Due to the success of my Christmas Carol AU for this fandom, I have decided to write a Codywan centric one, in a Hunchback of Notre Dame AU :)
Enjoy and please read and review :)
…..
Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader, rolled his eyes as he strode through the streets of Coruscant "You leave for a couple of years and they change everything…" he muttered, attempting to stop some passing police clones…only to be ignored, "….great."
Rounding the corner, he couldn't help but grin at a familiar sight. His old Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The pair had parted on bad terms after Anakin left the Jedi Order and joined Chancellor Palpatine's security force. The Jedi Council firmly believed that Palpatine was trying to remove the Jedi from power and was the cause behind the ever-growing lack of respect for the Jedi.
However, Anakin disagreed. The man had given him permission to marry his love, Padme Amidala. Anakin watched from the shadows as his ex-Master strode through the markets, purchasing a selection of fruits as he went, a gentle smile on his face as he watched children rush by.
Suddenly, there was a sharp, whistling noise, causing people to panic as they sped away from the oncoming police, knocking into Obi-Wan as they went. The sudden knock caused the fruit bag to fall to the ground. As his old Master knelt down in order to pick up the fruit, Anakin watched as two officers sneered at the Jedi Master, one lifting him off of the ground.
"All right Jedi…." Smirked the officer "….where'd you get all this fruit? Don't you know there's a food shortage?!"
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, "For your information gentlemen, I bought it."
"Jedi's don't buy these things…." Scoffed one officer,
"Yeah, you probably use those mind tricks of yours!"
Obi-Wan wrenched his arm out of the second officer's grip, "That is not the way of the Jedi. Not that you would know that!"
"Troublemaker!"
"Maybe a day in the jails will cool you down!"
Obi-Wan scowled as the officer grabbed his arm again, before sighing and raising his hand. "You want to let me go and continue with your patrol." He stated, smirking as the officers mechanically released him and marched away.
Remaining in the shadows as Obi-Wan quickly left the scene, Anakin took advantage of the officer's dazed state, pulling them into his alcove. "Gentlemen…."
Shaking off the last of the mind manipulation, the officers found themselves taking a step back at the sight of Palpatine's golden boy. Anakin smirked at the fear on their faces before continuing, "….if you could show me where the Chancellor's new Palace of Justice is, I would be most grateful."
The officers were quick to obey, and soon Anakin found himself striding up the steps towards Palpatine's office. Upon entering the room, the elderly man behind the desk smiled. "Anakin my boy, wonderful to see you back!"
Anakin bowed, "Just as you asked Chancellor."
"You come to Coruscant in her darkest hour, Darth Vader..." sighed Palpatine, "It will take a firm hand to save the weak-minded from being so easily misled."
"Misled, sir?"
Palpatine pointed to the ground below his window, "Look, Vader—The Jedi. The Jedi Council now believe that they live outside the normal order. They have begun to spin nasty rumours about me and how I have been behind this whole war from the beginning!"
Anakin blinked in surprise as they stepped outside to the balcony, "With all due respect Chancellor, that doesn't seem like the Order I know?"
"Much has changed Anakin, what remains of the Order is what you see before you. For two years, I have been identifying the main supporters and instigators of these nasty rumours…one…by….one."
Palpatine emphasised this by carefully squishing ants that were roaming on the tiles of the balcony, "And yet, for all of my success, they have thrived….." He removed a tile on the balcony to reveal a colony of ants, "…I believe, it may in fact be the entire order….rather than a few unique individuals."
"What are we going to do about it, sir?"
Palpatine smirked and slammed the tile back down on the colony, crushing the ants.
Anakin winced, "You make your point quite vividly, Chancellor."
Palpatine grinned, "And that is why I chose you for this job….shall we?" He turned to leave, when suddenly, the crowd below began to cheer loudly, causing Palpatine to sigh, "Oh, duty calls. Do you remember the Festival of Life Vader?"
"Yes Chancellor, although it has been a while since I last experienced it."
"Then this should be quite a re-education for you. Come along."
…
Cody finished clambering down the wall, his cap pulled low over his face as he disappeared into the cheering crowd.
"Come one, come all!
Leave your looms and milking stools
Coop the hens and pen the mules
Come one, come all!
Close the temples and the schools
It's not the day for being cruel
Come and join the feast of ..."
A tall, long-haired, bearded Jedi suddenly appeared, "…LIFE!" he cried out, as the crowd cheered. Cody watched as the bearded Jedi Master gave a grand speech about the festival and all of the positive things associated with it.
