Arthur's note: I am currently finishing up stories, but this concept interested me.

This fic owes a huge amount of inspiration to Twm2002's story "The Hero With No Fear." I read the first twelve chapters as they published them several years back and wished that the story was completed. This tale would be similar at first, but it would eventually start taking a different tone as we get more and more into the story, as I implement my own writing and put my own twists on things. In short, just because something happened in that story doesn't mean it'll happen in this one.

This fic is going to be where Anakin becomes self-reliant. In my opinion, you need your own personal balance. Make no mistake, this is not Anidala come back together (it hurts but I want to make Anakin his own being) nor can I make promises about the future between Anakin and Obi-Wan's friendship.

Very EU based. Will be updated eventually. Probably sooner. Probably later. I want to finish those other stories first.

Chapter 1

In a galaxy far far away, the consecrated halls of the Jedi Temple allured many emotions such as joy, fascination, and curiosity. Let it never be said, the Jedi were witnesses to history. Echoes, ripples, and ghosts of the past Order continued to ripple through the halls-felt by the thousands of members that walked the halls of the Jedi Temple.

They were meticulous. Each walk brought another purpose to save the galaxy. Generations after generation passed, teaching lessons that they absorbed from their own Masters. While there were few exceptions, most followed the Jedi Code to the latter.

One, Anakin Skywalker, did his best to be the most outstanding Jedi he could have been. Despite his acceptance into the Order at the age of nine, he learned their ways. He exhausted himself tirelessly, day in and day out to be the best Jedi he could be, wanting to make his Masters proud-to be the perfect Jedi they'd seen in their visions. He'd done his best to ignore his peers bullying and pressed forward through his learning.

But it was for one person that undone all of that. Padmé Naberrie Amidala.

He dreamed about her for ten years. It was difficult not to keep her in his thoughts. Her beauty just struck him the moment he'd met her in that junkyard many years ago. She'd not only possessed the beautiful looks of an angel but shown compassion to a boy in slavery. It was hard for him to let her go many years ago.

When they reunited, his fondness for her increased. Anakin's crush didn't go away in time. It only got stronger and stronger. Nothing else mattered around her. All that mattered was being with her.

But there entrapped the primary of his conflict.

Love was not welcomed by the Jedi; it was a historical rule of the Jedi Order. Many succumbed to their feelings and it led to their descent. He was told time and time again that attachments led to the Dark Side.

Anakin attempted to resist his feelings. He'd tried to deny his feelings for the woman who came in his life and offered so much. He did. He'd valued being a Jedi, treasured all those ten years. He couldn't just simply leave. In his mind, he couldn't refuse both.

Unfortunately, fate opted differently. As he viewed it, the bond that corrupted so many Jedi before him would not do the same with him. He could learn from their mistakes and spot his descent before it occurred. Love made him more powerful. He had been taught that love was a strength by his mother, that the biggest problems in the universe were that nobody helped each other.

He was unable to deny his feelings. He gave in to the temptation towards Padmé, and he made the deep vow to love and protect her no matter what. The Jedi would be none the wiser as he gave into his feelings for the woman he'd loved.

Alas, it all came crashing down when his mother passed. The woman who gave Anakin the best years of his life she possibly could had been taken by terrorists. A part of him wasn't the same, having died with his mother. The memory became a wound to his heart. Something he couldn't recover from.

Afterwards, Anakin made a promise to shield those he loved most. Padmé was the top priority, alongside with Obi-Wan Kenobi, his later Apprentice Ahsoka Tano, and his men in the 501st.

However, it seemed like it never mattered.

His fear of losing his loved ones as he lost his mother attached onto him. He would protect her with his life as he would protect everyone else he'd cared about. Multiple times, Anakin almost lost her, and it took much control not to compromise a mission or reveal his true feelings to those around him.

So much went terrible that night. He'd nearly killed a man for daring to force himself on his wife. For Padmé, his "protectiveness" over her was too much. She broke off the marriage.

The pain was almost as crippling as that horrid night on Tatooine. Anakin could hardly breathe. In a moment of when he'd needed it most, he searched for the one family member he'd needed.

Upon hearing Anakin relaying to him the events, Obi-Wan was silent. Anakin begged him to understand, to give him reassurance. It was all that both men required. They had been through death and back with each other. They had spent years with each other. Surely, Obi-Wan cared about him!

For Obi-Wan, however, his disappointment was too overwhelming. To the young Jedi Knight's horror, Obi-Wan admitted that he had no other choice but to inform the Jedi Council. The Code was not optional, and Anakin should have followed it. He left Anakin without any guidance, support, or help.

Now, Anakin sat outside of the polished stone hooked onto the Jedi Council, waiting for what judgment that would come, exposed and humiliated. After the Rako Hardeen's incident, he should have known better than to relay his trust into Obi-Wan. Lastly, he should have known better than to believe into two delusions that were incompatible.

The Jedi Council demanded Anakin's presence early that morning. They sent a Padawan to tell him their message, all respect and adoration tossed out of the window. At the very least, Obi-Wan should have been the one to tell him, but the man's humiliation, embarrassment, and shame had been too much for him.

For over two hours, Anakin sat alone. His mind was ravaged with thoughts. Betrayal, anger, but lastly pain. He had done so much for Obi-Wan, for the Jedi Order, for Padmé, and none of them cared?!

