Chapter 2: Raising Hell
Anakin is fuming. His fists are clenched so tight were the nails of his left hand long enough they would break flesh. The gears in the right one are grinding as it is. He wants to follow after them. He wants to rage at them, and make them see sense. He also knows by now that the Council is a dam of durasteel; his rage is nothing more than errant waves crashing against it: Powerful, yes, but ultimately pointless. They will not listen to him. He will not affect them. They won't give a kark. Kriff them all.
He gets changed in a rush, as Obi-Wan suggested, and speeds out on his fighter, ignoring the inquisitions of his wife's handmaidens. It's not long before he finds himself in front of the doors to the Chamber of Judgment. Anakin paces backwards and forwards erratically. If they choose to imprison her, they'll make their formal decision here, then bring her to the cells with the Ysalamiri. The Chamber of Judgment, he thinks disdainfully. What was the point of it? Whether they make their decisions in a fancy karking hall, the Council will do what the Council will do: What's the point in the fancy Chamber except to make people feel small and beneath them and worthless? (They don't really need the Chamber of Judgment to do that.) Next to him, Artoo is bleeping up a storm; they had had a mutual venting session on the way over. Anakin continues back and forth like a man possessed. The demon would've been called Terror.
"Ani!" Padmé calls out. She is still in cuffs and is being escorted by the Temple Guards. He moves towards her, but is pushed back.
"Padmé!"
She is brought in without him, her face isa firm visage of strength, but Anakin hates that in here eyes he saw a flash of fear. He recognises that fear, that look of being unable to leave. He's seen it in many eyes before, and the forearm of one of the guard's presses against his chest keeping him from following her.
"Padme!"
A man's strong arm is wrapped tightly around his chest pulling him away. His arms are stretched out in front of him. He is on Tatooine.
"Mama!" He screams. "Mama!"
The old sounds echo in his ears. Everything stinks like dirt, and feces, and body odours. He and his mom have just gotten out of the crates they'd been transported in. He is two or three years old. They've torn him from his mother's arms. Males and females are stripped and cleansed for sale separately before being brought to the auction. He doesn't understand. All he knows is they are taking him from his mom, dragging her away from him. The world spins.
"Nooooooo!" He screeches until his voice hurts, until he gags on the mucus clogging his airways. The tears he sheds make it worse: He cannot see his mother, does not know where they've taken her. This is beyond toddler tantrum, beyond any desperation any child should be able to experience. It is the first time the demon possesses him, infecting him with the knowledge that anything and everything will be taken from you, and you have no choice. You're powerless. He will never see his mother again.
"NOOOOOOO!" He screams and screams until his chest heaves and he coughs and sniffles and spits. They've stripped him and put the filthy clothes in his mouth to shut him up, but they didn't beat him because they don't want to diminish his value. He is never going to see his mother again. He curls in on himself and rocks back and forth, back and forth, sucking his thumb trying to self-soothe. It's a big scary world full of bad, evil, mean people who hurt him. There's no concept of time for a toddler. His present is eternal. It will be days after that auction before he talks again-why waste the effort when no one hears?-and weeks longer before he lets go of his mom.
Anakin shouldn't remember that, but he does, is. It lives in his very bones. It's woven in his soul. Twenty years later, and the same panic chokes him. He breathes 'll never see Padmé again if she goes in there without him.
"Let me go!" He shoves the faceless guard back. "I'm going with her."
"She is neither your padawan nor your master! You have no connection to this."
"She's my wife!" He snarls. This stops them. Good, he can use that. "That trial's probably about our marriage. Can't you tell she's pregnant? Let me in!"
They're silent. Creepy barves with their stupid masks. Anakin knows they are communicating through the Force. They step back in unnatural unison and let him pass, although they hold a bleeping Artoo back. He glares at them with the heat of Tatooine's twin suns. When he enters, Padmé is already a shadow on the dais above him. The members of the Council are all staring down at her, some are in holographic form. Fortunately, for now, they seem not to have noticed his added presence.
"Senator Amidala, you have been accused of treason, conspiracy, and murder. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty!"
Anakin feels claustrophobic. He's been on trial once before with Padmé. It had started off much like this, and ended in execution narrowly avoided. Ahsoka's trial, frankly, had ended up much the same way. He has a feeling this third time will make the pattern, yet nothing bothers him more than to see Padmé cuffed and still wearing her nightgown. Anakin can't remember her ever leaving home without careful consideration of how she's going to present herself. Now, she looks like someone who has been helplessly dragged from their bed. He supposes that's what she is. Anakin grinds his teeth. Padmé is many things, but she is not helpless.
