This is an AU story, totally AU in a massively alternate universe that has changes from the canon and Legends that we know of. The time is post-ROTS, but Episodes two and three are similar yet different. You'll notice the differences in time.
The Chosen One: Chapter One
He walked down the massive exquisite corridors of the Jedi Temple on his way to teach the class of youngling's in the basics of lightsaber dueling. It was something that he enjoyed doing, he liked to be the one who taught the next generation of Jedi Knights the basics of fighting with their lightsaber and the youngling's like to learn from him too.
Luke and Leia are still too young to learn how to wield a lightsaber but they won't be five years old forever and in a couple of more years, he'll be teaching them as well. He can't wait for that day, he knew they'd make great Jedi and he'd be happy to teach them everything that he ever learned.
He learned a lot over the years from the various Jedi Master's, he was Master Kenobi's Padawan for a decade before war broke out, they weren't responsible for it but they felt responsible because of the fact that they were caught and used as pawns to start the war on Geonosis.
That was something neither of them were very good at though, espionage, wasn't really their thing. Back then they could move around a lot freer than during the Clone Wars and following the Clone Wars with their names still well known and their popularity just as high now as it was then.
The Negotiator and the Hero With No Fear, both titles they could gladly live without. They're just normal Jedi doing their duty, but the people needed heroes and the people and holonet news chose them.
Who were they to deny the people the hope they needed in such a delicate time?
It didn't make their lives easier but it made the lives of the denizens in the Republic's lives easier and that was all that mattered, not to mention it made good PR for the Jedi Order and they became role models for children. Sure, most can't become Jedi but that doesn't mean they can't be heroes in their own right.
A hero is always a figment of your imagination, anyway. It is something that you create to give yourself hope or someone to look up to but for the person that is being worshipped as the hero, they wouldn't want it. Especially not based off of gossip and half-truths. Anakin saw the reports and it made him look like a god, he was anything but, he was just a man and he had his flaws just like any other human. He may have been nothing and now he may be something, but he isn't proud of the things he had to do during war and being a role model... after killing people? He didn't want it but his opinions didn't matter, and he really wouldn't want the people to know how he feels about his status. He isn't as diplomatic as Obi-Wan.
Just like Anakin, he doesn't want it but the people do and he had to learn to live with as well as the no privacy for himself, Anakin and his family. It wasn't easy to deal with, but like all things, he learned to deal with it and now there are less of the reporters and holographers following them around but a lot of the reporters wanted to see the children of the Hero With No Fear and the most famous Senator, Senator Padmé Amidala. The one who stole the Jedi Knight's heart and ruined the fantasies of women all across the galaxy who wished to be the one to snag themselves the dashing Jedi Knight.
She received many death threats because of that and her security detail was even tightened, a few attacks even occurred because of her marriage to the Jedi, fortunately, they failed. But, that didn't diminish their love for one another and it even sparked Anakin to make a statement to the press and his fan club to leave his family alone or to face his wrath, he warned them to back off of his wife and that it was him who seduced himself a Senator not the other way around. She played hard to get while he persistently tried harder and harder until he won, funny how it took them being sentenced to death for it to happen but it did and that was all that mattered to him.
He smiled at the memories of how everything turned out, he wasn't sure if he'd still be here with his wife and kids, he remembered the nightmares but after he killed the Sith Lord, they disappeared and everything worked out fine. He was beating himself up for taking such rash actions and not for consulting the Jedi Council but he didn't want to put any more lives in danger, Palpatine wanted him to become his Apprentice and Anakin wanted no part in that. He knew he couldn't trust a Sith, look at Dooku and the way that Palpatine treated him! He ordered Anakin to kill him cold-bloodedly and he did, but he was a Sith and he needed to die, just because he didn't have his hands didn't make him any less dangerous.
But, if Palpatine could do that to his own Apprentice then wouldn't he do the same to Anakin? Anakin seemed to think so and he knew that Palpatine was only using his nightmares to his own benefit, he wouldn't help him even if he knew how to save her, he was sure of that.
So, he did what he needed to do and ended up in a lightsaber duel... to the death. He may have lost half of his right arm, again... and he needed to completely remove the mechno-arm but he was rewarded with a real arm thanks to the Kaminoans who performed the operation as a gift, with the help of a Jedi Healer because of Jedi's unique physiology. He had his two real arms back and the Sith Lord was killed by losing his hands after he was disarmed and tried to shoot lightning at Anakin, he was happy that he learned how to absorb the energy with his lightsaber or it may not have turned out the same way, like when Dooku attacked him. But it did and he won by cutting the hands off the Chancellor and stabbing him through the heart, or the place where his heart would be, if he had one.
There was a major political crisis following that incident and many even called for his arrest, but these Senators were found to be connected to Palpatine and lost a great deal because of his death. They were arrested, in turn and sentenced to years behind ray shields, some even the rest of their lives. Even Speaker Mas Amedda, the Vice Chair of the Galactic Republic's Senate was arrested and charged as a co-conspirator in treason, attempting to overthrow the Republic, war crimes and many other charges.
And since that day, the Jedi have taken over the Republic.
The Republic still operates in many of the same ways but the Jedi have assumed the position of Supreme Chancellor. There are still threats out there and still people that were connected to the original plans that Palpatine pushed forward over the last couple of decades. Not everyone connected to him has yet to be apprehended but the Republic Task Force that was set up between the Jedi and the Galactic Republic was still in operation and still hunting down leads and taking more and more people into custody every month.
