Have you ever seen an idea that was interesting just get handled so badly that you needed to just stop for a moment and try and figure out what would be the better way to handle it? I'm not going to say which story it was because I'm not going to shout it out. However, I will mention what topic that story decided to attempt to cover. It was a Harry Potter/Star Wars crossover where a post-ROTJ, redeemed Vader is reborn on earth and is tasked by either morals or the Force to care for the newly orphaned Harry Potter.

The way the story I read carried it was… not great. Initially not bad, but at the end ramped up to "wut" levels of oddity. Trust me, if you read it with the thought of "this author is going to take this seriously", you will sorely be disappointed. My reaction was reminiscent of JonTron, specifically the clip that's always used in WTF situations. So, I started to do a little brainstorming to think about how I could make it better. What things could be done to make it a better overall story.

And so, I came up with this.

Summary: The Force decides that a newly deceased Anakin Skywalker can't become one with it just yet and send him on another journey in an entirely different direction.

Rating: Nothing higher than T.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and Star Wars belongs to Disney. I only own this iteration of this idea. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.

XxXxXxX

Vader was dead, and Anakin Skywalker was dying. Vader died when he threw his former master Palpatine down into the reactor shaft of the Death Star. But Anakin? He was dying from a liberal application of Lightning into his cybernetic circuits causing them to fail. Only a full-blown medical suite, one of which existed on the Death Star, could save him now. And unfortunately said medical suite along with the Death Star was about to be blown to atoms in a few minutes and the procedure to replace them would be several hours long.

His son, Luke, was dragging him along attempting to get both of them off the soon to be exploding battle station alive. He knew he wouldn't be making it off alive; and even if he did, he would be subject to one of the most biased post-war courts to ever exist since the end of the Clone Wars. In front of them was an untouched Lambda-class shuttle that had yet to leave, which had been surprising considering the general 'abandon ship' order that had been given. Luke collapsed and Anakin lay on his back upon the ramp that led into the interior.

"Luke, help me take this mask off," Vader pleaded.

His son was shocked at the request. "But you'll die," he rebutted in shock.

"Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes." Luke could only nod, bequeathing Anakin's final request. He took off the hood which held the mask in place and the sealed atmosphere where it was supposed to be. He then lifted the mask away revealing a very pale, tired old man. All throughout the removal, his breathing was labored. When he did see his son with his eyes, he saw the hopeful eyes that his wife once saw the galaxy with. He really was his mother's son, even if he never got to meet her. The silent moment between the two would only be occasionally interrupted by a TIE leaving the hangar or something exploding beyond the station. "Now, go my son, leave me," he choked.

His son only shook his head. "No, you're coming with me. I'm not going to leave you here, I've got to save you."

"You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister, you were right." He could feel whatever strength his withered body had started to leave and closed his eyes. He even started to see a light at the end of a long tunnel.

"Father," Luke pleaded, "I won't leave you." The words echoed in his mind as he slipped away, the last breath he had escaping in a sigh. As he lay on the ramp of a shuttle. Luke took a moment to mourn his father's passing, lamenting the time that had been stolen from them by Palpatine and his machinations.

But the Force would have a path for Luke to follow, a destiny that like his father would shape the future of the galaxy. But for Anakin Skywalker, formerly known as Darth Vader? His path wouldn't be as straight forward as he would expect.

XxXxXxX

The Netherworld of the Force was an interesting place. You could be in any place at any time and watch on as beings went about their daily lives. Before Anakin could partake any further, he was stopped by a hand. "Ani?"

Anakin turned around to see his wife, just as beautiful as the last day he saw her. They embraced while he profusely apologized. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it."

She rubbed his back to comfort the repentant man. "It's alright, Ani. I've been long enough to realize that Palpatine, Sidious, was manipulating you teasing you with power that has never existed and cannot be done without extreme consequences. I have, for a long time now, forgiven you."

They sat there, relishing in the embrace that neither of them had for over twenty years. "What now?" he asked.

"You can't stay here, at least not yet," Padme remorsefully replied. "You're needed elsewhere."

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked, shocked that he was still not allowed to be with his beloved.

"The Force has other plans for you right now," Padme said as she placed her hand on his cheek. "You won't see me for a while, but remember, I'll be waiting here for you." Anakin felt himself get lighter. As if he was floating and was being pulled away from this place. Instinctively, he fought against it. "Don't fight it, we'll be together again soon."

He was ripped away and there was a bright flash of light and Anakin felt himself hit the ground. He opened his eyes and found that he was staring at a night sky with a single full moon. The first thing that assaulted his ears was the sound of an insect rubbing its legs together. He sat himself up and found himself in front of a pond. He looked into it and saw his reflection and he looked like he was right after the Battle of Coruscant. No burns over 99% of his body, no lost limbs, nothing that looked out of the ordinary. He immediately checked his arm to see that there was only flesh and bone, no cybernetics.

He stood up and leaned against a nearby tree as he attempted to regain his balance once more considering he hadn't walked on flesh and bone legs in over twenty years. He finally gave himself a rundown of his physical state. He, in appearance, was like he was before the Clone Wars with no cybernetics, but was of the same age when he had been stuffed inside his life support suit by Palpatine. He was currently wearing odd attire that even he would consider odd. It was something that wouldn't be uncommon in the lower levels of Coruscant. The material against his skin wasn't abrasive, but it was softer than he expected. The materials had to have been of high quality.

