Anakin awoke to the soft sight of Evelyn sleeping peacefully beside him, her head nestled against his chest. A content smile played on his lips as he closed his eyes, reliving the events of the past eight hours in his mind.
Evelyn started to stir, rolling over to the side of the bed as she opened her eyes, seeing Anakin staring lovingly at her, "Hi," she whispered, her fingers gently brushing his cheek.
Anakin's smile grows wider than the sun, "Hi," he says, causing Evelyn to grow a serious blush on her face, "Sleep good?"
Evelyn rolls her eyes, "Please," she says, scooting over to stretch, "Best sleep of my life," she whispers before giving Anakin a loving kiss and nestling back into his chest, closing her eyes again, "What's today looking like?"
Anakin thinks, "I have to meet Obi-Wan for lunch," he says, excited, "Not have to, but just we planned it."
Evelyn nods in understanding, "Okay," she mumbles before wrapping her arms around Anakin, drifting back to sleep, not yet wanting to talk about whatever last night was.
Anakin rushed into Dex's Diner, running late for his meal, "Sorry I'm late, Obi-Wan," Anakin apologized, "I slept late," he said, sitting down in the booth across from his friend.
Obi-Wan waves him off, "Oh it's quite alright, I only just got here," he reassures, taking a sip of his drink, "So what did you need to talk about?"
Anakin and Obi-Wan talk for a few more minutes before Anakin spits out a question, "You and the Duchess more than friendly, weren't you?" Obi-Wan's jaw drops, "I'm sorry, I know she meant a lot to you."
Obi-Wan waves his friend off, "No no, it's quite alright," he says, taking another sip of his drink, "Satine and I were always very complicated," Obi-Wan explains, "When I was a young padawan, I was protecting her from a group of insurgents in the wake of her appointment to Duchess..."
Anakin cuts Obi-Wan off, sensing the pain his friend feels, "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," Anakin says, "I know how important she was to you," Anakin and Obi-Wan sit in silence for a good while.
Obi-Wan pauses to stop the tears threatening to leak out of his eyes. He composes himself again before deciding to drop the bomb that Anakin didn't know was coming, "I loved her just as you love Evelyn," Anakin spits some of his drink out, his eyes widening by the second, fumbling over his thoughts, not being able to get words out, "Oh come on, you really think I'm that stupid?" Obi-Wan says with a knowing smirk.
Anakin, still trying to come back to his words, "No, master, I just-"
"Didn't expect me to go against the code?" Obi-Wan finishes for his brother, "Trust me, Anakin, if there's anything you should have learned over the past thirteen years is that you always keep an open mind," Obi-Wan says as the two fall into comfortable silence, "Are you happy?" Obi-Wan asks, breaking the silence.
Anakin looks up, "Yes," he says, almost instantly, knowing in his heart that Evelyn was the one who will save him from everything.
His escape artist.
"That's all I've ever wanted for you," Obi-Wan says, "You're my brother."
Anakin's eyes lock onto Obi-Wan's, full of emotion, "You're mine."
Once returning home, Anakin and Obi-Wan are walking the halls of the temple, arms crossed, acknowledging the respectful nods from others within the temple. "Now that Evelyn is a Knight, do you plan on taking another apprentice?" Obi-Wan asks his friend, curious about his future.
The long-haired Jedi simply shrugs, "I'm not sure," he says honestly as the two round a corner, heading to the landing port of the temple, "I think that I'll take a break, learn more about the Force before I make my glorious return to teaching," Anakin says with a large smile on his face.
Obi-Wan laughs with his former student, "Now we both know that this return of yours will be anything but glorious, my old friend," the Master quips, pulling Anakin's leg.
Anakin rolls his eyes, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Obi-Wan," he says teasingly.
Obi-Wan strokes his beard, feeling the Force around him, "And what of you, Evelyn?" Anakin whips his head around, starting to become flustered, looking for his...
what is she exactly?
Evelyn pops out from the corner they just turned, cheeks red with embarrassment, "I-um, was wondering if I could maybe take one on?" The woman says nervously.
Anakin takes in her raw beauty. She's wearing her hair down now since she doesn't have to have her braid showing, and she's absolutely perfect.