"There were Sith artifacts and holocrons found in your apartment. How do you explain this?"
"I don't know! They must have been planted."
"Interesting details, this holocron contained. A grand plan to destroy the Republic, the Sith have."
"I know, but I'm certainly not a part of it."
"I was present when you received a transmission from an unknown Sith regarding plans for a political take over, and the corruption of the Jedi Anakin Skywalker."
Anakin almost laughs. Trust the Jedi to be convinced solely on that point: Attachment.
"I really don't know how or why. I'm not aware of having received any such transmission."
"That's easy to say, but the recording was real."
"And easy enough to fake, I would think."
"Perhaps, but how did Maul know to come to Tatooine, Senator?"
"I don't know, but it wasn't me. There are many people it could have been. It could even have even been a lucky guess if the Sith knew the hyperdrive was damaged. How far could we really have gotten? Within that framework, how many planets didn't have Federation ties? Our options were limited!"
"You are aware that the Federation Blockade was planned by the Sith?"
"I am aware-you told me-but I wasn't a-"
"It is unusual how quickly you were able to take your planet back."
"Well, I should say that the speed was all due to the 'valiant' efforts of the Jedi!" Padmé snarks. "This is speculation and not appropriate in a court of law!" There is a fire back in her eyes now, and a flush in her cheeks. She looks incensed. The Jedi are utterly ignoring her criticism of their methods of questioning. Anakin's not surprised; he's questioned the Jedi too, but they won't listen to any outside their own narrow circle. He breathes deeply in a vain attempt to find calm within this mockery. The Masters take turns throwing out question after question with little consideration between answers, creating a dizzying storm of accusation, pinning everything back on her and the Sith.
"It is also unusual how you chose Clovis to take over the banks. He sided with the Separatists."
"I wanted nothing to do with Clovis! It was on your behalf and at your request that I worked with him. It was on your behalf that I even went to the banks in the first place. You are very quick to turn on the few Senators that have supported you. I should like to point out that while you, the noble guardians of peace and justice, were off clambering for an army if the CIS became a reality, I was the one who was pursuing a diplomatic solution: Who opposed what would amount to martial law! What were you doing? Why did you want an army if Dooku was supposed to be a friend? I'm not the one who is acting suspect! Clovis was the only option we had, and I cannot be held responsible for his actions."
"Yes, you pursued peace, but it was also your failed assassination attempt which led to the discovery of a clone army. An army we now know to have been funded by the Sith, a Sith who was also involved in the Federation Blockade."
"A Sith who hoped to instigate a war and attempted to assassinate me? To use me for a martyr? To get me out of the picture, perhaps? There are many ways to look at it!"
"Yet it was also a clone army that your Representative voted for, in spite of your insistence on peace. This is highly suspicious. These are not infrequent matters; your ties to the Sith are numerous."
"It is all circumstantial! Jar Jar voted for those emergency powers to help rescue you! Obi-Wan was the one foolish enough to step onto Separatist soil!" Padmé glanced over his way with betrayal in her eyes. Obi-Wan didn't even look guilty this time. This was worse than what had happened with Ahsoka! "I went to rescue him. I was the one who insisted on it. You would have all died without Jar Jar's help, and, if anything, you were the ones who took advantage of Jar Jar's good nature!"
"We may have not been in such a position to require help had it not been for the existence of such droid armies, or clone armies in the first place, which brings us back to the Sith."
"This is no better than what you did to Ahsoka!" Anakin snarls, unable to bite his tongue any longer. She was innocent then too, but you didn't care; you didn't listen! You're not listening now. You don't care what she has to say! You believe what you want to believe, you kriffing barves! Haven't you learned your lesson yet!?"
"Be quiet, Skywalker. Your presence here is already a disgrace." Windu glares down at him, and Anakin glares right back. Yeah, I married her? You got a problem with that? Good! Anakin looks at Obi-Wan who seems...sad. He resents him his weakness. What right does Obi-Wan have to be sad? Fury rises within him. Why can't Obi-Wan see?
"You should be ashamed of yourself," Windu continues, "instead of railing against us in the epitome of arrogance. You believe you are above the rules?"