After getting his bearings, he started to head towards what looked like a road for ground vehicles and ground traffic. It would have shocked anyone that knew him, but Anakin stood on the side of a road for a good hour just staring at the machines that roamed the roadways. They were primitive. Well-engineered and precisely machined, but primitive in the sense of technology.

"Where in the Force have I ended up?" he muttered.

He felt a tingle run down his spine right before an explosion emerged from a hilltop. It wasn't anything that used propellant, but he felt that it was something involving the Force. Throwing caution to the wind, and embracing his one-time moniker of the 'hero without fear', he started to run towards it. He ran up the forested hill and arrived at a ruin that was still smoking and on fire. Him being this close to it revealed that his assumption that it was something to do with the Force being the cause of this explosion. He walked in the rubble until he came across a perfectly intact bed fit for an infant. Around the bed were the body of a woman and next to her a discarded black cloak that reeked of the Dark Side.

Immediately, he turned her over and checked her pulse. She was dead. No surprise there. Based on how she was positioned, she stood in between where the infant's bed was and the cloak. From simple deduction, the dark sider attempted to attack the child and his mother stood in his path. As her eyes were still open, he closed them with one hand, muttering some last words from a culture for those that passed recently. With that thought in mind, he checked in on the child. The child was a male, maybe a year old. The only thing that was significant about his appearance was a bloody wound that would not close. He, of course, took a scrap of cloth and cleaned off the wound to reveal what looked like an angry red wound that absolutely reeked of the Dark Side.

Was this why the Force dropped him in this backward world?

He picked up the child and carried him out of the demolished home. As he crossed the threshold, he found a borderline clean longsword laying on the ground. He picked it up with one hand and noticed that there were words engraved into it. It wasn't Aurebesh so he had no idea what was written, but it appeared to be some kind of motto. It was a simple blade, but it was balanced and felt like it was just forged yesterday. Summoning the cloak, he wrapped the sword up as he was sure that even in a backwater world, they wouldn't be too keen on someone holding a weapon out in the open. Right now, he had several things he needed to address: lodging, money, and a stable location. All of which he seemed to lack. If this was a backwater world, they would need some form of identification to do anything legally, something, that he was sure, that he wouldn't be on the record. He had work to do.

XxXxXxX

Dumbledore walked in the ruins of the Potter home and no matter how hard he, Hagrid, and Sirius looked, they couldn't find the lone Potter. Dumbledore's instruments that were tied to the Potter wards had alerted him that the family was in danger, but that the Potter heir was safe. They had found Lily Potter dead near little Harry's crib and had found James's body in the rubble of the home. Oddly enough, the Potter family sword, an heirloom handed from father to firstborn son, was also missing but Dumbledore and company chalked that up to the home's destruction.

Little Harry was very important to both his personal plans as well to those that would vie for control over the child's upbringing and financial resources for their own benefit. Unlike all of them, though, Dumbledore had the foresight of the prophecy upon the child, a prophecy that had yet to be fulfilled based on the fact that the orb that had recorded it had yet to go dark; the magical 'essence' was still swirling around inside stating that the prophecy was still live. The only reason he knew was because he had an insider at the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries report it to him by Patronus as he came to the Potter home. This also meant that Voldemort was still alive somehow, some way.

He needed a warrior of the Light to fight Voldemort to fulfill the prophecy. Harry met the requirements verbatim. He was the Chosen One. And he needed to be found.

To be continued…?

XxXxXxX

And that's all I have for this one. What did you think? There were a few reasons why I chose what I did to do in this. Why no lightsaber? Well, Vader let it go going down into the same reactor shaft that Palpatine took a tumble down. I know it makes a reappearance off-screen in the post-ROTJ Disney books, but I'm selecting to slightly ignore them since Vader still never had the lightsaber on him and the lightsaber that the followers that found it is never outright stated whether it is a replica, clone, or actually Vader's lightsaber.

Why the clothing? Well, it's supposed to be a t-shirt and jeans, but since Anakin has never outright seen them or had them named, I had attempted to have them described from how he would see it. The Force still exists and will be seen as advanced magic if anything. I'm starting him with nothing except an heirloom, a kid, and a will to do… something. The "something" will be realized as I go along as it goes from duty to some kind of parental relationship that Vader/Anakin missed out on with Palpatine's manipulations with him, Padme, and eventually his own children.

If I were to continue this, the next chapter would probably pick up several years, nearing Hogwarts age, and quick cutting on events (not cutaways or "flashbacks", but recollecting events from the present) as they are not important to the overall story. I don't intend to throw in characters just for fan service from Star Wars unless they make sense as to why. The chapter would culminate in the confrontation between Anakin and Dumbledore and I intend Anakin to be some kind of businessman or inventor, attempting to rocket the world into some semblance of what he left was, that being denizens of the stars. But that's far-off planning.

But what did you guys think? Based on the scenario do you think I presented an interesting idea that could be something if I follow up on it? You know what to do and where to do it.

Also, as a final note, to all of my readers that live in the EU where Article 13 just passed: rest in pepperoni. By the way, blame the Swedes, they hit the wrong button causing it to pass and have admitted it on record.

Until next time.