Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd. The following work is not intended to add to, promote or distort this series. This is a work of fanfiction, and the author does not profit in posting. This is simply a writing exercise written for fun.
Anakin felt as though he was being paraded to his hearing by the masters, seeming as everyone in the temple came to observe his march to the lift. He saw Younglings out past their bedtimes and Padawans with their masters. It sickened him.
Why was he always the center of attention?
Drawing his cloak in tighter to himself, the man tried to recall the courage that had protected him last time, to feel his mother's words and pride extend into him and give him strength. Yet he could not find that sublime power. It had abandoned him in the face of true guilt.
His guilt. He still could not fathom why he'd punched Rush Clovis the way he had. Why he'd felt the urge to slug him out of nowhere. Yes, he detested the man, someone who was a traitor and likely working to scam the system. But he'd rather do it sober and in control. When a match was called for.
And when his actions did not hurt Padme the most.
Padme was not a violent person. Reactionary yes, but not violent. She had a talent with tact he was still struggling to master and a politeness that felt genuine to everyone, even when they didn't deserve it. Why had he embarrassed her so? He knew exactly how important that party was to her.
When the lift doors opened, he found himself in front of the familiar high council doors. Since he was young, he'd learned to associate these doors with bad things. With put downs, chastisement and discouragement. The council never wanted him in the Jedi Order, they'd simply learned to accept that he was here and dealt with him accordingly. It had taken him years to feel like he'd garnered anything close to respect, seeming as most days he felt like the young slave boy under the council's scrutiny yet again. This was one of those moments to him. They were dealing with him. Begrudgingly.
Inside, he'd found that the whole council had appeared for this particular hearing. Rush Clovis, while a traitor hated by the populace, was still a key person of interest in dealing with Scipio and the Banking Clan. He was in a state of political security. Anakin, however, was never free of the public eye. His every actions had to be carefully assessed, namely because of his fame. It was one of the most stifling characteristics of his life.
Master Yoda was the first to speak, his eyes not falling directly on Anakin, but rather the woman beside him. The mysterious enigma, Jaina or Leia or... Now that I have a chance to think about it, Leia suits her.
He did his best to look like the image a Jedi should: stoic and strong, yet humble. He crossed his arms behind his back, but noticed that Yoda's eyes still had not left Leia. In fact, he seemed to be scrutinizing her more than he ever had Anakin.
"Sense that you are angry, I do, Ms. Darklighter." He suddenly pointed out, "For what purpose do you visit us, I wonder."
Taking a deep breath, the woman, also standing like a perfect Jedi, stepped forward, "I am here to defend Knight Skywalker for his actions." She said outright, "I am witness to his behaviors and can assure the council that Knight Skywalker came to my defense when former-senator Rush Clovis harassed me."
Leaning forward, the projected image of Shaak Ti added, "It is not a question of whether he was defending you that we meet." she explained, "It is whether or not his reaction was excessive."
"I do not believe it was." Leia stated calmly, almost reminding him of Padme in how she spoke.
Surpsied, Ki-Adi-Mundi tilted his head and inquried, "So you believe that shattering Mr. Clovis's jaw, knocking out his teeth and destroying the joints that hinged it all together is not excessive force?"
Without pause, Anakin watched as Leia retorted, "I think the man has a glass jaw."
"And Anakin a metal prosthesis." Master Eith Koth pointed out, crossing his arms as his frowns made his marks grow deeper, "Something that easily caused the aforementioned damage when combined with his enormous connection with the Force. Mr. Clovis's jaw has been so grievously injured, that his jaw has been wired shut."
"Another favor he's done the galaxy." Leia added lamely, making a couple of the council members chuckle. Anakin, himself, had to stifle a little laugh. It amazed him, looking at Leia and witnessing the true danger of a Jedi Politician. There was no other way he could explain her. She could go toe-to-toe with Palpatine the way she spoke and probably come close to winning the argument.
When the room was quiet once more, Master Yoda finally turned to him and inquired, "And what say you, Knight Skywalker? Of the same opinion, are you?"
