Anakin Skywalker had been in many weird or terrible situations throughout his life. He had been whipped and beaten by the hired thugs of a Hutt for his 4th birthday as a slave boy on Tatooine, he had spent several years trying to win his and his mother's freedom by taking part in a pod race, only to be told he was some kind of 'Chosen One' who'd bring balance to the Force although what that meant, he didn't know and since he had lost interest in the whole thing over the years he doubted he'd ever find out, he'd stood in front of the Jedi Council and listened to them say he would not be trained because of his age but deep down he knew they were scared of him after he had saved a whole planet from being enslaved by the Trade Federation, he had spent many unhappy years in the Jedi Order being trained as a Jedi and the only reason he'd stayed was that he had nowhere else to go.

On the eve of the Clone Wars, where he had been forced to endure endless weeks or months being neck-deep in the blood of innocents, chopping up mindless battle droids while fighting for a utopian ideal that he'd lost faith in a long time ago, Anakin had received many nightmares involving his mother, who was suffering, and by the time he'd gotten to her, it was just too late. She had been tortured and raped by the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine over weeks, and her bodily water was being drained for them to drink. Anakin would never forget the rage he had felt when he had held her before her death before he'd wiped out the whole fucking camp from the face of the planet, because he wasn't able to let go of his love for his mother, and his inner hatred that he couldn't have saved her from slavery, and his desire for revenge.

Most damning of all, Anakin had not discriminated at all in his attack. He had killed everyone in the camp. Every man, woman, and even children, including infants. He had even torn many children off of their mother's backs when the female Tuskens had tried to flee, and he'd forced everyone to watch as he decapitated them, limb from limb before he'd cut their heads off to shut off their screams before he'd continued the slaughter, even with him distantly thinking he was overhearing Qui-Gon Jinn's voice in his head, begging him to stop. Anakin had known those little bastards would have grown up to attack people who'd done nothing to them. The worst of it was Anakin didn't regret what he had done, and he knew he would have gladly done it a hundred times over.

Sometimes, especially after the Clone Wars had begun and he had been made one of the Jedi Generals, although he knew the Council still didn't trust him because they had likely felt his darker impulses aimed straight at Count Dooku after the Jedi turned Sith Lord cut off his arm, Anakin knew if he ever found himself back in the past after thinking about his mother, he would have told Yoda and Obi-Wan what to do before he left weeks earlier, but he would have wiped out not just that camp, but several others.

It would likely have made him a hero in the eyes of the people of Tatooine; hundreds of people were slaughtered every single day or suffered the misfortune of being kidnapped by the Tuskens, and their water was slowly and torturously taken from them, drop by drop.

Anakin Skywalker knew he was not a Jedi.

A true Jedi would never have gone back to Tatooine. They would have let Shmi Skywalker die without a thought, rejoicing that they had become one with the Force.

A true Jedi would not have wiped out the entire camp, and murdered innocents in cold blood with a desire to kill even more.

But even worse, a true Jedi could never have broken the stupid code by marrying someone. While Anakin, deep down, was worried about his relationship with Padme, he didn't care about sticking two fingers up in defiance at the Jedi Code Obi-Wan and others had shoved down his throat all this time.

But now, until Mortis, Anakin had never really given a thought about the prophecy many on the Council either believed in or thought he was the worst candidate imaginable. He'd had it shoved down his throat from the moment he'd met Qui-Gon, and many Jedi Masters had tried to transform him into the Chosen One they imagined. It became so aggravating that even Anakin stopped believing in it since he had no idea what it meant. But until he'd come to Mortis, where it seemed he was needed to bring balance to the Force after all, Anakin just relegated the whole thing to a myth and he had made his mind up to just leave the Jedi for good when the war ended and live in peace with Padme on Naboo.

Anything was better than that.

But after falling to the Dark Side because of the Son after witnessing a terrible future that he could barely remember, the Father had been prepared to wipe his memory, only for Anakin to ask for a compromise. The Father had been intrigued and Anakin had felt a terrible and strange sensation, feeling as if he had been torn in half, but before he could even think, he had felt as if he had been shoved off a waterfall into a barrel.

Then suddenly it stopped, and Anakin was left panting while his cheek touched a cold, stone floor and his shoulder pads shook with the impact, he wondered if he'd just been dropped to the ground somehow, but he wasn't sure.

Anakin wasn't sure how long he spent lying on the ground, but he must have fallen unconscious because he found himself waking up. Looking around, he opened himself up to the Force. With a frown, he quickly realised he was on Naboo; the planet had such a distinctive impression that it was unmistakable, but it felt odd. There was a tinge of darkness that had never been there before, but as he opened himself up fully, stretching out with his senses, he quickly realised the tinge of darkness he was sensing on Naboo was not unique here, but it was all over the galaxy.

What?

What was happening?

Anakin winced as he moved around, gasping in pain as he stood up. He'd been lying on the stone ground so long his body now ached. But the moment he looked around, his heart chilled when he saw a marble statue of the figure of a woman, in full Nubian royal regalia. Anakin recognised it instantly. He had seen it many times before when he'd been just 9 years old.

