#as jedi should only be devoted to their work and the force

[fishybehavior]

I have ideas that are stuck in my head

[gffa]

SO WHAT ARE JEDI HEALERS LIKE IN CANON? The subtitle of this project was literally, “Started making it.  Had a breakdown.  Bon appetite.” because Star Wars lore is a mess of about five distinctly separate continuities and hardly anything has been devoted to this particular niche of Jedi worldbuilding.  I spent a few hours hunting down sources, most of which were just one or two lines, at most a whole entire single paragraph! of information, and not much on how Force healing actually works. This is fair, primarily the Force is about the emotions the user puts into it, that’s the core, central theme of what the Force means to Star Wars worldbuilding, rather than nitpicking details about hard rules of how it works.  Further, the Force isn’t full of hard and fast rules on a bigger scale, it depends on the person, it depends on their mood, it depends on whether it’s a Tuesday or a Friday, because it’s about serving core themes, not about serving a system of magical rules. That said, here’s what we know of Jedi Healers specifically in canon, both as a group within the Jedi Order and as an ability of the Force.  This post will mix together Legends and Disney/Lucasfilm canon, as well as include RPG books that are not meant to be sources of canon, because the whole point of this is to give worldbuilders some tools to start with, should you want!  HAVE SOME FUN WITH IT, PICK OUT WHAT YOU LIKE, AND BUILD UP FROM THERE.  \o/ KNOWN JEDI HEALERS: - Rig Nema (Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon) - Stass Allie (Disney/Lucasfilm canon, as a healer) - Barriss Offee (Legends canon as a healer, Disney/Lucasfilm canon as working with healers) - Mill Alibeth (Disney/Lucasfilm canon) - Nahdar Vebb (Fantasy Flight Games canon, as a healer) - Vokara Che (Legends continuity) JEDI HEALERS ROLE IN THE JEDI ORDER: Jedi healers seem to be fairly rare and they were regarded as fairly precious:

(Jedi vs Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force / Legends canon) Note:  In this instance “Old Republic” = prequels era, and while this snippet is Legends, Rhinnal has been mentioned in Disney/Lucasfilm canon in The Rising Storm.  In the FFG books, the Jedi established a chapter house on Rhinnal for many patients that was still in use and had been expanded during the prequels’ Jedi Order’s time.  So, the Jedi have Halls-of-healing-esque houses on other places beyond Coruscant. Jedi Healers were regarded as the most sensitive Jedi of all:

(Wild Space / Legends Canon) JEDI HEALERS’ STRUCTURE: Rig Nema was a Consular Jedi, which was a Jedi that devoted themselves to the study of a science or diplomacy, where she was a dedicated doctor.  Jedi specializing in healing seem to often withdraw from any combat duties, as well as they fall under this specialized role within Jedi career paths.

(The Visual Encyclopedia / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) In Legends, the Jedi Healers worked with the MedCorps Jedi, as well as the were in leadership roles in the Temple’s infirmary and on worlds like Rhinnal and H’ratth.

(The Jedi Path / Legends canon) Note:  The Service Corps are tricky, because Legends established them just after The Phantom Menace came out, before even the second movie of the prequels had arrived, much less TCW or anything.  Which means much of the content that came later had a tendency to contradict itself, as well as they do not exist at all in Lucas’ canon, and they are only mentioned in deeply obscure reference guides in Disney/Lucasfilm canon (and no mention of aging out--which further cannot work the same way, as TCW and Dooku: Jedi Lost establish that 14 year olds are young for Padawans and that 17+ isn’t rare for Padawans), but have never appeared in any book or comic yet.  All of which means:  Feel free to use them!  Source material is a buffet that you get to pick and choose from!  But be aware that some things are fundamentally incompatible from one continuity to another, and the Service Corps is a big one of those. Within the Jedi Order, there was a sub-order of the Knights who practiced healing arts, called the Circle of Jedi Healers:

(The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia / Legends canon)      “Seated on the Jedi High Council due to her invaluable role as a Jedi Consular, Master Stass Allie is gifted not only in diplomacy and Lightsaber combat, but also Force healing. As a member of the Circle of Jedi Healers and overseer of the Medical Corps, she continues to hone her healing abilities even while deployed as a general for the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars.” (Complete list of Force Collection cards / Continuity status unknown, probably Legends as it started in 2013) Not all Jedi had to be dedicated healers to work with the medical clinic.  In Disney/Lucasfilm canon, Barriss Offee often spent time helping injured Jedi, because she found healing to give her solace.

(Stories of Jedi and Sith / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) Though, in Legends, Barriss was more directly a healer, working under Stass Allie in the Circle of Jedi Healers, where she specialized in disease rather than surgery.

(Star Wars Databank / Legends canon) Similarly, when Mill Alibeth finds her place within the Jedi Order, at Yoda’s suggestion that she use her abilities for specialized medical and spiritual assistance for war-wounded Jedi, she’s not necessarily Master Nema’s Padawan, it’s not so formalized as that, showing that there’s a lot of flexibility within the Jedi Order’s studies and paths.

(Brotherhood / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) JEDI HEALERS’ ABILITIES: While Jedi healers focus on medical training, they also train Jedi in the main components of Jedi philosophy, like greater control and insight.  When Mill Alibeth begins training with Rig Nema, she gains greater mastery over herself and the insight she has into Anakin in their meditation together:

(Brotherhood / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) In addition to Jedi healers being rare, it seems like it was taxing for them to directly use Force healing, because it drained them personally.  While much of Kylo’s ability to revive Rey seems to come from that they were a dyad (and this would not be possible with other types of Force Healing, so other Jedi could not do that particular thing), Rey does do some Force Healing, where she must calm herself and center herself to do it properly, and it takes energy from her to accelerate healing. It’s not much here, she doesn’t need to recover from it, but anything more significant and likely she would have.  So, Jedi healers have to be careful about how much they give of themselves when healing others.  This is also why Grogu collapses after healing Greef in The Mandalorian.

(The Rise of Skywalker novelization / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) Another Jedi healing ability is the Healing Trance, which would accelerate their natural healing process.  While in this trance, because their heartbeat and breathing slow, they can appear to be dead to others, and they’re unaware of the world around them.  Depending on the climate, they can last anywhere from a week to a month within this trance, without outside hydration being given to them.

(Jedi vs Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force / Legends canon) JEDI HEALERS WITH THE FORCE VS TECHNOLOGY: The Jedi Order of the prequels seems to balance between technology and the Force, that both have their place in healing.  In the episode “Voices”, Rig Nema relies on medical scans to show Yoda’s physiology, as well as a tank of dark liquid (either a bacta tank or a sensory deprivation tank, both would be useful for Jedi who need calm and no distractions to connect to the Force) to help him, but it’s balanced with his connection to the Force being plumbed, it’s not focused only on technological means.

JEDI HEALERS HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR: In addition to being extra sensitive, Jedi Healers would be spending time in places that were soaked in pain and suffering, just by the nature of injured people’s anguish.  Not only would they face the difficulty of dealing with a patient’s pain directly, Force-sensitive means being psychic, as in that pain literally soaks into the walls around them.

(”The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” / Lucas canon / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) It’s intense enough in places that have a bad accident and those feelings linger, it’s a hundred times worse in places where people are always in pain or dying.  Jedi Healers aren’t just subjected to the person’s suffering that’s right in front of them, but the thousand patients before them that have left their emotional imprint on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the pillows, the bed, the very air around them. HALLS OF HEALING/MEDICAL WINGS:

The Medical Center and Infirmary seem to be located about halfway up the left-hand side of the main ziggurat: "Medical center and infirmary, staffed by Jedi Medical Corps.” (Complete Locations | Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

“The Jedi Temple's Halls of Healing were beautiful. They had lofty ceilings and enormous windows that spilled golden light over the blue and green and rose-pink walls and floor. Imbued with the Force's most gentle aspects, with love and nurturing and peace, they were full of perfumed flowers and green growing things, with the music of running water and the vibrancy of life renewed. They were the perfect retreat for those who were broken in body and mind, a place where the ugliness of suffering was washed away.” (Wild Space | Legends canon)

It’s difficult to get a sense of the size of it in The Clone Wars, but it seems to be fairly big, given the diversity of what we see of it, there may be more hard scientific areas and more gentle healing areas, both:    - Obi-Wan’s transformation into Rako Hardeen is in an area with multiple cordoned off areas with doors that can be fogged over. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon , Disney/Lucasfilm canon )

Likely the same area in the episode “Voices”, it seems like it’s in an area of the Temple that’s a hallway away from windows facing the outside. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

 Anakin and Mace share a recovery room, which has a different style from the other infirmary rooms, done in different colors and with softer lighting, indicating that they have gentler recovery rooms versus the active medical problem areas It has a window looking out over Coruscant, indicating that it’s near the edge of the ziggurat, likely an area for less critical patients and meant to promote healing. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

 Yoda is put in the infirmary in an area that looks to be the same area, but also has a separate area for a bacta tank, which seems to be at least possibly similar to the same area Depa was in when she was submerged in bacta. When Anakin walks into the room (and later he and Yoda walk out), we see what looks like sky through a window in the background of the outside hallway, possibly indicating this was near the edge of the ziggurat as well.  (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)(Kanan: The Last Padawan | Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

[groundzero-v]

Titles tag game

Thank you @roalinda for tagging me! 💕

List the titles of your top 5 priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers)

An upcoming scene, event or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing

Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which of the top 5 wips are they are most excited to see an update on!

Then tag 10 writer friends!

Titles

1. Revenge *is* the answer (worktitle, Prongsfoot)

Set in a version of the wizarding world where ghosts work a bit differently, Sirius and James team up to hunt Peter Petigreew down.

Or: James comes back (sort of), breaks Sirius out of Azkaban (finally) and decides whoever betrayed them both doesn't deserve to live on.

2. Marauder's Guide to Saving the Wizarding World (Prongsfoot)

I suppose everyone is tired of me talking about this one, but it's my only published wip 😄 James and Sirius compete as a team in the Triwizard Tournament which sets things that were never supposed to happen in their time in motion. Marauders fight Voldemort AU!

Includes lots of Marauder banter, feels, questionable humour, prongsfoot moments and brand new tasks in the tournament

3. No title yet. Star Wars AU + transmigration* (Prongsfoot)

The Proud Immortal Sith Way was a webnovel with an average rating of 2.5. It was, quite frankly, a piece of shit. The only thing that kept James reading, day after day, was the main character, the Jedi turned Sith, Sirius Black.

Sirius' whole life was filled with misfortune and pain. Upon entering the Order he received nothing but distain and distrust from everyone around him, even from his Master. It was no wonder he turned to the Dark side when everyone was just a useless NPC!

'How is it fair that Sirius had to spend the rest of his life in misery after suffering this whole time?!!’ James wrote at 1AM into the comment section of yet another chapter that had Sirius traveling the galaxy and adding another one-chapter, useless love interest to his harem.

The same night, James died. When he woke up, he was in the novel, the words 'Fine, do better,' apprearing in front of his eyes before they blipped out of existence.

*((A variation of SVSS for those aware, but should be totally alright to read without any knowledge of SW or SVSS^^))

4. Fantasy/Knights of the Round table AU (Prongsfoot)

Fantasy, Arthur & Knights of the Round table AU. James in the place of Arthur, future king, and Sirius as Lancelot, his most loyal knight. Features sword-magic, epic adventures and magical creatures. A very much just a concept for now

An upcoming scene, event or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing:

1. Prongsfoot just...being feral for each other, absolute devotion to the max. They have finally reunited again and there's nothing that can stop them. Also just them...trespassing everywhere 😄 Besides that, definitely the confrontation with Peter!!

2. I'm pretty excited about the Second Task of the Tournament (and a bit scared since I had to create it, hopefully it's interesting). But other than that, to be very vague haha, Prongsfoot meeting Voldemort for the first time!🙈 (There is a line that started this whole fic that I have been waiting to use and its coming closer with each day!!)

3. It's so different so I have to say there're so many things I'm really excited about. Figuring out who should be who in the SW universe is a lot of fun, but I think I'm mostly looking forward to James and Sirius being absolutely unstoppable with lightsabers and the Force. The aspect of the transmigration is also something I'm really really looking forward to

4. I love fantasy so puttting Prongsfoot in there is just a dream. A scene I'm most excited about is Sirius getting knighted by James and swearing his loaylty to him 🥹

Tagging (no pressure and sorry if you were already tagged!) @lovelymasks @jmagnabo92 @cassiaratheslytherpuff @gracelesslady23 @prongsfoot4life @solitaire-sol @mycupofrum @siriuslystarbucks @siriuslycomplex

[thgfanfictionlibrary]

Mature Rated Fics Masterlist (28)

Part 1-Part 19 / Part 20 / Part 21 / Part 22 / Part 23 / Part 24 / Part 25 / Part 26 / Part 27 /

Created: March 14th, 2024

Last Checked:------

Art and Other Distractions-HGfanonezillion (ao3) Summary: Hunger Games AU. Sometimes attraction can happen at the most unlikely times. Even between a grocery store butcher and a high school art teacher at a parents' night. A Synonym for Acquiesce-Abagail_Snow (ao3) Summary: Katniss thinks of Peeta. He still has his mother, and he has two brothers, who are young, but old enough to keep the bakery running. He'll be okay, she tells herself. But when she closes her eyes and imagines her daddy going into the ground, she knows he never will be. (Canon divergence, Katniss's father lives, while Peeta's father dies, long before the 74th Hunger Games.) Away We Go-Abagail_Snow (ao3) Summary: As they prepare for the birth of their first child, Katniss and Peeta try to find their place in Panem. Inspired by the film Away We Go. Beautiful Scars-DustWriter (ff.net) Summary: Scars are beautiful by the story they tell. A morning in Twelve not so long into the Epilogue of Mockingjay. One-shot/Lemons. Between Real and Not Real-DandelionLass (ao3) Summary: An accident throws Peeta Mellark together with the unexpected love of his life. A take on the 1995 film, "While You Were Sleeping" starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. Bigger don't mean better-Angylinni (ao3) Summary: The Double Deuce has blood on the floor every night. When the best cooler in the business comes to town to clean up the mess, he finds out that trouble comes in all shapes and sizes. For Peeta Mellark, that's just part of the job. Biggest Fan-burkygirl, Xerxia (ao3) Summary: Fanfic writer Peeta Mellark - Captain Amellarka to his readers - can hardly wait to spend a fun-filled weekend at the Québec Winter Carnival with Katseye, his beta and best friend. She's also possibly the love of his life, but he figures he probably should lay eyes on her in real life before he declares his undying devotion. Binary Sunset-Abagail_Snow (ao3) Summary: Their love was destiny, and it will spark a rebellion across the entire galaxy. Jedi Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark resist temptations during the rise and fall of the Empire. Blessed Accidents-appleblossomgirl (ao3) Summary: In canon AU. Neither Katniss nor Peeta have been reaped. A life-changing event forces them together. Can they learn to trust each other and work as a team for the sake of their families? Body Language-AyYouFiction (ao3) Summary: Orphaned at fourteen, her only living relative has all but abandoned her for the last four years, but there’s a chance she could have everything she has ever wanted in a new world below the surface, a new family, and a new name: Katniss.