This Task Force also tackled corruption in the Senate and the Republic and that was something else that cost many Senators to lose their jobs and their lives in the process after their people found out what they did in their name. Senators are supposed to represent their systems, not use them for their own personal gain.
Anakin was a member of this Task Force as he continued to serve as a General in the Grand Army of the Republic and he still is. Obi-Wan though is the one who is currently the Task Force Commander and Anakin couldn't think of a better person for the job, he is the Negotiator afterall.
And Anakin hated politicians, except for maybe two or three... depending on the day, he guessed with a smile.
It was this Task Force though that discovered the Kaminoans built in an Order into the Clones, Order 66. It was disabled immediately and all Clone production was halted permanently with a new Republican Army being established that was open to all people in the Republic as well as the Republican Navy.
It was determined that a military was needed but not one that used Clones that had Orders built into them by the evil Sith Lord, Darth Sidious.
The inhibitor chips were removed from all of the Clones and they were rendered harmless, there was no need to kill them like one of the other orders that were built into them in case the Sith lost control of some or all of them. They were human beings and just because they were manufactured in a lab instead of being born doesn't make them any less human, it wasn't there fault, afterall.
He released his thoughts over some of the events that happened in the last five years, as he walked through the doors and entered the large circular room full of seven to nine year old youngling's that were all armed with their training lightsabers. They all stood at attention when Anakin entered the training room where he normally went to spar.
"Good afternoon, Master Skywalker." The Youngling's chorused and bowed in the Jedi way by closing their right hand into a fist and covering their right hand with their left and bowing.
Anakin smiled as he looked to the youngling's some were human, one was a Rodian, one was a Wookie, one was a Cerean like Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, one was a Gungan, the very same one that was rescued from the Sith's plot during the Clone Wars to abduct the future of the Jedi and there were a few others for a dozen total.
"Good afternoon, youngling's." Master Skywalker replied liking the name Master, except now it wasn't just something that youngling's call him out of respect, but rather his actual position and rank within the Jedi. He was promoted to Jedi Master following his completion of his prophesy and that is when his secrets came out and it started a little controversy within the Jedi Council chamber but in the end, Master Yoda made the decision and the motion was passed and he was permitted to keep his seat on the Council.
Much to the displeasure of Master Mace Windu, but it was known that he never liked Anakin, not when he first came and still not now even after he proved himself, time and time again.
He lost his influence, though he is still a ranking member of the Jedi Council but Anakin can care less about him or his grumpiness or his hatred for him. If anyone was bound to go to the Dark Side, Anakin knew it would be him... the one who is a Master of his own skill, Vaapad where you connect with the Dark Side, let it flow through you and then leave the same way it came, probably the same place his hair went...
Anakin didn't want to learn that and he didn't need to learn it in order to kill the two Sith Lords he killed, in almost the same way.
He noticed the youngling's looking at him as they held their training lightsabers in their hand and Anakin had his own while his real one was clipped to his belt.
He activated his and the youngling's did the same.
"Let's begin our lessons for the day, shall we?" He asked with a smile as he saw their smiles and felt their joy for the lesson. He never really liked younglings before and never really liked to train them but Ahsoka changed his thinking and then he had youngling's of his own to care about. That got him to change his thinking on training the next generation of Knight's though he'd never train one of them personally, he'll train one of his own twins as his next Padawan.
"The way you hold your lightsaber is important, it doesn't matter who you're up against." Anakin told them as he watched them grip their lightsabers with both hands on their hand grips and he corrected some of them, but others seemed to know how the correct way to hold their lightsaber, thought correct is a subjective term. Not every Jedi grip their lightsabers the same way but he feels that his is the most effective and it saved him more than once. "The way you handle your lightsaber could mean the difference between your survival or your death. Trust me, I learned over the years and I had more experience over the last eight years than any other Jedi and definitely more than any other Jedi Master here."
That was well known, that is why the youngling's like to learn from him. He isn't just the most experienced and most successful Jedi General but he is the youngest and the most fun to learn from. He has kids of his own and he knows how to work with them, he knows how to have fun.
"Very good, I know that some of you are more experienced than others but you can never get enough practice." Anakin continued on as the youngling's formed in lines with their lightsabers lit up green or blue and they gripped them ready for battle. "Today, we're going to form up in pairs and practice against each other. It is important to stand your ground and to defend yourself. One of you will be on the defensive and the other will be on the offensive. You don't have to be a Form 3 to know how to defend yourself, I may be a Form 5 but that doesn't mean that I am always on the offensive.
"So let's pair up, you choose your partner and then stand ready when you're ready to begin." Anakin ordered them as he saw the friends pair up and standing ready looking at one another and keeping their lightsabers raised. "Alright, the youngling's on the right will be on the defensive and those of you on the left will be on the offensive. Remember your roles, those on the defensive shouldn't be trying to attack your opponent. Those of you on the offensive will try and disarm your opponent, defenders must try their best not to become disarmed, if you do, you lose and in real life, you'd be dead. This isn't a game, this is just training, just remain calm and let the Force guide your actions.
"Ready?" Anakin asked as they all looked to him.