Shrugging, he let his arms fall to the side and admitted, "No, I am not." This seemed to surprise the whole of the council, some of which leaned forward in their chairs to regard him. Of these individuals was none other than Mace Windu, who furrowed his brows together in curiosity.
"And why is that?" Eith Koth wondered.
Letting loose a deep sigh, he explained, "Because I was not in control of myself when I attacked Rush Clovis."
This seemed to startle the masters, who turned to one another to deliberate internally. After a time, Master Mundi inquired, "As in, you were in a state similar to your previous situation?" Anakin nodded, "Were you also ranting about protecting your son?"
Turning his eyes to the ground, Anakin shook his head, but offered nothing more, "My recollections are fuzzy. I remember seeing myself cross the room, say something and then..." He trailed off as his mind fought hard to remember. He had a vague idea of what he'd said, but it all seemed so unreal. Deep down he didn't want to believe the words coming out of his mouth. None of it made any sense.
Again, the council glanced from one person to another, each with a weary look. Leia had also turned to him, even placing a hand on his arm. Normally, he'd shrug the appendage off, but this time he took comfort in her presence. That is, until she jumped and turned to face where Padme's home was, her eyes scanning he horizon as if seeing something in the distance.
Master Yoda again trained his eyes on her and wondered, "Concerned are you, Ms. Darklighter?" Anakin regarded her, his brows raised as he observed her already pale skin whiten more. She shook her head and turned back to him.
"Padme is in danger." She told him with a hushed voice, "I have to go." Hearing that made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Uncertain, he reached out towards Padme and felt nothing concerning, doubting for a moment Leia's warning until a familiar cold feeling touched his mind's eye.
"How could you-" he wanted to ask but was cut off as the woman darted towards the doors. Watching a moment as the masters called out after her, Anakin tried to fathom just how powerful Leia was. She could sense something I couldn't hope to detect without help, he realized, his mind falling back on Demantis's offer, What does it take to become that powerful? To be at the ready to protect someone so easily?
Rather than stand there and meditate, Anakin dashed after her, feeling as though his past week was nothing more than a steady pattern of entering and leaving these very doors.
Luke had nodded off on the sofa after everyone had left, trying his best to sleep and meditate at the same time. Part of him wanted to follow his sister to the council, to see how it operated so he could bring that knowledge with him to tthe future, but he knew better than to leave his mother home alone. She was still locked up in her room, crying in frustration for the fiasco that had been her party.
Several times, he'd tried to console her, but she would not let him venture through the door and see her so distraught. It irked him. He was her family after all, seeing people at their worst came with the job.
Realizing he was too restless, Luke proceeded to levitate himself off the couch and begin to actually meditate. It was relaxing enough, reaching out into the galaxy for a calm and steady current, but he was depressed at the lack of peaceful routes to wade through.
It wasn't until he heard the master door slide shut that he was pulled from his reverie, only discovering that he'd been meditating for twenty standard minutes. "Feeling better?" He asked the figure that had entered the space before opening his eyes to find his mother in a disheveled state.
"Not really." She admitted, pulling her wavy hair off her shoulders as she strode towards a beverage dispenser. "I'm embarrassed beyond belief... But I also want to forgive him."
Luke waited for her to continue, to elaborate on the patience she had for the man she called husband. It struck him as odd that so strong a woman could stomach all his father's idiosyncrasies. One would think two powerful personalities like theirs would be incompatible. When she did not add to her statements, Luke felt it necessary to enlighten her, "Clovis had been pressing Leia for information about father and his relationship to you."
Sighing, Padme took a swig of her drink and sat down next to Luke on the couch, "No surprise there. He's been on to us since our return from Scipio." Nodding, Luke returned to the couch, sat forward and called his own drink from a distant table with the Force, "Ani told me that such acts are abusing the Force."
Luke snorted a laugh before taking a sip, "Well, maybe it is..." he admitted, "Though I've always considered it an exercise to incorporate the Force into my lifestyle." He sat back and let loose a sigh, staring at the floor with worry.