[bluetoothschizophrenic]

I was just reminded that the Jedi cremate their fallen members and you know what? That’s stupid. What better way would there be than for an order of beings devoted to the protection of life to give back to the universe they serve one last time than to be laid to rest in nature? To feed, in whatever way they can, the natural world, and with it, the living force they spent their lives in service to.

During the clone wars, fine, yeah, we saw a Jedi corpse get misused at least once and it is wartime, things get a bit hectic. But during peacetime? Like Qui-Gon, yes it was much more impactful as a scene to have a cremation and in some cases it does definitely fit the character or the circumstances, like Evan Piell, Obi-Wan’s fake out, and Anakin’s funeral, but on the whole, Jedi should be laid to rest naturally, Qui-Gon especially. “He was always fascinated by this tree” Dooku said. So what better way to memorialize him than to have his remains become the bedrock for another tree?

The Jedi being on Coruscant is one of a near endless list of signs that they’ve lost touch with who they should be, but it’s also one that on a purely observational level, shouldn’t have happened. Coruscant is a planet filled with life, yes. Billions upon billions of beings, but the Jedi weren’t integrated with any of it. This isn’t the Eden that was Tython or Ossus, or even Dantooine, where the temple was humble, in pretty close proximity to the surrounding lands and farms. No, the Coruscant temple had one tree. No gardens, no plants or vines littering the halls. No Jedi working with the galactic biologists to breed species close to extinction in what could be the safest wildlife refuge in the galaxy. Not teaching younglings to value all life by surrounding them in its myriad forms. Just steel and stone.

The only way I could see the cremation concept being redeemed would be if it were mentioned that the ashes of cremated Jedi are the fertilizer used to keep the tree alive, but I doubt they’d ever do that, since that would mean Jedi would be having to die pretty frequently to keep the thing in good condition

[casp1an-sea]

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON STAR WARS LEGENDS

These are just my opinions your welcome to have different ones

Han and Leia waiting to get married makes total sense! At the end of return of the Jedi the only time they’ve spent as a couple is when their relationship started in ESB and its continuation in ROJ most of which they were in battle. Yes Leia has been thinking about him for about a year now but she hasn’t been able to get closer to him in that time, and for Han it’s like not time has passed at all. Plus there’s still a fucking War going on that they very much are invoked in. Marriage is not on their minds, especially Leia’s. (Plus all the traumatic shit they have to process)

This is a message to both legends and canon LUKE IS GAY come on now 🥲

Mara was cool until she married Luke then the writers kind of screwed up her character

Han’s backstory WTF (it’s so sad but so good)

Can we get more Han and Lando buddy cop adventures?

I FUCKING LOVE CORAN HORN

Okay but those stormtroopers from Choices of One feel like The Bad Batch’s emo cousins

THRAWN IS SUCH A NEAT VILLIAN

I THINK NUSO ESVA IS NONBINARY. WHY? fanart

I think it’s rly funny that C-3PO gets given to Han

I love Anakin so much why did he have to die???? Also please Leia why did you insist on that name. Don’t get me wrong I love it but the pressure you put on this poor child. Han why’d you give in you idiot?

HAN IS SUCH A DAD

WHY ARE THEY LEAVING A DEPRESSED ALCOHOLIC HOME ALONE WITH C3PO AND A LIST OF BARS?????

I feel so bad for Han in courtship of Princess Leia. Should I?

Okay but let’s be clear Leia definitely cheated on Han with Isolder. Idc what she thinks that was, it was cheating.

I see a common theme of Leia being rly untrustworthy of Han until they get married. To like an unhealthy degree. What is this guys? I promise he’s not a bad dude.

remember that time where Luke made a submarine out of a dead creatures stomach skin? Yep I do.

lando’s mining facilities getting destroyed is such a funny gag

Did you notice Isolder’s daughter marries Han and Leia’s son? It’s like poetry it rhymes.

WHY IS BOBA FETT STILL HERE????

I love paradise snare but to me the hutt gambit was a dumbstruck fire

HUGE PET PEVE I HAVE WITH TATOINE GHOST! (Still love the book though) Forgiving and forgetting is not always the answer. Han does not need to forgive the republic. LEIA DOES NOT NEED TO FORGIVE VADER. Nor would Han push her to do so and he certainly would not condone the slaughter of tuskins because “he was a boy with a dead mother”. Well wouldn’t you know Han you’re a boy with a dead mother and you didn’t commit genocide. You have even less reason to forgive Vader than the twins. I block this out it was a bad writing choice.

HAN HAD A CHILD WITH BRIA???? I know when, but WHERE ARE THEY?! google was no help

“Must be nice to have a grandmother” LMAO HAN YOU OKAY BUDDY?

Is it bad of me to say I prefer the og force witches/dathomirians/dathomir/nightsisters to the canon ones?

WHY DOES FORCE LIGHTNIHNG NEVER ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING

LUUKE SKYWALKER? They’re so goated for that. OKAY BUT DID DAVE FILLONI READ THE REBEL FORCE SERIES? BRAINWASHED abducted children with no memory of their lives and family, solely devoted ASSASSINS to an ECCENTRIC IMPERIAL WITH A SUPERIORITY COMPLEX who wants favor with the emperor. And these assassins are called X-1, X-2, X-3, X-4, X-5, X-6, and X-7. This is why it should have been tech.

I thought Chewie’s death was impactful and I didn’t hate it

I like it better that Han and Leia didn’t divorce

I like that Han is a male wife and I love how close his children are to him. It makes sense that Leia would be the working one.

not them have a floor to ceiling length tapestry of Leia in a their house. That would scare the shit out of me at night.

I like that Leia is a senator and not a general. Okay hear me out. Leia is trained in diplomacy as much as she is in combat. She was a senator before she was a rebel. And she has always been very much involved in matters of state and would want to feel like she was actively doing something to keep the republic in check. The rebellion was not just a war to her it was making the Galaxy a better place that doesn’t end when the war for her so the natural next step would be a government position. Granted she still acts as a general if need be and goes far beyond her job description countless times.

THE NEW JEDI ORDER SERIES IS FUCKING CRAZY MAN

Can someone fo a demo of the song C-3Po wrote about Han?

[kalevalakryze]

Baylan Skoll was never chosen to be a padawan, in this essay I will...

(this is only going to look familiar to a handful of you)

Warning, long post below with excerpts + notes about "The Jedi Path" by Daniel Wallace

"Everybody thinks they know what a Jedi is-that we all serve in the Army of the Light and fight the Sith Lords, or that we're all lightsaber battlemasters and starfighter aces. It just isn't so. Jedi can serve the Republic in other ways too. The Jedi Service Corps is an honorable alternative for any graduating Initiate, and he or she should be proud to serve among its ranks. When most initiates hit early adolescence, they seek to pair up with Masters to begin their Padawanship apprenticeships. If you are not selected, then what? You can try again the following season, but eventually, the Temple Instructors may tell you that you've run out of chances-and then the Reassignment Council steps in. So I'm thinking there was just something Baylan couldn't get; Maybe even the connection to a Jedi Master, he just didn't seem like the kind of Jedi that should have been on the battlefront, he was more of a homebody Jedi, like Yoda, or even Jocasta Nu. Maybe, after failing so often, the Reassignment Council steps in, and I see him joining the Educational branch, staying at the temple to help teach and to help in the archives, one of these devouts of the pillar of knowledge. A Note in the Book From Palpatine: "I imprisoned the surviving Jedi Service Corps Members on Byss. Even the strongest were easy to turn to the dark side." Maybe Baylan was one of these survivors, and while it's clear he didn't go full dark, what did he have to do to survive? Knowing that the younglings he'd so caringly guided were lost to the Force, that the world he'd devoted himself to studying and understanding was gone, and that this new world was just dark, and it was an 'adapt or die' situation The Jedi Path section about the EduCorps: The Education Corps, or EduCorps, consists of Scholars, teachers, and archivists. All Jedi are expected to be teachers to some degree, but the EduCorps goes far beyond that. They work under the supervision of the Temple's Chief Librarian and spend most of their days cataloging and translating. So my thoughts here are, as an archivist who spends his days combing through Jedi Holocrons, he would hear about the Mother, or Abeloth, would read about these Mortis Gods and have an intimate understanding. And when the Jedi were killed, he could recall these stories, he was the last one alive who'd ever heard them from the holocrons, after all. He would be able to remember the powers these holocrons detailed the gods as having, would trust that if anyone could save their history, it would be them, but only the Mother sounds powerful enough to stop the Empire. Finding Shin was a mistake. He was no Master, after all. He'd been granted the rank of General in the republic like all the others, yet he didn't command an army, he worked in libraries and traveled to conquered/liberated worlds to read their texts and to enter their stories into the history of the republic. He goes to a planet in the expansion zone, and he meets a child, there are so few left in this world, no one for him to share his stories with, that when she displays force sensitivity, he takes her, just as the Jedi had done to younglings all those years ago. And he trains her, he gives her a Padawan's braid and he calls her Initiate, and when it's time for her Initiate Trials, he is happy to accept her as his Padawan, like no one had ever done for him. And Shin is so attentive and an amazing student, just like the younglings in the temple, but he cannot burden her with the knowledge of Abeloth. Does not want to ruin the perception he knew she was creating of the Jedi, but he also keeps her training limited, 'The old ways led them to ruin so we will create our own,' 'yes,master' etc etc

[bart1607]

Better days

This is my first Star Wars fan fiction, I've never written anything before. I'm not native speaker/writer, so I would like to apologize for any grammar mistakes, e.t.c. Originally this fan fiction was supposed to be only about Ahsoka & Rex, but I decided to make alternate AU, where Anakin doesn't turn to the dark side. I also plan to write a second chapter that will be devoted to what else happened later, something like epilogue. I hope this fanfiction isn't that bad.

Link to AO3:

Anakin kept wondering if he had done the right thing by telling Mace Windu that the Chancellor was a hidden Sith Lord. As a Jedi Knight, he should have defeated the Sith and the darkness that surrounded them. On the other hand, he still had Palpatine's words in his mind that he had knowledge about saving people from death. Anakin really wanted Padme to survive. He had already lost his mother, which caused him great suffering and anger, which led to the slaughter of an entire tusken village. Losing his wife would be even more painful for him. What if only Chancellor Palpatine could save her? Anakin realized that Mace Windu and the Jedi accompanying him would defeat the chancellor, the only person who could help him. After some thought, Anakin decided that he needed to get to the chancellor's office as soon as possible to protect Palpatine from certain death at the hands of the Jedi. Anakin ran to his ship and started it up. Just as he was about to leave, Anakin suddenly heard a familiar voice in his head: 

- Anakin, think about what you're about to do - said Qui-gon Jin's voice 

Anakin was in shock, he didn't know what happened now. Can the Jedi communicate with the living after death? After all, the Jedi had always told themselves that life after death was impossible! At the same time, Anakin recalled the case of Master Yoda, who was also allegedly contacted by Qui-Gon Jin's ghost. No one believed it at the time, everyone assumed that the "voice" he heard was the result of Master Yoda's old age and fatigue, or it could even be the work of the Sith. After a few seconds, Anakin answered him: 

- Master Qui-gon, is it really you? How come you keep contacting me despite your death? 

- When I died, I became one with the Force. It is being one with the Force that allows me to connect with the living. 

Anakin was still amazed at what he heard, but Qui-Gon continued: 

- But I am speaking to you for a much different, very serious purpose. Please, listen carefully to what I have to say! 

Anakin's emotions had subsided a bit, but he was still a little shocked by the whole situation. 

- You can go on, Master, I'll listen - Anakin told him 

- Anakin, in a moment you will make a very important choice. You can destroy the Sith once and for all and restore the balance of the Force. I would just like to warn you against committing stupidity. Your bad decision can condemn the entire galaxy for years of suffering and plunging into darkness. 

- But the Sith have the knowledge to save people from death! I must possess it to save from death...--Anakin jammed at that moment. He couldn't just tell a dead Jedi that he was secretly married to Padmé, much less that she was pregnant! 

- I know everything, Anakin - Qui-Gon said - Padmé is still healthy, she's safe.  

