this chapter will again jump ahead in time, although it won't happened until a little into the chapter and it won't be as big of a jump.
As per request, you'll be seeing a little bit of the Skywalker/Solo clan and their feelings. I always try to fit in requests if I can. Sometimes, as in this chapter, they help me to bridge from one scene to another.
Oh, if you have any ideas about what to name their ship tell me. I've tried and discovered I suck at naming vehicles.
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Anakin Solo was nervous. It had been four days since Obi-Wan had taken him as his apprentice, and today they were going to make it official with the braiding ceremony. The four of them were gathered in the main seating area of the ship. Out of necessity, Qui-Gon and Ani were standing in where once the council would have stood. His head felt chilled from where Obi-Wan had cropped it that morning.
His new master was kneeling on the floor meditating. The bonding of the braid was a difficult task when a Jedi was at full strength. Now, Obi-Wan felt that he needed to be more prepared in order to perform the ceremony successfully. Sea blue eyes snapped open. With small hand gesture he motioned Anakin to knell before him. Qui-Gon positioned himself behind Obi-Wan while Ani stood behind Anakin.
Qui-Gon spoke first. "Be it here known that from this until his knighting day, Anakin Solo will be apprenticed under Obi-Wan Kenobi. Let no other break this bond, for no other may claim either as master or apprentice."
Ani's voice rose when Qui-Gon's resonance subsided. "The braid you know build is a symbol of your bond. Now both master and apprentice are equal in their responsibility. Equal in the fate of the apprentice. As the training grows, so does the responsibility of the apprentice. The apprentice will grow more as the master diminishes until the day that the apprentice may be called a knight. Forever then, will the apprentice be his own, and the cord of support be cut."
Qui-Gon's voice again overtook the silence. "The braid represents both the strength and the weakness of a bond. The strands apart will snap and fray. It is the responsibility of both the master and apprentice to trim and re-weave those strands lest the braid be lost. Yet, the braid also shows much strength. For while it is flexible in its construction, it is stronger than its thousand strands individually."
Ani took up the ceremony. "Both have agreed to this union. It has been approved. And you have been warned. You may commence."
Gentle fingers grasped hold of Anakin's one remaining lock of long hair. Quickly weaving it into a braid, Obi-Wan produced a similar lock of his own hair and weaved it in. Closing his hand around the meeting place, he closed his eyes and released a strong pulse of the Force.
When Obi-wan's hand released, Anakin looked down to see their hairs not only woven, but melded together. A tired smile came from Kenobi's lips. "The bond has formed. Let us rejoice."
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(One standard year and some weeks later)
"Anakin"
"Yes, Master?"
"I am going to the market with Master Jinn. I suggest that this would be a good time for you to do you birthday meditation. Thirteen is a very special year to attain."
"Yes, Master. When will you be back?"
"Soon enough. Don't get too excited about your present, Anakin. You won't be able to meditate."
Anakin frowned as Obi-Wan left the room. He was surprised they could afford a present at all. Having to buy new clothes for him all the time hadn't helped their budget.
He was supposed to meditate on where he was, where he'd been and where he was going. Well, he knew where he was. Part of a highly unconventional family. Part of a resistance to an evil that lurked waiting to destroy a place that none of them had called home for ages.
He also knew where he was going, at least for the immediate future. At age thirteen he was granted full apprentice stature, meaning that he was now considered an Apprentice Knight instead of an Apprentice Student. Generally what that translated into was that he was going to follow Obi-Wan's every move. Even into the seedy bar fights or situations before considered too dangerous or complex for him. He would become the fourth member of the Silent. At least that was what the local smugglers called them, a nickname given because of both because of their stealthy tactics and the fact that they didn't talk much. Somehow that had given them a rather dark, fearful image. People are always afraid of the unknown.
That left him with the one subject he was dreading. The Past. The most recent five years were easy to look over. They were painful, but there was a sense of purpose to them. It was what started off those five years that brought pain. With a deep breath he began.
First, He looked at the night he left. He knew now that he had overreacted to what his brother said. But, that one overreaction had changed his entire life. The consequences had cemented themselves in his brain as feelings of unworthiness. A wrong conception, but one he still had to struggle against.
That done, he looked at the family he left behind.
Jaina and Jacen were the easiest to look at. They were his siblings, nothing would replace the bond he shared with them. He missed them as much as he could, but he really didn't know what he was missing. He hadn't grown up with them. He'd grown up with three grown Jedi. His view on life was probably very different from theirs.
