A/N: I had everything typed out originally Sunday morning, but my word processor crashed before I could save it, so I'm afraid this chapter isn't as good as the original one. Sorry.
"Last night the Rebel Alliance took the capital under siege in their most daring move!"
"The Emperor is dead!"
"Anakin Skywalker The Republic's Hero Without Fear was resurrected last night to rid the galaxy of it's tyrannical rule!"
"Senator Amidala resurrected as well to aid Skywalker! It is rumored that Skywalker is the father of her unborn child!"
"Anakin Skywalker lay in critical condition in an unknown medical facility fighting for his life!"
Luke and Leia stayed curled up asleep by the door keeping silent vigil for their father. Padme stayed as well never leaving Anakin's side. She couldn't leave him. Not after everything. She kept silent vigil waiting for him to wake up. Waiting for him to speak. She kept track of the time in her head. It has been five weeks since he said his last words. Those fateful words. Five weeks, three days, thirty five minutes, and fifty four seconds since Anakin's eyes had been open. Since he was last awake. And Padme hadn't left his side.
He shouldn't be in this bed half alive. He should be awake and with his family. Padme could blame Palpatine for it. Because if it wasn't for Palpatine Anakin would be awake and he would never have left. She could blame Anakin, but she was done blaming them when the only one who was to blame was herself. If it wasn't for her none of it would have happened. She helped Palpatine rise to power. She gave into her feelings for Anakin. Anakin soled his soul for her. Everything was her fault.
Seeing Anakin like this broke her heart. So devoid of life. Needing machines to keep him alive. Unfortunately since she was no longer his wife, she had no say in the treatment he received. Fortunately as Anakin's children, Luke and Leia had every say. And they weren't giving up. Padme thanked Bail for his funding Anakin's care. Without it the doctors at the facility wouldn't be giving them the time of day or their silence. They were often cold urging them to let Anakin go, that he was nothing but a vegetable now. But the medical droids referred to Anakin's condition as a coma telling them of Anakin's rapid brain activity. This was what gave them their hope.
Obi-Wan came by every day to see how Anakin was doing, hoping for a change. Padme knew how painful this was for him. She knew it tore Obi-Wan apart as well. Yoda came by periodically showing great sadness when he set eyes on Anakin. Padme's own family came by to help out, taking up residence in her old apartment. Even Anakin's step brother Owen came to see how Anakin was once the news reached Tatooine. Padme was taken by surprise when Leia launched herself at Owen crying into his tunic. Luke had yet to show any emotion. It bothered Padme a great deal that her son held things back ready to take over the situation. That Luke seemed to feel the need to take care of herself and his sister. He shouldn't have had to do that. It never sat well with her. Not from the moment he had started doing it at the age of eight.
Wordlessly she stood up from her seat next to Anakin's bed and sat down on the bed before curling up next to Anakin. She ran a hand tracing his face and buried her head into his shoulder. "Come home to us Ani," she whispered.
-------------------------------------------------
Anakin didn't know where he was or how he got there. All he knew was the thick fog that surrounded him. He trudged through the knee deep water feeling thankful that he was fully dressed. He didn't want to know what was under the water. As long as he didn't feel it, he would be fine.
The place he was in was deathly silent. The only way that he knew where he was going was what was calling his name through the force. Wherever he was it was thick with the force. He could feel the force swirl around him like a hurricane whispering to him all of it's secrets as it called to him, beckoning him to follow it.
Anakin followed the force through the thick fog and felt the water become shallower the farther he walked. As he got to the bank the fog seemed to thin out in one particular spot allowing Anakin to see trees surrounding him. The fog made a small clearing in the forest and Anakin looked around. There was no telling how far the forest went due to the thick fog.
The force stopped whispering to him and he drew the conclusion that this was where he was supposed to be. He spotted a few logs laying down on their sides so he took a seat and waited for whatever was supposed to happen to happen.
"Hello Ani."
Anakin stood up and turned around at the sound of that voice. A voice he didn't ever think he'd hear again. He stood there looking straight at Qui-Gon Jinn. "Qui-Gon? But your..." he said in disbelief.
"Dead?" Qui-Gon offered. "Death is such an ominous word, I much prefer 'one with the force'" he said.
A moment of panic came over Anakin. "Am I dead?" he asked afraid of the answer.
"Not yet Ani. Luke and Leia are quite determined to bring you back to them," Qui-Gon told him.
"Where am I then?" Anakin asked.
"Where we are has no name. Although some try to give it a name so they can believe in it's existence," Qui-Gon replied evasively adding to Anakin's confusion.
"How did I get here?" Anakin asked.
