Disclaimer: This is a completely AU fanfiction of Star Wars, using some of their characters, and some of mine. I am just pretty much pretending the whole "New Order" series doesn't exsist, while I am still using the characters in them, the storyline doesn't quite go the same. I do not own anyone except for Aaralyn Duskshade and Darth Shanker/Corban Spectral.
Aaralyn walked silently behind Luke, as he led them to the room she had gone into days earlier, to discuss her visions with him.
"Please take a seat." Luke said, motioning towards the seat behind her. She did as told. Luke sat across from her, and Aaralyn raised an eyebrow at the six chairs surrounding his. Her confusion was replaced by a nervous twinge when the door slid open. Leia and Mara entered, and sat in the chairs on opposite sides of Luke, and the spirits of Mace, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin Skywalker entered, sitting in the remaining seats.
"I thought you just wanted me and you to talk." Aaralyn said, feeling small in a room full of so many adults.
"This discussion needs the council." Luke answered. He hesitated, and Aaralyn swallowed, and rubbed her sweaty palms on her pantlegs. "Aaralyn, I want to start off by first thanking you for agreeing to meet with us, and I am sorry if it dampened your relationship with Anakin Solo." Luke began. Aaralyn glanced at the floor. Oh. Yeah. I forgot about him being angry with me. She thought, frowning, as his last words replayed in her head. I don't need you anyway. She shook the repeating voice out of her concentration, and focused on Luke.
He sat in silence for a few more seconds, however to Aaralyn, it felt like hours of an awkward silence. She kept subconsciously glancing at the clock on the wall behind Luke. "Aaralyn. We are here, because we are concerned for Anakin. The way he reacted towards his denial of the Jedi Master title today made us believe he is on the path of the Dark Side." Luke said. Aaralyn felt her heart drop. How could they think that? She wondered, in bewilderment.
"He isn't." She said, feeling a twinge of anger inside. It was appauling, thats what it was, to think Anakin was turning to the Dark Side. Of all the nerve. She thought grimly.
"Please, subside your anger and listen." Luke said calmly. Aaralyn loudly exhaled, and gave a short nod. "We were concerned about your intentions, as well, but by you coming to speak with us, we decided that you must have a positive outlook on your intentions." Luke explained. Aaralyn nodded in understandment. "Its not that we think he is wanting to go to the Dark Side.. because we can all sense he doesn't, and he has a good heart. But he has all this anger built up inside of him, and we are very concerned that the option of going to the Dark Side is rolling across his mind." Luke said.
"But it isn't. He would've told me." Aaralyn tried to explain.
"When I was struggling, much like my Grandson is, I acted the same way he did in the council room not ten minutes ago. I had built-up anger, and I didn't even tell Padme, and I loved her, just like the way he loves you. Just because he loves you, doesn't mean he will tell you how he feels.. especially when it comes to his intentions." Anakin Skywalker said, sighing.
"He would tell me. Just because you didn't tell your wife, doesn't mean he wont tell me." Aaralyn said, frowning at him. She once looked at him as a mentor, as a teacher.. as an idol. But now all she saw, was another adult trying to put her down.
"Aaralyn. I need you to tell me anything Anakin has already said to you, that might sound like he is descending towards the path of a Sith." Luke said with haste. Aaralyn gasped in disrespect.
"Your asking me to tell you personal things Anakin has told me? For your own sake? Do you realize how selfish that is?" Aaralyn asked appaulingly.
"Not for our sake. For his. As I said before, we are very concerned about his well-being." Luke said sternly. Leia nodded, with a sad expression on her face. Aaralyn felt a twinge of guilt, but ignored the feeling, and replaced it with the anger she had at the moment for Luke.
"Concerned? You mean worried." Aaralyn shot back, glaring now.
"Concerned is what I said. A Jedi does not worry." Luke said, trying his hardest get his point across. He had such high hopes when the meeting first began, but it was shooting down faster than Anakin's outburst began.
"But you do. You use fancier words like 'concerned', 'anguish', and 'uncertainty'. But they all mean the same thing. They all are another word for worrying." Aaralyn said, feeling quite immature, but ignored the feeling. They needed to see her point. They needed to see that they too, were code-breakers.
"Aaralyn. That is the end of the 'worry' discussion. You are here to tell us things that may lead us on our suspicions surrounding Anakin." Luke said strictly.