After a time, Padme found herself filled with questions once again, ones she could not keep inside. "Luke?" she wondered carefully, "If you truly believe that Anakin can be saved, why won't you trust him?"
Frowning a little, Luke tilted his head in thought, his eyes never leaving the floor, "Because it pays to be cautious, especially when we don't know what we are dealing with. And time travel..." he chuckled a little, "I don't know about you, but I haven't come across a chart of any kind for this sort of event."
Smiling, Padme nodded and took another swig of her drink, "I suppose I understand." She then made another observation, "You carry a heavy burden, don't you?"
Nodding, Luke sat forward and set his glass down, turning at last to his mother with earnest eyes. He wanted to confide in her, to open up to her, to make her see why he acted as he did, "I've always unknowingly carried this burden." he admitted with a frown, "For some reason Ben and Yoda picked me to replace my father. I'm not sure what they saw in me, perhaps it was because I so resembled father in appearance. Maybe Ben saw me as his second chance to do things right. Either way, when the time came, I was cultivated to kill him, even lied to to make the deed easier on myself." He clenched his fists as he fought to release his anger into the Force. It seemed that some wounds continued to reopen when addressed.
Yet his anger was nothing compared to that of his mother's, who sat there with her jaw dropped and her hands trembling, "They... they did all that to you?" Luke shrugged and turned his eyes away.
"Realistically," he admitted sorrowfully, "Father did this to me." Then, as though opening a dam blocking a torrent, he found the words slipping freely from his mouth, "If he hadn't become Vader, if he hadn't killed all those people, I might have grown up into a completely different destiny. My own destiny, whatever that is. I know that every step of my life isn't really mine. It's h-" He then turned back to Padme, fury in his eyes as he fought to control himself, "Why couldn't he resist that temptation? Why couldn't he stave off the darkness? Were we so unimportant?!" He then turned away and caught himself, exuding a deep sigh as he released that negativity into the Force.
Padme, surprised by his sudden onslaught of emotion, rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled, "You carry a lot of pain inside, don't you?"
He shrugged and sighed, again releasing more emotions into the Force, "Jedi aren't supposed to carry pain." He reminded her, "We release it into the Force, gaining clarity."
"But that doesn't seem to work for you?" she surmised to his surprise. He turned to her, blue eyes weary and jaw agape. "It doesn't work for Anakin either. Ani always feels more emotions than he knows how to deal with."
Shaking his head, Luke retorted, "I cannot be like him in that aspect. I have to be the perfect Jedi."
Taking his face into her hands, Padme stared him down and outright told him, "No, you have to be the perfect Luke Skywalker, the one and only, the original... So what if he isn't the perfect Jedi?" For a moment, Padme thought she'd finally reached a Skywalker male with her words, helping at least one of them shed some of their guilt, if only a little. But then she saw that flicker in Luke's eye and realized he was once again refuting her in his mind.
"You don't understand." He muttered, mostly to himself, "I'm so much more powerful than the father you know... if I turn to the darkside due to failing to police my own emotions," his eyes fell on her, piercing in their pain, "I'm not sure the republic could survive."
Seeing and, miraculously, sensing his hurt, Padme brushed the hair out of his eyes. It didn't matter that he was older than her, nor did it bother her that he was as stubborn as Anakin. This man was in pain, a pain that, like his father's own injuries, was both self inflicted and maintained. She saw it clearly, his perfectionism masking the suffocation he felt in following his father's destiny. It looked very much like the agony Anakin faced in his own inability to perform to standard.
"Sometimes," she tried very hard to reach him one last time, "denying ourselves who we are can bring us far closer to darkness than any outward emotional expression can. You may release your negative energy into the Force, Luke, but is it really gone? What benefits do you gain by not accepting it as a part of yourself?"
For a moment, she could have sworn that Luke was finally hearing what she was saying. He had a glimmer in his eyes that shown his understanding, but that soon flickered away, replaced by a stern glance towards the veranda. Frowning, he reached for his lightsaber and ordered her, "Stay down."