Anakin was surprised to hear these words. Does this mean that the late Jedi Master watched his life and deeds all the time? And how could he know that Padmé was safe? 

- But Master, in my sleep I had visions in which she died! How can you be sure that she is safe?!  

- Anakin, these are just visions that may be false. Also remember that the future is always in motion, at any time you can change it, influence it. 

After a pause, he added: 

- Anakin, you have to trust the Force, it will guide you, it will clear your mind. Thanks to it, you will make the right choice and you will not make a mistake!  

- I understand, Master, but I feel like I have to go there - Anakin said  

-May the force be with you! - Qui-Gon's voice told him 

After a while, the Jedi master's voice faded, and Anakin took off in his ship and began to head for the chancellor's office. 

After a few minutes, Anakin landed next to the Senate building. He got out and hurried to the office where Palpatine was. When he arrived, a Jedi fight with Palpatine was already underway. Anakin walked past the bodies of Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiint. Only Mace Windu remained alive. Anakin realized how powerful an opponent Palpatine was, since he could defeat three Jedi masters. Meanwhile, Mace Windu almost beat Palpatine. During the duel, the Dark Lord's lighthsaber fell out through the previously broken window of the building, and the Chancellor himself fell to the floor, who after a few moments spoke to Anakin: 

- Anakin, I told you it would come to this! I was right! The Jedi are taking over! 

- The oppression of the Sith will never return! You have lost! - said Mace Windu 

- No... no... no! YOU WILL DIE! - at the moment of uttering these words, the Sith Lord unleashed powerful lightning bolts of Force directed at the Jedi Master. Master Windu covered himself with a lightsaber and began to deflect a lightning attack towards the Chancellor. 

- He is a traitor! - shouted Palpatine 

- No, he is a traitor! - Windu replied, blocking the Sith attack 

- I have the power, to save the one you love! You must choose! - Palpatine said in a slightly weakened voice. 

- Don’t listen to him Anakin! - Mace Windu replied quickly to these words 

- Don't let him kill me! - just after these words, Anakin noticed the changes taking place on the Chancellor's body. His face was beginning to become wrinkled and folded, and his eyes became visible in the yellow that was characteristic of the Sith. Anakin tried to think quickly about what he was seeing. Chancellor Palpatine at this point was not the same person who Anakin knew. He never expected that Palpatine, the person who was like a father to him, was such a powerful Sith Lord. Anakin was also shocked by the Chancellor's change in appearance. Did this mean that he had created some kind of Force illusion? This would explain why the Jedi could not sense the presence of a dark aura around the person of the Chancellor. Only Palpatine's words snatched from Anakin's musings: 

- I can’t hold it any longer, I’m weak, I'm too weak! - saying these words, Palpatine stopped the attack with force lightnings. 

- I am going to end to this, once and for all! - Master Windu said menacingly 

- I'm too weak. Oh, don't kill me. Please! - Palpatine replied in a weak voice 

- You shouldn't do that, it's not a Jedi way! He must first stand trial. 

- He has control of the Senate and the courts. He's too dangerous to be left alive, we have to kill him! 

- Help me Anakin, please! - repeated his request to the Sith 

Anakin thought for a while about whose side to be on. At first, he wanted to help the Chancellor, but something told him that helping the Sith would be his biggest mistake he would make. So Anakin grabbed his lightsaber and stood next to Mace Windu. 

- I will help you destroy him, Master! - Anakin said confidently 

Palpatine's face was priceless at that moment. He couldn't hide his shock and surprise at Anakin's behavior. Chancellor Palpatine did not expect Anakin to decide to help the dark-skinned Jedi, his plan was completely different. After a while, the dark lord continued his attack with lightning power, but two powerful Jedi successfully repelled his attacks. At one point, he stopped the attack and tried to escape through a broken window, unfortunately it was his mistake. Taking advantage of interrupting his lightning attack, Anakin approached the Chancellor and confidently pierced his chest with his lightsaber. The former chancellor's body fell limply to the floor. Moments after killing the Sith, both Anakin and Mace Windu felt a massive disturbance in the Force, which ceased after a few moments. Both Jedi were very exhausted from fighting Palpatine, but they knew that the Sith had been defeated once and for all. 

- Thank you, young Skywalker, you have done a very important deed today! Together, we defeated the Sith Lord! - Mace Windu happily said 

- Thank you for your praise, Master, although I had a few doubts before making my decision - Anakin replied  

- Tell me, Skywalker, what were the doubts? And explain to me what Palpatine meant when, trying to win you over to his side, he said that he had the power to save your beloved?  

-Because you see, Master, I...- Anakin stammered - I... I married Padmé in secret from everyone! And... She is pregnant! 

Mace Windu didn't believe what he had just heard, but then he spoke:  

- Anakin, do you realize that you may be expelled from the Order for this? 

- Yes, I am aware of that, which is why I concealed everything. I am willing to bear all possible consequences, but please let me tell you everything.  

Anakin began to tell Mace Windu that he had visions in which Padmé would die, how Palpatine had told him about the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, and finally how Qui-Gon Jin's spirit had warned him not to trust the Sith and not to make a mistake. Mace Windu listened to Anakin's story with interest, and his biggest shock was when Anakin told him how Qui-Gon Jin contacted him.  

- Anakin, you're going to have to tell your story to the Jedi Council. It will decide your further fate in the Order. Perhaps your action today will be beneficial to you. But now we should communicate to the remaining Jedi that we have killed the Sith Lord. 

- Okay Master, let's do it - Anakin replied 

Kashyyyk  

Meanwhile, on Kashyyyk, Master Yoda felt a great disturbance in the Forca. He dropped his staff and almost fell. Commander Gree ran up to him and asked:  

- General, are you okay? 

- Serious disturbance in the Force, I sensed. Something must have happened - Yoda replied, then added:  

- What progress in battle have we made? 

- Droids are being crushed by our soldiers, the Wookie managed to drive the droids out of the depths of the jungle. The last units of clankers retreated to the beaches. I think the battle has already been won.  

- Good news, it is - Master Yoda replied with a smile. 

Chewbacca and Tarfful roared joyfully at these words. Suddenly, one of the soldiers ran to the command post. 

- General, we have a call from Master Windu and Anakin Skywalker from Coruscant! 

- Connect me with them, immediately - Yoda ordered 

 -It will happen! - the soldier replied, and then the hologram displayed the silhouettes of Mace Windu and Anakin 

- Master Yoda, we would like to inform you that we have just defeated Darth Sidious. It was Chancellor Palpatine who was in hiding! All the time he was manipulating everyone and hiding his true identity! 

- That something had happened, I knew. A disturbance in the Force, I sensed - Yoda replied  

- Our next step will be to convene a meeting of the entire Senate. We must inform everyone that we have discovered the truth about the true identity of Chancellor Palpatine and elect his successor. 

- Agree with you, I. To add anything else, you have? - Yoda asked 

- Yes, the Jedi Council must also be assembled immediately. Young Skywalker has something to tell 

- The Council will be convened. To the Senate, you must go first! 

- Yes, we will do Master Yoda! After these words, the transmission was ended. Master Yoda watched the battle unfolded and thought about what Anakin had to say. 

Coruscant, Galactic Senate  

Mace Windu and Anakin reached the Senate building. In the meantime, they called an emergency meeting. As they entered the meeting room, one of the senators spoke up: 

- Can you explain to us why the whole Senate was convened? 

- Senators - Mace Windu said - we have discovered the terrible truth about the Chancellor! We have learned that Chancellor Palpatine is in fact a hidden Sith Lord, and that he was the one who started the war against the Separatists! It was he who stood on both sides of the conflict and manipulated everyone to gain as much power as possible for himself! 

These words were a shock for many senators, in the hall one could hear stormy discussions and voices among the gathered. 

- It is impossible!    - You have no evidence of that, Jedi!    - Why should we believe you?    Some senators started shouting. 

- Stay calm and let the Jedi continue to speak - Senator Mon Mothma said firmly 

- Thank you, Senator - said Windu - and the incriminating evidence against the former chancellor will now be presented!  

Anakin inserted a disc with information and recordings incriminating the late Chancellor Palpatine. The hologram displayed footage of Palpatine killing a Jedi in his office, followed by information about the Chancellor's secret travels which he usually took during the most important moments of the Clone Wars. In addition, recordings of conversations that Chancellor Palpatine had secretly with Count Dooku were also presented, which was irrefutable proof that the Chancellor was in fact in charge of both sides of the war. It also turned out that Mas Medda was also a secret collaborator of the then chancellor and knew his plans and true identity. 

- Traitor!  

- Arrest him!  

The assembled senators started shouting after hearing that Mas Medda was a traitor. 

- But I'll explain it all! This is not true! I didn't betray! - began to say a stressed former partner of the chancellor. 

- Medda, you have always been closest to the Chancellor, as the evidence confirms. You knew exactly what he was planning for a long time! - Anakin responded and ordered: 

 - Arrest him! You will explain your actions to the court! - shortly after these words, three clones led by Fox handcuffed Mas Medda, and then transported him to the detention center. 

After Mas Medda was led out, information was revealed about the army of clones and chips that the Kaminoans placed in the heads of all the soldiers so that they would carry out every order without questioning it. The list of special orders of the Grand Army of the Republic was 150 instructions and orders, but the most intriguing order was order number 66, which assumed the elimination of the Jedi in case of treason and acting against the interests of the Republic. A report by Captain Rex on the private investigation of the late ARC soldier Fives, who claimed to know the truth about the chips and uncovered a plot against the Jedi Order shortly after the Tup incident, was also revealed. It turned out that the Kaminoans carefully concealed the true purpose of the chips placed in the soldiers and secretly supported the actions of Chancellor Palpatine 

- As you can see, senators, the evidence clearly shows that Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, is responsible for starting the war. The Clone Wars, like the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo a few years ago, were only part of his plan to destroy the Jedi Order and introduce dictatorial rule in the Galactic Republic! - with these words Mace Windu summed up his speech and the evidence presented. There was still quite a commotion in the room, which was interrupted by Bail Organa: 

- Senators, in connection with the commission of treason and the death of Chancellor Palpatine, we must choose his successor! Voting should begin! 

When the emotions among the assembled senators subsided, voting began on the election of a new Supreme Chancellor. After several tens of minutes, the results of the election were already known, and then they were displayed on a hologram. Padmé Amidala won the most votes, making her Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. She was followed by Bail Organa and Mon Mothma, who ranked second and third respectively. Thus, Senator Padmé Amidala was elected the new Chancellor. There was thunderous applause in the meeting room, and after a while Senator Padmé Amidala, as newly elected Chancellor, spoke: 

- Dear Senators, I would like to thank you sincerely for the trust you have shown me. I promise to repair the damage done by my predecessor and to serve with dignity as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. I can assure you that the state of the Republic will be restored to its pre-Clone Wars glory, and all damage will be repaired and restored. The first thing I intend to do as Chancellor is to sign a treaty with the Separatist leaders, which will be a formal end to the war that has been going on for 3 years. I hope that the Jedi, as well as the loyal army of clones, will help in capturing the leaders of the Confederation of Independent Systems and bring them to justice. The investigation into the chips and Kaminoan will be reopened. We do not know what secrets threatening the safety of all of us they are still hiding. Each clone will have to remove this chip, because if the list of orders and special instructions falls into the wrong hands, the Grand Army of the Republic poses a threat to public safety. I will make sure that the whole process is safe and fast. To conclude, I would like to thank you once again for your confidence in me and for your election as Chancellor. I assure you that a new, better and bright future awaits the Republic! 

Immediately after these words, everyone present began to applaud loudly standing up, the applause lasted several minutes. At this time, Anakin looked happily at his wife. He couldn't wait to finally meet her in their apartment. He was so proud of her! Young Skywalker was also looking forward to the birth of their first child. What he didn't realize was that Padmé was actually carrying twins. Mace Windu's voice snapped him out of his thoughts:   

-Anakin, it's time for us! We've already done what we had to do.    -Alright, I'm going, Master! - Anakin answered him    Both Jedi left the Galactic Senate building and went to the temple. Anakin still had to talk to the Jedi Council. The young Jedi knight was very stressed about what awaited him, he did not know what verdict the Council would give and he was very afraid of talking to the Jedi masters. He wasn't sure how the others would react to the news that he had secretly married and become a father. 

Space, Tribunal  

Ahsoka and Rex walked onto the bridge together. The officers there saluted them, then went back to their activities. At that moment, Venator jumped into hyperspace. Ahsoka moved closer to the window and began to think about something. Rex, seeing her worried expression, decided to ask her what was bothering her:    - Commander, is something bothering you? What are you thinking about?    - You know, Rex, we as Jedi were trained to be peacekeepers, not to be soldiers and lead an army - Ahsoka replied to him 

- I see - Rex said, then continued - we clones have mixed feelings about the war too. If there had been no war, we would not have existed either. Hearing these words, Ahsoka turned to Rex and said: - You have defended the Republic against the threat of the Separatists, you are the best soldiers you can always count on! And you, Rex, you're the best person I've ever met! 

Rex's heart started beating a little faster when he heard those words from Ahsoka's mouth. After a moment, the togruta woman added:    - And actually, you don't have to call me 'commander'." Ahsoka enough! she said with a smile. 

- Okay, comman... Ahsoka! - Rex replied, a bit embarrassed. 

