A/N - I don't own Star Wars at all, just this short story series.
Two-Fold Man 1.
By TimeTraveller-1900.
When his ship emerged from the hyperspace vortex, Anakin took a deep breath. He'd done it, he had gotten away and escaped Coruscant, gotten away from the Jedi, from the Council and the members who still had problems with him despite working himself almost to the bone in the hopes of winning some kind of respect.
But best of all, he had gotten away from Padme. After their argument after she'd managed to stop him from beating Clovis up, and after she had told him she was frightened of him, that she was unhappy, and not safe, and that they should separate, Anakin had felt so claustrophobic. After she'd told him to get his things from her apartment, and that she and Typho had been planning on erasing C-3P0's memories, Anakin had decided to just get away from Coruscant so he could think without the presence of other Jedi in his midst. But at the same time, it had just simply occurred to Anakin to look up relationship advice and aid, and he had found a website with some useful help.
Suddenly everything clicked.
He and Padme were locked into a toxic relationship, and Anakin felt that the best thing for him to do was to just get away while he still had his sanity. Because she was right.
The war was changing him. It had been changing everyone in the galaxy who was involved, but Anakin was forced to acknowledge that he had been finding himself neck-high in the blood, gore, death, and destruction. He had been forced to watch as clones, droids, and separatists were cut down. He had been forced to watch as planetary populations suffered from the war and were forced to pick up the pieces. But at the same time, he was furious; what would Padme know about how it felt each time a Jedi was cut down in cold blood? She was safe mostly on Coruscant. And then he realised that Padme had often thrown herself into harm's way, fully expecting him to rescue her like a knight rescuing a pretty damsel in distress.
And he had fallen for it, each time.
And he hadn't questioned it.
And he hadn't bothered to tell Padme to just stay put on Coruscant.
Well, no more. But what surprised Anakin was the steely resolve Padme had shown on Naboo, on Geonosis…seemed to have evaporated. Had marriage changed that, or was the facade there to disguise the fact she was nothing more than a damsel in distress? He didn't know.
But for Anakin, he had to admit many of his trust issues stemmed from the heart-rending discoveries of the conspiracies that were springing up like poisonous plants, spreading the disease of mistrust everywhere.
Was it any wonder Anakin had lost so much trust in the Jedi, and in his own wife when he was forced to watch as even his fellow Jedi conspired like the Separatists?
Was it any wonder things like death and destruction, and the way Ahsoka had left the Order and Obi-Wan had faked his own death had taken their toll on Anakin's mental health?
In the end, Anakin had come to the decision to just leave. He would go quietly and in secret and find a place to just spend some time in peace by himself so he could think about what was happening, and he began putting his affairs in order while making sure nobody could track him down.
Sadly he didn't get the chance to leave like he had hoped, because just as he was putting his affairs in order, the inevitable happened.
Why was Padme so jeopardy-friendly?
It seemed she had a hidden desire to cause problems only he could get her out of. He had been forced to drop his plans to leave for a bit and sort his head out, and travel to Scipio and save her after it was revealed Clovis was a traitor the whole time - surprise, surprise - and that she was trapped.
Ever since he had visited Mortis with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, Anakin had been questioning what the Son meant about her being a poisoner, and now he wondered if he had the answer now; when he had snapped when he'd seen her in Clovis's arms, and she had told him to get out, that they were separating, when he had gone back to her apartment and found C3PO talking about them wiping his memories and he'd been inspired to look up that website, he had had enough.
He'd had enough of the war.
He'd had enough of the Clones, despite liking many of them and befriending them and seeing them as more than soldiers, as so many of his fellow Jedi saw them as, to say nothing of how the public saw the Clone Army as an army of genetically engineered and grown slaves, which offended Anakin greatly considering his past.
He'd had enough of the Separatists, and the way they were waging a devastating war with a traitorous Jedi Master turned Sith Lord, tired of fighting the never-ending army of mindless battle droids, and Dark Jedi.
He'd had enough of the Jedi Council, who had already caused friction between himself and his old Master, although Obi-Wan hadn't bothered to refuse that order to fake his own death, and what happened with Ahsoka had been the bitterest blow he could have ever felt, and now he felt no respect or trust towards the Jedi Council. He was so sick of it, he never wanted to step foot inside that Temple again.