"You fulfilled your destiny Ani. I am proud of you," Qui-Gon told him.
"I don't remember any of it," Anakin told him.
"In time you will," Qui-Gon told him. He then sighed. "There is little that I can tell you and I know that I'm not the number one person here that you would like to see," he said.
Anakin looked at him in confusion. "Who?" he asked.
But Qui-Gon just smiled. "Call me when you are ready," he said going back into the fog leaving Anakin alone once more.
Anakin looked around him feeling suddenly cold for being left alone before he felt someone coming. He turned in the direction where he felt their presence and waited. He saw a darkened silhouette appear in the fog before it cleared allowing a woman dressed in a silvery floaty gown step out of the fog. When she smiled he knew who she was. "Mom?" he whispered.
"You look so handsome," Shmi said cupping his cheek still smiling. She then pulled him into a hug. "You're not supposed to be here Anakin," she told him.
"I don't even know where here is," he told her holding onto her. "I've missed you so much," he said.
"I've missed you too Ani," she told him and pulled back. "Now you must be brave and whatever you do, don't look back," she told him.
Panic settled over Anakin again. His mother was saying goodbye. Again. "I don't want to leave you," he told her fearfully.
"You have to Ani. You don't belong here yet. You're still needed," Shmi told him.
"I'm scared," Anakin confessed.
"Fear is natural," Shmi told him taking his hands with hers.
Anakin shook his head. "I'm a jedi. Fear leads to the dark side," he told her.
"Don't worry about the dark side anymore Anakin," Shmi told him sharply confusing Anakin even more.
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked.
Shmi took his face in her hand forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Whatever you remember. Remember who you are. You are Anakin Skywalker. You are brave, and you are kind. Never forget who you truly are," she told him unnerving him with the passion she put in her words as though she was desperate for him to remember.
"Are you ready Ani?" Qui-Gon asked placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"No," Anakin answered making Qui-Gon and Shmi worry. "But I will do what I must," he told them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Obi-Wan walked into Anakin's hospital room finding Padme alone with Anakin. "How is he?" he asked.
Padme wiped Anakin's face with the damp cloth, dipped it into the basin filled with cleanser, wrung it out and continued in giving Anakin his daily sponge bath. "How does he look?" she asked.
Obi-Wan sighed. "He looks like a vegetable," he said hollowly. "Even if he does wake up, it wont be the Anakin that we knew that woke up," he told her. "The Anakin we knew is long gone," he finished sadly.
"I know," Padme whispered. She continued what she was doing not bothering to take her eyes off of Anakin to look in his direction. "I used to blame Palpatine for what happened to him and then I blamed Anakin. I blamed everyone but the one person who was to blame. Myself. As long I was blaming someone else I could go on living with myself," she confessed hiding her emotions. "I did this,"she said.
"What? No! Padme, Palpatine did this to him! Don't you dare start blaming yourself!" Obi-Wan told her.
"But it is my fault. I gave Palpatine his power. I gave into my feelings for Anakin. And Anakin soled his soul for me. It's my fault Obi-Wan. Nothing that you can say will change that," Padme told him.
Obi-Wan was silent for a moment. He couldn't make Padme stop blaming herself any more than he could stop himself for blaming himself. Instead he took the cloth from Padme's hands. "When was the last time that you've slept?" he asked.
"I can't sleep. Not until Anakin wakes up," She told him.
"Padme, you need your rest. Anakin would not like the fact that you haven't been sleeping, not at his expense especially!" Obi-Wan told her.
"I need to be here when he wakes up," Padme told him fighting the exhaustion she was feeling.
"You're exhausted I can see it. Go and rest. I will stay with Anakin," Obi-Wan urged.
"And if he wakes up while I'm gone? I need to be here for that Obi-Wan," Padme said fighting exhaustion.
"I'll send for you once he wakes up," Obi-Wan told her placing his hands on her shoulders.
Padme continued giving Anakin her full attention but she hadn't slept in weeks and it was finally coming up with her. Obi-Wan was right and she knew it. Slowly she bent down and brushed her lips against Anakin's still ones. "I won't be gone for long," she whispered and allowed Obi-Wan to steer her to the guest quarters.
Once Obi-Wan was satisfied that she was getting some rest he settled himself in the chair beside Anakin's bed. As he sat there keeping vigil, memories flooded his mind. Memories of a happier time. They were pleasant and often humorous but Obi-Wan didn't smile. He didn't know how long that he sat there but just before he got to the darker memories he heard Anakin groan.
Obi-Wan leaned forward in his seat and watched as Anakin finally opened his eyes. "Thank the force!" he breathed. "How do you feel Anakin?" he asked.