After these words, Rex and Ahsoka stared at each other for a few more minutes. Rex couldn't take his eyes off Ahsoka, he was staring into her blue eyes. Then he looked all over her. She was beautiful.  Rex was in love with her, the first feeling for her appeared even before the formation of the 332nd Company. The captain first felt something for her when he saw her in a hologram with Bo Katan. He was very happy when it turned out that Ahsoka was coming back. However, it was a different Ahsoka from the one he knew before leaving the Order. Togruta was now a mature and grown woman, not a snotty teenager. When the padawan was still in the Jedi Order, Rex treated her as a friend, which was a bit annoying at times. There was no feeling then. Only the adult and "more beautiful" Ahsoka awakened in him a feeling he had not known before. It was he who suggested to the boys of the newly formed company that they paint their helmets in the colors of her pretty Togrutan face. In this way, he wanted to show her how important she was to them, and especially him. 

The Togruta stared at Rex for a moment. She reflected on how much they had lived together, how many battles they had fought in, and had saved each other's lives endlessly. Ahsoka tried to treat Rex only as her best friend, although she felt some chemistry between herself and him. She had wanted to confess it to him before, but she hadn't had the opportunity. They constantly had to take part in fights, there were always new skirmishes, and they both used every free moment to sleep and rest. Constant battles were exhausting for them. Finally, Ahsoka decided to break her silence and spoke, in an uncertain voice: 

- Rex - she began to speak, placing her hand on the Commander's shoulder - You are more than just the best fri---  

- Commander Rex! We have an incoming call from Coruscant! - shouted one of the officers running in. Ahsoka struggled to hide the anger and grimace on her face. She was already so close 

- Why did this fucking guy have to come at this moment? - she thought 

- I'll go see what's going on and I'll be right back to you! - Rex said, then followed the officer. 

- Good, Rex - Ahsoka said, looking into hyperspace. As the Commander left, Ahsoka suddenly felt a powerful disturbance in the Force and began to hear a certain dialogue: 

- Don't listen to him Anakin! 

- I'm too weak, please help me!    - He should live!    - He's too dangerous, we have to kill him!    - I'll help you destroy him Master!"    -AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    At that moment Ahsoka staggered on her feet and whispered:    - Anakin! 

Moments later, she heard a Rex’s voice: 

- Ahsoka! General Skywalker urgently wants to talk to you! 

- I'm coming!  

Ahsoka didn't know what to expect when she went to the communicator. Something serious must have happened if she felt a disturbance in the Force. And it had something to do with her master, too, because she could hear his voice. As she walked over to the hologram, she saw Anakin's silhouette greeting her: 

-Hi Snips! 

- Skyguy, are you okay? Are you feeling good? I sensed a powerful disturbance in the power and seemed to hear your voice! 

- Yes, I'm fine, and the disturbances in the Force were felt by all the Jedi. In a way, I am contacting you on this matter! - Anakin said, and an intrigued Ahsoka began to listen to him with increasing attention. 

- If all is well with you, keep talking! I don't understand any of this! What happened?  

- Master Windu and I managed to kill Chancellor Palpatine, who was actually a Sith Lord. He manipulated everyone all the time and somehow managed to stay hidden so far! 

Rex and Ahsoka looked at each other, then back at Anakin. They couldn't hide their surprise at what they heard, and Ahsoka's master decided to continue:  - We also discovered that he was responsible for the invasion of Naboo in the past and the start of the Clone Wars." In fact, Palpatine commanded both sides of the conflict. It all added up to a plan to destroy the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. 

- Is there anything else we should know? - Ahsoka asked 

- I'm sorry to say that unfortunately the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic was also part of Sidious' plan - Anakin said sadly, then turned to Rex: 

-Rex, Fives was right to uncover a plot against the Jedi. We have learned that the Kaminoans, at the behest of Sidious, secretly placed chips in the heads of all clone soldiers. This chip was to activate when one of the 150 special orders of the Grand Army of the Republic was issued. One such order was to eliminate the Jedi entirely. Once the chip was activated, each clone actually lost its free will and became a droid. 

Sadness and worry appeared on Rex's face. 

 -General, what will happen to us now? If we are a threat to you, what are you going to do with us? Will the Republic want to get rid of us? - Commander Rex asked sadly 

- Don't worry Rex, Chancellor Amidala has announced that each clone will safely and quickly remove its chip! Anakin said with a smile 

- Sir, as soon as we land on Coruscant, I and the entire 332nd will remove our chips! - Rex replied, to which Anakin responded:  

- You don't have to hurry! The dates and places where you will be able to get rid of these contraption will be announced.  

- Thank you, Sir! - said Rex, calm now  

- Master - Ahsoka began - did you say 'Chancellor Amidala'? 

- Yes! Padmé has been elected by the Galactic Senate as the new Supreme Chancellor - Anakin happily replied  

- That's great news! As soon as I meet her, I will congratulate her personally! - said the Togruta cheerfully  

- So what will be our next steps? - Rex asked, to which Anakin immediately replied: 

- It remains for us to capture the Separatist leaders and bring them to justice. And for now, I can tell you that the war is over! - when Anakin said this sentence, you could hear joy and contentment in his voice. The conflict that has lasted for 3 years has finally come to an end. Smiles also appeared on Ahsoka and Rex's faces. It became clear to them that they would live in new, better times. 

- Forgive me, but I have to inform other Jedi. And I'm still going to talk to the Council - saying the last words, you could hear the worry in Anakin's voice -Okay Skyguy, we'll meet at Coruscant and talk! - Ahsoka replied 

Shortly after her words, Anakin's silhouette disappeared from the hologram, which was clear that the connection had ended. After a few seconds of silence, Rex looked at Ahsoka and spoke: 

- Maybe we should inform my brothers about what just happened? 

- That's a great idea! - Ahsoka replied  

Rex walked over to the device and recorded the news that the war was finally over. This news was heard on board the entire Venator. A few moments after the news was broadcast, there were loud shouts of joy on the ship. Some soldiers even threw themselves into each other's arms and hugged each other. They were happy that they managed to live to the end of this war and that they fulfilled their destiny of defending the Republic. They knew that because of their sacrifice, everyone would now live in a better, safe time. Rex and Ahsoka watched the joy among the soldiers, but at some point, Ahsoka pounced on Rex and began kissing him. It was a long kiss, but Ahsoka pulled her lips away from Rex's so she could say: 

- I love you Rex! I've wanted to tell you this before, but someone always interrupted!  

Rex, a little surprised by what had just happened and Ahsoka's confession, replied:  

- Actually, I also wanted to confess to you earlier that I feel something for you, but I was a little afraid of your reaction. You know, I'm a clone, I was made to take part in battles... - Ahsoka interrupted him, putting her hands around him at the time: 

- No Rex, you are human! You have the right to love and be loved! And besides, there is no more war! Now we will spend every moment together, no longer worrying about our lives! 

Ahsoka’s words made a big impression on Rex. He had never heard such words from anyone. He was always seen as a soldier, no one wondered if he had any feelings, dreams. On Kamino, too, they were always told that they were to perform a simple function: to fight and die for the Republic. A moment later, their lips approached again, forming a kiss. Unfortunately, their somewhat intimate moment was interrupted by Jesse, who said with a smile: 

- Oh, our Commander found a girlfriend! I have to admit, you even fit together!  

- Jesse! Ahsoka and Rex said together - you don't see that we're a little bit of ourselves right now... Busy?! - Rex continued  

- Okay, I'm leaving you! I just hope you'll invite me to your wedding! - just after saying these words, Jesse left the room and continued in an unknown direction.  

- Damn, he'll probably tell everyone now that he saw us kissing together! - Rex said with a slight smile  

- Relax, my dear! I don't care what others say about us, for me it's all about you! 

- You're right Ahsoka, I fully agree with you! Why don't we go out on the bridge together to observe hyperspace? - Rex suggested  

- With you always! - Ahsoka said  

So they went up to the bridge and approached the window. Rex wrapped his arm around Ahsoka, and she laid her head on his shoulder. That moment could go on and on. And so they spent the rest of their journey together on Coruscant. No one disturbed them anymore and they could spend this time just the two of them! 

Jedi Temple, Coruscant  

- I see that everyone is already present, so I think we can get started - said Master Windu, who continued - "As you have already been informed, Anakin and I defeated the Sith Lord. However, the Council was convened on a much different matter! Shortly after the fight ended, Anakin confessed to me that Palpatine had tried to drag him to the dark side of the Force by using...  

- Forgive me Master - Anakin interjected, but it would be better if I told this story!  

- Let it be, young Skywalker! - Mace Windu agreed 

- Dear Council, Masters! All the while, I kept something secret from everyone. Namely, I secretly married the senator and now chancellor, Padmé Amidala. It was just after the first battle of Geonosis. Also, I'll have a baby with her. 

Jedi Masters were shocked by what they heard. They looked at each other and cast curious glances at Anakin.  

- The Jedi Code forbids marriage! Your act violates the no-attachment rule! - reacted to Anakin's words Ki-Adi Mundi 

- Honestly, that’s what I figured, Anakin �� Obi Wan said 

- But how is this possible? We hid everything carefully! 

-Anakin, you disappeared quite often, you were always the closest to Padme and you were happy when you were supposed to meet her somewhere officially! - Obi-Wan replied, then added:  - Just tell me, have you let anyone else into this? 

- Yes, only Rex knew about our meetings. He often helped me contact with Padmé in secret and alert me when someone came. 

- You trust your captain more than you trust me, your former master? In fact, Rex was acting strangely, as if he wanted to hide something.  

- I felt sorry for him sometimes because he had to make a fool of himself in front of others - Anakin said. Hearing these words, a slight smile appeared on Aayla Secura's face, but Anakin continued: 

- But this is not the end of the story yet. When Padme got pregnant, I started having visions of her dying. One day when I met the chancellor, he told me the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. He claimed to have knowledge about saving people from death. Some time later, he confessed to me that he was in fact a Sith Lord and encouraged me to join him. I informed Mace Windu, who later went with additional Jedi to Palpatine's office to arrest him. At that time, I was thinking about the rightness of what I had done and felt that I had to go to the Chancellor. By the time I got there, the fight was already underway. After some thought, I decided to help Master Windu kill the Sith. The rest is already known to all of you. 

- Anything more to add you have, Skywalker? - Yoda asked  

- No, Master, that's all I've had to say! - Anakin replied  

- So, you must leave the room now. Discuss, your actions we must. - Yoda said  

 Anakin bowed and left the room. 

A few dozen of minutes later  

- Anakin, the Council has already made a decision on your case, come back! - Obi-Wan called him 

- Skywalker - Mace Windu began - after a long and exhausting discussion, the Council has decided that you will remain in the Order. However, we will observe how you behave as a Jedi who is attached to his beloved. We also hold off on making you a Jedi Master. If for a period of several dozen months, you do not show behavior typical of the dark side of the force, the Council will again discuss the possibility of giving the rank of master.  

- Thank you Council, thank you master Windu! - Anakin said 

- Anakin, I want you to know that all of us, and I in particular, are grateful to you for helping me kill Palpatine. You saved my life, so again, thank you! - added the dark-skinned Jedi in conclusion. 

-Additionally, your case may be a step towards reforming the Code and removing the no-attachment rule, but only if you don't become a fallen Jedi. 

- Thank you, master, I did what I thought was right. Force guide me! After these words, the young Jedi knight took his seat, and the Jedi Council discussed several important issues during this time. One of these issues was the election of new members of the Council, as several of them fell in the fight against Palpatine.

[notapaladin]

Does literally every swtor player post lineups of their legacy? Yes. Is this going to stop me from jumping on the bandwagon? Hell no.

Jedi Knight (Disaster Lesbian Space Nun) Nandaraza (Nanda Kylraza, telekinetics sage) should probably have been a Consular, but she just doesn't have the patience. Or the drive. No, instead she uses her telekinesis and mind-control powers to hurl rocks at people, and probably would have been a padawan forever if she hadn't passed her trials in spectacular fashion by hauling an entire Sith Lord in to face the Temple's justice. The good news: This got her knighted. The bad news: This also got the Sith Lord assigned as her padawan. Somehow, they both survived to defeat the Emperor, and then they got frozen in carbonite and had to do it again. Twice. After surviving all that, she's dating Kira. She likes Huttball, gambling, helping people, and amateur archaeology.

Sith Warrior (Autistic Lady Knight In Shining Armor/Only Sane Bitch In The Empire) Yaellia (Yaellia Quinn, carnage marauder) is the scion of House Ivros, a proud and ancient Sith line...which was founded by a slave, a bastard daughter of the House's patriarch only tenuously recognized by her father. Understandably, this has given Yaellia herself an extremely dim view of slavery and a rock-solid sense of honor, mercy, and noblesse oblige that comes as a complete shock to...well, most people. Including (especially) Malavai Quinn, even now that they're married with children. After being frozen in carbonite for five years and discovering the Empire was still just as awful, she joined the Republic on Iokath and has been a saboteur ever since. She loves spending time with her family, but she also gardens, cooks, podraces, and explores the secrets of ancient Force ruins with her bestie Talos.

Jedi Consular (Functionally A Priest, But Not A Very Good One) Evrard Briardionne (madness sorcerer) is what happens when a Chiss is exiled from her homeworld for using the Force, gets to Dromund Kaas, marries a nice local boy, has a son she teaches Chiss meditation techniques...and then dies along with her husband, leaving young Evrard a fresh Korriban Academy graduate who joined the Inquisitors to pay the bills while hiding he was about as Dark as an overcast day. He proceeded to half-ass his job as much as humanly (Chissly?) possible before deserting for the Jedi, where he now puts his mental manipulation and impressive connection to the Light to use as a healer. He is much, much more devoted to this than he ever was to the Sith. Shame about all that Force Lightning, though. And the fact that his boyfriend's a Darth (Nanda's padawan; the Jedi thing uh...did not take). When he's not working, he likes drinking, gardening, and curling up with a good datapad. He is supposed to have white hair, but alas.

