#but a baby Anakin who only left tattooine a year ago...?

[ani-and-the-corries-au]

Hey people, this post is a little different than my usual ones.

I kinda wanted to post something on the 4th/5th but time got away from me.

I have a lot of snippets and segments of ideas from stories in this au that I wrote up.

This is... Sort of the extended segment of my little "Fox and Anakin's first meeting" snippet.

There will probably be more to follow this but for now, I hope you enjoy this little chunk of story.

Autumn

••••••

"We put republic resources into your upkeep, and the bare minimum we expect in return is that you do the jobs that you were made for." The Senate guard fumed.

Anakin pushed himself back into the corner behind the trio of Clones who had all moved in front of him. The familiar mantra of 'I'm not here, there's nothing to see.' ran through his head even as he watched the exchange.

"The Chancellor has decided to cut a third of your funding until he believes that the guard has earned it back CC-1010." The man snapped.

"We need that funding to get supplies for the Men Sir." The clone said, and it almost seemed pleading even through the vocoder. And Anakin felt the surge of concern from the unfamiliar Clone Commander. 

"We're already struggling to get enough supplies after the last cut."

The other Man only snorted derisively. But Anakin was more interested by the surprise blooming in the force from the troopers around him in response to the Commander’s words.

"Perhaps you should put in more work into being worth your upkeep then." He said shortly.

And that didn't seem fair. It seemed to Anakin like the Corries did plenty of work, honestly he thought that maybe the Senators and other guards should be a little more grateful to them.

"Also, you will gather together every useless Clone that failed to stop the attack and bring them to us for proper disciplinary action.” The guard commander sneered, expression so much like that of an especially smug Master that Anakin couldn't help but lean away.

"If it were up to me I'd have them all sent for reconditioning, but unfortunately it's not.". He seemed to be enjoying this interaction a little too much.

Anakin wasn't sure what reconditioning was, but the fear that had soaked the force around them at the words spoke for itself. Anakin wasn't sure what proper disciplinary action entailed either. But the overly pleased look on the other guards face and the fear in the air brought to mind images of Electro whips and beatings, water and food restrictions, abandoning people to the freezing nights or biting sandstorms for even minor provocations.

He quickly pushed those thoughts away, this was Coruscant, not the slave yards. Things worked differently here. It was fine. Even if the words felt suspiciously like a lie even in his own head.

"Don't Talk back to me, Clone." The man snarled, snapping Anakin out of his thoughts.

He must have missed part of the conversation but he came back in time to see the man grabbing hold of the front of the commander's armor. "You do what the republic tells you, you got that? we say send half the guard to the Lower levels, you send the guard." He leaned in closer, expression angry. 

"We tell you to send your useless men back to Kamino to be Reconditioned, you send those men."

He reached in and ripped off the Clone commander's helmet. Anakin couldn't help but notice that the Clone Commander hadn't moved a muscle since the other man had grabbed his armor, he was frozen staring straight forward, short curly hair tumbling into blank eyes as the helmet came off and hit the ground with force.

"You do, as we say." The man snarled, leaning in again. "We could order you to execute your own soldiers and you'd have no choice but to obey." 

He reached up and grabbed the silent man's face. "We own you, Every pound of duplicated flesh that comes from Kamino is ours, and we will do what we wish with it, do you understand?"

"Yes Sir."

In the back of his head Anakin had the feeling that he shouldn't be here, that he was seeing something that an outsider shouldn't see. But the thoughts were dulled by the Man's words echoing in his head. 

'We own you.' He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to look at the picture that was slowly coming together in his head.

The guards almost never spoke unless addressed. They were entirely ignored unless someone needed them or took some kind of issue with them. The entire Senate seemed to treat the guard, the clones as lesser than them. He thought back to the interaction he and Padme had crashed, how the two aids had been talking about them. He'd thought that there was something wrong with how the guards were treated in the Senate, but did it go deeper than that.

'we own you.' 

Slavery was illegal in the republic, they had rules against it, Qui-Gon had told him so. 

Maybe the man meant something else, but Anakin was having trouble seeing what else 'we own you' could mean.