"Well I refuse to spy, or to tell you private conversations. I think you should all stop being concerned about his well-being, because there is nothing to be uncertain about." She said angrily. She stood up. "I am going to see my boyfriend now. Goodbye Luke." She said, staring at him. She didn't leave until he looked away.
"They are both further in than we had suspected." Luke said solemnly.
Aaralyn went to her room, and Anakin wasn't there. She knocked on his door long enough to decide he wasn't in there, either. She knew better than going to ask Ben if he had seen him, so she headed down to the closed lab. When she stood outside the door, she could feel Anakin inside of the room. He had mixed emotions.. he was sad, lonely, depressed, angry, guilty, and most of all, she could sense the feeling of betrayal surging through him. She blinked back tears. He felt that she had betrayed him. She opened the door, and walked slowly in.
He was sitting, and leaning up against the wall. His face was red, and his lightsaber lay next to him. She guessed he must have been fighting the test droids. He usually did that when he had things to think about. She walked in silently, and sat next to him against the wall. She wasn't right next to him, fearing he would yell, but was close enough to reach out, and would be touching him.
"That was a quick meeting." Anakin said in monotone.
"Yeah." She squeaked out. She wanted to tell him about the meeting, and how sorry she was so badly.. but she was afraid he would just ignore her.
"What was it about?" He asked, not even looking at her. He didn't even sound interested.
"Luke was being stupid. I made a mistake by feeling the need I had to listen to him, and go with him.. instead of you. I made the wrong decision, and the fault lies with me." She mumbled, letting a tear fall off of her cheek. Anakin looked up at her, feeling sadness and guilt sweeping over his heart.
"Hey." He said calmly, holding her hand, hoping she would look at him. She did, but only so he could see her bawling.
"I'm sorry." She managed to get out. He hugged her.
"Stop crying...please.. its okay." He said, rubbing her back. "I should be sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I know you still felt loyalty to Luke.. I just was so angry with him, and I shouldn't have snapped on you. Because the truth is,.. I need you.. because I love you, and you are the only one who understands me." He said, hugging her tighter. Her sobs quieted down, and after a few minutes of them hugging, she pulled away, and he wiped her face.
"He wanted me to tell him if you have told me anything that would make me think your were going to the Dark Side. He said him and the other Jedi council members have been concerned for you, and that they think you are going down that path. After I refused to speak of anything, and after I raised my voice at them all, Luke told me they are concerned for me too. So I simply left. I didn't want to hear the things they are concern themselves over when they discuss things privately." Aaralyn explained.
"I can't believe Luke thinks me and you are going to the dark side." Anakin said, sighing angrily. "The Jedis would be a much better function if they didn't have someone as un-leaderly and stupid as Luke teaching them." Anakin snarled. Ben and Paron, who had just entered as Anakin began to speak, gasped in horror. Anakin and Aaralyn turned to look at the shocked pair.
"Whats wrong? He is speaking the truth." Aaralyn said glumly.
"I can't believe you would talk about the council Master like that... I can't believe you would talk about your uncle like that. Worse... I can't believe you would talk about my father like that." Ben said, glaring, and curling his fist around his lightsaber.
Anakin and Aaralyn jumped up in defense. "Luke thinks me and Lyn are on the way to the Dark Side. That is why he is being stupid." Anakin sneered at him, curling his hand around his lightsaber as well.
"I agree with him." Paron said, feeling for her lightsaber.
"You're just like the rest of them." Aaralyn said, grabbing hers as well. She did a quick glance at the other three. They all had their hands on their lightsabers.
"Whats the matter, Ani... upset I got master and you didn't? You should be used to me being better at everything compared to you. You should be used to you being the screw up, and me being on high honors. Having a Dad as the council Master has its advantages. Of course, you wouldn't know what that is like.. because your father isn't even force sensitive." Ben said, smirking. He knew that would make Anakin tick. Anakin glared, and whipped out his lightsaber, turning it on, and lunging at Ben, who already had his out to block.
"Are you going to give me a speech like your boyfriend did? Or are you just going to stand there and look dumbfounded?" Aaralyn asked Paron, glaring at her. She once was her best friend. But now.. she was her foe.
"When I first met you, I told Ben and Anakin that you needed to train to be a Jedi, because your aura was so over-powering. I thought you would make things right.. that things would get better with such a gifted Jedi on our side. But now I realize it was a mistake.. your just like every other Jedi who has fallen to the Dark Side." Paron said, turning her lightsaber on.