Sith Inquisitor (Manic Pixie Dream Girl With A Knife And Trauma) Ritanelle Sunveil (lightning sorcerer) is not a Sith and might electrocute you for calling her one, but is nonetheless Sith-trained; born a slave on an Imperial colony, she worked in Korriban's mines for some years before her Force sensitivity expressed itself. Now her chains are broken, and she's determined to make it her former masters' problem. Her boyfriend being an Imperial agent is the only thing keeping her on that faction. During the KOTFE timeskip, she makes a name for herself freeing slaves and slaughtering Hutts; joining the Alliance was a fun break from that which also helps further her absolute hodgepodge of Force training. In her free time, she's a big holovid junkie, amateur historian, and highly experimental chef.

Smuggler (Alien Han Solo But Angry) Jaiyu Kylraza (sharpshooter gunslinger) is a simple man. He loves credits, freedom, and not being beholden to anyone. He hates the Empire and all that it stands for. Accordingly, much of his fuel is burned shuttling refugees and supplying resistance groups. He's a distant relative of Nanda, which--following her first defeat of the Emperor and her resulting fame--has become something he also hates. Fame is bad for his less...legal businesses, mostly various forms of spice. He spends a lot of his off time drinking, carousing, and gambling. His lekku are definitely at least three times as long as the sad ingame stubs.

Bounty Hunter (Good, Bad, I'm In It For The Money) Rhiavi Spens (marksmanship sniper) was born on an absolute no-name one-speeder planet somewhere on the edge of Wild Space, and became a bounty hunter pretty much entirely for credits. And, alright, to get away from her seven older, more overbearing sisters. She'll work for almost anyone if the price is right, but there are lines she refuses to cross--a position which has oddly endeared her to an SIS agent who ought to be her next target. Currently, Yaellia Quinn's signing her paycheck. Her hobbies include droid repair, Corellian crystal tree bonsai, and sharpshooting.

Trooper (Mirialan Captain America) Corthak "Corrie" Bacard (gunnery commando) is a good man. This makes him a less-than-perfect soldier, particularly given how badly he wants to toss General Garza off a high-rise. Still, he serves the Republic with the utmost loyalty and leads Havoc Squad with a firm and caring hand. (He hasn't even thrown Tanno Vik out of the airlock yet.) He's happily married to Elara Dorne, and has four children with her. He likes barbecue and cheesy romance novels.

Imperial Agent (Sleazebag With A Heart Of Gold-Ish) Erasmus Westmoore (lethality operative) grew up on Balmorra. Then the Republic abandoned it, and he--holding a considerable grudge--signed up for ImpInt. It didn't take too long for him to realize what sort of people he'd agreed to work for, but he didn't care too much as long as they didn't find out about his under-the-table deals. It wasn't until learning that they were using chemical conditioning on their own people--including his partner--that he was motivated to quit. When he's not working (an act he does as little as possible) he parties and watches daytime soap opera holovids.

Bonus!

Smuggler Ras Westmoore is literally just my IA; he retired after the events of the class story, and now runs guns, drugs, spice and stims across the galaxy. He'll hook up with basically any species that looks like they're down for a fun time.

Sith Warrior (Socially Awkward Murder Puppy) Akhavesh (Akhavesh Qoyuwsar, rage juggernaut) is the Empire's Wrath. Having initially been granted the position seemingly out of nowhere following the defection of his predecessor, his swift, firm enforcing of his Emperor's will kept getting derailed by meeting Vette, Yaellia's "sister" and, Akhavesh believes firmly, the one bright spot in the galaxy. Nobody's surprised when they're married by the time KOTFE hits, except maybe Akhavesh who still can't figure out how he stopped stammering long enough to ask. Being flash-frozen for five years has given him more confidence, but it hasn't lessened his disdain for the Republic. Fortunately, he'd rather be playing with his pet tuk'ata than slaughtering entire city blocks. He's too chill for that.

[dwarfsized]

10 characters/10 fandoms/10 tags

the always amazing @aevallare tagged me <3 sooooo:

Astarion Ancunin (Baldur's Gate 3) - getting the obvious one out of the way early. you put a character in front of me who gets mad at you for being good and kind because no one has ever been that to him, who is a bitch and that's a feature not a bug, and im not supposed to become deeply obsessed with that? he is everything. to me.

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb) - tamsyn muir WHEN will my wife come back from the war? Devotion even when you hate it. Being a weapon in more ways than even you are aware of. Love when you don't know what love is, really, getting it wrong and right at the same time. Gideon @ Harrow is just "its rotten work. especially to me especially if its you. i'll fucking do it but christ alive."

Murderbot (The Murderbot Diaries) - i think i am one of the only people who thinks that Murderbot is on the fem-presenting side of androgynous but i do think that and i'm right. I haven't read the latest book yet. Being forced to interrogate an in-between space, Murderbot's "dont look at me" in combination with vulnerability, the desire to cut and run and figure yourself out and then, like. not actually figuring yourself out much. did the running help? did escaping do anything? or should you have stayed?

Stede Bonnet (Our Flag Means Death) - Cringefail fuck-up pirate my beloved, i hate watching him do things it's like looking in a mirror. Theater kid playing dress up, steeped in self-doubt and trying to get everyone to talk about their feelings. In season one he looks at his own life and says "is anyone going to ruin this?" and doesn't wait for an answer. I want to kiss him in the moonlight. Every time I think about him I want to throw up. <3

Keyleth (Critical Role) - The weight of the world on her shoulders because she's been raised to lead her people, and all that simmering rage she tries to keep under wraps, and then she only gets a tiny bit of time with the person she loves before she has to live for years and years and years and watch everyone she cares about leave her. Archdruids with timeless body are an existential nightmare.

Alex Louis Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist) - okay listen. when i rewatched fmab in college, I was fully ready to fall in love with Riza. I was very surprised when I realized that it was not the badass with the gun I was fixated on, but the. big muscle-y guy who cries a lot and gets used for comic relief 60% of the time. but. im here. i love him. the ishval flashbacks got to me.

Blue (This is How You Lose the Time War) - Loving someone enough you're willing to let them close enough to kill you. The inherent rot beneath blooming things. Taking the slow path. Not leaving well enough alone. Love, but with teeth. I'm so normal about her (lying)

Cora Sabino (Noumena Series) - I wish I could tell everyone to read Axiom's End because I loved it, but I cant because the sequel fucked me up so bad. Its good! but god the atmosphere is so oppressive and Cora's struggle with depression is extremely real for an alternate history story that asks the question "what if we found out aliens were real during the bush administration?" I was legitimately unwell.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars) - I just think he's the funniest guy with a laser sword. so repressed. had one of the most grey-jedi masters to ever do the damn thing. bitchy. the chosen one is his padawan. honestly he had to know anakin was sneaking out to canoodle with padme and just decided it wasn't his problem. calls himself fucking ben on the hell sand planet. why was he like that.

Spock (Star Trek) - this is the most "i just think he's neat" of all of them. i inherited this blorbo. this blorbo was handed down to me from my mom. he was hers first, im just picking up the torch. "guy who acts like he has no emotions but every seven years enters a fuck or die frenzy" im sorry but that's. that's too good. i have no choice but to rotate him in my mind.

I cannot tag 10 people but i will tag @asterordinary and @werewolfnobody and if anyone else wants to do it go for it! tag me so i can read your response!

[justsomerandomfanfic]

I Don't Want To Lose You - Obi-Wan Kenobi - Female Reader

Title: I Don't Want To Lose You

Obi-Wan Kenobi X Female Reader

Additional Characters: Anakin (Mentioned), Padme (Mentioned), Luke (Mentioned), Leia (Mentioned), Gravis Suk (OC), and Yoda (Mentioned)

WC: 2,098

Warnings: Death mentioned, physical assult, blasters, Reader is a bartender, alcohol mentioned, slight angst, fighting, threatening, and killing mentioned

You shouldn't like him.

You really shouldn't.

He was your Jedi Master. You shouldn't even have these feelings in the first place. It was against the Code. But you couldn't help it, could you?

There had been so many times when he'd taken care of you. He always seemed to know what you needed and how to make things better for you. He was a fantastic teacher and a great mentor. And he had saved your life more than once.

It wasn't fair that he should be alone now, though, was it? The man had devoted his entire life to the Order and then suffered for years afterward because of what he believed in. At least that was what you thought. You had cursed yourself for thinking such things. You really shouldn't project what you thought his feelings were. Only he knew what he was feeling.

The Order had fallen. Anakin, your partner in most missions, had died. And along with his secret wife Padme. You had the job to make sure those in the temple were safe and had gotten away. After what happened to most of the younglings, you were determined to get as many others as safe as possible.

After, you had gone with Obi-Wan, your master, to leave Luke and Leia with their new guardians for the foreseen future. It was a stressful and long journey, Obi didn't speak a single word. You understood. What had happened at the temple, ruined you. And, you knew it hurt Obi the most. Anakin was like a son to him... And a brother to you.

You sat next to him in the two of your new hideouts, on the planet of Tatooine. The two of you had found a little cave, which looked as if it used to be a home for another, but it was abandoned. From your escape, you had brought only a few essentials with you, and thankfully, you had brought a study mat that was big enough for you and Obi-Wan to both sleep on. Yes, it was very awkward at first, but after a couple of weeks, it felt like second nature.

Getting food wasn't so easy at times. You had gone into town and gotten a job as a bartender just to help you and Obi get by. It was hard, stressful, and dangerous work, but it brought food to the table, so it was all worth it.

Even when you weren't working, you were training or studying. You were learning everything you could about your new enemy, the Empire. Master Yoda had told you before that evil would come to your world soon and that you were to be ready. Though being a Jedi was dangerous when the Empire was hunting them down, you weren't one. In the mornings, you would practice in the rock valley, your light blue lightsaber striking towers of rocks and slicing them in two. At night, you studied before bed, learning the ways of the Force from an old book you were able to bring with you. You learned how to control your emotions and use the Force to heal people. You also used the Force to sense where enemies were, but it was difficult sometimes. You weren't completely ready.

At the bar, you made drinks for customers. It wasn't the best job, but it gave you good credits. But, there was one slight issue. There was one customer who came every once in a while only to talk to you. It didn't bother you at first, the Klatooinian would order a drink and sit at the bar before creating small-talk with you. Fortunately, you knew how to speak Huttese, so it wasn't too hard to keep up the conversation. You had found out that his name was Gravis Suk. But, this particular day, he was talking to you, and you could tell something was wrong.

He had this strange look in his eye, and the conversation you were having ended when he asked you a question.

"When do you get off work?"

You weren't going to tell him that. "I actually don't know. I'm filling in for another worker today."

"Do you want to go back to my place after work?" He asked and you frowned slightly.

"I can't, sorry."

The Klatooinian smiled and got off the bar stool, before placing his credits on the counter and leaving.

You sighed, before going back to work. You hoped he got the message and would leave you alone.

~~~

Later that afternoon, you were about done with your shift, greeting your co-worker who was replacing you for the night, you walked around the bar and out the back door of the pub. Looking up, you were startled when you saw Gravis leaning up against the adjacent wall. Pushing off, he walked over.

"What are you doing here, Gravis?" You asked, clutching your bag strap in your hands.

"Oh, I came to see you," He said, smiling. You rolled your eyes.

"Well, I'm busy right now." You started walking away.

But, you stopped when he grabbed your arm.

"Come on, only a night." He tried, but you shook your head.

With your free hand, you reached your waist. Kriff. You left your lightsaber at home.

"I'm not going with you." You spoke, pulling your arm out of his grasp.

"Why not? Come on, it'll be fun."

"That's not happening," you answered flatly.

He growled, grabbing your arm with more force this time. "You're coming with me."

"No!" You yelled, looking around and seeing no one was even near you to notice.

Looking around you, you eyed a large stone. With your free hand, you concentrated on using the force to move the rock. The rock moved easily, and you easily let it float higher in the air. Suddenly, you threw the rock right into the back of Gravis's head, knocking him out. You watched as he hit the ground, and you breathed heavily. With a quick movement, you moved around his limp body and ran all the way home and back to Obi-Wan.

Stopping at the entrance of your cave home, you tried to catch your breath. Finally, your body and mind were able to process what had happened, and you finally let out a soft sob. At the sound of your cries, Obi-Wan rushed over. Taking you in his arms, he held you tight.

Obi-Wan asked, smoothing down your hair. "Are you alright?"

You nodded, sniffling as you did. "Yes, I'm okay."

Pulling back slightly, Obi-Wan looked at you. Eyes gazing over your face, hands reaching up to wipe the tears from your face. "You're crying. What made you cry?"

You bit your lip, "Uh, there was this guy at work... Uh, it's fine though, I knocked him out before he could do anything."

Obi-Wan's eyes hardened, "What did he do?" He asked, voice deep and gruff in anger.

"Nothing," You said, shaking your head, "He was just trying to get me to go to his place after work. I refused."

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked and you nodded, going back into his arms.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now, I'm home." You reassured, Obi-Wan resting his cheek on top of your head.

"Good," He said, rubbing your back a little longer. "I just want you to be safe."

You smiled as you hugged him tighter, "I know. And, I am."

~~~

The next day, you hesitantly went to work. The first few hours went on as they usually did, but then Gravis walked in. He slammed his hands on the counter, growling.

"It wasn't nice when you knocked me out, Y/N. You're going to pay for that, sweetheart."

"Please, calm down." You ordered, and he scoffed.

"Don't you tell me to calm down! You think you can just walk right out of my life when you don't want to be bothered?" He yelled, causing a scene.

"You’re causing a scene. Now, sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." You spoke, putting on a brave face.