Anakin pressed himself further against the wall, he didn't hear whatever else the Man said over the screaming in his ears, he couldn't tell if it was his own thoughts or the force pressing in around him. He wanted to be wrong, he had to be, he couldn't. It couldn't.

"..Ad..? Are you ok..?" A hand brushed his shoulder and he started, looking up into the helmeted face of one of the Clones.

From further away he heard snippets of voices.

"Wait, what do you mean he heard everything?"

"Fox, he's just a kid, he's not going to do anything."

He tried to peer around 'Twelve-Sixteen' to see what was going on, he could still feel distressed in the air, but it had a desolate edge to it now.

'Twelve-Sixteen' Knelt down in front of him.

"Hey, it's ok Ad'ika. Don't worry about any of that ok?"

He was trying to sound cheery, but Anakin could feel the nerves underneath the false cheer. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead of agreement or a confirmation of understanding, the words that spilled out were the ones echoing around his head.

"..They own you..?"

The words came out far louder than he'd ment them, and suddenly all four clones were looking at him. The Commander, who had put his helmet back on, sighed Audibly.

"The Coruscant guard and Grand Army of the republic are both republic property." The man said he sounded tired, like he didn't want to have this conversation.

"But… they, they can't." Anakin stammered, pushing to his feet. "You're People." 

The clone who'd been talking to the commander shook his head. "Maybe to you Ad'ika, but not to most Nat borns."

"They bought us off of the Kaminoans." 'Twelve-Sixteen' told him, shrugging. "If they hadn't brought us, we wouldn't exist."

That did not make Anakin feel better, in fact somehow that was worse. 

"But… they're not - this isn't the outer rim." Anakin stammered. The one thing in the way of his discovery was the fact that Qui-gon had said that Slavery wasn't legal in the Republic, but… that had been ten years ago… had that changed?

The guard commander sighed, if Anakin focused he could feel the storm of emotions around him.

"No, it's not, Welcome to Coruscant." He said flatly. 

"Now, you really shouldn't be here, go back to your Jedi." 

The Commander turned and stormed off, but he didn't seem angry, just tired, so so Tired.

Anakin felt frozen, even as his mind was spinning with thoughts, unfamiliar pieces clipping together into a picture that was all too familiar even as the setting was the furthest thing from.

"Ad'ika…?"

"I.." Anakin stepped away, his hands balling into fists. "...I… They…"

The words weren't coming, but he could feel the worry and resigned acceptance suffusing the air around them.

When he eventually did find words, they weren't addressing the fact that his new friends weren't what he'd thought, maybe weren't even Free like he'd thought.

"...I… can you… I need to talk to Padme… do.. Do you know where I can find her…?"

[anakinskywalkher]

Palpatine raises the twins and accidentally activates Anakin’s dadmodus - An alternative Star Wars plot.

@jasontoddiefor: Palpatine raises the twins & angst w/ Vader not knowing who the two are @dlegohargreeves: im gonna fuck shit up

written together on WhatsApp while listen to crack music.

------

(Barbara) Palpatine has long before he declared himself emperor abandoned the ways of the Sith. He uses them to create utmost loyalty to himself but he will not abide to the rules of his predecessor, one Palpatine would’ve defeated had he been around at that time.  People, be they sith, jedi, or other are all moldable to whatever he wants them to be.

He tricks Padme with sugar and soothed spun words, manipulates Anakin with spice and presses on his rage ("the jedi forbid you from loving your mother thats why you couldnt save her. i would never")  -- Palpatine is aware of the long game, but he has eternity. He’s a god, no one will be able to withstand him.

What Anakin never realised was that he wasnt the actual chosen one, Palpatine had seen in his vision that Anakin's children were in fact the chosen ones, and so when confronted with the soft boy he molded him into this shell to avoid his vision from happening,.... and yet these damnable children are still born. Palpatine is terrified that he wasn’t the only one with the true vision and firmly believes that owning the twins would be the least risky choice. (like he owned anakin, who long ago posed a risk)

He hunts them down, -- while anakin/Vader is completely crippled by his mental breakdown about "murdering" Padme and his child. Palpatine smiles and lets him wallow, for what Vader doesnt know is that Palpatine the God poisoned padme once he found out about her pregnancy.