"Well, I think you do, not that your rules aren't stupid anyway. I'm damn proud to be her husband, and if you want arrogance look at yourselves!"
Padmé turns around and beams at him, in spite of their dismal circumstances, and Anakin grins back. It feels good to openly acknowledge each other like this. Padmé turns back to the Council.
"It was my understanding that people were to be judged innocent until proven guilty, Masters. Do the Jedi not uphold their tenants? This is the second trial by you that I've been a part of. Both have gone rather poorly wouldn't you say?"
Only Padmé could make it look like she'd rolled out of bed and could still take them on with dignity. (The pearls in her gown probably helped.)
"Ahsoka Tano's trial was a more complex matter." Plo Koon speaks up.
"Oh, and this isn't?" Padmé asks in a saccharine voice.
"Ahsoka Tano was expelled so that she could be given a fair military tribunal."
"Why not simply have her tried by the military, instead of deeming her guilty yourselves? It's certainly quite backwards. One looks better than the other wouldn't you say? If you decide she's guilty, why would anyone else declare her innocent?"
"It was a means of setting precedence. Jedi are tried by Jedi, not the military."
Padmé actually huffs at this. "Trying to guard you precious jurisdiction were you?" She mutters, and the 'trial' continues on pointlessly.
"We have already tracked the Sith known as Darth Sidious to those near the Chancellor in the Senate. Is there anyone closer than you, Senator? You were his aide when you were but an Apprentice Legislator; he is an old ally to your family, yet you are now using the Delegation of 2000 against him. Why? Do you wish power for yourself?"
"No, I'm trying to prevent tyranny!"
"Your midichlorian count is also suspect. By the Treaty of Ruusan, the trials of all Force-Sensitive beings in the Republic fall under our jurisdiction. Given your pregnancy, the fact that your children are also Force-Sensitive-" Wait, children? "-it is possible that they are giving you your Force sensitivity. It is the judgment of this Council that when your children are born, we will test you again. If the evidence continues to hold in the face of further scrutiny, and we find you are truly Force-Sensitive, for the crime of being a Sith, you will suffer the penalty of death. You will be held here for the duration of that period."
Padmé is rendered speechless, but Anakin is not so surprised. He's stormed the Citadel after all. They are both escorted out at lightsaber point.
"How could you!" Anakin spits at Obi-Wan in his quarters. "This is even worse than with Ahsoka. I admit she did actually look guilty when she ran, but Padmé has done nothing wrong. It's obvious there's been some kind of mistake!"
Obi-Wan sighs from deep within himself, and sits down on a cushion. He looks far too old for his age. It gives Anakin pause. He wonders why this is weighing so hard on him. It's not like it was his wife, (like Obi-Wan would ever break his precious Code, anyway), and if he has a problem with what the Council does, why doesn't he do something? Or does he think Anakin has let him down? Anakin is never sure where his old friend stands, and it bothers him.
"Anakin," he speaks in a tired tone, a hand covering his eyes as he rubs his face. "You are blinded as always by your attachments, and I-"
"I am not! I'm saying there was a mistake, same like there was with Ahsoka! Was I blinded by attachment then? No, I was right! You just won't admit it."
"I won't admit it? I am more than willing to admit when I'm wrong."
Anakin rolls his eyes at this.
"You won't even consider it! Have you never wondered why a woman such as Senator Amidala would risk her career to marry you?"
Anakin is gobsmacked. Obi-Wan looks even tireder, like he can't believe he just said that. Anakin can though, and it guts him. Did Obi-Wan just imply… It's not like he's never thought it, never wondered what he was doing with this wonderful woman, what she saw in him. She could have any man she wanted, men who could offer her more than maybe he ever could, noblemen her family, especially her mother and sister, would have for her. There were so many that desired her, yet she chose him, wanted him. He knew he wasn't good enough, but he also knows that Padmé didn't have to marry him either. She'd risked everything to do that. He'd placed the decision wholly in her hands wanting nothing she hadn't given him freely. For some reason, she'd given him everything, and he'd laid his life at her feet. (He'd have done that anyway).
"Anakin, you are the Chosen One. You are the single greatest threat to the Sith. She is in a perfect position to manipulate you, and now she is carrying children who will likely become the greatest threat to you, and would make excellent Dark acolytes should it come down to it. It's rather brilliant actually." He concludes with bitterness.