And most of all, Anakin discovered to his surprise, he was tired of his own wife, Padme. When he saved her life from Scipio after the revelation that Clovis was a traitor the whole time, Anakin refused to speak or even see his own wife. He had preferred to spend his time in his cabin, alone and he had ordered the crew not to disturb him and if the Senator, because that was what she was, wanted to see him, she could leave a message. He had just wanted to be left to himself, just so he could get some kind of answers and see if he and Padme were meant to be, or if they were destined to be locked in a loveless relationship.
In his cabin, Anakin was left with so many painful and horrific possibilities when it came to their relationship.
Anakin had meditated.
Usually, Anakin hated meditation because he was just exposed to his sheer, raw power, and it frightened him. He also had problems being still, so while he was doing star jumps in his cabin, he looked outwards to the stars and the rest of the galaxy for his answers. Everything was telling him to just leave and to get away from Padme.
Now he had hoped to do this thinking on some beautiful planet rich in the Force so he could feel the serenity, but in the claustrophobic cabin, he had decided to simply ponder his thoughts. And he came to a painful conclusion about his marriage to Padme.
Was it even right?
Anakin had loved Padme from the moment they had met on that day on Tatooine, such a long time ago, but while she had said she loved him back on Geonosis before the Clone Wars began, and they had gotten married after discussing it in great detail while he had been recuperating from having his arm sliced off with Dooku's lightsaber, Padme had been worried about how even love might not be enough, if they didn't see one another for months and months during missions. At the time Anakin had told her they would manage, but deep down he had been just as concerned. When he had seen his wife with Clovis, a man who was responsible for poisoning her, Anakin had snapped. Even now, her words still echoed through his mind like a painful loop.
"We said at the beginning that this could be a terrible mistake….Other People who are married have everything that we don't."
Was their marriage a mistake? Had the Son when he had taken over his mother's form on Mortis been right about her the entire time? While he wished he didn't believe it, Anakin had been asking that question over and over again, frustrated that once more he had joined an organisation which banned marriage or family of any kind, because if he hadn't hidden the marriage then they could have been together.
But Anakin had forced himself to meditate, something he had long since hated doing because he'd always been terrified of the sheer amount of power within himself, and he had come to realise that while he did love Padme, he was starting to ask if he had been chasing a dream for so long where she was concerned and that she was not the one for him, maybe it would be a good thing if they split up.
Divorce.
Once they had returned to Coruscant, Anakin had given his report on what had happened, and how Clovis had met his end, but he had instantly made plans to leave the planet again. He had felt a need to leave, and within the Force, he had felt an agreement, so he had taken a ship and left Coruscant before he was driven mad.
His inbox, the last time he checked, was full of messages he hadn't bothered to open. Several were from Palpatine, some were from Obi-Wan, but the bulk of them was from Padme. But he didn't bother opening them.
For some reason, the Force had agreed with him and even brought him here, to this part of the galaxy. Anakin sighed and checked the navigational computer, and he saw he was in a sector of the Expansion Region, an area of space explored two centuries ago. The last intelligence report logged into his ship's computer told him that the Separatists and the Republic had little to no interest here. Yes, this planet did have a colony which was quite sizeable, there was no strategic value to this region since it didn't open up to an important part of the galaxy, there were minerals but the area was simply too far from the various shipyards used by either the Separatists or the Republic for them to care.
In short, he was unlikely to run into any trouble here.
Anakin took a deep breath and began to land, feeling the Force's approval that he was landing. However, as his ship touched the atmosphere, it suddenly jumped and bounced around.
"What? Oh, where's R2 when I need him?" He asked himself rhetorically, but he knew that he had left his trusty droid behind at the Temple to help him cover his tracks. Frantically he tried to work out why his ship was crashing when he had performed this move countless times. Diving into an atmosphere was always a hazard. The trick was to surf the atmosphere in a glide so then you didn't go too fast. But he had performed this many times until he could do it asleep, so what was happening? Had he slipped up at last?
