All of Anakin's life Shmi had been very careful with commanding him to do anything. She asked nicely unless he was in danger.

It was the best she could do. They had claimed one another and when she commanded he had to obey. After all, he had no father to go against her commands.

…-…

When Anakin left with the Jedi, his mother told him, "I know you'll become the best Jedi you can be. It'll make it worse if you look back at me. Leaving always hurts more when you look back."

And though the first part had not been meant as a command Anakin took it as one. He was supposed to become the best Jedi he could be.

He still looked back, once, at his mother, before he walked out of sight. He wasn't sure if it made it better or worse. He couldn't tell.

…-…

Anakin stood before the Jedi Council. They'd tested him, he'd answered their questions.

"Great fear there is in you," One of the Jedi said and Anakin felt his brows furrow.

"Are Jedi not supposed to be afraid?" He asked.

"Fear leads to the darkside." Another Jedi said shortly.

Anakin wasn't quite sure what that meant but it seemed like… yes. Jedi weren't supposed to be afraid.

Anakin frowned for a long moment. He'd done stuff like this before- burying his feelings so far down that no one could ever find them again then throwing away the lock and the map.

He thought about his mom, still a slave. She could be sold at anytime. He might never see her again. He gripped the feeling and shoved it down as far as he could make it go.

The Jedi council was staring at him.

They didn't make a decision about him immediately. He had to stay with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan for the battle, but he didn't mind. He did some real good Jedi stuff and blew up a ship.

…-…

Jedi don't feel fear, so as Qui-Gon burnt Anakin did not feel afraid. Obi-Wan was staring at the fire, desolate, and Anakin knew that Jedi were supposed to help people. Anakin sat by Obi-Wan, not saying anything.

The flames had died down before Obi-Wan spoke. "He told me… He told me he was proud of me. Said I'd make a great knight."

Anakin could hear the words he didn't say- that he didn't want to be a great Knight he just wanted Qui-Gon back.

"I miss my Mom," Anakin said, softly. "She's still a slave back on Tatooine, but when I become a great Jedi I'll go back and free her."

Jedi weren't afraid, and so Anakin shoved the fear that he'd never see his Mom again deep down into the box inside of him.

…-…

The council agreed to take Anakin on the condition that if no one stepped forward to train him he would be sent to the corps like any other Jedi.

Anakin began classes, and it felt like the Jedi were trying to get him to claw his own eyes out.

At first, he asked lots of questions. He challenged them. Then one teacher or another found the magic words "A Jedi does not…"

When they said that- Anakin couldn't help it. He had to stop doing whatever the teacher didn't want him to.

There were so many things Jedi weren't supposed to do. They weren't supposed to fear- and some of the teachers seemed to be saying that they weren't supposed to feel at all.

They weren't supposed to have nightmares or be slaves or worry about their mothers. They weren't supposed to think of their parents at all.

Boxes upon boxes piled up inside of Anakin's mind, and he kept them locked tight.

He didn't talk about his Mom, because as a Jedi he was not supposed to be attached to her.

He didn't talk about freeing the slaves because Jedi focused on big problems and they couldn't help everyone.

He didn't talk about his previous life because Jedi were supposed to be brought to the temple young, before they could remember anything else.

He didn't talk about his old friends or dreams or hobbies.

He didn't talk at all.

…-…

Obi-Wan was twenty-seven and Anakin eleven when Obi-Wan saw him again. The boy did not look well.

His eyes were blank, as though someone had rubbed everything that made Anakin Anakin out of him.

Anakin was a bit young to be a Padawan even now, but Qui-Gon had believed Anakin to be the Chosen One. The boy looked a bit more like a puppet.

When Obi-Wan told the boy that he was going to train him- that Anakin would be his Padawan, he saw Anakin's eyes light up, then the light faded, locked away.

And Obi-Wan thought to ask why.

Anakin told him everything, because Jedi answer their elders and do not lie.

He had to unlock a couple boxes to find all the answers, but this held precedence for now.

Obi-Wan stared at the boy in growing horror. The Jedi had been raising one of the clans and hadn't even noticed that every command they gave the boy was tearing him apart.

…-…

He went to the Jedi council the next day. "Did you know," he said, tone almost conversational and razor sharp, "That Anakin is one of the clans, and that his mother's last command was to become the best Jedi he can be?"

The silence that spread from his words did nothing to his anger at the injustice. "Did you know that almost every single teacher he has and many of the students have noticed that telling him something a Jedi does, no matter how fictious or harmful, will result in him doing it? At this point he's locked away enough of his mind I doubt he can even tell if people are trying to trick him or not. He simply listens. You are allowing him to be torn apart. I'm taking him as my Padawan, and we are going back to Tattoine so his mother can withdraw her command."

