MistiWhitesun: Still confusing? Can't win. :p
Yeah, I've really aged down a lot of characters. For Ken, it was because I didn't have a clear idea how old he was and when I did the math (hate math), it came out him older than I expected. So I aged him down. For other characters, they were a bit too active and some had to have a reason for not joining the fight!
This is a major AU. It changes a lot of how you look at the films (althrough, I don't change the face of the films, more like the behind the scenes).
You should have seen the dialogue I wrote for my very first fan fic. It was awful! I'm better now (and I might finish that fic now!).
Tim Knispel: Well, Anakin has found out stuff. ;) If he leaves Naboo, he'll leave that too. That makes it harder. ;)
That's good to know.
It's ok. Not much happens in Four. Just a lot of explaining!
Here's the next chapter. One of my favorites, too.
Chapter Five
"A Simple Talk"
Never in his entire life had he been this tired. Anakin staggered his way out of his turbolift and into his room. He had been training non-stop for over a week. Tygeris and Ladora and Lenny's father were instructing him in the old Jedi ways. Their training was not that bad; it was Caiya and Ladora's that were causing him to be so tired. When they took over, they trained him late into the night. He had had only twenty-four hours of sleep in the past week.
He had never gone through strenuous training like Caiya's or Ladora's before. His every muscle ached from learning numerous fighting styles, the techniques of numerous weapons (even though his weapon was a lightsaber), and turning it all into a unique fighting style different from his previous style and his new friends.
The worst part was he had to learn all of this as soon as possible. Ladora wanted them out fighting the Vong in the next week. Why she wanted that was a mystery to everyone, but it was making it very hard for Anakin.
He collapsed onto his bed, exhausted. His bed felt so soft, so comfortable. He thought about getting something to eat but it was too late. Sleep came to overtake him.
Wind blew sand in his face. Two suns bore down on Anakin Solo. He looked around through his goggles and saw that he was in a podracer! Just like his grandfather. In fact, this looked exactly like the one in the museum flown by his grandfather. It also looked like he was on Tatooine.
Anakin grinned. He pushed the acceleration, wanting to go as fast as he could. He saw a brown dot up ahead. As he grew closer, he saw that it was an arena. That must be the arena where they held the Boonta Eve race, thought Anakin. He aimed the racer toward it but then he had to swerve; the Force was telling him to.
Spat!
Right where Anakin had just been, a hot glob of plasma landed. Anakin looked behind him and saw.... Coralskippers? Why are they here? He turned his attention back to the front. They played the game for a while and it was working, nothing was hitting him.
Zap!
A small explosion occurred on his racer. Anakin looked on the right side; a small hole was there, looking as if a blaster had hit it. No, not a blaster but a.... Anakin looked behind him again and found skippers were not the sole ships attacking him. Peace Brigade ships fired their lasers at the young Jedi. Plasma was raining down; Anakin avoided it all, using everything he knew to fly the pod. Suddenly, his Force sense went flying and, on instinct, he speed up the pod.
Crash!
A skipper crashed landed right where Anakin would have been. Now, in addition to the Brigade lasers and skipper plasma, Vong ships were engaged in suicide attacks. But he was almost there, almost to the arena! Two more ships crashed....more plasma was sent....ship lasers kept coming. Anakin entered the arena. He crossed the finish line and a cheer rose from within the stadium walls.
The young Jedi stopped the pod. Nothing hit him. He looked around; no trace of the Brigade or skippers were seen. He had won. Anakin had beaten the Vong. He jumped out of the pod and, while he saw no crowd, the cheers strengthened.
Anakin felt his face go red at the cheering. He had just done what he had to do, that was all. Then, he saw something that made him truly happy, "Mom, Dad, Uncle Luke, Aunt Mara, Jaina, Jacen! Tahiri!" yelled Anakin and he started running toward them, "Hey, everyone! We won. We won!" He laughed. He cried. He was so happy. Everything was perfect. But then he slowed down and frowned. Something was wrong. They were backing away, "What's wrong?" he asked. "Why are you backing away? It's me, Anakin." But it looked like they were not listening. What's wrong with them?