Carefully, she obeyed, falling to the floor and turning a table over for cover. She watched as Luke stepped over the sofa and ignited his lightsaber, illuminating a devilish fiend standing at the ready on the terrace. "Zion." He said with a level voice, "What happened to you?"
Smiling, a tall Togruta with peach markings across his face stepped into the apartment, "Something wonderful." He admitted, extending his arm only to have his lightsaber fly out to meet it, "I've been reborn!"
Frowning, Luke shifted his stance to match the warrior, moving the furniture against the walls with the Force, Padme along with the table, to give him room to fight, "Reborn into what?" Luke asked, "It looks to me like you are dying."
"Hardly." Zion admitted, finally igniting his weapon into a crimson red light, "Death is merely a stage of rebirth." He then charged Luke with a wild roar, meeting his green lightsaber head on as the two struggled to gain the better footing. Padme watched in awe as Luke's movements suddenly became a blur while he fought the Togruta male. All she saw were discs of green and red, shifting in direction, but the steady increase of distance between her and Luke showed he was the better duelist.
That is, until two others entered the room. One was an elderly lady while the other appeared a young Mirialen. They stared at her with a menacing glow in their eyes, making Padme gulp as she contemplated what to do. The lightsabers at their belts indicated that they were some form of Jedi, and she was not prepared to take either of them on. In that moment, she cursed changing into her nightgown and not adventure apparel.
"So, this is the woman?" the elderly woman inquired, stepping closer to kneel down and face her, "The mother of the Skywalker Twins... the most powerful twins ever born."
"I thought she'd be a real warrior, not some prim senator." the Mirialan spat, igniting her weapon and raising it overhead, "Such a shame it took poisoning Devaro to get him to tell us about you. The hunt was rather fun." Somehow Padme doubted her statement, even if the smile on her face seemed to agree with it. "Goodbye, Mrs. Skywalker."
Something inside Padme would not relent to this. She took a quick glance towards the warring Luke, seeing him accomplish inhuman feats as he battled the assailant to a near standstill and knew she could not give up. She would not allow two amazing beings like Luke and Leia to be snuffed out of existence by these vile ingrates.
And so, she reached deep down inside and found her courage. And she found her instincts. Just as the Mirialan was about to slice her in two, she sprang from the ground and caught the hilt of her lighsaber in her hands. Despite the fact that the Mirialan was taller and stronger, Padme somehow found stance enough to keep her at bay. For a sliver of a moment, Padme was relieved.
A pop-hiss beside her indicated such feelings would be short lived. She turned to find the old hag with her own crimson blade poised for her execution and found her heart calling out to Anakin.
Get the hell away from her was not the answer she expected from him, and apparently the hag hadn't expected it either. She fell backwards as a giant of a man flew between them, Force-pushing the hag away. He then turned around and raised his mechanized hand to Force-choke the other assailant. She too was tossed aside as Leia bounded across the room, her own blue lightsaber raised to defend Padme with her life.
"Who are these guys?" Anakin demanded of Leia as he backed up to cover Padme from another angle. She paused a moment, watching the Mirialan with interest, even as the hag crossed the space towards Anakin.
"Old friends." Leia offered as she stepped back to allow the Togruta to fly right by her. Padme turned to find a panting Luke walking across the space, catching his breath as he joined the ring of Skywalkers in defense. Their three opponents soon regrouped, forming their own line of offense as they raised their crimson blades.
Though Padme expected some dialogue, she was surprised to find that Luke initiated it, "What the hell did you do to him?!" She could sense the anger in his voice and watched as he exhaled some of it out.
Smiling, the hag brushed her salt and pepper hair back and smiled, "My lovely master decided the boy could use more power, so he granted him the powers of a Shaetin." Padme felt Anakin jump at the information, as though he'd heard of such things before. She was distracted away from that as the hag then stepped forward, the shambles of the destroyed room suddenly departing from the ground to orbit her, "Is that so wrong? I too have acquired great powers from my master's tutelage."