This time, you had your saber with you, but you knew you couldn't use it. You may have been able to take him down, but you didn't want to risk being caught by the Empire.

"You're going to regret this," He threatened before he left the cantina.

After work, you felt weird. You looked over your shoulder as you made your way through the little city on your way home. You felt as if someone was watching you. You placed your hand on your waist, feeling your saber that was hidden behind your long coat. Turning a corner, you shrieked as you grabbed from behind. You felt the cold barrel of a blaster press up against the side of your head.

"Don't fight it. You should've just come with me in the first place. It's your fault this had to happen."

Your eyes widen as you try and struggle yourself free.

"I don't want to kill you. I rather liked you." He spoke, jamming the blaster against your head further, making you wince.

"You do not want to do this."

"Shut up." He snarled and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out, hitting the rock wall of the building beside you.

You cried out in pain, falling to the ground and rolling onto your side. You looked up and saw Obi-Wan, having used the force to move the blaster away from you before you were shot. Obi-Wan then shoved Gravis up against a nearby wall, holding the collar of the Kaltooinian's garb. Eyes hard, he glared daggers.

"Stay away from her." Obi-Wan seethed, teeth bared.

Gravis smirked, "And, what are you going to do about it?" He hissed.

"Leave her alone. If you don't. I won't hesitate to kill you." Obi-Wan stated darkly, ignoring his taunts.

Roughly letting Gravis go, Obi-Wan turned to you, helping you up. You looked towards him, worried, as the two of you walked home. There was a tense feeling in the air. You glanced at Obi-Wan, his gaze ahead was still harsh; and a deep frown on his face. Yet, you also couldn't help but admire the man before you. Even though you hated being saved most of the time, he saved you. As always, you were forever grateful.

"Are... Are you alright, Obi?" You asked when you finally made it home.

"I'm fine." He replied, going inside.

You nodded, hanging your bag up on a wooden peg in the stone wall.

Walking into the bedroom, you sat beside Obi-Wan on the stiff bed. Again, it felt awkward.

Clearing your throat, you tried again, "Thank you for saving me, Obi."

"You're welcome." He responded softly, resting his hand, clasped together in his lap.

"Why were you out there today?" You asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Just doing my job."

"You don't have to protect me, Obi-Wan. I can sometimes take care of myself. I've been training."

He sighed, "I have to protect you." He looked down. "You're all I have left."

"I'm not going anywhere." You assured, putting your hand on his thigh. "I'm right here."

His eyes softened and he looked back at you, "I don't want to lose you too."

"You won't lose me, Obi. No matter what happens, I will never leave your side."

The two of you laid down together on the bed. You curled up close to Obi-Wan, snuggling in under the rough fabric that you called a blanket, wrapping your arms around him. His arms came around you, holding you close, nuzzling his nose into your hair on the top of your head. After a while, he spoke softly.

"I don't want to lose you because I have feelings for you." He muttered, eyes forcefully shut.

You didn't speak, letting him continue.

"I ignored my feelings and desires not only because of the Code but because if I lost you, it would hurt all the more." He opened his eyes and looked at you, "I love you, Y/N. I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose anyone else. You're the only person in my life that I trust completely.

You smiled at him, "I feel the same way, Obi."

He leaned closer, kissing you gently. Your heart fluttered and you wrapped your arms around his neck. You giggled lightly as his beard ticked your cheeks, causing Obi-Wan to smile in the kiss. When he broke the kiss, he held you close, your head resting on his chest, hearing his quick heartbeat.

You fell asleep like that, curled up next to each other.

[ao3feed-obikin]

Of Devotion and Defilement

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/42793275 by al_mp4 Anakin Skywalker is said to hold no loyalty. To the Order, to the Jedi, to the tenants he should live by. And yet, he has known devotion his whole life: since his Master has entered his orbit, he has been entranced by his bright glow, by the fact that he seems to hold the entirety of the Light side of the Force into himself. Anakin knows the Force has created him to worship the divine creature, the perfect Jedi that is Obi-Wan Kenobi. He knows, and yet he still fears of tainting what should remain perfectly pure.   Or: Anakin Skywalker wants to be good, to be useful, yet it seems he can only beg for pleasures he doesn't deserve. Words: 5316, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Obsession, Anakin puts Obi-Wan on a Pedestal, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker Has Issues, this is kinda unhealty, anakin doesn't think he deserves his master's love, Possessive Anakin Skywalker, Submissive Anakin Skywalker, Dominant Obi-Wan Kenobi, Boot Worship, (kinda), Blow Jobs, Punishment, Face Slapping, Crying, Dirty Talk, Anakin Skywalker is a Crybaby, this is filthy, Religious Guilt, kinda?????? - Freeform, Unreliable Narrator read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/42793275

[sullustangin]

Alive

Time: 21 ATC/3631 BBY

Rating:  PG

Words: ~2000 (first 500 above the cut)

A/N:  This has been clawing its way out for awhile.  I found some free time at work to do this.  :) 

~~

Marcus Trant had lived in dread of the day that he would lose his best agent.

That day came.  It didn’t happen as he had expected it, sudden and violent. No.  It was a much longer, more attritional process.

Eighteen months had passed since that morning.  Trant had to confess there was a gaping hole in SIS where that agent had stood. 

Trant had not imagined this would feel so close to death, a loss so permanent.

These were the grim thoughts that flew around his mind as he made his commute from his latest apartment that he shared with his latest wife.  Spring had been permitted to arrive in the Coruscant biodome.  The cool morning was warming up, and the dew from the night before was evaporating, slowly.  After so many years and so many missions he couldn’t talk about (mostly because nobody else had survived to remember), Trant felt the cold and the wet in his bones.  His life came with aches and pains that nobody understood.

No, he had understood.  But he was gone now. 

Trant had lost his best agent and the only Republic operative actively engaged against the Eternal Empire.  The end had been inevitable. 

Theron Shan believed in the future. The Republic was wallowing in the past, picking the same old fights with the Sith Empire.  They preferred to squabble over whose mud was nicer to choke on as the Eternal Empire ground their faces into it, rather than throw off their conquerors.

Theron Shan believed there was more to existence than this. There were more people that could and would fight if it wasn’t under the Republic banner.

And so he resigned, less than three years away from his pension and a comfortable, deserved retirement. (Trant had hosted a convalescing Theron twice in his home, and oh, how his second wife had scolded him for putting that poor boy through all of that. 

For the Republic.)

Jace Malcom had had to be talked down in the middle of a diner before he put out an all-points intergalactic bulletin. 

Marcus Trant knew Theron didn’t want to be found or saved.  As Director of SIS, he should have considered him an enemy combatant or, even better for Trant, dead.  If he was dead, Trant could live with just the memory of some kid that wasn’t around anymore and didn’t make him worry.

…Trant remembered the first time he saw Theron at Coronet City Military Academy, in his own world, executing a gymnastics routine that should have been impossible for a normal teenager.  It would have been easy for a Jedi.

Theron was no Jedi, but he put the work in to make it seem like he was flying with help from supernatural forces (Forces?).

Theron had still held on to the tiny hope that he would be a Jedi, even at sixteen; he’d asked Trant on the transport to Coruscant whether SIS had any Force-Sensitive agents.  Just in case, you know.  

“There’s always a first.”

He couldn’t bear to be unkind to him and risk wasting that talent or dimming that light (Light?).

Trant had to admit there were parts of Theron that would always adhere to those high standards of a devoted order and a vision of the bigger picture, beyond just Republic vs. Empire.  It was, in the end, impossible to make Theron a soldier that took orders without question. Trant had admired his perseverance and his creativity.  

Theron made Trant go white, then bald. It was worth it.  He’d saved the Republic, more than once.

Best agent Trant ever had.  And he was gone.  Good as dead.

Why, then, by all the stars, was he delivering intel to a dead man?  Trant gripped the small piece of luggage by its handles and walked quickly past the SIS building instead of turning and flashing his credentials at the door, as usual.

Theron had referred to “it” as ‘potentially, the greatest con of all time -- or so my associate tells me.’ 

“It” had been the grand plan he left the Republic for.  Left Trant and the resistance they had stoked, two men standing against the odds, against an adverse galaxy. 

Trant was jealous.  He wanted to fight the war, but duty -- the same duty that had compelled Theron to stay for four years, that made him work on the endless lists of dead and vulnerable Sith assets and military gaps....officially.

Unofficially, Trant and Theron were classified as a terrorist cell for slicing into sensitive information and undermining Zakuulan authority.  The government didn’t know who they were.

And then Theron was gone.  He continued the work, for himself.  Then… for a new player in the galaxy.

Trant thought “it” was propaganda.  A ghost story.  A lie, bartered and resold, tarted up and trotted out.  The Outlander had escaped the clutches of Emperor Arcann, and now she and her resistance would save the galaxy.

Trant knew Theron believed in the future, and he would lie as needed to convince people to get off their asses and move.  It had surprised him, though.  Theron didn’t believe in victory at any cost.  Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t blaspheme the memory of someone --

.... someone.  Someone that had been in Theron’s life and had tried to remain. 

Someone that had to be dead.

Trant had wondered whether he understood love at all, after three ex-wives, two kids that barely spoke to him anymore, and one agent who had people constantly walking out of his life and had become too cagey to let someone in. 

Eternal Fleet had cost the Republic a valuable asset, and it disrupted the equilibrium of one of its best agents. It was a mortal wound, bleeding out over the course of four years.

And then Theron was gone.

Marcus Trant consulted his chrono.  An encrypted comm had come from, supposedly, Bespin.  Trant knew the code used –  from the Mandalorian films that got Gary promoted. Only three people in the galaxy had ever bothered to learn that code to transmit messages. One was dead.  One was Trant.  One was Theron.  The message offered an intel exchange: massive amounts of data on skytroopers and their variety of permutations.  It wasn’t enough for the Republic to start production on its own, but it was enough to make more efficient weapons to destroy them.  In exchange? 

A blind eye to certain planets... certain activities...certain rumors.  And maybe some spare confiscated goods at a few starports across the galaxy -- just some fodder to make friends and influence people. 

Trant started to wonder whether this was blasphemy or an actual miracle.

He was going to find out.  He’d agree to the exchange, on the condition that ‘a known entity’ take the drop.  They’d agreed on a tram stop, not far from SIS.  They would be ‘recognizable.’  No disguises.

It was simple.  It was so brazen and bold that nobody would expect it.  Nobody would believe it.

Just Theron’s style.

Trant had crammed a fistful of antacids into his mouth as he walked out the door.

Now Trant readjusted his grip.  Theron loved risk.  Risk gave Trant ulcers, and here he was, potentially committing treason in the hope that this insurgency had a better shot at toppling Zakuul than he did, running a one-man show now in SIS.

Trant served the Republic. Theron had always served the greater galaxy.  Trant knew Theron thought less of him for being willing to sacrifice a few planets in the name of the Republic and the great propaganda it would generate; Theron had never hidden that disdain thereafter.

It was another thing Trant admired him for.

Trant sat on a bench at the tram stop, suitcase in his lap.  He waited.

Time passed.  

The trams came and went every fifteen minutes, seven-and-a-half minutes for each direction.

Three trams.  No engagement.

Trant was pretty sure he’d gotten stood up.  That, or he was about to be made by some secret police force of Saresh – apologies, Chancelor Maddon.  

Well, this wasn’t the worst way to get his burn notice, Trant supposed.  He had some credits on him, could get some distance, maybe even back to his apartment to all his burner IDs and ----

A flash of red caught his eye.  Trant realized it had always been there, riding the waves of people that came and went on the tram platform on the opposite side of the tracks.  No, not on the platform itself – it was in outdoor seating area for the caf shop, appearing and disappearing and appearing again as people rushed by ---

Why hadn’t he seen him before?  He’d been looking out for him since he was a kid –

Trant began to wonder whether it was time for him to call it a day on his career, even as he got up and hauled himself out and around the tram station to get to the correct side of the tracks.  His silly ass had wasted 20 minutes while –

Trant paused under the shop awning.  From his vantage point, he could see the owner of the red jacket clearly now.  

He saw the profile of a familiar head, hair pomaded in an effort to contain would-be curls, managing them at the wavy stage.  Trant should have known that.  How had he --?

And then he saw Theron move.  

Different.  The movement was different, the body language was different –

Trant realized he’d never seen Theron with a partner before – professional, romantic, or otherwise. Theron was always alone.  

Not today.

Theron was –

Trant felt the ripple of shock, but he was better trained than most of his own agents; as he had told Theron ages ago, he wasn’t the Director of SIS just because he could do paperwork and look cute.  He checked any impulse to gasp, only flexing his fingers around the handle of the suitcase.

The asset was alive. Theron wasn’t peddling lies to save the galaxy.  

Eva.  All those other names she went by, including Outlander. But Eva, the asset, Theron’s asset, was most pertinent here.

…Eva was apparently not dead.  Dressed in ballet flats and one of those long sweaters, she looked like a generic brunette from Coruscant.  She was having midmorning caf and pastries with her –

Something was still alive enough to flutter inside Trant when Eva laughed at an amusing comment Theron made, and she reached to touch him.  The touch was received with a smile, and then with all ease and affection, he leaned just far enough to brush his lips over her cheek – a gesture equally well-received and then returned.

It was nothing special. It was nothing out of the ordinary. This was normal for most people on a caf date with their lover.

Trant hadn’t recognized Theron because he’d never seen him like this.   Happy with someone, completely absorbed in her, just as much as she was in him.  

Maybe Trant understood love after all, because after the initial surprise, everything in the universe made better sense.  

Once that final piece of intel clicked into place for him, Trant was all motion and guile.  “Hey.  Theron.”