The two large doors leading into the Council Chambers opened with a hiss. Anakin stood up, keeping his anger under control.

He sensed their emotions: anger, shame, disappointment, indignation, disgust, and finally acceptance. Indeed, Anakin had no supporters. A Jedi who broke the Code and gave into his feelings had no allies.

He pushed himself off of the floor. He didn't care to bury his emotions this time. Why should he? The result would be the same. Obi-Wan and Padmé's betrayals hurt deeply. They never cared. The Jedi was never his family, so it only left numbness.

The doors closed with a bang. From the center of the room Anakin spared an empty glance at the council members. They all chose to concentrate their attention on him, staring at him with disgusted looks. He found Obi-Wan in his chair, disappointed more than anything else.

Mace Windu leaned forward, seizing the opportunity to speak. "It has been brought to our attention that you have broken the Jedi Code willingly and deliberately. The confession was given by Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."

The Council replayed the recording of Obi-Wan giving the confession hours ago. What had been given in faith to his old "friend" was now used against him, shared to the complacent ears of the Jedi Council.

Mace ended the Hologram when finished. "Do you deny this blatant lack of consideration for the Jedi Code?"

Anakin glared at Obi-Wan for five long seconds. Part of him felt tears stinging at his vision, but there was no point in crying. Why should he? Obi-Wan didn't care. Nor was anyone else in this room.

"No." he answered coldly, turning away from the Jedi Master.

Windu sighed, "Then I open this hearing up to the rest of the Council."

Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke. "This is the gravest misconduct of the Jedi Order. It's a deliberate transgression against everything we teach! This action is not just reckless! It's dangerous! A Jedi with as much skill as he has is a flight risk. Skywalker disrespected this Council before. There is no other choice. We have to banish him from the Jedi Order!"

The other members added onto that speech. Save for Obi-Wan, they all took turns. It stung, but the aching betrayal only infuriated him. It'd confirmed something he knew long ago. Anakin was no great Jedi. He was a disgrace to the Order.

"I put it to a vote then," Windu said. "All in favor of expulsion raise your hands."

All - including Obi-Wan - but one voted in favor.

"Master Yoda?"

When prompted by Saesee Tiin, the Grand Master hummed with predictable disappointment. He kept his thoughts to himself, choosing not to speak so far. He merely witnessed the proceedings in silence.

All of them gave Yoda their attention as he spoke. "A dangerous path this is. Attachments lead to the Dark Side. Taught this you were, but ignore it, you did. Anything to say for yourself, have you?"

He lifted his head up to look at the green Jedi who merely stared at Anakin. There was no point in justifications. He was already expelled. The Jedi Council made their choice.

"I'm already expelled," he said sharply, "just end it now, why don't we?"

Suffice to say, that infuriated many of them.

Yoda dipped his head and sighed. "Disappointing this is." He paused for a moment. "The debate is settled."

"Anakin Skywalker," Windu demanded, "come forward and forfeit your lightsaber."

He complied without complaint. Anakin reached for his lightsaber hilt and held it one last time. It had been there for so long that it ripped him apart to give up the lightsaber. No longer was he Jedi Anakin Skywalker, he was just another human being lost and without guidance.

Yoda held out his palm and Anakin gently positioned the weapon down. Finished with the painful process, he moved to the exit. Leaving was all that mattered. Getting far away from Coruscant was important.

"Before you leave," Windu called out, freezing Anakin by the exit, "since the Chancellor made it clear that the Republic views your conduct as self-defense, it is of the choice of this Council that you'll be sent to the Jedi Citadel. There are four guards waiting for you by the exit on ground level. Submit yourself to them and start to take responsibility for what you've done."

The doors closed behind Anakin. His body moved to the left, touching the button, and beginning the journey to ground level.

Exiting the lift, Anakin saw the four Temple Guards, true to Windu's word.

He waited in place, ignoring the stares of the Jedi who passed by. He watched as the Temple Guards moved up to him, brandished their cuffs, and snapped his hands behind his back.

As he was led down to the hanger, Anakin noticed the disgust from many of his colleagues. None came forward. Some even warned their Padawans about the dangers of their attachments.

The children gave him space, backing with their Masters, shrinking away from him even though he was "restrained".

He was attuned deeply with the Force. With the long walk, he felt his connection to the Force. The guards seemed to be none the wiser as they moved to the hanger where the transfer team would be heading.

The Force engulfed him. As they came to a stop, prepared to push him onto the ship, Anakin felt the Force rippling around him. He was half-Force, not entirely human. And how ironic that was the thing that saved him at the end.

The Force exploded out of him, sending them all flying back into the walls. Multiple hanger parts laid around them. The Force did not abandoned him. It reassured its young child that he'd no longer needed them.

The Force-prohibiting binders fell onto the floor with a loud clang afterwards. Sensing the Jedi on alert nearby, Anakin moved over to his ETA-2 with great haste, his fingers traveled over the controls, allowing the ship to turn on. The engines roared. The ship trembled as the landing gear abjured, and in no time, the starfighter elevated into the air.

The Force led him where to go. His time with the Jedi was over. At this time, he could not remain on Coruscant. He had no place here. Everything he'd known came to an end, but there was a galaxy of possibilities.

He did not even spare a look back at Coruscant as he linked to a hyper-ring and soared off into the black abyss of space.