"Did you always have to be the one who did things right?" Anakin yelled at Ben as he blocked a strike from him.
"I only had to because you were the one who always screwed things up! Face it Anakin, your a joke to the Jedi's! You haven't ever been on the winning side with us, and you always do things your way! You can't be a rebel and Jedi!" Ben yelled in responce as he lunged again at his cousin.
"See what you did? They never once faught until they met you!" Paron yelled at Aaralyn, who was running at her with her lightsaber.
"Maybe they hid their anger for one another, you don't know, Paron!" She said, blocking a weak hit from her former friend. Paron struggled to keep up with Aaralyn, stumbling back from the last one she barely blocked. "Paron, stop fighting with me! You know you can't beat me!" Aaralyn pleaded as she blocked another weak hit.
"I have to try!" Paron exclaimed, gasping for a breath in the midst of the fast-paced fight occuring.
"A Jedi doesn't try.. they do it, or they don't!" Aaralyn retorted in a mocking tone, lunging at her. Paron barely blocked the hit, and fell on her rump. She stood shakily back up, her breathing heavy, her face red from the activity.
"The truth is, Anakin, Aaralyn has turned you into a cold person. You used to laugh and joke with me, and be my best friend. But now? You are arrogant, selfish, and whether you believe me or not, you are on the path of a sith." Ben said, blocking a hit.
"I am all of those things. But it wasn't Aaralyn that did it. It was you. Your perfection, your tattling, and your persistance to follow the code, and to succeed and always do better than me made me this way." Anakin said, blocking a hit from his cousin.
"What are you expecting to happen here, Anakin?" Ben asked, stumbling back from a near hit.
"I expect you to leave me alone. I love her, Ben." Anakin said, pausing his hitting, "You need to let me be angry about not getting the master title.. you need to let me deal with it myself. Because by you involving yourself in the situation, it only made it worse. I don't want to hear you brag about how much better you are, and how much I screw up. I want to do things for myself, and learn things for myself. You need to let me do that." He said.
"I just wanted to help you." Ben said, pausing in his stance as well. The two gave an awkward silence.
"By rubbing it in my face, your not. I mean... look at the girls. You did that, by fighting with me, you made Paron have the will to fight Aaralyn." Anakin said. The two boys glanced at the girls. Paron was half-heartedly blocking hits, and not even attacking anymore. She kneeled, and used one hand to wield her lightsaber. She looked ready to pass out from the lack of energy. Aaralyn looked determined to win, no matter what. She appeared to be bursting wit energy still, even after a nearly fifteen minute fight.
"It wasn't just me. You gave Aaralyn the will to fight Paron as well." Ben said in defense.
"Okay. So you forfeit?" Anakin asked. Ben stepped back in surprise.
"Ani.. you should forfeit. You were the one who stopped fighting first. Anyways, you have already told me you realize how wrong you were." Ben said.
"See Ben? This is why I hate you." Anakin said, narrowing his eyes.
"What?" Ben asked, gaping at his cousin. Where did this sudden anger come from? He calmed down.. didn't he? Instead of answering, Anakin launched at him again with a hit.
"Had enough?" Aaralyn paused her fighting, asking Paron.
"Not even tired." Paron said in an out of breath voice. She kneeled, gasping for air as if she had just went running for an hour. She stood up, and raised her lightsaber, ready to hit Aaralyn. Aaralyn rolled her eyes, and used the force to knock Paron over. Paron flew back a few feet, and landed hard on the floor.
"Well, I just won it." Aaralyn said, walking over to Paron. However, Paron wasn't awake. She wasn't even conscious. Aaralyn stepped back in shock. I knocked her unconscious! I didn't even use that much force! She thought, looking at her hands in horror.
"What did you do?" Ben's voice yelled out. Aaralyn looked over guiltily at him, and he went running over to Paron. "Paron, wake up." He whispered, tapping his girlfriend's cheek. When she didn't, he picked her up. "Your lucky you didn't kill her. Your such a disgrace to the Jedi's." He whispered, narrowing his eyes at her. He ran off with Paron in his arms, and headed towards the medical wing of the temple.
"Hey. Its alright." Anakin said, standing behind Aaralyn. She spun around and faced him.
"No its not. I didn't think I barely even used any force.. but I apparently used a whole lot. I could have killed her, Anakin, Ben was right. I am a disgrace." She muttered, glaring at the floor. Anakin pulled her into a hug.