"Yes, Master Skywalker!" They chorused happily as he smiled and nodded as he looked at each pair and corrected minor problems in their stances. Mostly the way they stood, he corrected their footing and when he was satisfied, he got clear. "Begin!"
He knew he probably should've had them go two at a time while the other youngling's watched so he could tell them what they did right and what they did wrong but he figured that they needed to gain practice and for some of them, this was their first time practicing against a live opponent instead of just the remotes that they're used too.
He also knew that the Jedi didn't really teach seven year olds how to do this, they felt that they were too young but Anakin believes that they should start learning and that is why he is training the seven, eight and nine year olds together. He noticed that the more experienced of the youngling's in lightsaber dueling paired up with each other, as did the newcomers, they seemed to pair up with their friend in their age group. They weren't hanging in their clans today, just randomly selected Jedi younglings were chosen to participate in today's class.
He didn't know what it was about this but he seemed more at peace doing this than he has in years, as far as official Jedi business goes. He never saw himself as a teacher but now that he was doing it, he started to see why Master Kenobi liked to train the youngling's, same with Master Yoda but he has been training Jedi for over eight hundred years, he is sort of made for this.
But on the other hand, he still liked working with the military. He was still a General in the GAR and he liked working with his Legion, the 501st Legion. Captain Rex was still his second-in-command and he enjoyed working with him and everyone else. It was enjoyable, they may not wage war anymore but there are a number of times when he is required to enter a battlefield with his men along with various other missions like humanitarian missions, search and rescue and to investigate certain things like smuggling or piracy operations.
They may not be fighting the Separatists anymore but that doesn't mean that the war is over or that there is peace in the galaxy. The Galactic Senate has recently passed a bill, the anti-slavery bill that was written and introduced by Senator Padmé Amidala and it was lobbied by herself, Senator Organa and Senator Mothma and heavily supported by the Delegation of 2000, the Loyalist Committee. The anti-slavery bill already existed but it only prohibited slavery inside the Republic, during and after the Clone Wars, the Republic spread out to the Outer Rim Territories and this bill has prohibited slavery for the Outer Rim as well.
The bill passed unanimously and now it is up to the bureaucracy, Jedi and the Republican Military to enforce the law.
Anakin was looking forward to helping out in these efforts along with his men. He wouldn't be required to be away for months at a time like he was during the Outer Rim Sieges, he also won't be going to war like he did before.
All they'd have to do is swoop in to certain worlds and free the slaves, it shouldn't be hard considering most slaver's are cowards and are especially afraid when it comes to the Jedi and the Republican Military. Anakin only wished he could see the look on Watto's face, it'd be priceless, but he did remember the look on his face when he showed up looking for his mother. He was afraid of him and he should've been, Anakin wasn't in the mood to talk to scum like him, but when was he ever in the mood for that?
His Legion is set to leave in a couple of weeks for a month, not as long as it was before but he doesn't have to hide his relationship which means he doesn't have to sneak around to comm Padmé and his younglings. This was a mission that he was looking forward too and he was the reason why Padmé put this bill forth in the Senate. She knew that it meant a lot to him and his mother and she was willing to do her part for her husband and her mother-in-law.
Anakin appreciated that, he did afterall fight several years in a war that he didn't believe in and a war that the Senate started, okay it may have been the Sith but the Senate is the body that had to approve it and did, they may have been manipulated but their hands were all in the pot.
Anakin couldn't wait to handle the slaver scum and maybe even give some of them a piece of his mind but that wasn't until later as for now he was still with the younglings and training them in the basics of lightsaber dueling, that was his current mission. He had to instill his knowledge into their minds and make sure they knew how to defend themselves and how to handle lightsabers, if and when the time comes.
He walked around the room with his hands clasped behind his Jedi robes and watched them two at a time, he was getting ready to make them switch roles but he wanted them to practice in both defense and offense, both of which are important in battle. It doesn't matter if they're facing a Sith, a Dark or Rogue Jedi or if they're facing many opponents with blasters. It is important to know how to handle your lightsaber, it is the weapon of the Jedi and you never know when you'll need it.
Just a normal routine mission may turn into a fight to the death against someone you didn't know would be present or you may come under attack by a Rancor or worse. You never know what you'll face, but Anakin knows from experience that any routine simple mission can easily go haywire and make him have to fight for his life. He enjoyed those challenges but he also didn't like having to run into trouble on every single mission.
Oh, who was he kidding? He loved to run into trouble! He was a trouble magnet and everywhere he ever went, there was always trouble. He didn't know why trouble always followed him but it did and it would be weird... very weird if he went somewhere without trouble.
But that only happened during missions with the Jedi, mostly. He did enjoy many times with Padmé and the younglings without trouble finding them from an outside source. Padmé had her enemies yes, but she was never bothered when he was around, though he always felt the eyes on him, burning into him like the rays of the sun from high above.
He couldn't wait to see her and the younglings, but they all had their schedules during the day and she was in the Senate doing boring Senate stuff and the younglings were with their clan doing youngling stuff, they should actually be in a class with someone their own size... well maybe smaller but close enough. It was Master Yoda, of course.
