Archive: M_A, SWAL, WWOMB and anywhere else just ask me.
Category: AU
Spoilers: NONE! Hah! This is so far into AU that it should be
safe.
Summary: A drastic AU set after the Clone Wars.
Series: First in what will be an ongoing series.
Feedback: Makes my world go 'round. Please!
Warning: I am taking so many liberties with cannon that it's
scary. I blame it all on my deluded dreams and the rabid plot
bunnies.
Disclaimer: George Lucas is god. I just slip in and play with
the toys when he's not looking.
Note: Anybody in the VC fandom might have heard of something
titled DOA which I have a hand in and which does stand for
something (besides the traditional "Dead On Arrival"). JAOA is
named for the same reason and stands for something very
similar... but I like being a tease so I'm not going to tell
you what. Up to you to guess. ;)
July, 1999
The sun was setting against the jagged horizon of Coruscant,
the fading light painting the gleaming sides of the towering
buildings and passing shuttles in lurid shades of red. Below,
more transports gleamed in the long shadows like rivers of
flickering light as they wove in and out of the traffic
patterns. The sound of them was muted, a low hum that ebbed and
flowed, only occasionally catching upon the acoustics of the
high balcony.
The man who stood there sighed, his breath coming thin and
chill in the gathering dusk. The sunset was a familiar sight,
one that bore the welcome tinge of something known since
childhood. For years he had seen it without seeing it - known
it in passing without ever really appreciating it. It had
marked the passage of time and many days he had resented it;
there had never been enough time.
Now it was just a welcome sight, something familiar and
comforting in its regularity. Something that had been long
before he was, and would continue long after he was gone.
But the sunset also still marked the passage of time and as he
watched the shadows percipitably deepen he knew he had taken as
much of the time as he dared. There were still things to do.
There always were.
He drew one last breath, letting it out reluctantly. Reaching
up to automatically check the thong that secured his hair, he
smoothed back the stray strands and turned towards the door,
his cloak whispering softly about the ankles of his boots.
______________
The large battle arena could easily have seated several
thousand around it's perimeter - instead, barely a handful of
hundred gathered there, spotted in clusters and individuals
through the ranks of the seats. Gray tuniced initiates crowded
the lowest stands, where even the youngest and smallest might
peer down into the arena itself, their youthful voices a
softened scream of enthusiasm for the combatants below. Above,
the dusty tunics and warm brown cloaks of Knights and Masters
mingled as those in residence at the Temple sat to watch the
trials or passed amongst themselves, talking quietly.
So few. Even accounting for the many away from the Temple,
there were so few who remained. The man paused at the door to
the arena stands, scrubbing a tired hand over his forehead. The
hazy memory of youth supplied an image of filled stands, of the
roar of the crowd above the arena. Of dormitories and a Temple
that bustled with the quiet hum of life rather than the muted
silence of emptiness.
A soft ripple in the Force behind him made him move aside
automatically, clearing the doorway. A moment later the
distinctive signature of the ripple made itself known, almost
but not quite enough to warn him before a hand reached out to
grasp his arm above the elbow, pressing warmly in greeting as a
familiar voice exclaimed "Master".
Obi-Wan Kenobi smiled, an expression echoed across the features
of his former Padawan. The massive double suns of Insara had
bleached Anakin's short cropped hair nearly white, his blue
eyes and white teeth flashing in a face tanned brown and
flushed with health. Obi-Wan suppressed a grin, knowing full
well that the young Knight had eagerly accepted the assignment
to a world even hotter and less hospitable than his home world
of Tatooine - Anakin liked nothing less than the bitterly cold
climes to be found on some of the worlds of the Republic and
would go to extremes to avoid them. The suns of Insara seemed
to have done him well; his step had regained a spring that had
long been missing.
Obi-Wan clasped Anakin's wrist in greeting, not troubling to
hide his very genuine pleasure. "I didn't know you had
returned, Anakin." Gesturing for the younger man to follow him,
he made his way down the shallow steps to a good vantage point
in the stands.