Snap-hiss.
Anakin felt stunned, confused. Every Jedi member of his family had pulled out and ignited their lightsabers. His dad had pulled out his blaster and even Tahiri ignited her saber.
"Why?" he cried out. "Why are you against me?" Suddenly, he felt a blast of fear coming from them. Fear of him. Why had he not felt that before? "Why are you afraid of me?" he said, stepping forward. They continued to back away, sabers and blasters aimed at him. He passed a puddle of water. Wait, water? On Tatooine? He looked into the pool of the rarest liquid found on a desert world. No, it could not be. But that had to be why his family feared him.
He had no face!
No face.
No mouth, eyes or nose. No eyebrows, ears not even hair.
Nothing.
"No," Anakin looked back to his retreating family, "Wait, I am Anakin Solo, your son, nephew, brother! Tahiri, I'm your boyfriend!" But they backed away, as if they had not heard him, "NO!"
"Anakin, wake up!" The arena started to shake, falling apart. His family disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
"NOOOO!"
"ANAKIN! WAKE UP!
He opened his eyes, free from his nightmare, and stared into the beautiful face of a woman in her mid-forties. Her brown eyes were concerned. It was Ladora and Lenny's mother.
"Are you alright? They said you were taking a break and I came to see how you were doing. You were screaming." She sat down beside him, her arm on his shoulder. "You had a nightmare."
Anakin did not answer; he was busy making sure that his face was intact.
She looked worried and, when Anakin finished his examination, she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Anakin slowly nodded and his dream began to come out. Not long afterwards, "And I looked in the water, saw that I had no face and I knew that was why they were afraid of me." He looked in her large brown orbs, wondering if her untrained, limited Force-sensitivity could feel how afraid he was of this dream. "My family was afraid of me. They feared me."
"It's all right." She pulled him into a hug. "The dream is over. That will never happen." It seemed that everything Anakin had been through; the war with the Vong, his arguments with Jacen, his last mission, finding out he could not go home, had settled on the shoulders of this woman. He no longer felt alone. He felt as if she knew his sorrow and how he felt being away from his loved ones.
She let go, finally, and smiled. "Why don't you tell me about your siblings? I haven't heard about them from you."
Lightsabers igniting, fear. Fear of him, coming from his family. "I don't know." He hung his head.
The woman took her hand, raised his face to see hers and said in a warm, comforting voice that dispelled his fears, "Please. Tell me."
Anakin nodded and started to talk about his twin siblings. The woman smiled, got up and went to the food synthesizer installed in his room and made him a sandwich and some blue milk. As he ate, he spoke of the adventures his siblings had over the years. "I guess a Solo with Skywalker blood in you means," said Anakin when he concluded his story, "trouble follows from the moment you're born."
The woman chucked. "I think just being a Skywalker would be enough to cause trouble to follow."
"Good point," he said, laughing as well.
"Do you have anything in common with them?" she inquired.
"I have more in common with Jaina than Jacen. We both like piloting and mechanics. But Jacen and I are very different. He likes telling jokes and finding animals to study. We-" he hesitated as he remembered his differences with Jacen, "-argued sometimes."
"What did you argue about?
Anakin finished his sandwich and drank the rest of his milk, "Mostly about the Force. Jacen always used the Force cautiously; as if he had been abusing it and wasn't sure what the right way was. I just use the Force whenever I need it. I mean it's there. That's why it's here, isn't it?"
"You see it as what?" She sounded alarmed.
But he never got to respond as his comm went off, "Anakin! What are you doing? I gave you forty-five minutes, NOT an hour! Get out here now!"
"Guess I have to go." He put up his food tray and started out of his room. "Bye!" He went down the lift, through the living area and out into the hallway.
Immediately, Ladora grabbed his arm and started to half drag him down the hall, her pulled up hair flying around so much it seemed as if it too was angry with him. "What the Sith were you doing?"
Anakin sighed. "Well, I fell asleep and had a dream. Then I started talking to..."
I really put Anakin through a lot. ]:) The evil creature that I am! HehHehHeh