"Alright, younglings." Anakin said looking at the twelve Jedi initiates in front of him and he waited for them to stop dueling and to look at him. They did as he smiled and nodded, "you've all done well." He praised them, something he never got but knows that it helps. He praises his men and when he notices something needs improvement, he tells them just as he does when he notices the Initiates doing something wrong. "This is just practice, I want you to get a feel for handling a lightsaber and getting used to handling it. Just because I didn't talk to you during your training doesn't mean that I didn't notice anything wrong or where you could've lost, had both of you been trying to disarm the other." He said looking around the room at all of them, they could all use improvement but they're all younglings and even Padawans and Knights have their own flaws they could work on, even he had some problems that he could improve on.
"We're not done yet, though." Anakin continued as the younglings, no doubt knew what he was about to say. "Now we're switching roles. Those of you, who were on the defense are now on the offense and those on the offense are now on the defense." He watched them look at each other with a smile and he smiled himself. The happiness he felt was brighter than the Tatoo suns. "Take your positions," he ordered and they did. "Begin!"
And begin they did, the green and blue blades flashed and clashed as they collided with one another and created sparks of white light. It looked like flashing neon lights outside a cantina, they were never in very good shape and always blinking, though some were supposed too.
The dueling wasn't that impressive, he knew that when two experienced duelers dueled, the lights looked spectacular and it looked like a thousand lightsabers moving at once and sometimes you couldn't see anything except the after-image. Only the Jedi and other Force-sensitives could really see the lightsabers in action, they moved too fast for the normal person to really observe. Force-sensitives though, they could see better but usually they allowed the Force to guide their actions since that was always easier.
Your eyes could deceive you, don't trust them.
Anakin remembered Obi-Wan telling him that when he first learned how to use a lightsaber and after he constructed his very first one. He made it later than most but he also joined the Jedi later than most, as well.
But he was a fast learner and a very exceptional Jedi, something that Master Qui-Gon Jinn saw in him the first time they met. That was something he appreciated in the man, they didn't even know each other, yet he was willing to put everything on the line and trusted that the slave boy would win the pod race. A human boy, nonetheless, doing something that no human has ever done before.
Did the Force tell him that would happen? Or did he just trust that Anakin had what it took to surpass the other competitors? He didn't know but he didn't care, he owed that man everything and he was glad that everything worked out in the end.
Maybe it was the will of the Force?
Maybe it was Obi-Wan's destiny to train Anakin?
Maybe it was Qui-Gon's destiny to find Anakin and to ensure that his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi trained Anakin.
The Jedi believe that everything happens for a reason and that it was the will of the Force.
Was everything that happened in Anakin's life, the will of the Force?
His life in slavery? The abuse and hardship that he had to endure during his time as a slave? The eventual freedom and becoming a Jedi? Reuniting with Padmé? Finding his mother just in time to be able to save her? The Battle of Geonosis and Padmé confessing her love for Anakin which led to their marriage? The Clone Wars? The murder of Darth Tyrannus and Darth Sidious which restored balance to the Force and fulfilled the prophesy of the Chosen One? The birth of his twins? The change in the Jedi Code that lifted the no attachment rule and permitted Jedi to learn of their family's? The end of the Clone Wars which led in retaking Separatist controlled worlds back into the Republic? The Jedi taking over control of the Senate?
Was it all the will of the Force?
Everything?
If so, then the Force was much more complicated than some mystical energy that binds the universe and all beings within, together?
He wasn't sure if he believed in the will of the Force or if it was just the Jedi's way of detaching themselves from the other Jedi and all of the suffering the galaxy had to endure because of the Sith. He was sure that it was an excuse that the Jedi told themselves to make themselves sleep better at night, but maybe... just maybe, they were right. Maybe everything did happen for a reason, maybe everything was the will of the Force, but if that was true... then why?
Why did it control everything?
Why doesn't it just leave everyone alone and let things play out as they play out instead of fixing things, its cheating! It's like using the Force at a sabacc table to read the minds of the other players to see what their hands are. Its cheating! If that was true, he didn't like it.
Especially not if the Force was what created him! HIM! It was said that the Force would create the Chosen One, the one who would bring balance to the Force and would be a vessel of pure Force.
It is well known that he is a vessel of pure Force, he is the only one in recorded history to have over twenty thousand midichlorians in his cells, his twins inherited it then too but that was because of him. That number of midichlorians were unheard of and it isn't known exactly how much he has in his body but the scale only goes up to twenty thousand, they never needed a scale to surpass that.
That was why he was as powerful as he is and that is why he has such extraordinary skills in the Force among many other skills like his tactical genius, mechanical and engineering skills. Including the skills with the ladies... but that has nothing to do with midichlorians...
He still didn't believe in any of that... it still sounded pretty kriffing insane.
But he won't judge others, afterall they may be right but its too much to wrap his head around.
He clasped his hands behind his back, something he always did subconsciously, sometimes he didn't even notice but he did this time to ensure that no youngling accidentally cut his arm off. He didn't need that, not again.
He noticed several gaps in the defense of those on the defensive and noticed the obvious gaps in those on the offense who were letting their guard down simply because they didn't have to worry about their opponents trying to strike back. He'd let them have their fun today, but they were with him for the week, two hours a day.
Today is just a warm up and is nothing compared to what they'll do tomorrow.
He smiled at that, these younglings may be just that, younglings but they're Jedi and need to expect the unexpected.
Yes, the rest of the week shall be fun but now it is time for today's sparring matches to come to a close and open the training room back up to the rest of the Jedi.