"Like I've been swallowed by the sarlacc," Anakin answered. "What happened Master?" he asked and then his face contorted in confusion "and why are you so old?" he finished.
Alarm bells rang through Obi-Wan's mind. "What do you remember?" he asked cautiously.
Anakin frowned in confusion but before he could answer the sound of running footsteps were heard in the hall followed by Luke and Leia's appearance at the room. Before Obi-Wan could utter a warning Leia launched herself at her father.
"We were all so worried," Leia whispered.
Anakin shot Obi-Wan a sharp shocked and pleading look.
Only Luke stood back clearly noticing that something was wrong. "Ah Leia," he cautioned.
Leia turned to her brother. "Oh honestly Luke! You can't still be mad at him after everything!" she shot at him.
"That's not it Leia," Luke told her nodding to Anakin.
Leia turned around slowly seeing the startled and confused expression on her father's face. "Ben, what is wrong?" she asked.
"Master?" Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan leaned in closer to Anakin. "What is the last thing that you remember Anakin?" he asked.
Anakin frowned. "We just arrived on Ansion to take care of a boarder dispute," he said.
Obi-Wan leaned back in his seat rubbing his beard feeling a little worried. "That was exactly twenty one years ago," he said.
"WHAT??????!!!!!!" Anakin shouted while Luke and Leia palled.
"His subconscious must be blocking the past twenty one years from his conscious mind," Obi-Wan mused.
"What must we do?" Leia asked fearfully.
"We must tread carefully. He doesn't remember for a reason," Obi-Wan told them.
"And if he doesn't remember? What then?" Luke asked ready to take charge.
"I don't know Luke," Obi-Wan told him glancing at Anakin growing alarmed at how pale he was. He turned back to the twins. "To go through an ordeal as your father has it makes sense for consequences like this to happen," he said.
"Father??!!" Anakin squeaked in fear. His eyes got bigger as he stared at the twins like they would suddenly start attacking him at any moment. "That isn't possible," he said.
Obi-Wan looked at Anakin in concern. "I think that it would be best if you relaxed some Anakin," he suggested. He then turned back to the twins. "I told your mother that I would inform her when your father woke up," he told them.
"Stop referring to me as that!" Anakin told him.
"And I think that it would also be best if you gave your father some room to breath," Obi-Wan added ignoring Anakin's outburst.
Luke and Leia nodded. "The temple still has a lot to be worked on," Luke said. "The archives is a disaster..."
"And the room of a thousand fountains is nothing but weeds. I've contacted a gardener team on Naboo but they wont be here for a week," Leia informed him.
"And we're running short on volunteers," Luke added.
"It will be a long time before the temple let alone the order will be brought back to it's former glory," Obi-Wan told them. "I doubt that you will ever see it," he added.
"But we can try," Leia said optimistically.
Luke took his sister's hand. "We'll just go tell Mom that he's awake," he said nodding to Anakin. "And then we'll head back over to the temple," he finished leading his sister out of the room.
When they were gone Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan by the shirt collar and pulled him down until his face was only inches away from his. "This is some sick joke old man! I swear is this is about that prank I pulled last week, I won't do it again, you have my word," he said desperately.
"I had forgotten about that, thank you for reminding me," Obi-Wan said flatly and calmly eased himself out of Anakin's grasp. "If you don't believe me Anakin, then you should take a look in the mirror," he said.
"I'll just do that," Anakin said pulling the tubes connecting him to the life support machines off of him and getting out of bed going straight for the refresher.
Obi-Wan leaned back in his seat and waited. Then Anakin screamed something vulgar in huttese. "I guess I was wrong. Anakin did wake up," he said.
"Anakin's awake?" Padme asked coming to the door.
"He's in the refresher," Obi-Wan told her.
Padme raised an eyebrow upon hearing the slew of colorful curses being yelled from the refresher. "It sounds as though he's having a mental breakdown," she said alarmed.
"More like a mental block," Obi-Wan corrected.
Padme's brows furrowed in question but before Obi-Wan could answer her the door to the refresher burst open.
"What have you done to me?????!!!" Anakin shouted and froze when he saw Padme.
"Anakin doesn't remember the past twenty one years," Obi-Wan told Padme gently.
Padme sank down in a nearby chair at the news thinking fast. "Any of it?" she asked struggling to breath.
"I'm afraid not," Obi-Wan replied.
Padme took a deep breath. Forcing herself to be calm. Anakin didn't remember her past the time that they were children. The feeling of loss ached in her chest. Loss for both her and Anakin. Finally she met Obi-Wan's eyes. "Will you take him back to the temple?" she asked.
