Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. All the characters and places belong to Disney. The only thing that I own is my OC Rosella Ngaire.
AN: Hello everyone and welcome to my first fanfiction! I'm a big Star Wars fan and know that other people have done similar works to what I have done. This idea came to me this past summer after reading KaitiJo's Anakin and Analise series (if you haven't yet read it, I highly recommend that you do) and is my version of what I think the galaxy would be like if the Jedi were to embrace their emotions instead of just letting them go. Some of the lines will be from the movie and others will be changed to match my writing style. I hope you enjoy this and please don't forget to leave a review.
Prologue
Since the Battle of Naboo, the discovery of the Chosen One and the return of the Sith, a lot had happened.
Qui-Gon had recovered from the injury that Darth Maul had given him and also had permission from Master Yoda and the rest of the Council to take Anakin as his unofficial apprentice. He did just that, using a ship that Mace and the other members had given him, to take the boy back to his home planet to begin his training since he wanted to give Obi-Wan some time to get used to being a fully-fledged Jedi Knight.
The Council had given the Jedi Master everything that he would need to begin the boy's training as well as a fair amount of money that had been converted into Tatooine currency. While on the planet, Qui-Gon journeyed to Mos Espa and freed Shmi from her enslavement to Watto. While the Toydarian was signing the release forms, Qui-Gon asked whether Shmi still had her slave transmitter activated. Watto replied, telling the Jedi that he had deactivated it the day after Anakin had left as he had thought that Shimi would have run off and didn't want to have to deal with the legal side of the law if that had happened.
After heading to Shmi's hovel in the slave quarters, Qui-Gon found the woman in her kitchen. He greeted her and told Shimi what had happened after Anakin had left Tatooine and why he and her son were back. He also told her that Anakin had begun his Jedi training while not officially being part of the Order just yet. She was very pleased with what had happened and thanked him again for freeing him. Qui-Gon told her that she was welcome and then relayed the news that she was now free. Shmi was pleased with her newfound freedom and asked if they had room for her to stay with them. Qui-Gon said that they did and helped her pack what she owned, including a now finished, but not fully covered C-3P0. When they had finished, the Jedi Master led them to the landspeeder and took them back to the hovel that he and Anakin were living in.
Once Anakin's year of training was complete, Qui-Gon felt that the boy was ready to be retested by the Jedi Council. Once everything that they had brought with them was packed up and stowed away on the ship, they boarded the craft and left the desert planet behind. After stopping on the planet of Naboo, both Qui-Gon and Shmi were granted an audience with Padmè, who was still Queen. She was very happy to see that Shmi had been freed and was more than happy to let Shmi live on her home planet.
After Padmè gave her a house out in the Lake Country, both Shimi and Qui-Gon thanked her and left the palace. Once Shimi was all settled in her new home, she thanked Qui-Gon for what he had done. The Jedi Master then reached into the pocket of his poncho and withdrew a holocomunicator that had Anakin's holocaster frequency keyed into it. Handing it to the woman, he told her that once he got permission from the Council, Anakin would be able to contact her if he needed any advice or just someone to talk to. She thanked him for the gift. Qui-Gon bowed and then left, returning to the ship and leaving Naboo.
When Qui-Gon and Anakin returned to Coruscant, the Jedi Master made sure to file the paperwork that Shmi had signed while they had lived on Tatooine. Although Anakin was still her son, the paperwork stated that should anything happen to her, Qui-Gon was to become Anakin's legal guardian. He also felt the force telling him that he could now inform the Council about the visions that he had received a year ago. Then he brought Anakin before the Council as the boy needed to be retested to see if he would be allowed into the Order.
After bowing and then greeting the Council, Qui-Gon told them what Shmi had done and the paperwork that had been filed. The Council had no problems with that as Anakin was a ward of the Republic since Shmi had given her legal consent for Qui-Gon to take her son away from Tatooine as she didn't want him to grow up being a slave, and not part of the Order yet. Then Qui-Gon relayed how Anakin's training on Tatooine had gone and told them about the visions that he had had before the Battle of Naboo.
When Mace asked what Qui-Gon thought his visions meant, the Jedi Master replied that it had been the will of the Force that led him to make the decision to free Anakin's mother as the boy was going to need her in his life since she made him happy. Then he brought up the point that Anakin had never been trained in the Temple as a Jedi Youngling or even as an Initiate, so he lacked the formal training on letting go of one's emotions that the other children his age had already acquired. He also brought up the point that the Force had kept Anakin hidden from them up until a few weeks ago as it hadn't been time for him to be discovered. Then Qui-Gon asked that Anakin be allowed to stay in touch with her as she would be able to help him stay focused on his Jedi studies.
The Council had a small discussion on the subject and realizing that Qui-Gon was right, they granted his request. Then Master Yoda and the other members tested Anakin again. After sensing that the fear that had been in him a year ago had nearly vanished, they congratulated the boy for how far he had come in his unofficial training, despite him having an emotional attachment to his mother. While the Council members and Qui-Gon knew that it was still there, as they could sense it, the fear in Anakin had been greatly diminished from the moment that Anakin had heard that his mother had been freed. Then the Council dismissed both Qui-Gon and Anakin from the room. Once they had left, the members had a small discussion regarding Anakin's admittance into the Order. When they had finally come to a decision, they called both of them back into the chamber. Then, both Yoda and Mace told Anakin that he was being accepted into the Order and summoned Obi-Wan before them.
When the Knight arrived, Master Yoda told Obi-Wan that Anakin was to become his apprentice. Qui-Gon agreed with that decision and told the Council that he would help guide them both when they needed help. The Council accepted that and dismissed them all from the chamber.