"You...are you seriously suggesting that Padmé doesn't love me? That she married me..what? To use me? Get close to me?" The idea hurts, because it's one of things he fears: That Padme would realise one day she could do better than hopeless him and his mess.
"Yes, Anakin!" Obi-Wan's face rises with his aggression. "Padmé is a career politician with a stellar reputation. Why would she risk it all to carry on in a forbidden affair with a Jedi, one she was explicitly warned against, if she didn't have some ultimate plan in the end?"
"Because she loves me! Because we love each other! Because she wants a family...and so do I."
It doesn't matter anyway. Maybe she hates him after all this, but he'll still do anything for her. Always. Forever. Anything and everything could change from the alignment of the galaxy to her own feelings, but nothing, nothing, will ever shake his regard. His heart will always beat her name.
(Padme wouldn't do that to him though. He's sure, and he can sense her love in the Force. What do the Jedi know about that anyway?)
"The Jedi are your family!"
"No they're not! They're not! The Jedi don't give a bunch of kriffs about family! You don't even remember your mother! No one here does. Remember what you told me to do about her? You abandoned her in slavery! This isn't a family. This is a bunch of people who think they know a damn when they don't! Well, Padmé loves me and I love her and we're going to be happy." Anakin's voice cracks on the final statement. Tears cloud his eyes. He can't forget about his dreams, his nightmares either. He's never felt more frayed. There is no respite from the torture he carries in his mind.
"Anakin, I'm so sorry." It filters through Anakin's frustrations that Obi-Wan actually does look despondent, although Anakin's not quite sure what he's apologising for. It could be anything, really. He's not sure he cares.
"You're sorry? You're sorry! That as usual you sat there on that damn kriffing Council and did nothing. The only reason you're there is so they can use you against me, so maybe that's why you think that's what Padmé's doing!" Tears are flowing now and he is helpless to stop them. He hasn't slept in days. He practically falls onto the floor in a heap.
"Anakin, that's not true!"
"Oh, we want you to spy on the Chancellor, Anakin, but they don't have the balls to ask you themselves so they're going to use our friendship to convince you, and I don't have the balls to tell them no." Anakin mocks in a high, sarcastic tone marginally ruined by his choked voice.
Obi-Wan looks stricken. "Anakin…" He starts and stops. It's clear he doesn't know what to say.
"Don't-" Anakin holds a hand out in a gesture to stop anyway. "Just don't say anything. Just...tell me, what's going to happen now?"
"Well, naturally, we'll keep investigating the Sith." Obi-Wan leans forward attempting to seem comforting. "Look, if Padmé really is innocent, it'll be easy enough to prove when the children come. If she isn't Force-Sensitive then she can't be a Sith, at worst she'll be a collaborator, and if so...well...it's best you found out now. It'll work itself out." Anakin shakes his head.
"No, I meant... What about me? I'm not getting strung up in front of the Council?"
There is a pause. Obi-Wan looks hesitant.
"I mean, for being married: It's against the Code. I'm not getting strung out for this?" Obi-Wan sucks in a breath before he answers. Anakin has a monumentally bad feeling about this.
"It is the Council's opinion that while some censure may be necessary at a later date, there is no need to call a meeting regarding the state of your...attachments, given that they may soon no longer exist."
"What!" Anakin is on his feet again. "You mean it won't matter soon, because soon his wife'll be dead anyway?! That's nice. What about the children? I assume you'll take them too? Can't have the Chosen One running around with kids, after all!" Anakin laughs maniacally.
"Anakin-"
"Well tell your precious Council it isn't going to happen! Tell them I'm through! I'm not giving them my kids, and my wife's not playing their karking scapegoat!" She's not giving birth in a kriffing cell either, he vows.
Anakin whirls on his heel and storms out. He hears Obi-Wan call after him, but he ignores it with a pang in his chest. He loves Obi-Wan, he really does, but Obi-Wan doesn't understand this sort of thing, not really, not properly. How can he? It's not his fault, and Anakin can't hold it against him. He's never had the real deal, but Anakin wants to be able to rely on Obi-Wan, share with him about these things, things he values that the Jedi don't. There are parts of his heart he can't share with his old master, and it hurts. Obi-Wan has been his rock, one of the few people to have faith in him, and now he is cast adrift. Obi-Wan will be no help to him, but there is one person who has always understood him in ways the Jedi could not.