He had it for the week to allow his pilot program a chance, a program to prove that younglings even at the age of seven can handle learning how to use a lightsaber. The earlier they prepare, the sooner they'll learn and the better prepared they'll be when they're Padawans and may need to put their skills to the test.
He saw and heard of too many Jedi Padawans and Knights die because of their lack of skills with a lightsaber. He wanted to lower that number and make sure the new generations of Jedi knew how to handle themselves before they were sent out into the real world where there are no second chances.
You lose, you die.
That's that.
There are no do overs.
No second chances.
No nothing, except being one with the Force and if he could help prevent that, every life that was saved because of his lessons and the lives they saved because they were still alive, yes, it would be worth it.
The Jedi used to be around ten thousand and now it is only around a thousand, nine tenths of their numbers were killed because of the Clone Wars. The Sith played their hand well, but not well enough.
He won't let them win and he'll never give them a chance to return, not if he has a say in it.
"Alright, youngling's lets wrap this up." Anakin told them assuming his position back at the front of the room, opposite the entry way into the training room.
Once they were facing him, deactivated their lightsabers and clipped them to their robes, he nodded with a smile.
"You all did well, I noticed several gaps in everyones lightsaber duel." Anakin told them and saw them go from happy to sad but he didn't want them to remain that way, they were young and that is why they were here, to learn. "Don't put yourself down, this is why we're here. For some of you, today was your first day facing a live opponent and you did well for your first time but had this been real, you'd be dead or taken prisoner. Many Jedi including myself have faced that, my job this week is to teach you the basics of lightsaber dueling and that is what we'll do."
Anakin walked closer to the younglings and looked at them all with an appraising look, he felt them become uncomfortable under his gaze and smiled, they should be uncomfortable.
"Being a Jedi isn't easy." He told them continuing his closing lecture. "It is hard and it was especially hard for me being a slave until I was nine and then becoming a Jedi and becoming a Padawan at the age of nine. I was rejected by the Council and if it wasn't for Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, I wouldn't be here. But I learned on the go, I didn't have the advantage that you have. Take advantage of this lesson. Learn from me and every one of your other instructors, we know what we're talking about and we've been in your shoes. Maybe, I wasn't per se but you get the point.
"I can feel how nervous you are and were today and that is how you should feel." He said continuing on pacing back to the front of the room. "When you become a Padawan and go with your Master out in the real world, you won't have a second chance, like I said. The time to make mistakes and to learn is now. If you have problems or can't figure out how to do something specific, ask me, that is why I am here. You can ask me anytime even after our lecture, you can ask me now or in a decade and I will help. Learn from my experiences and my stories and my experience may help you when you encounter a similar problem." He thought for a moment of anything else to say, but couldn't. "We'll meet back here tomorrow at thirteen hundred standard hours, it won't be anything like today. Come prepared, class dismissed."
The younglings bowed respectively and left their lightsabers on the floor, where they found them and made their way out of the training room, he waited for the last one to leave before collecting the lightsabers and returning them back to the storage area in the training room where the training lightsabers are kept.
It was fifteen hundred standard hours now and the twins and Galen should be done with their class by now. They're all in the same clan, Galen is a few months younger than the twins but they made it into the same clan and Anakin was proud of that. They needed each other and with the no attachment rule being thrown out, they're allowed to act like friends, like family.
Afterall, Galen was living with them since he was two when Anakin visited Kashyyyk to meet with Master Marek to see if he would like to return with the no attachment rule being lifted. Instead he found that he was dead and Galen was living with a neighbor, the neighbor was a Wookie family, an older couple that couldn't care for him but did because he was alone and they couldn't leave him alone.
That is when they informed him that his mother was killed, just a short time after he was born and he was being raised by his father until he was found dead. They saw him the night before and when they went out on a daily walk, they found him dead and Galen sitting next to his dead father trying to wake him up, he died of a blaster wound to the chest. His killer was never found, no trace was ever left behind but the odd thing was that his son was left behind and was unharmed.
That is when the Wookie couple found him and took him in but left the body of Master Marek behind.
Maybe it was personal? Anakin didn't know but he did know that he couldn't leave him alone and he was only killed a couple of days before Anakin went, the same day that the second transmission was sent to him. He knew it was possible that the person that killed him discovered his location because of that transmission. He never discovered the killer but he is still chasing down leads when he uncovers a new one.
None of the Wookie neighbors saw or heard anything, or so Threepio said that they said.
Maybe they were frightened? He didn't know but he wasn't going to push them or threaten them, he was a Jedi and he'd do what he had to do but it wasn't the Jedi way to push aggressive negotiations on innocent people. If he knew they knew something, that'd be one thing but there was no proof. So he would wait until something else occurred or the killer slipped up, so far he or she hasn't.
Fortunately, Galen seemed to move on. He knew he was adopted by the Skywalkers but didn't remember that day. He just knows that his parents are one with the Force but he does have people here that love him like their own son and sibling. He isn't alone and he knows it and fit right into the family, neither of them regretted anything.
It was the will of the Force...
Ah! He slapped himself in the face and walked into the corridor and down to the turbolift to ride up to meet the Skywalker children, Galen included, he is Galen Skywalker legally and known as that in the Jedi Order. He rode up in silence and went up three floors without anyone hitching a ride and he strode out with his hands on his side.