Palpatine finds them, born hours ago and already pulsing brightly with the power of the force. Obi-Wan puts up a fight but Palpatine strikes him. He gloats to Obi-wan, brags about killing Padme, about manipulating Anakin (”I have taken everything from you, and now I will take your life) and takes the children. He leaves Obi-wan to bleed out by his stomach wound a faraway galaxy          (Palpatine reasons that Obiwan deserves it for this is how he left Vader to die. )

And so Palpatine at the rise of his galactic empire ends up with a crippled sith boy (not a man no matter what anakin thought), and with two babies who are most powerful force users in history. (now were shifting to meta instead of story telling lmao)

Palpatine has a god complex, he doesnt actually believe he would ever die, such petty thing is only for the unfortunate. even if his body would succumb to age, his mind through the force would rule forever -- he is unstoppable. To rule however even a godlike emperor needs tools, and while Vader is to be his guarddog the twins he believe can be shaped and molded into his personal hands, amplify his reach across galaxies.

So to mold them into his tools, Palpatine believes in starving them for love, only ever receiving ounces of recognition and pride. always craving his acknowledgment -- and it works, the twins once old enough to have actual brains (according to palpatine) he removes their wetnurses and gives them teachers, makes their training cruel and harsh and make them compete for his gaze. And it works till a certain extent, but Palpatine’s god-complex makes him blind to things he deems unneccessary, And thus he misses how the mourning of Vader for his family, turns him into a guilt-ridden man who believes giving these children some form of attention and care as penance for his own misgivings. And thus without meaning to Vader gives the children the love Palpatine tries to deny them (accidentally shifting their loyalty on the long run)

Elias: Vader hates the kids at first, with them reminding him of everything he lost and could have had, but at the end of the day, after some aggressive introspection, he gets that they’re just kids and probably starts projecting a lot the longer he’s exposed to them -- Vader, guilty, sneaks them candy and gives them stuff that’s kinda useless (like books that are not about politics or war or economics and and and) and he doesn’t think it’s much but the two would kill a man for him and probably have done so. ((Palpatine tries to break apart the codependent twins, forcing them apart for weeks, but the Force, unlike anything is a tool in hands of desperate children with a bond so strong it connected their mind)) This is not healthy, Vader thought, recalling decade old lessons from the Jedi. The twins rarely spoke, never mind both at the same time. They’re asked for their opinions, echoes of the Emperor’s wishes, and only one of them replies. They always moved at the same time, terrifying weapons of perfect synchrony, constantly aware of the other’s presence. They were living at least half in each other’s mind, even when the Emperor depraved them of contact for weeks. They were clingy afterwards, holding each other’s hands and wrists until they bruised, but Vader knew their minds were never separated. Luke slammed their teacher’s (victim’s) head to the ground as Leia kicked away his feet. They didn’t need any call signs, or training in coordination, one moved and the other followed. During battles, the twins’ dependence was a huge advantage. “Again,” Vader called out and the two of them fell back into the first Kata, the bleeding teacher still lying on the ground.

Barbara: However once the twins are older they need to learn through missions, so Vader has to take them along for missions  (once Palpatine believes they wont connect with Vader) - it starts normal but Vader slowly starts to make the missions longer, gives the kids downtime, lets them free and just engages small talk with them, he can’t face himself if he doesn't let them be actual children. But the twins are suspicious believing theres a catch but Leia, the master mind realises that theres none and so they accept reluctantly, and slowly but surely they learn how to be children under Vader’s tutelage. It takes time and dulling a sharpened blade, but the moment, that first time when the twins laugh and seem actually happy, its that moment that Vader decides, he has to become Anakin again, because these children are his second chance - And so he starts planning.

