Chapter 11 – The Reaction
"Where are we?" Obi-Wan asked when they dropped out of hyperspace at the specified coordinates.
"Tatooine, that is," Yoda read on the panel.
"Yes, but why Tatooine? Why would Anakin send us back here?" Obi-Wan still found it hard to imagine Anakin ever returning to the place where he was once enslaved. He remembered having to run into his padawan's room in the middle of the night. The nine-year-old's nightmares had caused him to project such a state of fear that his master worried half the order would storm into their quarters next. Of course it wasn't until he saw the scars the boy's former masters left that Obi-Wan fully understood. Oh Anakin, what hell drove you back here?
"Know this, I do not. Feels strange, the force does."
"Yes, it does feel different than last time. I will admit that." Obi-Wan nodded.
"A Vergence in the force, your master said there was. Yet here, I feel nothing."
"It's almost like there's no life down there at all. Perhaps this is what Anakin wanted to show us."
"Continue with caution, we will. The scanners we will use." Yoda tapped his stick lightly on the floor.
Obi-Wan had the ship's sensors scan the planet surface. They took several minutes to run, and came back with a readout of heat signatures, life-signs, motion, and energy readings for the planet below.
"This all seems standard. The coordinates R2-D2 gave us are to a residence near Anchorhead, a well populated town. There are three lifesigns in the building, and nothing suspicious about them," Obi-Wan interpreted the data.
"Fly down, we will." Yoda nodded. "Answers, these life signs may have."
As Obi-Wan began to enter the atmosphere, another ship arrived. It was so badly damaged from battle that Obi-Wan did not recognize it's make. He tried to hail the ship, but the pilot did not respond. So Obi-Wan continued to fly towards the residence on Tatooine.
Both men were surprised to see the garage open automatically for their craft. "Expecting us, they are," Yoda observed.
"That other ship was following us down. I hope they don't give us trouble," Obi-Wan said.
"The younglings inside with the droids we will leave, while investigate we go." Yoda stood to his full height.
When the ramp descended, Obi-Wan gasped. "Anakin!" Obi-Wan half suspected he was seeing a mirage. He didn't feel Anakin's Force presence. "You made it." Obi-Wan reached out and touched Anakin. No he feels real. This isn't a vision. "When we saw that explosion we feared the worst." Obi-Wan was filled with relief. "What is this place?" The garage opened for us automatically. Is this where you've been staying?"
Raising Anakin, Obi-Wan had to learn to recognize his expressions as a factor of survival. Anakin's face was usually an open book, though he often needed prompting to talk about his feelings. Especially before he got into trouble acting on said feelings. The boy did have a knack for getting into trouble, and learning to recognize his genuinely guilty, verses his still hiding something look was essential as well.
In that moment, Obi-Wan saw fear and guilt in his former padawan's eyes, but he also saw something else. The look was similar to the one Anakin would have when he was a teenager, and he got into trouble for pulling a prank. Now, Obi-Wan considered himself an understanding master. Even in his own youth he'd pulled a few pranks. But Obi-Wan never would've been brave enough to break in and draw pictures on master Windu's bald head while he was meditating, let alone be proud of it.
Oh Anakin, What did you do now?
"Yes, now, before we go in, I want to talk with you," Anakin began.
"Daddy," All three of them turned, surprised by the youngling that approached. She ran up and threw her arms around Anakin, who turned and bent down to her.
Obi-Wan blinked. What did she just call him? Anakin was always so focused on being the best Jedi he could be. The way he'd complain when he was denied master status yet he was still far younger than any other master. The way he pushed to have his trials just to become a knight, even though Obi-Wan thought he was not ready. Anakin always had his own way of doing things. If learning something the traditional way wasn't working for him, or was just taking too long, he'd scare his master half to death doing it another way. But he was always so focused on being a Jedi. Obi-Wan didn't believe he'd break the code in such a blatant way.
But there clearly was something here. Obi-Wan watched the tears roll off Anakin's face. This man, the hero with no fear, was reduced to a sniveling mess by a little girl. Who is she? Is she an orphan that he somehow adopted? If there was a good reason, perhaps the council could be persuaded to be forgiving. Obi-wan glanced at Yoda, who was studying the scene with just as much confusion.
"Daddy you stink?" the little girl pointed out.
Well, she's definitely picked up your bluntness, Anakin. Obi-Wan thought to himself.
Anakin laughed. "Yeah, daddy had to climb through some trash to rescue a bunch of younglings today."
There's that word again, daddy. Anakin how attached are you?
"Do me a favor," Anakin continued, "go tell Mommy I'm home."
Obi-Wan's eyes grew wider. Mommy! If the child has a mother, why would you need to adopt her? Who is this person?
As the girl turned, Obi-Wan noticed her brown hair tied back in a neat braid. Of course there's a mother, Anakin wouldn't know how to fix a girl's hair like that. Would he?
The little girl ran to a doorway and opened up her hand. She force-pushed the door open, then hopped inside.