When the ship crashed and was smashed to pieces, Anakin spent a few hours examining the wreck, and he realised that he would be lucky to get away from there. Even if he could use whatever resources he had on this planet, the fighter would be lucky to lift off. The only relief he had was the hyperspace ring had automatically separated from the fighter's body when they'd emerged from hyperspace so there was nothing to repair there. But it was such an unholy mess…
Suddenly Anakin sensed a presence behind him. Swinging around and whipping his lightsaber off his belt, Anakin held the ignited blade up. "Who's there? I'm armed."
For a moment there was silence, and a young face appeared. A boy in his teens. "You're a Jedi?"
Anakin nodded. "Yes, I am," he replied. "Who are you, where am I?"
The boy shook. "My name is Liki. I had to get away from the city."
"A city?" Anakin repeated curiously.
"Don't be so excited. We're in the middle of a slave rebellion," Liki warned him.
"A slave rebellion?" Anakin repeated, thinking that this might be the best distraction he needed from Padme.
"Yeah," Liki nodded. "But why would you want to get involved? I've heard the Jedi don't care about slavery."
A thousand angry thoughts cursing the Jedi Order crossed Anakin's mind. He had often asked himself why he had bothered with the Jedi and dreamt of being one since the Jedi never used their powers, their gifts, their skills or their will to do what was right. He had long since lost the will to even have arguments with Yoda about the good the Jedi could do, but the Grand Master had refused to hear of them, and so did the other Jedi Masters.
Each time he had brought the subject up, they had told him to either let it go, move on, and forget about it as if being a Jedi meant he was above such things, that the first nine years of his life were nothing but a nightmare.
And all the time….
He….
He had been neglecting slaves in the galaxy. And now he was faced with a question he had sometimes asked himself in the past; did the Jedi even care about what was going on in the galaxy? More than once, Anakin had the feeling the answer was a resounding no.
Well, no more!
Anakin Skywalker was on this planet and he was going to help, may the Council be fucked.
"Well, I'm the exception. Are you a slave?" Anakin asked Liki sympathetically which was not faked but genuine.
Anger and hurt flashed over the boy's face. Anakin knew the answer before Liki even spoke. "I'm a person!" He snapped.
Anakin held up his flesh hand. "I'm sorry, Liki. I really am. If your people would let me, I'd like to help."
Liki's anger faded and he stared at Anakin in surprise. "Why would you want to help? You're a Jedi. Aren't you lot fighting a war or something in the core?"
"My name is Anakin Skywalker, and I too used to be a slave," Anakin replied, and with that reply, he shook off his responsibilities to the Jedi, the war, and the Republic. They could all hang as far as he cared, and the less said about the Chosen One garbage, the better. This was his calling, what he had longed to do. To help the slaves in the galaxy. "And I'm going to help, may the Republic be damned. Now, can you take me to the other slaves?"
X
By the time Anakin and Liki arrived at the slave hideout, Anakin had learnt enough about the situation on the planet to have the general gist of what had happened. The planet was one of those worlds in the expansion region close to the border of explored space which had been explored two centuries ago by the Republic and was deemed perfect for colonisation.
Except the colonists did not arrive until 140 years later by a group of hopefuls.
Anakin knew the type, a band of people who were tired of the corruption within the senate and the rest of the Republic, and wanted to make new lives for themselves. But when they arrived everything just went horribly wrong when Hutt-sponsored slavers attacked the colony and they either forced them to work here, or they simply took them to other worlds in the Outer Rim territories. It was similar to how Anakin's family was sold into slavery, really; when a ship or a colony went out into the Outer Rim territories, then all bets were off.
Here, once the pirates found the place, many more came sweeping in from corrupt Republic senators and the scum the Hutts aligned themselves with.
The slavery on this planet was mixed between mining, farming - moisture or hydroponic - industrial work, and sex slavery. And now the slaves had had enough. The rebellion was mostly due to the war since the Clones and the Separatists had been moving further and further into this part of the galaxy. The slaves had managed to throw off a chunk of the yoke kept on them and they had been gaining more and more ground ever since. They had even managed to remove the chips every slave was implanted with. Anakin was impressed by what they had managed so far, but they needed help.
A lot of help.
Liki snuck through the buildings like a ghost, but Anakin used the Force to bend the minds of any of the slavers still on the planet. In many ways, it reminded him of that mess on Zygeria. Finally, Liki knocked on a heavy door. It was opened, revealing the pretty face of a Twi'lek girl with purple skin. Her eyes widened in relief when she saw Liki.