(insert a bit of crack:

Elias: Firmus: Lord Vader, are we to expect you and the Operatives back tomorrow? Vader: we haven’t finished the mission yet -Leia and Luke like 12 or so, in the background yelling in excitement bc idk they got a game, neither are in uniform- Firmus: Of course )

Barbara: Anakin: "i made sand castles when I was young" Leia: “that structure seems awfully unstable for a house”

But ever since Vader mentions the sand castle, the usually more mature one Leia clings to the idea and while he wishes he could show her, but his suit and wounds cant handle the sand. And when he explains Luke goes " well lets get u a proper suit then" and vader goes " im a moron" (leia in the back: yes duh) So Anakin looks into the treatment he’s still receiving to see if he can make it so that his breathing machine could withstand the sand and realises that Palpatine is actually keeping his body weak, he has no need of the breathing machine because its that actual machine thats poisoning his lungs. So of course Vader does a lowrisk experiment and turns off the machine and he can actually breath fresh air in 12 years (the rage controlling Anakin is one different than those before, for it is ice in his veins instead of fire. And it makes him tactical instead of foolish for once). Soon after that Vader catches some rebel transmission and  finds out that Obi-wan is alive and looking for the twins and its that moment that Anakin 'kills' Vader, believing that Obi-wan can save the twins in a way he can't.

Anakin takes the kids to fight the rebels on Palpatines order but he seizes the chance and instead he shows them his face without the mask (lets ignore the idea that hed be bald bc i hate the uglification of ani) and Leia goes: You look an awful lot like luke Anakin who hasnt actually seen his own image for 12 years, realises that luke is a spitting image of himself as a child, and leia who is glaring at him, he realises, is a carbon copy of Padme. BUT anakin thinks hes projecting and doesnt follow up with it.

Instead he asks them (and for leia this will always be the most important part), he asks them if they wish to stay with Palpatine and do his bidding or to dissapear with him -- and well the choice is easy right, Luke&Leia don’t actually like Palpatine, because despite everything, the force made them sensitive and they feel so much (the despair of the people, the sadness of Vader, the greed of Palpatine)

So they leave for Tattooine, the one place where Palpatine would never look because he never found out that Anakin realised his suit was a boobytrap. The wanted pictures of the twins (both bald shaven and in uniform) nor the one of Anakin (known as Vader, with the helmet)  soon dont match the long haired white dress wearing twins and the blond haired bronzed man.

and so Anakin and the twins go into hiding, but guess whose on Tatooine? Thats right -- ObiWan

[dazedclarity]

The Padawan and the Son

I haven’t watched all of Rebels yet, so I don’t know exactly what happens to Ahsoka. But I’ve always wanted to write her meeting Luke regardless, so I just rolled with it. Takes place during ROTJ. 

“Ahsoka Tano?”

The name hung in the air as an unanswered question. Ahsoka clenched her fists, shutting her eyes and trying to rid herself of the feeling that had washed over her since she heard those footsteps approach her open door. It was a presence she hadn’t felt in so long, and presence she knew she was never going to feel again. Clearly, she was seeing visions, hearing his voice over the Force. In the darkness of the outside, she could see his shadowy figure in the doorway, black Jedi robes with a single leather glove, and all. 

Anakin Skywalker was dead. He may still be walking in some form, but he was dead.

She’d come to this backwater planet to escape mentions of her past. She’d sometimes considered rejoining the rebels to take down the Empire, but Vader knew her too well. He could sense her. Part of her wondered if he still hoped to turn her as well. So to save everyone the risk, she once again ran; this time not to figure herself out, but to simply escape it all. Just for the time being, at least. 

But there, right in her little hut deep in the woods beyond the beach, right when she was just trying to sit down for a little root tea, was a vision of that past she wanted so badly to lose.  

“Go away,” she mumbled to the apparition of her former master. She had no time for the games of the Force now. 

“Sorry? Excuse me, I just needed to talk to you.” Ahsoka’s eyes shot open as the figure stepped forward into the light, finally revealing his face. 

That was not Anakin Skywalker. 

Her breath grew heavy. This boy was not Skywalker, but a young man who couldn’t be older than his early twenties, though his eyes made clear that he’d seen far too much for such an age. Oh, he resembled Anakin enough; blonde hair, blue eyes and soft features, but he was definitively not him. Than why did she so strongly feel his presence? Was she truly losing touch so badly?