"Only just," Anakin replied, taking the seat beside him. "The
Council said my report could wait till the morrow. And since
everyone was here I came looking for you... Master."
A sideways glance confirmed the small teasing smile on his
former Padawan's face and with a muffled laugh Obi-Wan
completed the formula that Anakin had begun. "It's not 'Master'
now, Anakin."
The smile flashed fully. "Yes, Master," Anakin replied, then
laughed softly. "It will always be 'Master', Obi-Wan. I've
heard you call Master Qui-Gon that, when you forget."
Some of what he felt must have shown in his expression for
Anakin's smile fell, replaced by somber concern. "How is he?"
the younger man asked, his voice dropping as though the topic
alone must be uttered in hushed whispers.
Obi-Wan shook his head slightly, turning his gaze to the
circling combatants down on the floor of the arena. "The same.
It changes little."
Anakin let out his breath in a small puff. "The same but no
worse. It's good news, I suppose."
Obi-Wan nodded distantly. Glancing at Anakin's expression, he
swiftly changed the subject. "And Amidala? How are she and the
twins?"
The grin reappeared with blinding speed, the shining expression
of a father for whom the newness had yet to wear thin. "Why
yes, Master, I did pass by Naboo on the way to Coruscant," he
said, laughing. "How did you know?"
"Because Amidala hasn't contacted the Council demanding to know
where her husband is," Obi-Wan returned dryly. "She's well, I
trust?"
"Very." Anakin's smile stripped the years from him until he
looked like nothing so much as the smitten youth who had first
set out to 'court' the young Queen of Naboo - the fact that the
eventual outcome had never been under question had not taken
the enjoyment of it from either party. "And Luke and Leia...
they'll be two next month, did you know...?" Obi-Wan gravely
assured the younger man that he did know, as he had been
present at their birth. Anakin beamed, describing the health
and habits of the twins with a doting absorption only found in
the parents of young children. Obi-Wan shook his head slightly
but smiled none the less; Anakin's devotion to the family he
saw only sporadically was heartening to watch.
"Will they be ready for the Temple soon, do you think?" he
asked when Anakin paused for breath.
Anakin sobered slightly. "Yes. They could be now... but Amidala
asks for a little longer. They're so young..."
"Older, already, then some," Obi-Wan pointed out gravely. He
sighed, reaching out to touch Anakin's shoulder. "I know she
doesn't want to be parted from them..."
Anakin waved his concern away, shaking his head. "It's not
that, Master. She knows they'll need to be trained. We both do.
But they aren't like the children taken from some small family
with no name."
"No," Obi-Wan agreed. "They are the children of Skywalker. The
Force runs in them almost as strongly as it does in you. They
need training, Anakin." He sighed, looking out over the
sparsely populated stands. "And we are so few now."
Anakin nodded slowly, blue eyes darkening. "I know, Obi-Wan. I
do know. They will come here. Give it just a few months
more - I see Amidala when I can, but with all else that's been
lost... it's breaking her heart to let them go."
Obi-Wan sighed, nodding to show that he understood. "Don't put
it off much longer," he cautioned. "You, of all people, know -
you came to it late, and your training was doubly hard because
of it."
Below, a roar from the initiates signaled a winner of the
current bout. Anakin turned towards it, eyes scanning over the
clusters of children. He laughed a little, weakly. "Force,
they're all so young."
Obi-Wan let his own gaze rest on them. "So few and so many...
Even if every available Master and Knight took a Padawan we
still could not train them all, but there are so few all the
same. Some of these would never have been accepted before, but
now the AgriCorps and Healers cry out for even the half
trained. We will be generations rebuilding."
"Better than the alternative," Anakin replied, and the older
man could only agree. Two new combatants had stepped out into
the arena; a lanky dark haired boy and a tanned girl with a
startling shock of flame colored hair. The hum of their
training sabers filled the air as they took their places.