"You didn't mean to." He said calmly.
"But thats just it Anakin. When I saw her flying in the air... I felt like I had fulfilled something. It felt good to see her get hurt." She whispered, her faced contorting into a worried expression.
"Thats exactly how I felt when I saw that Ben was struggling to block my hits. I felt so happy to know I was more powerful than him, for just once. I felt happy I was finally on the winning side." Anakin said monotonously. Aaralyn just stood in silence for a moment. "I think we both feel this way because we are meant to be together." He concluded. Aaralyn looked up at him, and slightly gaped her mouth as she noticed her visions coming together.
"Its fate." She whispered.
"Just what were you thinking?" Luke hollared at the silent Anakin, Aaralyn, and Ben. Paron was in the medical center. It seemed she bumped her head when she landed, and since she already was weak from such a rigorous fight, she just simply passed out. She was just resting, now. Luke had gathered the other two teens when Ben told him what happened. Luke had taken them in the room Aaralyn was in earlier that day, and along with Luke was Leia, Han, Mara, and the four spirits.
"Ben and Paron grabbed their lightsabers first. They made the initiative to fight us." Anakin protested.
"Anakin! Why would Ben do such a thing when he just became Master?" Leia yelled at her son.
"He bragged about it! He rubbed it in my face, and told me that everyone is embarassed that I am such a screw up!" Anakin retorted. A few faces turned towards Ben.
"I never said such a thing. I can't believe you would drop as low as lying, Anakin." Ben said, giving a quick smirk. It was gone quicker than it came. Anakin gaped his mouth. Ben is lying to his Father, I never thought I would see that day. Anakin thought, frowning.
"Ben is lying." Aaralyn said quickly.
"This is coming from the girl who knocked my girlfriend unconscious 'accidentally'." Ben retorted.
"It was by accident. I didn't know I was that powerful." Aaralyn responded, blinking back worried tears.
"Its always about power, Aaralyn? I have noticed this trend with you and Anakin." Luke said sternly.
"So, whats going to happen, Luke? Just punish us and get it over with, because I don't like hearing Ben make up lies about what happened." Anakin said, sighing.
"You and Aaralyn are on Jedi suspension. You are to stay in your guest rooms here, and the only time you leave is for eating purposes. You may not use the force, for if you do, I will beable to sense it." Luke said after a moment of hesitation.
"Fine. What about Ben? He fought too." Anakin said in an uncaring manner.
"I sense Ben defended himself, and was just trying to help." Luke answered after another hesitation.
"You sense he was trying to help? Well, I sense you are full of crap. This whole council is full of crap." Anakin said, glaring.
"Then perhaps we don't need to even give you another chance to get your master title." Luke said strictly, narrowing his eyes.
"Fine, don't then. I wouldn't want to be on this council if my life depended on it." Anakin said, standing up. Aaralyn stood up as well.
"The meeting isn't over." Luke said, folding his arms.
"For us it is." Aaralyn retorted, glaring. The two left the room with haste.
Anakin paced back and forth in Aaralyn's room. She sat on her bed, dwindling her fingers.
"Whats the plan?" She asked, smiling. She knew he was thinking about something.
"Aaralyn... do you love me?" Anakin asked, kneeling beside her bed.
"Of course. Do you love me?" She asked with a giggle. She noted how nice it was to laugh.. she hadn't had a good, real laugh in a few days at least.
"You know it baby." He said with a wink. The two giggled a bit more.
"Why do you ask?" She asked, holding his hand. He glanced at their interlocked fingers, and then at the floor, before looking up at her and opening his mouth to speak.
"We both are angry at Luke and the council, along with Ben and Paron." Anakin said.
"Yeah, your stating the obvious.. except I don't know about you, but anger in an understatement for me." She said, smiling.
"I hate them right now, too." Anakin said, smiling. He was happy they were so much alike.
"Alright, so.. whats your point?" She asked, confused.
"Well, we hate the council at this moment... we are banned from even using the force for who knows how long, we are both sick and tired of not getting the credit we deserve, we both are scared of the power we posess.. and don't want to hurt someone else accidentally, and we both love each other very much." Anakin said. Aaralyn tilted her head as she started seeing eye to eye with him.
"Do you... do you want to leave?" She whispered, sitting up straighter.