The council could not argue that- not in good conscience. And so they went.

…-…

Anakin loved Obi-Wan for freeing him. He loved his mother for never intending her words to be a command. He loved that he got to see her again.

Anakin feared the other Jedi, for what they had done and tried to do to him. They'd ripped his mind apart, piece by piece, and he hadn't really been able to stop them at all.

He didn't want to go back, but he could tell that Obi-Wan did. Obi-Wan had seen him for less than an hour before he'd begun his crusade to save Anakin, and though Anakin knew he hadn't done anything to deserve Obi-Wan he loved him all the same.

So he went back with Obi-Wan because Obi-Wan wanted him to. He became Obi-Wan's Padawan. And he was happy, for the most part.

…-…

Anakin was thirteen when his mother died. He felt it, saw her death through her eyes. She'd been in her home- when Anakin and Obi-Wan had visited she'd been free and married.

The thing that killed her was wearing a mask. Anakin couldn't see its face. It shoved a blade into her stomach and wrenched up. She tried to get away, tried to fight back. But she didn't have a weapon or combat training. She crumpled to the ground, pressing her hands against her torn flesh, but she couldn't stop the flow of blood.

"Anakin," she whispered, and blood was bubbling out of her lips. "I love you."

And she was still and the connection snapped and Anakin screamed.

Obi-Wan had been called as soon as Anakin had fallen, whimpering, to the floor. He got to Anakin just as soon as the boy started to scream.

…-…

It took two weeks after his mother's death for Anakin to begin speaking again.

"I don't know who my father is." Anakin whispered. He was sitting beside Obi-Wan, leaning almost his whole weight on him. Obi-Wan's arm was around him, but he turned to look directly into Anakin's eyes at that.

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked.

"He's still alive." Anakin said, voice quietly horrified. "I don't know who he is, and I could never feel him before. But now- I can feel him. Barely. He- he's not a good person. If he even figured out about me- I don't even want to know what he'd do to me."

"What can we do?"

Anakin looked at him for a long moment, blue eyes considering. Then he sat up, turning to face Obi-Wan completely. "I'm not old enough to get married yet- to start my own clan… I'm going to claim you." Anakin said, and Obi-Wan blinked.

"What!?"

"I don't know how much protection it will offer," Anakin said, hesitating. "But I know it does something. I'll claim you as my father, you'll claim me as your son. It'll give you a measure of control over me- though I'm not sure how much. It might- it should help me resist my father if he ever claims me."

Obi-Wan knew that this was probably against the code a hundred different ways over. Still… it would help protect Anakin.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Alright." He said.

"I trust you." Anakin said. "That's why it has to be you. You won't use it against me."

Anakin was still afraid of most of the other Jedi, something that led to them being very uncomfortable around him and giving him a wide berth.

Obi-Wan still felt an uncomfortable amount of anger at their treatment of Anakin. He really needed to release that… again.

Obi-Wan nodded to Anakin, and Anakin took Obi-Wan's much larger hand in his.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, I, Anakin Skywalker, claim you as my father."

The force hummed at the pronouncement. "Anakin Skywalker, I, Obi-Wan Kenobi, claim you as my son."

Something seemed to snap into place between them, a bond not completely unlike their training bond and yet so very, very different at the same time.

Anakin was smiling up at him, and Obi-Wan smiled back.

…-…

It was a conversation Obi-Wan wouldn't even remember.

"But Obi-Wan," Anakin said, pretending to be scandalized. "Don't you know that I can't be trusted around children?"

Obi-Wan laughed. "Well then. You should probably be nice to them, then you'd be allowed to see them."

He was usually much more careful of his words, but everyone made mistakes sometimes. Anakin simply smiled. He could live with a command to be kind.

…-…

Anakin was 19 when he married Padme Amidala. Obi-Wan even managed to get him permission from the council, on the grounds that they still didn't know who Anakin's father was and Anakin would need complete autonomy in a war zone. An unknown father could cause far to many problems.

The council agreed, reluctantly.

And so Obi-Wan found himself at his adopted son's wedding. He didn't think he'd grinned so much in his whole life.

…-…

Anakin was 20 when his first child was born. They named the girl Leia.

…-…

Anakin was 22 when his second child was born. They named him Luke.

…-…

Anakin was 23 and Padme was pregnant again. Dooku was dead. Grievous soon would be. Anakin was happier than he'd even been. Soon- so very soon- he could just be with his family. He couldn't wait.