He nodded in acknowledgement to those he passed by, they were mostly Knights, Padawans and Younglings and he strode on into the room where his kids should be done with class. They usually wait for him there when their schedules are the same, they stay with him until he is done for the day and then he flies them home in the airspeeder to meet with his wife, their mother. Its their normal schedule and he loves it, he is rarely away for long anymore and when he is its usually related to his capacity as a General.
Today though, he is just Master Skywalker.
Right now, he is just Anakin Skywalker father and husband to three great children and to a great and beautiful Angel.
He smiled as he saw them sitting down playing some game by lifting one of the lightsaber remotes into the air with the Force, he didn't say anything as he just watched them sitting Indian style in their Jedi initiate uniforms. They all wore tan pants and tunics, brown boots and brown belts, the normal apparel of Jedi initiates, though some wore gray but none of his kids did.
They were also apart of the Bear Clan, he was very proud of them and glad that they got to live a happy life. His early years may not have been so happy, but he didn't regret anything. He had his mother and he still has her, she may not be around much but she is living her own life and he is living his own life, as well. Their happiness is all he cares about and he couldn't be any happier himself, he had everything he ever wanted and didn't regret a thing.
He was having fun watching them practice their telekinesis, something that he did a number of times but he was ready to get out of here and he let them know that by clearing his throat.
The younglings turned around quick and the remote fell harmlessly to the ground, they jumped up and ran to him and wrapped their little arms around his legs. They were only five and not very big yet but he had no doubt that they'd be big like him one day, well maybe not that tall but hopefully not as short as their mother. Millie Marek was just as short as Padmé and Kento wasn't that tall, but still tall enough.
"How were your lessons, today?" Anakin asked them as he looked down at them with a smile looking down at his mini-me, Luke, Padmé's mini-her Leia and Galen.
"It was okay, we learned about you, axualy." Anakin smirked at Leia's attempt at saying actually, she was close but there is no X in actually despite it sounding like their is. She was always trying to sound grown up and tried to use grown up words and phrases, she even acted like it at times in the way she does certain things.
"Oh, really?" Anakin asked curious as to what they learned about him. He was pretty sure it had to do with a battle but he could be wrong, he has been known to be wrong... maybe once... or maybe twice.
"Yep!" Galen replied as they released their hold on their father and they started to walk out of the room and into the corridor as they made their way for the turbolift to ride up to the bay that holds the airspeeders.
"Care to tell me what exactly you learned about me?" He asked looking between them as Luke and Galen were on his right and Leia on his left.
Luke decided to answer, "we learned about you defeating both of the Sith and you being the Chosen One from Jedi Prophesy." So, he was partially right, the defeat of the Sith did have to do with the Clone Wars and in a way so didn't his status as the Chosen One.
He nodded and sighed, "that's right, that is how I became so famous from within the Jedi Order." Of course, work your ass off and still get no real friends but kill a couple of Sith and everyone wants to be your friend. He never fit into the Jedi, which was why he usually hung out with people older than him, he was also looked upon with pity or as an outsider and then everyone was jealous of how easy things came to him and the fact that he just became a Jedi and was made a Jedi Padawan immediately.
His status as the Chosen One, it wasn't easy to live with, it was actually more of a burden than anything. It always was but from within the Jedi Order, everyone treated him different, he never felt like he fit in. He never felt like one of them. He felt more like he belonged with the younglings nowadays than he did when he was one of them.
"You guys have it easy, you fit right in and were a Jedi since you were born," he told them as the turbolift arrived and a couple of Knights disembarked, he ignored them and embarked with his younglings. "I never fit in here and in a lot of ways, I still don't. I never conformed like many Jedi but now, we embrace diversity and don't force ancient beliefs on each other like they tried but failed to do to me. I was unconventional and still am, but my ways work and are effective. I lead by example and succeed in my missions, I treat my men in the GAR like men not clones and they respect me. I earned my status, my rank and I proved myself to being a great Jedi, one that gets things done one way or the other. One that improvises and never gives up, one that thinks outside the box and succeeds in carrying out my goals, carrying out my dreams."
It was true, all of it. He never fit in anywhere he went, not on Tatooine as a slave or a youngling with his fellow slave friends and then he didn't fit in at the Jedi Temple which was why he was made a Padawan and not introduced as an Initiate. They knew he wouldn't fit in and he'd feel out of place, the Initiates in the clans have been together for years and being nine years old and made a Jedi, that was unheard of in modern times. He never would've fit in and knew nothing of the Jedi ways and traditions, he was named the Padawan to Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi who insisted upon taking him as a Padawan, he had a promise to keep afterall and wouldn't fail his deceased Master.
He only asked him that one thing, he made him promise and he would've trained him regardless of what Yoda or the rest of the Council decided, even if he had to leave the Order to do it. He couldn't let someone like Anakin just go, he wouldn't have had a life and it could've been possible for the Sith to discover him and turn him into a Sith. He wouldn't allow it but mostly because of the promise that he made to Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He loved the man, more than he was supposed too and he knew what he believed about Anakin, he couldn't deny it, he was probably right and of course he was even though the rest of the Council doubted the prophesy and him.
He was right though and the Council was wrong and not for the first time.
Anakin knew all about it, he was nine, he wasn't an idiot. He knew that they didn't want him there that they were afraid of him! Afraid of him! A nine year old boy, they were afraid of! What ever happened to not fearing because fear could lead to the Dark Side... yet they feared him ignoring their own advice and rules.