Padme heard Leia growl as she stepped in front of her, raising her saber even higher in preparation for attack. They watched in awe as the hag approached, her appearance becoming less haggard and more youthful as shadows fell off her like steam. Soon, there was hardly a difference in age between the old woman and her counterparts, "The gift of darkness at its best." she informed them with a grin before taking her stance once more.
As the two teams of three lined up with their opponents, Anakin took a chance and hissed towards Padme, "Find cover as soon as you can." He could sense her nod, even as he and Luke stepped forward to provide a better barrier between her and the assailants. Green, blue and blue, their lightsabers were brought to stance as the three of them dug in to hold the line.
Leia could feel in Luke his desire to battle Zion, to try once more to save him, but could only shrug the idea away. He was the strongest of the three of them at this point; only he would be able to battle that insane witch. She felt fortunate that he understood this.
"This is your last warning." Luke calmly stated as beads of persperation began to form on all their foreheads, "Leave now and keep your lives." The grins on their opponents indicated how much they believed that threat.
"Just try, my boy." The now raven-haired witch dared with a grin. And, as the battle prepared to resume, Leia heard Luke's voice calmly reply in the back of her mind with gladly. Or was it Anakin she heard?
In an instant, the teams charged one another, crossing the sitting room as though breaths of wind. Leia found her 'favorite' opponent in the Mirialan, crossing her blue blade with the wretch's red with all her might. "Well, well, princess." The black-lipped fiend spat, "You seem a tad stronger since the last time our blades crossed."
But rather than retort, Leia shifted her feet enough to push the woman back, slashing her blade out from left to right like a dance move. Anhilis dodged her moves, predicting her footwork enough to move right next to her and raised her elbow in line with her wrist to slash at her in a twist, but that move was blocked by a quickly thought of push from Leia, who used some of her husband's tricks from his previous experiences in brawls. Unsure of how to react, Anhilis stepped back towards the door to Padme's bedroom and regrouped. "You're getting better every time, princess." She commented dryly, then boasted, "Me too!"
As Anhilis charged Leia once again, Anakin threw his opponent, Devaro, directly into her path. The horned assailant collided with her feet, something she just barely recovered from before Leia could make her move. Anakin stepped in line with Leia, his stance reminding both Sith of how proficient he was in Djem So. And, as though the wind himself, the man lunged forward towards his opponent, striking with ferocity that brought sparks flying from the impact.
He was light on his feet, adjusting and moving with his sword in ways Devaro struggled to predict. Stuck on the defensive, the Togruta sought a way free from the continuous wrath of this powerful Jedi. It took some time, but Devaro was able to spot a large, metal canister that he threw towards Anakin's head with the Force. As Anakin turned to block it, Devaro swatted at the small of his back, just barely missing him before a ray of black lightening came flying into the man.
Devaro watched in awe as Anakin flew into the bookcase behind Amidala, landing on his hands and knees as he hissed in pain, and grinned. He then turned to find the source of such great power and was delighted to see his master dominating in the fight against Skywalker.
Luke was toe to toe with the woman, struggling to fend off Shaetin shadows formed into insect-like arms that were cutting his arms to ribbons. Swift as he was, he could not match seven attacks at once. When the man back-flipped away, Pestilis once again unleashed her lightening, only to have Luke counter it with his electric judgment. The collision of two so different energies sent a shock wave through the apartment, stopping Padme as she attempted to flee through the front door.
She fell to her knees and turned only to see Luke do the same. "Luke!" She cried out, pulling attention back to her from the old hag turned vixen.
The woman was less winded, quicker to her feet and far more confident than her opponent. She strode along the wreckage and raised her hand to lift Padme off the ground, "You're holding back, young Skywalker." She noted, "Tell me, do you wish that I kill your mother?" Padme watched in panic as the pressure over her throat increased, seeing the vile woman smile wide.
But a sound from Luke, a growl of sorts, brought her attention his way. "This is your last warning."