“Who are you?” Ahsoka snapped, reaching for one of her lightsabers. 

“Please, I mean no harm, and I’m with the Rebels,” the boy said gently, raising his gloved hand, plucking his own lightsaber--his lightsaber!--from his belt and placing it on a shelf beside him. “I just wanted to talk to you. I feel like you could give me some guidance. My name is Luke.”

“Luke...?”

He sighed, looked towards the ground, and at the next word he spoke, she nearly dropped her cup. “Skywalker.”

She stood with a start, hands shaking, mind reeling, and also suddenly everything making a little more sense. “That...can’t possibly be...”

“Search your feelings,” he said plainly, taking another step forward, “I know you felt it when I came in.” Her heart beat faster, though she already knew what he was about to say. “I am Anakin Skywalker’s son.”

She shook her head just barely. Because he was right. She had that feeling, deep in her gut, that her master’s blood pumped through that boy’s veins. It was unmistakable. It was unbelievable, it was impossible, but unmistakable nevertheless. She could barely stammer out the only question on her mind. “But, how?”

“I don’t know too much myself. But Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, he told me that he was my father a little over a year ago. Master Yoda had just confirmed it, and I found some notes in his hut...he knew where you were. My father’s padawan. I needed to see you.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she had to look away. This was just too much. Everything was too much. Ahsoka knew that boy was telling the truth, and given his apparent age, the timeline about matches up. But she still couldn’t convince herself to admit it all. “Where have you been all these years, if you are my master’s son?”

“Tattooine, with my father’s stepfamily. Ben hid me there to keep me safe.”

She looked back at him, eyebrow raised. “Ben?”

“Oh, sorry, Obi-Wan. I assume you knew him?”

In a moment, her shock turned to anger. “Obi-wan knew!?” she shouted, spinning around and throwing her arms out to the side, nearly knocking over her tea-kettle. “And he never thought to tell me!?”

“Would he have had a chance?” Luke asked gently. Ahsoka stopped midair, letting out a deep sigh of her own. 

“No, you’re right.” She dropped back down in her seat, gripping her forehead with her elbow on the table. “I just need someone to be mad at right now.” He could have sent the boy to her. She could’ve protected him, trained him...but she was off and away at the time he was born, and had no place in her life for baby then. “I suppose...I suppose he did what was best. Vader would never return to Tattooine. Anakin himself hated that planet with a passion...and if he’d found you, he’d have tried to turn you.”

Luke nodded. “He didn’t. I’m a Rebel Commander, and quite the enemy of the empire. One of the biggest, actually."

She looked up from the table with a half smile. “Tea?” she asked weakly, anything to sway her thoughts from the whirlwind in her mind. With a timid stiffness, Luke nodded, and she took another cup from the shelf above him and poured her kettle. 

“Something was calling me to this planet a year or so back. I came here on an intuition. Must have been for this conversation, I guess,” she said, finally in tired acceptance. The Force was mysterious indeed. “What do you want to know?”

“Ahsoka, I know Vader probably hid this all from you but...would you happen to know who could be my--”

“Padme Amidala,” she said without a hint of uncertainty. 

Luke looked startled. “What?”

“She’s the only one that makes sense. They were obviously in love, in fact they were pretty terrible at hiding it. What people weren’t sure about was if they’d actually acted on it. I mean, I was fairly certain they had at some point...” she quirked an eyebrow over her cup, “and now I guess I have proof. Looks like Rex owes me money.”

“Who?”

“Nevermind.” Ahsoka gave a tired chuckle, setting aside her cup. “Your mother was a beautiful, wonderful woman. Strong as hell. Her people loved her, and she had a way of speaking to the senate that you wouldn’t believe. Even people who didn’t like what she did had to respect her. Bail Organa--”

“Leia’s father?” Luke piped, eyes lighting up. “She knew him too?”

“Princess Leia Organa? Oh yes, the Organas were great friends with Padme.”

Luke looked nervous again. Tentatively, he spoke. “Obi-Wan just told me something else, something that...that I’m still absorbing.” He sighed. “Leia is my sister.”

This time, Ahsoka didn’t seem to even react for several moments. Until, “What?”