With a smile he remembered Chewie, an imposing figure with a heart of fluff, at least where Anakin was concerned. He had always harbored the idea he was Chewie's favorite of the Solo children. He supposed it was because of his tendency to climb around the Falcon when Han and Chewie were working on it. Something about finding a four year old Anakin asleep by a circuit board with a hydrospanner in his hand had endured Chewie to him.
Uncle Luke. His view on his uncle was somewhat constrained. On one hand he could remember the way his uncle had taught him simple Force tricks, and argued about how to protect him and has siblings. He could remember how serious his uncle was most of the time. How he always tried to make Uncle Luke smile and feel better. On the other hand part of him would always see Luke as Obi-Wan saw him. Young, vibrant, impetuous, an eager learner, full of potential. He would see him as Ani saw him. The son who did what his mother could not. The son who did what his master could not. The son who had redeemed him, released him from the terror of slavery to the darkside.
Han, his dad. It was odd that he could think of his father with the least regret. Somehow, he knew that his dad would understand the way his life had turned out. His father would never mistrust him for living a highly unconventional life on the outskirts of Hutt society. Part of him suspected that Han would actually approve of his part time smuggling job.
He had thought that he would have troubles with reconciling his memory of his father. After, all he lived with three father figures, and he was very close to his Master in particularly. But it seemed that his mentors only enhanced his bond with his father.
Qui-Gon's rebellious streak was amazingly close to Han's. Ani's love of their broken down ship was mirrored by Han's adoration of the Falcon. What really surprised him was how close Obi-Wan was to his father. The smirk, the sense of skepticism, the sarcastic sense of humor, his charming demeanor, the fact that they had both been generals, the flash of well concealed but highly annoying ego: it was almost like seeing a glimpse of what type of Jedi Han would have been.
Anakin moved on to consider his Mom.
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(Hundreds of Thousands of Parsecs Away)
Leia stared down at the figures of her children fighting below. The clash of their sabers dizzying and beautiful. Luke was down in the arena monitoring their fight and their saber skills. Didn't they even know what day it was? Her baby boy's birthday. In her minds eye she could see her youngest as she had last seen him, innocently sleeping in his bed with a stuffed Reek nestled in his arms. He had begged her for it, the toy. She had desperately tried to convince him to get a stuffed Wookie or even a stuffed Bantha but he had been insistent. She still had that Reek. It was up on a shelf in her office right by her Intergalactic Peace Award. She had refused to get rid of any of his belongings. Each was carefully boxed up in storage except for a few small mementos that decorated her apartment and office.
She fought back the tears as she thought about waking up that day and finding him gone. The search had been publicly broadcast for weeks. She had grown inconsolable. Chewie had flown into rages. Jacen had for some reason blamed himself and wallowed in self pity. Jaina had obsessively cleaned Anakin's room till it shined. Luke had spent months scouring the seedy side of Coruscant investigating every slave ring until he cut a mans hand off one day. Han, Han had grieved but somehow remained calm. It was almost like he knew it would happen. It was like he had already accepted that he could not spend the time with his boy that he should have had. Ironically, he had been the tower of strength for the family. The great Jedi fortitude had crumbled, but the Corellian smuggler had been the one to offer hope.
Now, five years later, Leia had given up hope of ever seeing her boy again. There had been no ransom calls. No unidentified bodies. Nothing. She had been raped of even the small consolation of a funeral. Condemned to ever hope that he was still alive. A wan smile crossed her lips when she heard footsteps behind her. The children might not have realized today's importance, but Han would never forget. Anakin had truly been his father's son. Born with a slightly cocky attitude that hid his inner love and devotion, he had been greatly talented in the Force, but still held on to his father's less introspective outlook. Where Jaina and Jacen were extremely serious and focused on the Force, Anakin had been accepting of its call, but did not let it dominate him.
Han's arms slid around her waist. It was rare for him to show open affection in a public place, but then again today was a rare day. It was a day when both would admit to the need of support instead of being the unmovable towers that they were known to be. Looking away from her children below, Leia turned her head into her husband's shoulder and cried for the child she could only see in her heart.