Anakin watched the first couple of passes, face unreadable.
Obi-Wan sat silently, knowing that whatever was on the younger
man's mind would come forth eventually. Below, the boy, for all
his greater height, was struggling against the quick press of
the girl.
"The Council says I'm ready to take a Padawan," Anakin said at
last. He shrugged a little, raking a hand through the short
brush of his hair. "I don't... Did you feel this unprepared
when you took me on?"
Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "I had Qui-Gon beside me. It made it a
little easier."
The boy below stumbled across one of the jumble of blocks that
scattered the arena floor. Obi-Wan winced. "We can't afford to
overlook any child with even a hint of force sensitivity.
Still... most of them will never make Knights."
The initiates yelled their approval as the girl closed in for
the final blow to end the duel. At the last moment the boy
moved - scooping up a handful of the light sand that covered
the arena floor, he flung it in the girl's face, rolling aside
as she coughed, blinded. Obi-Wan frowned at the unorthodox
maneuver but Anakin nodded slightly to himself. "What they
might lack in the Force they make up in other ways."
"Clever tricks don't make a Jedi."
"No?" Anakin turned to look at his former Master, pale brows
drawn down. "The worlds outside Coruscant are changing, Master.
More then half of those I talk to think that's all the Jedi are
- tricks. A military religious order that trains a few
antiquated combat moves. In the outer rim rumor has it that the
Jedi have all but ceased to exist."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, letting the information filter through
his mind. Sighing, he allowed himself the luxury of reaching up
to tug the thong from his hair and let the jaw-length strands
fall forward. The amber color of it was increasingly touched
with strands of iron gray, something he noted as he idylly
fingered a lock of it. Sighing again, he pushed it back behind
his ear. "You've told the Council." Statement, not question.
"Of course. Everyone else who returns has reported the same,
I'm sure." The boy below failed to deflect a Force thrown piece
of block, twisting away too late as it drove into his shoulder
and spun him about. The girl was on him in an instant, one blow
knocking the boy's lightsaber away, the next scoring the
killing stroke against the chest of his padded sparring suit.
The initiates cheered her as she saluted them, saber raised
triumphantly.
The corner of Obi-Wan's mouth turned down. "He'll go to
AgriCorps," he predicted softly. "He doesn't have enough
sensitivity for the Healers."
The boy picked himself and his lightsaber up, dusting himself
off. As he passed the girl his hand flashed out; grabbing the
back of her suit he twisted and flipped her neatly into the
sand of the arena. There was a hush for a moment, then another
roar from the students, half protest, half admiration. The boy,
grinning cockily, flashed them a victorious sign and stalked
from the arena.
Anakin laughed softly. "He has spirit," he admired.
Obi-Wan snorted quietly. "He has arrogance. You had
spirit," he corrected. He brandished the gray streaked lock of
hair at his former Padawan. "Where do you think I acquired
this?"
Laughing again, Anakin caught himself in mid yawn and shrugged
apologetically. "I know I should watch them if I'm to pick one
to take with me when I go," he admitted, gesturing to the next
pair to take the arena, "but I only just got in. I'm tired."
Obi-Wan waved a dismissive hand. "These games will go on for
the next few days. You'll have time. Go and sleep, Anakin."
The younger man nodded. "It's late..." he trailed off, but at
Obi-Wan's slight nod continued. "Too late. Give him my regard,
will you?"
"Of course." Obi-Wan stood. "I should go as well. He'll be
asleep, but I don't like to leave him alone. He needs me there
if he wakes."
Anakin's hand touched his shoulder briefly, accompanied by a
wave of warm sympathy. "Tell him I'll see him tomorrow. Good
night, Master."
Obi-Wan smiled slightly, reaching out to softly brush the
cropped patch of hair where years before a sandy colored
Padawan's braid had hung. "I will. Rest well, my Anakin."
Archive 