Anakin turned back to the two masters. The expression of guilt was back.
"H-h-h, Wh-Wh." Obi-Wan tried to speak, but found he couldn't put more than air out. How old was she? Two. And she force-pushed a door open at her age. How?
Whack!
"Ow!" Anakin yelled as Yoda's stick found it's target on Anakin's legs.
"Follow my advice, you did not! The code first, you teach, then technique." Yoda lectured.
"You knew?" Anakin questioned.
"Know for sure, I did not. But a lot of questions for a padawanless Jedi, you asked." Yoda gave Anakin a cross look.
"Anakin, who was that?" Obi-Wan was finally able to speak.
"Leia, she's my daughter," Anakin said slowly. Tears returned to his eyes, though his face showed nothing but pride now.
"Ani," Obi-wan heard a familiar voice, and turned to see the former senator, Padme Amidala. "Oh," she breathed, looking around. "Leia just said you were out here."
Obi-Wan was not the type of man who'd look down to a woman's figure immediately, but in this case his eyes couldn't help but go down to notice the round bump over her stomach. Obi-Wan turned and glared at Anakin. He felt like picking up Yoda's stick and giving the man a few whacks of his own.
"It's okay, dear. I'll be inside in a few minutes." Anakin said, and Padme turned to walk back into the house.
"High, your daughter's midi-chlorian levels must be," Yoda said, breaking the silence that followed.
"Through the roof," Anakin confirmed. "Both of them."
Obi-Wan looked up. "Both?" He couldn't be referring to the child in her womb. There were three life-signs on the scans.
Anakin nodded. "Twins." He gave an innocent smile.
"Anakin, why didn't you tell us you'd gotten into trouble. We could've helped. It wouldn't be the first time a Jedi has fallen for the temptations of the flesh."
Anakin squinted at Obi-Wan. "What kind of man do you think I am? I married their mother first."
"Married!" Obi-Wan and Yoda exclaimed together.
"After the battle on Geonosis." Anakin was back to the guilty expression. "We fell in love." He shrugged, then smiled. "Come," Anakin waved them to follow him into the house. "I want you to meet Luke."
"Luke?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"My son." Anakin led them into a living area of the home.
Obi-Wan waved quick at Padme, who stood behind the counter in the attached kitchen. She gave them a polite smile back.
By a table in the middle of the room, two younglings sat drawing something unrecognizable. The twins turned when they heard their father, dropped whatever they were drawing, and ran to Anakin.
Obi-Wan was floored. In his time with the Jedi, he hadn't seen many father's with children. And when he had, he hadn't paid much attention to how similar they were. But this boy looked so much like Anakin.
"Luke, Leia, I want you to meet master Obi-Wan and master Yoda."
"Hi Mus-ter," both children tried to say.
"Hello there," Obi-Wan bent down to look at the two younglings.
"The code now I will teach. Anakin, take a bath go, Yess." Yoda ushered Luke and Leia back to the table in the living room.
Their father stepped back and walked towards Padme. "I'm proud of you Ani." Anakin leaned in to give his wife a kiss. Padme looked like she was about to return his affection, only when he got too close, she changed her mind. Her nose wrinkled and she pulled away.
Obi-Wan almost laughed.
Anakin gave her a disappointed look. "Alright, I'll go shower." He ran down a hallway and disappeared into one of the rooms.
"Are you staying for lunch?" Padme asked.
"Oh, uh, I don't know. We have a bunch of younglings in the ship to bring to the Praxeum site. May I help?" Obi-Wan immediately begun helping Padme assemble sandwiches, while she heated up a soup on the stove.
"May I ask you something?" He looked up at Padme. "Why did you settle here? Of all places, this is the last place I expected to find Anakin."
"Well, after the kids were born, with the state of things, the rest of the republic wasn't safe. Staying here seemed to be our best option at that point."
"Staying. You gave birth on Tatooine?"
"Yes, I left Coruscant the night the temple burned." Padme looked down. "Anakin really should tell you this. He had been having dreams, dreams that predicted me dying in childbirth. When he spoke to his mother…"
Obi-Wan's eyes went big. "Mother? Since when has he had contact with his mother?"
Padme looked down again. "Before Geonosis. He was having dreams and we came to check on her. She had been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders and was barely alive when Anakin brought her back. They kept contact, which was a good thing." Padme's voice became sharp to make a point. "When he was so nervous about these dreams, the ones about me, he needed someone to talk to about them. He couldn't talk to you or the Jedi because, well." She put her hands up, then looked deep into Obi-Wan's eyes. "He told me that he was tempted to fall in order to save me. Sidious tried to tell him he could prevent death. But his mother reminded him that I would rather die than watch him fall to the dark side. His mother knew people here that delivered the twins, and though they claim it was an easy birth..."
"Easy birth!" Anakin said as he returned to the room. "I was there, it didn't seem easy."
"I know Anakin, I was there too." Padme rolled her eyes. "This time we just have one, and I'm avoiding stress and following all of their advice. He's gonna come without trouble." She put her hands on either side of Anakin's face and looked him in the eye, reassuringly.