“I know.”

“How?”

“I’m not quite sure myself, to be truly honest.”

Ahsoka didn’t even have the energy for disbelief. At this point, he could tell her that Anakin had secretly been a sarlacc this whole time and she would simply say “oh, odd. I never noticed.”

“I can’t believe they had time to make not one baby behind my back, but two,” she said with a huff. 

“We’re twins, actually. Just the time for one.”

“Oh, what a relief,” Ahsoka drawled. She took a passing glance over at his lightsaber. “Looks like Obi-Wan’s. Did you make it yourself?”

“Yes. I used to use my father’s, but...” Luke’s eyes dragged down to his gloved right hand, and he clenched it. “We had a confrontation.”

It took her a moment to understand. But then Ahsoka bit her lip and nodded. “Did he...?”

Luke gently tugged off the glove. From it emerged a right hand whose artificial skin was wearing away from a laser wound, revealing glinting metal. “He cut it off. The saber went with the hand. I don’t know where it went. Then he told me that I was his son.”

“Wow. Good timing, Anakin,” Ahsoka grumbled. 

Luke looked at her with a hope in his eyes that was painful after he said next. “Do you think he’s still Anakin Skywalker? Do you think Anakin Skywalker is still in there?”

She felt her heart drop to her stomach. What could she tell this boy? That she had left him, and helped his fall to the Dark Side? That the last time she saw him, he tried to kill her in rage? That as much as he may want to save him, she had failed at that very task? That she had spent years convincing herself that it was over, that her master was long dead?

Damn if that boy could read her just like his father could, years ago. His hopeful gaze fell. “Obi-wan didn’t think so either. He wants me to kill him. He wants me to kill my own father.”

“I tried to save him once. He doesn’t want to be saved. He’ll try to turn you, at best.”

Luke simply shook his head. “I’ll never join the dark side.”

“Luke...you, you’re essentially family to me.” She paused. “No, you are family to me. And as your family, I must tell you that I have to side with Obi-Wan. I’ve tried, Luke, I tried. That man may not have been my father, but he was close enough. And he felt nothing but hatred for me the last time I saw him.” She lay her hands over his. “You are brave, and noble. But you cannot perform the impossible. And the dark side is tricky. It sneaks up on you. Your father was one of the greatest men I ever knew and--”

“And that man might be in there. Somewhere. Ahsoka...I can sense that you loved my father deeply. And I wish more than anything that I could have known the man he was. But how do I to avoid the dark side if I don’t even try to bring him to the light? I have to try. I know the Jedi speak against that, but I must. Part of him feels for me. I felt it. I just...I just have to find that part and bring it out.”

Ahsoka’s eyes brimmed with tears, and she gripped his hands tighter. “You may look like your father, but you speak like your mother.” It was true; in this moment, when she looked at him, despite the blue eyes and blonde hair all she saw was Padme. Luke grinned like she had handed him the universe. 

“Would my mother have ever given up on him?”

She shook her head slowly. “No. She would not.”

“Then neither will I.”

She tutted. “You Skywalkers, always stubborn and with far too little self-preservation instinct.” 

The boy shrugged and cocked his head. “Someone has to do that dirty work.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. As much as this boy took from Padme, there was a little Anakin in there too.  Perhaps...perhaps just enough of both to accomplish what he hopes to do. 

“Ahsoka, trust me,” he said gently, just over a whisper. And she could feel the sheer strength of his Force abilities reverberating through the air around them. As strong as his father’s. Maybe even stronger, hard as it was to believe. “I really think I can do this.”

And in that moment, his father’s padawan truthfully said, “So do I.”

“Then I know I can.”

Not too long after, she felt it through the Force. It did not hit her, hard and cold, but seemed to drift through her, peacefully and bittersweet. Her master was dead. But he had died as Anakin Skywalker. 

She looked to the sky, tears stinging her eyes. “I have to hand it to you, little brother. You were right.” 

And over the breeze, she could swear she heard another voice--not as a sound, but as a feeling, and it filled her with a warmth that she hadn’t felt in years. 

Thank you, Snips.