They were such hypocrites and he wouldn't allow anyone, anyone to ever talk or treat his kids like they treated him. He'd never do that to a youngling and it makes him sick that they would. That they would treat him like that! But he learned to let go and move on, he couldn't hold grudges against them except for Mace since he acted the same way but the rest of the Council and Master's became accepting of him, even before he fulfilled his prophesy.
He just never understood how a wise organization like the Jedi Council could act like that! It was a disgrace not only to them but to the Council and to the Jedi Order. It was no wonder why people liked him, he was young, happy, energetic and wasn't like... them.
He knew what he was and what he wasn't.
"Why did you stay in the Jedi if you didn't like it?" Good question, why did he?
"Well, Leia..." Anakin said stopping his conversation as he thought about it and exited the turbolift passing by numerous people enroute to the airspeeder bay. "I had no where to really go and I didn't say that I didn't like it. I said I didn't feel like I belonged and I didn't, I was a slave boy, then I became a Jedi, it was a totally different life and lifestyle. But I had Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon Jinn believed in me, I couldn't, no I wouldn't let him down. I wanted to prove him right and I wanted to prove myself, I wanted to prove the Council wrong. And I did, they don't have to admit it and won't, they're more stubborn than your mother but I know I proved them wrong."
Anakin enjoyed hearing his younglings laugh and they did, she was stubborn and they knew that the Jedi Council was too. He was really really really surprised when the Council decided to lift the attachment rule. He knew it was because of what he proved, he proved that attachments don't push you to the Dark Side, they may but it didn't push him. Well it almost did, but he didn't go over the edge of no return, he remained on the edge and then climbed back down and came to his senses, he loved her more than anything but knew that she wouldn't want him turning to the Dark Side, not even to save her.
She would rather die than him selling his soul and turning his back on everything he was and is... for her. She wouldn't forgive him and she wouldn't want to be with him.
He knew that and knew what he had to do.
He had to kill the Sith and restore balance, not only to the Force but also to the Republic and the galaxy at large.
And, he did it all.
They arrived in the airspeeder bay and he hopped in the drivers seat as the younglings hopped in as well. Luke took shotgun while Galen and Leia took the backseat. He started her up and flew out cautiously and flew off Temple grounds and out of the Temple District flying to the Senate District to 500 Republica.
It had been his home for eight years now, three of those years in secrecy and five publicly. Once his secret came out and he told the Council after killing Palpatine, his whole world changed. He was expecting to be expelled but they couldn't expel him, they had themselves to blame and realized it. They always made him feel like an outsider and pushed him away, they pushed him to her and looking back at it, they saw the signs but like with the Sith, they were blind and almost paid the ultimate price. They needed him more then than ever before and couldn't lose him, he was not only a galactic hero but a Jedi hero.
He was finally made one of them and they opened the door to him becoming a fully trained Jedi Master, one that was trained everything in the Light Side, things that they held him back from because of their fear for him. The fear that he may turn to the Dark Side, he was emotional and always too uncontrolled. He couldn't control himself and that was what scared him, that was why Grand Master Yoda assigned Ahsoka Tano to be his Padawan. He wanted him to learn responsibility and to try and get him to let go, to become a true Jedi and not an outsider.
And for the most part, it worked until Ahsoka got expelled, framed for treason and then freed by Anakin who believed in her and knew she couldn't do such a thing even after the Jedi gave up hope and faith in her. Another time they were wrong, but Anakin had faith and he trusted in himself and her and that was what set him apart. He believed in people, regardless of what the facts pointed too, he wasn't one of them, they needed him and that.
He opened their eyes and they learned as much from him as he did them.
It was the will of the Force...
They arrived at home and he parked just outside the veranda and they hopped out and ran into their apartment. The younglings ran to their rooms and left their backpacks there and started to change out of their uniform and into just regular civilian clothing.
Anakin wasn't in such a rush to get inside, he just strolled on in and was greeted by See-Threepio.
"Oh, Master Ani," he said. "Welcome home, can I get you anything, sir?"
Anakin was used to the familiar sound of his protocol droid, the one he was sure was perfect until he had to live with him. Apparently a couple of wires got crossed or were faulty, he didn't remember him being so annoying as a kid, or maybe it was a faulty memory, he didn't have many from his childhood that remained fully intact.
It was a long time ago, too long. It felt like a whole different lifetime despite it being eighteen years since he left that place.
He honestly never looked back, he missed his mother yes but he didn't miss the planet. He, definitely didn't miss the planet.
Nope, he didn't like this planet much better but it has been his home and he has gotten used to it. His everything is here, his work, his home, his children and wife. He had everything he ever wanted and needed and was happy to have them and happy to be here. It was a major difference from life on Tatooine, this was a planet-wide city with a trillion people living on it, compared to the criminals living on Tatooine who would kill you just for a credit or two, sometimes just because they didn't like the way you looked. Its happened numerous times there.
"I am fine, Threepio, go keep the younglings busy." Anakin told him and walked to his bedroom to lie down. Padmé wouldn't be home for a couple of hours or so and he was quite tired but he couldn't sleep. The younglings were only five years old and definitely not capable of watching themselves.
Despite them believing they can.
He opened his eyes to someone touching his arm, he blinked his eyes a few times before realizing that he must've dozed off though he didn't feel that tired or even realize that he did doze off. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, "sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."