Once they were back in Qui-Gon's apartment, Anakin asked Obi-Wan if he could go contact her. Obi-Wan said yes since the Council had told him that Anakin would be allowed to remain in contact with her. Then Qui-Gon found the Sun and the Star prophecy. After reading it and sharing his findings with Masters Yoda and Mace Windu, he promised not to say anything as all three Jedi Masters weren't sure how it fit into the prophecy that they already knew about.
Two years later, the Council could see that they had indeed made the right choice in allowing Qui-Gon to free Shimi and letting Anakin stay in contact with her. While Anakin and Obi-Wan were in front of the Council as they had just returned from a mission, Master Yoda reached out with the force as he wanted to get a sense of what Anakin was like as opposed to what he had been like when he had first arrived at the Temple. The Grandmaster was amazed at what he felt. Anakin Skywalker was at peace, but also a little fearful of what should happen if he were to lose his mother. Then the Force decided to speak through the boy.
The thirteen-year-old padawan told the council in a powerful voice that there was a war coming, one that the Jedi would not be able to stop and that the Order was weak and that it would fail and no longer exist unless the council chose to accept what they once considered to be forbidden. If they didn't then they would not be able to face what was coming and be wiped out from the galaxy. Both Yoda and Mace looked at each other, immediately thinking of the prophecy that Qui-Gon had told them about.
When he had finished speaking, Anakin, as well as Obi-Wan were dismissed and Qui-Gon was summoned. As soon as he arrived, Mace told the rest of the Council about the prophecy that Qui-Gon had found. When the entire Council heard the entire thing, they all began to discuss it in greater detail and what it could mean in regards to the future of the Order.
A few days after their discussion, the Order changed its decision regarding attachments, relationships and families. They saw how well it worked for Anakin and wanted to see if it would work for the rest of the Jedi who were currently at the Temple. After seeing how Anakin had grown in strength from his attachment to his mother, the Council realized that they had done a terrible thing by forcing the Jedi to give up on their emotions.
Soon after the official announcement had been made, all the Jedi who were in the Temple felt a massive shift in the force, including the Council. In the past, before the Republic had even been formed, natural bonds, relationships, attachments and families had been embraced and even encouraged by the Jedi of that era. Before the current Jedi Council had even come up with the idea to change the rule that limited attachments, natural bonds had been frowned upon, even discouraged as they were seen as signs of attachment. Now Anakin, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon could feel the bonds that they had with each other changing and growing stronger.
For Anakin and Obi-Wan, their bond was that of a teacher and student. They remained Master and Apprentice, but their bond had changed to them being brothers in all but blood. Obi-Wan's bond with Qui-Gon was reawakened as after he had been knighted, Obi-Wan had opted to keep his bond with Qui-Gon, but let it lay dormant, only using it when he needed to. The Knight felt the bond he had with his former master deepen. For all three, their bond changed from that of merely being friends to being a family.
The Jedi were taught that having attachments were a strength, but also a weakness if allowed to come before their duty. They were also taught that having emotions was a good thing and they were there to help guide them in their daily lives. They also learned that they had to be able to let go of their attachments when the time came for it.
After that, Anakin met and bonded with a female Jedi Initiate that he had helped while volunteering to help teach a lightsaber class.
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Count Dooku was once a Jedi.
He had once been a proud member of the Order. Had stood alongside his former padawan, Qui-Gon Jinn and the likes of Master Yoda and Mace Windu. Sometime before the Battle of Naboo, he became disillusioned with the traditions of the Jedi as he thought that the members of the Council had become too engaged in politics and had distanced themselves from the Force. Being a political idealist, the corruption in the Senate and the overall state of the Republic were two more non-inspiring ideals that caused him to want to leave.
Dooku eventually left the Order and returned to his homeworld of Serenno. He claimed the title of Count and informed his old Master that he was leaving the Order, becoming the final member of the Lost Twenty, a group of Jedi Masters who had become disillusioned with the traditions of the Order.
Many people believed that Dooku had gone into some sort of self-imposed exile and was waiting for the right moment to come back as he wanted to start an offshoot organization that was different from the Jedi Order. Others believed he had left to join the Sith.
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Several years after the Battle of Naboo, the Count suddenly reappeared in the galaxy and delivered a rousing speech that set the stage for the Separatist movement. He also began to publicly rally systems and corporations to his cause that he hoped would eventually become the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Every time the Chancellor would try and negotiate with Dooku to make him see reason and that what he was doing was foolish, he would reject the offer.
Ever since Dooku had started his public campaign, he would be away from his home planet most of the time, often travelling to planets that were located in the Inner and Outer Rim. As the people who were on those planets listened to what he had to say, some of them agreed with the former Jedi. They turned to their governments and successfully convinced them that the Republic and the Senate, which the Jedi answered to when they were needed, didn't care about them or what they needed and had left them to take care of themselves.
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On Coruscant, the Jedi who were in charge of the infants and toddlers were growing worried as they knew that their numbers were small and were steadily growing smaller since not very many children were being found and the families who did have force sensitive young ones were unwilling to part ways with their child as it meant that they would be kept apart from one another until the child became a Knight and was allowed to see them again.
There was another factor that was not helping the Jedi who had been sent out into the galaxy under the orders of the Chancellor to maintain the order and stability that had been kept for a few years after the Battle of Naboo.
Nearly seven hundred planets had receded from the Republic. It seemed like those planet's leaders had listened to their people and had withdrawn their senators as well as the representatives that they had sent from the Senate as they were intending to join the now rapidly growing Separatist movement that was currently under the leadership of Count Dooku.
The Order just didn't have the numbers that they once did and that made it hard for them to be the keepers of peace and justice throughout the galaxy.
AN: I have already finished writing this story and will be cleaning up each chapter before I post it. Please be patient with me when it comes to that as I am busy with a number of other things.