"Where the hell did you go? I was worried sick!" She snapped.
"Sorry, Oola, but I had to get away after the bomb blast," the boy replied.
Anakin looked down at his feet. He couldn't help it, he felt guilty that he wasn't here to prevent the bomb blast. Liki and his parents were part of the rebellion, and while there were a few slaves who felt their lot in life was all they had, many didn't want it and wanted to be freed. Liki had lost his parents in a bombing unleashed by the slavers, which was why he had gotten away from the city.
"But look, we have help from a Jedi!" Liki suddenly beamed, and Anakin stepped forward. For the first time, he and the Twi'lek girl saw each other face to face, and when they did, Anakin felt his heart speed up when he saw how beautiful and spirited she was, just by looking into her face. In that first second, Anakin's heart skipped a couple of beats as he looked at this young woman who was more than what Padme ever was.
When he had first met Padme, Anakin knew he'd had a crush on her that bordered on an obsession. But looking at this young woman, Anakin felt something he had never ever felt for Padme. He was now starting to think that he was only attracted to Padme for her beauty and her kindness, but with this woman, he had felt something instantly.
As for her, she was looking at him shyly.
"A Jedi? Why are you here?" She asked in surprise and more than a hint of suspicion. He didn't blame her.
"I crashed on this planet by mistake, but I was coming here to get away from the Clone Wars," Anakin replied. "When I spoke to Liki," he smiled at the boy before turning his attention back to her, "I had to get involved. I was born a slave myself. I lived on Tatooine, moved between Gardulla the Hutt to a Toydarian junk dealer and was freed by the Jedi. I know how it feels to be a slave, and I want it stopped now."
Oola frowned at him but there was a glimmer of realisation on her face. "Gods, you really were a slave, weren't you? But what about your war? We don't really have the holonet or communication with the outside galaxy, but we hear things."
"To hell with my war," Anakin replied simply.
He felt so good saying that.
He felt as if he had just opened a door and stepped through it.
Oola gasped in surprise. She had always heard the Jedi were the guard dogs of the Republic who wouldn't do anything without senate approval, and now here in front of her was this good-looking, tall man who said to hell with the lot of them. She stepped to the side, allowing them inside. "You'd better come in. The others will want to speak to you."
Anakin inclined his head. "Thank you," he said as he stepped inside, his attraction to this young woman growing every moment.
X
For the next week, Anakin's time was spent helping and training the slaves into rebelling against their masters. The fact they'd removed the chips from their bodies was a major and massive help. More than once Anakin went out with his lightsaber and as he fought against the slavers and everyone who'd supported the regime here, Anakin felt free for the first time in his career as a Jedi Knight.
He had longed to stop slavery throughout the galaxy and he had almost given up hope that it was even possible. But now he was actually fulfilling it and even better he didn't have the Jedi Order coming down on his back, telling him to stop and return. During his time on the planet, Anakin spent a lot of his time with Oola. He had learnt the Twi'lek girl had managed to seduce her slave master when she was just hitting her teens into making a mistake so she could deactivate the chip in her body, and she had been trying to escape the planet since before the rebellion began.
In turn, Oola spent a lot of time with Anakin, and they discovered they just fit together in a way that surprised them both.
They had become close to each other, and Anakin finally confessed to her about his marriage and how it was breaking down. At first, the Twi'lek had been sad and disappointed that the Jedi that she was getting close to was married, but she was shocked and horrified when he confessed they were separating and that it was his fault for being so untrusting, but Oola soothed him and told him after everything he had been through it was no wonder he had been paranoid.
During that night, Anakin Skywalker fell in love with another woman, someone who understood him better, and that night while he looked at Oola who had suffered so much, he made his decision. And he didn't care about the consequences.
Please let me know what you think. As you might have guessed, this is an AU of where Anakin beat up Rush Clovis, but Padme's actions worried me but I have often wondered if Anakin and Padme are even meant to be together since the pair didn't really know each other when they got married and they were split up for long periods.
Also, Padme went from a courageous fighter to a vulnerable, jeopardy-friendly woman. But in this short story, Anakin has put some distance between them and has gone off on his own, and met someone different.