Smoothly, as if expecting it, Theron turned his head to look at Trant. He grinned in greeting, eyes briefly bouncing to the suitcase before returning to Trant’s face. “Guess that’s all my stuff from my desk I forgot to clean out?”  

“You guessed it.  Consider the bag a going away present.”  Trant lifted his chin to acknowledge Eva. “Ma’m.”

“How’s tricks, Marcus?” she replied airily, and Theron choked on a laugh, somewhere between shocked and amused at her audacity.  It had always been “Trant” or “Director Trant” for him.

“The usual.  How’s that new business you started?”  Trant set the bag down, halving the distance between him and Theron.  Theron tucked the suitcase under the table and went back to drinking his fancy caf.

“It’s going,” Eva answered. “I got one of the best project managers in the galaxy.  Resources are a little hard to come by, but nothing I haven’t scraped through before.”

“Considering you stole my best man, I better hear good things about you in the near future.” Trant looked pointedly at Theron as he said this, and the younger spy gave him a smile.

Eva, turned in her seat at the chime of the tram station chrono.  “Hey, tram’s almost  here. We should probably get this one, get to the new site early for set-up.”

“You’re right.” Theron shotgunned the last of his caf, then grabbed the suitcase.

As Eva grabbed her caf in its little to-go cup, Trant took the spare moment to really look at Theron as he and Eva exchanged brief chatter about plans and lies about what they were actually doing on Coruscant.

Alive.  Theron was most certainly alive.

“Catch you around!” Theron slid his hand over his implants, paying the fare, and the tram gate opened for him and Eva.  

Trant realized they were really leaving, almost belatedly.  Impulsively, he offered the closest thing to an affectionate farewell he could, in the circumstances.  “Do me proud out there.”

Theron stepped onto the tram and set down the suitcase case.  He tossed Trant a cocky look.  “I can do better than that.”  

The door slide shut between them, and Trant laughed.  He let himself watch the tram pull away, Theron holding on to the commuter bar overhead, and Eva hanging onto him.   He saw them exchange words, knowing smiles on their faces…

Yeah, he would do better than that.  Always did.

[burnnouts]

Quick Bio: Padmé Amidala is a senator who represented the people of Naboo during the final years of the Galactic Republic. Prior to her career in the Senate, she was the elected Queen of Naboo, having run her first campaign at only fourteen years old. Padmé's two terms as queen were so successful that the people of Naboo campaigned for her to have an unprecedented third term, but she declined and was assigned as a senator by the newly elected queen instead. During her time in politics, Padmé often worked closely with the Jedi Knights, eventually falling in love with one, Anakin Skywalker, and marrying him in secret. Anakin, having a dream that she died in childbirth, fell to the dark side to protect her, and became Darth Vader, and their children--Luke and Leia--were hidden across the galaxy for their protection.

Note: Padmé is a canon character from the Star Wars universe. I pull mainly from the prequel films for her characterization, though I am in the process of reading the 2020 novel, Queen's Shadow. I have not seen the Clone Wars show (yet).

Extended bio under cut:

TWs: pregnancy, death in child birth, (fictional) politics

A human born on the planet of Naboo, Padmé was a precocious child who spent every day baking and often traveled with her father on relief missions to offer aid on suffering, nearby planets. When she was seven, she helped a planet relocate after ecological disaster, but when the plan failed, and the people were unable to adapt to their new world, Padmé was devastated and vowed that she would try 10,000 times in order to save just one person.

Although her family came from modest origins, Padmé showed great promise (and motivation) from a very early age, devoting herself to public serve, and, at just eight years old, became a junior senatorial adviser. She attended the Theed Royal Academy to study politics and joined the Legislative Youth Program at 12. Two years later, she began her campaign to become the next Queen of Naboo, running on the stance that Naboo should break its policy of isolationism and make allies with other planets in their sector. Because she was known simply as Queen Amidala, her first name unknown to most, she began to switch between the persona of Queen Amidala--dressed in elaborate makeup and gowns--and Padmé, a handmaiden who could move among the common people unnoticed. When she went out as "Padmé," one of her own handmaidens would stand in as queen.

During her time as queen, the Trade Federation threatened Amidala and her planet and asked her to sign a treaty that would would give them full control of Naboo and legitimize their invasion. She, of course, refused, causing the federation to blockade the planet and prevent shipments from reaching the surface. With her people quickly running out of food, Amidala gathered defenses and sought aid from the Jedi Knights. When the Federation sent in an invasion of battle droids, Amidala was captured but was, thankfully, rescued by Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As they made their way back to Naboo, the ship malfunctioned, and they were forced to land on the planet of Tatooine, where Padmé went undercover as a handmaiden, learning about the planet, working with the Jedi, and met a young slave boy, Anakin Skywalker who helped them get the parts they needed to leave.

In order to save her planet, Padme went to the Senate and moved for a Vote of No Confidence in the leadership of the current Chancellor, helping to put into power Palpatine instead, the man who would later betray her and all of the galaxy.

Back on her own planet, she and the Jedi Knights fought off the Trade Federation by making an allyship with the other species of Naboo: the Gungangs. Together, they were able to defeat the Federation and take back control of Naboo. Afterward, Padmé led the planets rebuilding and recovery efforts. After the invasion, the planet was divided on tactics to prevent another hostile takeover, with Padmé ultimately deciding to add an ion pulse canon to the surface of the planet, much to the displeasure of her own parents.

Amidala served two terms as queen, and by the conclusion of her second term, the Naboo had grown so fond of Amidala that a faction tried to amend the constitution to allow her another term. However, Amidala declined this and stepped aside for her elected successor. Not long after her coronation, the new queen asked Amidala to serve as the representative for Naboo and the other worlds in the Galactic Senate. As one of her first goals as Senator, she sent advisors back to Tatooine to look into ending slavery there, though this was outside of the Senate's control.

Ten years after the Invasion of Naboo, a Separatist Alliance broke out in the Galaxy, with several planetary systems deciding to break off from the Senate. This led to a vote for the Senate to build their own army, which Padmé strongly resisted. Soon regarded as the leader of the opposition to the Military Creation Act, Padmé's life again was threatened, as one of her ships was bombed, and her most loyal handmaiden was murdered, the assassin believing the woman to be Padmé herself. The Jedi Council assigned Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padawan Anakin Skywalker to protect Amidala and investigate the incident, though Amidala objected to the added security. When the assassination attempts continued, however, Padmé was convinced to leave the capital planet of Couruscant and return to her home planet of Naboo with Skywalker as her companion and guard.

Though she initially resisted his advances, Padmé found herself falling in love with Anakin. When he dreamed of his mother's kidnapping, she left her hiding place on Naboo to accompany him in saving the woman, but they were too late. Before they could return into hiding, news came that Anakin's master, Obi-Wan was also in danger, so he and Padmé left to rescue him too and were captured in the process. Two hundred Jedi arrived to aid them, but a battle broke out that had them cornered and overwhelmed. At that point, the newly made Grand Army of the Republic--created from clones--arrived and saved them all. And so, the army Padmé had fought against was created anyway and used to save her.

After, she secretly married Anakin Skywalker. They spent several years seeing each other in secret while both continuing their work in the Senate and Jedi Order respectively. When Padmé became pregnant, however, it was much harder to keep their secret, and Anakin's continuous nightmares of her death in childbirth put a strain on their future. Anakin began studying the dark side, looking for a way to save her, but in the process, pulled away from Padmé, leaving her stunned when he finally turned on the Jedi entirely and went to the dark side.

Verse Dependent: In canon, Padmé dies in childbirth and her children, Luke and Leia, are raised on separate planets for their own protection. Padmé's default verse will be before this point, but for characters in the later era of the Star Wars timeline, I write Padmé as living and helping to lead the resistance against the Empire formed by Palpatine and her husband.

[kybervisions]

a call from the void, you hear it too? [anakin]

summary: she was the��first force-sensitive member of the disciples of the whills in thousands of years: a gift from the force. at the start of the clone wars, the force revealed a bond between the so-called chosen one and the disciple. it is through this bond that the force intends to restore balance.

author’s note: posted on ao3, this can be a one shot but im continuing the story over there, im also working on a ben solo fic should be up soonish

tags: minor padmé amidala/anakin skywalker, force dyad basically soulmate au, pov third person omni, fictional religion & theology

"I felt something last night," Y/N told Angber, whispering it, almost like a confession. She looked at him with furrowed brows and confusion and fear, "something terrible and cold," 

It struck her during meditation at nightfall. She had been in the temple seeking to soothe her mind. The young woman entered a state of relaxation and peace, floating several feet into the air, imagining herself amongst the stars...when suddenly she felt like she had been shot. There was a sharp pain in her head. Her skull pounded and her heart accelerated. She fell and a coldness spread from her spine. Before she hit the ground, Y/N thought she had died. It took minutes to even out her breathing, and she struggled to sleep.

"A disturbance in the Force," Angber said. Just nineteen years old and already so strong in the Force. It would not be long before Y/N was ready for the Sacred Journey, a rite of passage for Force-sensitives amongst their order (one that had not been performed in over a thousand years). Across the galaxy, she had felt the first deaths of war, "One hundred and seventy Jedi were killed on Geonosis, it is the beginning of another war and more Jedi will fall for the Republic before its end — you will have to understand why," Angber intended to ensure Y/N would be worthy of making an entry into the Journal.

She had accepted death long ago, found peace with it. Angber helped her truly come to terms with it years ago when she was an angry and confused little girl that realized the cruelty of this reality and felt too much pain. In the Force, there is no end. There are only beginnings.

At sunset, she returned to the temple to mourn the Jedi.

The Jedi were peacekeepers, devoted to the light side of the Force. Y/N learned the codes of the Sith and Jedi. She believed everyone had the intrinsic ability to know right from wrong, that the material world was inherently evil, and that there was a purpose to suffering. For those beliefs and many more, she was viewed as a heretic by the Jedi Order. Despite that, they were all connected through the Force, and she felt the absence of those hundred and seventy Jedi.

The Disciples of the Whills worshipped the Force and sought a balance. They were keepers of stories, poems, prayers, and songs thought lost to the Dark Age. As the first Force-sensitive Disciple seen in generations, it would be her sole duty to make an entry into the Journal and elucidate this war; the Whills were an ancient order of beings deeply connected with the Force. They wrote the Journal, which chronicled the history of the Old Republic. They told of long-forgotten names and broken treaties, of the greed and complacency that led to times of darkness and chaos. The Whills sought to explain war and caution future generations. They warned of an imbalance in the Force and spoke beautifully about both sides of the Force. The first words were written by an unidentified Whill:

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,"  

She was mediating at the end of the pool when she first sensed him. She opened her eyes and saw him standing on the other side of the courtyard. He walked toward the middle of the courtyard as if he belonged, but his attired told Y/N otherwise. She cocked her head in curiosity as the young man in dark robes walked straight into the reflecting pool. She expected him to start shouting and splashing, but instead of falling, he walked above the water. He was halfway through the pool when he raised his head and their eyes met. She thought he was a ghost.

And when Anakin saw a strange figure in red floating at the end of the hall, he thought he was dreaming. He meant to find Obi-Wan, but Anakin had little sleep since Geonosis. His mind was tired, but he could not sleep. He thought perhaps he found rest in the temple on Coruscant, and the figure in red robes and hood was part of another strange and disturbing dream. He had many of them, more since returning from Tatooine. The others had been nightmares. They all felt real and terrifying and cold.

"Hello,"

"....Hello,"

The strange figure in red touched the ground, but there was still some distance between them.

He was in the middle of the reflecting pool. The dusky sunlight reflected on the white tiled ground and made the water look like a mixture of pinks and purples.

She was at the end of the corridor, standing between the two carved arches. Anakin looked at them, tried to focus his eyes on them but his vision failed him. His eyes were unable to focus on anything, and everything surrounding the red figure turned odd and blurry as if his eyes were trying to trick him. It didn't feel real. It felt like a dream. A calming dream with a strange visitor.

"What are you?"

"I am a Disciple," She looked at his side and saw the hilt of a lightsaber. She had never seen a real one before. Her order was a pacifist one and valued knowledge above all. Lightsabers were weapons of the Jedi. Seeking knowledge of the Jedi, Y/N saw lightsabers in old holopads. "You are a Jedi,"

"A disciple of who?" The faint smile on his lips faded as he neared the red figure. Anakin sensed the Force. It swirled around them like a hurricane. Powerful and wild. Though her face was obscured with a piece of red opaque fabric, Anakin could make out their eyes. Beautiful, alluring, and dark.  

"I am a Disciple of the Whills, the Jedi would not teach our story," She said, nearly removing her covering. She sensed the Force was strong in the boy. The Force had brought them together, she was certain, so she kept her covering. Force-sensitive Disciples would cover their faces when reaching into the Force and manipulating It, "I sensed the slaughter on Geonosis," She told him.

"Are you a Separatist? A Sith?"

"No, I am a Disciple of the Whills," She looked at him, studied the color of his eyes, and saw a mantle of destiny cloaking the young boy. He was strong in the Force, yes. "Our destinies are intertwined," She said it so plainly, so surely.

Anakin nearly believed her. She was something warm and familiar, "Why?"

The question made her smile. Why? "Because the Force wills it,"

"Great, an ancient dream shaman that only speaks in riddles," Anakin shook his head and sighed, "I know a master you would get along with,"

"Ancient?" She repeated, taking offense. "I-I...I am not ancient, and I don't think this is a dream, tailhead," She reached for his Padawan braid, and Anakin pushed her arm away.

He touched her, briefly, but it was enough to confirm she was real, something solid and tangible.