Obi-Wan narrows his eyes, quite literally hearing Anakin's thoughts, "Are you sure?" He asks the young Jedi, only a couple months away from twenty, "Training a Jedi is a great responsibility, just look at your old master, he was quite the handful," Obi-Wan pokes, taking a chance to tease Anakin once again.
"Yeah a handful that saved your ass ten times," Anakin mumbled under his breath, crossing his arms.
"NINE!" Obi-Wan strongly corrects.
Evelyn and Anakin roll their eyes, "Oh, come on Master, that business on Cato Nemoidia will always count," Evelyn snickers, giving Anakin a fist bump.
Obi-Wan turns to Anakin, mock betrayal written on his face, "You told her?" Anakin's smile grows wider, "Of course you did," he pouts knowingly. The three laugh together as they continue to walk across the halls of the temple before being summoned by the Council.
The trio make their way into the chambers, where Anakin and Evelyn stand in the middle, not yet being members of the Council. Evelyn stands slightly behind Anakin, as he technically outranks her.
Anakin looks over to the empty seat next to Ki Adi Mundi, vowing to make that seat his when the Council deems him worthy, "Masters, Grievous has landed on the Utapau system, thanks to the tracker that Master Kenobi planted on him during our confrontation," Anakin states, informing the Council on the dealings.
"Made aware of this, we were," Yoda states, giving an appreciative glance towards Anakin for his honesty.
"I suggest that he be the one to hunt him down," Anakin says, shocking a lot of members due to his openness, "I apologize for the bluntness, but however, Master Kenobi knows Grievous better than any of us, no offense to Master Fisto," Anakin says respectfully, "If anyone were to handle the situation, it would be him," Anakin says, confident in his Master's abilities.
Mace and Yoda look at each other, contemplating Skywalker's proposal, then nodding, "Very well," Mace Windu states, "Obi-Wan will lead the charge on Utapau, but not before we vote on something else," Mace turns his head to Obi-Wan, motioning him to speak.
Obi-Wan smiles, "Given that Anakin has taken down two of the three last remaining Sith Lords, I plead the case that Anakin Skywalker should be granted the rank of master and placed on the high council of the order," Obi-Wan says, causing Anakin's jaw to drop dead to the floor.
Evelyn turns to Anakin, so excited for him, seeing the happiness radiate off of him, realizing that she's witnessing history.
Mace and Yoda look around the room, tracking the head nods from the other Masters. Mace Windu stands up, walking up to Anakin, "I apologize for ever doubting your loyalty to the order, Master Skywalker," Mace says, reaching a hand out to Anakin, who takes it with a humble smile on his face.
"I will do right by the Order and the galaxy, Master," Anakin vows, bowing his head respectfully.
Mace Windu walks back to his seat, "Take a seat," Mace motions to the empty seat Anakin had laid eyes on moments before. Anakin bows before walking over to the empty chair, pride radiating off of Evelyn's face.
Evelyn turns to Yoda, "Master Yoda, is there a youngling that is ready to be taken as a Padawan?" Evelyn asks curiously, piquing the interest of the grand master, "If so, I'd like to take one on," she says confidently.
Yoda thinks for a moment, "Mm, yes, a Padawan we have. Ready, he is," Yoda states, "Great master to him, you will be," Yoda states, getting up from his seat, "Come," Evelyn bows to the council before following Yoda into the corridor, "Great teacher, you will be," Yoda praises, "Honored am I to have you in my lineage."
Evelyn smiles at the Grand Master, "Master, I'm kind of nervous," Evelyn admits to the green Jedi, not knowing what to expect.
Yoda chuckled softly as they continued their silent walk to the training rooms. Evelyn sits down with Yoda as the two watch a Wookiee youngling go through the normal training exercises, and Evelyn is extremely impressed with his prowess and athleticism, reminding her of a Wookiee she once met when Master Piell was still alive.
Evelyn waits for him to finish before she walks up, taking the gentle approach, just as Anakin did to her, "Hi," she says, sitting down to his level, "How would you like to become a padawan?" She asks, getting an excited look from the Wookiee, "I'm Evelyn, and if you'd like, I'd love to become your master."
The Wookiee roars in excitement, happy to finally be taken by a master, given that Petro, Byph, and Katooni have already been selected.
"Well, Gungi, let's get to work," she says, standing up and guiding her new padawan to the sparring deck.