He was looking at the statue of his wife, in a mausoleum.

"No," he muttered. "No, no, no…"

He was still in denial when he saw the name ornately carved on the headstone.

It was Padme. It gave her birth date and her death date. Anakin thought he was going to have a heart attack as he saw she was going to die a year from where he was now!

Xxxxx

Anakin had always found Naboo one of the most peaceful and beautiful planets in the galaxy. Sure the planet had endured so many terrible moments, but the peace had endured. But as he was walking towards the spaceport of the city of Theed, Anakin barely recognised the planet. As he cloaked his presence in the Force, he watched in shock and horror as troopers wearing the white armour of clones walked around, but one look at them, and Anakin knew they were not clones, and he felt nothing but fear and trepidation aimed at them from some of the people of Naboo.

Still shaken from his discovery his wife was now dead, Anakin headed for the spaceport, determined to get a transport to Coruscant to get some answers. He wasn't thinking clearly.

The Force was urging him through the city; after he'd seen Padme's statue, he had been tempted to see if he could meet up with her family, but the Force stopped him.

But as he walked towards the spaceport, he spotted a group of clones (?) harassing a few women. Anakin moved instinctively towards them, but he felt something stirring within him. The Force was telling him not to interfere, but the more Anakin tried to resist, the stronger it became. In the end, Anakin turned away, wincing as he heard the women's voices and shouts. But he also saw everyone knew what was happening but was not going to help.

What was going on here?

What was with all the banners, showing off the emblem of the Republic? Everywhere he had gone so far, there were banners draped over the buildings. It looked…strange. What was happening with the Clone Wars? Had they finished? Both sides had been exhausted and were of equal power, with the resources of both Separatists and Republic fighting each other. How far into the future had he gone? Time travel was a fascinating topic. But he had never imagined himself becoming one.

Anakin glanced at the shops and restaurants as he went through the spaceports. Many of them were shut tight, so any hopes of finding a terminal with holonet access were dashed. Boarding a transport bound for Coruscant was tricky, as the economy had changed, but he was able to mind trick his way onboard, regretting it instantly as he'd never been comfortable meddling with people's brains.

As he settled in his chair, Anakin quickly made a list of what he needed to do. But the take-off was delayed when the airlock door was kept open, and a squad of troopers came in. Anakin felt the tension and fear level rise instantly, but he felt a stirring in the Force. Someone was more frightened.

An alien mad of a species Anakin just didn't recognise came in. The moment Anakin saw him, he knew this man was a Force-sensitive and a dark sider. On a level, he was below Asajj Ventress.

"A Jedi fugitive is on this transport," the man said.

Anakin felt the other Force sensitive's fear shoot up.

"You know the law. The Jedi are traitors of the Empire," the dark sider said, unaware of Anakin's surprise which was carefully masked by those words, "and they are to be killed on sight. But all of you in this transport will be the ones to pay unless you come out, Jedi."

The dark sider ignited a strange-looking lightsaber, and he held it up to the throat of a frightened child. The parents tried to fight back, screaming for mercy, but the dark sider was using the Force to hold them captive. All they could do was watch and struggle.

Anakin felt the other Force-sensitive he knew was a Jedi become resigned, but Anakin stood up quickly. "That's enough. Let her go, and I'll come with you," he said, shocking everyone in the transport. At the same time, he felt the shock from the Jedi, and the longing that another of his Order was here, and the sadness his actions had led to this.

The darksider leered at him while he felt the shock and anger at him for putting the girl in danger. Anakin ignored it. He had experienced enough anti-Jedi sentiment during the Clone Wars, but this was different and this wasn't the time to take things personally.

"You've been sensible," he said mildly.

Anakin felt a warning through the Force, and he'd barely ignited his own lightsaber to stop the dark sider from cutting the girl's head off. A few people screamed while the troopers aimed their blasters at him, but Anakin had had more than enough of this. He engaged the other in a duel, deflecting the blaster bolts as he did and reflecting them at their troopers while he forced the dark sider off.

Many of the passengers screamed and leapt out of the way. The dark sider was fighting him with all he had, and it soon became apparent to him he was losing. As for Anakin as they got off the ship and in the open air, he realised that while this man was more than a match against non-Force sensitives and Jedi who were not fully trained, he was just not strong enough to take on a full Jedi Knight or a Master. His aggression gave him an edge, but even that didn't last for long against a man who'd spent days fighting endless battles.

The fight went on, even as the ship took off leaving them behind to continue their duel. As he fought Anakin could not help but remember the first times he had fought against Ventress, but even Ventress had been better than this guy.

Finally, Anakin gave in to his aggression and he cut off the hands of the dark sider who screamed in agony before Anakin killed him. Looking down at the corpse, Anakin growled in frustration when he realised the ship he'd hoped would take him to Coruscant was gone. He would have to wait for a new one. He also realised that too many people had seen the fight, and the troopers would scour the planet looking for him.