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Ani strolled through the walkways of the ship. Anakin had to be done meditating by now. He might take Obi-Wan more seriously than Ani ever had, but he was still young and not into meditating for hours on end. Glancing into the boy's room, he found that Anakin was not there. A quick Force probe told him that Anakin wasn't even on the ship. Well, he was on the ship, just not inside it. Ani headed outside to find Anakin tucked up on the wing, his head resting on top of his knees. With a slightly force assisted jump, Ani joined his grandson.
"Did you ever forget what your Mom looked like?"
"Honestly? Never, I could always picture her fixing dinner or tucking me in at night."
"I can't really remember her anymore. I can remember how I felt, things she said, but I can't see her face. I mean, I know what she looks like because of data files. But I can't pull out one memory of her face that's my own."
"You were very young Anakin. You can't remember everything."
'That's not it! I can picture Dad, Luke, the twins, Chewie, even Lando, but I can't picture my own mother. Maybe there's nothing to hold on to. Maybe I've been so caught up in my new life that my old family is staring to fade away. I might not even remember the rest of them in time."
"Memories are memories Anakin, even when they are a Jedi's memories. Most all of them dim over time, some more than others. It's a process of life. The old is replaced by the new, but the old is never truly forgotten any more than the new is completely remembered. You're family will always be your family. Your tie to them is not in how you know every line of your mother's face, but the tie that you have to them in your heart. Your Uncle was still my son even though I never saw his face 'til he was nineteen."
Anakin smiled and shook off his reverie. He'd had enough of the past. It was time to 'Live in the moment' as Qui-Gon would say. His eyes caught a glimpse of white on the back of Ani's neck--right where his implant was.
"What's that?"
Ani's hand absently rubbed the patch. "A surprise. Now come on into the ship. I believe we have a birthday to celebrate."
Anakin walked into the ship to see Qui-Gon fixing dinner and Obi-Wan frosting a cake. A flood of relief washed over him. Obi-Wan tended to fix extremely healthy, filling meals with taste being a very small consideration. The only consolation was that his master did not feel that way about dessert. Meals were necessary, confections were holy. Obi-Wan knew thousands of desserts. Ani had once told him Obi-Wan used to keep a journal of nothing but dessert recipes from the different planets they'd visited. It was a shared suspicion that Obi-Wan ate healthy so he could splurge on sugar filled delicacies.
It wasn't traditional to make such a big deal over a thirteenth birthday. It was usually an affair shared by master and apprentice. But, they all needed a reason to celebrate, so they had decided to avoid tradition. A glance at the Masters in the kitchen showed that they too had white patches on their necks.
"Ah, Padawan, I've got your cake done, and Master Jinn will eventually get our meal in the cooker. What say we go into the dining room and open your gifts?"
As they all herded into the dining/living room Anakin saw two packages on the table. The first was rather colorfully and creatively wrapped. The second was wrapped in a more sedate color edges perfectly square, bow neatly tied. Without looking at the tags, Anakin could tell who gave what gift. Qui-Gon had to have wrapped the more artistic package, it was rather organically wrapped. He guessed that Ani had picked out the bright yellow and silver pattern that the paper had. The second package screamed Obi-Wan Tasteful and perfectly wrapped. Very well organized and well thought out.
Looking at his master, he deduced he should open the bright package first. As he ripped open the paper he found two bottles of pigment and an oddly shaped needle kit. "Going to get me hooked on spice? That's not a very good example of a Jedi."
With a smile tugging at his lips, Qui-Gon pulled the bandage off of his neck. There etched in Red and Blue was the symbol of the Jedi order, covering the scar from the implant. Anakin's eyes widened. "I get one of those? Wizard!"
Ani held back a laugh as Obi-Wan flinched.
"You only get one if you can stand Qui-Gon's cold fingers as he plays artist with your neck. And, Padawan, don't use such slang. Its unbecoming a Jedi."
Anakin watched as Ani and Qui-Gon left, leaving him alone with his master. Gently he cradled the package, and carefully tore open the wrap. The box opened to reveal a stuffed Reek. Not a cheap child's play toy like he had when he was young, but an expensive "collectors" toy that would sell for multiple credits on Coruscant. He hugged it close to his chest and mumbled a small thanks to his master.
Obi-wan smiled. "I do not intend to replace your family Anakin, I only intend to add to it. This toy will never replace the original, but neither will the original ever replace it. You are my apprentice, and I love you dearly. But I know that while I may fill a space in your heart, I will never truly replace your father."
Anakin nodded. "Can I ask you one thing?"
"Of course."
"Can we go eat now? I'm starving."