He was now on his feet, his eyes more ice-like than ever before, showing a strange glow that reminded Padme of snow in sunlight. Pestilis didn't seem to notice this, however, she only grinned wider. "Puh-lease." She teased him, "Warn me? Are you going to become your father now?" Again Luke growled, his fists clenching as he walked towards them slowly. Pestilis only laughed more, "Yes, let's see the circle completed! A second verse in the infamy of Vader's legacy!"
Frowning, Luke stopped and assured the woman, "I am my father's son." He paused, his eyes on Padme to reassure her despite the darkness of his voice, "But that does not make me my father." And, swiftly he brought his left hand forward, and a strange golden fire unleashed from the palm of his hand. Even with Padme in the way, he aimed straight for the hag, the harsh embers catching to her flesh as though magnetized.
Padme was in awe, noticing that the flame only made her uncomfortable and achy but nearly incinerated the hag. Soon released from the clutches of her Force-grip, Padme rushed to Luke's side. Once she was safe behind him, he released his technique, his eyes still glowing like starlight as he moved across the shadowed room.
Haggard once more, the old woman stumbled back towards her two protege, both of whom seemed quite affected by Luke's peculiar golden flame. As the three of them panted along side one another, an equally tired Leia and Anakin fell back in line with Luke and Padme.
Though their opponents appeared spent, Anakin and Leia were not much better. Fatigued from fighting so skilled an opponent, Leia was limping slightly from a burn just above her ankle. Anakin was as affected by Luke's fire as their opponents were, something tearing at his concentration as he struggled to stand.
Still startled and enraged, the old woman demanded, "Where did you learn that technique?" Panting himself, Luke did not offer an answer. So the hag shouted at him, "Tell me boy!"
"Anakin Windrider." Luke replied, startling the Anakin standing beside him.
Chuckling a little as she tried to catch her breath, the elderly woman with singed hair and skin shook her head, "Windrider?... Interesting." She then resumed her stance, the Sith yellow in her eyes nearly as bright as the light coming from Luke. But as all six opponents squared off once more, the lights of many incoming speeders distracted them. That, and the intense Force-presences of those driving them.
"Blast!" the hag cried out, turning to her protege with a frown, "We'd best retreat." And, as though blurs, the three of them vacated the sitting room, diving down to their own speeder through the shattered panes along Padme's exterior wall.
Anakin and Luke quickly approached the edge of the veranda and peered down, watching them drive off. Both had the thought to dive on after them, but soon felt the severity of the battle on their bodies. Anakin leaned on a window pane panting while Luke took a knee to catch his breath. Laughing a little, as though this had been some misadventure with Obi-Wan, he turned his eyes back towards Luke.
The sight he found stunned him. The man's eyes were still aglow with that peculiar light even as his skin grew pale. "Are you all right?" Anakin inquired as more Jedi intruded into the apartment.
Surprised at the question, Luke nodded his way and closed his eyes, the light finally dissipating from them, "I think so." Something about his expression made Anakin not believe him, but further inquiry was cut short as Obi-Wan charged into the space, Windu and Koon at his tail.
Padme had her hands in a vice grip around Leia's arm, but she somehow managed to nod slowly, which was barely reassuring to Anakin. He merely nodded and then turned towards the three masters that had chased him and Leia over.
Seating herself slowly on one of the overturned sofas, Padme caught her breath and smiled. "No wonder they want you both dead." She turned to Leia, finding the woman grinning a little as she plopped down beside her. "I've never seen Jedi fight like you three."
She was relieved to see Luke smiling at her, mouthing the words "Thank you." And she understood to good she had done him.
Author's Note: Wow... Has it really been almost a month since I last posted? Sorry about that! I meant to post more, but got wrapped up in another story idea. The good news is that in doing so, I found a new way to plan stories that seems a lot more effective. Hopefully that will help this story continue to grow in an interesting way. And possibly a faster way... I wish I could continue to post like I did a year ago, but lives change pretty quickly.
In any case, I'm glad this is the chapter you get to see after a long break. I really had fun writing this one, despite how hard it is for me to write action.
Anyways... Please let me know what you think in a review! This chapter had a lot more Luke in it than the last few, so I am very curious about your reactions to his conversation with Padme. Thanks for reading!