"We could go somewhere.. and get married. Then we can make a living there. We could give up being Jedi's... to save others from the powers hidden inside of us. We would have our own rules, and we wouldn't have to deal with all these people being upset with us. We have nothing here for us." Anakin said with hope.
"What about your parents, and your brother and sister? I have nothing here.. except you. But you have them, too." Aaralyn said.
"I hate them all. I don't want to see anyone from this stupid planet ever again." Anakin said grimly.
Aaralyn smiled. "If your sure.. then I would love to marry you." She said, feeling herself flush.
"Alright." Anakin said, hopping up. He grabbed her hand, and the two of them fled her room, not grabbing anything but their lightsabers.
"Leia.. where are Anakin and Aaralyn?" Han asked.
"They weren't in either of their rooms?" She questioned.
"No. They weren't in the closed lab, either." Han said, looking worried. Luke's eyes grew wider, and he felt his mouth drop.
"The council room. We need to go there now.. before we lose them forever." Luke said quickly. Ben looked up from his chess game, and went running, heading towards the council room. Luke, Leia, and Han went running as well.
"We don't need these. They reek of Luke and this council's perfection." Anakin said. He held his lightsaber in front of him, and Aaralyn mimicked him. They stood in front of Luke's master seat in the council room.
"To forgetting the past... and to our new memories." Aaralyn mumbled, looking at him. They held hands, and placed their lightsabers in the shape of an 'x' on his seat. They slowly began to walk out, only to be startled when the door on the opposite side of the room (not the one they were heading towards) burst open, only to have Ben, Luke, Leia and Han enter.
"Anakin..." Leia mumbled with a look of horror on her face.
"Don't!" Ben yelled.
"Don't do anything you will regret." Luke pleaded.
"We're leaving this God-forsaken planet.. and all of you." Aaralyn said hatefully.
"I hate you all! Leave me alone! Don't follow us!" Anakin yelled darkly. The four stood, shocked at his outburst. He gripped Aaralyn's hand and they went running full speed out of the room, and down the hallway. They could hear the running of feet behind them, but not even close enough to catch up. Aaralyn glanced back to make sure no one was behind them as Anakin pulled her behind him. I have seen this before... us fleeing... but where? She wondered as she glanced around the hallway scene that looked so familiar.
They ended up in the hanger. "Quick, get in." Anakin said, glancing at the ship in front of them. She felt her face turn into confusion. "Don't worry, we can do this." He said, kissing her. She looked at the ship. It was Lando's. She felt herself gasp as she knew which vision it was. The one with them stealing his ship, that she had dreamt days before. She got in, as instructed, and Anakin got in as well. They could see Luke and the others run into the hanger as the engine started up. Anakin flew it out of the hanger, and into space.
"They are right behind us, Ani." She said quickly, worrying for their sake.
"Not for long." He said, pushing the hyperspace button. They shot ahead, leaving the others once and for all.
"They're gone..." Ben whispered.
"Our son..." Leia said, sobbing into Han's arms.
"Where are they going?" Ben asked his Father.
"They are going to get married." Luke responded, turning the ship around.
"Why are you turning back home?" Leia asked, bewildered.
"We don't know where yet. Don't worry Leia, they can't get too far." Luke said calmly.
"Luke knew.. thats why they caught up with us in the council room." Aaralyn said to Anakin after he piloted in a few moments of silence.
"How?" He asked, putting it on autopilot, and sitting with her at the table.
"I had this as a vision a few days ago. When I told him about the visions.. I told him about this one. I didn't see it all, I just saw the part where we stole Lando's ship." She said, smiling.
"So, where do you want to get married?" He asked, grinning.
"Well, the place I saw in my vision was beautiful. It had a multi-colored sky, trees in every color, and streams nearly everywhere." She said, holding his hand.
"Sounds like Naboo." He said, smiling at her.
"I bet it was.. because that day we went to the historic temple, I saw phots of Naboo, and I remember how beautiful it was." She responded.
"Alright. We are going to get married in Naboo. Just like my Grandfather and Grandmother did." He said excitedly.
"Its fate." She whispered.
A/n: I hope it was good! Sorry I took so long to update.. I wanted to give a dramatic delay. Haha, not really, I just have been working a lot lately. Thanks for all the reviews.. although about fifty more would really get me excited, but hey, I take what I get. Hehe. This was an uber long chapter.. I hope its good, because I worked really hard on it Okay.. go review! Please and thank you! -Kam