"It's unavoidable, yes. Hopefully it will not trigger any bad memories," Obi-Wan replied.
At this Anakin snapped himself to attention. "What happened at the temple?" he asked worried. "What's wrong?"
"The temple is in ruins Anakin. Seventeen years ago the sith took over and purged the galaxy of the jedi starting at the temple. The sith ruled up until five moths ago when you destroyed them. There are only five of us left. Myself, you, Master Yoda and Luke and Leia," Obi-Wan explained making Anakin pale.
"What kind of galaxy did I wake up into?" Anakin asked sitting down in a chair.
"Hopefully a far better one than it has been for the past two decades," Padme cut in feeling utterly helpless.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Anakin stared out the window from his hospital room. The doctors ran multiple tests on him only hours ago before deciding to release him. He frowned at how cold they were and read through their minds that they were slightly disappointed that they didn't get to pull the plug on him.
He still didn't remember his past and wondered why. What was so horrible about it that his mind wouldn't let him remember? What had happened to him? He stood there and watched the city barely recognizing it. This wasn't the Coruscant that he remembered. Obi-Wan had assured him that they were on Coruscant. He watched as a large crowd grew outside the medical facility. So far nobody seemed to notice him. He was grateful. Suddenly he felt like he was no longer alone. He relaxed as he sensed Obi-Wan enter the room but he did not turn away from the window.
"Luke sent a set of your old jedi robes over," Obi-Wan said setting a pile of robes on the bed.
"I hardly recognize it Master," Anakin said turning away from the window.
"I know. The galaxy has changed a lot over the years," Obi-Wan told him sadly.
"Why is a crowd out there? What do they want?" Anakin asked.
"They want the Galaxies Hero Without Fear. They haven't seen him since the clone wars. Someone here told the holonet reporters that you were here," Obi-Wan explained. "Now get dressed. We want to get out of here before that crowd gets any bigger," he instructed.
"You can stop treating me like a padawan Master, I'm obviously too old to be one," Anakin told him.
The corners of Obi-Wan's mouth twitched up. "Then stop calling me 'Master', I have a name. You have five minutes," he said leaving the room.
Anakin walked away from the window and fingered the robes. Black. For some reason he didn't like the idea of wearing that color and he didn't know why. He then took his time getting dressed stopping every so often as a voice inside his head told him that he didn't deserve to wear the robes of a jedi. But it was ridiculous. He was a jedi, he had every right to dress as one. Finally after putting his boots on he stood up and picked up his cloak before freezing. His lightsaber was missing.
He frantically began searching for it coming up empty. He really didn't want to hear another lecture from Obi-Wan about lightsabers. He tried call his lightsaber into his hand through the force with no such luck. He continued trying.
"What are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked curiously hiding his amusement.
"Nothing," Anakin told him giving up the search and making plans to build a new lightsaber without Obi-Wan's knowledge.
"Are you ready?" Obi-Wan asked.
Anakin took a look at his surroundings before nodding. "Yeah," he said throwing his cloak on and pulling the hood up over his head when Obi-Wan did the same.
"Come on then," Obi-Wan said. As they walked through the medical facility they were greeted by four armored Alliance soldiers.
"General Kenobi, General Skywalker, Viceroy Organa has ordered us to escort you to the temple," the leader of the group said.
"Jedi don't need protection," Anakin said.
"Don't mind him Captain. Lead the way," Obi-Wan said and leaned in closer to Anakin. "Prepare yourself Anakin, this is not going to be easy. Whatever you do, don't say anything and don't make eye contact," he advised.
Anakin give no indication that he had heard him and continued walking. When they reached the outside someone shouted his name and the armored guards come closer around them. But not even the guards could stop people from shoving microphones and holorecorders in his face shouting questions at him demanding answers. Answers that Anakin didn't know. He pulled his cloak tighter around him and followed Obi-Wan's advise. When they reached an armored transport he took of breath in relief as he took a seat. "Where they always like that?" he asked when Obi-Wan took a seat next to him.
"They're worse now. For the past seventeen years the Emperor had direct control over everything including the media. Now that they're not being controlled anymore, they're going wild," Obi-Wan answered. "They were never pleasant to begin with and were always an annoyance, you never liked the attention," he added.
Anakin didn't say anything after that. All he thought about was what kind of life he could have lead. Obi-Wan didn't seem like he enjoyed talking about the past. Nobody was very forthcoming about why he couldn't remember. What was so significant that he couldn't remember? What was so horrible about his past? Nothing made very much sense.