Anakin peeked around the corner, his heart swelling with pride as he watched the woman who had taught him so much. He was about to head to the restricted section of the temple to continue his studies on finding the Sith Lord when a message from Rex interrupted his plans.
Come to base. Emergency.
Anakin barges into the room, Kix right on his tail, "How is he?" Anakin asks his Captain, concern written all over his face.
Rex looks at his general, and shakes his head, "Appo... didn't make it," he says sadly, "Kix is going to run some scans right now to determine the cause of this."
Anakin nods, crossing his arms across his chest, as Kix walks back into the room, "Results?"
Kix looks at the tablet in his hands, "Sir, it appears that there's an anomaly in the chip that caused an infection, spreading to the brain, most likely caused by the Mandalorian atmosphere," Kix hypothesizes.
Anakin nods, "How do we stop this from spreading?" He asks, wanting to keep as many clones as safe as possible.
"I have an idea," Kix responds, sending a message to the legion before getting to work.
Anakin and Obi-Wan are walking on a landing platform, just underneath them, clones are loading up their fleet, "Are you sure you're going to be alright without me?" Anakin teases, crossing his arms.
"I feel this might just be a wild bantha chase," Obi-Wan responds with a chuckle, "We do know how Grievous operates."
Obi-Wan turns to leave, "Master!" Anakin calls out, running towards him, "I hope I haven't disappointed you," Anakin says softly, "I hope you know that I very much appreciate your training, even though I'm overly arrogant sometimes," he says apologetically.
Obi-Wan smiles at his former student, "You are strong and wise, Anakin, and I am very proud of you," he says honestly, "You will be an even greater Jedi than you are now, remember that will you?" Anakin nods, "And be wary of the Chancellor," Obi-Wan says softly, Anakin giving Obi-Wan of confusion, "Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and tell me immediately," Anakin nods in response before Obi-Wan nods, walking off, Anakin by his side as they continue talking to each other before saying farewell.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin calls, unmoving, "May the Force be with you."
Obi-Wan smiles at Anakin, "Goodbye, brother," he says, "May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan turns around, walking down a ramp before entering the Republic Cruiser.
Anakin turns on his heel, walking back into temple, heading for the archives. Jocasta Nu greets him with a smile as he heads towards the restricted section, where he holes himself up for hours, studying everything he can about the Force, the Jedi, and the Sith.
Evelyn paces around the balcony, Gungi standing directly across from her, "Let's focus on Shii-Cho, and once you're efficient enough, we'll work our way up," Evelyn orders her new student.
Gungi nods in excitement, always being one with little words before pulling his saber to his hands, using the random strikes of the form to his advantage.
Evelyn plans to recruit Anakin to help Gungi with strength training, knowing that even a Wookiee like Gungi needs proper training to understand how to train his body.
Evelyn steps into her Sorecu defense, swiftly blocking each strike before sweeping Gungi's legs out from underneath him, not taking it easy, "They won't fight fair," she says, offering a hand to her padawan, "Always get back up," she teaches, just as Tiplar taught her.
Gungi nods, grunting at himself, "It's okay to fail sometimes, that's why we practice," Evelyn continues, Gungi paying intense attention to his Master before he sees a butterfly flying over them.
The young Wookiee smiles, pointing at the beautiful creature, causing Evelyn to smile at the fact that Gungi takes time to appreciate the beauty of nature.
Evelyn walks into an office, "You wanted to see me?"
Palpatine spins around in his chair, "Yes, I did, Master Jedi," Palpatine says, an innocent smile on his face.
Oh, but it was far from innocent...
A dark hooded figure steps off a shuttle, being caught in the rain as he walks into the cloning facility on Kamino. He uses the force to mask his presence, walking directly to the far corner of the facility.
"How's Project Knightfall progressing?" The man growls at a Kaminoan.
"Right on schedule, Lord Tyrannus," he responds, opening a capsule, revealing Anakin Skywalker, short hair, no scars, and all limbs intact, floating in a tube.
Tyrannus laughs, "You really shouldn't have let me get a hand on that hand of yours, Skywalker," he says to himself.
Dooku walks out of the facility, activating his comm, "Master, Operation Knightfall is ready."
"Good, Lord Tyrannus," Sidious says, laughing, "The Jedi Order is nearing its end."