Padmé smiled at him and stood up as she took off her cloak and threw it on the hanger and hung it up in her closet. "Don't worry, they're fine playing hide in seek with Threepio, I think he's going to have a meltdown and short circuit. He keeps complaining that he is a protocol droid and not a caretaker droid." Padmé waved her hand in dismissal, this is nothing new, he always complains about something.
Anakin just laughed and threw his legs off the bed and onto the floor, he stretched his arms, yawned and stood up and stretched his legs. He felt rejuvenated, despite only sleeping for two and a half hours.
"How was work?" He asked as he unclipped his lightsaber and placed it in his hidden safe, out of the hands of his younglings who could just use the Force to lift it from anywhere he else he could put it. He learned from that mistake when Luke and Galen almost killed each other playing with it, fortunately he caught them in time and took it from them just like Galen took his lightsaber from him when they first met.
It wasn't a very good experience, neither of them were.
"Eh," Padmé said as she walked out of their bedroom and out towards the kitchen. "I had a meeting with the Loyalist Committee and we were lobbying for a new bill, for the budget. Its that time of year to submit the budget and you know how that goes. Having a Jedi as the Supreme Chancellor does help keep the order though, if anything you guys know how to keep calm and remain at peace."
"Well, it is what makes us different than the Sith." He said with a shrug, he did just compare Senators to the Sith.
"Did you-" Padmé asked, or tried too before being cut off.
"I did, Sith only think about themselves while Jedi think about everyone but themselves." Anakin quickly replied after interrupting her. "Of course you are exempt as are a few others but most Senators do only think of themselves and act like Sith."
Padmé looked like she was going to retort, but thought the better of it. He did have a point, he learned well.
"Am I wrong?" He asked after she just glared at him in silence.
She continued to glare at him then shook her head, "no, you're right and that is the problem."
Anakin nodded with a smile and engulfed her small body in his as he pulled her to him and hugged her. She seemed like she needed a hug and he was glad to give it. "I felt the same way as a Jedi, I was different, an anomaly but I never gave up and look at me now." He said relaxing his chin in Padmé's hair. "Look at you now, you never gave up either and not only are you the best Queen that Naboo ever had, but you also are the most popular and most well liked Senator in the Republic. You saw what they couldn't and you did what was right, not just for you, but you aren't like them. You did what was right for Naboo and the Republic. You like us are selfless, you do what is right regardless of what other people think of you or your decisions. It isn't always easy to live with but in the end, it all works out."
"What would I do without you?" She asked him as she laid her head against his broad chest, she smelled him and always felt comforted. No matter how bad the day was, or how boring, she knew that when she was with him, nothing else mattered. The only thing that did matter was him and her younglings, nothing else.
Anakin shrugged, "I don't know, good thing you'll never have to find out." He said arrogantly, he couldn't think of what she'd do without him, but he didn't especially know what he'd do without her!
"Is that a promise... or a threat?" She asked with a smile as she withdrew from his hold, she loved just being in his arms but she heard the running of the boys and turned to face them.
"Both, I guess." He admitted, it wasn't like they were interested in anyone else and they'd never want to be with anyone else. All they ever loved was each other, regardless of how someone in particular claimed to feel.
Padmé greeted the boys who ran out into the kitchen to get something to eat and drink, Anakin knew that Luke had his appetite and wasn't surprised to see Galen do the same. Boys eat a lot at that age, more than girls, he noticed.
The evening went by relatively quick, the kids did what they do and played around and watched holovids while Padmé continued working from home as she and Anakin watched some holovision. Before they knew it, it was time to go lie down and sleep to gain their rest for the next day. They had to be at work and school at nine in the morning, school for the younglings, work for the adults. Most younglings wake up even earlier and meditate, Anakin just says that they mediate at home and the younglings nod their heads in agreement knowing they can't say they did, if they did that then they'd be found to be lying and forced to really meditate in the hours of the early morning.
Younglings meditate five times a day, they aren't long sessions but they need to learn to relax, remain calm and to let go and to trust in the Force. Everything becomes clearer after meditating and even during, especially when you encounter a serious problem or feel the Dark Side encroaching on your soul. You need a release, you need to let go of the dark emotions and you do that through the Force.
It works miracles for Jedi and Anakin even became better at it. He was the worse at it and never really understood how to just remain calm and to let go, he never understood that but he learned too after everything turned out fine and the war was behind them. Only then was he allowed to be calm.
So, he meditated before bed time and had the younglings join him and that was their normal routine before going to sleep. They cleared their minds and it made it easier to sleep, to put your worries to the side and to let sleep overtake you.
It worked for Anakin who was always awoken by his nightmares or visions he'd rather live without. Fortunately, they subsided and he was happy for that, he could finally sleep peacefully with his wife and kids.
Nothing could be better.
This is it for Chapter 1!
How'd you like it? It's definitely different than most since this is completely AU, an AU that is different from canon and legends and will have more than a few surprises in store. This is a different kind of Republic and a different kind of Jedi Order but Anakin isn't that much different.
I tried to lay out the backstory and certain events out, those were basically just a gist of what happened without telling you everything. I didn't want to dump everything on you at once, it wouldn't make for a very good story. This will also be a drama kind of story, it doesn't have a set plot, it will have many plots and subplots.
I hope you liked it!
Please Review! Thank you!