Anakin sensed Obi-Wan looking at him so he turned his head and met Obi-Wan's intense stare. For a brief minute he saw pain reflected in Obi-Wan's eyes and he felt like he was on fire. Voices ran through his head. Angry voices. But none of it was very clear. Not being able to take it anymore Anakin looked away and continued his silence until they reached the temple.
Obi-Wan stood up when the transport landed in the temple hanger and Anakin followed leaving the transport with Obi-Wan. He took a quick look around finding the hanger a mess, covered in neglect and half destroyed ships. He tore his eyes away from the destroyed ships and stared straight ahead. "I feel like I've woken up in a parallel universe where all your nightmares become true," he said.
He didn't give Obi-Wan a chance to speak after this and continued into the temple before stopping dead in his tracks. The temple was in complete neglect and stood as ruins like Obi-Wan had said but then his vision changed to that of a battle going on. Men dressed in white armer attacked while the jedi at the temple some of them young padawans fought and defended their home only to die. It was as if he was there.
"What are you remembering?" Obi-Wan asked cautiously and a little fearful.
"Was I here that night?" Anakin asked when the vision went away.
"No," Obi-Wan told him. "If Anakin Skywalker was here at the temple, the jedi would have had a chance," he said cryptically making Anakin turn to him.
Anakin got the feeling that Obi-Wan was hiding something vital from him. But he didn't get the chance to demand what it was before Obi-Wan changed the subject.
"Come, I have a job for you that requires you expertise," Obi-Wan told him putting a hand on his shoulder.
"What kind of job?" Anakin asked.
"Luke has locked himself up in the temples main computer trying to fix the mess left by the empire. I thought that you could help him," Obi-Wan said leading him to the main computer. When Anakin said nothing Obi-Wan continued. "Luke has a mind like yours. He can fix and program anything. He thinks logically. He also loves a challenge and especially puzzles. Leia on the other hand thinks in ways like her mother does. She also enjoys challenges but she shares mostly Padme's interests," he said.
Anakin continued to say nothing as they walked into the main computer to find Luke working on several different projects using Artoo Detoo to help him.
"I've found something interesting," Luke said not looking up.
"What is it?" Obi-Wan asked walking over to where Luke was.
"It's this code. In it it says for all surviving jedi to return to the temple," Luke told him.
"I expected my warning to be changed," Obi-Wan told him.
"That's not what's odd," Luke said. "This code has been changed every month for the past seventeen years, it is as though Vader expected for jedi to return. And when Leia and I first ran into Vader, here at this temple he accused us of being jedi. It's as though he expected more jedi to be out there," he explained.
"Luke, there are no longer any other jedi than who is in this temple now," Obi-Wan said patiently.
"You expect there to be more jedi?" Anakin asked speaking up.
"Vader thought so. Any how we may find out soon with the way things are going," Luke said shrugging his shoulders. There were a few moments of silence between the three, neither knowing much what to say in this situation until Luke spoke up. "Either way, we have an opportunity to build a new order, a stronger order with a new code," he said.
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Master Yoda will not like that," he said.
"Surely he realizes that some things should change. The order failed for a reason. It's time to make some changes," Luke said.
"I agree with you Luke, but the fact still remains that Master Yoda is still the head of the order," Obi-Wan said.
That surprised Anakin. Obi-Wan never went against the code or the council. But he continued not to say anything and worked on the configuration he was working on. He worked in silence until something zapped him in the leg. He quickly looked down to find Artoo Detoo coming at him with an electrical pug fully charged. "What are you doing!" he demanded from the droid jumping out of the way as it came at him again.
"Artoo stop that!" Luke ordered.
Artoo stopped what he was doing and instead projected an image of a pregnant Padme grabbing her throat gasping for breath as a black gloved hand reach out using the force to choke her. Anakin watched in horror and the feeling of being on fire returned accompanied by stabbing pain in his left arm and legs. Angry voices ran through his head but it was difficult to tell who they belonged to or what they were saying.
"Artoo shut that off!" Obi-Wan ordered but the droid continued to show the image. "Luke shut that droid down!" he ordered.
Luke snapped out of his horrified state and quickly shut off the droid making the image go away.
Once the image was gone Anakin found himself being supported by Obi-Wan and being unable to breath. He quickly drew from the force to calm himself and tore his eyes away from where the image once stood to look at Obi-Wan. "I was there wasn't I?" he demanded.
"No," Obi-Wan said quickly. Too quickly. "You weren't there. I was. Those were my memories that were projected to you," he said.
Anakin didn't believe him but he knew that Obi-Wan wouldn't tell him the truth. He was protecting him from something. But what? Wordlessly Anakin left the main computer needing to be able to breath.