"Okay, I'm less convinced this is a dream,"

"I think it is because of the war," She theorized, "the Force seeks balance, and this war will bring great suffering, so It connected us,"

"To end the war? To save the Republic? Why? How?"

"I don't know, not yet," She sighed, "I fear this war will be long, but the Force will find balance...somehow," She had not yet gone on her pilgrimage and still had much to learn, "I'm meant to leave the Cold Moon, voyage across the galaxy, and gain a deeper understanding of the Force before returning to the Kyber temple, maybe then answers will be revealed," Since she was a child, Y/N understood she would one day leave Jedha. The idea terrified her, but when the Force revealed their bond, her fears faded.

She didn't need to know why the Force brought them together, but it was clear he did.

"Kyber temple? Is that where you are?" Anakin had never heard of it.

"Yes," she had no reason to lie, "On Jedha,"

"And how will you gain a deeper understanding?"

"Well," Nearing her eighteenth birthday, Y/N showed she was ready to begin plotting the destinations of her pilgrimage. She was to decipher the path she was to take, scouring the writings of the Whills and seeking regions where the Force was strong. "There are these...these vergences hidden away, where, at their center, the Force is fierce and free and pure,"

"Where are these places?"

"I cannot say, this silence is part of my order," She tried to explain. She wanted him to understand, "the Jedi construct lightsabers and become 'Masters' in the Force, we take a pilgrimage and listen to the will of the Force," She was to find four of the points and prepare diligently. She learned histories and understood the cultures of several regions throughout the galaxy. As a Disciple, she could not wield a weapon and would have to rely on the Force.

"Something sad lingers in your heart," She said, almost instinctively reaching out for him once more. He felt warm and familiar, "what happened?"

"Didn't you hear?" He moved his face away from her hand, "there's a war going on,"

"No," There is more.

"My mom died, I couldn't save her,"

"I'm sorry," She meant it, "losing someone you love...it can leave you angry," she had been angry when her brother died. In her anger, she tainted a cave far beyond the holy city, and the memory physically sickened her. She could not speak of it without crying, not yet.

"Jedi can't feel anger, they have to be above that," He had to be above such emotions, but he failed.

"I'm sure the Jedi doctrine doesn't call for the total suppression of emotions,"

"There is no emotion, there is peace," Anakin regurgitated the Jedi Code. He had long memorized the words, but he struggled with living by them.  

And Y/N sensed it, "Perhaps they mean finding peace with your emotions, not letting them control you,"

"It's hard,"

"Yes," She knew that too well, "and we will stumble, but life is about trying to be better,"

Anakin was dumbstruck by her words and there was a few seconds of silence as he stared at the Disciple. Seeing Y/N for the first time made him realize he had been incomplete. He looked at her and suddenly didn't feel alone. She was kind and understanding, yet a shadow lingered around her. It was clear to him that she was not Sith. She was something warm and familiar.

"My mother died a few hours after I was born," but that was not a painful memory, because "But in the Force, there is no end. There are only beginnings," She experienced death at an early age, and Angber helped her understand death as their order understood it. "I hope you can rest one day, knowing your mother's spirit is now free,"

"Thank you," Anakin didn't fully understand their bond at the time. She was a complete stranger, but it felt as if they've known each other since the beginning of time. He didn't know why the Force had connected them. He didn't know what the Force expected of them. How can they end the war? "I...I have to tell my master about this,"

"I would prefer if you didn't," She asked him to lie.

"Why?"

"Because I'm afraid of what the council will do," She replied. "They tried to take me away when I was a baby, if they learned of a dyad...what if they try to stop me from completing the pilgrimage?" She knew so much about the Force — studied Its histories from across the galaxy and learned how to manipulate It, all in preparation for the Sacred Journey. She also knew of the Jedi's close relationship with the Republic and how the Republic used the Jedi. Y/N feared they would corrupt the dyad and use it as a weapon.

"What's a dyad?" Anakin asked.

"It's a rare and powerful type of Force-bond," It was unlike a bond created between a master and apprentice. The Whills believed it was an innate connection between two Force-sensitive beings, a bond forged by the Force Itself. "Some think the Force created a single spirit and doomed them to live in separate bodies, others think it's a warning,"

"A warning? A warning for what? This war?" What does It want from us?

"I don't know," That was not the answer he was looking for. "I've only read of a dyad in the Force happening once before, thousands of years ago...between two fallen Jedi," She faintly remembered the details of the dyad. There was a war against the Mandalorians and another war following that one. The Force had been in great imbalance and so followed a Dark Age. "I can't remember why they fell, I'm sorry,"  

Y/N knew her request to keep their bond a secret would cause him turmoil. He was already full of conflict and questions, and she couldn't answer them all.

"Tell your master if you need," She then told him. "I trust you," Utterly. The Force had bonded them, and her faith was unyielding. She knew little of the padawan before her and saw the darkness in him, but she knew he would do the right thing. If that was to inform the Jedi of the dyad, then so be it.

And he knew she meant it. Fully. Completely. Just a few seconds ago she had been terrified at the idea of being unable to complete her pilgrimage. He had felt her fear rushing through his body, but that quickly faded.

I trust you.

Anakin then thought of Padmé and the hesitation she felt when accepting his proposal. It lingered in his head and ate at his soul, those seconds of silence...why had she hesitated? It annoyed him, made him resentful toward Padmé, which he later hated himself for feeling. Another reason why sleep continued to evade him.

Anakin looked to the Disciple. He was confused with their connection and wanted answers — answers he knew the council would not have or give. Fallen Jedi. Could he trust the stranger in red as fully as she trusted him? He knew their bond would terrify the council, yet he never feared it. He only feared it would be taken away. She was something warm and familiar.

The bond the Force had forged between him and the Disciple is one the Jedi's code would condemn. He knew it, felt it. An odd light surrounded her, the council would describe it as tainted, but Anakin saw its power, its beauty. Anakin could see a great void in her soul. Did she see the same? Yes, I can trust her.

Before he could swear to her that he would not tell his master of their bond, she disappeared.

"Hello?" Anakin called out.

"Hello there," Obi-wan replied as he turned into the corridor. "What are you doing up here so late?"

"I was looking for you,"

"Well, you've found me," His master smiled, "How can I help?"

"Oh, I just need to find information about a planet — a moon," Anakin replied, "Jedha,"

The council assigned Obi-Wan and Anakin a mission on Cato Neimoidia. They were to leave at the end of the week. Padmé and Anakin planned to marry on Naboo before then. He would take a short visit to Naboo and meet Padmé on Varykino, but he was not entirely ready for it. When the time came for Anakin to leave and marry the woman he had obsessed over for ten years, he stayed in the temple on Coruscant. He had too many questions, too many doubts.

In the Archives, he found very little about the Disciple of the Whills and nothing about dyads or vergences.

Anakin locked himself away and desperately tried to see the stranger in red again. So he mediated. He mediated and mediated, but nothing. He retreated to find the stranger in his head and began to fear that she had been a dream. What a cruel joke that would have been, to finally feel understood by someone only to learn his mind conjured them.  

And before Anakin left for Cato Neimoidia, Master Yoda visited him.

"Been interested in Jedha, you have,"

"It's an interesting place," Anakin would not speak of his bond with the stranger in red.

"Is it, hmm?  Yes, hmmm,"

"There are Force worshippers there and an ancient temple I thought was interesting," It was not a complete lie. He simply withheld the entire truth.

"Made from kyber, yes some say it was,"

"Have you ever been to Jedha, Master Yoda?"

"Once, long time ago," Yoda admitted, "sent to retrieve a child, I was," Just three years old and already calling out through the Force. They would have been his last apprentice. Part of him mourns the great Jedi that child could have become had he taken them from the Cold Moon, a place full of misery and suffering.

"Did you bring them back?" Anakin knew the answer.

"No,"

"Why?"

"Mother's dying wish," Yoda told Anakin, "They begged," Yoda remembered, "to keep the child," Angber told Yoda, and the members of the dying order begged too. They begged and prayed and wept. The elders explained it to him, as best as they could.

The child was a gift from the Force. Their order, once rivaling the influence of Jedi, did not seek out Force sensitives. Their ideology regarding balance prevented them from doing so. They believed it was the will of the Force that brought Force-wielders to their order. For over a thousand years they have waited, and then the child was born of no father...

It was clear to Yoda then that the child was to remain on Jedha. Many in the council thought that to raise a Force-sensitive with the philosophy of the Disciples was unsafe and impious, and for that reason, Yoda did not tell them of the child's parentage. He tried not to think about them, but that became difficult when Qui-gon returned with Anakin, another child born of no father...

When Anakin went to sleep, he thought of her and knew he would see her again.

[beckyh2112]

Foxatine divorce kidnapping plot scribble

Now on AO3!

I’m still scribbling away at Fox^2. @one-real-imonkey‘s kidnapping plot temporarily took over my brain, though, and I had to write this to get it out. :D

---

Sidious hadn't expected to need to brace himself. He knew his Fox had been badly hurt; half the Republic knew that. As Chancellor, he had received a report detailing the full extent of those injuries.

Knowing was not the same as feeling. He swept off the Resolute's lift, Anakin at his heels, and nearly stopped dead. Only long habit and a steely will kept him moving at the brisk pace of a man not quite rushing to his lover's side. The Supreme Chancellor did not run unless there was an emergency. It just Wasn't Done.  

His Fox was hurt, strongly enough Sidious had felt it through both of their shields. A deep and abiding ache throughout his body with heavier points where bonemenders had done their work. Too many heavier points; he had thought Dooku's little witch competent enough to contain one clone without resorting to so much violence.

"This way, Chancellor," Anakin said, turning them at the first intersection. It wasn't far at all to the medical bay, but Anakin stopped him outside the door. His boy looked torn then gathered himself, incidentally putting a layer of shielding around his blinding Force-presence. "Chancellor- Sheev-"

"My son?" Sidious asked, curious as to what Anakin had to tell him that he felt was so important to call him by his personal name.

"I don't want it to shock you when you see Commander Fox again. But the Sith tortured him."

...

Well. It seemed Ventress had outlived her useful lifespan. Pity. He detested arranging for new assassins. It was so hard to find ones with the proper skills who weren't tainted by Jedi teachings. Perhaps he should have retrieved Maul after that mess on Naboo, after all.

Arctic fury built under his shields, and he felt his pet notice through the leash in the Force Sidious had on him. Worry spread through his dear Fox, and Sidious absently soothed him. His fury wasn't for his precious pet this time.

"I just- It's bad. If something like that happened to Padme-" Anakin closed his eyes and shielded his Force-presence more, hiding his spike of anger at the idea instead of releasing it into the Force. "Kix fixed everything we could, but he'll need a dip in bacta."

"He will get one, of course," Sidious said, injecting a quaver of fear into his voice. "Anakin, please, I must see him now! I need to see what those monsters did to him."

To assess how slowly he would flay Ventress. Fox was his and his alone. The only marks on his flesh should come from his service to the Republic or Sidious's own hands.

"Of course!" His boy led him into the medbay. "Kix-!"

"Here, sir," one of the clones called. For some inane reason, he had lightning bolts shaved into his hair.

His Fox was waiting for him. Battered, bruised, but eyes bright. As always, his expression softened when he caught sight of his master. In a man like his dear commander, that was practically a passionate declaration of his devotion. (Sidious had perhap been a little heavy-handed with the mind-control when the Coruscant Guard first arrived. Still, there were worse side-effects than a loving and devoted super-soldier who knew his place and his part in the grand plan.)

He rushed to his commander's side, ignoring the ripple of salutes as clones noticed and acknowledged the Supreme Chancellor in their midst.

"Pet," he said as he took his Fox's hand, "Anakin says you were tortured!"

The internal flinch from a number of the clones at his Fox being called pet was delightful.

Confusion ghosted across his darling commander's face. "I wasn't tortured."

"Oh yes, you were!" The clone with the lightning bolts in his hair snapped. What had Anakin called him again? "All of the electricity must have prevented you from forming memories of it, thank the stars, but you have extensive Force-lightning scars across your entire body, commander."

Oh. Sidious settled, some of his rage bleeding off. Yes, the Sith had tortured Commander Fox. Just not the Sith everyone was blaming.

He felt his dear pet's own amusement, pain-tinged as it was. A soft fondness briefly touched Sidious; it was so pleasant to have someone else who got the joke.

"How awful," he said, clutching his pet's hand and leaning in. "How could someone do such a thing?" He turned a beseeching look on Anakin. "Please, my son, tell me these Sith will be brought to justice."

Anakin scowled. "We're trying. Ventress just keeps slipping through our fingers. The Force is with her, too."

Sidious let himself look lost and worried, let his pet and his boy both try to reassure him. Not for long; he only had so much patience for Anakin's romantic fantasies. Before it grew bothersome, he reached out to find Anakin's captain and nudge the clone to come find his general.

Once Anakin was called away, a simple cloak of a don't-look-here in the Force kept the clones from bothering him. He gripped his Fox by the jaw, studying the bruises on his face and the no-longer-broken cheekbone. Rage rose in him again, icy and vicious. He had ordered a kidnapping, not a brutalization. He had intended for his commander to be rescued, by Anakin in fact, and Dooku knew that.

It seemed his apprentice needed to be reminded of his place.

His pet could feel his rage, knew from personal experience how dangerous it was. Bravely, his Fox reached up to cup his cheek. "They're dead, Sheev. I killed them all."

"Did you now?" Sidious murmurred. His pet being an indescribably competent killer had always been one of the personal appeals of this whole thing.

He cracked open his Fox's shields and muted the pain he still felt. Such a delight, and he'd done so well with this kidnapping. He deserved a reward. Perhaps Sidious would veto the next dozen inane decommission requests. Or have a few of the more unpleasant senators murdered.