Women danced in the street, pulling Cody along with them despite his protests. Stumbling over their feet, Cody found himself falling into a cloaked man, who yelled in shock as the pair fell over, with Cody falling on top of him.
"Are you all right?"
Cody moved his eyes up to the man's face….and felt his heart stop. Staring at him were a pair of blueish green eyes, creased in concern. Quickly, Cody pushed himself off of the man and pulled his cap down, resting on his knees as he attempted to hide his face. "I didn't mean to...I'm sorry." He apologised.
The man frowned, "You're not hurt, are you?" He moved closer, "Here, here, let's see." He reached out for Cody's cap, despite protests.
"No, no, no!"
The man managed to remove the cap, ignoring Cody's wide-eyed stare. "There. See, no harm done…" stated the man in relief, helping Cody to his feet and placed the cap back on his head, "Just try to be a little more careful."
Cody nodded in amazement, "I-I-I will."
He watched as the cloaked man disappeared back into the crowd, smiling softly as he thought about the man's gentle smile. He soon found himself being sucked into the excitement of the festival, watching as the Jedi Master leapt onto a stage and began to continue with his speech.
….
Anakin stood by Chancellor Palpatine and Lama Su as they watched Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn make a grand speech about the Force and its connection to every living thing, before encouraging the crowd to gather round. "Once a year, the Jedi Council permits us to demonstrate these abilities and so, here to impress you…..is my old student, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi!"
Anakin watched as his old master leapt onto the stage, igniting his lightsaber and made his way through a few katas. These were only simple katas, but the added flair caused eyes to be fixated on the Jedi as he twirled his way across the stage, adding in extra flips and stretches for good measure.
"Look at that disgusting display…" grimaced Palpatine
"Yes Sir."
As the act drew to a close, Anakin saw Obi-Wan smile at someone in the crowd, his hand reaching out as a cap flew up above the crowd….and then everything stopped.
….
Cody was amazed to see the man he'd bumped into earlier, appear on the stage…the moves of the Jedi Master were intoxicating and Cody couldn't take his eyes off of him. He smiled as their eyes met….but when he felt his cap lift up off of his head, Cody panicked. He tried to silently signal for Obi-Wan to stop, but it was too late.
As soon as his face was uncovered, the crowd fell silent. Whilst the clones were required to wear a helmet outside of the barracks, there have been occasions where the officer clones had them knocked off during a fight…so some citizens were aware of what they looked like….so when one individual loudly pointed this out, it wasn't a surprise when Lama Su stood up and opened his mouth to order Cody back.
"Get back to the barracks CC-2224!"
Cody winced as the crowd began to whisper and point, turning away from the stage in order to hurry home. However, he was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Ladies and Gentlemen…" began Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, "….this festival celebrates all life! Including that of the brave soldiers who fight in this war!"
The crowd began to cheer as Qui-Gon tugged Cody to the stage, where he was then helped up by Obi-Wan. For a moment, just a moment, Cody found himself lost in those blue eyes…well, until he felt the splat of a tomato on his cheek.
The crowd fell quiet.
"Those freaks are a waste of life!" cried out a voice from the crowd.
Another tomato came flying out of the crowd, followed by several more pieces of rotten fruit.
"Freak!"
"Why don't you all just disappear?! Maybe this war would be over then!"
The insults and fruit kept on coming as Cody shrunk down, trying to make himself seem smaller and therefore less of a target. Suddenly, all of the fruit stopped mid-air and then fell to the ground.
"Enough." Ordered Obi-Wan, his voice soft but commanding, "You've all had your fun, and now it needs to Stop."
"Master Kenobi…" came a voice from the Chancellor's chair, "…stand down."
"Of course Chancellor…" sighed Obi-Wan, helping Cody to his feet, "….just as soon as I help this man off of the stage."
"Now, Master Kenobi!"
Obi-Wan acted as though he didn't hear the order, using the sleeve of his tunic to wipe the tomato bits off of Cody's face. "You know…." Whist quiet, the Jedi's voice still carried over the crowd, "…you say you're protecting these men, when in actual fact you're behind this distrust that we've seen here today! You speak of justice when you are cruel to those most in need of your help!"
"Silence!"
"All I'm asking for is justice!"
The crowd nodded in agreement and mutters scattered throughout the people as Chancellor Palpatine seemed to quiver with rage, pointing a bony finger at the Jedi Master, "You will pay for this Master Kenobi….mark my words! You and your Order are fools for standing against me like this!"
Obi-Wan smirked, "Funny….the only fool I see is you!"
There was a shocked silence, before Chancellor Palpatine turned to Anakin. "Vader. Arrest him!"