"I worry." Anakin pouted.
"I know." Padme gave Anakin a quick kiss on his pouting lip.
Obi-Wan tried to look away. He knew he would have to think long and hard about this whole day.
The next day there was a meeting of the Jedi council in the mental-scape. Anakin was not there, as they would be discussing his future as a Jedi.
"A confession we have heard. Broke the code, Anakin Skywalker has. Attachments he has made," Yoda announced.
The other council members jaws dropped.
"I suggest we handle this differently than we would have before the purge. Our numbers are so few, and Anakin is strong in the force," Obi-Wan urged.
"No! Attachments are forbidden. He broke the code, he is not one of us." Tel-Mac sounded upset.
"Anakin is the chosen one!" Obi-Wan fought back.
Kirak held up a grey hand. "As unfortunate as it is to loose Anakin, Attachments are forbidden for a reason. Isn't this evidence that we've already lost him."
"No we have not." Obi-Wan sneered at his fellow council member. "In fact, I believe it was because of his attachments that Anakin didn't fall before the purge."
Obi-wan knew they wouldn't take this well. Looks of disgust were thrown at him.
"Meditated on this I have," Yoda interrupted them all. "For the old republic the codes were built. No more that time is. Change we must if to survive we are. To find the light side through ways that are not Jedi, it is possible. By finding the mental-scape Ahsoka proved this."
Obi-Wan gave Yoda a look of thanks, though the green Jedi didn't seem to notice.
"I'm with Yoda." Maris said suddenly. When Tel-Mac gave her a look of betrayal, she continued. "If he falls because we sent him away, he knows where we are. If he falls even though we keep him, at least we'll see it coming."
"He stays," Coleman Kcaj voted.
Within a few minutes the yay's outnumbered the nay's and the council had agreed not to void Anakin's knighthood. Obi-Wan breathed a sigh of relief. The next topic Yoda brought up, however, surprised even Obi-Wan.
Anakin had been home all day. The night before he hardly slept. Today, he knew, they were voting on his fate. He didn't want to leave the Jedi Order, but most of all, he didn't want to loose Obi-Wan. The man was the closest thing to a father Anakin ever had. What's more, he was also like a brother, and Anakin had lied to him. He had lied to them all.
Padme did try to calm him, but eventually she just had to give up. She left to go to Anchorhead to work on her charity site, which was undergoing renovations, and close to opening.
Anakin stopped his game with the twins. "What was that." He looked out the window to see a ship landing in front of his house.
Obi-Wan got out and ran over to Anakin, who was stepping out the door.
"You're in," Obi-Wan pulled out and returned Anakin's lightsaber.
Anakin's mouth dropped. "Wha- Wait. They're not asking me to walk away from my family, because I can't… I won't."
"No, Anakin. Yoda has some, uh, new ideas."
"Three Clans, there will be," Yoda said as he joined them. "Some younglings to the Ilum space station Tel-Mac and Kirak will take. The old ways they will use. On Melren with the Felucians and the other younglings, masters Coleman and Maris will stay, using master Ti's methods. Here, you and master obi-wan will train with new methods. What works we will see. Yes!"
"What!" Anakin looked dumbfounded between them.
"Master Yoda thinks that your method of promoting attachments, with a bit of care, may help with the traumas of surviving the purge. And the ones rescued from the Sith. See it as an experiment."
"Your younglings, too, we will have to train," Yoda added.
Anakin looked over to see Jocasta Nu, and a few other Jedi unloading younglings from the ship. He then turned back to see Yoda entering his house. "Wait. This isn't an academy, it's my home. What is he doing?"
"Relax Anakin. We will look for a place to build an academy soon. It's only for the time being." Obi-Wan put a supportive hand on Anakin's shoulder.
Hello,
I want to defend Yoda's behavior at the end. I know showing up to someone else's house and making yourself at home without being invited would be seen as rude in our culture, but not in the Jedi culture. The way I see it, it is probably unusual for a Jedi to own property. And if a Jedi were to obtain property somehow, it would be seen as the property of the Jedi Order, not of the individual knight. Here Yoda finds a Jedi has obtained a property on Tatooine, which is shielded by a Force-shroud thing, (which Yoda will definitely be asking Anakin about, I just couldn't find a way to include it here.) and which would make an ideal planet for a Praxeum Accademy. Due to Yoda's Jedi cultural understanding, Anakin's house is a Jedi house. Of course Anakin and Padme probably have different ideas, which is going to be fun to write in there. :)
Now, I am a bit nervous that some of you will complain that the Jedi would never do that. That they'd never allow Anakin to keep his attachments, be a Jedi. Not to mention training other Younglings with attachments, as they are here. I hope I included enough of the reason for it that you understand his thoughts, or mine as the case may be.
Writing in Yoda speak is very hard, so if anyone doesn't understand what the little green Jedi is saying, please speak up. I can translate it back for you, and try to fix what I've got here at the same time.
